This Does Not Take The Cake.

Well I did it. Sort of. I made the Raspberry Lemonade Cake. Sort of. Let me begin with letting you know that I will not be sharing the cake recipe. I just wasn't impressed with it's outcome. Chunky. That is how the Side o Beef described my cake. Chunky. Never has anyone called one of my cakes dry, let alone Chunky! (He did say it was better the next day.)

I was going for a moist, fluffy, light lemon cake. My results, Chunky. Apparently. I would call it dense. It was not dry, it just wasn't light, or fluffy.



I did do a few things that I did like. I made a lemon infused simple syrup, that was tasty! (Especially in the Lemon Drops I was required to consume following my non success.) But I didn't take a picture of the syrup. I took this one instead. I just love it!!



While I let my cakes cool, I made a lemon curd (no picture) and Raspberry Puree that would be used to tint and lightly flavor my frosting. That was easy to make. Puree Raspberry (or your fave fruit), and strain to get all the seeds out (you dont need to strain, although for raspberries I recommend it). And then mix a 1/4 of a cup or so into your fave frosting recipe. I was using a simple buttercream. 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter, 1 lb of powdered sugar. Where you would normally add a few tablespoons of milk to reach desired consistency, I added the raspberry puree. The frosting received rave reviews!



My next task was putting all the components together. Cake Layer one. Spread a little of the Lemony Simple Syrup onto the top of the cake. Outline cake with frosting to attempt to keep filling inside. Spread Lemon Curd. Spread Seedless Raspberry Jam (not homemade).



Rinse and Repeat. Really you don't rinse anything. It just sounded witty at the time. That time has passed.



Top Layer of course still gets the lemony syrup but does not get any filling. It does however get a big ol' scoop o' frosting!



I don't generally use any kind of a fruit filling. So this was kind of new for me. I may have overfilled. Because this happened when I tried to frost it.



There do you see it? The layers slid! Slid!! The only other time any cake layer of mine slid was when I let the crazy Side O Beef drive with a Black Forest Cherry Cake in the car. That made me cry a little. I don't want to talk about it.

It may have looked slightly askew, but my taste testers were geared up a ready for a sample. I wish I had a picture of their excited faces. Instead, I have this.



That is my wonderfully fancy cake cutter that everyone is jealous of. Admit your jealousy freely, it will help you to move on. That is my Lemon Drop that everyone is jealous of. Admit your jealousy freely, it wont help you move on though. You need to drink one first. That would also be my cluttered counter top. Nobody is jealous of that. They all just feel sorry for me. Oh, and that, my lovely friends, that is a container of bacon grease. It was my New Years resolution. Pioneer Woman made me do it, and I am never going back!

Let's Dig In!!



This is where the SoB says, "Wow! That Looks Chunky!" Lovely isn't he? Although I will (again) mention, I need his criticism. Nobody else really gives it to me. They Ooh and Aah and then go throw up in silence so as to not hurt my feelings. What lovely taste testers I have! My mother in law even tried to tell me that she went to "The Place" where they had this cake that I was trying to replicate, and she tried to tell me that mine was better! HA! I love her. Her lies make me happy.

Time for a piece of cake...Chunky Cake.



It wasn't a bad cake. It really was pretty tasty. I just couldn't get past the texture of the cake, as it was not what I had intended. But I realized my mistake. In my attempts to "wing" it with a recipe. I tried to replace some of the milk liquid with some lemon juice. A fine idea. Except when you add them together. Being as that created a buttermilk. And that does not make for a fluffy cake. I am going to attempt another lemon cake. But at the suggestion of a wise man, I may be trying a Lemony Goodness Lemon Drop Cake. How tasty does that sound? I will keep you updated on my endeavors.

Next time, I promise something useful for you all. A recipe. An easy, tasty, inexpensive recipe! Also, I promise it wont be a week until I post it.

Peace out Homies!

The Beginning.

Let me begin with a greeting, "Top of the Morning to Ya!" Yeah, I am not good at being Irish. So I will, instead, go with a "Happy Saint Patrick's Day". (Please consider that your greeting.)

Today marks the beginning of Spring Break for my sweet Big Kid. It's great because she is already asking me when she will be going back to school. Thus, today marks the first day of many where I will hear the question, "Are we there yet?".

