I think I’ve developed a minor obsession with basil. In the past month I’ve made blueberry basil lemonade and basil Thai chicken – and now pesto. I know that you can buy pesto from the store, but this isn’t a blog about things you can buy – it’s a blog about cooking. And pesto is so easy to make! Most importantly, as with anything you cook, you can make it appeal to your personal tastes.

One of the reason I like pesto is because pasta is my favorite food to eat and pesto is a nice alternative from regular tomato sauce.  It’s also green so you know you’re sneaking in a bit of vegetables into a bowl full of high-carb spaghetti. I also love pesto because it’s got such a strong sharp flavor.

Yes, I admit pesto leads to bad bread central with all that uncooked garlic but I don’t care. Eat pesto with someone you love who won’t judge you for garlic breath. And on that note, eat pesto with someone who will tell you if you have green bits in your teeth. Nothing worse than walking around with food in your teeth. I think a person who eats pesto with you is probably a true friend since they’ll deal with the stink and make sure your teeth are clear.

But, recently I’m liking pesto on sandwiches. When I worked in DC I would sometimes go to Springmill Bread Company in Eastern Market and I would get a tomato, mozzarella and pesto sandwich toasted on whole wheat bread. It was simultaneously simple and decadent.  Lots of melty cheese, bright tomatoes, and bold pesto – it’s like a caprese salad in a sandwich. What’s better than that? So it’s summer time practically, basil is in season – go crazy and make some pesto. Slather it on pasta, spread it on sandwiches, and find new ways to use it then email me so I can try them. We know I’m obsessed with basil and I’m always looking for new ways to try it out.

Now, even though pesto is so easy to make, I don’t always like to make it because pine nuts can be quite expensive! However, if you don’t want to use pine nuts in your pesto I’ve had success using almonds instead. Sure, it tastes a little bit different and might be less “authentic”- but if you like almonds it’s a pleasant change and you’re still getting the same garlic, cheese, and basil flavors. Main lesson here, you can make pesto without breaking the bank!

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Messy level: One spoon. All you need is a blender. You don’t even really need to cut anything (although you do need to peel the garlic). And if you don’t want to you don’t even have to measure. You can just pour the ingredients into the blender, blend, taste and adjust. Job done and so easy and dish free.

Pesto

 

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Ingredients

• ⅓ cup pine nuts
• 2 - 2½ cups basil leaves
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• 1-2 cloves garlic, peeled
• ¾ cup of olive oil
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. This step is optional, but adds a nice flavor: In a dry skillet over medium heat add the pine nuts to toast. Stir regularly to keep from burning. Toast the pine nuts until brown in a few places, this takes about 3 minutes.
2. Remove from the heat and add the pine nuts to a blender.
3. Add the basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and olive oil to the blender.
4. Blend on high until smooth.
5. Eat it with whatever you prefer. Store it in a tightly sealed container in the fridge. If it gets too thick just stir in a little more olive oil.

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You know how there are food trends? Like kale, which no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get into. Or coconut oil, which is one I’m thinking about trying out. Well, there are big food trends, and there are small family food trends. In the Cooking is Messy household, we currently have two. Ryan is in to bulgur and is requesting it over the usual rice or quinoa. If you haven’t had bulgur before, you should try it because it’s lovely. It’s got nice texture, a sort of funny rough shape, and a nice grainy flavor. And for me, I’m into pomegranates. I want them on everything – sweet or savory. So, I made up this salad that combined the two foods Ryan and I are craving.

If I’m honest, this salad was inspired by one that I buy at work from Benugo’s (the company that caters all the cafes in the Science Museum). That salad has a ton going on and includes falafel, peas, arugula (rocket), hummus, cheese, and way more. I decided to pare down to the essential while allowing this dish to be a multi-food group power house.

This dish is truly inspired by my work, because in addition to working at the Science Museum I still help work on some curriculum for Live It Learn It. I’m currently brainstorming a lesson on nutrition and I’ve been thinking a lot about healthy meals and balanced diets – which has inspired me to turn my research and writing into a reality. I’m really proud of this dish because it includes four out of five food group. To break it down, the bulgur is your grains, the pomegranate is fruit, the arugula is your veg, and the chickpeas and almonds are protein. Sprinkle on a little cheese and you’d have all five food groups.

