Strawberry Sorbet & Cantaloupe Sorbet

Fruit sorbets are so easy. I just need to keep my ice cream bowl in the freezer at all times, so I'm ready to whip it out for the ice cream maker. I was expecting guests, one who is lactose intolerant, so I was pretty excited to make something I knew she could eat. Well, my son got sick and I canceled the Oprah party. I have all of this sorbet around the house and no one is eating it. (My husband likes his sweets but I think he'd rather have chocolate something-something. Oh well, more for me!)

I cut back on the sugar a bit in the recipes, knowing that the fruit was already pretty sweet. The strawberries were some of the most perfect, ripe strawberries ever- well, next to the pick-your-own at berry farms, and the cantaloupe was also very perfect and delicious. Such great fruit for sorbets!

The strawberry sorbet was smooth and creamy. Perfect! The cantaloupe sorbet was a bit icy, good though. I think it was because the cantaloupe sorbet called for a bit of white wine. I used a bit of vanilla vodka in the strawberry sorbet, which keeps it from icing up. I think next time I would use vodka in both. Who knows if that's what made the difference?

Anyway, refreshing and wonderful!

Of course these ice cream recipes came from The Perfect Scoop but I've found them online as well.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Sorbet.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cantaloupe Sorbet.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Happy Mother's Day! It's actually the day before but my Mom came over tonight for dinner. We made a feast of Ginger Soy spareribs, (Souped up) Baked Beans, Broccoli Buttermilk Slaw, Ginger Tea Lemonade, and then the Cake for dessert. (The dinner recipes may be posted tomorrow. Can you believe I didn't take any pictures? It's kind of awkward to pull out a camera when you have guests...)

I've never made PUDC but I think traditional versions use canned pineapple. This baby had an ENTIRE fresh pineapple baked into the bottom of the cake, with gooey browned butter and brown sugar. I used a springform pan so that the cake would slide easily out of the pan. I was worried about sticking but I didn't need to. All of the pineapple stayed put and settled prettily on the top. Yay!

I was concerned that the cake was uncooked in the middle, but really it was the gooeyness seeping into the cake. It was just fine. The cake was sweet but not too sweet- a great end to our meal tonight. It must have been good- my step dad requested some leftovers to go home with them :)

Here is James saying: "Haha. You don't get any!"

Please click here for the stolen recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I actually found the recipe in my own cookbooks, but of course it's already been blogged about by other foodies.

Wedding Shower Cupcakes

I was asked very nicely to make cupcakes for a wedding shower for two teacher friends. I asked each bride to request a cupcake flavor.

Sandy chose Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Naomi chose White Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream.

These weren't new recipes so I am going to link to my existing blog posts. Naomi's choice was a bit different, mixing and matching from different recipes for her perfect combination.

Click here for my post about the Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Click here for my post about the White Cake. (It's actually a very flavorful, fluffy almond cake.)

Click here for my post about the Salted Caramel Buttercream.

Happy Weddings!!!

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

This recipe has been all the rage on the various food blogs that I read every day. It has looked so pretty and I knew I had to try it. It has staple ingredients so I could make it whenever I had time. That's the hardest thing about this recipe- the time waiting for the dough to rise, two different times.

I thought it would be a good treat to make for future overnight guests. But maybe not. It would take a good long time to shape, let rise, bake, and then cool. I guess it depends on how much time you're working with.

The pieces really do pull apart easily. The bread isn't too sweet, but the sugar that I sprinkled on top of the bread became crusty and sweet. It is delicious.

I hope it freezes well!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread.