Something New

Have you ever tried something new?  Of course you have, me too but when it comes to baking well I have always stayed with the tried and true.  Yesterday I made a HUGE exception.  On Mother's Day no less~ it was fancy cake baking time. Silver White Cake with White Mountain Frosting and Rich Lemon Filling from my Grandmothers cookbook.  Go Betty Crocker!

First the cake ~ fairly easy and not unlike muffins.  I must admit that I have not in my adult life, that I can remember, made a cake from scratch.  As a child baking with my Grandmother sure but as an adult not so much.  Raising two hungry growing boys the Betty Crocker in a box was the cake of choice for me, quick and easy.

The filling was a bit more complicated and took plenty of concentration. But the end result was a tasty tart lemon filling ~  wonderful taste of success!

White Mountain Frosting ~ here is where things got complicated ~ but I was thinking to myself ~ what could go wrong it's just melted boiled sugar ~ right?  First off I do not have a candy thermometer so I thought that it would be all right to use any~old kitchen thermometer but it was too large and I could not get an accurate reading. By this time in the day we were about ready to put the salmon (you can see a bit of it to the right) on the grill so the rush factor started to set in and that is never a good thing.

While you are boiling down the sugar you are supposed to beat the egg whites until they form peaks. Then when the sugar reaches 242 degrees or makes a 6-8" string (if you know what this means please comment as I am still stumped) you are to pour it into the egg whites slowly in a thin stream. All the while continuing to beat the egg whites and the whole mess is to become frosting. Well as you can see this is where the photo documentary stops. The sugar got too hot (I think) and started to form hard candy right in the pan so there was a rush to add it to the egg white. This then only caused the hot mess of boiled sugar to form lumps of candy in the egg whites and clogged the beaters.  Not a huge success.  Win some lose some.

All in all it was a great afternoon. The grilled salmon was wonderful with the rolls and sautéed green beans. The beans were still a bit “squeaky” Dad would not have like them so much but we had a warm smile over that thought and ate them till the bowl was empty.

It was a great day spent with family!
Hope you too enjoyed your Mother’s Day!