Peach Cinnamon Vanilla Crumb Bars

Before I tell you more about these lovely crumb bars I wanted to let you know about a local Utah gal, Melissa Chappell who has made a real name for herself by teaching people how to eat fresh foods and understand the benefits.  Something I personally am trying to start learning more about.  This book is a great, useful resource for anyone out there who wants to know more about eating fresh.

The great thing is that she even has a book coming out really soon and trust me, you are going to want this book.  I went to a conference last summer and got to try some of her food and it was as fresh and delicious as you could ever hope for.

To help everyone out there to have a chance to get the book Melissa is having a pre-sale until this coming Friday, September 10th.

You can get the book through for only $12.95 (after pre-sale it is still only $15.95 so it is still totally affordable).

You can find out more about the book and Melissa on her blog.  Here is what Melissa had to say about the book:

This is a beautiful little cookbook full of fresh recipes that will please you and your family. It's got a beautiful glossy cover filled with photos and beautiful illustrations as well as several pages of facts about the nourishing foods included in the recipes. The paper is thick with a "raw" texture and the layout is extraordinary. You'll find six sections: light meals, desserts, salads, salsas, sauces and dips and smoothies, all fresh and delicious. My favorites are the famous Thai Nut Sauce, Lime Mousse, Winter Tomato Sauce, Raspberry Basil Smoothie, and the No Bake No Bake Chocolate Cookies and, well, I like all the recipes and I think you will, too.

I'll be at the American Fork Good Earth on September 18th from 11am-4pm to sign copies and give out free vanilla and chocolate covered macaroons! If you purchase a cookbook here (at the discounted presale price), you can pick it up that day or you may pay for shipping and we'll ship it to you. Just be sure to include your name and address.

Here is the link to Melissa's blog where you can buy the book!

Now, on to the Peach Cinnamon Vanilla Crumb Bars.

Peaches were plentiful at the Farmer's Market here this past week and for me that usually means making jam.  I bought enough peaches to make a small batch of jam, but then two out of three kiddos got sick and all my good intentions fell apart.  Jam isn't difficult or hard to make, but it does take some watching. By the time I had a chance to use these peaches I decided to take them in a different direction this time around.  I guess that means I'll just have to try to get some more peaches this week.

I was reminded when my feed email from Smitten Kitchen showed up in my inbox this week with Peach Shortbread that I had recently seen a version of the Blueberry Crumb Bars Deb posted a while back turned into a peach version over at Annie Eats.  I love me some peach cobbler and I really love crumb bars so I really wanted to try them out.  I think all these versions are quite probably completely fabulous, but since I can never leave well enough alone I knew I wanted to fiddle around with these recipes and came up with my own version.

So, to save time, I've added links to all the similar bars down below the recipe.  That way, you can decide what direction you want to go.  I would say that my version is closest to a cross between a couple of the recipes, but you'll just have take a look and decide what appeals to you.

I knew that I really wanted to incorporate two of my favorite flavors to pair with peaches - cinnamon and vanilla.  I also can't resist the warm sweetness of brown sugar.  The other change I wanted to make was to increase the amount of crust to filling ratio.  Now, it may be just me and my actual lack of love for too much baked fruits, but you could easily just increase your peaches a little bit and have a thicker fruit flavor.  The bars themselves ended up being just what I hoped for and all the flavors came through nicely.  It was like having a wonderful slice of peach cobbler or crumb topped peach pie that I could eat on the go - or even for breakfast.

Peach Vanilla Cinnamon Crumb Bars

For the peach vanilla cinnamon filling:

6 cups peeled, chopped fresh peaches (about 7 peaches)

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)

For the crust and crumbs:

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons or 1 1/4 cups) cold, unsalted butter cut into chunks

1 large egg

Make the peach filling first:  In a large pan, stir together the chopped peaches, sugar, the vanilla bean seeds and the split bean pod, and the cinnamon.  Stir well to combine and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Turn the heat down and allow to simmer about 30 minutes until the juices have mostly thickened.  You can stop at this point with a little juice, or if you like a thicker filling, stir in the cornstarch and simmer for 2 minutes more until the peach filling is thick.  Remove the filling from the heat and allow to cool to about room temperature.

