Rhubarb Crisp

I was recently the recipient of someone else's rhubarb bounty.  My dad's co-worker apparently has a ton of rhubarb which he graciously shared with my parents, who graciously shared it with me.  What is one to do with well over 8 cups of fresh rhubarb?  Well, I made a crisp.

I used to think that crisps and crumbles were pretty lame and boring.  Seriously, look at the above photo, are you inspired by that crisp.  No.  They look...rustic, humble, BORING.  In fact, they are actually fantastic.  All of the flavor of a pie, half the work.  No fighting with pie crust, serve it with a spoon, perfect.  And I really haven't met a soul who doesn't like a fresh fruit crumble.

Rhubarb Crisp

Base
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dry pancake mix (like Bisquick)
4 cups fresh rhubarb, finely chopped
splash of lemon juice

Combine pancake mix and sugar.  Add lemon juice and rhubarb.  Toss lightly.  Put mixture in the bottom of a 9 inch square pan.

Topping
1 1/2 cup pancake mix
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 egg
1/2 cup melted butter

In a small bowl, combine pancake mix and sugar.  Add in egg and melted butter and beat to combine.  The topping will have the consistency of a thick cake batter.  Spread over the top of the rhubarb mixture.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and the rhubarb is bubbling.

It is especially delightful served with some vanilla bean ice cream.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Emily!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful, amazing baby sister.  You are an incredible woman and I am lucky to have you in my family.  I am so glad that my nephew is getting a baby sister, because really, a little sister is the best gift I have ever gotten.

This ruffle cake is really pretty easy.  I made a 6 inch cake 3 layers high.  A box of cake mix will make a 3 layer 6 inch cake.  To make the ruffled sides, use a Wilton #104 tip and place the tip perpendicular to the cake with the fat end of the tip toward the cake.  The trickiest bit is keeping your lines straight.  As you can see, I did not do a killer job at that :)  I put a crumb coat on the cake, but it wasn't necessary.  The ribbon frosting takes a lot of icing, so with the crumb coat there was too much frosting and I had to make more than my usual one batch of icing.  The writing was done in a Wilton #3 tip and the swirls for the boarder were done with a Wilton #18 tip.  I used a buttercream that was part shortening because I wanted the frosting to hold up on a two hour car ride, plus is makes the piping a bit crisper.  I prefer the flavor of straight butter buttercream, so if you are keeping it local and making it on a cool day that is what I would recommend.

Buttercream

1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup butter
2 pound bag powdered sugar (about 8 cups)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4-6 tablespoons water (to thin)

Savory Sunday: Kale On The Grill

I'm not really one for trendy clothes or shoes (ok, maybe sometimes shoes) but I am a real sucker for trendy food.  I want to try it all.  Kale came onto my radar a year or two ago and I was determined to like it, you know, kale being a super food and all.  Well, turns out kale is pretty bitter.  But I do like it roasted in olive oil  with salt and pepper.  What is the summer equivalent of roasting?  Grilling.  My husband put some kale on the grill for me the other day and it was delicious.

Grilled Kale

1/2 bag kale, washed and de-ribbed
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, toss kale with olive oil.  Put in a grill basket and place on the grill for about 15 minutes or until kale is pretty wilted and starting to get crispy.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Oh, Cookie Puss

Do you love the coconut unibrow?

Sitting around, eating ice cream in Utah, chatting about my friend Kim's upcoming birthday, I mentioned to her husband Jim that I would like to make Kim an ice cream cake.

"You should make Cookie Puss, she would love it!"

What the what is Cookie Puss?  It sounded like maybe the most creeptastic name for a cake I had ever heard.  Then when I saw its picture I was certain it was the most creeptastic cake in the world.  But, I was not an East coast child of the '80s where apparently Cookie Puss was the thing to have.

And so, I set out on a journey to learn about Cookie Puss (aka:Wikipedia search) and replicate him from scratch.

Doing my research, I learned a lot about good ole' Cookie Puss and any dessert worth mentioning on not one, but two different episodes of Archer is certainly worthy of my attention.  I decided to go classic, a combination of chocolate and vanilla ice cream with a cookie crumble layer in the middle.

By the time I was done, I was worried I had created another monstrosity but Kim loved it so I was happy (and the dang thing actually tastes pretty good).

This is not a one day, rock it out and have some ice cream cake.  This, my friends, is a marathon.  My ice cream maker requires the bowl to be fully frozen to work properly so I had to make each layer of ice cream on a different day and then put it all together on the third day. 

