I'm Headed in the Right Direction

Over the past several weeks since obtaining my food sanitation license I have been developing business relationships and sending out sample items of different desserts that I can create.  I have also gained a couple of new customers.  I am now in the process of getting my logo designed and a website developed.  Branding yourself is very important in this business as their are many competitors out here.  I also attended a seminar entitled "Starting Your Business in Illinois" sponsored by the Illinois Small Business Development Center.  I finally created a Facebook page at sweetandsavorytastingsdesserts. As an entrepreneur whom at this point can not open up my own storefront am renting out of a commercially licensed kitchen that have been inspected.  Below is a few pictures of my latest creations.  

Strawberry Cheesecake.

Malibu and Cream of Coconut Bundt Cake

Caramel Bundt Cake

Sample platter with Ghiradelli Chocolate Chip Cookies, Ghiradelli Fudge Brownies topped with Caramel and Walnuts 

#sweetandsavorytastings
#sweetandsavorytastingsdesserts
#strawberrycheesecake
#caramelcake
#fudgebrownies
#chocolatechipcookies

One Item Checked off the List as Completed

Becoming an entrepreneur is never easy.  One of the steps needed to get the show on the road was obtaining my food sanitation certification.  I decided to take the online route therefore; I would be able to study during my down time and with out having to take off work at my current job.  While taking this time to study the modules I was still in the kitchen. The following is just a sample of some of the items that I have made.

My First event as a caterer for family.

Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey

Fried Chicken

Baked Lemon & Herb Chicken

Baked BBQ Chicken

Peach Cobbler Infused with Ciroc

Key Lime Pie

Chicken on the Gril

Macaroni & Cheese (4 types)

Shrimp Mac 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Now that the test is completed and passed it is now time to get business down.  I have to sign up with a commercial kitchen, get a new logo, website design and branding.

#sweetandsavorytastings

#bake

#cater

Bundtamonth: Vanilla Bean Cake with Caramel Glaze

For the month of July...the theme is caramel.  The only thing I could think of is this moist delicious caramel cake that my grandmother used to make.  Back when I was a child I used to love taking my finger and picking up all the excess caramel that used to drip off the side of bundt cake once I sliced my cake.  I can not figure out for the life of me how her caramel was made so through internet research I have created this caramel sauce.

Cake Recipe:
-1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
-2 cups sugar
-1 teaspoon salt
-4 large eggs
-2 teaspoons baking powder sifted
-3 cups of all purpose flour (I use King Arthur Flour) sifted
-1 cup milk
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-1 vanilla bean

Preheat oven 350 degrees and spray bundt pan with Pam baking spray.
-cream butter, sugar and salt until fluffy
-add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
-add sifted baking powder and all purpose flour alternating with milk.  Starting and ending with flour
-add in vanilla extract and vanilla bean and beat until combined
-add batter to prepared pan
-bake 50-55 minutes in bundt pan until toothpick clean
-remove cake from bundt 10 minutes after taken out to oven and let cool on cake rack

Caramel Glaze Recipe:

-1 cup heavy cream
-1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
-1 tablespoon light corn syrup
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Bring heavy whipping cream, light brown sugar, light corn syrup and a pinch of salt to a boil in a medium sauce pan with a heavy bottom; stirring until sugar has dissolved.  Boil until glaze reaches 210-212 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer for 12-14 minutes.  Then stir in vanilla extract and remove from heat.
Glaze will set once cool.

Once the cake has cooled and glaze has set; pour over cake and Enjoy.

#sweetandsavorytastings
#bundtamonth
#caramelcake

Raspberry & Key Lime Sorbet

On a hot day I crave ice cream and slushy drinks to cool down.  When I checked the weather last night I decided to pull out the old Cuisinart.  The best turn results come when I store the bowl in the freezer overnight and make the mixture the day before also.  In this case; I made my sorbet very early this morning so that it can have enough time to chill by the time I got off of work.  

Recipe:

-1 1/2 cups water

-1 cup sugar

-1/8 teaspoon salt

-3 cups frozen raspberries (thawed)

-1/3 cup key lime juice and zest from the key limes

(If you don't want to squeeze the key limes you can also buy key lime juice-found in the same section as lemon juice)

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan bring sugar and water to a boil over medium heat.  Once sugar has dissolved; turn down heat to simmer and add in raspberries and salt.  Cook raspberries until softened. Usually within five minutes. Use an immersion blender,blend until raspberry mixture is smooth. Using a spatula strain half of the mix through a strainer or sieve to remove the seeds over a bowl. Then strain the second half. Mix in key lime juice and zest to bowl. Refrigerate mix minimum 3 hours to overnight.  