I think this salad is pretty good plain with just a little pepper or salt sprinkled on it – but it’s even better with a little dressing. It gives the salad a little moisture, a little more pep, and a little Mediterranean feel. This dressing recipe comes from Chubby Soul, a blog that is written by another American expat in London.

Any food trends you think are worth checking out? Any that you think are totally dumb? I’m always looking for recipe inspiration so please let me know what you think in the comments.

Messy level: The bulgur is the only thing you have to cook, which means only one pot. After that, all you are doing is measuring and mixing. So easy, so quick, and clean too.

Bulgur Pomegranate Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Nice healthy salad. Feel free to mix up the ingredient to the proportions you like.

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 cup bulgur
• 2 cups water
• 1 14oz can chickpeas
• ½ cup arugula
• ⅓ cup pomegranate
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• salt and pepper, to taste

Dressing

• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Following the package instructions for how to cook the bulgur or...In a medium saucepan, bring the 2 cups of water to boil. Once boiling add the bulgur. Lower the heat, cover, and let simmer for 10-12 minutes. It's ready when the bulgur is tender and the water is absorbed. If it's not all absorbed, then drain the excess water.
2. Once cooked, fluff the bulger and let it cool slightly. Meanwhile, rinse and drain the canned chickpeas.
3. Transfer the bulgur to a large bowl. Stir in the chickpeas.
4. Next, stir in the arugula. pomegranate, and almonds.
5. Season with salt and pepper if you like.
6. Now for the dressing. In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix until smooth. Taste and adjust as you see fit.
7. Serve the salad in individual bowls and pour dressing over the top.

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People, get ready for a little bit of bragging. Last weekend, Ryan and I went to Munich. Ya know, we just popped over to Germany for the weekend as people do. Sound fancy right? But seriously, my Titi Pascale and Uncle Willie were doing a holiday in Europe and asked Ryan and me if we wanted to meet them for part of it. My aunt told me about the Christmas markets and I was all,”we’ll be there.”

In booking the trip, I did have some travel craziness where I felt guilty about spending money on a two day trip. But, Ryan and I moved to London so we could easily travel around Europe, and we were going to see family so it was totally worth it. And let me tell you, Germany was just lovely. Below is a picture of the view as the plane was landing. In the background are mountains (although a bit hazy and hard to see), and then in the foreground perfectly manicured fields and villages. It was so beautiful!

Once we met up with my uncle and aunt, we hit the markets to do some eating. We ate with abandon. We had potato fritters with apple sauce and Titi Pascale had them with some delicious garlic sour cream. We had cookies. We had bratwurst sandwiches. We had beers. We had roasted almonds with Nutella – which were so good we bought a second pack to take with us on the train to the airport. They were so good I’m going to have to look up a recipe. We also had giant pretzels which were soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Those were so good we took one on the plane and ate it on our layover in Copenhagen. And every single thing we ate was delicious. Even when we ate at the stand by the tourist-y ice rink, the food was perfection.

One of my favorite markets was Medieval themed. At this market I had a gargantuan glass of wine punch. I don’t totally know everything that was in it, but they poured wine out of the big jug, then splashed rum around on top, added a sugar cube, and then set the whole thing on fire. It was a huge cup and no one wanted to drink it with me (probably because it was so boozy), so I got a little tipsy given that I’d had the giant beer shortly before. I was a little shocked because the wine cost 15€ and I was all, “whoa… but I really want to try it.” But, when I returned the cup I got 10€ back, so then I was really please because I’d pay £5 for a regular glass of wine at a pub. All in all, felt like a good deal.

The city itself was really nice. We saw a man yodeling and we walked through a park and saw a beautiful waterfall and sunset. The whole weekend we had really nice weather. It was a perfect winter day with a nice crisp chill, but we could still have jackets open and hats off.

But what of the things I love most about Christmas time are the decorations. I love Christmas lights – and there were everywhere. They were on lamp posts, on windows, on buildings. The whole city felt really nice and festive. There was a store display window that was decorated in a woodland scene with lots of moving stuffed toys. It was pretty elaborate and cheery.

