Chocolate Snow Cream

I remember eating snow cream as a kid. We used a big mixing bowl to gather clean (hopefully) snow that Mom would add pudding mix to. For some reason, I especially remember pistachio snow cream, though it seems likely that we had other flavors too. 

So far this year, we haven't gotten enough snow for me to feel we could gather enough of it that seemed clean. Having free-range chickens means that most parts of the yard are suspect if you accidentally scrape snow too close to the grass. But I thought a recent five-inch snowfall was thick enough to finally make snow cream for my kids. 

I don't usually have pudding mix on hand, but I had recently made chocolate pudding and figured the same ingredients could be stirred into snow. Cocoa powder, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and a little salt have produced a delicious snow cream that the kids and I have devoured until our tongues are tingly cold. YUM! 

I'll write out my "recipe" below though I didn't really measure anything at the time. These are guesses at amounts, but I'm sure a little variation won't make too much of a difference in the final product. There are other recipes floating around out there on the interwebs too, if you want to compare.   Anyone else tried other variations?  I thought it would be easy to do vanilla by just leaving out the cocoa powder and upping the vanilla.  Or add maple flavoring.  Coconut milk could be yummy too.  Or crushed fruit.  We need more snow so I can try some of these out!  

But for now, it's chocolate.

Chocolate Snow Cream 
 Yield: 4 generous servings

2 quarts clean snow (fluffy snow is good!)
2 TBSP cocoa powder
2 TBSP powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk (or evaporated milk or cream)
dash salt

Instructions:  Sift cocoa and powdered sugar over snow in a large bowl (sifting helps avoid powder lumps).  Stir in, then add vanilla, milk, and salt to taste and stir until incorporated.   Eat immediately!  This does not re-freeze well as it just gets hard.  I tried it.  Today we ate the whole bowl instead of saving some for Papa.  Sorry, David!

Fresh Peach Pie

I spent a little time earlier in August worrying about whether I would be able to get peaches this year, so when I had a chance to get some (without waking at an ungodly hour, driving 30 minutes to get in line at the orchard and wait half the day--with two little kids, yeah right!) I bought a LOT!  We ended up canning and freezing about 52 quarts of peaches after we'd eaten some fresh and made a cobbler and a few pies.

Aren't they pretty . . . ?

My sister-in-law introduced me to this pie recipe the week before I got my peaches, and I loved it!  It uses fresh peach slices held together with a gelatin/cornstarch/water mixture and chilled rather than cooked.  I used a mix-in-the-pan pie crust (like this one) to keep things simple.  The crust is a bit crumblier than rolled pastry, but it is rich and delicious and goes nice with the fresh fruit.

The recipe I used for the filling (and the crust too) was from my trusty Esther Shank "Mennonite Country-Style Recipes" cookbook (simply referred to as "Esther Shank" by myself and others) and was quite similar to the one you'll find here.  I used only a 1/2 cup of sugar and omitted the corn syrup since I don't tend to keep that on hand.  I loved this pie and only wish I still had fresh peaches on hand to make some more.  My post-partum waistline can probably do without, though.  =) 

Pie Again

I posted what has become my favorite rhubarb pie recipe last summer when I first made it with rhubarb and blueberries.  This year I tried it with frozen--thawed--sliced strawberries, and it turned out fantastic again!  And pretty.

If you've got rhubarb, you really should try this simply delicious recipe!  And don't be afraid to use frozen rhubarb either--I dumped mine straight out of the freezer bag into the pie crust before it went in the oven and the texture was perfect.

Bitty Cinnamon Rolls

The last two times I made bread, I snagged a bit of the dough to make some sweet rolls.  The first attempt was a cream cheese/strawberry mess of a roll that was too gooey to even cut into individual pieces.  I ended up baking the whole log in a round with a slashed top.  It came out of the oven looking pretty good, but caved in as it cooled into a very moist mess.  Yum.  We ate most of it, and I learned that my bread dough would definitely make a good sweet roll base.  As long as I used a drier filling.

