From Beginning to Finish

Tonight, I'm having a few friends over.  Besides the salad that I mentioned earlier, I'm going to be making an appetizer and dessert. For a starter, I'm making Olive Garden's Bruschetta al Pomodoro and for dessert I'm making Martha Stewart's Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and homemade whipped cream on top. 

Bruschetta al Pomodoro
(from Olive Garden)

4 Roma (plum) tomatoes, diced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 garlic clove, cut in half

Black pepper to taste

Salt to taste

10 medium fresh basil leaves, chopped

4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

8 slices crusty Italian bread (I purchased Garlic Parmesan Panetini from Costco)
Extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle)

Combine diced tomatoes and chopped garlic in a mixing bowl. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Add half of chopped basil and 4 Tbs. of extra virgin olive oil. Drizzle both sides of bread slices with extra virgin olive oil. Grill bread lightly on both sides. Rub grilled bread with cut half of garlic clove to infuse with flavor. Top each slice with tomato mixture. Garnish with remaining chopped basil and serve immediately.

Angel Food Cake (Martha Stewart)
1 cup flour

1 ½ cups superfine sugar, divided
1 ¾ cups egg whites (13ish room temp.)
1 Tbs. warm water
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350º with rack in center. Sift flour and ¾ cup sugar into bowl 4 times. In mixer with whisk beat egg whites and water on low until foamy. Add salt, cream of tartar and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, ~3 min. While beating add the remaining ¾ cup sugar, 1 Tbs. at a time. Beat on high speed until peaks are stiff and glossy, but not dry, ~2 min (do not over mix). Transfer mixture to a large bowl and sift flour mixture over egg-white mixture in six parts. Quickly, but gently fold it in with rubber spatula between each addition. Gently transfer batter to an ungreased 10” tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to release any air bubbles, and smooth with spatula. Bake until cake is golden brown and springs back when touched 35-40 minutes. Invert pan onto legs and cool 1 hour (completely). Carefully run large offset spatula around edges to loosen.

Topping:

I prefer fresh strawberries, of course, but I just happened to have some frozen strawberries left over from another recipe.  To economize, I decided to give them a shot.  Either way, the strawberries need to be cut and macerated. Macerating your berries is simply putting sugar on them to cause them to break down prematurely.  This not only makes them sweeter, but it causes the berries to release their natural juices.

While at Costco today, I saw a great deal on heavy whipping cream (1 quart for $1.50) and decided to make my own.  This way, they topping would be a little healthier and much fresher. No worries, it's really easy.  I just use Percy (my Persimmon colored Kitchen Aid mixer).

Vanilla Whipped Cream (Martha Stewart)
2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
2 Tbs. confectioners' sugar

Chill bowl and cream in freezer for ten minutes. With mixer (and whisk attachment), whip the cream, vanilla and sugar until stiff peaks.  Can be covered, refrigerated and stored for up to two hours.

The finished product was a big hit.  Give it a shot! I cut two small slices of the cake with both angled in so the strawberries could be nestled in the center. I just put the finished whipped cream into a one-gallon zip-loc bag and cut the corner out.  I used the ziploc bag just like I would a pastry bag and piped the whipped cream onto the dessert.