The Ultimate Wedding Gift - A Cake

 What do you give as the ultimate wedding gift? Thge wedding cake.It cna be an easy bake ans frosting for those who love baking. It's not as hard  to createas you would think.

Natasha Pickowicz , cheif baker at Cafe Altro paradiso and floraBar, wrote this how to on the New York Times Food section online. It's an intiguing concept that many have wanted to do. Yet there were always hold backs, Creating perfectly formed layers, Tiering the cake. However a homemade cake is not only made with love but with flavor. The best part of this is taking a bite and actually tasting the vanilla ro liquor drenching the cakes The task isn;t so daunting if you break everything down into smaller, manageable taskes dasy and even weeks befiore the big day.  The  cake can be frozen eve thanks to tbe addition of egg whites. Butter is eliminated from the recipe to prevent crumbliness and dryness..Onthe wedding day they're frosted and assembledat where the reception will be held. elegant ,edible decor is added at the very last minute. The only strenuous activity is whipping up the Swiss butercream which holds up better than the traditional one. It's perfect for enrobing tiered cakes thanks to it;s sturdiness and heft. There is also a whixkey and chocolate grooms cake too, if you want to add it.

Ms. Pickowocz 's cake is the traditional vanilla but with a twist. Its soaked in bright citrus syrup, with the layers being draped on the plan like lasagna sheets.It has a charred orange compote,a sesame buttercream and a granola like sesame crunch. It;s a vanilla chiffon cake that's made only with eggs and a neutral oil like grapeseed. The eggs whites are whipped intoa frothy billowy meringue that only adds to the texture of the cake.The sesame crunch is acooked mix of  egg white, light brown sugar vanilla and salt. sesame seeds are added then the batter is transferred to a buttered pan and baked for six minutes in  a3 50 degree Farenehit oven. The citrus compote is made with oranges and lemons. They should be first washed and then sliced  tobe sizzled in a Dutch oven. Sear for ten minutes until there are blackened charred spots of the slices. flip th e pieces and cook the other sides unti charred. They're taken out and eight cups of water is added t o it and simmered with the lemon and orange bits.The chopped peeks are added to the water and then drained. The segments are s trained and the pulp is put into a pot.its;blened with an immersion blender and then put into the fridge. The buttercream is a merignue of egg whites and sugar, with salt and vanilla later added.

Surprisingly anyone can bake a wedding cake. I;t s just using the right cake and frosting to create one that will hold up. The end result is a beautiful gift,

The Perfect Barbecue Guide

 everyone, whether novice or experienced home chef needs a good barbecue guide. Barbecuing is  very different than indoor cooking. There are different aspects to consider, like temp and cooking time. Luckily there is a guide to use this summer.

Regular contributor and barbecue master , Steven Raichlen wrote about everything grilled  in today's New York Times Food section. This is a must save. Chef Raichlen who has created amazing dishes on his PBS TV show first explains how to start and heat a grill. There will b e glowing embers in fifteen to twenty minutes of time without the addition of lighter fluid. It's building a tiered fire to control the hear. You should rake the coals into a thicker layer at the endof the grill. This is the searing zone. Have atinner layer in the middle which will be your cooking zone.It's then leaving no coals in the front third of the grill. This is your safety zone.If you have a gas grill. set one burner on high and one on medium,Keep one burner free to become your safety zone.If your grill lacks a third burner then use your warming rack as your safety zone. All this is possible if you have a clean grate. If;not it's time for a good cleaning. Chef Raichlen recommneds  cleaning hot grates with a stiff wire brush. A better tool is a wooden scraper which eliminates the risk of accidentally ingesting a loose bristle. Also oil it.It minimizes sticking and gives you better grill marks. Use a tightly folded paper towel dipped in oil to do this. You can also use a chunk of bacon, steak fat or even an onion for this.