(Note: This peach filling is also wonderful in crepes or on pancakes or waffles.)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking pan and line it with a piece of parchment so that the parchment makes a sling in the pan with the edges hanging up and out the long sides of the pan.  Crease the parchment into the bottom corner of the pan to help keep it in place.  Spray the parchment lightly to make sure everything is well greased.  Set the pan aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment stir together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.  On low speed, add the butter chunks and beat until the mixture is very crumbly and the butter is cut in.  You can do all this by hand if you prefer using your fingertips or a pastry blender to run the butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly with the largest chunks about pea-sized.  Add the egg on low speed (or use a fork) until the mixture is crumbly and combined and when squeezed just holds together.

Press about half of the dough mixture into the bottom of the greased pan evenly and pressing into the corners and edges (do not go up the sides of the pan).

Spread the mostly cooled peach filling evenly over the crust in the pan.  Squeeze the remaining crumbs in the bowl lightly to just make bigger crumbs and chunks and scatter that crust over the peach filling.

Bake the bars for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top is light golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan.  Use the parchment sling to remove the entire bar from the pan and onto a cutting board.  Use a sharp knife to cut into squares or rectangles (makes about 24 to 30 bars depending on how big or small you cut them).

Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.  Great as a breakfast treat or after school snack or make it a real dessert with a little vanilla ice cream and some caramel topping.

Similar Recipes:

Smitten Kitchen - Blueberry Crumb Bars and Peach Shortbread

Brown Butter Peach Bars - Big Sur Cookbook (originally linked via Smitten Kitchen as well)

Annie Eats - Peach Crumb Bars

Vanilla Bean Dulce de Leche

As promised, here is the recipe and directions for the Vanilla Bean Dulce de Leche I made and used in the cookies for Tuesdays with Dorie. I modified the recipe liberally from one by Nigella Lawson, using more vanilla to milk/sugar ratio in mine. I really wanted that vanilla flavor to come through and it really does.

This DDL is fantastic in cookies, but our favorite way to use it is to just scoop it up with apple slices to our little hearts' content. I hope if you try the recipe, you'll let me know how it goes. I've tried other recipes before and had them fail on me, mainly because I think I gave up too soon when the mixture didn't seem to be thickening or darkening within the time I thought it should. I persisted this time and finally got the results I wanted, and here you go!

Vanilla Bean Dulce de Leche

Adapted from Nigella Lawson

Half gallon whole milk

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

½ teaspoon baking soda

In a large pan, bring the milk to a boil. Once it has boiled, use a fine mesh strainer to sieve the milk into a very large pan. The dulce de leche mixture will boil and climb like crazy, so choose a really large pan.

In the large pan, add the sugar and vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, into the pan. Add the baking soda and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture back to a boil – there will be a lot of foaming so stay close by to stir. As soon as the mixture starts to boil it will start to thicken.

Stir the mixture occasionally with the wooden spoon so that the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. I think that heat temperature, as well as altitude can play a real factor in how long it takes to get the mixture to the darkness and consistency you want. I have read several recipes that say to cook it for about 1 hours to 1 ½ hours. It took me closer to three hours, but I didn’t give up and the mixture finally did darken and thicken the way I wanted, so just don’t give up!

When the mixture reaches close to the darkness you want, take the pan off the heat and place it in a sink filled with cold water to cool it down. Store the dulce de leche in clean jars in the refrigerator.

Yields 3-4 cups

TWD: Dulce de Leche Duos

Well, with my darling Miss K. here in our lives it seems that all I seem to manage lately is Tuesdays with Dorie. I have good intentions to post more, really. I guess since she has only been with us five crazy weeks that I ought to cut myself some slack, but since the desire to do more is still there, it just isn't all that easy.

Anywho.

I was really excited when Jodie at Beansy Loves Cake chose the Dulce de Leche Duos for this week's recipe. I actually made these cookies quite a while ago and really loved them. Back then I made my own dulce de leche by using a can of sweetened condensed milk and I filled the cookies with bittersweet chocolate.

