Celebration of the decade

I've come to realize that, from March through November, there is at least one or two birthdays to celebrate in each month. That makes for a very busy Summer through Fall, but honestly, it's a blessing to have so many people to celebrate. Family members, friends, co-workers, EVERYONE! And, in the month of May, we get to celebrate my good ol' dad!

Doesn't that look scream "SURPRISED"??

This year, it was an even more important birthday for him as he's hitting another decade, 60's. It's once in a life time, right? My sisters, the crafty party planners that they are, planned out a whole surprise party in honor of the man who cared and loved us all. I even surprised him by showing up!

He was amused by his golf cookies I made him.

I left Buffalo at 6:30am in order to arrive in Columbus by 11am. I surprised him, we ate lunch, and then surprised him again with our planned adventure of Zip-lining. (If you have never been and live in the Brown County State Park area, definitely try the Explore Brown County. It was so much fun, even in the bit of rain that we got.) After 2 hours of fun, we all headed home in separate directions. My dad, thinking he's going to relax until dinner with family, was actually going to get his last surprise in a couple of hours. My sisters and I all started working to get her house ready for the party. Decorations, food, cake, cookies, everything needed to be perfect! The guests all started to arrive around 6pm and we had coordinated with my mom to bring dad over around 6:30pm. It was ALL planned out. The ruse we used for him to come over? "It's Luna, the dog's birthday, too, so we have to celebrate it at my (my sister's) house". No one knew the wiser.

A golf ball cake wouldn't travel well in the car, so I made cookies instead!

When he walked through the door, it was pretty clear to see he was surprised. Even the kids were all into surprising their "Ji". In the end, I think we all had a great time and we can put another successful birthday party under our belt. Thank you to all who came and took part in the celebration. And thank you to my Buffalo Diner family, for letting me go and participate in my dad's birthday.

My family is a goober

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Tai"

Galinha Pintadinha Birthday dessert table 

Last week, I had to track on back to Indiana for a post-op appointment for my elbow. Conveniently enough, it was my nephew Ty's birthday!!

Hello Birthday Boy!! 

I was able to be with him, last year, for his Jake the Pirate birthday, and to make it to another birthday (IN A ROW!!) it's like I'm getting back on the "good" aunt book. Not only that, but I definitely took dibs on making his cake. Let's just say I'm getting really good at packing and traveling in my car.

He's super pumped for the Jake the Pirate bike Uncle Hines and Tia Kikko got him

This year's theme was "Galinha Pintadinha" (translated the spotted chicken). Many of you Americans don't know what this is, but it's a Brazilian television show that showcases many short, animated songs. Don't try to understand the songs, trust me. They really don't make any sense, but they sure are catchy. (Think of itsy bitsy spider kind of songs). One of Ty's favorite song is the "Tumbalacatumba" song where the skeletons do numerous activities at each hour. He specifically told me that a Galinha cake would not be a good one without skeletons. Dutifully noted.

Final cake display. Mini Ty on top! Happy 3rd birthday buddy!

So here's the end result of the cake! I incorporated his favorite skeletons and copied a birthday song scene from Galinha. The cake was chocolate with Oreo filling on the bottom layer, and yellow with strawberry jam on top. It seemed as though he enjoyed himself very much, playing with all of his friends, and eating a piece of Galinha cake. Hope you enjoyed his smiling face as much as I did!

When at first you don't succeed,.... bake a cake

The month of August means two things for me. 1) The school season is coming back and 2) Tons and tons of birthdays to celebrate. Both of my sisters share birthdays in this month. And now, I come to learn, that my new boss' birthday is in this month too. Birthdays, like the beginning of a new school season, signifies the start of something new and the celebration of the people that have made a difference in this world. Now, how can you celebrate a birthday, or any special occasion, without a cake?

Unfortunately for my sisters, I am not close enough to bake them a cake. If I were in town, they know that I would make it in a heart beat, decorations and all. I am sorry, but one day, I'll be back and I will make you a cake again. Although my sisters are too far away, I did make a cake for my boss. It was the first I've made a dessert for her, or anyone at the restaurant (as I took it in for everyone to share), and I wanted to make sure it was a great cake. This recipe is one that my mother has had for a very long time. She calls it the "Bolo de Aniversario" or the "Birthday Cake". It is a light, not overly-sweet cake that can be paired with whatever fruit you desire and is best with a simple chantily, or sweetened whipped cream. The recipe is below.

Now, I have/had a slight problem. As a chef and a person who was educated in the culinary arts, we are put in a pedestal called the "you study it, you are a professional" pedestal. Anything that I cook or I bake has to come out perfectly, the first time. Just because I have a piece of paper saying I graduated with honors from Johnson&Wales, all of my meats have come out with perfect temperatures and all of the baked goods are picture book perfect. Sigh....... I'm sorry to inform all of you, but I can't be perfect all of the time. I've tried, but most of the cooking that comes out relatively good are always a result of numerous trials and errors before coming to the conclusion of what it is now. For example, I couldn't tell you how many apple pies I had made at my previous job, and it wasn't until towards the end of my internship that my pies started to come out consistent and tasty, and even then I had some bad days. I want everyone to understand that, I am practicing and I will keep on practicing until I can create the best gosh darn anything anyone asks of me.

