March 28: National Something on a Stick Day

So what do you think of when you think of something on a stick?

Maybe a corn dog? A lolly pop? Popsicle? Caramel apples? Shish kabobs? Maybe even a roasted marshmallow?

Well, I couldn't be that normal. So I went on a hunt (around my house) to try to see what I could put on a stick.

Here are the results:

- A fried egg
-  A piece of salt water taffy
- An Oreo
- A mini donut

And a smoothie?

Okay, so maybe a smoothie on a stick doesn't actually work out that well...

March 15: National Pears Helene Day

What is Pears Helene Day? And how do you pronounce it?

It's a fancy French dessert. I found a variety of recipes and they all made it seem like this is a common dessert. Huh. Suspicious. Anyways, I decided to give it a go.

Pears Helene:

Ingredients:
- 4 pears (every recipe listed a different type of pear. I went to the store and bought the first pears I saw and they ended up being ok. I'll say that I used green pears.)
Note: Before cooking, cut the pairs lengthwise and core them. Leave (or attempt to leave) the stem on.

- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 cups water, divided
- vanilla ice cream (optional)
- chocolate sauce (optional) (see below for my home-made chocolate sauce recipe)

A pair of pears!

 Note about getting the core out of a pear: It is difficult. I peeled my pears first because they weren't organic. Different recipes called for peeling pears while others didn't. I think it's a personal choice. Peeled pears look a little bit like naked people. Peeled pears are also very slippery and make cutting the core out difficult. My two pears resulted into five different pieces, instead of four halves. Oh well.

Here's a tongue twister: Peeled paired pears. Peeled paired pears. Peeled paired pears purchased pails of pears off a pier.

Yes, I did make that up myself. No, I can't say it.

Five pear "halves" instead of four...

Directions:
1. In a medium pot, combine the cinnamon sticks, water, and sugar together. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer for about 5 minutes. It should be a golden brown color and start to thicken.
2. Add in the remaining two cups water and keep on a very low heat.
3. Add the pear halves to the mixture and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes or until poached. I stuck mine with a fork and it easily went all the way through so I called that done.
4. Allow the pears to cool in their sauce.
5. Serve with ice cream or chocolate sauce or whatever you would like.

Doing their stuff in the sauce.

I decided to make a home-made chocolate sauce. The first time I burned it really bad and had to start again. I then almost burned the second batch while capturing the below video of my cat, Sophie.

                                                   She's intrigued by a piece of asparagus.

Home-Made Chocolate Sauce:

 

Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk and it tasted fine)

Directions:
Mix the sugar, cocoa powder, flour, and salt together in a pot. Add in half of the milk and mix to form a thick paste. Add in the rest of the milk and bring to a boil. STIR CONSTANTLY. (This is why mine burned, I didn't stir constantly.) Reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often. Let cool and serve. Apparently you can stir the remainders in the fridge for up to two weeks. This was a delicious chocolate sauce. I'll be making this again. Goodbye store-bought preservative-filled chocolate sauces, I make my own now!

I couldn't get the halves to stick together.

Oh well..

So my honest impressions: It was interesting. I would make it again, but not if I had guests over. I really had to man handle them while trying to get the core out. I don't think someone would want to eat one knowing that I had man handled it. The chocolate sauce was really good! I did feel fancy eating it. I did not feel French while eating it. I don't normally eat pears as I don't like their "grainy-ness" but these ones were barely even grainy.

March 13: National Coconut Torte Day

I love coconut. And chocolate. So I decided to make a Chocolate Buttercream Coconut Torte for today! It was a good choice. I was a little nervous after the Blueberry Popover incident/failure, but I am confident to say that I have redeemed myself. This cake tasted like something I am sure royalty eats! It was very fancy and I felt like I was eating a true delicacy!

Isn't she a beauty?

Before beginning this baking adventure, I might recommend putting on a cute pair of slippers. I think the reason this torte was a success was because of my cute slippers!

Here is some fun information about tortes. What exactly is a torte you may ask? (I did actually ask this.) Tortes are normally flour-less or near flour-less. They are thinner than cakes and sometimes are made out of ground nuts. They are very fancy.

Personally, I think the reason why I like tortes so much is because they sound like turtles. We all know I love turtles.


Coconut Torte Recipe

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup coconut flakes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tbsp. rum (optional)


Directions:
1. Grease an 8 inch springform pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup coconut flakes on the bottom and on the sides of the pan. However, I couldn't figure out how to get the coconut flakes to stick to the side of the pan, even when greased, so I just sprinkled them on the bottom and it turned out fine.

At this point, you may question why your mother has four different, yet similarly sized springform pans when you cannot ever remember her using them. Maybe she only bakes with them when I am out of the house?

2. Stir together the rest of the coconut (1/2 cup), flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form and then gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar.

4. Beat the egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and rum until thick and pasty.

Note: It is important that when you add the melted butter into the egg yolks, it is cool. If not, you risk the hot butter cooking the eggs. We are not making an omelet here, we are making a torte.  You don't want it to turn out egg-y.

Another note: You may decide, since you have the rum out, to take a swig. You may then quickly remember that you are not a pirate, and that rum tastes better in cakes or in mixed drinks. You may need to recover by drinking some water. This is nothing to be embarrassed about. 

5. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture, and then into the flour. Don't over mix.

6. Spread mixture in the springform pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.

7. Let cool until completely cool once out of the oven, then remove the sides of the springform pan.

8. The recipe I loosely followed (which should be noted that this recipe showed no pictures which I thought was a little sketchy) said to cut the cake into three equal layers. Well that's a joke! This cake was about one inch tall. How was that supposed to turn out well? I cut mine into two layers and just frosted between the layers and on top. The recipe also said to put chocolate shavings on top. Yes, because I have time to make my own chocolate shavings - NOT. Anyways, as you will see from the pictures, I only had two layers and no chocolate shavings and it still was something to admire!

Springform pan covered in coconut!

Ready to bake!

Baked!

See how thin it is? And you are supposed to make three layers out of this? I think not!

The two layers. If you look at the one to the left, you will see it is very coconut-y, that's what was on the bottom of the pan which was covered in coconut.



Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- 3 tbsp milk or almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons rum (optional)
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon (see below)

So I realized that while I love cinnamon, and add it to almost anything, I have never added cinnamon to frosting. So I did today. I added about 2 tablespoons cinnamon to the frosting, and well, it gave it a kick! I was a fan! Only for the adventurous though :D

Mix the softened butter, cocoa powder, vanilla and rum together. Alternately add the powdered sugar and milk until you like the taste and consistency. Then add the coconut and stir well.

Frost between the cake layers and on top and then enjoy!