This time I switched things up just a bit and used some homemade dulce de leche that I made myself from milk, sugar and a vanilla bean. I can't begin to tell you how delicious this stuff is - even better than making it from the can! As soon as I figure out what I did with the recipe I came up with I promise to post it here because it really is something else. I think using the vanilla bean really put it over the top. Aside from that, I think what I really loved too was that my homemade version wasn't too overly sweet, and I cooked it until it really got as dark as I wanted it.

I also filled the cookies this time, some with more of the dulce de leche, and some with chocolate. Since I had some ground hazelnuts sitting around I also rolled the edges of a few cookies in the nuts for a little extra something.

Be sure to check out the TWD blogroll to find out how everyone else fared this week.

Sparkling Sugar Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day! My kids love making sugar cookies for the holidays - every holiday really - and this is our favorite go to recipe for a slightly crisp sugar cookie that is still somewhat soft, delicious and retains shapes well. The recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan, so you know it is going to be good. You may remember these cookies from last Independence Day when we made tie-dyed stars. This Valentine's Day we also actually made Dorie's recipe for Chocolate Roll Out Cookies (links below for both recipes) as well and tie-dyed them with red and white royal frosting. The kids loved them and the cookies were really delicious! In fact, they were gone and passed out before I had the chance to take a picture of any of them.

Have a great day!!

Vanilla Roll-Out Cookie Recipe with sparkling sugars in red and pink

Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies

TWD: Split Level Pudding - Vanilla and Chocolate Hazelnut

My participation in Tuesdays with Dorie has obviously become rather sporadic of late. I'm thinking with the line-up of recipes for October that I should be able to manage for the most part, but who knows, right?

Anyway, I did get my act together enough to make this week's recipe, chosen by Garrett of Flavor of Vanilla, for the Split Level Pudding - in my case with a layer of Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut spread, that, though not as smooth, definitely rivals Nutella in a taste test. The recipe for the spread comes from Gale Gand and as soon as I get organized just a bit more, I will share the recipe here as well.

The only other change I made to the recipe was to make a one-third portion, which was just perfect for two 4 oz servings, which is all I needed since it was only myself and my two little kiddos eating the pudding. I layered about two tablespoons of the chocolate hazelnut spread in the bottom of each ramekin and then made the pudding, which literally took about 5 minutes. I skipped all the stovetop directions and food processor as well since it was such a small amount to manage. If I were making the full version of the recipe, I would probably go ahead and take advantage of the food processor, but the microwave was just faster and easier in this case.

I really enjoyed the pudding - which was a little surprising for me since I usually don't enjoy puddings much at all (unless they are in a pie or tart shell). I think I liked it more here because of the texture of the hazelnut spread - and of course all those pretty chocolate curls on top don't hurt anything either!

I am still bummed at myself that I didn't get my act together enough to make the tart last week, and it is definitely on my to-do list for some time when I have more energy and time because I've had that recipe bookmarked for a long time.

My apologies to my fellow TWDer's for all my slacking lately, but since I know you understand, I won't whine about it more here. As for my pregnancy, it is going as well as we can expect - which is to say, I'm still sick and we're still waiting to see what happens when the third trimester rolls around in a few weeks. In the meantime, I've started feeling the baby bumping around in there, so that is good and on time. We still haven't found out what we are having since the Doctor wants to do an in depth ultrasound with us on the 15th - so an announcement one way or the other is eminent!

Thank you again and again you all for visiting! I treasure all your comments and hope to get some time and energy soon visit your blogs and get caught up - I have been so out of touch!

TWD: Vanilla Almond Custard Cups

For those of you that are visiting me on Tuesday morning, please send good thoughts my way since I am doing a cooking segment on live local TV this morning.

I am on Good Things Utah on ABC4 this morning, along with fellow TWDer's, Lindsey and Becky. I am excited to be doing this because it will hopefull help get the word out to other bloggers here in Utah that we have organized a group, called The Hive (Utah is the Beehive State - get it? Yeah, maybe not that original, but I think the avatar is pretty cute!).

So, if you are here in Utah and love food, cooking, baking and all the fabulous things related to it, well, then check out the avatar over on the sidebar and find out more about the group and how to join.

