Sunday, November 11, 2012

My Brands





A few of you have been wondering what brands of certain foods we buy, and what qualities we look for in our non fresh foods. There are three main factors that affect whether I purchase a particular food item…is it organic, is it non-GMO, and is it void of any chemical ingredients. I do not necessarily buy all organic, for cost and availability reasons, but I do try to buy things that are not genetically modified. That is extremely important to me. But the MOST important quality I look for in our food…Is it FOOD. Meaning, is it of the earth (food), or created in a lab (scary junk).
I am not perfect, and every one in a while we do eat something that is not so nutritious ( I am a sucker for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and ice cream from the Schwan man)…but I do make sure 95% of what we put in our body is providing energy and promoting health.
Here are a few of our favorites…

brands 2

Now…in this house we consume A LOT of peanut butter. I have found that Once Again makes a great product. Plus, they are an employee company and named on a bunch of “Best Organic Company” lists.
Coming in a close second is Field Day Organic Smooth Peanut Butter. Field Day is kind of the generic brand at our local Co-op. We buy a ton of products from this company.


brands 3

Beans, beans, the musical fruit…Haha! Got a little side-tracked;)
Anyway…I LOVE Eden Organic! They make superior quality products, and they are based in Michigan (whoop, whoop!). I am also fond of the fact they use BPA FREE cans.


brands 4

Some more Field Day Organic…


brands 6

Spectrum oils and mayo are the best I have tasted. Most of them are either organic, or non-GMO.


brands 7

As for tuna, we like Natural Sea. It is low in mercury, and the fish are caught sustainably.


brands 8

Lily and Gabe like to have a little treat in their lunches. Nature’s Path makes great granola bars. They are organic, low in sugar and high in fiber. And they taste de-licious. We also purchase Nature's Path cereals and granolas.







brands

Lastly (and most importantly in this girl's book), baking ingredients. My favorite brands are King Arthur Flours, Bob’s Red Mill grains and mixes, and Florida Crystals sugars.
If you are having trouble finding these products, I have discovered that you can purchase most of these brands online…Amazon and Vita Cost are good sources. Also, Eden Organic ships their products by the caseload (and offer coupons!!).
These products are not inexpensive, but they are superior quality, and I will pay for quality.
I will be posting a continuation of this post this week, including our refrigerated products.
I hope this helps those of you who are struggling in the grocery store aisles.

Jessie

Friday, November 2, 2012

THE BEST Cake Ever






pb cake 5

Every time I make this cake, someone proclaims it to be the best cake they have ever eaten. And yes, I am totally going to brag about it…haha!
This creation was born from my loathe of all those fancied up box cake recipes that are floating around. Boxed cake is yucky! If you don’t believe me…Google it…or better yet, read the ingredients (then Google those)! And if the boxed cake mix wasn’t bad enough by itself, a lot of these recipes call for adding a box of instant pudding mix…which gives me heart palpitations just thinking about it!
My goal was to make an insanely moist, delicious cake, that mimicked my favorite candy bar…the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup…and use the most natural ingredients I could find. I accomplished this by finding a chocolate cake recipe that contained whole ingredients, and helped it along by using unbleached all-purpose flour (King Arthur is my FAVORITE), organic sugar, real 100% cocoa, NON GMO canola oil, cage-free organic eggs, aluminum free baking powder, and pure vanilla extract.
If I haven’t convinced you to stay away from the boxed mixes for fear of the nasty chemicals, just know that this cake tastes way better than any boxed mix on the market. That should be reason enough to give it a try. Oh…and any of you single ladies (or gentleman)…I have received marriage proposals after serving this cake…even though I am already HAPPILY married;)
Now that I have rambled on about how magnificent this cake is, and the fact I may be some sort of cake genius (not really)…
Here it is…

PRINTABLE VERSION

Peanut Butter Cup Cake!
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
I use 2-9 inch round cake pans. Mine are Nordic Ware…you can get the exact same pans at Amazon, or I purchased mine at WalMart (but that was a few years ago, so I am not sure if they still carry them).
This cake is super sticky, so I HIGHLY recommend using parchment paper to line your pans. If you don’t…the cake will come out of the pan in chunks!

Peanut Butter Cake 1


peanut butter cake 2

I had a tiny helper holding the pan in place while I traced.
I layered two sheets of paper, and cut them both out at the same time, to make it faster. (Preparing the pans is my least favorite part).

peanut butter cake 3

Next…butter and flour the sides of your pans. I like to get a bit of the bottom, near the edges, as well. You will also need to butter your parchment paper (no need to flour these).
Note: Spraying the pan with cooking spray will NOT work! Again…STICKY cake!

peanut butter cake 4


IMG_3186

Set your pans aside, and it is time to prepare the cake.

I found the original recipe on Allrecipes…you can find it here.

