Baking Aspirations by Christine Johnson

Confession time here. I’m a huge fan of baking shows. Holiday Baking Championship, Cupcake Wars, The Great British Baking Show and its American counterpart—I love them all. And their creations? Sigh. Gorgeous cakes, almost too pretty to eat. Fresh bread out of the oven that I can practically smell.

After acquiring a gorgeous pie cookbook filled with mouth-watering photos, I decided to bake one pie per week this past winter. I found willing guinea pigs—er, tasters—and bought my supplies.

Where to begin? I decided a yummy chicken pot pie sounded good. Several hours later (why did I choose such a difficult pie?), it came out of the oven and was ready for tasting. I declared it a success, and my tasters agreed.

No, this isn’t my effort. Mine wasn’t nearly as symmetrical. No photos were taken in order to protect the unskilled.

Alas, the next pie—a chocolate cream pie—turned to disaster when the filling went from thick at room temperature to soup in the refrigerator. I still don’t understand the chemistry of what happened.

A quiche fell flat but tasted good. The frozen strawberry cream pie required a machete to cut into pieces. And the list went on. Needless to say, I won’t be entering The Great American Baking Show anytime soon. On the plus side, all my tasters said they were willing to keep trying my creations. Bless them, Lord! And the key lime pie in a gingersnap crust was delicious.

Are you a baker? Or, like me, do you love to watch cooking shows and dream of being so skilled?

In my latest book with Love Inspired Historical, Mail Order Sweetheart, the heroine, Fiona, needs to get a husband quickly. She has tried to attract a husband with her baking skills. Unlike my efforts in the kitchen, her rolls and breads are a total success. Her efforts to get a husband? Not so much. With her savings dwindling and her seven-year-old niece en route to live with her, Fiona makes one last gigantic effort to attract a man of means.

Christine Johnson

Mail Order Sweetheart (LIH, June 2017)

Freedom’s Price (Revell, June 2017)

http://christineelizabethjohnson.com

Baked Alaska recipe from Teri Wilson, author of LI Alaska series

Hi, everyone! 

This is a post I've been meaning to do for a while. You know how it is...there's always something you plan on doing, and somehow it just gets put off. Right?

A few years ago, when I was busy slaving away on ALASKAN HEARTS (which would later become my very first book with Love Inspired), I remember saying to my critique partners, "If I ever sell this book to Harlequin, I'm going to celebrate by making Baked Alaska." I mean, how appropriate! 

Fast forward to the present. My Alaska series for LI is now 5 books strong, and have I made that Baked Alaska yet? Um...no. Not exactly. There's something little intimidating about taking on an ice cream cake that you eventually set on fire. 

How does it not turn into a melted mess? Better yet, how do I manage to not set my kitchen fire?

But right here, right now, I'm taking the first step. I found a recipe! (Don't laugh. You have to start somewhere.) 

I'm including the recipe below. This particular recipe does not require actual flames. But the total preparation time is a whopping eight hours and 30 minutes. Egad. Never fear, though. Only one hour of that time is active. (I can only assume the rest of the time is spent wondering what you've gotten yourself into.) And look how pretty it is! Just like Alaska, only with sugar. 

Does anyone care to join me in this little culinary adventure? Better yet, has anyone actually made Baked Alaska before??

Do tell. Please. 

