Kung Fu Panda Cake

Everybody loves kung fu fighting! A girl that I work with has a daughter that turned two today. Her daughter, Sammi, is completely obsessed with Kung Fu Panda. The theme for her second birthday cake was a no brainer. I searched online for some ideas of a simple double layer 8" round cake design. My co-worker went through the designs I found and settled on this cute version with the movie title spin.

Now I do not pride myself to be any type of sculptor. I actually claim to be a rather terrible artist who just happens to know how to manipulate cake. So this cake design made me excited but extremely nervous. A lot of times with these well known cartoon characters the intention is good but the outcome is less than desirable. It's not just enough to make a cute panda on a cake, there is the pressure to make it look like the beloved character that the child is expecting to be gracing their birthday cake. And believe me, they know the difference!

First I baked up a layer of yellow cake and a layer of chocolate cake. Then I mixed up some buttercream frosting and dirty iced the layers. Usually I make my own fondant but I decided to do the purchased fondant for this particular cake. Two reasons why:

1. Bought fondant comes in true black and true red, nearly impossible colors to make at home.

2. Store-bought fondant is firmer than homemade, making it easier to cut out and construct the panda.

So I covered the cake in the true red fondant and then began constructing Po the panda. First I found a drawing of Po in one of his kung fu poses. Then I sized and printed it to fit on top of the cake (leaving room for the writing of course). Then I took tracing paper and traced each part of the panda. I used these as templates to cut out the different pieces of the panda. Then I put him together like a jigsaw puzzle, adding some 3-D elements to give him more dimension. The belt was made by putting thin chunky strips of fondant in alternating colors, rolling it flat and cutting out the belt. The patch was put on top of his pants and "stitched" on with buttercream icing.

Last but not least I cut out the message and piped a matching yellow border around the bottom of the cake. And there you have it - Kung Fu Panda cake! I love how it turned out. I especially liked Po's face. I think it was a pretty close likeness. At least everyone at work was able to tell who it was when I delivered it today.

It was a good start in learning how to sculpt characters. I will definitely need a lot more practice before going fully 3-D though! I hope that the little birthday girl likes it and has a great second birthday. Happy Birthday Sammi!

Now it's time to start concentrating on my own little girl's big day! She's turning three this year and I'll give you three hints to the theme of her party... sharks.... dolphins... and octopuses!

Apple Streusel Ice Cream

I have a confession. I have never made homemade ice cream before. I have seen it done several times but have never paid attention to the details. I probably should have. Especially since my sister-in-law, Abi, and I chose a rather impressive recipe to begin our ice cream making skills with:

Apple Streusel Ice Cream

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons plus 4-1/2 teaspoons cold butter, divided

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped peeled Golden Delicious apple

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

ICE CREAM:

1-1/4 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

1-3/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 jar (12 ounces) caramel ice cream topping

For streusel, combine the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl; cut in 3 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans. Press into a 9-in. pie plate. Bake at 350°for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are browned. Cool slightly; break into small pieces. Cool completely.

In a skillet, melt remaining butter. Stir in the apple, sugar and cinnamon. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until apple is tender; cool.

In a large saucepan, heat the milk to 175°; stir in sugar until dissolved. Cool. In a large bowl, combine the milk mixture, cream and vanilla. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. Add apple mixture to each batch of ice cream; freeze 5 minutes longer.

Spoon a third of the ice cream into a freezer container. Top with a third of the streusel mixture. Drizzle with a third of the caramel topping. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining ice cream. With a spatula, cut through ice cream in several places to gently swirl layers. Cover; freeze overnight. Garnish with the remaining streusel and caramel topping.

Yield: 1-1/2 quarts

Abi and I started the ice cream on Thursday night. We baked up the streusel and sauteed the chopped apples in a butter, cinnamon and sugar mixture. Last but not least, we mixed up the vanilla ice cream ingredients and popped them in the fridge to chill overnight. Friday night we got together to freeze the vanilla ice cream. We read the ice cream maker instructions and decided it wouldn't be too bad. Put the ice cream mixture into the cylinder, place the cylinder into the bucket, fill bucket with layers of cold water, ice and rock salt per instructions and turn on for 50 minutes. Plain and simple, right?

