Usually my pre-party days go as smooth as silk; last Saturday wasn't one of those. To make things run smoothly and fly through my dishes, I usually use tried and true recipes. For some crazy reason I decided to make two cakes I'd never made before. My sister says, "It's because I'm a glutton for punishment!" But that's a whole different story. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted to do, but no actual recipes. The day was unraveling fast, like when you have a piece of elastic sticking out of your underwear and you pull it and the whole thing comes out and you are left with your undies just hanging there!
My phone had been ringing off the hook, my daughter was restless and wanted her cousin to come over, thankfully my sister came over and brought my niece. I was ready to throw the cakes out and go buy one when she arrived. I had four different books out and was trying to cook and read new recipes for the first time. My sister sat across the counter from me, reading recipes and keeping me laughing instead of crying. I wanted the chocolate mousse cake to be a progression from darkest to lightest, but I put the mousses in backwards and the couldn't get the first layer to set up enough before dumping in the second. I think you get the picture. It was getting late in the day and it was my birthday after all; my sister sent me and my husband off to dinner by ourselves. Another little reminder of how lucky I am.
The recipe for the mousse cake was so so complex, I couldn't write it for you even if I wanted to. I closed my eyes when we cut into it, because I was afraid it was going to be one solid brown mass that ran out all over the plate. It looked beautiful inside, me and my sister just looked at each other and smiled!
Did I mention the lemon roll, that wouldn't roll, just cracked. It tasted amazing though, it was filled with homemade lemon curd and mascarpone whipped cream.
So where in the heck does the churro fit it? Robbyn and me were talking about Mexican food all week and I couldn't help but go in the kitchen and whip these up for the girls.
Churros
1 cup water
2 1/2 tbsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 qts. oil for frying
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine water, 2 1/2 tbsp. sugar, salt and 2 tbsp. vegetable oil. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.
2. Heat oil for frying in deep fryer or heavy pot to 375 degrees F. Pipe strips of dough into hot oil using a pastry bag. Fry until golden; drain on paper towels. This recipe I got from allrecipes.com, first time using it and I really loved it.
Have a great weekend everyone. I will be crying all weekend as we drive our daughter up to her new school. Those other desserts were might tasty, so one day I'm going to rewrite the recipes for them; I'll make sure they are actually understandable to humans.
I'd appreciate any virtual hugs and kleenex I can get!
Enjoy,
Gina
