For a laugh... Remembering the Pillsbury Doughboy!

Who authored this gem of a piece is unknown to me.

 

Just for a laugh and to put a smile on your face.

(and just remember, he's really not going anywhere)

The Pillsbury Doughboy passed yesterday of a yeast infection and

trauma from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

 

 Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities

turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth,

Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker,

The Hostess Twinkies [yes, back from their vacation],

and Captain Crunch. The gravesite was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly desribed Doughboy

as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

 

Born and bread in Minnesota, Doughboy rose quickly in show business,

but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a

very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes.

 

Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old man and

was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children:

John Dough, Jane Dough, and Dosey Dough, plus they had one in

the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

 

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

 

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

 

Fondly,

~Karen

 



Spring Has Arrived!

Spring has arrived!

I love Spring. 

Flowering bulbs begin to pop out of the earth after their winter chilling...

Trees are blossoming (my Meyer lemon tree is loaded)...

Birds are chirping...

 

I'm often annoyed at the retail stores for "pushing" us into the

next holiday or the next season too early...

but Spring is always welcomed and as of the 20th we are here...

and Pottery Barn is showing off it's Spring line.

I'm always excited to see what they come up with

and secretly wish they carry over something from the

year before that I wished I had bought - but didn't!

Pottery Barn never fails to disappoint!

Beautiful arrangements of birds in nests...

in a picnic basket!

Plenty of bunnies, including wine bottle decor...

and  not to be missed are their gorgeous tablesettings!

I particularly like the orange, green, and pink napkins

they use here.  The middle of the table is left neutral and

the flatware in the cafe glasses are a surprise.

Now let's just sit back and continue to watch

the earth come alive and enjoy the beauty of Spring!

 

Thank you for visiting.

 

Fondly,

~Karen

 

 

 



Flourless Chocolate Cake on St. Paddy's Day

I was taught in culinary school different ways to use a flourless chocolate

cake.  A flourless chocolate cake is just that - flourless.
Instead of using flour, egg whites are whipped and added to the

chocolate batter instead of dry flour ingredients like we are
more familiar with. After taking out of the oven, the cake
will deflate leaving a moist spongy-like cake.

I like to "stamp" different-shaped pieces out of the flourless chocolate

cake, depending on what I am wanting to make and use them for.

I recently made this cake and "stamped" out hearts as a garnish for a

dessert I made for my sorority.  You can see that post here.

The top-right photo above shows those hearts which I also added a

drizzle of chocolate to, to dress them up and add to their flavor,

since the dessert they were garnishing was not chocolate.

 

I had some of the cake not used when making the hearts and placed

that remaining cake into the freezer. I pulled it out of the freezer

and decided to use it for this small tiered St. Paddy's Day cake. Well,

actually, I had the thought to pull the cake out of the freezer because...

the other day I had lunch with a friend at Opera Cafe and Patisserie

and had to bring home a few mini-macarons - in GREEN!

I thought to use a little macaron to top this little tiered cake.

Then eat the rest! Ha!

I pulled the cake out of the freezer, pulled out my circle cutters,

and while the cake was still quite cold, cut out the needed circles.  

I used the 2 1/2" - 58 mm cutter. 

I cut out more than I needed because the cake can get

quite moist and a little sticky as it thaws, making it sometimes

difficult to take out of the cutters in one piece.

I also had some buttercream in my freezer which I took

out one day before to bring back to room temperature,

then re-whipped it, and added the color green.

This was actually quite easy to put together. Nothing fancy here.

Piped a dab of buttercream on the plate to anchor the cake,

placed the first cake layer on top (using my offset spatula),

piped a swirl of buttercream,

 placed the second cake layer on top,

piped another swirl of buttercream, and

placed the final third layer of cake on top.

 

Althought I was planning on topping it with a final swirl of

buttercream and the green mini-macaron, I thought

it looked a bit plain and need more chocolate. (Right?)

I decided to drape it with some ganache.

For the ganache,

I placed semi-sweet baking chocolate into a bowl along with some cream.

I microwaved it for 45 seconds, then stirred until it became smooth,

shiny, and the pouring consistency I wanted.  Sorry, but I didn't measure.

I did end up adding a little more cream for a better pouring consistency.

But, no, I never put it back into the microwave.

I then lightly poured the ganache over the little tiered cake

and left it to drip down its sides. 

 Lastly, I added one last swirl of buttercream

then topped it off with the mini-macaron.

Yum!  I just love cake and I just love buttercream.

And, the macarons are just a very special treat.

 

Here is the recipe:

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Source - Southerner At Heart

 

10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (not chips)

10 oz. butter

10 large egg yolks

3 oz. sugar

8 large egg whites

3 oz. sugar

 

Melt chocolate and butter together. Whisk egg yolks and 3 oz. sugar in a separate bowl. Fold in melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Whip egg whites and 3 oz. sugar to medium peaks. Fold chocolate mixture into egg white mixture. Spread into a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake 350 degrees until center is set. Let cool completely in pan.

 

Enjoy!

 

Thank you for visiting my blog!

 

This week I will be joining

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Friday

 

 

Fondly,

~Karen