Next up, plain old cinnamon-sugar rolls.  I used about a fourth of my dough recipe to make a pie tin's worth of rolls, shaping the rest of the dough into three small round loaves.  One thing I've been doing lately that seems to result in a moister, sweeter dough is to dump my whole grains (oats, whole wheat flour, flax, etc.) in with all the wet ingredients and letting that sit for awhile--30 minutes to a few hours as I have time/need of.  I think this lets those grains soak up more liquid before adding enough white flour to make the dough hold its shape.  If I would add all the flours at the same time, I would end up with a dough that seems like the right consistency but would dry out some as the whole grains continued to soak up moisture.  Make sense?

Anyhow.  Itty bitty cinnamon rolls.  

I rolled my bit of dough out pretty thin, spread with butter, sugar, and cinnamon, and then sliced them about 3-4 inches across after they were rolled up.  These were tall, skinny, and just funny looking in my pan, so I squashed them down with my hand until they just touched each other at the edges.  

Let rise until double and bake for about 15 minutes at 350F.  I had some leftover icing from another project that I slathered over the top when they had cooled some.  So yummy when they were still a little warm.  And good the next two days too. 

I "heart" Valentine's Day

just because it's another excuse to make themed shaped cookies! 

My goal was to make a heart cutout cookie in pretty pink without using any food coloring (or buying super-expensive food-based colorings).  I found this recipe which called for using strawberries in the dough for color and flavor.  The picture was so pretty!

Well, that optional "dot" of food coloring must have made a huge difference because my cookies came out kind of purply-grey rather than a nice perky pink.  Extra strawberries to the rescue!  I mixed my leftover puree into some icing, and got this pretty soft pink color which I thought looked nice with the chocolate frosting accents.  

Flavor: could'a been better.  Another time I think I'd make a basic shortbread cutout cookie with the same icing combinations as I did here.  I wasn't a big fan of the itty bitty seeds in the cookies, though I could've strained them out.

Easy, Easy Truffles

So I'm the dummy who can't figure out how to melt chocolate for dipping without scorching it in the microwave (I think I'll just use the stove next time).  BUT, I'm also the genius who turned all that slightly scorched chocolate into yummy, smooth truffles!

I found this recipe for almond truffles (requirement being "uses evaporated milk instead of heavy cream"), but I'll re-write it here since I made enough minor alterations . . . 

Almond (or any flavor) Truffles
yield: about 24 1-inch candies

1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp almond, vanilla--or any--flavoring (amount is for extract--proceed with  caution if you are using oils, adding just a little at a time)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup coating of choice (nuts, sugar, cocoa powder, etc.)

Method: Bring evaporated milk and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan on the stove.  Once it boils cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth.  Add flavoring and salt and stir again.  Refrigerate for a few hours until hard enough to mold.  Roll into one-inch balls and coat with cocoa powder, powdered sugar, toasted and crushed nuts, etc. to match the flavor of the truffles.  Enjoy!

Festive Cookies

Want some festive, colorful cookies for Christmas but can't stand the idea of all that icing (and the inevitable mess that goes with it)?  Not that I have anything against icing, really.  It's just that I've got extremely limited counter space, and all of it accessible to a 15-month-old-stool-pushing-and-climing-onto toddler.  Yeah.  Add icing to that mix.  

Instead, to get my holiday color/sparkle fix I mixed up a batch of plain old snickerdoodle dough (I love snickerdoodles!) and rolled the balls in colored sugar instead of white sugar.  How simple is that?  I'm sure about a million other people have already done this, but in case you hadn't thought of it yet, either . . . 

red:  this comes out looking pink when done, but still pretty

 

I like the green!  Reminds me of St. Pat's Day too!

 

So here's to your sticky-free but still colorful and bright Christmas (if you choose to go this route)!  If not, well I guess I still hope you have a colorful and bright Christmas too.

Apple Pie: Two Ways

About a month ago I got all these apples at an Amish farm about 1/2 hour from where we live. Some of them were delicious and we made applesauce with them. Then others were just plain . . . plain (this is not an Amish joke).  They were bland. And I've been thinking of ways to use them (I think there are actually about a dozen still left). One of my ideas was to use them for jazzed-up pies. 

The first pie (pictured on the right) was traditional, the way my husband makes them: sliced apples piled high, then dumped out and tossed with lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon and dumped back in. Or something like that. He usually finishes his apple pies off with a crumb topping, but I had plenty of pastry dough so I double-crusted mine.  Spoiler: this turned out to be the better of the two pies.  If it ain't broke, right?