The most perfect steak comes from cooking evenly and accurately. Leave at least one inch between each piece of food for better heat circulation, Leave about twenty-five of your grill free of food so you have space to manuever and doge flare ups. Definitely use an instant read meat thermometer to check for doneness.Insert it through the side of a burger or chicken breast not through the top to get an accurate reading. Afterwards let the meat rest. Transfer over to a sheet pan to prevent the bottms getting soggy or directly onto a  platter or plate,wait a minute before serving. This allows the meat to relax  and the juices to redistribute.Thid goves you a juicier, more tender cut. Chef Raichlen also gives some tasty recipesThey run the gamut from steak to pork to hamburgers. grillers will like the variety of the barbecued chicken and salmon. Any of these can be made for a weekend dinner or part of an outdoor party. The grilled steak has a comboof bourbon and maple syrup on it while the chicken is covered in herbs.

It's grilling season. Use thsi guide and recipes to create tasty barbecues. They're a wonderful way to start the summer.

Summer Theme Birthdays

Those who have summer birthdays have an exrta layer of  fun.It's nice to have a birthday in the other three seasons however a summer party  can be an extravaganza .You can have all sorts of fun themes and foods.

Of course a pool party is the ultimate hot weather bah. Kids would love fun finger foods like English muffin pizzas and ice cream sodas. The first is an an easy make , perfect for a small party with five or six little guests. These can be customized to suit everyone's tastes. Have fun toppings like pepperoni and olives on hand along with rotisserie chicken shreds and pineapple chunks. As for the ice cream sodas, you could use Coke (if the moms allow it) and a variety of different ice creams. Kids can add in chocolate chips and sprinkles  for more crunch and fun. If you want to save the ice cream for last then think a sundae bar. Have two or three flavors set up with two toppings, like fudge and salted caramel, along with whipped cream. Make sure there are plenty of toppings like M&M's gummy bears and even cereal like Lucky Charms. A baseball park themed party is also fun. Kids love hot dogs and this  theme is perfect for them. You could also make boxes of popcorn too. target sells cute popcorn boxes if you need them.  Also think  those big pretzels with  mustard too. What to drink? Lemonade is the best bet here. The cake could be a copy of a baseball inflield. Cupcakes can look like baseballs.

One of the classic summer to dos is the drive in movie. This is perfect for teens , tweens and adults. Set up a movie screen in the backyard. Show the  birthday boy's or girl's favorite movie. As for snack bar fare, think burgers loaded with cheese and bacon, along with pickles and onions.Fries are a must here and large batches are easy to make in an air fryer. You could also fry up waffle style in both Idaho and sweet potato varieties. Set up cups of ketchup in cups for dipping.Pizza is another big snack bar  treat. Whip up  several using premade dough for easy baking. Serve plain pizzas and ones with different toppings.Of course popcorn is a must too. Buy bags of buttered flavored corn like Wises or Herr's if there's a large crew coming. If not you can easily make a bucket in the microwave. Soda is important to wash everything down,  however you may also want to get Slushies which can be bought at stores like Acme. This is a hybrid fo juice and ice , perfect for a hot summer's night. Ice cream cake and ice cream cupcakes would be a perfect end to this party along with caramel corn and boxes of such snackbar faves as Raisinettes, Milk Duds and Junior Mints.

Summer parties mean tasty treats and fun. Pick and theme and run with it. Celebrate the day with the best time of year.Q

Cool Ades

 Nothing beats a cool glass of some kind of ade.These are refreshing on a hot day and perfect for any barbecue or lazy day at the beach. You can easily buy these but they're more fun to make at home.

One of the easiest is lemonade. This anceint drink  ist still popular as it was in ancient India, China and Myanmar.The best homemade one requires  simple syrup which can be used in other drinks and even cocktails and mocktails.It's boiling one cup of sugar in one cup of water. Combine this with one cup of  fresh or concentrated lemon juice. Two to three cups of warer along with ice cubes are added. A popular variation is adding mango to it. Use two large mango chop into big chunks and add with water to a blender. This will make a kind fo mango puree that will be diluted when it's added to the lemonade. Others go wild for  large frosty glass of raspberry lemonade. It'st the same basic recipe but with the addition of a strained raspberry puree added. One of my favorites and I've been drinking this a lot is an Arnold Palmer. This is a hybrid half and half of lemonade and iced tea. I usually make it  on a tall glass with any fruit tea and a splash of lemon juice. I add a small packet of Stevia In The Raw to sweeten it,  and a  good splash (about half a cup) of cold water to dilute it's strength. The last step is  adding four or five ice cubes for a cold sip.

