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cutting until small

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How to Julienne, Dice and More: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Flip through this guide to learn how to chop and dice like a pro, then watch our how-to video.

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hot water steaming up

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Boiling can be divided into 2 categories: simmering and boiling.

Simmering is used for stocks, soups, legumes and generally anything requiring a low temperature.

Boiling proper is used to cook most vegetables (excluding potatoes and beetroot) and pasta. It is very important to use the right quantity of salt.

Foods suitable for boiling are:
* Meat : simmering only, tough cuts with or without the bone

* Fish : simmering, mainly whole

* Vegetables : whole or cut

* Pasta

See the steps of the boiling method, following the photos order.

1. Bring water to the boil.

2. Add salt to the boiling water.

3. Add the food.

Boil for as long as necessary.

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How to boil - Boiling as a basic cooking method

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Boiling can be divided into 2 categories: simmering and boiling. Simmering is used for stocks, soups, legumes and generally anything requiring a low temperature. Boiling proper is used to cook most vegetables (excluding potatoes and beetroot) and pasta. It is very important to use the right quantity of salt.

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cook small amount of fat in high heat

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To sauté a dish means to cook it in a small amount of fat over high heat, making sure that the food doesn't stick to the pan by making it "jump" in and out of the heat. The term comes originally from the French word for jump, "sauter." ...

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Par baking is a cooking technique in which a bread or dough product is partially baked and then rapidly frozen for storage. The raw dough is baked normally, but halted at about 80% of the normal cooking time, when it is rapidly cooled and frozen.

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Par-baked to meet fresh-keeping goals | The Bake-off Issue - DuPont | Danisco

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Getting a grip on starch is the first step towards a 20-day ambient shelf life.

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when u put pressure

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How to Knead Dough. Kneading dough leads to the development of gluten and helps to uniformly distribute the gases that are produced by the yeast. This creates the conditions necessary for producing porous and spongy - in other words,...

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chemical breakdown by a substance like yeast

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A pastry blender is a kitchen tool used to mix a hard fat into flour in order to make pastries. The tool is usually made of narrow metal strips or wires attached to a handle, and is used by pressing down on the items to be mixed.

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This guide contains uses for a pastry blender. There are other food tasks that this cutting tool can be helpful with.

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spread oil,butter or graze a food.

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Explain The function of sour cream in a baked good

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Explain The function of sour cream in a baked good

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it causes a chemical reaction and that chamical reaction is that it rises.

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Growing up, I was a brazen present-shaker, determined to discern the surprise beneath the shiny paper. Today's Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake contains a secret too, though I'd recommend taking a giant bite (versus shaking the plate) to find out what it is.

Present guessing was tantamount to a professional sport in my family. My sisters and I would create the most elaborate, far-fetched clues to tantalize each other as we guessed what the gift from the other could be. Stretching of the truth was common and reverse psychology employed at will. On Christmas morning, we'd rip apart the paper to discover whose clues were the cleverest and who'd been the sharpest guesser. We exhausted our parents and had an excellent time.

Now that we're older, much of the surprise has been replaced by wishlists. Although I appreciate knowing what my family members would like for Christmas (as I shared last week when I posted my Holiday Gift Guide, it's a source of joy for me to give someone a present they truly love), I do miss the mystery a little.

One area where I do like to maintain a dose of deception is my holiday baking. While I am certainly more lax with the "health" factor of my treats in November and December (hello there, melt-in-your-mouth Mint Brownies), I still enjoy making healthy substitutions where I can...and then hiding them from unsuspecting family members. While my friends and family sing the praises of my "decadent" treats, I sit back and quietly revel in the undisclosed ingredient swaps I employed to keep the goodies lighter for all.

My latest healthy holiday surprise: Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake. A beautiful bundt coffee cake with a tender crumb reminiscent of a pound cake, this cranberry-studded treat will be a star at any holiday brunch.

