Appam and Beef Mappas

 Appam and beef mappas. I didn't think that I would add this recipe so early on...just the thought of the steps involved and typing the whole method of appam/ curry making made me get to slacking a few days. Trust me, though, the preparation and number of steps look daunting, the process in itself is not .

The  meal and the consequent post are a result of having made this as a special request dinner for my older child's birthday, specially requested by her, of course. She is our baby #1, born with a keen love and inclination towards all foods South Indian.

Although, officially tagged a breakfast food in Kerala, appam and beef mappas are deemed fit  to consume any time of day. It is also a celebration dish of sorts. Easter and Christmas mornings are hailed in with feasting on this sumptious breakfast fit for champions, or should I say kings? Kerala breakfasts are usually elaborate affairs, often bordering on extensive menus. Many of us, however, neither have the time, nor the energy to prepare and scarf down a huge, uber- exotic meal at the break of dawn, so this can be a perfect "breakfast for dinner" experience.

Appams, also known as hoppers (I have yet to know why... your guess is as good as mine), are made with a fermented ground rice, coconut batter and griddled like pancakes. They were originally made to rise using the fermented alcohol sap, toddy, of the palm tree. But down the line, people realized that rising can happen without inebriation, though toddy is still a favored leavener for this soft rice pancake. Yeast is used as an alternate to bring out the rising and doubling of the batter.

Beef curry, mutton curry, egg roast, vegetable stew are some of the well known sides that best complements the hopper. The beef preparation here is known as mappas, a curry native to Kerala involving a slow simmering of spiced ingredients in rich coconut milk.
Appams rely on some advanced preparation, but  are so worth it. Here goes: listed in the order it should be done-appam prep, beef curry, finishing the final appam cooking on a griddle. 

Appam:

• 1 tsp yeast
• 1/4 cup  warm water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• *1  cup fresh or frozen shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• 2 cups rice flour
• 1-2 cups water, maybe more to achieve a "pancake- like" batter
• 5 tbsp sugar 
• pinch of salt

 Appam Method: 

Step 1:

• To proof or test yeast, combine it with 1/4 warm water and 1 tsp sugar in a small bowl, stir and let alone for 10 minutes. A creamy foam should form on top- it's ready to use!
•  Put your cooked rice and coconut , along with your yeast mixture in a blender/grinder, to help grind on high for a 2- 3 minutes until well blended, don't allow the coconut to grind to a paste, there should be a light chunkiness to it. .
• With the blender on a medium setting, drop in half cupfuls rice flour alternatively with the half cups of water until a smooth, thick batter forms, use a rubber spatula to help you blend the ingredients.
•  Add sugar, salt and give the blender a final whir for a minute or so until all ingredients are incorporated well.
•  Pour into a bowl, large enough to let it "grow".Cover and keep aside in a closed, warm, dry place, preferably an oven ( turned off) , undisturbed for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight. 

Scroll down below and you will see the second part of this recipe.

Now you can start on your beef mappas.

Beef Mappas:

• 3 tbsp oil
• *1 cinnamon stick
• *2 whole cloves
• *1 cardamom pod
• *1/2 star anise
• 1 medium onion, chopped small
• 3 serrano peppers or jalapeno,slit
• 2 tsp garlic
• 2 tsp ginger
• 11/2 tsp cayenne (chili powder) pepper
• 3 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped small
• *1 lb beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup water
• *1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tsp salt or according to taste
• curry leaves (optional)

Method:

•  Take out a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil.
•  Crush whole spices and add it to oil.
• On medium heat saute in onions till translucent.
• Next in order: serranos, garlic, ginger, saute for 3-4 minutes.
• Stir in cayenne, coriander, cumin, saute another 3 minutes.
• Next, go in the tomatoes.
• Stir until tomatoes cook down, 2-3 minutes.
• Slowly add beef. Now, using a strong wooden spoon, stir and press beef into the spice onion mixture, sort of massage -incorporating the beef with the spice mixture.
• Add in warm water, 1/4 can coconut milk,vinegar and salt.
• Bring to a boil and have it cook on medium-low heat for 40 minutes up to an hour
• Check the beef occasionally and stir 
• Pour in remaining coconut milk, simmer on low for an additional 5 minutes.
• When pieces are fork tender, take off heat
• Sprinkle in some curry leaves.
• The beef can be made in advance and once your batter has leavened, mappas can be reheated up to a slow simmer. 

