Rain. I know it’s a good thing, especially for our gardens.  But enough is enough already.  I need to see the sun again!  So today, I decided to make my own rainbow.  I’ve gathered  a bunch of pictures of my baking projects.  I have just about every color covered!  I’m not an expert baker, although I do love baking.  My older daughter is 12 years old, and has taken an active roll in helping me bake.  What a huge help she is!  It is so nice to have company in the kitchen and a helping hand, too.  I wasn’t always so excited for help, especially if I was under any kind of time pressure. But I’ve gotten a little better at being patient (well, a tiny bit better, anyway), and she gets more helpful with every project!  I haven’t let go of the icing bag yet, though.  It’s my favorite part, and well, I’m not ready to share just yet.  I know I’ll have to share that fun job soon, because she is just so helpful, and she really wants to do it.  Soon…

I have a devil’s food cake recipe that I love.  It’s from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins.  My copy of that cookbook is completely worn from so much use!  I love it!  I get very attached to recipes that work for me.   I think this recipe is good enough to share!  As for icing, I use my Wilton recipe with butter, cream cheese and icing sugar.  I try and use some different icing tips, but you can tell which are my favorites.

Hopefully the rain will subside soon.  Then I’ll be back in the garden!  I hope you enjoy my  rainbow of baking.
Dana

Kathleen’s Devil’s Food Cake
From The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins

3 oz. good quality unsweetened chocolate
(substitute 3 tblsp cocoa powder + ½ oz butter per 1 oz unsweetened chocolate = 9 tblsp cocoa powder & 1.5 oz butter – add more butter if dry: I usually use 2.2+ oz butter)
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 ¼ cups (packed) dark brown sugar (can substitute light, or use a combination)
3 eggs
2 ¼ cups cake flour
(Add 2 tblsp cornstarch into 1 cup of flour measure if you don’t have cake flour  – or just use regular flour)
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (190 C). Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans – or line cup cake tins (about 24).

Place chocolate in small heavy saucepan, and melt over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Cream the butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the melted chocolate.

Combine the cake flour, baking soda, and salt. Alternating between the two, add flour mixture and buttermilk to the chocolate mixture in 3 stages.  Then slowly stir in the boiling water and vanilla.

Pour the batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (30 minutes for cake – start with 10 minutes for muffins).

Remove the pans from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes.  Then invert the pans over wire racks.

Cream Cheese Icing:
From The Wilton School: Decorating Cakes book.

½ cup (4 oz) butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened (room temp)
4 cups (approx 1 lb) confectioners’ sugar
1 tblsp milk

In medium mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth, add sugar and milk. Beat on high speed until smooth (30 – 60 sec). Use this thicker consistency for piping borders.  (I use about 6 cups of sugar to make the icing thick for piping.)

The first color of the rainbow: Red.  Victoria Sponge with Raspberries.

Pink.

Peach.

Orange iced sugar cookies.

Next color of the rainbow: Yellow.

These green cupcakes were a bit of a fun experiment.

Pretty Blue.

I just learned how to do two colors for these! Very simply, you put the two colors next to each other in the icing bag.

Purple rose flowers for my daughter’s birthday.

Another two color experiment.

The white cake is my first attempt at a rose cake.  I first found this type of cake on I am baker’s blog.  http://iambaker.net/rose-cake-audrey-birthday-cake   She.is.amazing.   Wow!  I have to admit that I was happy with my cake, tons of mistakes and all.

This chocolate cake is Nigella Lawson’s  very simple recipe, and very delicious tasting.

I just love this color blue!

And that is the end of my baking rainbow! 🙂