I am unapologetically fussy about my coffee cake. I like my coffee cake sweet, but not too sweet, dryness is not to be tolerated, and a glaze or topping of sorts is obligatory. Extra flavors and mix-ins are needed to keep things fresh and interesting. Oh, and I'd like my coffee cake ready in less than an hour, including baking time. Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake is all of the above and more.

I love sour cream coffee cakes, because they are inherently moist and not too sweet, thanks to the sour cream's richness and tang. They are also easy. Beat butter and sugar together; add sour cream; add dry ingredients. Done.

Sour cream coffee cake is also incredibly versatile, and today's recipe is an excellent base for any of your favorite coffee cake additions. To make the sour cream coffee cake festive for the holidays, I folded in a handful of bright, fresh cranberries, along with almond extract. The almond and cranberry taste marvelous together, and I love the surprise pops of cranberry flavor in each slice. An almond glaze completes the picture. Sour cream coffee cake heaven, we have arrived.

So what is my secret holiday surprise? Are you ready? Will you still be friends with me after I reveal the mystery ingredient? I hope so!

This sour cream coffee cake does not contain sour cream. GASP!

In place of sour cream, I used protein-packed Greek yogurt, which has a very similar taste but is much healthier. The Greek yogurt performs the exact same functions as the sour cream in baking-making the cranberry coffee cake incredibly moist and balancing its flavor-and the taste difference between the two is imperceptible. Serve this cranberry coffee cake to your family, call it sour cream coffee cake, and I guarantee that no one will be the wiser!

My final healthy sneak was to make the coffee cake with white whole wheat flour. It adds a slight nuttiness to the cake, which I enjoyed thoroughly with the almond extract and cranberry, though you can swap out regular all-purpose flour if you prefer.

Put a bow on this Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake and serve it with pride this holiday season. The secret ingredient can be your gift to your loved ones: a healthier morning, with no fuss, sacrifice, or skimping on taste required.
Tools I used to bake this Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake: This sneaky Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake is helping communities and you can too, for FREE without leaving your couch. To find out how, read on below the recipe!
Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Directions:
Help families in need without leaving your couch!
Milk, which is high in protein and contains nine essential nutrients, is the number-one item food banks request. Unfortunately, it is also the least donated. Let's help change that! I'm partnering with nine other food bloggers and the American Dairy Association Mideast (ADA) to raise awareness and funds for the Great American Milk Drive, a program which delivers milk to families in need. For every "like," comment or share of each participating blogger recipe on the ADA's Facebook page, the ADA will donate 25 cents, the average cost of a glass of milk, through the Great American Milk Drive. Just visit the Facebook album with the recipe photos, then click/like/comment on the photos, and you'll be helping donate dairy to families in need.
To help even more:

To donate milk and to find out how much milk has been given in your local community, at www.MilkLife.com/give. A $5 donation gives a gallon of milk to a family in-need.

Join our Twitter party. On December 8th from 9-10 p.m. EST, the ADA is hosting a Twitter chat focused on all things holiday with the hashtag #GiveGallons. For each person who attends and uses #GiveGallons, $1 will be donated to the Great American Milk Drive. With a single Tweet, you can raise a $1 for a family in need. Isn't that powerful? Mark you calendar now!

I am sharing this post in partnership with the American Dairy Association Mideast. As always, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands and companies that make it possible for me to continue providing quality content to you!

This post contains some affiliate links, which means that I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.

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Growing up, I was a brazen present-shaker, determined to discern the surprise beneath the shiny paper. Today's Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake contains a secret too, though I'd recommend taking a giant bite (versus shaking the plate) to find out what it is. Present guessing was tantamount to a professional sport in my family.

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struesl is made with suger and cinnimon but there is more to true struesel then this

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Yield: Yields one 8-inch square cake.

Start breakfast by making this quick cake. After your eggs and bacon, cut still-warm pieces and serve them with coffee (and maybe a second glass of Champagne).