There will be more of a  gravy, I wanted the beef to show through, so I didn't add too much in my plating.

 Appam Method:

yeast proofing, before and after batter, meeting the griddle

Step 2

• After the wait of 6- 12 hours, the batter should have doubled up in volume .
• Stir batter well and season with salt or more sugar, according to individual taste.
• Preheat your griddle, nonstick, preferably. I use a large one where I can cook up 3 to 4 appams at once.
• Smear a tiny bit of butter onto the griddle's surface (intitially), or a light coat of cooking spray.
• Pour in a ladleful of batter  and spread a bit, pancake-likish.
• Once bubbles surface on top, about 2-3 minutes per appam, it is time to flip.
• Another 2 -3 minutes and it will be cooked through.
• Repeat with remaining batter. Makes 25-30 medium sized appams.
• Excess batter can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Forget the silverware, now you have your own perfect utensil to sop up that wonderful curry

Notes:
Shredded, unsweetened coconut needed here can also be found in the frozen section of Indian grocers. Another option are the organic supermarkets, where I've purchased the dried variety.

Traditionally raw, short grain rice is soaked and then ground for appam batter, but after knowing the ease of rice flour, I have never gone back to tradition.

 If you like Indian cooking, a visit to your local Indian or Asian grocer will do you good. Or even specialty spice shops... looking at these recipes you''ll see a uniform set of spices, ingredients that carries through in most Indian preparations .

Whole spices are optional, but it always lends flavorful punch to the dish.

I buy tender stew meat and cut each piece into 1 inch cubes. However, if the meat is not of a tender cut, you can marinade beef in spices,ginger/garlic, tomatoes with the vinegar  and pressure cook for 20-30 minutes and then finish the dish by sauteeing onions with your cooked meat and adding any remaining ingredient.

Though, I haven't mentioned it in the recipe, I sometimes add a couple of potatoes ( cooked in the microwave and added to the curry at the end, in addition to coconut slices simmered along with the beef. It is optional, though it gives a flavorful texture to the dish.

Hope for leftovers on the beef mappas -it tastes so good the day after and can complement  sweet Hawaiian rolls, white rice or chappatis ( flatbread) .

So, like I said earlier, it's not half as difficult as it looks( is, it?) and the end result a tot-ally delicious Indian meal, that you prepared all on your own. So come on, give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Tips:
Be mindful of the climatic conditions in which you live, it contributes a lot to the proofing condition  of your batter. Cooler climates require more a wait time ( and possibly some help) for the batter to rise. I have lived in one of the coldest places in the U.S. and it would take more than 12 hours for the batter to rise, sometimes using the warming option on my oven to coax it.
Now, at the extreme end of the weather scale, I'm housed in one of the warmest states, and, as you can see in the pictures the batter needed no coercion, in a mere 4 hours it tripled in volume!

Palappam

About 74 meetings (and a trillion words ago), we discussed appam. One of my first updates complete with an introduction into the cuisine of the ultimate Malayali, is where that song and dance began and where you met Kerala's very own pancake. One that took India's staple, rice, to one of the many dimensions it can transform its superhero self into. Ground and battered up to reach a very creamed, tad liquidy consistency, thus it takes you to this griddled hopper form. Transfer that philosophy to the rightnow, where I show you a much different appam, the palappam, amped up with not much more, yet its very preparation and the vessel in which that happens gift The One a uniquely magnificent form. The pal in appam translates to milk in my native (hear that, Rosetta Stone?) and in this case that pal is the milk from coconuts, velveting in a richer appam experience.

Some argue it is the one up on the traditional  hopper and many favor just this one. In my family its place in importance rests solely on condition and occasion, that is when the condition of my gracious self lines up with an occasion where I can hold fort in front of a heated stovetop, to create several sets of these laced up lovelies. Bonus points that make up for this heat instilled penance: it requires only three major components( presuming water, salt and sugar are givens in a kitchen and therefore require no effort of additional purchase). Other than blender, bowl and a specialized pan, there is no monster equipment, not even the- heavier- than- a- ten- pound- baby "ultraslim" counter grinder that takes the joy out of the whole ordeal. No, here I will not ask you to grind rice. Instead, rice flour and canned coconut milk that's readily available is what will star in this debut audition of The Easiest Palappam Production. Ever and after.

