A Patriotic Cake for Inauguration Day

It's a brand new year with a brand new president. It seems fitting to celebrate-yet again. Or else I'm just looking for excuses to perpetuate the party. And even though 2009 won't be without bumps and challenges, I also know that it will bring a measure of happiness and blessings to all. One thing's for certain, even in these uncertain times: I would never ever want to be President of the United States. (Why restrict it to the United States? I wouldn't even want to be president of anything, not even a book club, or the PTA, or even Penny Pinchers Anonymous, or the Rare and Exquisite Sock Hunting Club, or the Association of Disgruntled Dishwashers, or the Pink Ladies, etc, etc, etc and so on and so forth.) Nope. Poor presidential guy's got his work cut out for him. No matter who got your X on the ballot, the new Mr. President deserves our hope and respect. So bake up a patriotic cake and tune in to watch history in the making. And sit back and enjoy the fact that you're not in charge. Phew. Lucky for me, It's Tuesdays with Dorie and Mary Ann over at the deliciously prolific Meet Me in the Kitchen chose this adapatable recipe with a surprise filling. (Hence the name Berry Surprise Cake, Penny Pinching Estimate: $6.00 for half batch with frozen berries.) I chose not to use the actual cake portion of the recipe, since many fellow bakers reported problems with sagging middles. (I don't even like the sound of that, especially in January...) Any cake should work just fine, including a store bought angelfood cake if you're short on time. Besides its the creamy filling, berries and whipped cream icing that really make this cake a Yankee Doodle Dandy of a treat.

Bake one tall layer of cake. I used a moist buttermilk recipe from Joy of Cooking to make this 5 inch diameter dimunitive dessert. Slice the layers in half. Excavate a circle of cake to make a nest. Fill it with cream cheese thinned with whipped cream and sweetened with a bit of sugar. Nestle the berries atop the cream cheese filling. Use raspberries and blueberries to be extra patriotic. Mine were of the frozen defrosted variety, the only choice for winter penny pinchers.Replace the top. Frost with sweetened whipped cream and refrigerate until serving time.
Poke in a few American flags and leave it in the fridge till it's time to indulge. Try not to steal any whipped cream, OK? Oh, all right. I won't tell. But steal it from the back so you can still take a good picture.
P.S. I was able to squeeze out a couple of cupcakes for the two little charges, since they like surprises in every other context except food. The rascals.
Coming Next:

That Good For you Creamy Tomato Soup and Rosemary Focaccia

Jiggety Jig, Home Again

In November, it was a European vacation with my family, capped off by a visit to New York. We were home just in time for Thanksgiving and houseguests and more celebration. December brought the holidays with all the requisite parties and festivities. January is supposed to be the month to clean up your act, settle down, shed a few pounds, do some penance, button down your collar, and get going on your resolutions. So I feel a little sheepish to admit that we haven't stopped our extra long holiday fiesta yet. Quite the opposite; we've been at Disneyworld all week. I only paused a moment between my steady Disney diet of popcorn and churros to reflect on our gluttonous good fortune. We're not quite as devil-may-care as it might seem. We're lucky. See, this trip to Disneyworld was a prize from a cooking contest I entered in 2008. Grandma's Molasses was looking for favorite holiday recipes. I entered my recipe for a succulent beef tenderloin with a balsamic-molasses glaze over blue cheese mashed potatoes. They liked it enough to send the four of us packing to Orlando for a chance to draw out the holidays for a little longer. But starting Monday, it's back to business. Especially since January is half over, and February is packed full of holidays. So, yes sirree. You won't catch me having too much fun. At least not on Monday. I promise to spend a full 24 hours dedicated to lengthening my stride, trimming my sails, and battening down the hatches. After that, I can't promise anything. After all, you only live once.

Some pics from our trip....

Belle and Obi Wan at Epcot, getting the most from those Halloween costumes

Seen on the side of the road on the way to the Kennedy Space Center. Better hope you never get a flat tire there.

At Cocoa Beach. And to think, the week before they were sledding...

And building snowmen.

My gallant young hero and his souveneirs from the venerable Vikings.

