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Baking Powder Biscuits…Being Martha

April 14, 2013 by Wendy Cohen Leave a Comment

This is a pretty quick and easy biscuit recipe…make sure that you have Heavy Cream in your refrigerator before you start this one! You can find the recipe on Page 30 of the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook or you can find it on line here.

Starts like most biscuit recipes…combine dry ingredients and then cut in butter with a pastry blender.

This is what it looks like after you have finished blending with a pastry blender. Here’s what I think the secret is to this recipe:

Leave small chunks of butter (about pea size) throughout the finished mix. This is what creates the flakiness and the butter taste.

Add cream and fold in gently; do not overmix. I just mixed until the ingredients were wet and kind of sticking together.

Here is what it looked like when I placed onto my floured surface…kind of a mess, huh! I gently combined it without over mixing.

Here it is pressed together and ready for biscuits. You will notice that it is not perfect…I think this is what creates the great flakey texture. If it was overmixed, I don’t think you would get that great flakey texture.

Once you cut the biscuits out with a round cutter and place them on a baking sheet, brush them with the remaining cream. Here they are all done!

They are so good, you can’t have JUST ONE!

You might remember that I baked Buttermilk Biscuits a few weeks back…I like the Baking Powder Biscuits better. They are flakier and a little tastier I think.

Hope you have a great Sunday!

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Filed Under: baking, blog, bread, create, entertaining, martha stewart Tagged With: baking powder biscuits, biscuit, biscuit recipe, biscuits, buttermilk biscuits, martha stewart baking handbook, martha stewart biscuit

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Berry Layer Cake … Being Martha

April 7, 2013 by Wendy Cohen 4 Comments

Put down everything you are doing…TRY THIS RECIPE! It is great tasting and fun to make!

This recipe can be found on Page 154 of the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook or you can find it right here.

This recipe is a little more involved so give yourself plenty of time and be ready to try some new things. It is worth it!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9 by 2 inch round cake pans, set aside.

Prep your pans…notice I don’t have two pans that are the same size. Need a second pan that is similar to the one on the right.

Old Fashioned Berry Layer Cake

This baby has a total of 10 eggs….read carefully…6 whole eggs and 4 large egg yolks! Wow! And, notice that you are using a whisk attachment in the mixer. This adds air and lightness to the batter.

Cake Recipe

Unsalted butter, for pans

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

6 large whole eggs, plus 4 large egg yolks, all at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2. In a large bowl sift together flour and cornstarch, set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attached combine the whole eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until thick and pale, it should hold a ribbon like trail on the surface when the whisk is raised. This should take about 5 minutes, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Add flour mixture to the egg mixture. With mixer on low speed beat until just combined. Add oil in a steady stream, mixing until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer. Using the whisk fold the mixture several times.

Follow the instructions carefully here…you will be surprised by how much the batter expands once the air is introduced into the mix. You will also be surprised how the dry ingredients drop to the bottom when you add them in.

5. Divide the batter between pans and smooth tops. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cakes are springy to the touch and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Ready to come out of the oven…these are so light and fluffy right our of the oven.

6. Immediately invert cakes onto a wire rack. Then re-invert cakes and let them cool completely with the top sides up.

It is important to take out of the pan and invert them right away so that they can cool.

Topping

1 quart (4 cups) heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 pint small strawberries, hulled

1/2 pint blackberries

1/2 pint raspberries

1/2 pint golden raspberries

1/2 pint blueberries

7. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attached combine heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract.

Starting on low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high, whip until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.

8. Using a serrated knife, trim the tops of the cakes to make level. Slice each cake in half horizontally into two layers. Okay, this is the hardest part. As you can see, one of my cake layers got a little messed up when I took it out of the pan.

Tip: Before you cut the cakes in half to make two layers, put them in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes to firm them up. It will make it easier to cut.

Place one of the bottom layers on a serving plate. Spread a quarter of the whipped cream over the layer, arrange a quarter of the mixed berries on top.

Repeat with remaining cake layers, cream and berries.

TIP: Put much more whipped cream and berries than you think you need on each layer! If not, the layers will scrunch together and you won’t see either.

Amazing!

The best part about this is that the whipping cream was firm enough that I put this right into the refrigerator and traveled with this cake between my legs for 10 miles without anything falling off!

This served up really nice…a little challenging to cut, but it is so so so good it doesn’t matter what it looks like!

Try this recipe!!!

Filed Under: baking, cakes, create, entertaining, martha stewart Tagged With: berry layer cake, blueberry cake, layer cake, martha stewart baking handbook, martha stewart old fashioned berry layer cake, raspberry cake, strawberry cake, whipped cream layer cake

4 Comments

Buttermilk Biscuits – Being Martha

March 27, 2013 by Wendy Cohen 8 Comments

This is one of those recipes that you have to plan ahead for unless you always keep buttermilk in your refrigerator. It is not a staple in my refrigerator.

Let’s face it…I am lucky to have milk in my refrigerator some days!

You can find the complete recipe here on the Martha Stewart Website. This is the exact same recipe that is in the book.

Start with the dry ingredients whisked together and then add butter in chunks and blend together with a pastry blender. It will look like course crumbs with some larger chunks.

Pour and fold in the buttermilk and incorporate until it forms a loose sticky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Make sure to flour your hands as the dough is VERY sticky! Gently pat the dough into a 1″ thick round. Don’t work with the dough too much…it will still be chunky. Use a floured biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits and place them on a baking sheet.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk…the more the better!

Bake the biscuits at 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.

These are super simple to make and very yummy. If you don’t overmix these, then you don’t even have to butter the biscuits; there will be big chunks of butter baked right into the biscuits that melt in the oven. Yummy!

Enjoy!