Blueberry & Blackberry Rice Pudding

Helloooooo. I made this stuff ages ago, but I'm only just now getting around to writing up a post. Why? 'cause that's just how I am, haha. But also because working 5 days a week plus full time classes makes me want to blow my brains out.Anyway, as you can tell, I'm really really into blueberries right now. I love rice pudding. I love blueberry desserts. It's a logical progression. I added in the blackberries because I had some in the fridge I completely forgot about (and they're prettier to garnish with than frozen blueberries, haha)
Onto pictures and the recipe!

I couldn't get the last two pictures to look right, but I hate only having one picture, so...:(



Berry Rice Pudding
1/4 cup of rice
2 cups of water
3 1/4 cups of whole milk
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
~ 3/4 mixed berries (I suggest blueberries and strawberries. The seeds from blackberries are a little jarring in the finished pudding)

Put the rice and water into a pot and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, lower the temperature and cook the rice for 5 minutes. Drain it, and set it aside in another bowl.


Rinse out the pot, and add the milk and sugar. Put the pan over medium-high heat. Once it boils, add in the partially cooked rice. Reduce the heat (but make sure it's high enough to bubble slightly), and let it cook, stirring occasionally, for about 35 minutes.About halfway through, add in the berries and the vanilla.
I like to mash up the berries with my spoon to really get the flavor in there, but it's up to you. The pudding won't be  very thick when it's done, but that's okay, it'll thicken in the fridge. Pour it into a serving bowl, or individual dishes. Place plastic wrap onto the pudding, making sure to make it touch, so it doesn't develop a skin. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Or eat right away. But I find that the berry pudding tastes best cold.

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Blueberry Ice Cream

MSZKW8P8KNW7
I suppose you all thought me dead. I wouldn't blame you.

The reality is just that work and school have left me completely drained, not to mention my irritation at not getting decent pictures.


I've finally managed a method of editing that gives me decent results, so that helps. And just for fun, I will show you a straight-from-the-camera shot vs one mostly edited. :)


Anyway, I really love blueberry desserts. I don't like blueberries just...raw, by themselves, but i just love love love blueberry syrup to death. So I make a lot of it, and flavor a lot of things with it. So here I am with ice cream. While it is custard based, it's still really simple, and it's really soft even straight out the freezer (so do eat it quickly, it melts like it's got someplace else to be!)

Blueberry Ice Cream:

3 cups heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups of sugar (I used turbinado, because I'm quite obsessed with it lately)
1 cup of blueberry puree or 1/2 cup of blueberry syrup (blueberries cooked down with a bit of water and a bit of sugar. If you use the syrup, cut back a bit on the sugar)
1 T vanilla
1 T lemon juice

Mix the sugar and half of the cream together and warm it up in a small pot. Whisk the egg yolks , then pour the warmed cream over the yolks while still mixing. Put it all back into the pot and set it on the stove, over medium heat, stirring constantly. When the mixture coats the back of a spoon, strain it (to catch any cooked egg bits) into the rest of the cream, and mix. Add in the blueberry, vanilla, and lemon juice. Put it in the fridge until completely cold.
Follow your ice cream maker's instructions. :)
Of course, you can use any fruit you like in this recipe, and add bits of other flavorings...a strawberry balsamic would be nice :)

Here's the before and after and after:

MSZKW8P8KNW7

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Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

Because my work schedule varies so wildly (I either start work at 5:30 pm or 10 am or 1 or 2 pm), so does my sleep schedule.
And because of that, I feel like a zombie.

And zombies don't bake.
I think.

I'm pretty sure they prefer their brains raw.

But I digress.
With this recipe comes another side of excuses. It seems to be my MO lately, but such is life. I finally have enough money to properly bake, but of course I don't have the time to do it as often as I'd like.
Life, eh?

And starting at the end of May, I'll be in culinary school (yahoo!), so there's another obstacle.
But on the other hand, it'll teach me new things to do, though I won't be doing pastry for a while yet.