In the meantime, today is my favorite day of the week because today is Tuesday. If you have been here before then you know that means it is time for Tuesdays with Dorie! If you are new here, then what that means is that myself, along with my fellow TWDer's have made the same recipe from the same book this week - each putting our own spin on it and reviewing it to share with the rest of the blogosphere. This week, Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles (which is where you will find the recipe) chose the Lemon Cup Custard in Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan (this is the book we are all baking our way through together and posting about every Tuesday) - more on that in a post after the show!

So, as the title of this post indicates, I put my own spin on the recipe, not because I don't love lemon, but because that is just what I do. I wanted a flavor that was a little different, so I skipped the lemon this time around and made mine a vanilla/almond flavor.

There was a lot of discussion on this week's P&Q about the texture of this dessert. Some thought it was like a smooth custard, others thought it was more like a flan or just too 'eggy'. Personally, I am not a flan fan, but I haven't missed a week yet and wasn't going to start now. I went ahead and made a half portion of the recipe and added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste and a 1/4 teaspoon of pure almond extract to the custard. I used some cute little cups that I found a while ago and couldn't resist to bake my custard in.

So. What did I think of it? Well. It was like flan. But it was very smooth and silky and yes, had kind of a gelatinous mouth feel. It was kind of like eating a very creamy and rich cup of jello. It wasn't like a pudding in my opinion. Was it my favorite? Not really, no. Did I have fun making it? Yes. Should you try it for yourself? Yes.

The flavor was subtle and really nice. To make it even more fun I decided to add some texture to two of the cups. On one of the cups I just bruleed a bit of sugar and sprinkled some finely chopped almonds on the other.

To see more variations of this week's recipe, visit the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll!

Daring Bakers in November - Caramel Cake

The Daring Bakers' Challenge for November was to recreate Shuna Fish Lydon's (of Eggbeater) signature caramel cake. I was really excited because I have been looking for a good recipe for a caramel frosting and cake. While I enjoyed making this (even the dangers of making the caramel syrup) I knew that, even though I do love my sugar, that this was going to be borderline too sweet for me. The cake was dense, moist and delicious and the frosting was creamy, buttery and had a wonderful caramel / vanilla taste to it. For the vanilla in my frosting I ended up using vanilla bean paste. Both were fantastic, but I think I would like the frosting on a dark chocolate cake or something to offset the sweetness instead.

Thanks go out to our hosts this month Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Jenny of Foray into Food and Alex of Blondie and Brownie, as well as Shuna of Eggbeater for the recipe and support of the groups efforts with graciously allowing us to use her recipe and taking questions, and Natalie from Gluten-a-Go-Go for helping with all the alternative baking questions.

Check out the Daring Bakers blogroll to see all the amazing caramelized sugary goodness this month!

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

TWD: White and Black Arborio Rice Pudding

Today I am taking a page out of Molly at Orangette's book and writing my post a bit differently. So, without further ado...telegram style:

Tuesdays with Dorie STOP Recipe this week - Arborio Rice Pudding STOP Selection comes from by Isabelle of Les gourmandises d’Isa STOP Made Chocolate and Vanilla STOP Topped with whipped cream STOP Sprinkled with cocoa STOP Still not a big fan of cold rice pudding STOP Still like this one better STOP My Dad is STOP He thought it was really good STOP Mom thought it was good too STOP Dad wanted to know where the raisins were STOP hahahahaha...no raisins at my house STOP Running behind on everything STOP Wish I was on vacation STOP Stopping now STOP

I will catch up more later everyone. It has been a hectic few days and doesn't look like it is going to stop anytime soon. I know everyone is busy though and since I haven't missed a TWD since I joined I wasn't letting this week stop me either.

I'm sorry I have been really lousy about getting around to comment to everyone else. I hope to get things a bit more under control and will fill you in later. Thanks for still coming here and leaving all the great comments. You have no idea how truly grateful I am for you all! Make sure to find out how everyone else did on their pudding this week.