Besides being just about the greatest food item a Keralite's mouth has ever known, and especially those of the Central part, it is catered from dozens of home kitchens, made ungrudgingly available to travellers at roadside stalls and often the piece de resistance highlighted on countless five star menus. The crepe-laced Kerala palappam has clearly bloomed beyond its original borders. You see, even 5 years prior, the web didn't render much in terms of a decent recipe. But with the passing of that time and the love of Blogger, everyone and their rss feeds seem to know a thing or two about producing perfect palappam. It is the flavor of the month, reading fashion into tradition, all with home cooks and citizens of the foodosphere fueling the new, improved appam mania. Enough so, that my head reads the new destiny of the Kerala palappam in hashtag rant. Clearly a hapless stance, since I am so not the twitter trender. Fair warning hashtag haters: hold your ears. Because, hands down #keralalaceappams is the #breakfastofchampions, but of course #hoppersrockandrule anytime, everywhere, amirite? Know it, #traditionistrend. Enough twitspeak? Me, too. 

Keep in mind, people, the batter here yields approximately 30- 35 regular size palappams. Make half and save for another day. All for one show? On average it feeds 6-8, far from our normal, where the whole whets the horselike appetites of we four, in one sitting. Once out, its all gone. 

Ingredients:

• ¾ tsp yeast
• 2 ¼ c rice flour
• ½ c water 
• 1 5.6 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk  plus ¾ can water (maybe more)
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp sugar

Directions:

• In medium saucepan, over medium heat, make a "roux" by mixing ¼ c rice flour and ½ c water to almost boil, where it comes together like thick porridge. Turn off heat.
• With the blender on a medium setting, drop yeast, then half cupfuls rice flour alternatively with the coconut milk. Stop at intervals and use a rubber spatula to help you blend the ingredients that stick to the sides. Add enough water from the can of the coconut milk for measure, only until it reaches a pancake batter consistency, not too thick.
• Add rice powder roux, salt, sugar, and blend for a few more minutes until all ingredients are incorporated well.
• Pour into a bowl, large enough to let it bloom and"grow".Cover and keep aside in a closed, warm, dry place, preferably an oven ( turned off), undisturbed for a minimum of 6 hours, even overnight. 
• Mix fermented batter well. Take out as much as you need in a smaller bowl. Leave remainder in refrigerator. If using at once, still do batches. It is easier to hold and ladle. Heat your pan on medium- low heat, ladle a little less than ¼ cup of the batter into the center of the heated pan .
• Lift the pan off heat. Hold both sides firmly (use a heat proof towel or potholders when doing this) and using your wrists, swirl the batter around in a clockwise motion, so that it lightly coats the outer circumference of the middle of the pan, and nearing its edge.(Almost like hula hooping your pan once around). The center batter should be thicker, in a puddle. Return to heat. Lid your appam.
• Allow to cook for a minute and then check on it. The center will puff up, the edges left like frilly lace. Leave it covered and cook further for browner, crisper ends. 
• Lift out with spatula.
• Repeat with remaining batter.

Notes~ Once batter has risen, you can thin it with a wee bit of water so that that it can twirl effortlessly in the pan but not appear too drippy. Think crepes.

No palappam pan? Try using a smallish medium (about 5-6" in diameter) wok, preferably nonstick. Else you can dab oil at intervals to keep it from sticking to the pan.

Pairing two, three maybe 5 with beef, pork, chicken, even the eggs used here is very right and all good.

An option would be to test the yeast with ¼c of water, before it goes into the blender. My exception is that if I know my yeast is new and good to go, I skip that step.

If you notice,  the palappam pan is molded to form a perfect middle dome. You can find these at Indian specialty stores, even the online ones.

Another name for this is lace appam. You don't need a translator to guess why.

Two stations makes palappam production swifter and smoother.

Scalloped edges and a soft, over endowed center, there are no two that are alike.

******

"When your mind is occupied with thanking Me, you have no time for worrying or complaining. If you practice thankfulness consistently, negative thought patterns will grow weaker and weaker. Draw near to Me with a grateful heart, and My Presence will fill you with joy and peace." from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Ela appam

Heirloom recipes. They are established. Time honoured. And, as you'll come to see, stupendous enough to pass onto generations beyond XYZ. Maybe even to lift the credibility curve on how dependable I am in delivering, despite long, echoing intervals.
Thank you. I am grateful you're reading.