ANYWHOO, ON TO PICS AND THE RECIPE.
I kept looking for recipes to use, because I'd never made one of these before, but none of them /seemed/ right. So I just used my own sponge recipe, and my own stabilized whipped cream recipe. None of the recipes I saw for the whipped cream had enough gelatin, and I wanted it to set up really well, so it would slice cleanly.
Anyway, I think I got it, but next time, instead of just slicing the strawberries in half, I'll chop them up and mix them into the cream. It looks nicer sliced, but it's harder to get through them with your fork without smashing the cake to bits, haha.

I really really like this cake better than the American version. I much prefer the delicate sponge over a biscuit base. And the stiffer cream is nicer. And it's prettier. So Japan wins this one :)







Japanese Strawberry Shortcake:



Sponge cake:
3 eggs, separated
1 whole egg
50 g flour
50 g sugar
50 g oil
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
also:
Handful of strawberries, for assembly, later.


This is a super duper easy recipe to remember. 50/50/50, haha.
If you guys don't have a scale yet, get one. For things that are really delicate, it's indispensable.

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line an 8x8 pan, or a cake pan. (8 inches should be okay for that, but you'll probably have thinner layers)

Whip the egg whites until really frothy. Add in the sugar, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Beat the egg yolks, whole egg, flour, oil, salt, & vanilla until totally combined.
It should be yellow, and a very very thick and odd texture. If you pick up the spoon/whisk/beater and think "what the hell is this?", then it's right.

Mix a few spoonfuls of the egg whites into that mixture, just to make it lighter and easier to fold the rest of the whites into. Trust me, any time you have to fold egg whites into a really thick batter like this, do that trick.
Fold the rest of the egg whites into it, making sure to fully incorporate them. (I made this cake once and was very lazy and I had random spots of cooked meringue in my cake because I didn't mix it well.) So just make sure it's uniform in color, with no streaking.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. (It's better to slightly overbake this cake than underbake it)

Let the cake cool and get started on the whipped cream.

Stabilized whipped cream:
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
1/2 cup of sugar (you can adjust this depending on your tastes. I tend to add a bit more because I am a sugar junkie >__> )
2 1/2 Tbsp gelatin (that's generally one packet)
1 Tbsp cold water

Put the cold water in a small dish and bloom the gelatin. (sprinkle it over the water and wait until it's absorbed all of it)
Microwave it for a few seconds, until it's liquid.
Set aside to cool.
Whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks.
If your gelatin still hasn't cooled down enough (ie, it's still steaming, like mine was), pour a bit of the cold cream into it. Works like a charm.
Pour the gelatin into the whipped cream with the mixer going, making sure to get it all incorporated, but don't whip it so much it makes butter!


Assembly:
Level your cake, and split it into two layers.
put a very thin layer of whipped cream down, then place cut, sliced, or chopped strawberries down. (this helps to keep the strawberry juice from making the cake soggy).
Cover the strawberries completely with more cream.
Put the top layer on then ice the top with cream.
You can do the sides, but I think it looks fine with just the top done :)
Let chill in the fridge for at least a half an hour, so the gelatin can set up at least a little.
Slice into cute little rectangles and garnish with strawberries :)

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Kiwi Sherbet!

I have been remiss in my blogging duties, but I do have an excuse.
First, I was sick for a couple of weeks, and hardly felt like being alive, much less baking anything.
Second, when I got back to my apartment, I discovered that my minor mouse problem had turned into a major mouse problem. Let's just say I found surprises in my bed and in my kitchen drawers. T____T


So aaaaaanyway, here's something entirely out of season. (but you know what? Sometimes ice cream is best in the winter. Just ask this guy.)
The best part, though? Three ingredients!








Kiwi Sherbet:
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of sugar
2-3 Kiwifruit (enough to make 1/2 cup of puree)

Mash up the kiwis, enough so that you don't have to blend them too much. If you blend them for too long, the seeds get pulverized and it's not pretty. Of course, you can always not use the part with seeds, but I think it looks better with them :)

Whisk everything together, and pop it in your ice cream maker. Follow the manufacturer's directions.
If you don't have an ice cream machine, do what I did as a kid; shake it in a plastic bag!

If you'd like yours a little greener, add a tiny bit of green and yellow food dye. JUST A LITTLE. You don't want it looking too artificial XD

Put the sherbet in the freezer for a couple of hours to set up further and enjoy!