Love to Cook? Sign up for eletters today and get the latest from Fine Cooking plus special offers.

Ingredients

For the Streusel

3-3/8 oz. (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour; more for the pan

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. table salt

2-1/4 oz. (4-1/2 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted; more if needed

For the Cake

1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 drops pure almond extract

4 oz. (1/2 cup) very soft unsalted butter; more for the pan

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1 large egg, at room temperature

1/4 plus 1/8 tsp. table salt

5-1/4 oz. (1-1/3 cups) cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

Calories (kcal) : 400

Fat Calories (kcal): 180

Fat (g): 20

Saturated Fat (g): 12

Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 1

Monounsaturated Fat (g): 5

Cholesterol (mg): 95

Sodium (mg): 210

Carbohydrates (g): 51

Fiber (g): 1

Protein (g): 4

Preparation

Make the streusel

In a small bowl, stir the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Drizzle the melted butter over the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. The streusel should feel clumpy, not sandy, when gently squeezed between your fingertips. If it seems dry, add more melted butter.

Make the cake

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 8-inch square metal cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment and butter the parchment. Dust the pan with flour, tapping out any excess.
In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and egg yolk with a wooden spoon until blended, about 20 seconds. Using a whisk, whisk in the whole egg and salt and continue to whisk until the batter is smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve, about 30 seconds. Whisk in the sour cream mixture. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda directly onto the batter. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps.

Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter, squeezing it with your fingertips to form small clumps. Bake until puffed and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out with only moist crumbs clinging to it, 28 to 30 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool for 15 minutes.

Run a knife between the cake and the sides of the pan. Invert the cake onto the rack and remove the parchment. Invert again onto a serving plate, so the streusel is on top. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving. This cake is best served warm.

Recipe

By Christine Burns Rudalevige

Recipe

By Lisa Eisenman Frisk, Monica Eisenman

Season 4 Extras

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Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Streusel - FineCooking

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Yield: Yields one 8-inch square cake. Start breakfast by making this quick cake. After your eggs and bacon, cut still-warm pieces and serve them with coffee (and maybe a second glass of Champagne). Love to Cook? Sign up for eletters today and get the latest from Fine Cooking plus special offers.

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is done with a rubber spatula or a whisk this is for liquid and dry.

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Folding egg whites into a cake batter for an angel food cake (shown here), a souffle or extra fluffy waffles takes a little practice but is completely worth it. The egg whites are incorporated for making a fluffier, lighter (and more...

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two mixes are created a mix of wet and dry.

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this is used to stop things out and make them nice and round for when we back them.

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winco icd-12 no.12 ice cream disher with plastic handle

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Winco ICD-12 No.12 Ice Cream Disher with Plastic Handle, Green

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Ice Cream Disher, size 12, plastic, green, NSF. This tough stainless steel ice cream scoop is made for high-volume commercial use. Handle is made of plastic and grooved for a firm grip. Broad handle button for easy ejection of ice cream or cookie dough. Made to out-perform standard ice cream scoo...

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adds other kinds of Ingreidents like fruit or chocolate chips

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Basic Drop Cookies Recipe | King Arthur Flour

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This recipe is much less labor intensive than some recipes. I substituted 1/2 tsp of Fiori di sicilia for half the vanilla and added lemon chips (hoping these will be brought back!!!!). They are delicious! Having read the comments, and knowing my oven cooks hot, I cut down on the time and cooked only 12 minutes.

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a cookie made were you use your hands and mold the dough into the shape you want

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Maura

Original recipe yields 48 servings (2 -4 dozen)

Nutritional Information

1 Serving
Servings Per Recipe:
Amount Per Serving

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.

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Directions

1. Beat the butter for 1 minute add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and eggs and mix for 1 minute. Add the flour and salt an beat for 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl. Refrigerate dough for 1 to 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

3. Oil mold with vegetable oil or spray. Dust mold with flour, then tap mold on side to remove any excess flour. Press dough into mold, scraping excess off with a knife so that dough is flush with the edge of the mold. Loosen edges and let dough fall onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from sheet.

