Hollar! How goes your Wednesday? Mine seems to be trucking along as well as it could for a work week hump day. As I thought last night what I could share with you today – it took me all of 30 seconds as I knew I wanted to share this fabulous frosting recipe. Super easy, very quick and oh my god – so good!

Ideally this is meant for cakes, cupcakes or dessert like recipes but I am pretty sure you could rub this on your old car bumper and it would be just fine!  You have to try this for your next baking expedition.  It is an old classic and very similar to my “famous” ( in my own mind) How to make boiled icing post but with a slight variation.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup White Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Water
• 1/4 Tsp. Cream of tarter
• 1/8 Tsp. Salt
• 2 Unbeaten egg whites
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla

Method

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.
2. Very slowly add the above sugar mixture to the unbeaten egg whites in a mixing bowl, beating constantly with an electric mixer until peaks form.
3. Beat in vanilla during the peak forming process.
4. Once stiff set aside and prepare to ice whatever you like.
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: You want to beat it long enough to form the peaks and create the stiff texture to ensure it “STICKS” to the cake.  You may want to use a timer if this is your first time and or nervous of making a mistake.

Help Zesty…. Help The Students

Remember back to my Turkey and Blueberry post from Monday, I mentioned that I had a fun announcement and idea that you could participate in and share.

For the month of September, I want to create a series of posts that share “fun, simple, healthy and cost saving meal ideas”.  A slight variation on the idea is that if I have enough participation I will post every day of the month or at least the weekdays.  So here is where the fun comes in – I am asking all the readers whether you have a blog or not to send me a recipe with a picture that fits the topic and I will post it and link back to your blog or give credit however you would like.

Sound fun?  I think so.  I committed to my niece that I would “Get Zesty” and share some simple ideas to get them through the dinner time on their own.  To join in and help students all over the world – just pop me an email and submit your recipe/idea and I will take it from there.  I would like to thank everyone in advance for taking the time to help.

Have a super Wednesday and I will touch base with you on Friday with something else yummy to eat and an update on the “Help the Students” idea.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

I’m Back! Yes you better believe it!  I had somewhat of a long day yesterday flying from Miami to home.  This all started with me going to the self service check out line in Miami and the computer was unable to print out boarding pass.  I thought to myself… oh dear here we go again.  So I ended up going up to the American Airlines Counter to tell the lady my story.  She punches my name into the system and a puzzled look appears on her face.

After a moment, she sputters “Sir, your flight has been canceled – that is why it did not print your boarding pass.”

“oh lovely, what do we do now?” I asked.

A few minutes elapsed and she ended up re routing me through New York and adding an extra connection but all in all it wasn’t that bad.  I am home so that is the main thing!

Now to finish off baked goods week – I thought I would save possibly the best for last.  Chocolate cake with homemade boiled icing topped with skor bar bites.  As you can recall I posted the boiled icing recipe a while back and I also posted a skor bar trifle back in February.  This chocolate cake is a combination of both without the chocolate pudding.

A simple great classic that you can make any day of the week for any occasion.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 Cup cocoa
• 1/8 Tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 Lb. stick butter, cut into 8 equal parts
• 1 Cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 Cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 Tsp. vanilla
• 3 Lg. eggs
• 1/2 Cup sour cream

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
3. Cream butter, sugars and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended.
4. Add flour mixture and sour cream; beat gently just until smooth.
5. Bake in a greased and floured bundt pan for 45-55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes.
7. Loosen edges and around tube; turn out on rack.
8. Cool completely.
9. Add boiled icing and top with skor bits.



10. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Make sure the rack is in the center of the oven. Shiny pans reflect the heat, and are the best choice for cake baking. I also like to reduce the oven temperature by 25° when using glass pans.

I hope you have a great weekend! I will see you on Monday.  I am planning a fun zesty giveaway next week.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty