use real butter

Oh ho, it is that time again - time for a Daring Bakers Challenge. Because I just had another round o’ chemo and I am feeling very much this side of Ass, I’m going to settle with posting the progression of photos that led to my Perfect Party Cake last week and let you get your own party on wherever or however it is that you see fit. Good on ya.

Our lovely host this month was Morven.

You will find more perfect party cakes than you ever dreamt of here.

Let’s get this gig rollin’.

some lemony zest

mixing the zest with sugar to make lemony zesty sugar

prepping the baking pans

whisking eggs whites and milk

adding lemon extract for the cake

pouring the batter

baked cakes

slicing layers

whisking swiss meringue

whipping the meringue

lemony swiss meringue buttercream

spread a layer of raspberry jam

and then some buttercream

frosted and decorated

a slice for me

a slice for you

Perfect Party Cake
from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours

cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder (3/4 tsp adjusted for altitude)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tbsp or 4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract

buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut (omitted)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

Buttercream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

Assemble: Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Storing: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

The university is on spring break this week which means very little to Jeremy other than the fact that he gets a reprieve from teaching relativity (special and general) and cosmology. His trusty graduate students are still in town and working on their research (I’m going to send them some cookies because they are such sweet, hilarious, and conscientious students), and he still has unbelievable amounts of work to do… But since he doesn’t have to teach and his students are quite smart and self-motivated, he has opted to spend this week with me! What a champ he is. Our intention was to ski on Monday, but the winds were ridiculously insane. So he worked at home while I baked and baked. Then we planned to ski Tuesday, and the National Weather Service LIED about high winds and then decided to update and reduce the winds after it was too late to drive out to the big mountains. Again - more work for Jeremy and I can’t recall what the hell I did yesterday (more baking and cooking, I suppose and then we had dinner with Beth in Boulder).

But today, I said screw the National Weather Service and we’re going skiing. Which we did. We chose Breckenridge because Vail charges $20 for parking and A-basin doesn’t have express lifts and we like Breck (well, we like them ALL). It wasn’t crazy busy, but it was busy for a Wednesday because everyone else was also on Spring Break or Rich Person’s Vacay or whatever. No new snow, but lots of nice groomers and damn it if it wasn’t a roasting hot day (40s?!? that is insane!). See here… some of the nearby hills are melting out.

heartbreaking for some, like me

Jeremy let me instruct him on some drills I learned from my women’s tele program today. This is a rare thing, seeing as he likes to hot dog it and blow off things like Good Form or Proper Technique. In the afternoon I said we could play, which we did. The upper mountain called to us.

ahhh, an express lift to the top

it’s still skiable

At one point Jeremy said, “Let’s see what’s over here.” So we skied over to the edge and what I saw made me salivate.

nice terrain behind the ropes

let’s go!

And we crossed over to Peak 7 where there were some double blacks that I had never checked out before. Of course, it was mixed hard pack and tracked up powder - complete hard pack on the faces. While I was skiing down Art’s Bowl I heard Jeremy above me making strange scraping sounds and the next thing I knew he flew past me on his back and there was no way for him to stop as it was slick and steep. I skied down after him as he slid for a good 15 seconds over a lip trying to get his skis under him and his edges in - but to no avail. He finally slowed down as the face leveled a little. Scared the bejeezus out of me, but he immediately signaled that he was okay. Then we saw another dude yard sale it next to us and slide even further down the mountain since his alpine skis popped off about a hundred feet above where he stopped.

I dare say this may be my last tele day of the season seeing as my next round of chemo is tomorrow and by the time I’m feeling strong again, the ski hills will be closing shop for the season! But then we can switch to spring mountaineering and then summer hiking and oh, the possibilities are endless for a Colorado girl. Life is always Good if you make it so.

Once home, we were pooped, but in the good way. And I had already planned a super quick and easy meal in anticipation of our poopedness. Teriyaki pork chops - GRILLED! Even though it was 35F on the deck and a cold wind chilled our bones, we had a spring inauguration with the first grilling of the year.

fresh green onions, garlic, ginger

pork chops

I got this recipe in college from one of my apartment mates - a 5th generation Japanese from Seattle. Andy was like a goofy, sweet, and brilliant brother to me. He and Alex had just moved off campus and the first time they went grocery shopping they came home with bags and bags of junk food: chips, cookies, soda, ice cream. They gorged that evening while I ate some homestyle Chinese food I had made for my dinner. As they lay on the couches moaning and holding their tummies they declared, “That wasn’t a good idea.” So they started cooking for real and making some pretty nice meals (we agreed to cook separately for some reason, I can’t recall why - it may have had something to do with my sports practices). One day, Andy was on the phone with his dad for a teriyaki recipe and I asked if I could get a copy because it smelled terrific.

adding sugar to the marinade

placing the chops

It’s great to dump everything in a ziploc bag. Green onions, ginger, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and the pork chops. I also love to buy skinless, boneless chicken thighs and chop them up to skewer on the grill - delish. Andy’s recipe said to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes. I go 24 hours. The doneness is up to you, but you should be aware of the dangers of undercooked pork. Still, I like my pork to be juicy and not leathery, so we typically shoot for an internal temperature of 160F and then off the grill we tent it and let the pork chops rest for 5 minutes. While we don’t *really* know what we’re doing, this is our general guideline and if you have better advice, then please hit me with it!