Reviews
Read all reviews

My review

I'm not sure how real sugar cookies are supposed to taste, but these tasted REALLY good especially out of the oven. It was easy to cut the cookies and none broke, but I froze the dough for about...

I'm a mother of two girls who are always wanting to make cookies so i decided to try this recipe with them and it was horrible!! This recipee just tasted like salt i recommend you DO NOT use thi...

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Maura Original recipe yields 48 servings (2 -4 dozen) 1 Serving Servings Per Recipe: Amount Per Serving * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. ** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients.

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made from batter or stiff dough and poured and pressed into a pan

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Inspired Taste - Easy Recipes for Home Cooks

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How to make soft and chewy bar cookies with peanut butter cups (or your favorite candy) from scratch. Jump to the Easy Bar Cookie Recipe or read on to see our tips for making them.

- Post Sponsored by Gold Medal Flour-

Somehow, we've collected an odd assortment of miniature candy bars. We've literally got half-empty bags pushed into every nook and cranny of our pantry. A few of those bags had one of our favorites, Reese's peanut butter cups. This soft, tender and easy bar cookie recipe was the perfect way to use them.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: These Milky Way Stuffed Cookies. By sandwiching a Milky Way between two layers of cookie dough, the cookies have a chocolate and caramel center. A must make!

Our Favorite From Scratch Cookie Dough for Bar Cookies

This cookie dough is versatile and can be used 100 different ways.

We absolutely love peanut butter cups. Especially the miniature ones - they have the perfect peanut butter to chocolate ratio for us. If you have another favorite - Snickers, Milky Way Bars, or other candy, use it. They work just as well.

The cookie dough comes together in minutes - beat butter and sugar, add egg, and then the dry ingredients. Soft, tender, chewy bar cookies! So easy and oh, so delicious!

WATCH: If you're up for making your own candy, take a look at our recipe and video showing you how to make Salted Chocolate Covered Caramels.

Recipe updated, originally posted August 2012. Since posting this in 2012, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. - Adam and Joanne
Easy Bar Cookies with Peanut Butter Cups

This soft, tender and easy bar cookie recipe is the perfect way to use your favorite candy bars. We love peanut butter cups, but most candy will work for this.

You Will Need

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan with parchment paper then lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter.

In a large bowl, beat butter, both sugars and the vanilla extract on medium speed with a hand mixer until creamy, light, and fluffy, scraping down the sides as necessary; about 3 minutes. Add egg and beat until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add the flour mixture, in thirds, to the butter mixture, beating until incorporated and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Stir in the halved peanut butter cups.

Press cookie dough into baking pan and bake until the top is no longer wet and is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool then cut into 12 rectangles.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

Make Ahead: Refrigerate unbaked cookie dough up to 3 days.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste - We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Food Travel: Our Lives Outside the Kitchen

We're in love with our hometown, Walla Walla. Read on for lots of insider's tips for where to eat and drink, including some of our favorite wineries. Read More...

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Easy Bar Cookies with Peanut Butter Cups

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How to make soft and chewy bar cookies with peanut butter cups (or your favorite candy) from scratch. Jump to the Easy Bar Cookie Recipe or read on to see our tips for making them. - Post Sponsored by Gold Medal Flour- Somehow, we've collected an odd assortment of miniature candy bars.

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it makes it stiffer.

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Cream of tartar is one of those mystery ingredients you might have seen in your grandma's pantry without knowing what it's used for. After all, its name doesn't give you a clue-not like baking powder or baking soda. Yet just a touch of it makes a big difference in your baking and cooking. Here's what it is and how to use it in recipes, and even around the house. #multitasker

What is cream of tartar?

First of all, it's not creamy. It's a dry, powdery, acidic byproduct of fermenting grapes into wine. Its sciency name is potassium bitartrate, aka potassium hydrogen tartrate or tartaric acid (hence the name). But you can find it in the spice aisle labeled as plain ol' cream of tartar.