The second way was an experiment for peanut-butter apple pie. My idea was to simply make crumbs as for a peanut butter pudding pie (peanut butter mixed with powdered sugar) and layer that with the apple slices. Sounds good, right? It turned out okay. Which is to say the crumbs kinda just got wet, and the apples didn't seem to cook through as well as they did in the traditional pie. Was it too many vents (cute hearts though they be?) that let the steam out instead of trapping it to cook the apples? Who knows. But I think if I tried this another time, I would make some sort of creamy peanut butter sauce and just put it under the apples because--as my apple-pie-expert husband points out--when you eat apples with peanut butter it's normally just a smear of peanut butter on one side of the apple. At least that's how we do it around here. 

 Any other suggestions?

Pop!

Well, I'm not entirely sure it was worth the time and effort, but I wanted to try out a collage sometime, and here it is!  (Don't look too close at the edges--Atticus is about to wake up, and I don't feel like going back into the project and changing it again!)

I made some peach yogurt pops last week to freeze in my cheap-o mini pop molds.  As you can see, I like to eat mine by scraping my teeth down the sides.  The yogurt melts slowly, allowing you plenty of time to enjoy the creamy fruity goodness as you take a break from washing dishes or sneak outside to satisfy a mid-afternoon food craving.  Who, me?

Once I'd worked my way down to about a 1/3 of pop's original size, I stashed it back in the freezer for someone else's afternoon craving.  It was well-enjoyed both times.

Really, these pops are just yogurt, peaches, a teensy bit of sugar, and vanilla.  So there's no harm in eating one for breakfast and no need to feel sneaky about eating one any other time of day!  Plus, mine are small.

Yogurt Fruit Pops

Equal amounts:

fresh or frozen fruit

yogurt

sugar to taste

dash of vanilla or other complimentary flavoring

Do it!  Whiz all together in a blender and pour into molds.  If you don't have popsicle molds, just use a cup or small yogurt container, cover with foil, and put a popsicle stick in it.  Freeze and enjoy!

Bl[h]u[e]barb Pie

When we were in Virginia a few weeks ago I hastily harvested all the rhubarb I could get off our plants there.  I brought it back to Pennsylvania and stashed it in the fridge where it waited.  Waited.  Waited . . .   (It seems like this is a pretty common story on this blog--I somehow procure a special ingredient, then have to mull over how to use it for a week or so until the fear of it finally rotting away in the fridge catapults me into action).  

So, where were we?  Ah--waiting rhubarb.  So patient.  I finally started going through my favorite sources to find a good rhubarb recipe that would do justice to my (our) hopes that were about three years in the making--dreaming about, talking about, finding, planting, re-planting, waiting out the first season, and finally harvesting rhubarb!  When it comes to pies or cakes or cookies, I always check out my Mennonite cookbooks first.  I wasn't too inspired by the cooked fillings and the cliche strawberry-rhubarb combination.  Next stop--Allrecipes.com where I came across this.  I LOVE simple recipes that allow the main ingredients to "sing" as the author of the recipe says.  

After reading the reviews I decided to make a few changes.  And of course, I had to be short on one ingredient:  rhubarb.  The recipe calls for four cups, chopped, and I only came up with three.  Which is how it came to be Bl[h]u[e]barb pie.  Read on.

Bl[h]u[e]barb Pie (or Berry Berry Rhubarb)

Crust for 9-in. pie top and bottom (if you use a little lard---wowza!)
3 cups rhubarb, diced
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup sugar
6 TBSP all-purpose flour

Instructions:  Make your crust, roll out the bottom, place in pan, and let sit in the refrigerator while you chop the rhubarb.  Place an oven rack to the bottom-most position in the oven and preheat the oven to 450F, then go ahead and chop that rhubarb!  I actually diced it so the pieces were about the same size as a large blueberry.  Next, mix together the sugar and flour and scatter about a 1/4 cup onto the bottom pie crust.  Fill with your diced rhubarb and berries, spreading the berries evenly throughout.  Sprinkle the remaining sugar/flour mix over the fruit and top with another crust, cutting a vent (I made a curly "C" for our last name in case you were wondering what that design was on the opening picture).  Bake at 450F for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350F and bake an additional 45 - 50 minutes or until crust is browned to your liking.