Ingredients

Ice Cream Dome

2

cups (1 pint) peppermint ice cream, softened

6

cups (1.5 quarts) mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened

6

cups (1.5 quarts) vanilla ice cream, softened 

Brownie Base

1

cup butter

8

oz bittersweet chocolate

4

eggs

2

cups sugar

2

teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4

cup all-purpose flour

1

teaspoon baking powder

1/2

teaspoon salt

Merinque

8

egg whites, room temperature

1/4

teaspoon cream of tartar

1

cup sugar

Directions

Directions 

• Line a 3-quart bowl with plastic wrap. Fill base of bowl with peppermint ice cream; layer with mint chocolate chip ice cream, then finish with a layer of vanilla ice cream. Cover surface with plastic wrap and freeze until ice cream is very hard, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours in advance.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place butter and chocolate in a medium glass bowl over a saucepan of hot water (or a double boiler) and stir the butter and chocolate until melted. This can also be done in a microwave by placing butter and chocolate in microwave-safe medium glass bowl and microwaving on High for 1 to 2 minutes or until melted, stirring once. Set aside to cool
• In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until well combined. In another medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the eggs and whisk to combine. Add the flour to the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Pour into cake pan. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• When the brownie is completely cool, about 1 hour. Turn brownie out onto a large flat, ovenproof plate. Unmold the ice cream dome on top of the brownie layer. Place back in the freezer. 
• With electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar for 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Increase the speed to high and add the sugar in a slow stream until stiff, glossy peaks form.
• Remove ice cream dome from freezer. Remove plastic wrap. Cover the ice cream dome with the meringue, covering it completely, using the back of spoon to make swirly peaks. Freeze for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.
• Heat the oven to 500°F. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until the peaks start to turn a golden brown color. For easier slicing, let cake stand for 30 minutes. Slice and serve. 

Come visit Teri's world of Aurora, Alaska, in her latest book for Love Inspired - ALASKAN HOMECOMING. 

Ballet dancer Posy Sutton is only back in her hometown of Aurora, Alaska, until her injury heals. It's a decision that'd be easier to stick to if she didn't keep bumping into her charming ex-boyfriend, Liam Blake. After six years, she should be over him—but instead all she can see is the mistake she made when she left him. She's not sure she can handle choosing between Liam and ballet a second time…if Liam is even willing to risk his heart again. When her time in Alaska is up, will she and Liam be part of the sweetest dance of all?

Recipe from Betty Crocker.

Recipe - Authentic Alaskan Blueberry Cake

I like to start off every new year with a goal—something fun I’d like to accomplish during the course of the year. Last year, my goal was to learn how to knit. Yep, everyone got scarves for Christmas.

 Back in 2011, I had a simpler—albeit calorie-laden—aspiration. My goal was to make 50 new desserts from scratch. I succeeded. Out of all the new recipes I tried, my absolute favorite was one given to me by a fellow volunteer at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska.

Since my first three books for Love Inspired all take place in Alaska, most readers assume that’s where I live. I don’t. I’m a Texas girl. For the past three years, I’ve traveled to Alaska to volunteer with sled dogs at the race. From the first time I flew over Alaska and saw the Northern Lights from the airplane window, I fell in love with the place! Whenever I miss Alaska, the dogs, the snow, and the wonderful Alaskan people, I like to make my favorite dessert.  

So I’d love to share this recipe with all my readers out there! Bon Appetit, Alaskan style!

ALASKAN BLUEBERRY CAKE

3/4 cup butter

2  1/4 tsp. baking powder

1  1/2 cup sugar

3/8 tsp. salt

3 eggs, separated

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2   1/4 cup wild blueberries

2 1/4 cups of sifted cake flour

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add well-beaten egg yolks and vanilla.

Sift dry ingredients together and add alternately with the milk to cream mixture beating well after each addition.

Beat egg whites until frothy and fold into the batter.

Pour half of the batter into a 9x13 greased pan. Cover with the flour-dusted blueberries, then add remaining batter.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for almost 1 hour or until golden brown. Sprinkle with powder sugar. Serve hot.

Coming in May - ALASKAN HERO!

 

Allie Pleiter on Overcoming Baking Incompetence

Christmas is a shameful time for us in the baking-impaired community.  I write historical novels and knit up a storm, so people assume a lot of domestic prowess on my part. 

They'd be so wrong.  

One look at the state of my oven (translation: filthy), or the last batch of cookies I made (accompanied by the time-honored justification "just eat around the burnt parts”), and the truth is out.  I can cook, but I can't bake my way out of a paper bag.  Or is that I can’t bake my way off a sheet of parchment paper?

Still, I remain a die-hard optimist.  Gadget freak that I am, surely baking competence is just a matter of good tools, right?  Every good baker I knows owns one of those massive stand up mixers.  So, when our church updated its kitchen and gave away its old mixers, I jumped on it.  After all, an appliance larger than my current toaster must surely bring success.

Well, I'll let you know.  Truth is, I'm a little reluctant to try it out.  What if, even when properly outfitted, I still can't bake?  Cooking is an art, but baking is mostly science.  And being an art person, I rot at science.  I worry that this is the equivalent of giving a math dunce a graphing calculator--it won't change much.

But if you walk into my kitchen, maybe you will be so entranced by my spiffy new mixer that you won't notice the sorry state of my oven.

It could happen.