Coming Next:

Good for You Creamy Tomato Soup and Rosemary Focaccia

Green Chile, Cheddar and Sour Cream Mini Muffins

Ooh, I do like good cornbread. And this qualifies as really good cornbread, no matter how you shake it up. Dorie Greenspan's recipe for Savory Corn and Pepper muffins has good bones, so add or take away mix ins and it's still going to work out great. At my house, the two little charges turn up their young noses at bits of jalapeno and red bell pepper in their corn muffins. It was easy enough to churn out a plain batch of Dorie's recipe, sans the spices and lovely bits that the Quiet Man and I would have enjoyed. Sniff, sniff. So after I'd made a wee batch and popped it into a 24 cup mini muffin pan, I felt a little deprived of all the savory add ins. Rather than wallow, which I often do if deprived of food, I simply topped half of the muffins with about 1/4 teaspoon each sour cream, green chilies, and a bit of shredded Tillamook cheddar. Warm out of the oven, they tasted almost like short cut green chilie and cheese tamales. Make yourself a wee batch to perch on the side of your soup bowl, or better yet, next to your Super Bowl serving of chili. Be sure to leave a few plain ones, if you've got your own little charges. I love it when I can make everyone happy. It doesn't happen often, but I sure love it when it does.
Money Saving Tips: Making Cornbread from Scratch is super inexpensive and fairly easy, too. If you don't have buttermilk on hand, squeeze a teaspoon of lemon into a half cup measure; fill to the top with milk and let stand for ten minutes.
A Plain Half Batch of Dorie's Recipe:
Estimated Cost: $1.50 for 24 minis
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, melted, and cooled
1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a mini muffin pan with 24 paper cups, or coat the cups with cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. In small bowl, combine buttermilk, butter, and egg yolk. Gently fold into dry ingredients. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Top some muffins with 1/4 teaspoon each green chilies, sour cream and cheddar cheese.
Coming Next:
A Post Holiday Confession

Cupcake of the Month: Winter White Snowflake Cupcakes

I need food and shelter and oxygen, it's true. But I also, need cupcakes often, at least every month. They're not all for me. Although they could be, if I wasn't careful. Somehow, there's an occasion to bake a cupcake at least 12 times a year, evenly spaced into perfect calendar pages. This year, I'm going to take the time to make them memorable and as fun to look at as they are too eat. That sounds like a lovely resolution for 2009, so watch for a new cupcake of the month right here at Prudence Pennywise. Oh, I know it's January and we're pinching our inches as well as our pennies, but that's precisely why I love a good cupcake: portion control and share-ability.

You could use your own white cake recipe (I love Joy of Cooking's), or simply bake up a box from a mix. Promise not to tell. (Especially if you swap the oil for butter and and switch the water for buttermilk.) Next, frost the cupcakes with a smooth cream cheese frosting. I like to use about 4 tablespoons butter, 4 ounces cream cheese, and about 2 cups powdered sugar, with a little drizzle of vanilla and lemon juice. And to top it off, you need a sprinkling of coarse sugar and a purdy little snowflake. You could use melted white chocolate, of even easier discs of vanilla candy melt. (I use Wilton white candy melts, found at most craft stores.) Melt the discs CAREFULLy in the microwave in a little squeeze bottle or plastic bag. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and pipe some pretty white simple snowflakes. Put them in the fridge for a minutes to set. Perched on your all white cupcake, they'll be a snow white beauty that's not only good to look at but good enough to eat. Best of all, you'll save a bundle over bakery prices since you'll be making your own sugary magic at home. Coming Next:

Green Chile, Sour Cream and Cheddar Cornbread Mini Muffins

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

Who wants a pancake, sweet and piping hot?

Good little Grace looks up and says, "I'll take the one off the top."

Who wants a pancake, hot off the griddle

Terrible Teresa grins and says, "I'll take the one in the middle."

Remember this silly Shel Silverstein poem with an illustration of a sky high pancake tower? Well, I wish I had a mountainous stack of these sour cream banana pancakes, dripping with maple syrup, slices of banana, a sprinkling of crunchy pecans and a dollop or fluffy whipped cream. (I'd want the one in the middle too, since it would have stayed nice and warm.) These pancakes will make you do a backflip and a somersault! I wouldn't normally go around craving banana pancakes, but now I know what I've been missing. They are fantastic! Count on Ina Garten to create a perfectly not-too-sweet, rich-but-light griddle cake. There is no butter or oil in the batter, just a bit of sour cream, and reduced fat worked just fine, plus I put in half whole wheat to boost the nutrition. Chopped bananas are added to the pancakes as they cook, so it's easy to leave them out for any of your banana-lambasters, like my sister Leslie. The next time I make pancakes, this will be THE recipe. And I'd be happy to eat one off the side, bottom or middle. Wish I had one right now.

Money Saving Tips: A half batch is perfect for a family of four. Use yogurt, sour cream or even buttermilk, depending on what you have on hand. We only used one banana, since half of our group preferred plain, so plan according to your family's tastes. Either way, you'll be saving a stack of cash over a pancake's house prices.