Super Moist Chocolate Cake
1 3/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups baking cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (the higher the fat content the yummier the cake)
1/2 cup canola oil
8 oz. strong brewed coffee
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

This is an easy, fuss-free recipe. You can’t screw it up!

peanut butter cake 7

Combine all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.


peanut butter cake 8

Crack eggs into a small bowl (preventing shells in your mix).
Brew the coffee. (This is where my Cuisinart one cup coffee maker comes in handy.)

peanut butter cake 9

I add the coffee to my cold buttermilk, so it cools down and doesn’t cook the eggs. 
Create a well (a big hole) in the center of your dry ingredient mixture.
Add the coffee/buttermilk mixture, oil, eggs and vanilla into the center of the dry ingredients.

peanut butter cake 10

Mix with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed for two minutes, scraping the bowl down as you go.
I use my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer on “6”.

peanut butter cake 11

Pour an even amount of batter into each pan. I totally eyeball this…but you could measure it out cup by cup. Sorry, I have never done this, so I am not sure exactly how much batter this yields. If anyone finds out and wants to post it in the “comments”, I would be grateful :-)

peanut butter cake 12

Bake on the center oven rack, making sure there is at least 1-2 inches of space between each pan, for 28-30 minutes. I shake my pans, and if the middle doesn’t jiggle, they’re done.

peanut butter cake 13

Cool on wire baking racks for 10 minutes, then flip the cakes our of the pan (and onto the rack) to cool.
Once cool, I wrap each cake in plastic wrap (3 or four times), leaving the parchment on. I then place it in the freezer on a cake board (if you don’t have one, which I am sure most of you don’t…use cardboard or cookie sheets), so the cake doesn’t break. This cake tastes way better if you let it sit in the freezer for a few days. The flavors have a chance to meld, and the texture gets better. Trust me on this. Plus…it is easier to frost when the layers are frozen.


peanut butte cake 15

Remove your cake from the freezer when you are ready to make the frosting and assemble.

Here is the frosting recipe…
(You will also need a handful of miniature Peanut Butter Cups for decoration.)

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I LOVE Skippy Natural for this)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
5 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp. heavy cream


peanut butter cake 16

Beat cream cheese, butter, peanut butter and vanilla until well combined and fluffy.

peanut butter cake 17

Scrape down the sides of

peanut butter cake 18

Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until well mixed.

peanut butter cake 19

This is where everyone will vary…Add heavy cream a tablespoon at a time, until you reach a fluffy, spreadable consistency. I used 2 tablespoons.

peanut butter cake 20

Your frosting should look like this.
Unwrap one of your frozen cake, and remove the parchment paper. Set flat side down (bottom) on a plate of cake stand.

peanut butter cake 21

Spread about one cup of frosting evenly over the first layer, until it just reaches the edge.

peanut butter cake 22

I like my Wilton 13 inch cake spatula for this…but I started out using a bitter knife…so anything like that would work.

peanut butter cake 23

Next, unwrap the second cake, and place flat side (bottom) up, so that your cake will be even on the top.


peanut butter cake 31

Frost the entire cake with a thin, even layer of frosting. This is what is referred to as the “crumb coat”.  You will see chocolate cake peeking through. This is OK! Once you have the crumb coat applied, place the cake back in the freezer for 15 minutes. This allows the frosting to set, and the crumbs to be locked and frozen into place.

peanut butter cake 33

Remove the cake from the freezer. Frost the entire cake again, until you can not see any of the dark chocolate peeking through. It is alright if it does a bit in the bottom and top, like mine, because it will be covered by decorative frosting and ganache.

Time to decorate!

peanut butter cake 34
I use a large star tip, or sometimes a round tip, to pipe my icing around the bottom of my cake. If you don’t want to invest in one (they are cheap…like under $2), you can cut the corner off of a plastic freezer or storage bag and pipe large dots of frosting that way.

peanut butter cake 35

Using a large cup to hold my pasty bag (or freezer/storage bag) works well. Scoop frosting into the bag, twist to seal, and you are ready to go!

peanut butter cake 36

Apply a little pressure to the bag, stop, then pull up. Repeat the entire way around the cake.

peanut butter cake 37
My star tip was a little pinched, so this looks a bit different than it should…but still great!

Next we need to make the ganache. This is what really sends this cake over the edge of sinfulness.

Chocolate Ganache
3/4 cup heavy cream (whipping cream is fine)
1 cup good quality bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli…it is the best I have found)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

peanut butter cake 38

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to just a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate and vanilla. Let stand for thirty seconds.

peanut butter cake 45

Whisk mixture until chocolate is completely melted and glossy.

peanut butter cake 47

Quickly pour ganache over the top of the frosted cake. Using your spatula or knife, spread over the top, encouraging it to drip over the edges.

peanut butter cake 48

This is a thicker ganache than I usually use…but it is easier for beginners. If you want a smoother, more glassy ganache, use a full cup of cream to start. Just be careful…it can get away from you very quickly and ruin the appearance of the cake.


peanut butter cake 49

Use your icing bag to add embellishments to the top of the cake. I do three in the middle and six around the outside.

peanut butter cake 51

Add 1/2 of a miniature Peanut Butter Cup in the center of each embellishment, and crumble a few over the top of the cake.
And…

Peanut Butter Cake 67

you have a gorgeous cake worthy of any party or celebration (or just for the heck of it)!

peanut butter cake 60



Peanut Butter Cake 55

I hope you love this as much as we do…
Now go…Show off!


Peanut Butter cake 70


Next week I will be sharing another of my amazing cake recipes with you...and showing you how to make your own fondant from from 2 simple ingredients!

And that is only the beginning...because from now until Christmas, I will be showing you how to make a new cake EVERY week!

Follow me on FACEBOOK and subscribe by email so you don't miss out!


Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Jessie

Exploring the Upper Peninsula...and a Few Yummies

I am going to make this short...because I am desperately trying to be more intentional with my time.  Spending less of it on my phone or com...