Category Archives: Crafty Goodness

My friend Kristy’s birthday was October 8th. Since she works at AMD with my husband, I baked up a cake for him to take to the office.  Kristy likes angel food cake, but I didn’t  have quite enough eggs, so I baked a chiffon cake, which requires about a third less eggs. According to Kristy and James, the cake was a  gastronomic success, regardless of my cake leveling skills. If I make it again, I would use a bit more orange juice in the glaze.

Orange Chiffon Cake with Orange Glaze

Source: Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour or 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
  
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 3/4 cup cold water
  
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  
• 2 tablespoons grated orange peel
  
• 7 large egg yolks (with all-purpose flour) or 5 large egg yolks (with cake flour)
  
• 1 cup large egg whites (about 8 )
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Orange Glaze

Directions:

Move oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 325°F.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Beat in water, oil, orange peel and egg yolks with electic mixer on low speed until smooth.

With clean beaters, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gradually pour egg yolk mixture over beaten egg whites, folding in with rubber spatula just until blended. Pour into ungreased angel food cake pan (tube pan), 10×4 inches.

Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly. Immediately turn pan upside down onto heatproof funnel or bottle. Let hang about 2 hours or until cake is completely cool. Loosen side of cake with knife or long metal spatula; remove from pan.

Spread Orange Glaze over top of cake, allowing some to drizzle down side.

Yield: 12 servings

Orange Glaze

Source: Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter or stick margarine
• 2 cups powdered sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 2 to 4 tablespoons orange juice
  

Directions:

Melt butter in 1 1/2-quart saucepan over low heat; remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and orange peel. Stir in orange juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and consistency of thick syrup. Glazes one 12-cup bundt cake, 10-inch angle food or chiffon cake or top of an 8- or 9-inch layer cake.

***

I made her the following card using a Stamp Something sketch challenge. I’m really happy with how it turned out, maybe my best card yet. A great technique I used in making this card is the easy peasy bow embellishment. I then decided to decorate a paper mache box I had picked up at Hobby Lobby to match the card and house Kristy’s gift, a Stampin’ Up stamp set she had pointed out to me.

Kristy's Birthday Card

Stamps: SU Knobbly Gnomes
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Real Red, Whisper White; striped and textured paper from my scrapbooking stash
Ink: Stazon black
Accessories: Stampin’ Up Real Red eyelets, Real Red grosgrain ribbon; various colored pencils; dimensionals

Card and Decorated Box