Homemade Cookie Puss

1 quart chocolate ice cream
1 quart vanilla ice cream (I used two vanilla beans 'cause I'm wild like that)
1 recipe cookie crumbles
1 recipe buttercream
handful of sweetened, shredded coconut dyed whatever color you desire
2 chocolate chip cookies (ok, I bought these, I was running shy on time :)
1 small waffle cone
1/2 cup chocolate frosting

Cookie Crumbles
30 chocolate sandwich cookies
1-7 ounce container Magic Shell

Put chocolate sandwich cookies in the food processor and pulse until finely crumbled.  While the food processor is running, pour in the bottle of Magic Shell until combined.

Dyed Coconut
handful of sweetened, shredded coconut
squirt of food coloring

In a plastic baggie put coconut and food coloring.  Close baggie and massage coconut to redistribute color as desired.

To Make Cookie Puss

• Line a 6 inch round cake pan and a 9X9 inch square cake pan with plastic.  This step is crucial and should not be skipped.  I am all about changing recipes, don't skip this step!
• Make chocolate ice cream.  Divide and spread evenly into the bottom of the round cake pan and the square cake pan, reserving about 1/2 cup for his nose.  Freeze this in a separate container.  Cover with plastic and freeze overnight.
• Make the cookie crumbles.  Divide and spread evenly onto the chocolate ice cream in both pans. (Don't forget to take the plastic wrap off first :)  Cover and freeze again overnight
• Make the vanilla ice cream.  Divide and spread on top of the cookie layer.  Cover and freeze overnight.
• Make the buttercream.  While you are making the buttercream, pull the pans of ice cream out of the freezer to warm up for 15 minutes.
• On a cake board (or whatever you want to serve it on) turn out the 6 inch cake.  It should slide right out if you lined your pan with plastic :)  Put the vanilla side up. 
• Take the square cake and using large round cookie cutters (or a drinking glass) cut two large circles for the eyes.  I ended up having to mark the circles with my cookie cutter and the cut the circles with a knife because the cookie crumble layer freezes too hard.  You will have some leftover.  You should refreeze it and eat later.
• Place the smaller circles above the large circle (for eyes).  Put back in the freezer for 15 minutes to harden back up.
• Working quickly, frost all over with buttercream.  I had to keep re-freezing the cake about every 5 minutes for 10 minutes because the vanilla ice cream started melting. 
• Using a squirt of buttercream, "glue" down the chocolate chip cookies for eyes and ice cream cone for a nose.  Use scoop of reserved chocolate ice cream to finish nose.
• Decorate eyes and mouth as desired using remaining buttercream and chocolate frosting.  I used a Wilton #32 tip for the eyes, mouth and arms.  I dyed a small amount of buttercream (less than 1/4 cup) red for the mittens.  Sprinkle dyed coconut as desired for hair.  Refreeze and enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Rhubarb Muffins

I am trying to decide what to put in my garden this year.  Last year was my first year putting in a fairly substantial garden and I loved having it.  I was like a kid at Christmas, running out after work with my big white bucket to see what was ripe.  The only problem was that, when planting the garden, I was very afraid of failure.  Consequently, I put in a lot of the same kind of plants assuming some would die.  And some did.  Like all of my green beans.  But none of my tomatoes.  Meaning I had 26 plants worth of tomatoes to can last year.  So this year I would like a little more variety.

I keep making lists, I pretty much want to grow everything.  However, time and space are always at a premium.  One thing I always tell myself to plant it rhubarb.  That sour tang in the middle of my baked goods is always relished.  Right now I have to search high and low at the store and then I end up hoarding it.  But do I ever get it planted?  No.  But this year, this is going to be the year.

Rhubarb Muffins

Makes about 20 muffins, give or take

2 cups rhubarb, chopped quite small
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add in egg and vanilla and beat to combine.  Slowly add in the milk and beat to combine.  Add in the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, and baking soda.  Beat to combine.  Fold in rhubarb pieces.

Drop tablespoonfuls of batter into greased muffin pan (I used cupcake wrappers for ease of removal).  Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake at 350 degress for 18-22 minutes.

Topping

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Stir together.  Sprinkle liberally on the top of muffin batter.

Interesting Things

Here are some things I have been loving this week:

I love this 100 Rules of Dinner!

Grandma always said it was important to mix sweet and salty.

I used to think that bunt cakes were super lame, but this one looks killer.

Giant ice cream sandwich

I have never make roasted strawberries but these Roasted Strawberry Muffins make me want to give it a try!