On Sunday we took the tram to Nymphenburg Palace. Side note, we found German people to be so nice. Someone helped us figure out the tram tickets, and earlier someone else gave us directions – both times unbidden. Anyway, Nymphenburg Palace was really beautiful. In front there is a lake with loads of ducks and swans. They swans were astounding! Really large, plush looking, with perfectly white feathers. We saw a women petting and feeding them. We were just waiting for her to get bitten – but it didn’t happen. The palace itself is an enormous complex.

Inside, was even more astounding. The main room where we entered was two stories tall, with gorgeous chandeliers, and an amazing painted ceiling. Throughout the whole place the ceilings had really detailed and elaborate paintings of mythological figures. Words can’t express how beautiful those paintings are. One, which I didn’t take a picture of, had such incredible perspective that it looked like the figure was standing on a cloud right above you, and that you were underneath her feet. We all stopped to look at one painting  that had a deer hunt (middle in photo below). This painting was huge, maybe 15 feet tall, but at the very bottom center is a large pack of dogs swimming after a fleeing deer. It was a cool painting showing a village and a hunt, but I thought it was curious that the main action was in such a tiny portion of the whole.

After we toured the palace, we checked out the carriages and sleighs exhibit. I didn’t have huge expectations, but I left blown away. The carriages were more ornate and beautiful than I have the ability to convey with words. There were nymphs holding torchs, there were geese squawking, there were gods blowing horns, and there we suns on hubcaps. Every since surface glittered and shone.

Some of the sleighs had built in ermine blankets and thick slippers for foot holds. These were truly amazing ways to show off the wealth and power of the monarchs. I felt bad for the poor horses who would have had to carry all this weight. One of the coolest sleighs (above) was of Hercules killing the Hydra. The hydra itself was made from one single hollowed out tree!

I left Munich glowing. I was well fed, I had seen some beautiful things, and I had spent some wonderful time with my family, and I was filled with the Christmas spirit. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it was true. I was sad to leave. I had so much fun with my family, and it was nice to be with people that I felt so comfortable with it. It was such a pleasure to just have some food and hang out. It made me more excited for when Ryan and I go back to the US next week! Anyway, Munich was delightful and now I want to drink a beer and make some soft pretzels, even though it won’t be the same, so I can hold on to this weekend feeling a little bit longer.

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When I first met Ryan, even before we were dating, I learned two fun facts about him. One, he’s a twin. And two, he’s from Hershey, PA. Then he immediately dispelled all myths about those two things. No, he can’t feel his twin’s pain. No, he can’t read his mind. No, it doesn’t always smell like chocolate in Hershey. No, he wasn’t given loads of chocolate when he graduated. (Side note: I didn’t ask those questions aloud, but Ryan’s always been able to read my mind so he must have known my thoughts even then.)

But, Ryan did have some special chocolate knowledge and he introduced me to Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate with Cranberries, Blueberries, and Almonds. I really like that chocolate bar, but I can’t always find it easily (and definitely can’t find it here in the UK). That bar is delicious, and this recipe for dark chocolate bark reminds me of that bar (but this is cheap and you can feel superior for DIY-ing it). For me, this is a wonderful treat because of the combination of flavors and textures. It’s sweet and bitter from the dark chocolate. It’s juicy and tart from the pomegranates. And it’s crunchy from the almonds.

It’s also a great recipe because during the Christmas season there are a lot of opportunities to make sweets – ya know for parties, gifts, and general snacking. This recipe is super easy. It has three ingredients and requires minimal cooking tools or ability. And the best part of it is, this recipe makes nice chocolate, even more amazing. But, please store it in the fridge! Too much handling and it will get a little melty and you’ll have chocolate on your hands. I know, what a burden, you might have to lick chocolate off of your hand. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

If you’re not into dark chocolate or the toppings I used, you can adapt the bark to your tasted. You could add dried fruits, pretzels, other nuts, cornflakes. Seriously, I think whatever you want to pair with chocolate you can throw into bark. The only “special” equipment you need is a heat-proof bowl that you can put over a saucepan. I used a glass bowl.