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Rainbow Cookies

I think, by now, you guys are aware that I like making rainbow baked goods.
I have an unhealthy obsession with food coloring, and what better way to use it than in rainbows?

So, in my neverending quest to make enough rainbow food to drown my home state, I decided to go back to my baking roots: cookies!

I made these pretty much in the same way I made the rainbow bread; 7 unequal lumps of dough, colored and layered...though this was much much easier.

They're pretty simple, and you can flavor them any way you like...and I think your friends would find them cute (I do, at least, haha)






Rainbow Refrigerator Cookies: Makes 4 dozen
2.5 cups of flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
16 tablespoons of room temperature butter (2 sticks)
1 cup of sugar
1 tbsp of any extract or flavoring (vanilla, lemon, mint, whatever!)
1 egg
pinch of salt.

Cream together the butter and sugar. When that's light and fluffy, add in the egg, and the extract/flavoring.

Add in the rest of the ingredients, and mix until the dough comes together.

Divide the dough into 7 parts, but not equally! To make sure the layers of the rainbow are the same thickness, the portions have to get progressively larger (from purple to red)

Color the smallest portion purple, and so on, and the largest red.
Cover and chill the doughs in the fridge for an hour. (or in the freezer for 15 minutes if you're a lazy bum like me)

Roll the purple dough into a snake, about 1 1/2 feet long. (for cookies the size of mine, about 1 1/2 inches across. If you want bigger ones, make the snake shorter and thicker)
Roll out each color, in order to fit perfectly over the color before it, and trim any excess before adding the next color.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Return the log to the fridge and chill until stiff enough to easily slice. (or the freezer again ;] )

Slice the log into 1/4 inch pieces, and places on a lined baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, and let cool completely on a rack.

Enjoy :)

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Pumpkin Pie Spice Meringues!

You know, every time I go to type "meringue", I always want to type "merengue" instead.

Interesting Kiara Tidbit o' the Day! XD


Anyhoooo. Last night, I whipped egg whites by hand for an hour while watching TV, because my mixer bowl was dirty and I figured I could use the exercise.

I have poor decision-making skills, obviously.

Anyway, here are pictures, and the recipe! :)



I couldn't decide which I liked better XD



Pumpkin Pie Spice Meringues:
1 cup granulated sugar
3 egg whites
1 tsp of vinegar (or cream of tartar. You need acid, that's all :) )
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger)
Tiny dab of orange food coloring.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. This won't take long, so I'd do it when you're almost done whipping the egg whites.

Whip the egg whites until frothy, then slowly add in the sugar.
Then add the vinegar and spices, and continue to whip.
When it gets to soft peaks, add in the food coloring.
Whip whip whip whip whip until they're stiff, glossy peaks. (they'll hold their shape when you lift the whisk straight up, the tip should curl over , but it should be a defined peak)

You can either just put the meringue into a sandwich baggie and cut the tip off and pipe little blobs, or put a nice tip in a pastry bag. I used a Wilton 1M for mine.

Now the baking time really depends on your oven and the size of the meringues, so the first time you make them, I'd suggest making a small test batch (if you have time), or to at least make more than you need, so you can break a couple open and check if they're done.
For me, personally, these needed about an hour. Generally, they'll take between that and 2 hours, but like I said, it depends on their size, and your particular oven. :)

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Blueberry Japanese Cheesecake

Ooooooh.

I love cheesecake.

It's pretty odd how much I love cheesecake, considering that I'm not a fan of cold cheese...but I guess cream cheese is in a category of its own.

Japanese cheesecake is the child of a beautiful affair between cheesecake and sponge cake, haha. It's so light and fluffy, but still manages to taste like cheesecake, and even have that same creaminess.

I tried to make it once before, but that was a flop. I don't quite remember what was wrong, but trust me...it was wrong. XD


Anyhoo, I'm not feeling too well today :( so I'm just gonna get right to the pictures and the recipe.






