Divinity


Divinity Fudge is a traditional American, meringue type confection, made with granulated sugar, water, egg whites and corn syrup. There are many variations of this recipe, the one I share today also calls for nuts and vanilla as flavoring. I didn’t find a translation for it in spanish, so I named it suspiritos o merenguitos divinos. 


 No matter what variation you prepare, the result remains the same, a fluffy, air like candy with a crisp outer layer. It's recommended to prepare this recipe on sunny days as humidity prevents the candy from drying and alters its texture. What I hope doesn’t happen to you? After several days of extremely high temperatures and no rain, I thought this would a perfect dessert to prepare, since there is no need to turn on the oven, but as soon as I started preparing the syrup, clouds began to form. This is a photo of the cloudy sky above our home.






Divinity 
(Recipe adapted from Southern Living)

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cup water
½ cup light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
Garnish: pecan halves

1. Lightly grease a large sheet of wax paper or tray with butter; set aside.
2. Cook first 4 ingredients in a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat about 15 minutes or until sugar thermometer registers 248˚F. Lower heat and begin to beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Pour half of hot syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating constantly at high speed, about 5 minutes.
3. Cook remaining half of syrup over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 272˚F. Slowly pour hot syrup and vanilla extract over egg white mixture, beating constantly at high speed for 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture holds its shape. Place machine in stir (low speed) and add 1 cup chopped pecans.
4. Drop mixture quickly by rounded teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased wax paper or tray. Garnish, if desired. Cool.


YIELD: 4 dozen (I got 34 candies).

Notes: 
a) The process used when beating egg whites is as important as cooking the ingredients to the proper temperature. Start with a clean bowl. Any greasy residue in the bowl can reduce the volume of beaten egg whites.
b) Having a partner isn't necessary, but in helps to complete the procedure quicker. Drop candy by teaspoonfuls quickly, dipping from the bottom of the bowl and using the back of a second spoon to push the mixture off the dipping spoon. The candy will start to harden on the bottom of the bowl first.



A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel. ~ Proverbs 15:18

 
 Photos © Mari's Cakes
by Mari Nuñez
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How to Make Italian Meringue in Dark Colors

Whenever decorating a cake with Dominican frosting in red or with any dark color, you must keep in mind that too much coloring adds bitterness to the Italian meringue. What I do and also recommend is to make just simple and small decorations on the cake with the dark color,  this way you get what you want without sacrificing the taste.


Personally I don't like a lot of coloring added to frostings, but many people do like dark colors and at times need to match certain party decorations. The color red is constantly requested due to it's popularity in several holiday decorations. Many of my readers have asked me how too add a lot of coloring to the meringue without making it bitter or losing the strong consistency to be able to create borders, roses, rosettes or shells. I made it my task to find a way to achieve a dark color in meringue without the disadvantages mentioned.

In contrast to buttercream, with the meringue recipe it is difficult to achieve dark colors. Those of us who work this frosting know that no matter how much coloring we use, the outcome is always a pastel tone and the taste is not all the best. I have found a way to get a darker tone that works well for me and of course I'll be sharing it with all of you.

Note: The following process is my way of making red meringue frosting, it worked well for me, but it does not mean it's the only way to do this. As with all recipes and techniques, you should practice in advance first to see if you get what you want. You should not practice with the actual client product or family event cake.


I prepare the syrup to make meringue with just water and sugar. For this technique I removed two tablespoons of water and replaced it with coloring. Since I only needed enough to decorated the edges, I used the Italian meringue recipe halved found: HERE.

This process can be used with any color. The coloring I used to make this red: RED RED by Ateco Spectrum, Soft Gel Paste Food Coloring.

Steps:
 - In a small saucepan mix the sugar bowl with 2 tablespoons water and stir until sugar dissolves, then add 2 tablespoons of red food coloring and mix well.
- Cook following the normal process of making meringue.
- Towards the end of beating, you can add more drops of food coloring if you think necessary.


For the decoration, I decided on something simple, and I am sure you have seen these techniques around the web. I wanted to do something with the Wilton 1M tip and since the color is very intense, rather than covering the whole cake with roses, I just settled for large rosettes around the top edge. For the sides swirls I first traced them with a toothpick to use as a guide and then lined with colored meringue using Ateco tip # 2.





Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ~ Hebrews 11:1
by Mari Nuñez
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Easy Pineapple Upside-Down Cake


I couldn't let this weekend go by without a baked treat, so today I finally took out this pineapple upside-down cake recipe from my recipe album to share with you, especially for the following reason: just before yesterday my youngest daughter told me she didn't know how easy it was to bake using cake mixes. She was surprised to know you only need eggs, oil and water to make a complete cake batter in just two minutes. For her it was MAGIC! We see these boxes at the supermarket all the time, so I couldn't believe she didn't know the how-to for the cake mixes. I can't blame her because ever since she was three years old, I stop using cake mixes and have been baking everything from scratch.
 

A special cake to give as a gift does not need to be overly elaborated, it just needs to be made with love and of course it should taste delicious. I believe that even when we have learn to make our own cakes, these mixes are still great, and can bail us out anytime we have little time to prepare a cake.

I’ve had this pineapple upside-down cake recipe since 1994 and it is a keeper for generations to come, because it is a cake mix cake made special by using pineapple juice instead of water, and adding a pineapple, cherry, brown sugar and butter topping.  It's a scrumptious and irresistible cake, you'll see!


I grew up baking and loving these cakes, so today I was happy to teach my daughter the "magic" of cake mixes. We enjoyed baking and savoring this delicious "magical" treat together. You are still in time for baking a cake today or this upcoming family Sunday when we celebrate Mother's Day here in Dominican Republic. To all those who like to bake but do not have much experience in baking, I recommend this recipe to you and hope you make it one of your first baking attempts. For those that are experience bakers, I invite you to try it as well, I am sure you'll enjoy its taste. Happy Baking!






Easy Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe 
(adapted from Betty Crocker)

Ingredients:
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (20 ounces) sliced pineapple or chunks in juice, drained and juice reserved.
1 jar (6 ounces) maraschino cherries, drained
1 package yellow cake mix
Oil and eggs as called for on cake mix package directions.


Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Melt butter in 13x9 inch pan in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter.  
2. Arrange pineapple slice and cherries oven top; press gently.  
3. Add enough water to pineapple juice to measure 1¼ cups. Make cake batter as directed on package-except use pineapple juice mixture instead of the water. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.  
4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately turn pan upside down onto heatproof serving plate; leave pan over cake 1 minute. Serve warm or cool. Store loosely covered.

Note: High altitude (3500-6500 ft): Grease and flour pan. Stir 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour into dry cake mix. Bake 45-50 min.


Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.


Have a marvelous day!
by Mari Nuñez
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