Kevin and I were both off for Labor Day weekend this year and ran away to Whidbey Island with friends. We had the most wonderful time playing on the water and not setting morning alarms for 3 straight days. Not to mention the seaside bonfires, furry friends, and amazing food! The boys were wake boarding on Saturday when we spotted a pod of 7 orcas nearby, and we were graced with their presence for 2 and a half hours! It was spectacular. 

This cake takes time and an ability to put type-A perfectionism aside (it’s ok if your layers are not perfectly even or perfectly round), but the recipe itself is quite basic. A total of 5 cakes are required to complete the stripes, so there are enough pieces left over to construct a checkerboard two-layer cake. I always have frosting leftover and don’t need to make extra, but it would be easy to scale down the frosting recipe below for the second cake if needed. You will need a whole lotta butter and an entire box of cake flour, but in the end will end up with two impressive cakes and it is perfect for a labor day crowd 🙂 I made the cake Thursday night and we slowly worked our way through it over the course of the weekend. I would recommend refrigerating the cake so the buttercream doesn’t go bad, but it does make the cake quite dense. 

In keeping with this blog being full of information you didn’t care to know, Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official public holiday in 1887. It didn’t become an official federal holiday until 1894. There are competing theories about the origin of Labor Day, revolving around the Knights of Labor and Peter J. McGuire, who was the VP of the American Federation of Labor. Either way, this day honoring the American labor movement also marks the end of summer. I swear when we came back to Seattle the leaves had started changing and the air had that crisp fall quality. I’m not sure I’m quite ready to say goodbye to August peaches and tomatoes, but I’m sure I’ll ease into squash, pear, and cinnamon season soon.

American Flag Buttermilk Cake

2018-09-06 15:43:09

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For 1 cake (need 5 total)

1. 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2. 1 1/4 cups sugar
3. 2 large eggs, room temperature
4. 1 tsp vanilla extract
5. 1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
6. 1 tsp baking powder
7. Pinch of Kosher salt
8. 3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature

For the frosting

1. 4 sticks softened unsalted butter
2. 8 cups sifted powdered sugar
3. 1 tbsp vanilla extract
4. 1/3 cup heavy cream

Bake the Cakes

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour (or spray with baking spray) a 9-inch round cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt to combine. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add 1/3 of the buttermilk and mix to combine. Repeat this process until all ingredients are added, and scrape sides to ensure batter is smooth.
4. For the white cakes, the batter is complete at this stage. For the red cakes, add several drops of red liquid food coloring until desired shade. For the blue cake, add about 20 drops of liquid food coloring (or more if it is too pale).
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting while the cakes are cooling

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-6 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Add the cream gradually, mixing until frosting is a smooth, creamy texture.

Cake assembly

1. Cut each white and red cake into 2 even layers about 3/4 inch thick. Use a 5-inch circle cookie cutter (or trace a bowl with ~5 inch diameter) to cut one white layer and one red layer into a smaller circle.
2. Use the same method to remove the center of the blue cake, which remains in one thick layer.
3. To assemble the cake, begin with a large red layer and spread with a thin coat of buttercream on top. Top this with a large white layer and spread buttercream thinly on top. Repeat with another red and white layer, for 4 total layers at this point.
4. Transfer the the outer ring of the blue cake on top of the white layer. Spread a thin amount of frosting over the 5-inch red layer, and top this with the 5-inch white layer. Transfer these two stacked layers into the center of the blue.
5. Frost the cake with the remaining frosting. If desired, decorate with fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

Notes

1. There are enough remnants for a complete second two-layer cake. Slice the blue inner circle into two layers, then piece together the remaining inner and outer circles to form a two-layer cake with alternating colors. The cake will have a checkered appearance when sliced.
2. If needed, scale down frosting recipe to make enough to complete the second cake.

By Erin McDowell

Stay At Home Doctor https://stayathomedoctor.com/

So I’m not ACTUALLY trying to give everyone around me diabetes. My previous ICU month turned into a downward spiral of eating sugary sweets hourly and never working out due to extremely long hours during the influenza season. I started my last ICU month bound and determined to keep doing the things I enjoy (baking) and trying to balance this with a slightly healthier life. I went looking for something savory. Sometimes I search for recipes based on ingredients I have lying around, and I’d over-purchased hazelnuts this fall. I came across a beautiful post from Nik Sharma at A Brown Table, and his photos are absolutely stunning. Will make you want to eat everything that he makes. 

This Coffee Hazelnut Tart is creamy and nutty and delicious. It hit the spot, though I might add a little extra sweetness next time =) If you decide to make this, be sure to give yourself time. It is a fairly involved process involving roasting and skinning the hazelnuts, making hazelnut butter (which likely will take less time if you have an actual food processor), caramelizing hazelnuts, and finally the tart itself. I also had some tart filling leftover, so filled small ramekins to keep at home. 

This was the first nut butter I’ve ever attempted! Not difficult, but took some time. I made the hazelnut butter in my trusty Ninja blender but I think a food processor is likely more up to the task and will require less finagling of utensils.  