This recipe was inspired by Give Recipe.

Messy level: Just two spoons! You only have three ingredients. And the method is just heating, mixing, and cooling. So easy, neat, and easy to impressive. The messiest part is breaking the chocolate because some of the toppings fall out

Pomegranate and Almond Dark Chocolate Bark

 

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Ingredients

• 240g/8oz dark chocolate (about 1.5 bars from the baking section)
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• ¼ cup almonds

Instructions

1. Line a packing sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roughly chop the almonds, set aside.
3. Roughly chop the chocolate. Don't get too worried about this. You just want the chocolate in small-ish pieces so they will melt quickly and evenly. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
4. Put about 1" of water in a small saucepan. Place the heatproof bowl over the saucepan. Is the bottom of the bowl touching the water? If so, remove some water. Set the bowl aside.
5. Heat the water until simmering, then put the bowl back on top of the saucepan. The water as it simmers and boils will melt the chocolate!
6. Stir the chocolate to help along the melting.
7. Once it's completely melted, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the saucepan.
8. Let the chocolate come to room temperature. Then, once it's cooled to room temperature, mix in half of the pomegranate seeds.
9. Pour the chocolate and pomegranates over the prepared baking sheet. Use a knife or spatula to spread the chocolate out to your desired thickness.
10. Sprinkle the remaining pomegranates and chopped almonds over the top of the chocolate. Poke the toppings in at different angles to give a nice look.
11. Put the baking sheet in the fridge and cool for 2 hours, or until hard enough to break into random sharp pieces.

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I love granola and I eat it for breakfast almost every single day. But, even though I love granola, I take issue with most store bought granola. It’s dry, and expensive, and not always very flavorful. Almost every time I go to the supermarket I end up buying something different. My current favorite, which I’ve bought twice in a row, is called The Food Doctor Cacao & Tangerine Granola (which sounds weird but is good). However, I’m still on the hunt for a great granola.

I have had my perfect granola before. It is from Bayou Bakery in Arlington, VA. I loved that granola! It was nicely flavored and simultaneously crunchy and chewy. There were nice clusters, yummy raisins, and a bit of a sweet flavor. The problem, beyond that I no longer live in Arlington, is that it was so expensive. I don’t totally remember what it costs, but I feel like it was somewhere between $8-12. That’s too much for granola. So I wanted to see if I could make it for myself.

Today’s recipe is my second attempt at making granola. The first time I ever made it, I over cooked it and it had a burnt flavor. Thankfully, this attempt came out great! I used a combination of almond and macadamia nuts and for fruit both raisins and dried cranberries. It was what I had in the house. And that’s what is great about making granola – you can use whatever dried fruits, nuts, and seeds that you like or already having in the cupboard.

Now, full disclosure, this granola isn’t like Bayou’s. It’s crunchy and has clusters, but doesn’t have the chewiness. What makes this recipe better is that this granola smells amazing. When baking it smells like those honey roasted peanuts you can buy from street vendors in New York City. And that is the best smell ever! New York smells gross and that roasted peanut smell wafts over it all and smells like joy, and Christmas, and sweetness in your nostrils. If you don’t know that smell, go to New York, or a Christmas market, or also one time I bought a cup here in London on Tower Bridge. Or make this granola. You need to know that smell.

Anyway, all of that is to say, this granola smells like those New York honey roasted peanuts and it tastes similar once it is finished baking. So I haven’t recreated my perfect granola, but I’ve made something so good that I’m cool with living an ocean away from Bayou. I’ve been eating this granola mixed with yogurt and also by the handful straight from the tub. It easy to double this to make more in case you scarf it down too fast. 

Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen. I made a small batch using just 2.5 cups of oats. I did that because I didn’t want a huge batch that I’d feel obligated to eat if it came out badly. Next time I’ll make a larger batch because this is a tasty snack.

Messy level: This is so quick and clean to make. Spray your measuring cup with some cooking spray before measuring the maple syrup and it will slide right out. Nothing will be sticky, then you just mix everything together, and that’s it!