Remove bowl from the freezer and pour mixture into the ice cream maker and mix until thickened.  If you would like your sorbet thicker add mix to airtight container and freeze for a couple of hours.  Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving.

To make this an adult sorbet you can add a shot of Patron Silver or Ciroc Redberry to the mix after adding in the key lime juice. Enjoy!!! and eat Responsibly....

#sweetandsavorytasting

#raspberrykeylimesorbet

#sorbet

BundtaMonth: (June) Key Lime Swirl

For the month of June the theme is Swirl.  I never attempted to make a swirl cake so therefore; this was my first time.  When I decided on my flavor I decided to bring out the flavor of one of my favorite pies which is Key Lime.  Not to mention I just bought all of the ingredients to make this delicious pie.  Instead of being a little greedy and making both desserts I decided to combine the flavors and make Key Lime the swirl part of this recipe. 

I utilized my new Tulip Bundt pan that I bought from the Wiltons Tent Sale. I was almost discouraged not to buy it because another customer said that her cakes never come out right and in pieces.  So, I took it as a challenge.  All else fails I would've made cake pops. 

My Basic Cake Recipe:

-2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
-2 cups sugar
-4 eggs at room temperature
-3 cups sifted all purpose flour sifted ( I use King Arthur Flour)
-3 teaspoons baking powder sifted
-1/2 teaspoon salt-1 cup whole milk 
-1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Key Lime Swirl:
-1 small box lime jello gelatin
-1/4 cup of fresh squeezed key lime juice
-zest from the key limes squeezed

Directions

Preheat oven 350 Degrees and spray bundt pan with nonstick baking spray

-Mix together butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. 
-Add in eggs one at a time.
-In a large bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt.
-Add in flour and milk. Alternatively; starting with flour and ending with flour.
-Add in vanilla extract

Key Lime Swirl:

Spoon 1/3 of the cake batter and place in medium bowl. Fold in lime jello gelatin, key lime juice and the key lime zest.

In prepared bundt pan spoon in 1/3 of the plain cake batter; followed by the key lime swirl cake batter and ending in the plain cake batter. After all the cake batter has been spooned in take a spatula and swirl around the batter.

Bake cake for 55 to 60 minutes until toothpick comes out the center of the cake clean.

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning on a rack to cool.

Glaze Recipe:
-2 tablespoons of butter melted
-1 cup coconut milk
-1/4 cup freshly squeezed Key Lime Juice
-key lime zest from the key limes squeezed to form the glaze juice
-2 cups of sifted confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl whisk all the ingredients together. Apply to cooled cake.

To make an adult version of this cake you can add 1/2 cup of Patron Silver to the cake batter and 1/4 cup to the glaze. 

ENJOY!!!

#sweetandsavorytasting

#bundtamonth

#keylime

#kingaurthorflour

Bundtamonth: Banana & Maraschino Cherry Bomb Bundt

For the month of April this month theme is CHERRY. The group had to incorporate a cook that had cherries or cherry taste or cherry products in it.  I was originally going to make a Cherry 7UP cake with a maraschino cream cheese glaze drizzled on top. Due to my aunt buying a box of bananas and giving me some I decided to make a cake to incorporate bananas.  I needed to make some smoothies and desserts this week to utilize these bananas before they went bad.

Cake Ingredients
-2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
-2 cups sugar
-4 eggs at room temperature
-3 cups sifted all purpose flour sifted ( I use King Arthur Flour)
-3 teaspoons baking powder sifted
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 cup whole milk
-1 box banana cream pudding
-1 tablespoon banana extract
-3 ripe bananas smashed
-1/2 cup maraschino cherries chopped

Directions

Preheat oven 350 Degrees and spray bundt pan with nonstick baking spray

-Mix together butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy.
-Add in eggs one at a time.
-In a large bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt.
-Add in flour and milk. Alternatively; starting with flour and ending with flour.
-Mix in banana extract and banana pudding until combined.
-Fold in smashed bananas and maraschino cherries.
-Spoon mixture in prepared bundt pan and smooth out.
-Bake in even for 60 minutes or until toothpick clean from center of the cake.
-Remove cake from pan after 10 minutes and place on cooling rack on top of parchment paper to cool the  remainder of the time.