(just to show you my tin floating in its bath, haha)


Japanese Cotton Cheesecake w/ Blueberry layering:

4 ounces of room temperature cream cheese.
1.5 tablespoons of butter
2.5 tablespoons of heavy cream

1/2 cup of granulated sugar
3 eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1/3 cup of flour
1 tsp baking powder

2 tablespoons of blueberry sauce (literally just cook and squish the berries over medium heat, and strain)



Place a tray in the oven, filled with an inch of water, large enough to hold your pan. (I used a 6 inch pan for this recipe). If you're using a springform pan for your cheesecake, be sure to wrap the outside in foil so the water doesn't seep in.

Melt the butter and cream cheese with the cream over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir until it's completely smooth, then set it aside to cool.
Once it's cool, whisk in the yolks.

Mix the flour and baking powder into the cream cheese mixture, being careful to not overmix it.

Depending on how much of the blueberry you want, divide the batter into 2 (i did 1/3 and 2/3), and mix the blueberry sauce into one part.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until frothy. Then add the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, while whisking the egg. Continue until the whites are medium peaks. Fold the egg white into both mixtures, and pour it into the pan. (I did half of the plain, then the blueberry, then the rest of the plain)

Carefully set the pan into the hot water bath, and bake it for 50-60 minutes. Don't open the oven until it's close to ready! When you think it's ready, the top should be a nice brown, and do the toothpick test (stick a toothpick in the middle of the cake, and if it comes out clean, you're good)

Immediately turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and let it cool for 30 minutes. Then wrap it and place it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.

Serve with whipped cream and/or extra blueberry sauce. (I think the unsweetened juice is a really nice contrast to the sweet cake :D )

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Lollipops and Caramels!

Oh my gosh. I'm sorry.


It's been a crazy month, and life will continue to be crazy until August.


I've been working, going to Richmond, and trying to get everything together for my etsy shop.

Speaking of which, I do have a single listing up there...for some lollipops. :) So check it out! In August, I'll start the cookies and other various candies.





And speaking of those various candies...how about some caramels that I had to make for my family reunion? You guys remember those salted caramels I made a while ago, right?

Well, I just took that recipe, and poured it over chopped pecans. Delicious! And then I dipped some in chocolate.



Here's the recipe again: Caramel!

To make them like I did this time, chop up enough nuts (whatever kind you want, they all taste good with it) to cover the bottom of your pan. Then pour the caramel over the nuts. When you cut the caramel, the nuts help them keep their square shape, because they're so soft and squishy. Stick them in either the fridge or the freezer and dip them in melted chocolate. If it's really really hot and humid where you live, you should stick them in the fridge to set up. (it was way too hot in my house, and they stayed melted for a looooooong time)

:)

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Cookies with hazelnut filling.

I really felt like making something cute and adorable.
Logically, that leads to using little heart and star cookie cutters :)

Few things make me happier than tiny, shaped food. Haha.

I don't actually have much to say today, just trying to get through this summer of work and tiredness before I start my fall of school and tiredness. XD
I'm baking some cupcakes for my friends' birthdays, we're having a little get together tonight, and I figured I'd bring something. It's how I roll. :)

I was trying to figure out how to make some sort of cream filling made with hazelnuts, but I ended up whipping the cream and stuff so much, it turned into butter! Which, honestly, was not a bad result. :)







Simple butter cookies:
1 cup of flour
5 tbsp softened butter
3/4 cup of fine granulated sugar (run regular granulated sugar through a blender/food processor)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and yolk, one at a time, mixing completely, then add the vanilla. Afterwards, add in the flour and salt, and mix until a dough forms.
Let the dough chill in the fridge for about an hour, and then roll it out (very thin) and cut out shapes. Bake them for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

Let cool while making the filling.

Hazelnut "butter" filling:
1 cup of hazelnuts
1/4 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of milk
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 tbs nutella (optional. you can also add melted chocolate)

Cook the hazelnuts, sugar, and milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat until the hazelnuts start to become translucent, and the milk takes on a light brown color (from the hazelnut skins)
Blend the hazelnuts and milk until slightly chunky.
Whip the mixture with the heavy cream and nutella until the butter separates from the liquid. (it'll take a while, but you'll see when it happens). Strain out the liquid using cheesecloth, or layers of paper towels.

