Feast Day Baking Fun

I only have a minute, but wanted to share some baking we did this week.  

We made Angel Wings on Tuesday, for the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.

Aren't they pretty?  I rolled out the dough, used a pizza cutter to cut it into strips, and then pinched the center of each strip to get the wing effect.  The bottom of this one is just the ragged edge that naturally forms along the outside of the dough when rolled out.  It was a total accident to actually use that edge, but I think it makes for a great looking set of wings!

 

Angel Wings

 

3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
3 tbsp. sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour

 

In mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well and add egg yolks, eggs and vanilla. Mix well and knead. Roll out dough very thin on a lightly floured surface. Cut into strips and pinch dough to shape like wings. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

We also made a "tonsure cake" yesterday, for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

I've seen this idea many times, but somehow I knew what my boys would say about it.  When I asked them earlier in the week if they'd like to make one, and gave them the description of a chocolate cake baked in a tube pan to form a circle of "hair", or a tonsure, the older boys looked at me skeptically.  "Shouldn't there be a head in the middle of the hair?"  Ahem.  Yes, but surely you get the idea of it by just representing the tonsure, right?  They weren't convinced.  So... we had to find a way to make the whole top of St. Francis' head, not just his hair.

We inverted a little glass bowl in the middle of our cake.  I made some butter cream frosting and frosted the center, right over the bowl.  Then I added cocoa powder to the rest of the frosting to make it brown, and frosted the rest of the cake.  We tried for a hair-like effect by dragging the tines of a fork across the frosting in different directions.

Mr. Smith came home and saw it but didn't say much about it (did he think I was crazy?!).  I asked if he knew what it was... nope, not a clue.  I asked if he knew whose feast was today, yes, he did... still nothing.  I wasn't offended, I didn't expect him to figure it out.  It's kind of an odd representation, right?  Anyway, a few minutes went by, we were getting dinner on the table, and he blurted out, "Is it his HAIR?!"  So I guess it was identifiable after all. :)