COOL CAKES!

More awesome cakes from my growing collection of pictures. No, I didn't 

make these! I keep a photo file of ideas that I can refer to when someone 

orders a cake. I think some of these are works of art. All of them are edible

--even the knife by the fish and the fur the boots are sitting on!

SUGAR PASTE AND MY GREAT GRANDMA

My Dad's cousin Sandra has been following my blog for awhile and

emailed me asking if I would like to have some old cookbooks she

had that were my Great Grandma's. She also took the time and wrote

some history out for me about my Great Grandma and Grandpa:

Tillie Knutson (Great Grandmother Bong) was born in Sonja, Norway in 1875. 

In the mid 1800's she traveled to America with her mother, father, two brothers, 

and a sister. They made their home in Pulcifer, Wisconsin. Elias Bong was born

 in Norway in 1867. He also traveled to America in the mid 1800's. His family 

stayed in Norway. He moved to Seattle, Wa. where he worked as a logger. The 

Seattle fire in 1889 took most of the jobs so he move to Oconto, Wis. where he

met Tillie Knutson at a logging camp where she was a cook. 

They were married Dec 7th 1894. 

Their first daughter Alpha (my Grandma) was born in 1895. Grandma Bong 

had a little cabin in Pt. Alex., Alaska where she baked bread and sold it. I don't 

know how she could do it, must have been wood stoves, wish you could have 

known her, such a wonderful loving lady.

My Great Grandma Tillie. Isn't it interesting how everything comes full circle.

Here I am in Alaska over 100 years later baking breads and cakes & selling them. 

Thank goodness I don't have to use a wood stove!

Here are the cookbooks from 1903-1937 that Sandra sent me that 

were my Great Grandma's. Sandra's Mom Hazel and my Grandma Alpha 

were sisters. Don't you just love those old names? I was very excited 

to get them--thank you so much Sandra!

What fun to look through them and realize her hands were touching them at 

one time and looking through them just like I was doing. There are some

chocolate stains in the baking book and notes written in the others about the 

recipes and it makes them seem even more personal to me. The baking book even 

has a coffee cup ring on the front just like a lot of my own cookbooks do.

I especially like this baking book with it's hints about the proper baking 

techniques for producing perfectly baked goods. After reading through it 

I find it interesting that most everything is the same as now. The wording is 

different, but the methods for making excellent cakes and breads haven't 

changed very much. Even back then they understood about the chemical 

processes taking place while mixing ingredients!

The author writes in one recipe:

"cakes will come out nicely when taken at the proper time, therefore I say

teach the boy in place of sweating and you will have no more trouble."

There are a couple of interesting items shown with drawings that you could 

purchase from the author of the book. For $2.50 you could purchase your very 

own ice cream cone maker. A common theme I noticed throughout this book is 

the emphasis on the quality of the items he was offering for sale. Things were 

made to last a long time; you purchased them once and passed them along.

There were a couple of different cake fillers offered for sale. It looks to

me like you filled it with cream from the top, stuck the pointed end into 

your pastry & pushed the plunger to force the cream into the pastry.

I am no Grandma Bong, but I have been working on learning some new 

techniques to offer people that are looking for a celebration cake. When we 

went to Juneau I purchased some ready-made Sugar Paste and I made these 

flowers for 2 cakes I made this weekend for the Meet and Greet at our church 

welcoming our pastor candidate from Texas.

They are edible because they are made from sugar, but I think you would have 

to be REALLY hungry to want to crunch through them once they are dried on the

cake. It was fun making these and not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

I sprinkled them with edible glitter once they were on the cake and then sprinkled

it lightly over  both cakes. They were a hit!

My next project is to try covering a whole cake in fondant and see how that turns 

out. I know Marzipan has been around a long time, but now I'm wondering if they 

knew what fondant was all the way back in my Great Grandmother's time?

I LOVE MY LIBRARY

Look what I found brand new for 50 cents on my library's donation cart. 