I made a whole batch of candied hazelnuts and used the extra as salad toppers for a while. They’re also great crushed over ice cream or for munching on their own…

Full disclosure, I’ve never made jello before. My tart wasn’t hardening and Kevin had to reassure me that all would be well in the morning and this wasn’t a disaster after all that work. Sure enough, I had a perfectly set tart and two small ramekins in the morning! A very proud moment for Kev. The filling for this tart requires only a quick couple minutes on the stove and no time in the oven, which is why we blind-bake the crust. Blind baking can be accomplished with pie weights, a simple bag of dried beans, or sandwiching the crust between two pie plates. I opt for the dry beans as the simplest and cheapest option. I even reuse my baking beans. Here’s a post from King Arthur Flour if you want to learn more about blind baking for future pies. 

One more note about this as I’m about to move to the PNW where eating restrictions abound. This tart could easily be made vegan by substituting almond-milk creamer and the gelatin. 

Coffee Hazelnut Tart

2018-05-18 15:43:32

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Almond & Oat Shell

1. 1 1/4 cups oat flour
2. 2 1/2 cups almond flour
3. 1/4 tsp kosher salt
4. 4 tsp sugar
5. 6 T coconut oil, warmed to liquify
6. 1. Place the first 4 ingredients together in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times until evenly combined.
7. 2. Pour in the liquified coconut oil and pulse until mixture comes together to form crumbs.
8. 3. Transfer dough to a smooth clean surface and bring together with your hands to form a ball.
9. 4. Use a fluted 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Cover the base with a circle of parchment paper cut to size. Spray lightly with baking spray. Transfer the dough to the tart pan and spread out just enough to flatten. Cover surface with a large sheet of cling wrap. Using the bottom of a glass or meat tenderizer, spread pastry out in the pan to form a clean, smooth and even crust. Press against the sides of the tart pan until the entire shell is formed.
10. 5. Place covered tart shell in the freezer at least 30 minutes before baking.
11. 6. Preheat oven to 325F. Remove and unwrap the chilled shell. Place on a baking sheet and cover with parchment paper. Pour dried beans into shell over the parchment paper and blind bake for 35-40 minutes, until crust is golden-brown. Remove from oven and place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool completely.
12. 7. Refrigerate tart shell until ready to assemble.

Coffee Hazelnut Tart Filling

1. 1 1/2 cups Raw hazelnuts (about 6 oz)
2. 2 cups Unsweetened almond milk
3. 1/4 cup Cold Brew Coffee
4. 4T instant coffee grinds
5. 1/2 cup Vanilla creamer
6. 1 1/2 packets unflavored gelatin
7. 4T almond milk
8. 1. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat and bake at 300F for 5-8 minutes. The nuts should become fragrant and turn light golden brown. Watch for sign of burning and remove immediately to avoid burning. Transfer nuts to a clean kitchen towel and wrap them up. Rub the nuts together in the towel to remove the skins.
9. 2. Remove warm nuts and transfer to a food processor. Pulse 8-12 minutes until nuts are converted to a smooth butter.
10. 3. In a separate bowl, pour almond milk, cold brew, coffee grinds, and creamer. Whisk to combine. Stir the hazelnut butter and mix well. *This is the time to add sweetener to taste if desired. Trasnfer mixture to a thick-bottomed saucepan and heat on medium-high until it begins to boil. Boil for 1 minute.
11. 4. While above mixture is being prepared, add gelatin to a large bowl containing 4T almond milk and allow to bloom. Once the gelatin has bloomed, pour the boiling liquid from step 3 through a strainer and allow to sit for 90 seconds before stirring with a whisk.
12. 5. Unwrap refrigerated tart shell and pour the filling in just enough to reach the edges. If you have extra, pour into clean ramekins. Remove any air bubbles or foam by skimming surface with a spoon. Allow to sit at room temperature at least 45 minutes before transferring to refrigerator. Allow to set overnight until firm.
13. 6. Release tart from the pan. Decorate with candied hazelnuts and serve chilled.

Candied Hazelnuts

1. 3/4 cup sugar
2. 1 cup toasted and skinned hazelnuts
3. 3 T water
4. 1/4 tsp kosher salt
5. 1. Heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over high heat and swirl until sugar dissolves.
6. 2. Bring to a simmer, and cook, swirling occasionally, until medium amber, about 4 minutes.
7. 3. Add hazelnuts and salt, and stir for 1 minute to coat.
8. 4. Pour mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a nonstick baking mat, and immediately separate nuts using 2 forks so that each stands alone on sheet.
9. 5. Allow to cool completely, then break apart for individual nuts or larger caramelized pieces as desired.

Notes

1. This recipe makes about 4x as many candied hazelnuts as you will need for the tart, but they are excellent as a salad topper.

Adapted from Nik Sharma - A Brown Table

Adapted from Nik Sharma - A Brown Table

Stay At Home Doctor https://stayathomedoctor.com/