I am very excited about Spring Break because I have purposefully not made any plans! Other than to bake tons of things that involve tons of butter and hopefully, maybe (for the sake of my marriage) clean something.

Today marks another important milestone. I have not yet talked about my love and adoration for a certain person. A woman. A Pioneer Woman. The Pioneer Woman! Today will mark the beginning of what will most likely be many posts about her.

I will begin today by discussing her beloved Lemon Pound Cake. If you have not yet looked her up, let me give you the link and save you the trouble. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/perfect-pound-cake/
This link is specifically to the lemon pound cake (trust me you need this). I made it on Monday for the Mother In Law. She is in love with this cake. She had a leftover piece back in January and hasn't stoppped talking about it since. Last time I made it, I made a very simple glaze (and loads and buckets of it) out of powdered sugar and lemon juice. Just whisk and taste and adjust. Very simple.

This time I didn't have any lemons (what has the world come to?), so I adjusted and used an orange. It just wasn't the same. Side o Beef said, "It's not as good as last time. Did you do something different?" He is brutally honest and supportive when it comes to my baking endeavors. I need that. Like the time he asked, "Why are these cupcakes so crumbly?" The answer to that was simple, "Because I wanted them to be!" Or I overmixed. Whatever! But at least he is honest.

So if you haven't done it yet, click on the link. Embrace the Butter. Butter is your friend. And make the damn cake! You will thank me for it. Your thighs however.... Well, let's just not talk about them. Okay?

Peace Out Homies!

Lemony Goodness!

As a showing of good faith (and to apologize for that awful post earlier today), I will now impart my wisdom on you. The wisdom is this: Lemon Drops!!

These are the perfect end to a bad week, a bad day, a bad couple of hours, or a bad situation. Okay, let's try that again... These are simply PERFECT!!

Now, let it be said that there are many ways to make a Lemon Drop. But in Susie Land there is only one way. And yes, it takes a little preparation. And yes, Susie Land is a real place (just ask my Side o Beef!).

You will need Ice (you do want this to be cold, right?), Vodka (duh), Lemons (yum!), and Simple Syrup. Wait, What's that? You say that you don't have simple syrup and you don't know how to make it? Let me share some more of the wisdom of which I possess.

To make Simple Syrup the Susie Sweet way, you will need...

Water and Sugar! Easy, huh? Pour water, I generally do about 2 cups, into a saucepan and add an equal amount of regular old granulated sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and let simmer for a good 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool (now is a good time to pour it into a measuring cup or something with a pour spout). When cool pour it into the vessel of choice. A good option is a plastic squeeze bottle. I keep mine in the fridge. It is a good thing to always have on hand and ready for a drink should the need arise. Let's just say that I have never had any go bad... Moving on.

Lemons. I always, and I do mean ALWAYS, go with fresh squeezed lemons for my lemon drops. Yup, Costco has an economy sized bag just for this situation. Use your favorite method of squeezing lemons to get the most juice out of every lemon. Whether it be a fancy food processor with juicer attachment (color me jealous), or a $5 juicer from Winco, just juice the heck out of those lemons. I (sometimes) have been known to pass the juice thru a mesh strainer to ensure that there are no seeds and not overly pulpy. Either way, lemon juice does have a shelf life. I generally juice on command. And by command I mean when I get that bag of lemons home, I do the whole dang thing. What? No judgement, please.

Next, You will need to find your shaker of choice. Some people are skilled enough to use two pint glasses, I am not one of those people. Instead, I use my nifty, handy, Martini Shaker (go figure). Fill that thing with ice. The Susie Homemaker way of making said Lemon Drops is equal parts of the three liquid components. So if you add two shots of Vodka, you best be adding two shots each of the lemon juice and simple syrup. If I am feeling daring, I may add an additional shot of vodka without upping the juice or syrup, but only if I am feeling very daring (and if I am not planning on driving anywhere for two or three days...). Either way, put the lid on that shaker and shake, shake, shake til its all cold and lovely and maybe slightly frothy.

Now if you want to be fancy you would have taken a lemon and ran it around the top of your glass (which should be of the martini variety) and then promptly dipped said moistened glass into a ring of sugar. But I am rarely fancy, nor do I take the time for such frivolous matters. Just gimme the darn drink already. What? No judgement.

And that my lovely people is the perfect (and only) Lemon Drop in Susie Homemaker's book.

Please Drink Responsibly.

Peace Out Homie.