So now that you have read my rant, you can see where this is leading. My first try at the birthday cake was an epic FAIL. It might have been my anxiety over making something I haven't made in a long time, it might have been my heart not into the moment (this is another story but, believe me, have a heart), it might have been the pan I used, or it could have been I just opened the oven doors too early. But my cake fell, and it fell hard. There's nothing like watching your cake through oven doors, seeing section by section falling and deflating like an unwanted balloon, right before your very eyes. And not only did it look bad, but it tasted gummy and not the cake I remember from my mother. BIG SIGH.. Hines, who is quite honest with me, told me this isn't good. As my mother always said, don't serve something you are not proud of and you wouldn't eat yourself (but you will eat it because if not, it's wasted food.)

See how gummy it looks? (ignore the "we-had-to-eat-it" section of the cake) 

So here I go again.

and VOILA! Second time's the charm. I used a different kind of pan, actually dividing the cake into two separate parts. I also didn't touch the oven doors until after the allotted time, and I also watched for the sign my mother said, about the sides of the cake coming off of the pan sides. Man, maybe I should have just read the instructions better. Shame on me.

Here is the finished product :)

Well, all in all, the cake turned out great and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I used chantily cream to decorate, and I also made a strawberry simple syrup to moisten the cake and add an extra flavor in there. Strawberry pieces, too, added texture, which was a nice bonus.

Hope you all enjoy the recipe and let me know what fruit you would add to this delightful cake.


BOLO de ANIVERSARIO
Oven: 350F

For the cake:

Eggs, separate 4 each
Sugar 200 mL
Heated whole milk 200 mL
Unsalted Butter 1 Tablespoon
Baking Powder 1 Tablespoon
White Flour 400mL

For the strawberry simple syrup:

Medium strawberries 5 each
Sugar 1/4 cup
Water 1 oz

For the chantily:

Heavy whipping cream 1 pint
2 oz of powdered sugar

MOP

CAKE:
1) Beat the egg whites to soft peaks Slowly add the sugar until the mixture is shiny and glossy. Add the yolks in, one by one, beaten thoroughly at medium speed.
2) Heat your milk and butter until melted and lightly simmering. Take away from the heat source.
3) Mix together the baking powder and flour. Sift the mixture.
4) Remove the egg mixture from the mixer, and with a spatula, alternate adding the flour mixture and milk mixture to it. Start and finish with the flour. Mix in slowly and be sure to sift the flour mixture again, to avoid any possible lumps in the batter.
5) Grease and flour your cake pans. The cake will fit into 2 standard 9in pans, or a 13x9in rectangle pan. Pour the batter into the pan. Gently place inside the oven and bake for 25 minutes. DON'T OPEN THE OVEN!!
6) When the 25 minutes is up, look through the oven doors first. If the pan is still stuck to its sides, bake for another 3-5 minutes. Watch for the color, too, should be a nice golden brown, and when touched, the cake should spring back up (a good way to test any baked good for its doneness). Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Have your cooling rack ready. Even while the cake is hot, remove from the pan. If it stays in the pan, it will stick to the side and you will have a hard time removing it.

STRAWBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP:
1) Remove the stem and dice the strawberries into small pieces.
2) Place in a pot with the sugar and water, and let it come up to a simmer.
3) When all of the sugar is dissolved and the color runs pink, remove from the heat and set it aside for the cake.
4) Prepare this while you are baking the cake.

CHANTILY:
1) Place your mixer bowl and whip attachment in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. This will help with forming nice, firm peaks that don't melt.
2) Pour all of the whipped heavy cream into the bowl, and gradually turn the speed up until you are on the highest speed. And when I say gradually, I mean, GRADUALLY. You do not want to clean up cream off of your ceiling.
3) When your cream forms soft peaks, slow down your speed and add your powdered sugar. Return back to high speed and beat until firm peaks form. Firm peaks are when the whip attachment is turned upside down, the whipped cream stays upright, with no droopy cream.
4) Prepare this while you are baking the cake.

ASSEMBLY:
1) The cake can be assembled however you like. On the rectangle cake, use a fork to poke holes all over the cake. This will help the simple syrup be absorbed better into the cake. Slice some strawberries and make a nice layer on top of the cake. Finish with a generous amount of chantily and enjoy.

2) If using the round cake: Poke holes with a fork into both cake parts. Spread the simple syrup onto both layers. Spread a small amount of chantily cream onto one layer. Slice strawberries and make a nice layer. Put other cake upside down, or simple syrup side onto the whip cream. Use the remainder of the chantily to spread around the cake. Smooth and decorate with chantily and extra strawberries.