Granola with Nuts and Dried Fruit

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Ingredients

• ¼ cup maple syrup
• slightly less than ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• ½ cup raw almonds, chopped coarse
• ½ cup macadamia nuts, chopped coarse
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup dried cranberries

Instructions

1. Put an oven rack to an upper-middle level. Heat oven to 325/160°.
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, whisk maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Once those are mixed, then whisk in oil.
4. Fold in oats and nuts until thoroughly coated. If the oats and nuts don't seem coated enough, splash in a little more maple syrup.
5. Spoon oat mixture onto prepared baking sheet. Use a spatula or spoon to spread the mix across sheet into thin, even layer. Use your spoon or spatula to press the oats down until they are compact.
6. Bake until lightly browned, about 35-40 minutes. Rotate pan halfway through. I don't stir it during the baking process because then it allows for more clusters. You can stir it if you want, but then your granola may be darker and less clumpy.
7. Remove granola from oven and cool for about 1 hour.
8. Break the granola into pieces of various sizes. Stir in the dried fruits. You stir in the fruits now because if you bake them the fruit will get really dry and unpleasant.

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This is one of those recipes. Coronation chicken was created in 1953 for banquet of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Ryan and I have had it a few times for lunch and it’s really tasty. It’s a cold, sweet, and savory chicken salad. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve only had this recipe at one place. That means I don’t have enough experience to say what is most authentic, best, or worst. All I can say, is that what I’ve had in the shop is good and what I made was good. What I made tasted similar to the restaurant version, but not the same. And that seems to make sense because there are tons of recipe variations out there. I found simple three ingredient recipes, complex and difficult recipes, and ones somewhere in between. I chose this one from the Guardian, and I liked it because it was a mix of ingredients I already had in the pantry and a few special ones I had to buy. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 chicken, about 1.5kg/3.3 lb

1 cinnamon stick

5 black peppercorns (or a few twists from a pepper mill)

1 tsp salt

pinch of saffron

thumb size piece of ginger, peeled

bay leaf

5 tbsp mango chutney

50g/ 1/3 cup dried apricots, finely chopped

2 tbsp curry powder

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

200 ml or a little more than 3/4 cup mayonnaise

200 ml  or a little more than 3/4 cup Greek yogurt

50g/ 1/3 cup sliced almonds

Small bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Put the chicken, breast side up in a large pot. Add the cinnamon, pepper, saffron, salt, bay leaf, and half the ginger. Fill with cold water until only the top of the breast is exposed.

2. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook for 1.5 hours. Take out of the pan and set aside to cool.

3. Remove the meat and cut or rip into bite sized pieces. Set aside until lukewarm.

4. Finely chop up the rest of the ginger.

5. Put the chutney and apricots in a large bowl.

6. In a pan, toast the curry powder until fragrant. This takes only 45 seconds or so. This is done to help bring out the flavors more strongly.

7. Add the curry and ginger into the bowl with the chutney and apricots.

8. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, then mayonnaise, then yogurt. Taste. Season to your liking. I added more curry.

9. Once the chicken is cold, mix in the dressing. Refrigerate for a couple hours. Try your best to do this, it really improves the flavors!

10. Add the cilantro and almonds.

11. Eat on a salad or on a roll.

Messy level: This recipe is pretty messy simply because there are so many steps. I found it messiest working with the chicken. I had a hard time getting it neatly out of the pot and onto a plate and then I used my hands to remove the chicken. This was a bit drippy and sticky. I also felt I needed a lot of bowls and utensils for cutting, for the sauce, and for the chicken. Still, a long lazy day at home gives me time for a big clean up.

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I love today’s job. I’ve been there for over a year and a half, and I started as an intern. I’ve had such fun, I’ve gotten great learning opportunities, and I’ve made wonderful friends. So I decided to do something nice for my coworkers on my last day and make Abraham Lincoln’s favorite cake. I don’t know how the historical record proves this was his favorite cake, but the gift shop says it was his favorite so I’m rolling with it. They sell this recipe on a really cute kitchen towel. I was eager to try it, but also a bit daunted. There are a lot of steps, a lot of egg whites, and I needed an angel food pan. I did some searching and I found some angel food pans for $25-30. I love kitchen gadgets, but I didn’t want to spend $20+ on something I wouldn’t use that much. I reached out to friends and no one had an angel food pan. I looked on Craig’s List and Freecycle, And then I thought about eBay, and there are some great prices but  nothing would arrive before my last day. Yesterday I went to Giant to look for a disposable pan, and I found a real one for $9.20. Awesome deal, so I bought it.