To assemble, sandwich a bit of the butter between two cookies, and use your finger or the dull side of a knife to make the edges nice and clean.
I let mine sit in the fridge for a bit, so the butter wouldn't be as soft, but you can eat them right away if you want. :)

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Chocolate Covered Strawberries...for Mother's Day

Because I once made chocolate covered strawberries for the mothers in my life, my father has roped me into doing it again.
Pretty simple stuff, but I figured I'd share what I was doing.

I used about a bag of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips and made about 25 strawberries.

Just melt the chocolate, dip the strawberries, and decorate them if you want.
You can dip them in nuts, crushed cookies, sprinkles, or whatever!

I was going to drizzle colored white chocolate over them, but we didn't have any, so I made some royal icing and used that instead. :) Oh and I dusted them with gold pearl dust. Pretty! :)

The key to this is just using good chocolate (and good strawberries), and as far as supermarket stuff goes, Ghirardelli is boss. XD


So before I go to work, here are some pictures and stuff :P





Chocolate covered strawberries:
1 bag of chocolate chips. (what, like...3 cups, maybe?)
25 strawberries (depends on size, I had a few giant ones, so you could probably do 30-35)

melt the chocolate over a double boiler, or in a microwave, making sure to stir it so it doesn't burn.
Dip the strawberries in the chocolate, and let them set on some nonstick foil or parchment paper. Either serve once set, or store covered in the fridge...but not keep them for too long, they get all goopy inside after a couple days XD

Enjoy! :)

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Coconut cupcakes with pineapple filling.

And a condensed milk glaze.
I feel like I've taken a trip to some tropical island XD

I am not a huge fan of coconut, as my parents will readily tell you, but I think that my dislike for coconut stemmed from the texture of the shredded stuff. It's so gross! But the flavor of coconut doesn't bother me, as I've learned with these cupcakes.
It's even kind of good ;D

Haha.

So anyway, this idea came from some suggestions on flour on her nose's page on Facebook. I thought Mom had some coconut milk that I could swipe, and I knew I had frozen pineapple in the fridge.
When I went to get the milk, I saw that it was coconut oil instead! Which actually worked out rather well, since we were low on butter.

So in this recipe, I swapped out the butter for coconut oil (it's in a solid state), and just used regular milk, but if you can only get the milk, just switch out regular milk for coconut milk and use butter instead of oil.

I don't know what happened, but the filling wouldn't thicken! So I got the harebrained idea of trying to turn it into pineapple rice pudding, but then I think the starch from the rice helped thicken it too much before the rice got to cook! I had to push it through a sieve to get all the uncooked rice out XD
I'll say exactly what I did, though, so you can at least get the same results.





Coconut cupcakes with pineapple filling and condensed milk glaze (whew):

Coconut cupcakes: (makes 6)
1 c flour
2 tbsp corn starch
pinch of salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp coconut oil (or soft butter, if you're going to use coconut milk)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
tiny bit of vanilla
1/4 cup of milk (or coconut milk, if you're using butter)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix together the flour, corn starch, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the coconut oil/butter until it makes a kind of thick paste. Beat in the sugar.
Beat in the egg until fully combined. Add the vanilla and milk.
Put the batter in lined cupcake tins, and bake for about 20 minutes. (do the toothpick test!)

Pineapple filling:
1 egg
2 yolks
1/3 c pineapple puree (strained)
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
(maybe a bit of cornstarch)
(and randomly, a cup of rice, haha)


Put a stainless steel bowl over a simmering pot of water, or use a double boiler. Whisk together the egg and the yolks, then add everything else but the rice. Mix it over med-low heat until it's thick. If it doesn't thicken, add a little cornstarch and keep mixing. If that still doesn't work, go ahead and add the rice and let it get nice and thick. Once it's thick, push the filling through a sieve to get rid of all the rice. Let it cool.

To fill the cupcakes, take a sharp knife and cut a cone out of the top of the cupcake. Cut off the pointy bit of the cone, just leaving a small cover. Fill the cupcake with the pineapple filling, and place the "lid" over the filling.

Then mix some condensed milk with powdered sugar (as if it wasn't sweet enough ;)) until it's really thick, but still spreadable.

Frost/glaze the cupcakes and enjoy!