Oh Yeah

WE FINALLY PASSED 60 DEGREES

Another busy weekend for me! I was hired to provide food for 40 people that
were in town for a wedding and birthday in the same family. This brunch was

the last get together before everybody left to go home. The menu included 

Smoked Salmon Quiche (x7), Broccoli Souffle, Fruit Salad, Cinnamon Rolls 

and Orange Juice.

Since I needed so many cinnamon rolls I used the recipe from The Pioneer
Woman Cooks. It makes a GOB of cinnamon rolls and I doubled that so that we 

could have a few to eat too. I ended up rolling out 3 huge batches of dough and 

filling 7 cake pans with rolls. They were delicious! The icing on top was really 

good even though I left the coffee out of the recipe simply because I didn't know

if the customer would like it. I do know they smelled overwhelmingly good in 

the car at 8:30 this morning on the way to deliver them!

Everything was well received with a huge smile and lots of "perfect, perfect!" 

Whew.

All set for a Tea Party...toasted cheese sandwich cut into bite size 

pieces, grapes, chocolate buttons and 2 little plates of doggie treats.

A Tea Party under the blanket fort with best friends and Daddy.

A Raspberry-Laced Vanilla Cake, just for us! I should have taken a 

picture of the inside of the cake once it was cut; it's really pretty with a 

layer of raspberry jam and the pink raspberry frosting in the other layers. 

The recipe is on the back of the Softasilk Cake flour box. Perfect if you need 

an impressive dessert for a few people that tastes really good. A little trick with 

butter cakes--put them in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving to firm 

them up, then pull them out to room temperature about an hour before serving.

After church the sun was shining (61 degrees!) so we decided to go out in 

the boat. The fast ferry passed us on it's way to Juneau.

We went and looked at a cabin that just came up for sale on an island.

The woodwork inside the entire cabin was really beautiful.

The woodstove keeps everything toasty and a generator charges a bank of 

batteries for electricity.

The view from the front porch--pretty sweet. Look at that ocean 

today--it was like a mirror.

Keith had surgery on his left foot this last week and is recovering for the 

next surgery on the right foot. It was scheduled for Monday, but today he 

said it may be pushed until Tuesday because of scheduling back ups at the 

hospital. He is still coveting your prayers for a successful outcome and a speedy 

healing period. Thank you for remembering him and I hope you had a great weekend

in your part of the world!

IS THAT FOR US?

That's the question of the day around here when I am baking. Is this for us or someone
else? Honestly, I do try to double recipes and make extra for these guys because I know
it must be hard to smell those fresh baked smells and see those fresh baked items cooling
on the counter, only to watch them be placed into carriers and whisked away to some other
lucky recipient. Here are a few things that I took pictures of lately:

One of a 2 cake set for a 60th birthday party. The other one said Happy Birthday 

with her age but I liked this one better. They were carrot cake with cream cheese 

frosting and weighed about 25 pounds each. Just ask my sister--she was the lucky 

person recruited to sit in back of the delivery car and  hold them under the penalty 

of death if they were damaged in any way, shape or form.

My niece Erin made this awesome dessert for my older daughter's birthday. Isn't it 

great? It is "sushi" made from marshmallows, fruit roll ups, frosting and jelly beans 

complete with chop sticks. Some people have the neatest ideas!

I picked up a Paula Deen dessert magazine when we were in Juneau and this cake

was on the cover. Hers was square, but I decided to try it in round layers (I thought 

it would look better) This one stayed home and we ate THE WHOLE THING. The 

chocolate mousse in the 5 layers is absolutely delicious--very light yet full of chocolate 

flavor at the same time.

I made this Coffee Toffee Torte for tonight's good bye dinner for our pastor and his wife. 

They have  been promoted to district managers of all pastors in Alaska, so we wish them 

well. The butterflies are made of chocolate so they can eat them!

That's all for now, but I just took a phone order for a boy's birthday cake with a rocket 

ship, and there's 4th of July, a wedding in July, then my nephew's birthday in August...