grill to a proper internal temperature

Because I have to be careful about certain raw foods - particularly leafy vegetables and knobbly berries and because vegetables wreak havoc on me for a good amount of time during my treatment, I have been craving salads and veggies like nobody’s business. But today, today I am in tiptop shape (which is why they hit me with the treatment tomorrow), and we grilled asparagus and had Japanese cucumber salad with the chops.

spring IS beautiful

I know folks think skinny asparagus is all the rage, and I used to prefer skinny to fat asparagus spears… until I had fat spears picked not more than an hour earlier from a professor’s garden in graduate school. Heavenly. I mean, sweet beyond compare and crisp and juicy and I was sold! I’d like to point out that skinny isn’t always good. Some of them are stuck up, stupid, and they have no muscles. Oh wait, I was talking about asparagus, right? ;)

a great topper to the day

Teriyaki Pork Chops
from a college apartment mate

4 pork chops (or a pound of chicken thigh meat - boneless, skinless and chopped into pieces)
1 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sugar (or more if you like)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks green onion, minced
2 tbsp ginger root, minced

Mix all of this into a ziploc bag and marinate for at least 30 minutes, but I prefer overnight with occasional flipping for even marinate. Grill to appropriate internal temperature (we do 160F and then off the grill we tent the chops with foil and rest fo 5 minutes). To grill the chicken, we skewer the pieces and grill on medium high for 5 minutes and flip and grill for another 5 minutes. Take remaining marinade and boil in a pan. Strain the sauce and thicken with cornstarch to serve with pork chops or chicken skewers. * I like to use chicken thigh meat because I think it has better flavor and is juicier than breast meat.

I spent a good part of my day making and baking an ass ton of cookies. Some of them are already making their way out of the state (or sitting in the back of the Boulder post office waiting to skidaddle).

our quality control inspector looks on

When I began my treatment two months ago, I heard several dire warnings about having a weakened immune system. Don’t touch people. Steer clear of small children and anyone remotely sick. Don’t eat raw foods that can’t be peeled. Wash your hands all the time. Don’t drink anything with ice in public restaurants. Bring your own silverware. Disinfect everything. And for the love of God, don’t lick doorknobs or rental DVDs! Seriously, I got a lot of excellent advice [as well as some hilariously wacky advice from my well-intentioned parents], because a minor infection to anyone else could land me in the ER. Which leads me to wonder why the hell the waiting area for Oncology is right next to the waiting area for Infectious Diseases at my medical center. WTF?

But I’ve figured out over the past three cycles what I can and can’t stomach - and more importantly - when I can and can’t stomach the what. It’s at the end of the cycle, when my taste is nearly normal and my blood counts are on the rebound, that I can squeeze in some dining out before getting hit with the next round of poisons (to kill the cancer, but if I didn’t know better, I’d have a sneaking suspicion that they were trying to kill me).

Our little mountain town has a handful of dining establishments. I’m pretty much meh or blegh on most of them. I suppose if you don’t actually know how to cook good food, then you might think better of them. Fortunately, I do know how to cook. There is a smokehouse that I’ve wanted to try, but the few times we went, they were packed and we ditched. That’s a good sign. I hear they serve up Tennessee style bbq. I can dig that. Our neighbors and good friends told us they tried a new place in town over the weekend and they really liked it. So we gave it a go.

the last ray of sunlight

It’s a small joint and it’s chilly, as Tom had warned us. I don’t have any pictures because 33% of the light fixtures were out and there weren’t a lot to begin with in the very dimly lit space. However, the menu was quite impressive for being in the sticks. Tom said his pasta puttanesca was excellent except for the pasta part - and he knows, he’s Italian. We split a bowl of lobster bisque (very good - ten times better than the sorry excuse for lobster bisque I bought from Whole Foods) and Jeremy ordered a burger and I had the Philly cheese steak sandwich. Their sweet potato fries are drizzled with a sweet vinegar reduction: fabulous. Jeremy enjoyed his burger and I rate my sandwich a solid B. They have pricier items on the menu - up to a $29 beef tenderloin, but I wanted simple that night. Overall, it’s currently my favorite place in town. The portions are generous (we could only eat half of our dinners) and the service friendly and competent in that mountain woman “I can bench twelve cases of beer” way.

I know there are a handful of Boulder readers, so if you guys happen by this funky, lovable, yet slightly dysfunctional town - this is the place to dine.

Bears Brothers Bistro
1 West 1st St.
Nederland, CO 80466

Another place our neighbors have recommended to us is Proto’s Pizza in Boulder (with several other CO locations and a Boise store too). I met the co-owner of Proto’s during my stint at the Culinary School of the Rockies last year. Curiosity piqued and stomachs empty - we opted for Proto’s this evening after I sent the crocheted eggs on their next journey. And now I don’t think I can eat pizza anywhere else because their pizza is *perfect*. The place was packed on a Monday night. I had a 1.5 hour workout for lunch instead of actual lunch, so I was primed for dinner: a salad and half a medium pizza. Oh honey, I could have shoved Jeremy out of his chair and eaten the whole pizza myself if I didn’t like the guy so much.

sign of good things

tuscan salad

traditional with pepperoni and mushrooms

Great service. The place was hoppin’ and you could feel the music vibrating in your chair (or was that the pizza rocking my world?!). Really freaking good (RFG) - and that’s my official word on it.