Forty-five minutes later I began to get concerned. The ice cream maker instructions said that it usually will turn itself off once the ice cream is done. And since the mixture we put in only filled up half the cylinder I thought that it would get done in about 30 minutes. So I turned off the ice cream maker and lifted the top to find.... soup. The mixture hadn't frozen at all! Abi and I (both being ice cream-making virgins) were unsure what our next plan of attack was going to be. We finally decided that maybe we put too much cold water and not enough ice and rock salt around the cylinder so we dumped and started over again.... and after a few more set-backs we finally got it up and churning again. Fifteen minutes later we checked again and.... we had partially frozen ice cream!!! We put the apple mixture in and let it run some more. About fifteen more minutes went by and the ice cream maker shut off. We had our ice cream!!!

Final steps - took out the apple ice cream, layered the streusel and some caramel filling through it, swirled it with a knife and popped it into the freezer to freeze overnight. And now for the big debut....

Gorgeous, right? Looks like it was scooped out of a Edy's carton. I'm sure that it will taste way better though since it is homemade! Abi and I sampled a tiny bit last night and I think I can safely say from the taste test that it is pretty amazing. Sort of a apple crumble a la mode. Will definitely be making some more ice cream recipes before the summer is out!

Ooey Gooey Blonde Brownies (also known as Butterscotch Marshmallow Brownies)

The original name of this recipe was Marshmallow Brownies but after making them I felt this was not an accurate description of this delectable concoction of butterscotch, chocolate chips, marshmallows and walnuts! First I whipped up the batter which ended up looking a lot more like gooey cookie dough or seven-layer bars filling than brownie mix!

Then I smooshed it into a glass baking dish and cooked it according to the directions. I tested them with a toothpick (which came out clean) so I took them out and let them cool completely before attempting to cut them for our company that was arriving for dinner that night. About five minutes before company arrived, I decided to slice some up and get a few pictures. But when I tried to take them out of the pan they were just a big ooey gooey mess! I had a minor panic attack thinking that they weren't cooked! Fortunately after some inspection (and taste testing) I found that they were cooked just really chock full of all the ingredients which led to a delightful and delectable chewy blondie brownie filled with chocolate chips, gooey melted marshmallows and walnuts. Therefore I decided to rename them as Ooey Gooey Blonde Brownies.

I highly recommend eating these brownies with a plate and fork (although if you do pre-cut them they will crust up a little around the edges so you could eat them by hand). Here's a copy of the recipe:

Ooey Gooey Blondie Brownies
(Butterscotch Marshallow Brownies)

1 cup (6 ounces) butterscotch chips

1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

In a saucepan over low heat, melt butterscotch chips and butter; cool for 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar and vanilla. Add butterscotch mixture; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to batter and mix well. Stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips and nuts. Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 325° for 25-30 minutes or until brownies test done with a toothpick. Cool before cutting.

Yield: 3 dozen

Later this week, my sister-in-law and I are going to get together to make some homemade ice cream. After that I have another cake on the books! Stay tuned! 

Oatmeal S'more Cookies

I finally got my Mother's Day present! A classic KitchenAid Mixer! I got my cookbooks right out to find something to make with it and test it out. I thought cookies would be a good start since they are simple but require thorough mixing... and Lana can help too! I got all the Taste of Home June/July issues that have been collecting dust on my bookshelf out and promptly found a recipe for Oatmeal S'more Cookies. Sort of a chocolate chip cookie that gets some oatmeal, chocolate chips and mini marshmallows tossed in to resemble the campfire favorite. Here's a copy of the recipe if you would like to try them:

Oatmeal S'more Cookies 
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup miniature marshmallows

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and marshmallows.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: about 6 dozen

I loved how when they cooked the marshmallows on top of the cookies got brown and bubbly like a roasted campfire marshmallow! It made seven dozen batches so I packed up a few dozen and sent them to family members for taste testing. Now lets see how much of a dent I can make into my massive dessert recipe collection...