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CAKE

This is a very good tasting, quick and very easy to make chocolate cake
that everybody likes. It bakes up easily in a 9 x 13 sheetcake pan and I
frost and serve it right in that baking pan. I love the chocolate taste that
the coffee enhances (I always use decaf coffee) and the frosting adds the
perfect peanut butter taste. I usually chop peanuts to sprinkle on top for
extra crunch and to add a bit of decoration.



PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup brewed coffee, room temperature

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients well. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla,
beat for 2 minutes. Stir in the coffee--this is a thin batter. Pour into prepared pan and
bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake
comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

1 package (3 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk

Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter in mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in powdered
sugar, milk and vanilla. Spread over cake and sprinkle with chopped peanuts or miniature
chocolate chips for garnish. Store cake in refrigerator.

Yields 12-16 servings.

DUSK 9:09 PM

And that's official! I don't think it gets dark until 9:15 or so. Pretty soon it will
be 10:00pm before it is actually dark and then it gets difficult to get to sleep
unless you have darkened curtains or like my brother uses--foil on the windows.

My husband got out the barbeque tonight and we had moose burgers. We bought
this new last year and I hated it! I used it twice and burned both dinners on it so
he put it away for the winter. I was feeling brave today and tried it again. Voila!
The burgers were juicy, tasty and cooked perfectly. I don't know what I did different.
It will be easy to bring this BBQ with us in the boat since it folds easily and uses a
small propane bottle. Now to get a griddle attachment for pancakes on the beach.

It is so warm out that my husband and younger daughter rode their bikes to deliver
a customer's invoice tonight. Well, that and diesel jumped up to $4.63 a gallon here!!

What does fuel cost in your neck of the woods? I'd like to know...

Tonight's dessert: Oreo Cheesecake. Delicious! Now understand, I am the world's
biggest Oreo fan. Always have been. So I knew I would like this cheesecake, but
my husband won't even eat them (and that's SAYING something!) He did like this
cheesecake and finally stopped at his 3rd piece and half of mine. I won't write
the recipe here because Niki at Rural Writings did such a great job posting it on
her blog that I am going to send you over there. She writes her beautiful blog
from Canada and it is one of my favorite places to visit daily.

I am on a quest to try new cheesecake recipes, so keep an eye out for those in
the future. I am wavering about Pumpkin Cheesecake, but a good friend and
good cook that I know recommends it, so that may be what's next. Stay tuned!

BABY SHOWER CAKE

I made this cake today for a baby shower tomorrow. The new mother picked carrot cake and
primary colors, so this is what I came up with. You can't see the other sides, but the other 2
have B and Y to spell BABY. I wasn't sure how many people this 4 layer cake would feed, so I
went ahead and added some carrot cake cupcakes, just in case. I have another carrot cake on
order for a birthday cake to feed 50 people, so that will be fun. Now to come up with something
interesting to decorate it with...

If I had been thinking, I would have grabbed my camera half way through because my husband
came to my rescue and helped me frost the cupcakes. 4 x 8 sheetrock and roto hammers are
more his style, but he did great and thanks to his helping hand I am finished tonight in time to
make another dessert for our church fund raiser tomorrow.

CHOCOLATE KAHLUA CHEESECAKE

I think I have found my new favorite dessert. First off let me say that cheesecake is not
usually my first choice for dessert. I like cake and I like cookies, then it's usually pies.
But this recipe sounded so good that I went ahead and tried it and the results were a
hit with everybody.

I made it with decaf coffee so the kids could have a small slice. Now I have always heard
that when you cook with liquor that the alcohol bakes out and only the flavor is left. I
hope that's true since my 10 year old daughter loved this cheesecake!

It is rich, so I served pretty small slices and it tasted better the longer it stayed in the
refrigerator. We had a slice left on the third day after I made it and the taste and texture
were even better than when I first served it. That tells me this would be a great make-
ahead dessert, which I am always on the lookout for!

For an impressive presentation when serving, try sprinkling shaved chocolate on top or
if you have fresh strawberries try slicing them thin and placing some on each piece when
serving--beautiful!