Fashion Pie: It's All About Layers - Seven Layer Red Velvet Cream Pie

Long ago I worked at a couple of restaurants. Both of them happened to specialize in pies. At one of the restaurants they served Boston Cream Pie, which I love, but they served it with a twist on the old cake version. They actually had a pie crust on the bottom. It was extremely tall and I loved it.

As I was thinking about what to make for my contribution to my Pies as a Fashion Statement Theme for this month's You Want Pies With That? Event, I kept coming back to that pie. I've always had an issue with the fact that it seems like when people are looking for a dessert to be a show stopper for an event it doesn't seem like pie gets enough attention. Since that is what this event is all about to me, I decided to make my take on the Boston Cream pie, with some more fall-like colors and flavors.

As for the fashion part of things, with me, it is all about layers really, and solid colors. I'm not really much for patterns or prints. If you look in my closet, you might find a few, but not really. More likely you'll find a lot of dark colors and solid fabrics. Fall is especially my favorite time of year for fashion because this is when I can really layer a bit more and bring out some more colors that work together. Among my favorites are creams, dark browns, reds, whites. So, that is what you get here.

To reinvent my Fashion Pie I went with lots of layers of flavor too. This pie, I must say, turned out really fantastic. As you can see from the lame interior pictures I had no patience and had to dig in. If you make this, just let it chill for a couple of hours before cutting into it... or accept the fact that it is going to ooze all over itself and cut away. Either way, I guarantee this is one delicious show stopper of a pie.

So, here are the layers. This pie was a bit involved to make, but all the different components can be made ahead at different times, then held and assembled when you have time.

Top Layer: Chocolate Ganache
Layer 5: Red Velvet Cake
Layer 4: Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
Layer 3: Red Velvet Cake
Layer 2: Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
Layer 1: Chocolate Ganache
Bottom Layer: Pecan Tart Shell

The recipes aren't in order of how I made them, but below is the order I think is best to make the components in. I actually did this over a couple of days to break up the work. I'm also posting the actual assembly of all the components at the end so that it makes sense as to how this works.

Day 1:
Make first: Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream (because it has to chill)
Make second: Chocolate Ganache (because it has to chill)

Day 2:
Make first: Pecan Tart Shell (because it has to chill, bake and cool)
Make second: Red Velvet Cake Layers (because they have to bake and cool)

Pecan Tart Shell
(Adapted from Epicurious)
1 cup pecans
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water
raw rice for weighting the shell

Make the shell:
In a food processor grind coarse the pecans with the sugar and transfer the mixture to a bowl. In the food processor blend together the flour, the butter, and the salt until the mixture resembles meal and add the flour mixture to the pecan mixture. Add the ice water, toss the mixture until the water is incorporated, and press it onto the bottom and up the side of a 9-inch (1-quart) tart pan. Chill the shell for 1 hour, prick it all over with a fork, and line it with foil. Fill the foil with the rice, bake the shell in the lower third of a preheated 425°F. oven for 10 minutes, and remove the foil and rice carefully. Reduce the heat to 375°F., bake the shell for 12 to 15 minutes more, or until it is golden brown, and let it cool on a rack.

Chocolate Ganache
(Adapted from Epicurious)
6 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1/4 cup heavy cream

For the Chocolate Ganache:
In a small metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water melt the chocolate with the cream, stirring until the mixture is smooth, spread the mixture in the bottom and halfway up the side of the shell, and let it cool. Chill the shell.

Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
(Source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking From My Home To Yours) - Recipe coming soon

Chocolate Ganache
(Source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking From My Home To Yours) - Recipe coming soon

Red Velvet Cake
(Adapted from Paula Deen)
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), at room temperature
1 large egg
1 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 ounce red food coloring
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well.

Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla.

In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into 2 (8 -inch) round greased and floured pans. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place in pans on a rack to cool completely.

Assembly:
Measure about 3/4 cup of the chocolate ganache into a small heatproof bowl. Leave the remaining ganache out to come to room temperature or loosen enough to be spreadable. Heat over a small pan of simmering water, enough to loosen it and make it pourable. Pour the warmed ganache into the tart shell. Place the shell into the freezer to chill and harden, about 3o minutes (more if you want very defined layers).

When the shell is well chilled, remove it from the freezer and remove the outer ring of the tart shell and place the shell onto your dessert platter, with a good sized rim to catch any excess ganache.

