making the ingredients (caramels)

I had a friend whose birthday was today.  Her two favorite flavors are caramel and chocolate.  I decided to combine the two in a brownie.  My Dad makes caramels so I followed his recipe.  I think next time I would make his caramel sauce for ice cream to use instead but this was decadent.

Caramels

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup Karo syrup (you can use a 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup Karo syrup (light corn syrup))

2 teaspoons vanilla

a pinch of salt

In a heavy sauce pan, mix corn syrup, sugar, and 1/2 cup whipping cream.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil and cook slowly to 234 degrees.

Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup whipping cream.  Return to heat and cook to 234 degrees.  Remove from heat and add remaining 1/2 cup whipping cream.

Return to heat and cook to 246 degrees.  

Remove from heat and add the vanilla and salt.

Pour into a buttered pan or pan lined with parchment paper.

Cut into pieces once firm.  I am living someplace where it was a 100 degrees today, so I actually put the caramels in the freezer to cool.

I took a small container of caramels to work.  I was told that Thursdays was now homemade candy day.  It made me smile.  

for a birthday: lemon blackberry cake with icing

Can I say that family is interesting?  On Monday, we drove to celebrate my Beloved's Grandmother's birthday.  I baked a cake but it did not get eaten.  I really wished to make this with raspberries but we had no raspberries in the house.  It was a last minute trip so going to the store just did not work.  I also wanted to make a layer cake with frosting but with three hours in the truck and 96 degrees outside, I could not figure out how to do that.

My Beloved and Tall Short person are very happy with this cake.  So happy, I think they are glad they did not have to share!

Lemon Blackberry Cake

1 cup plus two tablespoons butter

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon zest from four small lemons

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, milk, or hempmilk

10 ounces frozen blackberries

4 small lemons (used for their zest) sliced

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan, put the lemons, water, and 2 cups sugar.  Bring to a boil and then turn the heat under them so that it will simmer for 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat after 15 minutes and let cool with the lemons in the syrup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a 9 in springform pan.  Flour the greased pan.

 In a large bowl, cream the 1 cup sugar and the butter together.  Mix in the vanilla and lemon zest.   Mix in the eggs.  Mix in the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  A little bit at a time, mix in the cream or hempmilk.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Smooth is out with a spatula so it is even.  Top with the blackberries.  Bake for 1 hour.  Test with a knife.  The cake is done when the knife comes out clean and the cake is golden brown.  I actually had to bake for another 30 minutes but I covered it with aluminum foil so it would not get too brown.

Let the cake cool for about a half hour.

Strain the lemons out of the syrup.  Take 1/3 cup of the syrup and drizzle over the cake while the cake is still warm.  Let the cake cool completely in its pan.

For the icing, put the powdered sugar in a bowl (mine worked for traveling).  Add enough lemon syrup to make a thick icing.  

Remove cake from pan.  Drizzle icing over it or drizzle icing over each slice.

This is one of those cakes that is good cold, room temperature, or warmed.  But I do not make anything different because I really do not like sponge cake!

A very late post

I am working on a birthday present for a friend and am posting MUCH later then I should be.  My Beloved is out of town again so going to bed is not so......  I just do not like it.  

Remember, I read cookbooks?  I have reading Flour by Joanne Chang.  I have gotten ideas from her.  So far, I have not tried any of the recipes.  When I see recipes for potato bread, most potatoes are boiled.  She used baked so I figured I would give it a try.

Potato Bread

1 pound russet potatoes, baked, cooled and peeled.

sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1 cup plain hempmilk or water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups flour

I baked my potato the day before.  I have made enough gnocchi and lefsa to know that handling hot potatoes is just not fun. 

The eight hours before or the night before, mix the sourdough starter, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.  Cover and let sit.  When you are ready to bake, take out two tablespoons of the mother, and put it in the refrigerator for your next batch of bread.

Put the potato in a bowl and mash.  Add the olive oil and mash some more.  It is okay to have lumps.

Add the potatoes, hempmilk, and sugar to the starter.  Mix well.  Add two cups of flour.  Mix in until it looks like pancake batter.  Cover and let sit until bubbly.  

After two hours, add the salt and two cups of flour.  It should be dough enough to turn out and start kneading.  I found this dough very soft and sticky, reminiscent of lefsa.  Do not worry about lumps!

When the dough has been kneaded smooth, gather up into a ball and put back into the bowl.  Cover and let rise until double.

Punch down, and let rise until double again.

Butter or grease a loaf pan (or two depending on the size of loaves you wish.  My loaf was quite large).  Shape the dough into the shape of a loaf.  Put in the pan and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour, covered.

Put the loaf into a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 1 hour.  (I do not preheat)

Yumminess.  This was cut while still warm and butter was added.  It is a very nice toast or sandwich bread.  It would be lovely made into rolls.

By the way, my wooden bread bowl saved my bottom!  I reached for my sourdough jar in the refrigerator and I had forgotten to put anything in it.  It was empty.  I had read a long time ago in Bread Alone that a wooden bread bowl would collect the yeastie beasties if not washed with soap.  I have not washed my wooden bowl with soap so I added 1 cup of flour and 3/4 cup of water.  You know what.  It worked.  I was ecstatic!  Good bread too!

Happy Memorial Day

Drink some tea.

Bake a cake.

Spend time with your family.  Thank those in your family who have served, those in your life who have served, and remember those who have fallen.

the coast

We went on vacation to the Oregon coast after my Grandmother's birthday party.  Now, what does that really mean.

It means that the three of us and a dog pile into our truck that is pulling our travel trailer and head to Beverly Beach State park in Oregon.

We read and drink tea.  I might have a project to work on.

We walk in the woods to head to the beach.

And we walk.

And we walk some more.  My Beloved actually calls it trekking.  Before he came with the Tall Short person and myself, he could never figure out how we could be so tired so early in the evening from just a simple walk on the beach.  And then he joined us.  His definition of walk changed!  Trek.  I just found this out this last trip and we have been going for years now.

Puppy face had a blast!  I think we finally figured out how to tucker him out.  Beach, sticks, balls, and long walks.  But he never said no.  He just got slower as the week went along.

I kept trying to ice my fractured ankle but I think the runoff was colder then the ocean.  My ankle is still swollen.

I spend time in the kitchen creating.  My family feels like they eat very well.  Yes, we will still go out but I also create.

We have been back for a week and I am finding that I miss the trees and the ocean greatly.  We will be going back to Oregon soon for a bladesmithing course for my Beloved but it will not be the beach.  But I will get some tea and hopefully get some tree time.

This is latest finished creation.  It is already sold.  That makes me smile.  Both the process and the selling bring him joy.