CHOCOLATE KAHLUA CHEESECAKE

CRUST:
2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (I used chocolate graham crackers)
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix the 3 ingredients together and press into a 9 inch springform pan on the bottom.
Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Cool completely.

FILLING:
1 1/2 lb. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup Kahlua
1/8 cup very strong coffee
5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Beat cream cheese and sugar together until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time until
mixture is light and fluffy. Add Kahlua, coffee and melted chocolate; beat until smooth.
Pour into prepared crust, smooth top and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or just
until firm to the touch. You don't want to overbake cheesecake--it should be creamy, not
dry.

TOPPING:
1 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla or Kahlua

While cake is baking, mix together topping ingredients. When cake is done baking, remove
from oven and spoon on topping carefully. Bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes. At this point
I like to turn the oven off, leave the cake inside and prop the oven door open. I have found
that this cools the cake slower, hopefully resulting in less cracks on the top. If you still get
cracks on top you can take a little bit extra sour cream and swirl into the topping to cover
the cracks.

When cake is completely cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours. For
best flavor and texture try to refrigerate overnight. This cake is easiest to cut with a knife
dipped in hot water after cutting each slice.

Serves 8-10

AM I REALLY GETTING PAID FOR THIS?

Well I have my very first PAID baking job under my belt and it's exciting! I have been
wanting to establish myself as a caterer specializing in baked goods for awhile now.
I talked with a lady in town that has been doing this for many years and she is getting
older and ready to retire so she is referring me to her customers.


My first job was a huge sheet cake for a church celebration. The customer supplied
the exact recipe over the phone and I borrowed the large baking pan and tray from
my friend. The cake was called Italian Cream Cake and was it ever rich! It had a
wonderful cream cheese frosting and things like pecans, lots of eggs, whipping
cream and sugar in the batter and everything was doubled so my bowls were at
capacity. I don't feel like I can share the recipe here since it is hers, but doing an
online search with the cake name should bring up several recipes that are similar.

I had a lot of fun making it and my customer left me a note with payment when I
picked up my cake dish that said it was delicious. I'm so excited-- I got paid, and
the cake was edible to boot!

She has already called back and ordered a layered yellow birthday cake with fudge
frosting. This one will be with my recipe, so watch for that here shortly. It's a
good one!

CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE

I made this cake today for the New Year tonight. What better way to ring in the new
year than with a chocolate/chocolate combination?

This is a classic, fudgy, rich chocolate cake that tastes as good as it looks. The frosting
is made with sour cream, so it is not as sweet as the cake and it makes a nice flavor
combination.

If it's been awhile since you made a chocolate cake from scratch, think about giving this
one a try. I don't know if you'll ever be able to go back to mixes!



CAKE

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon hot water
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 3/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour milk (1 Tablespoon white vinegar + enough milk to
make 1 cup)

Grease the bottoms and sides of two 9 inch layer pans. Then cut waxed paper to fit inside the
bottom and lay on the greased surface. Then grease the top of the waxed paper and sprinkle
flour over it until lightly covered. I have found this to be the best method for releasing the
cakes from the pans after cooking.

Combine softened butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add egss, one at a time, beating well after
each addition. Mix in vanilla. Stir hot water into cocoa in a small bowl to form a smooth paste;
add gradually to creamed mixture and set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with
sour milk.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, turning the pans
halfway through the cooking time for even baking. Cakes are done when a wooden pick comes
out clean. Cool cakes 10 minutes in pans, then turn out onto racks to cool completely before
frosting. **Cakes are also easier to frost if cooled a bit first in the refrigerator**

FROSTING

3 squares (3 ounces each) unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat until melted. Pour chocolate/
butter mixture into small bowl and add remaining ingredients. Beat until smooth and creamy.

Place first cake layer on serving plate and frost the top. Place second layer on top of first and
frost the top and sides, smoothing with a butter knife or spatula. I used a decorating comb to
give mine some neat lines--look around your kitchen, you never know what you will find to
decorate the cake with!