The gorgeous treats flooding your screen come from old-school Kerala. I use old school, here in a tradition-is-cool sort of way, where once upon a time these were food items made by real Moms-Pops -grand and not, in their own kitchens, perhaps, quite charmingly, on wood burning stoves. In the wake of quick-fix, packaged treats and more palates taking to modern-ish Western tastes, these have become almost obselete. Almost. But if it weren't for the few hundred bloggers who've decided to usher in the light, and revive numerous classics, such as these, we see a resurgence of retro eats. And that's a tremendously good thing.

A common excuse for everyone and their mother turning their backs on a snack so loved, is lack of help and hands, something I'll soon reveal, should never, ever be a contingent, per se. Though, It's the same nontruth I fed into, and became sufficient reason to deprive myself of what far-away Travancore never wanted left behind in the first place. Obviously, I could not hold off forever. And, since I've attempted things far more complex, I knew, beyond doubt that it would be easier than cake. 

Which is why, before we start, it's imperative to provide you a coordinating Malayalam word bank.

Ready? 

Ela (eh- laa) means leaf. 
If I had a banana tree in my backyard,  I would have the perfect illustration because it's that ela or leaf that these are cooked in. But I don't. Ask Google.

Appam (aa- pumm) is usually a breakfast item, for the most part, but not here. It is typically made of rice flour and at least one or two forms/derivations of coconut. 
Examples can be found here and here.

Palaharam (pah-la-haa-rum) snacks, shorteats, ideally, but not limited to, being consumed at midday(could mean anywhere from 4 to midnight) tea time.
I have a plethora in archives. Feel free to thumb through.

Ela appam. Could be served as an afternoon high tea accompaniment, yet with sufficient motivation, and deft motor skills, an additional dozen could see you through a break of dawn revelation. 

In essence, ela appam is a sort of crepe- pancake- flattened dumpling, hand pressed into the medium it is to be steamed in. Since my Southwest backyard grows nothing more than cactii, the banana tree I hope for may never happen, so also, the leaf, which these would ideally steam in. In lieu of the leaf, we have the beauty of parchment paper, a veritable and very disposable nonstick, which dough adheres to, yet springs easily from. 

As you can see, it is not a direct clone. Nor is it a traditional recipe, in view of the elements used for manufacture and build. However, it does reasonable justice to the serious culinary assignment it has been given. And is as good as made-over old-fashion gets. I promise.

With enough practice,  you can seal one with a hand while spreading the second with the other.

Chia seeds aren't original to the recipe, but they bring in an entirely new dimension to the texture-mouthfeel game. Moreover, frozen, shredded coconut is timesaver gold. Together with readily-grated jaggery, they are just about the best things in Asian markets. 
The task to seek and find is entirely yours now and can be a truly educative, wholesome experience. 

And I am grateful for leading the way🙏

I cut American standard parchment from the roll, approximately 5'' in length, then split those pieces into 3 equal strips, widthwise, enough to wrap around and tuck under each appam.

Spreading the dough takes not much aptitude. That being said, it's susceptible to tear, but quite forgiving. Patch up, or reroll and try again.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice flour( roasted, if available)
• salt
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• ½ cup grated brown jaggery
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• ¼ tsp cardamom powder
• ¼ tsp cumin 

Some good hands in my kitchen

Other items needed:

Parchment paper, cut into 12 long-ish rectangles

steamer
oil (for hands)

Directions:

• Mix together the flour and a pinch of salt. Add in enough water(you don't need to use a full cup) and combine with a large wooden spoon until mixture becomes a smooth dough. Turn out and knead with lightly greased hands fora minute or two, until you have a clean, round ball. Cover and keep aside. 
• In a separate bowl, combine coconut, jaggery, chia seeds, cardamom, and cumin. 
• Make 1 ½ inch balls of the rice flour dough. 
• Spread each dough ball into somewhat of a circle or rectangle, on individual parchment squares. 
• Place 1- 1 ½ tbsp of filling inside the flattened dough, leaving about inch off edges
• Fold in half, pressing edges of dough to seal the filling in, like a pocket.
• Put steamer, with enough water over medium-high heat and place packets on top tier.
• Steam for 5 minutes on high.
• Reduce to medium and steam for another 10-13 minutes.
• Let rest in steamer for 5 minutes. Take appam out.
• Peel back parchment.
• Enjoy:-)

Notes:
Jaggery is a sort of non-distilled, unrefined sugar/sweetener from the sugarcane. It is brown in color and I have used it in prior recipes.
Whole cardamom can be powdered and sufficient amount added.

