Somewhere Over the Rainbow

This year my littlest turned 5 and had her first proper birthday party. She's been planning it since late last year. Settling on a theme took a bit of time. She started with princess dress-up, but in the end went with rainbow (good for boys and girls).

I may have helped her along in her decision by offering to make her the rainbow cake for her birthday. You know the one, 7 layers of cake, each one a colour of the rainbow? Yeah, that one:)

So the day before her party we (OK I) spent all day making and baking 7 cakes. Below is the butter cake recipe I used, but really you could use any butter/vanilla/white cake recipe or even packet cake mix as really, this cake is about the colour.

While the cake had drama, it wasn't that hard to make. What it mostly took was time. My middle has already requested one for her birthday next year:)

Now my oldest was more taken with the cupcakes. The cupcakes, you ask? Yes, I also made cupcakes:) These didn't have a rainbow inside, but on the outside. I used my favourite chocolate cake recipe (see below) and then decorated them with butter cream icing and "sour strips." Again, very easy to make.

I have to admit most of the children at the party picked the cupcake....until they saw the inside of the cake:) Cyndy

Rainbow Cake Recipe
250g butter, softened
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease, flour and line with baking paper your pans. I used 30 cm (base) round pans, which made each layer about 2 cm.

Beat butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy with a mixer. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in flour and milk alternately until combined.

This recipe made enough for four layers (but, I could only bake two cakes at a time). Divide batter between 4 bowls. Tint each portion a different colour in the rainbow (we did red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple). Spread 1 portion into 1 prepared cake pan. Repeat with remaining portion. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating halfway during cooking, or until cooked through.
Remove from oven when done, let cakes cool and turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. Wash and dry cake pans. Grease and line with baking paper. Repeat with remaining batter.

Once cakes are cool, place purple layer on bottom. Frost top with icing of choice (I was so tired at that point I will admit I used Betty Crocker icing:) Repeat placing layers in rainbow order. Once you have built your rainbow tower, ice the entire cake and sprinkle hundreds and thousands on the top.

Rainbow Cupcake Recipe
2 1/2 cups plain four
1 1/4 cups Dutch process cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large whole eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups warm water

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place rainbow coloured cup cake liners in muffin pan (this will make 24 cupcakes).

Sift flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs and yolk, milk, oil, vanilla and warm water. Beat on low speed until smooth and combined. The batter will seem runny, but don't worry, these are the best chocolate cupcakes ever:)

Pour batter into cupcake liners. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes.

Make butter cream icing. Tint one portion light blue and leave another portion white. Once cool, frost each cupcake with the blue icing. Then use sour strips (or similar flexible coloured candy) as rainbows, bending and pushing first one end and then the other into the frosting. Pipe "clouds" around each end to help anchor it on the cupcake.
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Day 8 Blogtoberfest - Keeping it in the Family (Chicken Paprikash Recipe)

For dinner on Sunday I made chicken paprikash. It's a Hungarian dish: chicken and dumplings in a paprika and sour cream sauce.

I've been eating this dish since I can remember.  My great grandma made it, my grandma made it, my mother makes it and now I make it. Its the one dish that all three of my children unequivocally love.

As I was standing at the stove I had a bit of a moment. My great grandmother and grandmother are no longer here so only my mother and I are left to make this dish (I've never known my sister to make it). If I wasn't here would my children know how to make it?

So I called my oldest (age 11) into the kitchen and said to him "Do you know how to make chicken paprikash?"And he replied "sorta." So I made him tell me the ingredients and the steps for making it.

As he shared what he knew, I found myself adding details here and there, sharing the small differences between how my great grandma, grandma, mother and I made/make it and some tips I have picked up over the years in making it.