What is cream of tartar for?

Adding a small amount of cream of tartar when you're beating egg whites-usually 1/8 teaspoon per egg white-speeds up the creation of foam and helps stabilize the structure of those miniscule air bubbles you're whipping up. In baking, this means mile-high meringue pies, melt-in-your-mouth meringue cookies, and angel food cakes that practically float off the plate.

Why is cream of tartar in snickerdoodle cookies?

It's what separates a tangy, chewy snickerdoodle from an ordinary cinnamon-coated sugar cookie. The acid in cream of tartar gives snickerdoodles their distinctive tangy flavor, and the chew happens because cream of tartar prevents sugar in the cookie dough from crystalizing into crunchiness. Science!

How else is cream of tartar used in recipes?

When combined with baking soda, it becomes a leavening agent (the stuff that makes baked goods puff up in the oven) by producing carbon dioxide gas. If you ever run out of baking powder, you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Add a pinch of cream of tartar to boiling vegetables to help them retain their bright, fresh color.

A pinch of cream of tartar also helps stabilize whipped cream to prevent it from deflating.

Make colorful, edible play dough!

What can I substitute for cream of tartar?

Use 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar to create the acidic effect of 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar in a recipe.

What is cream of tartar's shelf-life?

Cream of tartar keeps its freshness indefinitely, as long as you store it in a cool, dry spot. When in doubt, you can test it by looking at it and smelling it. It should look white and powdery, and it should smell mildly acidic.

How else is it used around the house?

Cream of tartar makes an effective non-toxic household cleaner all by itself or combined with other earth-friendly kitchen ingredients such as lemon juice or vinegar. Try these ideas:

Metal polish: Add water to make a paste to polish stainless steel and aluminum. This also removes scratches on white bowls and plates caused by knives and forks.

Copper polish: Add lemon juice in a 1:1 mixture. Rub on, rinse off.

Poreclain sink, tub, toilet scrub: Add distilled white vinegar in a 1:1 solution.

All-purpose scrub: Add distilled white vinegar in a 4:1 solution (i.e., 1 cup vinegar to 1/4 cup cream of tartar). This also cleans stainless steel sinks like nobody's business.

Related

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Cream of Tartar: What It Is and How to Use It - Allrecipes Dish

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Cream of tartar is one of those mystery ingredients you might have seen in your grandma's pantry without knowing what it's used for. After all, its name doesn't give you a clue-not like baking powder or baking soda. Yet just a touch of it makes a big difference in your baking and cooking.

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This is a chemical that is made to give it distinctive flavor with amino acids and distinct flavors.

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In a time-lapse video, a baking cookie almost looks like a creature coming alive as it spreads out and then rises up. Credit: B.W.F/Vimeo.com

Baking cookies is almost magical. You put little balls of wet, white dough into the oven and out pop brown, crispy, tasty biscuits.

"In a time-lapse video, it looks like a monster coming alive," says the team from TEDEd in a new animation that - just in time for the holidays - explains the science behind great cookie baking. "For a moment, it [the raw dough] sits there innocuous ... then it bulges outward ... it triples in volume. Its color darkens ominously. And its surface hardens into an alien topography of peaks and craters. ... The kitchen timer dings: Your cookies are ready."

So what's going on in that oven? How does the heat make our snickerdoodles and chocolate chippers so delicious?

It's all about the chemistry.

"Don't let that apron deceive you. Bakers are mad scientists," the narrator of the animation says. "When you put the raw cookie dough into the oven, you're setting off a series of chemical reactions."

By playing around with the ingredients in your favorite recipe, you can tweak these reactions and engineer your ideal cookie. For instance, you can make it chewier, fluffy or thinner.

