Inspired by Lady Bird’s quote to bake and decorate a cake with beautiful, edible flowers. I’m pairing it with an 80s, vintage Susan Apple floral dress. Fun and spontaneous!
Now that we are spending more time at home . . . we have an opportunity for things that we never got around to doing. For me, I am sorting through some the Susan Apple, Inc’s archives. Rediscovering photos, documents and dresses of an apparel business that I founded in my college dorm room. It is almost as fun as reuniting with old friends!
Discovering this Susan Apple floral dress gave me an idea to bake a cake to pair with it. So here is the original 80s dress . . .
A moist 3-layer cake iced with fluffy, white frosting and decorated with a variety of bright, edible flowers.
Prep Time1hour
Cook Time30minutes
Total Time1hour30minutes
Ingredients
3 1/2cupssifted cake flour
4teaspoons baking powder
1teaspoonsalt
1cup(2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2cupssugar
6large eggs, at room temperature
1cupwhole milk
1teaspoonvanilla
Fluffy White Frosting: 4 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup sugar, 6 tablespoons corn syrup, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 6 egg whites (rom temperature), 1/2 teaspoon tartar, 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Grease and line with parchment paper three 3" X 8" round cake pans. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. With the machine on low, gradually add the sugar, beat for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the vanilla to the milk, stir to combine. Set aside.
Mixing on low speed, add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients, alternating with the dry and wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
Divide the batter among the three pans.
Bake in the middle rack for 25-30 minutes or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in the pans, set on wire racks for 5 to 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks and cool completely.
Assembling the cake: Place one cake layer on an 8" round cake board, spread with one fourth of the frosting. Add the second layer, spread with another fourth of the frosting, add the last cake layer, spread one fourth of the frosting on the sides of the cake, add the last fourth of the frosting to the top of the cake. With an off-set spatula make swirls in the frosting.
Slide a large spatula under the cake and cake board, lift it up and transfer it to a cake stand or large platter.
Frosting directions: In a heavy bottom saucepan, mix the sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt. Cook until mixture reaches 238ºF. on a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until frothy, add the cream of tartar and continue beating until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. Continue beating, slowly adding the cooked sugar mixture until the frosting is thick and creamy, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, blend together.
This rich, velvety, chocolate cream pie is topped with sweetened whipped cream. It is out of this world.
*A short cut for this recipe is a store-bought pie crust.
Prep Time30minutes
Cook Time25minutes
Servings8slices
Ingredients
3egg yolks
1cupsugar
1/3cupcocoa
1/3cupcornstarch
1/2teaspoonsalt
2pintshalf & half
8oz.semi sweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2tablespoonbutter
1tablespoonvanilla
1blind-baked pie shell
Whipped cream topping: 1 pint heavy cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream and sugar together on medium-high until the soft peaks form. Add the vanilla and blend.
1 good-quality chocolate bar: With a vegetable peeler, gently peel the chocolate, creating curls.
Instructions
In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks with about 1/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside.
In a heavy-bottom saucepan set over medium heat, add 1 pint of the half & half, the remaining sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the remaining pint of half & half, whisking constantly until the pudding begins to steam.
Add the chopped chocolate and continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil and is very thick, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Reduce heat, about one cup of the hot mixture to the egg yolk mixture, return to the chocolate pudding and continue cooking and whisking vigorously, about 1 minute.
Remove form heat, stir in the butter and vanilla.
Pour into the prepared pie shell. Cool. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill for a couple of hours.
Spread the prepared whipped cream onto the pie. Decorate with chocolate curls.
The color contrast between the chocolate cake and the snowy white frosting is striking. And the chocolate chips add a whimsical touch!
Prep Time3hours
Cook Time45minutes
Ingredients
1 1/3cupsshortening
3cupssugar
6large eggs
4 1/2cupsall-purpose flour
1 1/3cupscocoa
2teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonsalt
2cupsbuttermilk
2teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Line 3 3" round cake pans with parchment paper and lightly grease. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together until fluffy the shortening, sugar and eggs.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
On a low speed, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, mix in the dry and wet ingredients.
Pour into the prepared pans. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool on wire racks for 20 to 30 minutes. Invert onto wire racks and cool completely.
Spread the frosting between the layers, on the sides and the top of the cake.
Fluffy White Icing: 4 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 6 tablespoons corn syrup, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 6 egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/3 cup confectioners sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Frosting directions:
In a heavy-bottom saucepan, mix the sugar, water, corn syrup and salt. Cook until mixture reaches a soft ball stage, 238ºF on a candy thermometer.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whisk, beat the egg whites until frothy, add the cream of tartar and continue beating until the are stiff but not dry. Continue beating, slowly add the sugar mixture, beat until the icing is creamy, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the confectioners sugar and vanilla, blend together.
Over the years, I have collected dozens of hand-written biscuit recipes and tried all of them. This is how I came up with the five secrets to down-home and fluffy biscuits. They are truly easy to make and should be mastered by all great cooks!
Five secrets to down-home and fluffy biscuits:
White Lily flour is milled from 100% soft winter wheat. It contains less protein than standard flour. So the biscuits are fluffier!
Handle the dough as little as possible, knead for 30 seconds.
When cutting the biscuits, cut straight down. No twisting!
Be sure the oven is fully preheated to 450ºF before baking the biscuits. An oven thermometer is a good idea to check the temperature.
Do not over bake the biscuits! Set the timer for 10 minutes, check and watch carefully.
Classic buttermilk biscuits are delicious with breakfast, lunch or dinner. Once the basic biscuit recipe is mastered, there is no end to what can be done with the biscuit dough. Chives, poppy seeds, cheddar cheese and fresh rosemary give them a whole new flavor.
Prep Time20minutes
Cook Time12minutes
Servings12biscuits
Ingredients
2cupsall-purpose flour
1tablespoonbaking powder
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonsalt
1/4cupcold shortening, chilled and cut into pieces
3/4 - 1cupbuttermilk
Melted butter for brushing on top of the baked biscuits.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450ºF.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Using your finger tips or a pastry blender, cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Slowly pour in enough buttermilk to make a slightly sticky dough, stirring all the while.
Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead lightly for just 30 seconds to mix thoroughly. Be careful not to overwork the dough.
Roll or pat the dough to a 1" thickness. Cut with a biscuit cutter. Cut straight down and pull the cutter straight from the dough. Do not twist!
Place the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet. Leave a little space between them. For fluffier biscuits place close together.
Gather the leftover dough, gently pinch together and cut one or two more biscuit.
Bake in preheated oven for 12 tp 15 minutes. Bake until puffed and lightly browned. Starting at 10 minutes, check for doneness.
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