Estimated Cost for a 1/2 batch: $2.50

Link to the Barefoot Contessa's Recipe

Tuesdays with Dorie: French Pear Tart

My computer is having a terrible temper tantrum. She's kicking and screaming and refusing to let me download any photos. I've been coaxing her for hours, but she is stubborn when she's grouchy. Until she calms down a bit, you'll have to use your imagination to picture the most fantastic pear tart imaginable. (Imagine indescribly delicious looking photo here...)
Today's pick for Tuesdays with Dorie is special, not just for the recipe, but also because it was picked by baking maven Greenspan herself! I think I know why she chose it, too. If you didn't try it for yourself, it might not be one to jump out at you. There are no unusual ingredients, except possibly for the option of using canned pears. Canned pears! Canned pears? Yep, only I didn't use them. I happened to have a lovely ripe pear on hand (imagine photo of curvy golden pear), but you can bet your sweet syrup that I'll be trying this one again with CANNED pears soon. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Ideally, these pears canned or fresh, will be placed in an almond and butter crust (which I left out in a time crunch), and then baked in an irresistible luscious almond cream. Not knowing the greatness that lay ahead, I made only a wee crustless 1/2 batch in two ramekins and topped them warm with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of warm maple syrup. It won't be long before I make the whole thing again, with canned pears and a crust, too.
To get your hands on that recipe, visit Dorie Greenspan's baking blog here.
For my penny pinching friends, betcha can make this impressive tart for about $7.00
Coming Soon:
Photos, I hope
Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

It's Still Christmas in Italy and Make One/Freeze One Lasagna

Happy New Year; but don't finish celebrating quite yet....

If you're an Italian, then you are still celebrating the Christmas season. If you are an American than you are already on a diet and your full trash can is by the curb. But what do you do when you're both????

In Italy, the festivities begin on Christmas Eve with a family fast, solemn gathering around the nativity set, an evening at church, and fast breaking feast. In the morning, families return to church, and continue to attend for the next twelve days, stretching the holiday well into January. On January 6, the Epiphany, a good witch comes bringing gifts. It is said that "La Befana" lost her way when trying to visit the Christ Child, so instead delivers gifts to well-behaved little children on the very day of the Three Kings. My two little charges are always happy to receive a last little Christmas present from the kind Italian witch, and I'm always happy that I could buy that little Christmas present at an After Christmas Sale.

In our house, we eat Italian food through the holiday season. It looks so festive on the plate to be eating tomato sauces with fresh basil and oregano, deep red and lively green. For Christmas Eve dinner, as I mentioned, we feasted on bruschetta, lasagna, fettucini alfredo, salad and Italian bread. I'm dismayed to realize that I didn't take a single picture. Sometimes as the hostess, all of your time and attention are needed to make the party a success. And sometimes you are a forgetful little twit. What happens when you are both???( I have so many New Year's Resolutions to make this year. I should have saved my last year's list. I'm still working on the same things. )

Thank goodness that I had these lasagna photos in my archives. This is not my grand "Christmas Eve Sausage and Four Cheese" version of lasagna, but my weeknight version of lasagna, a kinder, gentler recipe for January. Let it be known that not many Italians would really be having lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner. Traditional meals center around eel and panettone, but my Italian family-like most Italians I know-have their own ideas about how things should be done. Why let tradition stand in the way? Since there are only four for January weeknight dinners at my house, I make a quickie version of lasagna in a loaf pan. The no cook noodles from Barilla fit perfectly. And while I'm at it, I make another loaf pan to freeze.

Buon Natale and may your holiday season last throughout 2009!

Money Saving Tips: If you have leftover cooked pasta, skip the lasagna noodles and follow the recipe to make a layered pasta dish instead. If you are short on loaf pans, line the pan with tinfoil with a large overhang. Freeze the lasagna, remove it from the pan and wrap it tightly in foil. Make a big batch of your own marinara from the big economical cans of tomatoes and freeze it in zip top bags for future dinners.

Make one Freeze One Lower-Fat Weeknight Lasagna

Estimated Cost for 2 loaf pans: $7.50

Tips: Add cooked, crumbled sausage to the top of ricotta layers, if desired, for a heartier dish.

2 cups part skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 teaspoon each dried basil and pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 and 1/2 cups part skim mozzarella, divided

4 cups Tomato and Basil Marinara Sauce, from a jar or your favorite recipe

6 no boil lasagna noodles, (I use Barilla)

In a small bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, egg, basil, salt and pepper. Coat a loaf pan with no stick cooking spray. Spread bottom with 1/2 cup marinara sauce. Top with one noodle. Spread thinly with heaping 1/2 cup ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella. Top with 1/2 cup marinara sauce, another noodles, 1/2 cup ricotta mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Top with 1/2 cup marinara sauce, another noodle and 1/2 cup more marinara sauce. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella. Coat a sheet of tin foil with no stick cooking spray. Place on top of pan. Repeat process for another lasagna. Bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove foil and bake an additional ten minutes. (Thaw frozen lasagna completely before baking.)
Coming Tomorrow:

Tuesdays with Dorie FANTASTIC Pear and Almond Cream Tart