When we had finished talking through the recipe, my oldest asked why I had wanted to know. And I told him that it was a dish that was important to our family (part of our heritage and traditions) and I wanted to make sure that we were keeping it in the family; that he and his sisters would be able to make it for their families. He told me not to worry:)  Cyndy


Chicken Paprikash

• 1 kg chicken legs and thighs with the skin on
• 1 onion chopped finely
• 1-2 fresh tomatoes diced
• 2-3 heaping tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
• water
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup sour cream
• green pepper (capsicum) slice thinly

Pull some of the skin off the chicken and brown with chopped onions. After about 5 minutes remove chicken skin and add chicken pieces (most with skin still on) and brown chicken.

Once chicken has been browned, add water to just cover chicken pieces, paprika, salt, diced tomatoes and simmer gently with the lid on for 50-60 minutes or until chicken begins to fall off the bones.

Remove chicken pieces from broth. In a glass or small bowl mix flour and some of the broth. Keeping adding broth until a smooth and silky texture is achieved. Add this back into the broth and stir until well incorporated. Make sure there are no lumps.

Next place the sour cream in the glass or small bowl and add some of the broth. Keep adding broth until a smooth silky texture is achieved. Add this back into the broth and stir until well incorporated. Make sure there are no lumps.

Add the chicken pieces back into the broth. Add the dumplings and simmer until warm all the way through. Just before serving add some green pepper slices.
 
Dumplings

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1-2 tablespoons water

Place flour in a bowl. Add salt and mix together. Make a well and crack the egg into well. Mix egg into flour using a fork. When you have achieved a crumbly mixture add 1 Tablespoon of water. Continue to mix using fork. Switch to using your hands to mix/knead the dough and add water in small amounts until mixture begins to form a ball.

Dough should be well mixed and begin to appear slightly shiny. Drop small pieces of the dough into boiling water (I use a small spoon or you can use a knife to cut off small pieces) and remove when they float to the surface (this should take about 30-45 seconds). Use a slotted spoon to remove them and place directly into the Chicken Paprikash or place into a covered bowl to add them later.

Note: I generally make 2-3 batches of dumplings for the Chicken Paprikash recipe above. I make the dumplings in small batches as I have found that the dough does not come out well mixed or with the right texture when I make it in larger batches.

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A Little Moment - 3 Day Pickles

Today I made three day pickles. For me, three day pickles are the epitome of summer. They also remind me of my family - my mother and grandmother always made them. For those of you who are not familiar with them I've included the recipe. They are super easy to make and incredibly refreshing to eat, so give them a try:) Cyndy

PS linking up to Make: Grow: Thrift at The Haby Goddess this week for the first time. Check it out for more goodies:)

Recipe for three day pickles

Ingredients

• 1 large jar (to put the pickles in, I try to use a 1.5-2L jar, make sure to sterilize the jar in boiling water)
• 5 small cucumbers about 5-6 inches long)
• 1/4 cup salt
• 8 cups of water
• large bunch of fresh dill
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2-3 slices of rye bread (make sure the rye bread you use has caraway seeds in it, this is essential)

Directions:

1. Put the garlic cloves and about 1/3 of the fresh dill in the bottom of the jar.
2. Cut one end off each cucumber. Stand the cucumber up with the cut end facing up. Cut the standing cucumber in half but don't quite cut all the way through to the bottom. Cut in half again, but don't cute quite all the way through (this creates long slices that you can pull apart once the pickling is done, like traditional dill pickle slices).
3. Place the cut cucumbers in the jar, placing another 1/3 of the dill between the cucumbers as you place them in the jar.
4. Once all the cucumbers are in place the last 1/3 of dill on the top.
5. Put the water and the salt in a pan and bring to boil. Once boiling pour the salt water over the cucumbers in the jar, leaving about 2 cm at the top of the jar clear.
6. Stuff the top of the jar with the rye bread slices.
7. Leave the jars out on the counter for at least 3 days. After three days, carefully move the bread and test your pickles for taste, if they taste good to you they are done:) if not move the bread back into place for another day or so. Once they are done remove all the bread from the jar, place a lid on the top and refrigerate. 

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