July:

2017- Rhubarb lemonade

2016- Cheesecake

2015- Sponge cake with nutella, strawberries, cream

2013- Crepes with shrimp

2012- En papillote

******
"I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing." John 15:5

Giant carrot and bunny Easter cake

                           

The well-massed friend up there totally encapsulates my mealtime disposition these days, uncomfortably too comfortable, where lazing around the dinner table is the top appropriate to-do thing for such a season. I think she resembles me too. I like her. Do you?

Because isn't the eat-eat-eat-eat-sleep style regimen a thing now, with memes and messages popping  all over screens from people who see humor in a sedentary apocalypse. Besides, really, how much Picasso do you have in you to paint your way through quarantine? 

Although, I must admit, I enjoy "testing" cake on a daily basis, which probably will last till I am introduced to jeans once again.*Sigh*

This could be my new favorite cake, I mean, the contents inside the cyclopean carrot. 

Like I said earlier, I've been dedicating my time, and there's certainly a plenitude of it, to baking cakes I've never ever tasted. Most of these I'd never ever repeat, either, in my lifetime, my kids', their kids and banking on further. 

Pink velvet cake is big league, people.The "velvet" breed of confections is an opener to the well justified extra minutes spent in egg separation/ sole egg white use and totally worth the effort. Once appropriate liquids are added, the air-in-crumb and velvety-dense texture are inevitable, quite magnificent outcomes.

Were it not for the brilliance on my part in adding that quarter cup of buttermilk, this perfect cake destiny may not have arrived.

Baked, shaped, iced and fondant accented in all but a few hours, it's the one undertaking which set my productivity level to way beyond "meh".

Furthermore, my well established love of bunny butts was firm incentive.

So, as you gaze, in utmost gravitas, the fetching scene of a giant carrot, cramful-bowclad bunny, and the companion bum that may hit a little too close to home, I shall sign off.

Happy Easter, friends.

May God bless you, shine on you. heal you and touch you.

Stay safe, secure and anchored in hope.

Ingredients:

(adapted from Liv for Cake, Pink Velvet cake)

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ cup salted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup milk 
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• pink color gel

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper, grease pans and the parchment paper.
• Whisk flour and baking powder and keep aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until combined, pale and fluffy
• Reduce speed, beat in whites one at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula when needed.
• Add vanilla.
• Mix together milk and buttermilk in a large mixing cup.
• Alternate adding flour mixture and milk mixture to the batter, beginning and ending with flour.
• Blend in 2-3 drops of pink color gel and and mix into batter until blended.
• Divide batter between cake pans. Bake for 20-24 minutes or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cakes should spring back when touched.
• Ice and decorate as needed.

 Notes: I used vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream, covered with marshmallow fondant. Idea and tutorial for the Fat bunny cake here.

*After the cut* updated 4/12/2020

I had to use up some chocolate cake to stack the "carrot",  together with the pink velvet. No one's complaining:-)

Easter ideas:
Ravenous bunny cupcakes
Bird in nest cupcakes
Vanilla hydrangea cupcakes
Battenburg cake
Palappam
Appam beef mappas

******

"Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security." Jeremiah 33:6

Food Network's Tiki Cocktail Cake

There's immense pressure upon telling people that you bake cake. It leads to a sort of mandatory demo- preferably to ease your own mind, than others'- when they know you do, yet have never had a chance to actually see a snippet of the battalion you've baked within your amateur CakeBoss existence.

Often in such predicaments, providence ushers in  a bounty of opportunities for cake gifting.

Like when Kiddo Two's social life takes on scores higher than any report card he brings home and he believes no pool party is a party without him. To his credit, as most living in a residential desert, inferno temps do require regular dips into backyard lagoons. If you don't have one, you amicably comply to jump in someone else's.  

Which could be bane or boon to my time in the kitchen. Just for the record, I believe I am indefinitely pressed to one- up any and all potlucks/mealshares/bringalongs that come to my attention. Add to that, wowing a bunch of teenagers while keeping them well fed is no mean feat.

Tiki cake is certainly the baking experiment for when you're rushed off your feet. It's easy to make, with cutting and pasting techniques leveling skills of fourth grade Art class.

Common cake art theory involves the minimum input of half a day's work. Not so in this demo from a 5 year old issue of Food Network mag. Multiple slicing does not affect structural integrity and your less-than-two-hours make you look like a Michelin star boss.

Most of us can agree, a no-frills, no-fuss chocolate cake/ frosting combo deal is an ideal for such crowd pleaser situations. It most definitely elicits unmatched glee from buddies who see peeling apart a frosty, two sizes their face as a magnificent affair.