Maraschino Cherry Glaze
-2 cups sifted powder sugar
-4 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
-2 tablespoons melted butter

Combine all ingredients and poor over cooled cake. Enjoy...

#bundtamonth
#sweetandsavorytasting
#cherry
#banana
#maraschinocherry
#cookinwithlove

Been Busy...But Still Busy in the Kitchen

I spend my days at work busy on the computer.  Then the kids come home with numerous things for me to do either for them or with them.  Not to mention all the things that I have to get done for myself whether its inside or outside of the house. I have also been doing a lot research on the computer to expand my horizons. By the end of the day I am tired and my eyes are drained. So, by the time all of this is done...who wants to get back on the computer. Not Me.

What I have done for this post is added the pictures of some of the meals and desserts that I have prepared during these times.  Hopefully, by the time the kids get out of school my blogging will be back on track.

Old School Butter Cookies with a New School Twist

Chicken Tenders dipped in Honey BBQ Sauce

Meyer Lemon & Strawberry Tart

Meyer Lemons are a cross between a lemon and an orange.

Homemade Italian Sausage Pizza with Mozzarella Cheese Balls

Pineapple and Rum Bundt with Cream of Coconut Glaze

Crunchy Peanut Butter Muffins

Miami Vice Bundt Cake

Half Strawberry & Half Pina Colada with Rum

Donut Rounds

Half Powder Sugar Glaze and Half Meyer Lemon Glaze

Pancake Cupcakes with Bacon Garnish

I love breakfast...This was fun.

Deep Dish Fudge Brownies

Served with a side of Sweet Red Wine. This is a good combination to end the day right. I don't know of a woman who would disagree.

Brandy Mango Cheesecake

I didn't get a chance to taste this one...but I heard it was a hit.

Thanks to all my followers who read my post and keeping up with my Sweet & Savory Tastings.

#brandymangocheesecake
#deepdishfudgebrownies
#pancakecupcakes
#donutrounds
#miamivicebundt
#peanutbuttermuffins
#pineapplerumbundt
#homemadepizza
#meyerlemonstrawberrytart
#chickentenders
#buttercookies

Meyer Lemon Bundt with Meyer Lemon Glaze

I once read that if your favorite ingredients isn't available in the store you would need to find a back up plan. I have heard about King Arthur Flour but never that to use it.  So over the weekend I decided to give it a try before I baked a cake for someone else. I was very happy with the results.  Now I have two main stars in the home for baking cakes.  For the first try I wanted to use on of King Arthur Flour recipes from their website. I decided to use the Lemon Bliss Cake Recipe.  But, unfortunately I didn't have regular lemons in the house so I substituted the lemons for Meyer Lemons.

King Arthur Flour Recipe: Lemon Bliss Cake

Cake Recipe:
-1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
-2 cups of sugar
-1 teaspoon of salt
-4 large eggs
-2 teaspoons of baking powder
-3 cups of King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
-1 cup of milk
-Finely grated rind of 2 Meyer Lemons

Glaze:
-1/3 cup freshly squeezed Meyer Lemon juice
-3/4 cup of sugar

Cake Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Spray bundt pan with non-sticking bake spray.

-Beat together, butter, sugar, and salt until combined and fluffy.
-Add eggs one at time making sure to beat well after each egg.
-Add baking powder.
-Alternatively add flour and milk.  Starting with flour and ending in flour.  Stir in grated Meyer Lemon rind.
-Spoon batter into the bundt pan smoothing out with a spatula.

Bake cake for 55 to 60 minutes until toothpick comes out the center of the cake clean.

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning on a rack to cool.

Glaze Directions:

-Stir together the lemon juice and sugar.
-While the cake is still warm poke holes in the cake with a tooth pick.
-Brush on glaze while the cake is still warm.
-Allow the cake to cool before serving.

Yes..I couldn't resist myself...I had to add some confectioners sugar on top.

Thanks...#KingArthurFlour
#sweetandsavorytasting
#MeyerLemonBundt
#MeyerLemonGlaze