First up -
Strawberry Rhubarb Tart
Crust:
2.7 oz butter
5 oz all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
3+ tbsp cold water
1 egg white (used later)
Dice up the butter into cubes/pads and drop it into the food processor. Add the flour and salt and pulse until you have small pieces (not too long or you’ll have one big blob). Pour in the cold water, 1 tbsp at a time, pulsing in between tbsps. Add more water until the dough is moist and sticks together. Roll out a piece of saran wrap and place the dough in the center. Knead the dough slightly to make sure you don’t have chunks of butter. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling
1 kilo fresh strawberries
8-10 stalks fresh rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
Dice the strawberries and rhubarb into bite-sized pieces. Place the strawberries in the bottom of a heavy-bottomed pan. Put the rhubarb on top of the strawberries and pour the sugar over it all. Cover and set on medium heat for 5 minutes. At 5 minutes, uncover and stir. The strawberries should have produces a wonderful juice in which you'll cook the rhubarb. Bring the whole thing to a boil and then reduce the heat, stirring frequently until the mixture thickens and coats the back of your spoon. Let cool.
Once the strawberry rhubarb is at room temperature, roll out your dough, place it in the pan and cut off the excess. From the excess dough cut out several small hearts. Pour the cooled mixture into the crust and top with the cute little hearts. Bake until the crust is golden brown.
These were just cute and fun to make. I usually make them slightly thicker than they are supposed to be and cook them just a little bit less...and on a pizza stone. I know the recipe isn't original or innovative, but it is from my grandmother's Betty Crocker Cookbook from the 1930s. Here is the link the modern Betty Crocker recipe.
Heart Cake
I think I need just a little more practice on the heart, but it was a cute surprise in the center of the cake. And of course it was delicious!!!
The vanilla butter cake recipe is from Warren Brown (he is awesome!). The heart is red velvet from Annie's Eats. And the frosting is my own cream cheese frosting.
Here is the technique (which I've not quite mastered). You have to make two layers of a cake. In the bottom layer use a sharp knife to cut out a cone. In the top layer cut out a round shape like a bowl, then use the inverted top of the cone you've cut out and place it in the middle of the bowl shape. Crumble the red velvet and mix with red food coloring. It needs to be a fairly dense mixture (not crumbly). Hint - the circumferential of the two shapes you cut out has to match.
Fill the top and bottom of the cake. Using a piping bag, pipe red frosting onto the red portion of the bottom layer, then white frosting onto the white portion of the bottom layer. Carefully flip the top layer onto the bottom layer (somehow not breaking the cake, smearing the frosting, and making it line up perfectly).
Frost the outside of the cake as usual. When you cut the cake, use a sharp knife and cut triangle pieces from the very center of the cake. You should have a half heart in every piece of cake and a full heart inside the cake. I'm not going to lie - this one wasn't easy...nor was it the prettiest. But you get the idea.
And there were some beautiful parrots on the balcony to kick.
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling1 kilo fresh strawberries
8-10 stalks fresh rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
Dice the strawberries and rhubarb into bite-sized pieces. Place the strawberries in the bottom of a heavy-bottomed pan. Put the rhubarb on top of the strawberries and pour the sugar over it all. Cover and set on medium heat for 5 minutes. At 5 minutes, uncover and stir. The strawberries should have produces a wonderful juice in which you'll cook the rhubarb. Bring the whole thing to a boil and then reduce the heat, stirring frequently until the mixture thickens and coats the back of your spoon. Let cool.
Once the strawberry rhubarb is at room temperature, roll out your dough, place it in the pan and cut off the excess. From the excess dough cut out several small hearts. Pour the cooled mixture into the crust and top with the cute little hearts. Bake until the crust is golden brown.
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Frosted Heart Sugar Cookies
These were just cute and fun to make. I usually make them slightly thicker than they are supposed to be and cook them just a little bit less...and on a pizza stone. I know the recipe isn't original or innovative, but it is from my grandmother's Betty Crocker Cookbook from the 1930s. Here is the link the modern Betty Crocker recipe.
-----------------------
Heart Cake
I think I need just a little more practice on the heart, but it was a cute surprise in the center of the cake. And of course it was delicious!!!
The vanilla butter cake recipe is from Warren Brown (he is awesome!). The heart is red velvet from Annie's Eats. And the frosting is my own cream cheese frosting.
Here is the technique (which I've not quite mastered). You have to make two layers of a cake. In the bottom layer use a sharp knife to cut out a cone. In the top layer cut out a round shape like a bowl, then use the inverted top of the cone you've cut out and place it in the middle of the bowl shape. Crumble the red velvet and mix with red food coloring. It needs to be a fairly dense mixture (not crumbly). Hint - the circumferential of the two shapes you cut out has to match.
Frost the outside of the cake as usual. When you cut the cake, use a sharp knife and cut triangle pieces from the very center of the cake. You should have a half heart in every piece of cake and a full heart inside the cake. I'm not going to lie - this one wasn't easy...nor was it the prettiest. But you get the idea.
And there were some beautiful parrots on the balcony to kick.
