Black Bean Burgers (and some other fun things)

The summer is almost gone, and I have yet to accomplish most of my summer "to do" list. BUT, we have had a ton of fun vacationing with family, celebrating our anniversary (YAY!), and relaxing overall. I have *almost* gotten my normal running pace back, so it's about time to up my mileage! I'm debating sinking my teeth into a half marathon this fall. I think I'll see how September goes first.

I've been doing a fair share of cooking and baking, and a terrible job at documenting it here for you all. I made this

amazingly

delicious

cake.

And, unfortunately, it goes in the vault. Based on my Grammy's banana bread, this cake is seriously addicting. I will usually pass anything by in the name of chocolate, but I think if there was a war for my affection between this cake and brownies... This cake would win. I know that's some serious talk, but it's that good.

I did make a chocolate cake for a friend's birthday this week. Each piece had chocolate mousse filling in the middle (shaped like a heart), but I neglected to get pictures of the inside.

The frosting was my (heavily adapted) version of Magnolia's chocolate butter cream, and the cake was just a straight-forward chocolate cake. Very rich, and very tasty.

I have a goal. It is that at least 2 nights a week in our home, we will eat meatless entrees for dinner. I love a good black bean burger. My husband was a little hesitant to (even for one night) trade out his turkey burger for the meatless alternative. But I finally convinced him, and it was a hit!

There are probably a million different ways to make these, and here's mine.

Black Bean Burgers:

(I chose to go vegan on these out of habit, but I know that some people use an egg to help their burgers stay together. I did not have any problems.)

This makes 4 good-sized burgers

• 
  
  1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 
  
  1/2 cup (ish) cooked rice (I used some leftovers we had from another meal)
• 
  
  1/3-1/2 cup diced onion
• 
  
  1/3 cup diced green pepper
• 
  
  2-3 gloves of garlic, minced
• 
  
  1 small carrot, diced
• 
  
  salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium heat, saute your veggies in some olive oil until softened (about 5 minutes or so - the carrots will take the longest). Add your minced garlic just at the end so that it cooks a little but does not burn.

In a medium bowl, use a fork or potato masher to smush your beans. You don't want puree (some whole beans are okay), but you do want most of your beans to be smashed. Add your rice (start with 1/2 cup and add more if needed) and veggies to this. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Mix by hand (literally - don't be afraid to get messy), adding more rice if necessary, until your mixture comes together enough to for patties. Shape black bean mixture into 4 patties.

Heat a little bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (you can grill these, too, but that's my hubby's department). Cook burgers until golden on each side (about 2-3 minutes per side). Serve with ketchup, etc. like a "regular" burger, or go Mexican with some salsa and sour cream. Enjoy!

A shot from our anniversary weekend - we got to visit some beautiful places (and enjoy some good food!)

Happy 4th! (Belated)

While some people might have made their 4th of July yummies a day or so early in order to blog them before the 4th of July, I did not. I am not that organized, nor do I want to feel my friends and family day old treats. I'm a last minute fresh type of girl (or just procrastinator extraordinaire - you decide). But I did have a TON of fun with my baking this year!

To start, I sent some sugar cookie stars and Boston Cream cupcakes (*recipe coming!*) into work with my husband:

(I can't resist cute decorations! Or polka dots... hence the cupcake liners.)

For the family celebration I made a cake similar to this one, but with some extra pizazz:

My labor of love and food coloring!

Patriotic funfetti and red-dyed white cake on the inside with strawberry and blueberry fruit filling!

And just for fun, since we found red, white, & blue tortilla chips, I made a delicious 7 layer dip for John and I to munch on:

Quick and Easy 7 Layer Dip:

*I like more bean than sour cream, so this recipe reflects that. If you're the opposite, just double the sour cream and cream cheese. Also, guac can be added between any of the layers.

• 
  
  1 can refied beans
• 
  
  1 package taco seasoning
• 
  
  8 oz sour cream
• 
  
  4 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 
  
  1 jar of salsa (or fresh tomatoes and green pepper, chopped)
• 
  
  shredded cheddar

Here goes: Mix together your refried beans and taco seasoning. Spread in the bottom of a 13x9 pan (I always use a little bit smaller dish for a fuller dip). Cream together the sour cream and cream cheese and spread over the beans. Top with salsa and/or fresh veggies, and finish of with shredded cheese!