We'll get to that part in a moment, but first, let's take a look at the three major steps of the cookie-baking process:

1. The spread: As the cookie dough starts to heat up, the butter inside it melts. The ball of dough loses its structural integrity and spreads out. The diameter of the cookie is set by how long the cookie expands.

2. The rise: At about 212 degrees Fahrenheit, the water in the dough turns into steam. The cookie starts to rise as the vapors push through the dough. Eventually, the baking soda or powder starts to break down into carbon dioxide gas, which raise up the cookie farther. All these gases leave little holes in the maturing cookie, which makes it light and flaky.

3. Color and flavor injection: Now the magic really starts to happen. Just as the cookie is almost finished baking, two chemical reactions fill it with hundreds of flavors and infuse it with its characteristic brown hue. First off, there's caramelization: As sugars in the dough break down, they transform from clear, odorless crystals into a brown, fragrant liquid that's overflowing with aromas and tastes - think butterscotch, sweet rum and popcorn. The second yummy process, called the Maillard reaction, packs the cookie with even richer tastes. The reaction involves not only the sugars in the dough but the proteins from the egg and flour as well. So it churns out toasty, nutty and even savory flavors. The Maillard reaction also helps to darken the cookie's surface.

All this baking chemistry provides the building blocks for refining the cookie's architecture, says molecular biologist Liz Roth-Johnson, who runs the Science and Food blog at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"Say I have a cookie recipe, and it's not quite what I want," she says. "You can take these basic concepts and use them to engineer the perfect cookie."

Take, for instance, the cookie's diameter. Its size depends on how quickly the dough spreads out as the butter melts in the oven.

"If you start off with melted butter in the raw dough - instead of cold butter chunks - the dough is immediately wetter and will spread out faster," Roth-Johnson tells The Salt. The result is a flatter, wider cookie.

But the butter's temperature will also affect the cookie's texture. It changes the air pockets left behind as the water in the butter converts into gas, Roth-Johnson explains.

Melted butter creates smaller and more holes. That makes for a chewier cookie.

"On the other hand, if you incorporate chunks of cold butter into the dough, you get larger pockets of air and a fluffier, cakier cookie," she explains.

You can also switch out the baking soda for baking powder for a fluffier treat. "The powder gives the cookie an extra kick of leavening," she says, "because it produces carbon dioxide gas both when it's mixed in the dough and when it heats up."

To make a thicker cookie, Roth-Johnson says, try using more flour.

Finally, you can pump up the cookie's flavor and aromas by spiking the dough with dark sugars. White granulated sugar doesn't participate very well in the Maillard reaction because it contains mostly sucrose. Darker sugars - like molasses, honey and brown sugar - are packed with glucose and fructose, which are happy to churn out rich, complex tastes from the Maillard reaction.

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Cookie-Baking Chemistry: How To Engineer Your Perfect Sweet Treat

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A cookie in the oven almost looks like a monster coming alive. It bulges out, triples in size and then stiffens into a crisp biscuit. So how does an oven turn raw dough into a delight? A new animation explains the chemistry behind great baking so you, too, can unleash your inner mad scientist in the kitchen.

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its a way of browning

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Temperatures during cooking -- Caramelization

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The Creaming Method is when the sugar and shorting fat are blended together to make it light and creamy

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Do you like Creamsicles? Dreamsicles? Orange-cream slushes at Sonic? Anything with orange and cream together?

I love them all. Orange + vanilla might seem like a weird combination if you've never had one of those frozen confections, but I promise it works. Which is why I was intrigued when I saw this cake on Rosie's uber-amazing blog, Sweetapolita.

Not only is this cake delicious, it's absolutely gorgeous. It does involve a lot of steps, so it's not the perfect cake to make if you are pressed for time. But if you have a bit of time and are looking for something different, this is awesome.

It's not super-duper orangey, either. You can taste the orange, especially in the frosting, but there's a good bit of vanilla-cream and vanilla-cake flavor, too. You can up the orange flavor (and reduce your time commitment) by skipping the orange cream filling and making more orange buttercream to put in between the layers, though. Up to you.