Yields 16 small slices or 12 larger slices (like for my family)

CHOCOLATE MACAROON CAKE

This delectable chocolate cake is made with sour cream in the batter to keep it moist and there is an amazing
coconut-macaroon filling in the middle that bakes right along with the cake. If you like Almond Joy candy bars
as much as I do then I think you'll love this dark chocolate cake! Using a bundt pan makes this beautiful cake
surprisingly easy to make and very elegant to serve.





Generously grease the bundt pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare coconut-macaroon
filling and set aside.

COCONUT-MACAROON FILLING
Reserved egg white (from one of the 4 eggs that will go into the cake)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup grated coconut
1 Tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

In small mixer bowl, beat egg white at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat
until stiff peaks form. By hand, stir in coconut, flour and vanilla; blend well and set aside.


CAKE
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sour cream
4 eggs (reserve 1 white for filling)

In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for cake. Blend at low speed until moistened, then beat
3 minutes at medium speed scraping the bowl often.

Pour chocolate batter into prepared bundt pan. Drop teaspoonfuls of coconut-macaroon filling over
chocolate batter until you have an even ring around the cake.

Bake cake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes until top springs back when touched lightly in the center
of the cake. Be careful not to overbake, as this will result in a dry cake.

Cool 20 minutes, then place plate on top and invert cake to remove from pan--let cool completely
before glazing so glaze doesn't melt.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate (melted and cooled)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons warm water

In small mixing bowl combine glaze ingredients. I used a whisk to mix everything well. Use enough warm
water so that it reaches a glaze consistency and can be poured over the cake and run down the sides as
in my photo.

Store cake covered tightly so it doesn't dry out. These types of cakes are so beautiful displayed on glass
cake stands.

Fresh strawberries would be very attractive and delicious displayed in the middle of the cake when serving.

CAT BOX CAKE

I know, don't say it. This is gross. But it was SO MUCH FUN! Plus, it actually tastes good. It was my sister's birthday and I wanted to do something a little bit different for her cake ( I think I accomplished that). Yes, we bought a brand new cat box and a brand new scoop and thoroughly cleaned and sanitized them beforehand. The box slid perfectly into a brown paper grocery sack so the surprise wasn't ruined and you actually cut and serve it with the scooper. As you can imagine this is a huge hit with the kids. My niece came running up to see the birthday cake in the last picture and her reaction is priceless!

1 (18 ounce box) spice cake or german chocolate
1 (18 ounce box) white cake mix
1 large package white sandwich cookies
1 large box vanilla instant pudding
12 small Tootsie Rolls
1 new litter box--cleaned and sanitized
1 plastic scoop--clean and sanitized
green food coloring

Prepare cakes mixes and bake according to directions in any size pan since you will be crumbling
them up into pieces.

Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble.

Process white sandwich cookies in food processor until the consistency of cornmeal. Set aside all
but 1/4 cup.

To the 1/4 cup of cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and mix well using a fork or
shake in a jar with the lid on. Set aside.

When cakes are completely cooled, crumble them together into a vary large bowl. Toss with half the
remaining cookie crumbs and some of the chilled pudding--you want a moist consistency, not soggy,
so you probably won't use all of the pudding. Toss thoroughly and gently until well combined and pour
into clean and sanitized litter box.

Put 2 unwrapped Tootsie Rolls into a dish and heat them until soft and pliable--not melted. I used the
warm oven after baking the cakes. Shape the ends of the Tootsie Rolls so they are no longer blunt, curving
them slightly and shaping them like, well, you know how they are shaped! Repeat with 3 more Tootsie Rolls
and bury them in the mixture so they just show. Sprinkle the other half of the cookie crumbs over the top.
Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly over the top, this is supposed to be the chlorophyll in the kitty
litter.

Heat remaining Tootsie Rolls, 3 at a time, sprinkle them with cookie crumbs and place around the cake.

Serve on a newspaper and save a few of the cookie crumbs to sprinkle on the newspaper. Serve with the
scooper buried in the cake. Vanilla ice cream is very good on the side.

After the initial shock your guests really will enjoy it--I promise!

Serves 24.