Cook's word(s):  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  YUM.  First, the smidgen of lard I put in the crust must have done something miraculous because it was tender, flaky, etc., etc. every word that describes a delectable crust.  Next, the flavor was excellent--the blueberries added a sweet little twist, but there was also no mistaking the rhubarb.  And, finally the texture.  One of my complaints about fruit pies is how they ooze and puddle when you slice them.  Not so with this pie.  The flour must cook in to the juices so that when it cools to holds up under pressure, so that each slice is a nice, distinct even piece of the pie.  That's my girl.  A simple recipe, a seconds-worthy result.  What are you waiting for?  Don't think you have to use blueberries either because I bet this would be equally tasty with a cup of almost any berry: sliced strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or a combination (which is why I had the alternative name Berry Berry Rhubarb).  Go get cookin'!

Strawberry Cake

Remember back when I was sorting those five cases of 1/2-molded strawberries? Probably not. I sure remember it though. And I've got loads of crushed berries in the freezer waiting to be used.

I got out a bag the week before Easter to make this cake as an early birthday surprise for my mother-in-law. The recipe is one of the few I found that actually uses real strawberries instead of strawberry-flavored gelatin (and a cake mix!). It is moist and just lovely with a zesty lemon icing. Best eaten the day it's made or the following day. The one I pictured above is a 1/2 recipe baked in a 9-inch round pan. I would recommend waiting to put any sliced berries on top until just before you serve the cake. I did mine ahead and they bled a bit by the time we ate it. Still delicious, but not as pristine looking. =)

Easter Cookies (Ma'amoul)

I learned the make these pretty cookies from some Arab friends when I lived in Nazareth, Israel. They are made with a semolina dough and filled with date paste. Not too sweet themselves, the powdered sugar dusting makes them go down just a tad easier. I've been trying to make these every year around Easter (usually on Good Friday) as the shapes are symbolic for the season--a circle for the crown of thorns, a straight one for palm branches, and an open arc for the empty tomb. I think I made up the last one myself and the dough is so easy and fun to work with that it is open to all kinds of new interpretations. I use a recipe from Joan Nathan's "The Foods of Israel Today" which calls for semonlina and flour, but I will link to a similar recipe I found online (but have not used myself).

Each year I try to make them with friends rather than just by myself as that seems like the right thing to to with an Arab holiday recipe. The first time I made them was with my mom and sister. Another year, a group of friends came over to help. This year, I introduced the cookies to my mother-in-law. We only made a 1/2 recipe, but there was still plenty of time while rolling and shaping the cookies to talk and enjoy each other's company. I tried my hand at making Arabic coffee (strong coffee with cardamom) which we shared with our husbands along with some of the fresh-baked cookies. We both kept some for ourselves and a few to give to friends.

Let me know if you'd be interested in being on my invite list sometime!

Pavlova

I spent my last Saturday before moving out-of-state sorting five cases of 1/2-molded strawberries. And I spent a good deal of time the next few days looking up, modifying, and executing some killer strawberry recipes. One of them was this:

Ah, Pavlova! (I'm just going to keep capitalizing it since it's named after a person) I think my sister-in-law thought I was fibbing when I told her it's a New Zealand/Australian dessert named after a Russian ballerina. But it's true. The lovely mounded meringue base does sort-of resemble a tutu after all--a light, marshmallow-y, melt-in-your-mouth, caramel-y tutu. Mmmmm . . .

You start this amazing dessert with 4 egg whites. Beat and beat them until softly-peaked (I started having nightmares about angel food cake). Then add 1 cup of sugar one tablespoon at a time (I used half turbinado, half brown). Fold in one teaspoon each of vanilla and lemon juice along with two teaspoons of cornstarch.

Next comes the fun part. On a crinkled and cornstarch be-sprinkled parchment, spread out the glossy meringue into a circle, mounded a little at the edges. I marked my parchment with a 9-inch circle so the Pavlova would fit into a certain cake cover. The meringue ended up spreading waaaay past that line, so make it smaller than you want it.

Bake this shell at 300F for an hour, then turn off the heat, crack the oven door, and let it cool to room temperature (even overnight if you like!).

Next comes another fun part! Whipping cream! I whipped about 2/3 pint of cream with a little confectioners sugar and vanilla. Mound this up inside the meringue and top with sliced fruit. I read that strawberries and kiwis are the most popular to use. Strawberries I have. Had.