I know I’m talking a lot about angel food pans, but I was a little intimidated. It’s two pieces because angel food is apparently really light and sticky and so having the bottom pop out makes it easier to remove the cake. I found this great Martha Stewart video about how to use an angel food pan. I thought it was helpful because before watching I didn’t know you’re supposed to let the pan cool while it’s inverted. Crazy, right? Anyway, I don’t even know if this cake is even technically angel food cake. It didn’t rise as much as Martha’s cake and it came out really easily without inverting it. Seriously, it was the cleanest cake removal I’ve ever done. I was so impressed by how clean the lines of the cake are, and you can see a picture in a little bit.

Ryan and I really liked the cake, and I hope my coworkers will too when I bring it to them in a few hours. The cake was moist, with a little crunch from the almonds. And also, the frosting is delicious! It hardens a bit as it sits, but when it’s freshly made and still warm, it is just like marshmallow fluff. It was so good. I kept “accidentally” getting it on spoons and my hands and then I just had to eat it to clean everything up. What a hardship.

Again, I thought this cake was really good but what would take it up a notch would be to drizzle on some strawberry or raspberry sauce.  I think it would really brighten the flavor. The original gift-shop-towel recipe does call for optional fruits but I didn’t use them because I really didn’t know where I’d find candied pineapple and crystallized cherries. Anyway, here’s to you Abraham Lincoln and to my coworkers. This is my adaptation of Lincoln’s cake. Thank you for a wonderful year and a half.

Ingredients:

Cake-

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

3 cups flour

1 tsbp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 cup almonds finely chopped (you can buy this or just throw a bunch of whole almonds into a food processor)

6 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting – 

2 egg whites

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Cake – 

1. Preheat oven to 350°

2. Grease and flour the angel food pan. First I greased it all up with butter. Then I poured  few tsps of flour into the pan. I shook it all around to coat the pan. I also used a silicon basting brush to get the flour into ever nook and cranny. Once it’s well floured, knock out excess flour into the sink or trash can.

3. Cream together the butter and sugar.

4. Sift flour and baking powder 3 times.

I took this picture because I almost never use my sifter and I was excited

5. Add 1/3 of the flour to the butter mixture. Mix. Add 1/3 of the milk to the mixture. Mix. Repeat until all the flour and milk have been added.

6. Add the almonds.

7. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold them gently into the batter.

8. Add extract and mix.

9. Pour into the pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. The top should be golden brown and if you insert a toothpick it should come out clean.

You can see my oven thermometer in the back left

10. Let it cool in the pan for 30 minutes.

11. Remove from pan and let it cool until you are ready to put on the frosting.

Doesn’t this cake have the smoothest edges?! It’s amazing.

Frosting – 

1. Beat egg whites until very stiff.

2. Combine sugar and water in a pot and bring it to a boil.

3. Boil until it spins a thread 5″ long. That means when you put a spoon in it, and then take it out, there’s a fine thin thread between the spoon and pan. This happens at about 240-245°.

4. Remove from heat, and add 1 tbsp of egg whites. Mix.

5. Slowly pour the sugar-water mixture into the rest of the egg whites.

6. Beat until icing forms peaks.

7. Fold in extract.

8. Ice your cake!

Messy Level: Medium-high.

Expert bakers probably have a more efficient use of materials. But for me, the home cook, I felt like I used a ton of dishes! I was going for ease of cooking, rather than ease of clean up. I used two bowls for the flour so I could sift back and forth three times. I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer for the majority of the cake batter, but I also used a handheld electric mixer and bowl to beat all the egg whites. And, I needed a pot for the frosting. And of course, there’s all the measuring cups and spoons too. This cake takes a lot of work! But, just imagine how difficult it would have been for Mary Todd 150 years ago!

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