Quail Egg Indulgence

 Heavenly Cake Baker Submission #36

I needed to bake this cake.  It may be a few weeks before I'm back in the kitchen: I'm packing up to move to Poland - permanently this time or at least for a couple of years.

This was the usual butter cake with the unusual addition of quail egg yolks.   My daughter went in search of the cute little eggs.  After trying our local upscale grocery store, she found them in an Asian market - packet of 10 for $1.25.  I had two little heart cake pans, so I made a double recipe and gave one to my friends, Jim and Charlotte.  Charlotte was one of the earliest readers of my blog and I've been telling her for ages that I was going to bake a cake for her family. 

Working with quail eggs is not easy.  Rapping the shell on the edge of a bowl will crack the shell, but I still had to poke through the very tough membrane.  The eggs are mostly yolk, but this does not help with separating.  The small amount of white clung to the yolk with great tenacity. 

 

I served the cake with whipped cream sweetened with vanilla sugar.  My one complaint it that the center sunk.  It's reminiscent of my sunken cradle cake.  Is it my baking powder? The fact that I didn't use cake flour? 

Unlike my other blog posts, as part of the Heavenly Cake Bakers, I don't post recipes from this book on the Internet. One of the reasons for this baking group is to encourage readers to purchase the cookbook. That strategy worked on me! After follow the group's baking adventures for a couple of months, I ordered a copy from Amazon because I wanted join in.

Business cards to match my blog

I tried contacting the person who created my blog template to see if I could get business cards to match my blog.  She didn't offer them, but she told me it could be done with photoshop.  I turned to my friend and graphic artist, Carole.  She created four samples for me and I had a very difficult time choosing just one!

Mud Turtle Cupcakes

Heavenly Cake Baker Submission #35

This chocolate cake batter is like many others we've made.  What sets it apart is what comes after the cake batter - chocolate ganache, caramel, and toasted pecans.

My caramel sauce was a little thin, but my friends assured me that anything with dark chocolate ganache was fine with them.  

Interesting note: next week's cake involves quail eggs.  

 
 Unlike my other blog posts, as part of the Heavenly Cake Bakers, I don't post recipes from this book on the Internet. One of the reasons for this baking group is to encourage readers to purchase the cookbook. That strategy worked on me! After follow the group's baking adventures for a couple of months, I ordered a copy from Amazon because I wanted join in.

Sautéed Kale and Spinach

You might not realize it from looking at my blog, where the top categories are dessert, Heavenly Cake Bakers, and chocolate, but I'm trying to make smarter food choices - more produce, organic when possible, less animal fat.  Today's lunch as a satisfying effort toward that worthy goal.  (It will be interesting to see if the vegetable category will surpass the sweets in coming months.) 

Ingredients

2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
kale salad mix (sold in 1 lb. bags at Whole Foods, includes shredded purple cabbage and carrots)
baby spinach leaves
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
2 - 4 tablespoons water
1 - 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Directions

• Add oil and onion to a large frying pan, cook over medium-high heat
• When the onion begins to caramelize, add garlic and cook for just a minute or two
• Add kale and spinach (I haven't given amounts in the list above,  I probably used 3 - 4 cups of each)
• Season with spices and add water to steam greens
• Cook until kale and spinach are wilted
• Sprinkle with vinegar