Another ade you can easily make is limeade. This can be made with granulated sugar as well as a simple syrup.It's using the juice of two or three limes along with the zest for more flavor. Some home chefs will recommend using simple syrup which gives the entire drink a lovely sweet flavor. Add the juice and two to three cups of water along with ice. You could add a sprig of mint to it to make it a mocktail mojito. Watermelon is  popular right now but instead of cubing or slcing it , turn it into a refreshing ade. This is taking four cups of cubed watermelon  and pureeing it.I;'s then strained and blended with simple syrup, three cups of cold water and a half cup of lemon juice (this can be freshly squeezed or bottled) Mix well and then add ice. You could add the raspeberry puree to it and copy Dunkin Donuts new drink it's raspberry watermelon cooler. Raspberry juice and orage juice also makes a yummy blended ade.

A cooling ade is what you need during this hot weather. Create a homemade one , sit back and enjoy.It's refreshing and soothing

Grocery Hunting

 Is it worth driving twety-five miles to  a grocery store?For some  this is an extravagance even wth falling gas prices.Yet suppose the store offers a lot more than what your local one has? What to do?

I've run into this problem here in New Jersey.. It seems  that the groceries outside the city here in Bergen County are a lot smaller than what's in the central and southern parts of the state. I recently went to the Kenilworth Acme , almost exactly twenty-two miles south of where I live. I was in the area not for shopping  but for dropping off gadgets and clothes at the GreenDrop down that way. It was hot and I was thirsty so I'd thought I'd jsut go in for some kind of drink. I had no idea that Acme was that huge. There's a UPS Store right as you walk in and the front of the Acme hosts a good sized  Starbucks. It was mind blowing. The produce department was the size of a farmer's market with a lot more choices than my local Acme.The vegan section was impressive. My store only has one or two flavors of the Field Roast vegan hot dogs. Here they have seven !!!!There are even bratwursts. too.Their shelves also held several different kind of vegan coldcuts as well. Is it worth traveling down here for my next barbecue? Yes! All Acmes card holders  recieve the same discounts no matter what the location. I have yet to explore their bakery and fozen food section. (although I may want to hold off on that until winter and colder weather..)

Similar groceries like the Acme and Shop Rite in Clark have also impressed me. The Clark Acme is big as well and has a good choice of fresh meat, veggies and fruits. The same with the Shop-Rite there. That one has an excellent deli counter where you can buy delicious heroes (better than Jersey Mike's at times) for a lot less. They also have a Dunkin Donuts in store too. I wouldn't make Clark a weekly trip. I usually go to the Target there which also had a good selection of different foods  as well. This is few and far between .It's the same with the Keyport Stop & Shop. I now sometimes go to  one by me.. It;s quick and convenient. Yet again its' Mnmouth COunty cousin is bigger and offers a wider variety. I usually stop in  for my lunch before I hit the beach.It's easier getting an already made sandwich  and soda there than it is stopping at any of the fast food places along the beach route. If they do offer some non perishable that I'm looking for,I'll buy it roo. Yet I'll hold off at driving an hour south for groceries.]

You can drive twenty miles from home for a food shopping. If the grocery has much more that your local one, then go. It'll be worth the trip.

June's Other's Star The Blueberry

 JUne is known for its' strawberry harvests. Yet it's the blueberry that 's the real star. These little jewels are perfect in a variety of different dishes. Try them in a salad or in a dessert. They're good in savory and sweet dishes.

