Busy Kitchen Makes For A Happy Birthday

A busy night for my kitchen, indeed. For dinner, I made some miso soup. Making miso is so easy, all you need is: Tofu, Wakame (dried seaweed), Miso paste (I use the one that already includes fish flakes - if you get the kind that doesn't, you will need to add fish flakes separately), chives, and water.

Bring water to a boil and add the tofu. Let it cook for a little while, then turn off heat. Add the wakame and the miso. When adding the miso, use a sieve spoon and let the miso dissolve in the hot water. At the end, add the chives.

All the measurements of the ingredients vary to taste. My tasted good!


My kitchen adventures didn't end with Miso. Today is the birthday of one of one of my most favorite co-workers, Tom, and I wanted to make him a special cake. I know he loves Angel Food Cake and he loves strawberries/blueberries, so I decided to make an Angel Food Cake Trifle.
A lot of egg whites in Angel Food Cake.


Straight out of the oven.


I let the cake cool for about 2 hours, and it cake out of the pan pretty easily.


I had to cut it into slices to make the trifle. The inside was perfect. I snuck in a taste and I was really shocked of how good it was. I've never tasted such a good Angel Food Cake, it was the perfect moistness and flavor. I don't think I've ever made anything that good. After tasting it, I'm a little nervous about turning it into a trifle. I hope it doesn't ruin the cake.


The last step I did last night was making a lemon glaze. Fresh lemons, sugar, and water boiled, then chilled to make a glaze to put on the cake slices. When I took it out of the refrigerator this morning, it was still a little big watery, instead of glazey, but I still used a little bit.


I woke up at 5am this morning to cut the strawberries, make the cream, and do the final layering. Layer one is cake (with a little bit of the lemon mix on top).


Layer two has the strawberries and blueberries.


Layer three is the cream.


I ended up with about 3-4 layers. The tasting will be begin at 4pm, I hope the layers don't get soggy!



Angel Food Cake
Recipe by Alton Brown, Food Network
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour, sifted
12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon orange extract, or extract of your choice
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.
In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to thoroughly combine egg whites, water, orange extract, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.
Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).
Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.
Cook's Note: Since they're easier to separate use the freshest eggs you can get.

Lemon Glaze
Recipe by Martha Stewart
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup water
In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, and 1/2 cup water to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool completely, then brush over both sides of cake slices. Quarter each slice.

Trifle Cream
Recipe by Martha Stewart
2 (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
2 Cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese with sugar on high speed until lightened. With mixer on medium speed, gradually add heavy cream in a steady stream; continue beating until mixture is light and airy (mixture will be like a very soft whipped cream).