Measure about half of the pastry cream into the tart shell on top of the chilled ganache and spread evenly.

Place one of the cake layers on top of the pastry cream. Gently spread a thick layer of the remaining pastry cream on top of the cake layer and top with the remaining cake layer, placing the layer with the bottom of the cake at the top for the most smooth surface.

Gently stir the remaining ganache a few times with a rubber spatula to make smooth and spreadable. Pour gently onto the top of the cake and gently spread to almost the sides of the cake layer. Push just to the edge to let it slowly glaze down the sides a bit.

Place the whole thing in the refrigerator to set before serving, at least 1 hour (or, as I mentioned before, cut and take the messy consequences).

Baby's First Birthday Cake - Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Instant Fudge Frosting

This past Monday, October 13, marked Cole's first birthday. It was an infinitely better day than last year and we enjoyed a quiet celebration (well, as quiet as a one year old and five year old get anyway) at home. Cole enjoyed smashing his very own little cake (not the decorated one above mind you) and made a general mess of it. If you want to see a little video of pictures from his big day you can see them here. Since Cole was born two months early his body will 'technically' be one year at the end of November/beginning of December, but we chose to celebrate chronilogically anyway.

The interesting thing about dealing with Cole and his anemia over the past several weeks is the fact that the doctor's have basically (other than egg whites and nuts) set a kind of no-holds-barred standard for feeding him. In other words, feed him constantly and feed him anything he will take, and if possible, put butter on it. They call it 'power packing' his calorie intake. It seems to be helping because he is finally gaining a bit of weight again and his anemia is improving. As for his developement, my little overachiever seems to continue to hold his own. He had an Early Intervention appointment for his developmental check-up on the morning of his birthday and in most areas tested at his adjusted age or higher, even almost to his chronilogical age. In short, they 'rejected' us for eligibility for the program. I have never been so happy to be rejected in my entire life.

I have since felt relieved that he is doing so very well. I just wanted to mark the occassion of his birthday here and give you all a quick update to tell you, and show you, how good he is doing. He is still a bit skinny and he isn't quite on the charts yet for his weight, but he is pretty healthy and has quite the loving and funny personality.

I hope you enjoy the pictures here and get a chance to check out the little slideshow of pictures too. Thanks again to you all for your support over the first year of his rocky life!

Now, as for the cake I decided to make a vanilla cake for his birthday and since I just received my copy of Sky High: Irresistible Cakes for baking along with the other Cake Slice Bakers (watch on the 20th - TOMORROW for the unveiling of the Cake Slice Bakers first cake project) I decided to take a look at the recipes in there. When Gigi made this cake to announce the new group I thought it looked really good. Oh, is it ever. The crumb is tender, has a great vanilla flavor and is nice and buttery. It is light and delicious and was the perfect texture for Cole because the cake crumb really just melts in your mouth. For the cake he got to smash we actually just did a thin layer of frosting. Though babies 'shouldn't' have chocolate, they have encouraged us to give him anything that will help him gain some weight. This is certainly no diet frosting but he really didn't do much more than play in it. The frosting is light and delicious and not at all overpowering. In all, this cake is extremely moreish and we really loved it!

Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Instant Fudge Frosting
(From Sky High Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes By Alsia Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
For the cake:
4 whole large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup of buttermilk
3 cups of cake flour
2 cups of sugar
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 ounces of butter at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8-inch cake pans. Line with parchment paper and grease the paper.

Place the eggs and the yolks in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and 1/4 cup of buttermilk and whisk all the ingredients well. Set Aside.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a mixer; whisk to blend. Add the remaining buttermilk and butter to the dry ingredients and with the mixer on low speed, blend together. Raise the mixer to medium speed and beat until light fluffy; 2minutes.

Add the egg mixture in three additions, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Divide the batter among all the pans.

Bake the cake layers for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out the cakes onto a wire rack and remove the paper from the bottoms. Cool completely.

Fudge Frosting:
6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar
12 ounces of unsalted butter at room temperature
6 tablespoons of half and half
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to blend together. Then pulse until the frosting is smooth.