Blueberries are just plain good for you. They have the highest antioxidant levels of any fruit, and are good for protecting againsy certan cancers, eye problems and even urinary track infections. They also help in stopping heart disease , improve metabolism and strengthen brain functions involved in memory. As with most berries they can be used in both dinner and dessert recipes. A nice summery salad treat is a dressing made with them,balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Honey and lemon juice are added to give it sweetness and smoothness while cracked peppercorns offer heat. You could also make this with apple cider vinegar too.Keep in mind these versatile little berries can also be part of a meat sauce  too.It's combining them with balsamic vinegar brown sugar and lemon juice and reducing them to almost a  thick syrup. Its then dipping barbecued steak or chicken in it or pouring it over the meat.If you're a little more ambitious you can try your hand at blueberry ketchup. This is cooking two cups of them with ginger and shallots first , then adding red wine vinegar,  brown sugar and salt. It;s boils until it forms a thick, jammy mix. Try it for a different spin on French fries and burgers.

Of course blueberries are the perfect ingredients for any sweet treat. Many love them in scratch pancakes and waffles. Any of these are perfect for breakfast but also for a brunch.  A different spin is combining the berries with butter and confectioners sugar for topping those breakfast classics. A scoop of it is also good on French toast too. or on  blueberry muffins. Blueberry muffins are a great way of using them. Nothing beats one loaded with berries and slathered with butter. More ambitious home bakers will bake them into pies, They're also good in tarts as well for a more elegant dessert.If you want something easy then think of a blueberry crisp. These are cooked berries topped off with a buttery streusel topping created with sugar ,butter, flour and oats for that crunchy topping.You could also make a cobbler topping which is lumps of dough baked on top of the berries. Cakes and cupcakes can also benefit from a blueberry boost. Try blueberry cupcakes with  blueberry buttercream for a summer birthday party. Ice cream lovers will love home made blueberry ice cream for a fun hot weather treat.

Thi s is blueberry season. Use these bright blue jewels in a variety of savory and sweet dishes. Enjoy their flavor and benefits.

How To Make Strawberries Shine

 It's June and that means strawberry season. These gems are always the perfect ingredient in any dessert. There's only one problem - they can become soggy. They need to be fleshy and firm.How to do that? Luckily there are different ways to make those berries shine.

Regular contributor Melissa Clark wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times Food section. We will be inundated with the juicy fruit for the next few weeks. Strawberries did not have a good start to the year. California , where the winter ones are gtown was beset with bad weather . This caused them to have a bland taste.Luckily fate turned around for them and they and other strawberries have become sweeter and juicier. Unfortunately they do weep or seep moisture into a crumb or crust.Ms Clark gives three new recipes that call for either macerating, roasting or simmeringthem. This condenses their juices and allows them to hold up better in pastry and cakes.Simmering them let them to top a flaky tart. The berries top a tangy cream cheese mixture spread on a base of puff pastry.The tart emergres from th e oven with a crisp, buttery crust.It's a mixture of a lemony creme filling thanks to freshly squeezed lemon juice and zest. The berries are put on top last and then baked in a 425 degrees Farenheit oven.

You could also macerate or soak them in sugar before baking them into biscuits. This prevents from becoming gummy.These then can be turned into the ultimate shortcake with a layer of macerated berries and then a puff of whipped cream. Adding poppy seeds to the biscuits gives them extra crunch. The shortcake is a basic buttermilk one but also very buttery too. A half cup of unsalted butter is used.The strawberry juice is mixed with the buttermilk and added to the dough. As with any shortbread the dough is frozen for forty-five minutes before baking. There is roasting , with the strawberries being briefly roasted before being mixed into a  delicate andtemder almond cake, This gives the fruit an intense flavor and caramelizes the juices. The cakes themselves use only egg whites along with five large egg whites. Browned butter is added. Almond and regular white are combined in the batter.The roasted strawberries are cooled patted dry and then folded into the mix. They're baked in muffin tins with a little granulated sugar sprinkled on top The oven should be set at 400 degrees Farenhweit.

These recipes are the perfect way to enjoy fresh and juicy strawberries. They're create a tender fruit without all that soppiness. Try them for a perfect strawberry dessert.