Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

So what to do with all the lovely strawberries we gathered for my birthday?

I hate super sugary strawberry pies but I sure do love pie. I saw some rhubarb at the farmers' market and thought that it would go beautifully with fresh, sweet, strawberries. So, pie it is!

Start by washing the rhubarb.


Slice the rhubarb diagonally in half inch pieces to expose the most surface area.


Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, and 1/4 cup cornstarch (or 1/2 cup tapioca starch). You can add up to another 1/2 cup of sugar if your strawberries aren't as sweet or you just prefer it sweeter. Stir.


I was lazy for this round and used store-bought refrigerator pie dough. I suggest the pillsbury brand dough (you'll need two boxes). I tried a different brand and the dough was on the soggy side-probably because it used all shortening instead of some butter. Pat into a rimmed baking sheet. I believe this is a 9" x 12" sheet.


Place the pie sheet in the refrigerator if it's quite warm out and make sure your oven is preheated to 375 degrees. When ready, pour the filling into the shell and try not to mound it too high.


Use an egg wash around the edges of the dough and top with another layer of dough. You can get fancy and make a lattice top but here, I just covered it the best I could, crimped the edges well and rolled it inward to keep juices from flowing off the pan and burning in the over. Slice some vents in the top.


I also brushed the top with egg wash and sprinkled it with some sugar. Feel free to use white, brown, or turbinado sugar.

Forty to fifty minutes later, you get this:


IMPORTANT: Do not slice into this pie until completely cool. This may take up to 24 hours.

I had extra filling so I made a 9 inch round pie too. If you have a crowd to feed or you especially like a higher ratio of crust to filling, the slab pie is the way to go. If you like more filling, go with the round pie.


I topped this round pie with vanilla pudding filling but cool whip would work well too.

Take a bite! Rhubarb really brings out a true strawberry flavor.


Enjoy!
Sugar*mama

Strawberries!

I Love Strawberries! I can't get enough of these jewels when they are in season. I could easily eat a pound or two in one sitting. So, we went to a local farm to get some fresh berries. We could buy a quart of strawberries for $4.50 OR we could pick our own for $1.50 a pound. Considering that I would eat that quart in two seconds flat, we went out into the fields. Here's our yield!



I went for the small ruby red berries and Secret Agent Man was really good at finding the really big berries. All together we pulled in nearly 8 lbs! I'm so excited that I can't decide how I want to make use of these gems. So I started simple: Fresh Strawberry Topping (or otherwise known as Macerated Berries).

You'll need to wash and quarter about a pint of strawberries.


Sprinkle on a tablespoon of sugar--add more if your strawberries are somewhat weak in flavor or unripened.


If you are feeling particularly naughty, add a splash of vanilla extract or grand marnier or chambord. Then stir it up and let it sit in the refrigerator for about 20minutes.

In the mean time, to make a pretty garnish for various strawberry desserts, take one pretty strawberry.


Make a slice about 3/4 ways from the bottom to the top but do not cut all the way through the stem area.


Make a series of parallel slices being careful not to slice through the stem.


Then carefully, fan it out slightly.

Ta dah! Simple but effective. Especially when paired with a mint leaf on vanilla ice cream in my favorite mug.


Ahhh, but remember, I can't get enough strawberries! So out comes my macerated berries! As you stir it around, you'll notice the syrup it made and how much the strawberry flavor comes out.


Then, pour as much of the strawberries over ice cream, pound cake, shortcake, pancakes, custard, vanilla pudding, chocolate mousse, or spoon directly into your mouth as much as your heart desires. I won't tell.


This is also a quick and easy dessert to make for guests. Just macerate a bunch of different berries or peaches or plums. Add a few sprigs of mint and top with some fresh whipped cream and you've got yourself a classy summer dessert with no fuss.

Stay tuned for more strawberry desserts (I do have another 7.5 pounds to go!).
Enjoy,
Sugar*mama

Fat Tuesday

A year ago today, I was in Sweden. It was actually quite a fortuitous time to have been there because a storm had just passed through and covered the countryside in beautiful snow. Not much unlike here, our current home. However, the real reason it was great to have been in Sweden on Fat Tuesday, or I believe it's more commonly known as Shrove Tuesday there, is because I got to be introduced to their traditional Fat Tuesday fare--you know me and food!