EAT!

Cutie Pie

For my sister-in-law who doesn't eat sugar . . .


*A bitty butternut squash pie sweetened with stevia*

Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Wow. Brown butter takes frosting to a new level! It gives a caramel-y punch that really means less icing for a LOT of flavor impact. Paired with pumpkin . . . you gotta do this!

The brown butter frosting is taken directly from Martha Stewart's website (find it here). I think I just added more powdered sugar to make it a little stiffer. I also used whipping cream (because I had it on hand) which made the frosting fluffier than it would have been with just milk.

The pumpkin cake recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I did scale it down to 11 servings instead of 14 for the two nine-inch rounds you see in the picture. For the sake of ease, I'll link to the recipe and also write out the measurements I used below:

Pumpkin Cake

1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. applesauce (or another 1/2 c. vegetable oil)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. pumpkin (I used a mix of pumpkin and butternut squash)
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each of ground ginger, cloves, and nutmeg


Instructions: Beat sugar, oil, and applesauce together. Blend in cooked pumpkin (I never pureed mine, just scooped it out of the shell and dumped it into the batter!), vanilla, and eggs. Sift the remaining ingredients into the bowl and stir until smooth. Bake in two nine-inch greased and floured cake pans for 30 minutes at 350F (you'll have to adjust the baking time if you use a 9 X 13, bundt, or do cupcakes). And don't forget a light frosting of that brown butter icing!

Way Back When

Way back when I was cooking and baking . . .




I made this for a combination birthday party/baby shower a few months ago. Two yummy chocolate cake rounds layered with a mint frosting with additional melted chocolate on top! I think I ate a piece of this every day until it was all gone!

Since giving birth to my son at the beginning of September, I honestly haven't cooked much--the food has been rolling in from so many generous friends and family members. But the last meal arrives tomorrow, so it's back to the kitchen for me!

German Chocolate Cheesecake

For a friend's birthday recently, I got together with two other women to create this concoction. We combined a few recipes: one for the dark chocolate cheesecake (just the filling), and another for the crust (I think) and German chocolate cake topping. Viola! The best of both cheesecake and German chocolate cake. And it was GOOD! Smooth (a food processor makes all the difference in my opinion), chocolate-y, and just plain yumminess in that topping of coconut and pecans.

You really gotta try this, especially with the help of two other friends. Makes the process so much more fun. The only thing I would do different is make MORE of the topping so it could kinda drizzle down the side. Mmmmmm . . .

Birthday Baklava

A few months before I turned 30, I made a list of "30 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 30". I numbered to 30 down the page, carefully circling each number. I wrote a first entry: "Make Baklava".

I never wrote anything else on the list.

Dawn my 30th birthday. I haven't made baklava yet. I do have a recipe. And phyllo dough. What I don't have is pistachios and enough butter. I make a run to the store. I know I'm not going to get the baklava in the oven before 11:27 am (the time I was born). When I get home my husband is fiddling with the microwave--he's turned the clock back a few hours to give me more time to meet my goal. Sweet.

Another delay. I could only get pistachios in the shell. We spend about 10 minutes shelling 1 pound of nuts.

Yet another delay. No food processor to crush them in. I painstakingly clean out our coffee grinder and process the pistachios in miniscule batches until they're all chopped nicely. I add 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon, and set them aside.

I melt a stick of butter with 1/4 cup canola oil.

Assembly time! The first five layers of phyllo dough get just butter brushed in between them. Then I start layering them with butter and nuts until I've used all but the last five layers. I don't trim the sheets, just alternate which side of the pan I fold the excess over on. The top five layers get just butter again.

Next I score the baklava into diamonds (and triangles at the edges), and sprinkle a little nut dust in the middle of each piece. As I'm doing this, I realize that the nuts will probably burn while baking and I should wait until after the syrup is poured on, but it's too late now.

The pan goes into the oven at 325F for one hour. While it bakes I prepare the syrup: 1/2 cup water with one cup sugar. Bring this mixture to a boil and boil, stirring, for 5 minutes. Let cool.

When the baklava finally comes out, the cooled syrup gets poured over it. I dust with some fresh pistachios. Viola! Birthday Baklava! Too bad I have to let it cool before tasting.