Berry Sweet Cake and Buttercream Icing

For her birthday, my mother in law requested a white cake with fruit frosting. And okay, so I didn't follow directions exatcly (it's hard for me to follow directions in general...), but it is a white cake with delicious buttercream icing and fruit filling in each layer. And it was very well received.

I made a 3 layer white cake mix. You can use a box or make one from scratch.

While the cake baked, I mixed up a batch of

Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

*This is enough for a 3 layer cake. For 2 layer ratios, see end of recipe.

• 3 sticks of butter, softened
• 8 cups of powdered sugar (the recipe says 8-10, but more than 8 is too sweet for me!)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp (I usually add a shot more) vanilla

Start by creaming together your butter and 4 cups of powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add the remaining sugar 1 cup at a time to desired taste and consistency. This can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature (cold - such as the fridge - will cause it to harden).

*For a 2 layer cake, use 2 sticks of butter, 6 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 2 tsp. vanilla.

While the cake cooled, I sliced up about 1 1/2 cups of strawberries (yum!) into a bowl and added a Tbsp of sugar to the bowl and mixed. I let that sit in the fridge while I made the blueberry filling layer.

Blueberry Filling

*I only used blueberry in 1 layer. If you want blueberry in both, you will need to double the recipe.

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp corn starch
• water (about 1/8 cup - maybe less)

In a small saucepan on medium heat, place the blueberries and enough water to form a very shallow layer of water in the bottom of the pan. Bring the water to a boil and stir until the blueberries begin to burst.

Stirring constantly, add the sugar. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Using a strainer, strain your blueberry mixture into a bowl to remove blueberry skins (you may want to do just a little at a time). I always use the back of a spoon to push the mixture through. Once finished, you can use as is. If you desire a thicker consistency (I did), add your blueberry mixture back to the saucepan with 1 Tbsp more water. Bring to almost a simmer and quickly add your cornstarch 1 tsp at a time until sauce thickens. Make sure you break up and clumps before adding.

Cool to room temp. and you're good to go.

By this time, the cakes have cooled. Remove your first layer from the pan and use a serrated knife to level the top. I also chose to cut the middle of the top a little deeper, forming a shallow bowl on the top of the cake in which to place my fruit.

Using your buttercream frosting, ice the first layer of your cake. Spread a generous amount on the top of the cake, but use a small amount on the side (a crumb coat, if you will). Place your strawberry or blueberry (or a little bit of both if you want to get crazy) filling on the top of this layer.

Now, remove your second layer from its pan. Give it a very light coating of frosting on the bottom before placing the bottom of the cake on top of your fruit filling (this is so the cake does not get soggy from fruit juices). Level the top of the cake the same way as before and frost as before. Add your remaining filling to the top of this layer. It should look similar to this:

Get your last layer and again coat the bottom with a thin layer of frosting. Place the final layer on the top of the cake (level if you'd like), and coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting (known as a crumb coat). Place the cake in the fridge for 1 hour to let the icing harden.

After 1 hour, remove the cake and frost the cake with the remaining frosting. Now that your first layer of frosting has hardened, it should be easy for your top coat to go on.

Voila! Refrigerate until serving. Oh, and don't be surprised if this happens overnight:

I think it looks pretty cool myself.

Enjoy this sweet treat!

Red Velvet Cake

Just in time for Valentine's Day, "Emily's Test Kitchen" (as we call it around here) tried its hand (okay, I tried my hand) at some yummy homemade red velvet cake.

This recipe is from Magnolia bakery and after I share it with you, I'll share how I plan to tweek it for next time.

Red Velvet Cake

• 3 1/2 cups cake flour (Don't have any? Don't worry! I'll share how to make your own in just a minute)
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs at room temperature
•  6 Tbsp red food coloring (I opted for a good smear of food coloring paste - available at Michael's, etc.)
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (Again, never fear. I'll show you a handy dandy way to supplement)
• 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and greasing 3 round cake pans.