So where New Orleanians have their King Cake and Hawaii Portuguese have their Malasadas, my hosts in Orebro were excited to share their Semla.


Semla is this wonderfully soft yeasty bun flecked with cardamom in the dough. It was a surprising and unusual flavor but mostly because it was difficult to identify at first bite and it was quite faint-not strong or overwhelming at all. Here's the best part:

They scoop out the middle, mix the crumbs with some milk and almond paste, put it back inside the bun, pipe some lovely fresh whipped cream and top it off with the 'cap' of the bun.

Semla is sometimes even served in a bowl of steaming milk. I purchased this second semla at the airport while waiting to board the plane and it was fabulous with a cup of strong, black, Swedish coffee (which by-the-way, is so well protected you cannot import, mail, or ship other coffee to Sweden without permission). I still dream about Semla a year later. In fact, I wanted this post to be about making Semla but my house is too cold to properly rise any yeast dough without extreme effort so you just get to dream with me.

Since we're on the topic of food and Sweden, I was only there for literally 30 hours. So I cannot review Sweden and all it's glory but it doesn't seem to have a strong cultural identity surrounding food. Their fare is rather simple (which I really do like) but there was nothing that really stuck out. This is what I had for dinner one night and this was as close as I could get to Swedish food:


I opted for chopped steak (essentially salisbury steak or hamburger steak) instead of Swedish meatballs since I can get that IKEA (hahahaa....) and the lingonberry sauce was quite good. They seem to like to drink beer with every meal, like any other European country, I suppose, and they serve boiled potatoes as their primary starch.

On the topic of food, some of you might get a kick out of this--look what I found in the middle of the town square:

Weight Watchers in Orebro!

I did get to see the town's castle and take a tour but I won't bore you with all the pictures. It did look lovely covered in snow though.
It was complete with a moat and everything!

The people were very friendly and many could speak enough English to explain to the dumb American girl how to find her hotel, and how much money she was holding, and what would be best to eat at the hotel bar. I would love to go back and visit during summer where the countryside is said to be the most stunning.

Hope you're having a happy Fat Tuesday in your corner of the world!
Sugar*mama

Shave Ice!

Or as Big Islanders say: "Ice Shave!"



Sweets for my sweets.
Sugar*mama

American Buttercreme Frosting

Frosting gives you the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to baked goods. Frosting can turn an ordinary boxed cake into an extraordinary celebration cake. Unless you are serving true foodies, most people will be so impressed with the frosting that they won't pay any attention to the cake--hence, don't waste time on making a fussy cake when you can make this easy frosting!

There are several types of buttercreme frosting but today we will make the simplest: American Buttercreme. It's a little sweet, a little rich, and very easy.

You only need three ingredients: Butter, Cream, and powdered sugar.
You can get creative and mix and match flavors, liquids, and even butter or shortening. We will begin by testing the differences between a butter vs. shortening frosting.

SO, let's begin with:
1 Cup (2 sticks) Butter, softened vs. 1 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 1/2 cup powdered or confectioner's sugar, sifted
2 Tbsp milk or cream



By-the-way, that big bag of white powder IS sugar. In case you've ever wondered who would ever buy that 20 lb. bag of powdered sugar at Costco, you can stop wondering. I gave some away to friends when I moved and I was so paranoid that I would get arrested for possession with the intent to distribute that it gave me the idea for the name of this blog!

Anyhoo, back to frosting. Start by getting your butter out on the counter to soften. If you live in a cold environment, you may need to use the microwave for only 10 seconds. Any more than that and you'll get a greasy mess. Crisco is already soft and at room temperature so you don't need to do anything with it.

Next, sift your powdered sugar. I sift more than a cup at a time since I usually end up using more. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP--this is the only way to get lumps out, once it is mixed in you get very irritating hard bits. I use a fine sieve over a glass bowl.