I will tell you that this method of making cakes is a little different than what you may be used to. Instead of creaming the butter and sugar together first (like I do normally with cookies), you mix the dry ingredients up first and then add pieces of butter.

You also have to be pretty careful with the whipped cream filling. I think I left mine in the fridge a tiny bit too long, so it ended up a weird texture. But it didn't really matter in the end, since you can't tell when it's hidden between the layers of cake. It still tasted good.

As much as I love the orange-cream combination, my favorite thing about this cake is the pastel swirl frosting. And you can totally use the frosting recipe and swirl method with your own cake recipe, if you'd prefer. I would recommend adding some orange zest and orange juice to the cake, though. Vitamin C, y'all.

So, before decorating the cake, you need to cover it with a thin layer of frosting to seal in the crumbs (so they don't get all up in your pretty frosting). It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to cover the cake.

Aren't those colors beautiful? They remind me of rainbow sherbet. Which also reminds me: This cake would probably be good with something raspberry in between the layers (like, maybe some raspberry jam and orange buttercream) instead of the orange whipped cream. Not as creamsicle-y, obviously, but still likely a good combination.

Definitely put some pieces of wax paper or parchment paper under the cake before you frost it so when you make a big mess (like I did), you can just pull the paper out and throw it away. I do make an effort to explain this method of decorating below, but I would highly recommend you watch Rosie's video on her blog - it's really helpful.

Then, just throw some sprinkles on top and serve!

I brought this one to work for my going-away baking bonanza, and it was definitely a hit. I was thinking about making it again for my birthday later this week... but I will probably try something new. In the meantime, I hope you like this!

Orange cream cake (Adapted from Sweetapolita, makes one three-layer 8- or 9-inch cake)

4 large eggs and 2 egg yolks, at room temperature (or at least not fresh from the fridge - try setting them out for an hour or so before you start)
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (I used Valencia oranges)
3 cups cake flour
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest from 2-3 medium oranges

Once the eggs and milk have been sitting out for about an hour, preheat the oven to 350F. Squeeze the orange juice (it's easier to get more juice from each if you roll the oranges on the counter before you cut them in half). Strain the juice to get rid of any seeds and pulp. It's better to have a bit more than 1/4 cup than less.

Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper, butter that and dust the sides of the pans with flour (knock out the extra).

Sift the cake flour.

In a small bowl or medium measuring cup, break up the eggs and yolks with a fork. Stir the orange juice and milk together in a separate small bowl/measuring cup.

Cut the butter into small pieces of roughly equal size.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment. Keeping the mixer on low, add the butter pieces one at a time, a few seconds apart. Keep mixing until all of the butter is blended in and the mixture looks like sand, with no butter clumps.

Slowly add the milk-orange juice mixture to the flour mixture, then turn the mixer on medium speed and blend for four minutes. Turn the mixer off, scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and then turn the mixer back on to low. Slowly add the egg mixture, then turn the mixer speed up to medium and blend for one minute.

Zest the oranges and carefully fold the zest into the batter using a spatula.

Pour the batter into the three pans, dividing it as evenly as possible (I find it's easiest to use a food scale, but you could also measure it out in a measuring cup if you don't have a scale).

Bake the cake layers for 20 to 25 minutes, switching their oven position around once in the middle to ensure even baking - until they're golden brown and the centers bounce back if you press them gently with your finger. (You can also test them by sticking a toothpick into the center. If it comes out without any wet batter on it, the cake is done).

Allow the layers to cool for 15-20 minutes, then turn them over onto wire cooling racks and peel off the paper liners. Let the layers cool completely before assembling.

Orange cream filling
2 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (one packet is enough)
2 cups cold heavy cream
1 cup powdered (confectioners') sugar
zest from 1 medium orange

In a stainless steel bowl (a small one is fine, but the only one I have is my stand mixer bowl), pour in the cold water and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Stir and then let sit for at least 10 minutes (it should look gelatin-y when it's ready).

