Fried Eggs

I recently read a Cook's Illustrated article about fried eggs. It said you were supposed to heat the skillet on low for five minutes. Add butter. Wait a minute. If butter is browned, then skillet is too hot. Add egg. Flip when appropriate. I tried it sort of but it didn't really work.

I feel like my fried eggs have been getting more disastrous. I am on a 75 percent success to 25 percent failure rate. Usually, I heat the skillet on medium heat. Add butter and then the egg. The lower the heat I cook it at the more likely it is the yolk breaks when I flip it. If it is too hot, the egg gets that weird brown crust. I have to think about how to fix this problem...

Apples, Fake Sausage, and Me

So it has been awhile. Been the week from hell. Did a huge needs assessment on sleep deprivation and college students that was due on Thursday. I haven't been this sleep deprived in a long time. On the brighter side of life, lots of good things happened after the cake was eaten. Personal details disclosed by letter, email and phone. This weekend I have been eating breakfast for every meal. Today's posting hails from one of these meals.

Apples and Fake Sausage

Gimme lean
One apple
Olive oil or butter
Cinnamin
Salt

Heat frying pan. Low-medium heat. Add olive oil or butter. Wait a minute. Slice apples about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Put on frying pan. Form gimme lean into patties. Heat 'em up. Brown the sausage. Flip the apples a couple of times. Near the end add a little salt and cinamin on top of each apple slice. When the gimme lean is done, the apples should be done. Serve hot.

I am sure this would be better with real sausage but I don't really cook a lot of meat. Enjoy!

Cake #3: Blueberrie lemon cake with white chocolate

So this year is the year of the three cubed. Off to a good start. I included an active link to the recipe. It is on epicurious.com. The great thing about this website is that you can read all the people's reviews of the recipe and what they changed. Gee, that doesn't sound familar.




Lemon Blueberry Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

Cake
3 1/3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon (packed) grated lemon peel
4 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Frosting
11 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker’s), finely chopped
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Additional blueberries (optional)
Lemon slices (optional)

For cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides; line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in lemon juice and peel, then eggs 1 at a time. Continue to beat until well blended. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions. Fold in berries. Transfer batter to pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks.

For frosting: Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler set over barely simmering water until almost melted. Remove from over water and stir until smooth. Cool to lukewarm. Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until blended. Beat in lemon juice, then cooled white chocolate.

Turn cakes out onto work surface. Peel off parchment. Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Garnish with additional blueberries and lemon slices, if desired. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

Makes 10 to 12 servings.


So about the cake...was very dense. I used an electric mixer this time to whip the butter, sugar, and eggs. The dough was a lovely consistency. But...I forgot to add the baking soda. So it was heavy and I could have cooked it a bit longer than the 40 minutes. I also excluded the lemon zest. I wanted a nice subtle lemon. It was an amazing cake but I am looking forward to eating it with baking soda.

The frosting is amazing. It makes a lot. I cut it into 2/3 and then added semi-sweet chocolate to the other third so I could decorate with it. Next time I made it I would just cut the frosting in half or 2/3. I used an electic mixer which made it very light and fluffy.