If you don't have one-get one, it's totally worth it (about $3.50 at Walmart/ Target) and you can use it for pasta too!

Use a spoon to stir the sugar around and rub it through the sieve to make things go faster.


In the mean time, start beating your butter or shortening. You can use a handheld mixer--no need for the fancy stuff (but how I love thee). Here's a picture of whipped butter:

And here's a picture of the butter flavored Crisco:

The color of the crisco is kinda off-putting.

Once it is well beaten, add powdered sugar by the quarter cup. This helps keep it from flying up in your face and making a mess.


Do not worry if it looks crumbly. This is where you add your cream one tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you want. I've had a lot of luck with using vanilla coffee creamer as my liquid--this gets the most wows. BUT if you are worried about consuming artificial food, you can definitely use regular milk or half-n-half, or whipping cream. You can also use any flavor extract you want to make it extra special. Make sure you mix well!


At this point you can adjust the texture by adding more powdered sugar (see aren't you glad you sifted extra?) to make it a bit thicker or add more milk/cream to make it a but thinner. I like to keep it so that it's a bit on the thicker side but still spreadable. No exact science here.


Here are two different frostings on volunteer cupcakes.


I actually tested a 50% butter + 50% shortening frosting as well. Here are the results:

Taste- Butter tastes richer and has a nicer mouth feel as long as it's at room temperature. It gets oily if it's hot out. The butter Crisco was suprisingly good but it's less frosting taste and more like the middle of hostess cupcakes or oreos.

Texture- Butter was definitely smoother in the mouth but also felt dense so you need a pretty sturdy cake (no angel food cake for this frosting!). Crisco was gritty. The sugar didn't quite dissolve in the shortening which left a greasy feel and gritty bite. BUT, left to mellow overnight, the texture was identical to butter!

Appearance- Believe it or not, the yucky looking fake yellow Crisco whipped up white just like the butter frosting! Crisco was slightly darker but still appeared white, fluffy and creamy looking.

Convenience- Crisco is much better at convenience because you don't have to wait to soften the butter and it can be used in a wide range of temperatures, thus it's a little more fool-proof. You can also whip up the Crisco frosting a few days ahead and store in the refrigerator, take it out and begin frosting right away! You could whip the butter frosting as well but you would have to soften the butter and re-whip before frosting.

So the winner is: BUTTER AND SHORTENING! Just kidding, I hate when there's no clear answer. If you are making a big batch for a party, wedding, or it needs to travel in a hot car, definitely go with at least a 50% butter and 50% shortening mix--it'll be much more stable and easier to deal with. It just seems so wrong that a fake shortening would out perform real butter but it does for commercial reasons but the flavor of butter is definitely much deeper and more satisfying (so you eat less and don't feel sick after) than the shortening.

If you have extra frosting, just freeze and take it out for your next cake!
Enjoy your sugar coma.
Sugar*Mama

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

This Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake is responsible for the aquisition of my mixer. It is the cheesecake that convinced Secret Agent Man of all the wonders my magic mixer will bring him. The irony here is that *anyone* can make cheesecake--with or without a mixer.

This recipe is made up by me but if you have a favorite cheesecake recipe, you can use that recipe with these techniques. An easy recipe is the one found on the Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese. Just know that my recipe makes a huge cheesecake--one 9-inch springform AND a 9-inch pie. I usually make the springform size to bring to potlucks and parties during the holidays and Secret Agent Man gets upset when we get home because there isn't any cheesecake for him. Hence, the extra 9-inch pie. So,here we go...

Ingredients:
Graham Crackers- enough to make 2 cups of crumbs
1/4 c. Granulated (white) sugar
6 Tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. Cinnamon

5 pkg. (2.5 lbs) Cream Cheese
1 c. sour cream
1 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
4 eggs
2 egg yolks

1 can (15 oz) 100% Pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 Tbsp. Cinnamon plus any other spices you like: ginger, clove, nutmeg

Directions:
1. Make sure all of your ingredients are room temperature. If you need to, place the eggs (still in their shells) in a bowl of warm water. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Crumble your graham crackers. Use a food processor or your fingers. You should make enough crumbs to measure out about 2 cups. This is not precise and it's better to have more crumbs than not enough.