Meanwhile, pour 1/3 cup of the heavy cream into a small heavy saucepan and heat until the liquid around the sides begins to bubble a bit. Stir the hot cream into the gelatin until the gelatin dissolves.

Put the hot gelatin mixture in the fridge, but open the fridge and stir the mixture every minute or so, until the mixture is cool (about eight minutes). Don't let it set!

After the cream mixture is cool, beat the rest of the whipped cream, the powdered sugar and vanilla in a cold mixer bowl (you can use a hand-held mixer or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer).

Add the gelatin mixture very slowly, beating as you go, until the whipped cream is thick (it won't hold stiff peaks, but it should be a spreadable consistency). Fold in the orange zest, then cover and store in the fridge until ready to assemble the cake.

Orange buttercream frosting
2 cups unsalted butter (let it sit on the counter for at least an hour, or longer)
1/4 cup (or a little more) freshly squeezed orange juice
4 1/2 cups or more powdered (confectioners') sugar
Pink and peach gel food coloring (for assembly/decoration)
Assorted sprinkles

Cut the butter into pieces, then put it in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat, with the paddle attachment, on medium speed for several minutes, until the butter is very creamy and light.

Squeeze and strain the orange juice, to remove seeds and pulp.

Add the powdered sugar to the butter, about a cup at a time, beating on a low speed to combine. Add the orange juice and beat to combine, then increase the mixer speed to medium for several minutes, until the frosting is very light and fluffy.

To assemble the cake, place one layer (rounded side down) on a cake stand or plate. Put about 1 1/2 cups of the uncolored orange buttercream frosting in a pastry bag with a large piping tip (or just in a big plastic Ziploc0type bag with a hole cut in one of the bottom corners). Pipe the frosting around the very edge of the cake layer, then spread a generous amount of the orange cream filling in the center of the layer, spreading it to the frosting.

Place the next cake layer (top/rounded side down) on top of the first layer and repeat the frosting edge/orange cream filling process. Place the last cake layer (top/rounded side up) on top, then make sure the layers all aligned. If anything seems to be sliding around, put the cake in the refrigerator (with some kind of plastic or cover over it) for 20-30 minutes. Or, go ahead and spread a thin layer of the uncolored frosting all over the top and sides of the cake.

Refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes, until the frosting is set. While it's setting, divide the rest of the frosting into three equal parts. Tint one bowl of frosting bright pink (I think I used Americolor deep pink), one orange (I used a mix of Americolor peach and some Wilton orange) and one coral (a mixture of pink and orange/peach). You want the colors to be different enough that you will be able to see the gradient once you frost the cake.

To frost, I recommend watching this video first. Then, stir up the orange and glop a thick layer on the top of the cake (you want some kind of hanging off the edges). Next, stir up the hot pink frosting and spread a very thick layer on the bottom of the sides of the cake, extending about a third of the way up. Stir the coral and spread a thick layer on the middle/sides of the cake, close to but not quite touching the other colors.

Use a frosting spatula to carefully blend the edge of the coral and hot pink together, then wipe off the spatula and spread the coral so it extends all the way to the top (right under the orange). Wipe off the spatula again, then position it vertically and run it carefully around the sides of the cake, wiping occasionally, to blend the colors together and smooth the frosting. Be careful not to over blend or take too much frosting off. Finish by wiping the spatula off again, making sure the top is smooth and that the orange frosting is blended over the edge into the coral. Decorate with a variety of sprinkles.

Store the cake in the fridge, covered, but allow to sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving.

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Do you like Creamsicles? Dreamsicles? Orange-cream slushes at Sonic? Anything with orange and cream together? I love them all. Orange + vanilla might seem like a weird combination if you've never had one of those frozen confections, but I promise it works. Which is why I was intrigued when I saw this cake on Rosie's uber-amazing blog, Sweetapolita.