Cook's Word: This was actually fairly simple and fun to make. I might skip the pistachio shelling next time and just use walnuts, but for such a special occasion, I'm glad I chose the better nut. =) If you like a more syrup-y baklava, just increase the amount of syrup. The friend I got my recipe from prefers to use the proportions I've used here, and I think that's a good idea.

Pi Day Remembered

I was at work on March 14 (3.14) when my co-worker comes in with a, "Happy Pi Day!" Mild panic. I'd forgotten all about Pi Day! I had no plans for a pi day dinner! Luckily my husband and I, along with Mom and sister had just canned cherry pie filling about a week prior. So. Cherry pie was definitely on the menu. I saw a friend and invited him to come share it with us later that evening. "Give me a call to confirm".

When I got home, I decided to do it up well, and have a main-course pie too. I scoured recipes and decided on a fish pie with mashed potato topping. Our friend called to confirm that he would come for pie, and I said he might as well join us for dinner too. As I closed the phone, I suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that I might already have other plans for the evening. I checked my calendar. Yikes! In less than an hour I was supposed to meet my sister-in-law for an outing. I reconciled myself to missing the dinner I was creating and went into high-gear production mode.

I called my husband to make sure he would be home in time to meet our friend and get the pies out of the oven. And I made him promise to leave me some leftovers.

I threw together the pies, got them in the oven, heated up some leftover chili for myself, and just had time to clean the table, brush my teeth, and say "hi" and "bye" to David before I had to go. Some Pi Day celebration! I guess the guys enjoyed dinner (David invited a third friend) because a lot of the food was gone when I got home (including 1/2 a carton of vanilla ice cream!).

Before turning in for the night, I had a bedtime snack of cherry pie.

Angel Food

This is a story about faith. About waiting and trusting that an un-seen, hoped-for result (as in the picture above) will take place. Like waiting for crocus to bloom in my yard after it seems everyone else's are up. And my all-too-often lack of such faith.

Armed with some brief instruction and a hand-written recipe on a slip of pink paper, I set out to make--for my younger brother and sister's joint birthday party--my first-ever Angel Food Cake. From scratch. I had deliberated about this, as it seemed like a complicated, unpredictable thing to make an angel food cake from scratch and the box mix costs just a few dollars. However, the list of un-pronouncable ingredients on the back of said box (along with some I can pronounce but prefer not to ingest), a little love of adventure, and not a little bit of pride helped to convince me to bake the scenic route (like that line?).

So to make angel food cake the "scenic route", you take a ton of egg whites, beat them into a heavenly frenzy with some sugar, vanilla (and almond, if you like) flavoring, and then--so as not to distress the airy batter--fold in some softly sifted flour/salt mixture, and bake it! Simple.

Let me tell you. If any part of this is going to cause you to have a nervous breakdown, sigh and moan frequently, and give in to a few curses, it will be the egg whites. Not that I know this from experience.

I whipped. And beat. And beat. And beat. Sugar. Beat. Beat. Beat. For about 30 minutes. This is not an exaggeration. I may be a wimp, but my arms hurt. And I was using an electric hand mixer! Whoever invented this recipe (if it was before the age of electric kitchen appliances) got a devilish delight out of calling it anything that refers to the heavenly realm!

Finally! It seemed I had achieved "medium peaks". And if they weren't medium, I didn't care!

Next, gently stir in the flour . . . a little . . . bit . . . at a time . . .

I had to test the consistency a lot.

Then--also gently--spoon the batter into the pan. No grease or that cake won't cling to the pan and rise properly!

You can see the lack of faith on my face, mingled with anxious hope.

I put it in the oven, turned on the timer, and left the kitchen. I'm not sure how I passed the time, but I did get up once to check on the cake. I made an audible exclamation which caused my husband to wonder if in distress or relief. It was a miracle! The cake was rising! Hooray!

Once it was done baking, the cake came out of the oven and was turned upside-down on the counter to cool. If cooled with the pan upright the cake can fall back down and ruin the effect.

To dress it up for the party, I bought a tub of whipped cream and some frozen blueberries to make blueberry sauce. Isn't it pretty?!?

And it tasted good too. Relief! Since I used raw sugar (whizzed to a fine powder in my food processor) it looked a little darker than a normal angel food cake.

Would I do this again? Maybe. But probably only for a special occasion!