3. Add 1/4 c. sugar and cinnamon to crumbs. Mix.


4. Melt 6 Tbsp. butter and pour into crumb mixture. Mix. You may need to add more butter until the crumbs looks like wet sand.

Remember Apple Pie #2? This graham cracker crumb mix will smell fantastic. Control yourself.

5. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with oil.


6. Dump crumb mix into pan and spread around evenly. Then, take the bottom of a glass, measuring cup, or in my case a candle holder and press down on the crumb mixture firmly working from the middle outward. When you get to the edge, push down and against the side of the pan. It'll make the crumbs climb the side and stick up.



7. You are going to blind bake this crust. Meaning, stick the crust into the oven and bake it for about 10-15 minutes. You will know when to take it out when you smell the crumbs toasting.

8. Meanwhile, dump your softened, room temperature cream cheese into a big bowl or mixer. You may need to microwave your cream cheese for a few seconds (*hint* take off the aluminum wrapper) if the temperature of your room is around 30 degrees.


9. Beat the cream cheese for about 1 minute until creamy. Add sugar. I decided to use brown sugar instead of white sugar here (told ya, I make this up as I go along).

10. Add one cup of sour cream to mix and make sure that everything is well incorporated before adding eggs--one at a time.


***We interrupt this regularly scheduled program with this important message: Do NOT whip or beat the cream cheese mixture from this point on. If you are using your mixture, turn it down low so it basically stirs the mix. The more air you whip into the mix, the more likely you will have an uneven cheesecake and one that sinks after it cools. Be patient and add one egg at a time-stirring the mix. And now we return to your program***

11. Add the egg yolks to the mix, one at a time. Set aside.


12. In a large bowl, empty a can of pumpkin puree. Mix in spices of your choice, like cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice and/or nutmeg.

13. Add one more egg to the pumpkin puree and mix well. Add one half of the cream cheese mixture to the pumpkin mixture and fold it together.


14. Dump the rest of the cream cheese mixture directly into the crust.


15. Now, spoon the pumpkin mixture over the cream cheese mixture. Be very gentle. You want the pumkin to float on the cream cheese.


16. Smooth out and put into the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees.


17. You will have left over pumpkin/cream cheese mixture. You can put this in the refrigerator for later or you can bake it in a second pie plate at the same time.

18. I mis-timed my cheesecake but you want to turn off the oven before the cheesecake is completely done to avoid cracking. How do you know when this is? Obviously, you would be asking the wrong person since there's cracks in my cheesecake--most people won't care about the cracks so don't worry. Basically, you want to gently shake the cake. If it's still jiggly in the middle but firm around the sides (about 1 hour in the oven) then turn off the oven and allow the residual heat to continue cooking the cake and slowly bring the temperature down. Once you pull it out of the oven, run a knife around the edge.


19. Let it cool for another few hours in the pan. You may stick it in the refrigerator once it is cooled completely to room temperature. When you are brave enough, unmold your cake. Take off the ring and run a knife under the cake to loosen and slide onto a plate. It's easier if you have a cake cardboard to slide under the cake then transfer to a plate.


20. Serve this baby up--look at those lovely layers! The best way to cut a cheesecake, is to use a chef knife and run it under hot water after each slice. Learned this from a chef friend about 12 years ago. Never failed me yet!


Final words...this seems like a lot of work and super complicated but it really isn't so difficult. You can definately stop at the cream cheese mixture and leave out the pumpkin. It's also easier to bake this in a 9x13 glass pan or a 9-inch pie pan. You won't have to worry about cracking tops and it only takes about 45 minutes to bake at 300 degrees. This is really flexible and difficult to mess up. One last work--have fun with it! Try replacing the graham crackers with oreo cookies (minus the cream centers--trust me). Yum.

Now, go and impress your friends.
Sweet*mama