*Now, if you don't have cake flour (or don't buy it because, like me, you have trouble finding unbleached cake flour), you can make a simple substitute. Using all purpose flour, measure out the amount of cake flour that the recipe calls for. Then, for each cup of flour, remove 2 Tbsp. from what was meaured. That means that for this recipe, I would measure out 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour. Then, I would put 7 Tbsp of flour back in the bag (2 x 3.5 = 7). Then, I would replace those 7 Tbsp of flour with 7 Tbsp of cornstarch. That means I would measure out 7 Tbsp of cornstarch and pour it into my bowl of flour.

The trick with this method is that you have to sift the cornstarch and four together a few times (I actually did use a sifter) so that it is evenly distributed and so that the flour gets aerated. And tada! You're done!

**For the buttermilk substitute: First of all, can you believe my grocery store was out of buttermilk? Insanity! Now there are a couple of substitutes for buttermilk out there. The 2 main ones involve lemon juice or vinegar (and if you're going to use one of those, for heavens sake use the vinegar!). My preferred method of substitution (and I really like to use real buttermilk unless it's unavoidable) is to use cream of tartar. You will need 1 3/4 Tbsp cream of tartar for every cup of milk.

What you do is slightly warm the milk over low heat in a saucepan (just barely warm -  think baby bottle). Then whisk in the proper amount of cream of tartar. Make sure it is well combined. You may have to whisk it more than once. When using any method of buttermilk substitution, I try to let my milk substitute sit for about 5-10 minutes before use. That way it really has time to "sour" (in a good way of course!). So for this recipe you would need to mix 2 1/8 Tbsp of cream of tartar into your slightly warm milk.

Also, when baking, it is actually a good idea to let your butter/cream cheese/eggs/etc. come to room temperature, or soften - unless, of course, you are using a recipe that specifically calls for cold butter/eggs/etc. Here are my eggs, hanging out and waiting to warm up.

*Note: I am not above putting eggs in my pocket to use body heat to help them come to room temperature more quickly.

Now that all of that is out of the way, let's bake!

In a large bowl, combine your butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add your eggs one at a time to this mixture, beating well after each egg to make sure it is fully incorporated.

Add your cocoa powder, food coloring (again, I used paste vs. liquid because paste goes much farther in much littler quantities), and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix well.

Add the salt to the buttermilk and add this mixture to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with your flour. (In other words: buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour - done!) Beat until the ingredients are well incorporated but do not overbeat.

In a small bowl (or measuring cup), stir together your cider vinegar and baking soda (Remember those volcanoes from science class? Oh yes, it's going to happen). Add this to your batter, making sure that you beat until smooth.

Divide your batter among your 3 cake pans and bake 30-40 minutes (until a toothpick comes out of the center clean).

Cool

Frost

Enjoy!

If you're wondering about the texture difference in the icing, we were testing out whether we perferred buttercream or cream cheese with this cake. Buttercream was our winner!

And also, because I said I would, when I make this cake again, I will make the following adjustments:

-2 eggs and 2 egg yolks room temperature (instead of 3 eggs)

-4 Tbsp cocoa powder (instead of 3)

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake and Breakfast Buns

I'm ingnoring that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that grades must be done, sub plans written, and data analyzed (heaven help me). Instead I am here, with my cup of coffee and plugged in photo memory card, ready to share with you 2 delicious recipes.

When I began swimming through all of the yummy sounding recipes in the aforementioned cookbook, I made my husband a deal: he would pick one and I would pick one and those are the 2 we would start with.

I had a feeling I knew which recipe he would pic, and I was right. He does love some carrot cake!
I, on the other hand, don't care for it much at all.  So here is the recipe from Magnolia. My husband loves it.

Carrot Cake (from Magnolia Bakery):

• 
  
  2 cups flour
• 
  
  1 tsp baking powder
• 
  
  1 tsp cinnamon
• 
  
  1/2 tsp salt
• 
  
  1 cup vegetable oil
• 
  
  1 3/4 cups sugar
• 
  
  3 large eggs (room temp)
• 
  
  1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 
  
  2 cups shredded carrots
• 
  
  1- 8oz can crushed pineapples (with juice)
• 
  
  1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
• 
  
  3/4 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Grease/flour 2 nine inch cake pans.