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OH MY GOSH, SHE'S BACK. With Lemon Bars. :O

Yes yes, I've been neglecting this blog horribly.

My job just saps all of my energy, and that leaves me highly unlikely to feel up to baking anything, much less photographing and blogging it. But I've found the strength today!

We had this bag of lemons left over from some project a couple of weeks back, so I figured I'd make something to use them up.

Logically, I decided to make lemon bars. :)


I got impatient and didn't bake the crust long enough, so make sure that you do manage to get it nice and golden brown.


Anyhoooooo, let's just get to the pictures and the recipe. Hopefully this'll lead to me posting much much much more often :)







Lemon Bar:

Crust: 1 3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp butter ,cut up (cold, but let it sit on the counter for a couple of minutes)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Beat together all the ingredients until the dough starts to come together, but isn't like a typical ball of dough. (still a little crumbly)
Press the dough into a 13x9 (or smaller for a thicker crust) pan that's lined with parchment paper.
Refrigerate it for 10-20 minutes, and then bake it for 20 minutes, or until golden brouwn.
While that's baking, get started on the filling.

Lemon filling:
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon zest (you can add more if you like, it adds more flavor, but I'm not the biggest fan of biting into zest)
1/2 cup lemon juice (for a fun twist, replace 1/4 of the lemon juice with another fruit juice or a fruit puree)
1/4 cup flour.

Whisk together all of the ingredients, and then pour over the warm crust.
Place the pan back in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until set.

Let cool completely, cut, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy! :)

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Chocolate & Vanilla Sponge Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

Yet another mouthful, ha.

After a string of unsuccessful submissions to foodgawker and tastespotting, I wanted to make something that was visually stunning. (and not impossible to execute, haha) Stumbling through the food blogosphere (oh how I hate that term, haha), I came upon this cake.
I made some changes, and had to improvise (as English isn't the blogger's native language, and some things weren't entirely clear)

Anyway, it's really pretty, but there's too much frosting between the layers for me, so I'd either put less in between each (which would make the frosting less visible :( ), or make the layers thicker and just have 4 instead of 8 (which is also less pretty). But if you're a big frosting fan (and it IS good), then just go ahead and use as much as you want.

I definitely think one of the keys to the beauty of the cake is the clean lines, so definitely try to bake the layers evenly, and to trim the sides of the cake.









Sponge cake recipe:
Adapted from Cafe Chocolada

6 eggs, separated.
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 395 degrees Fahrenheit (Yup!)
Line a pan or two (I only had one -___-)with parchment paper, and lightly spray with nonstick spray. I used a half sheet pan (so I could just cut the one layer into 4 pieces), but you can use any sort of pan you want, and just split the layers in half.
Beat the eggs whites until stiff. While that's happening, whisk together the yolks and the sugar, until thick and lighter in color. Whisk the yolks into the whites.
Then add in the oil, vanilla, milk, flour, and baking powder and mix until totally combined (the oil is tough, but whisking helps instead of just using a spoon or spatula).
Put half of the batter (don't freak out if it's all bubbly and rising) into the pan, making sure to level it really well. While that's baking (for about 10-15 minutes), put 2 tsps of cocoa powder into the remaining batter. Make sure there's no clumps or it's really hard to incorporate.
Bake that cake.

Once the cakes cool, peel off the parchment paper and cut them in whatever desired shape. I wrapped them up and stuck them in the freezer while I made the frosting.


Strawberry Buttercream Frosting: (not my swiss stuff! haha)
1 cup milk
1/4 c flour
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c strawberry puree (I used the juice from some frozen strawberries)
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened.

Combine 1/2 cup of the milk with the flour, and heat slightly over medium heat, whisking. When it starts to thicken a little, take it off the heat. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil, with the sugar and the strawberry puree. Turn the heat to medium-low, and add in the flour/milk mixture. Whisk it continuously, cooking it until it's thick.
Take it off the heat and let it cook completely.
Then, beat in the butter.


My cake assembly:
I cut each cake into 4 equal pieces and stuck them in the freezer while I made the frosting. After layering the cake + frosting, I set the cake in the fridge overnight, and then trimmed off the edges to make a nice rectangle.
Bring it to room temperature before serving. :)

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