In today's story, melty marshmallow fondant made the beverage, while toasted coconut thatched its sides. In hindsight, and in less hurry, crucial things like chilling after icing between layers could've  made Tiki taller.

While we still have quite a few more days left of 110°F + weather, I might be on a frenzy of tiki cocktail concoctioning.

And, of course, I  mean cake. 

Right ?

(My Black Forest Cake recipe adapted from AllRecipes)
( FN's Instructions for Tiki Cocktail cake)

Ingredients:

• 2 1⁄8 c all-purpose flour
• 2 c sugar
• ¾ c cocoa powder
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 c milk
• ½ c vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease and flour two cake pans. I used 1 six inch round cake pan and 2 1 quart oveproof  proof for this project.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, and the rest of the dry ingredients.
• Add in wet ingredients; beat on medium speed until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake for 35 minutes, or when toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool layers in pans for 5 minutes. Carefully remove from pans. Cool on wire racks completely.

Additionals:

Chocolate frosting recipe, right here

Marshmallow fondant, used to make  the "drink" was melted at 50% power, 1 minute intervals.

2019: Kiwi, cream and mango pudding

2018: Ela appam

2017: Rhubarb lemonade

2016: Chili lime roast

2015: Vermicelli pudding

2014: Ghee

2013: Savory crepes with shrimp

2012: Fish en papillote

******
"Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:4

Condensed milk frosting (easy buttercream)

Rarely is frosting given half the hurrah meted out to the cake it's about to gild. Its spotlight is limited to balancing flavors, crumb coatings and smooth finishes. Today's feed serves the purpose of showing off this decorator element; the simplicity in which it can be achieved as well as the virtue of pulling together a three layer Oreo- vanilla construction without a major breakdown. Suffice to say at mere glance, you can gauge the largesse of the mentioned project.

There could be a couple of reasons why this topic makes my Significant Favorites' list:

1. It consists of two ingredients. Read again: TWO. ( vanilla extract is a noncount)

2. It's the easiest way to frost a cake.

2. Creamed texture smooths on like a dream.

3. My infinite love of condensed milk is in exact measure to the love for the people I gave birth to.

A sizable bucket of stable frosting and a legion of time are essentials to a perfectly reliable cake. Admittedly, whipping buttercream is labor intensive and dealing with mountains of sugar and butter may not be as desirable as most of YouTube makes it out to be.

The texture of condensed milk buttercream most resembles Swiss Meringue. A not so insignificant amount of butter is what gives it the look and feel of pure velvet, ie, if velvet was consumable. The two components listed and the twelve minutes it takes your stand mixer to demonstrate who's boss produces stuff worthy of song and dance. It's the happily ever after of icings, ya'll, one that truly seals the crumb (pun, yes!). No longer will sharp edges and near flawless exteriors remain the lot of pastry designers and Michelin star chefs. Your time has come.

Here it is, a quick recipe with outstanding payoffs and yours to keep till the end of time.

Consequently, cake making will be the most enjoyable part of your existence and decorating a fifteen pound structure won't be a dilemma at all. 

Although I like American buttercream a bit more than I care to admit, I think this version is the answer to those pastries erring on the sweeter side.

Ingredients:

Adapted from Sweet & Spicy's condensed milk frosting

• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 can condensed milk (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• Beat butter in a stand mixer on medium speed, until smooth and fluffy for 4-5 minutes.
• Add condensed milk. Continue to beat until blended and completely smooth, about 7 minutes.
• Add vanilla extract and beat for an additional minute.
• Use immediately to frost cake or refrigerate.

Notes~

I tripled the recipe for three layers, six inches inch. You can portion it accordingly.  

Since the flavor is more butter forward, sweeten it with an additional cup of powdered sugar towards the end of beating, if desired.

Cake recipe can be found on Sugar Geek Show's website.

The Oreo cake was a repeat order I did for a bright twelve year old who's commissioned me his personal baker. This year marks 4 birthday cakes in a row! I'm guaranteed employment until his wedding day:-)

Let's peruse the past~

2020: tiki cocktail cake

2019: red, white and blue cake

2018: ela appam (Kerala coconut pancakes)

2017: coconut ice cream

2016: cheesecake

2015: mango kulfi

2014: ghee

2013: savory crepes with shrimp

2012: smoked salmon rolls

******

"And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him." 

Hebrews 11:6