In a small bowl, combine your flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat together the oil and sugar on medium speed. Add eggs 1 at a time and beat until thick and light in color. Add the vanilla and beat well. Then, add your dry ingredients a little at a time, beating until well combined. Stir in your carrots, coconut, pineapples, and pecans. Divide among your cake pans and bake 40-50 minutes.

Let cool and then frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting.

-Mine?

Simple.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

*This makes a good amount of frosting. Easily enough for the 2 layers and probably almost enough for another cake.

• 
  
  2- 8oz packages of cream cheese (softened)
• 
  
  6 Tbsp butter, cubed (softened)
• 
  
  1-2 tsp vanilla
• 
  
  4 cups powdered sugar (I always add just under 4 cups, but you can add as much or as little as you'd like)

Using a mixer, cream together your butter and cream cheese. Add your vanilla and beat well. Slowly add in your powdered sugar (1/2 to 1 cup at a time) and beat until well combined.

Voila!

Now, my recipe? I went for something a little more bread-like.

Meet the Cream Cheese Breakfast Buns (from Magnolia):

Now, these little darlings were good, don't get me wrong. But already I think I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve to make them even better. Here's the original recipe:

Filling:

• 
  
  1- 8oz block cream cheese (softened)
• 
  
  3 Tbsp butter (softened)
• 
  
  2 Tbsp sugar
• 
  
  1 large egg yolk, room temp.
• 
  
  1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Crumb topping:

*Note: This makes WAY more than you need. I would suggest cutting in half, or quartering the recipe.

• 
  
  1 1/2 cups flour
• 
  
  1 cup brown sugar
• 
  
  2 tsp baking powder
• 
  
  1/2 cup butter, softened and cubed

Bun:

• 
  
  1 1/2 cups flour
• 
  
  1 tsp baking powder
• 
  
  1/4 tsp salt
• 
  
  1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 
  
  1/2 cup sugar
• 
  
  2 large eggs
• 
  
  1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or Pam - that's me) 6 jumbo muffin or bun pans (the recipe said 16.... I'm pretty sure it's a typo).

To make the filling: Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat until well combined. Set aside.

To make crumb topping: Mix your dry ingredients together in a bowl. Cut in your butter using a pastry blender (or food processor... how I love those) until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.

To make buns: In a small bowl, combine your flour, salt, and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat together shortening and sugar until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well. Add dry ingredients in 2 parts, alternating with your milk and beating until well combined. Pour batter into cups and bake 10 minutes.

Remove buns from the over and using a spoon, spoon about 1 Tbsp of filling into the center of the muffing, pushing down gent;ly with the back of the spoon. Spread crumb topping over the entire top of the bun, return to oven and bake 13 more minutes.

Cool 30 minutes before serving.

Yummy yummy! I hope you enjoy!

Ice Cream Cake!

I have had an itch to make ice cream cake for a while, and last night I did just that! It's really not that hard. But I did determine that I need to make my layers a bit thicker (I was trying to avoid monster ice cream cake).
Still. Very tasty...

Ice Cream Cake:

• 1 gallon of ice cream (I used 2 different kinds: about 1/2 gallon each) - more for thicker layers
• 1 jar hot fudge
• 1 box chocolate cookies

I started by taking out by bottom layer ice cream to soften. Next, I crushed my chocolate cookies in the food processor to make crumbs. Then I added the jar of hot fudge to the crumbs, and pressed 1/2 of them down into the bottom of a spring form pan.

On top of this base, I spread my softened ice cream, smoothing to create as smooth of a layer as possible. I put this in the freezer to set.

Meanwhile, I took out my other flavor of ice cream to soften. Once the first layer was set (not necessarily solid, but pretty firm), I pressed the remaining crumb/hot fudge mixture on top of it. Then I covered this with my softened ice cream, creating the top layer.

I froze this until set, slid it out of the springform pan, and covered it all in cool whip. Then I let it freeze until solid. Okay, no I didn't. My husband and I had a mushy piece last night because couldn't wait! But I did wait until it was solid to take a picture for you.

Oh well. You know what they say....

Let them eat cake!