Layers upon layers

It is all layer cakes all the time here in the kitch. But, aren’t you kind of glad about it? In my opinion, there are definitely a few things all human beings should know how to do, and that list includes knowing how to make a decent layer cake. There are a very small number of tricks that will make this task infinitely easier for you, and since I’m not only wise, but also generous and thoughtful, I’m going to share them with you.

1. Freeze your cakes! If you’re making them to be eaten that day, you can put them in the freezer right after they’ve cooled from baking. You don’t even have to take them out of the pan. After about 30 minutes, they’re ready to be frosted. If you’re baking the cakes a few days before use, you can wrap the cooled cakes tightly with plastic wrap and they’ll keep for DAYS in there. Freezing the layers makes it REALLY REALLY easy to a) slice them in half b) stack them and c) frost them. And it doesn’t make any difference to texture/taste/moisture content. So. Freeze them.

2. Level your cake tops. But only if you are aiming for a nice even top. You could go for the rustic sloping thing if you want, and really there’s nothing wrong with that. But also…leveling tops=cake scraps=delicious snack. And you’ve been working so hard on this cake, don’t you think you deserve a little snack? Yeah, you do, you go ahead and eat those scraps. That’s right, gobble them up. Cake baking is hard work and you’ve earned it.

3. Apply a crumb coat. This means that once you’ve filled and stacked your layers, ice your cake in a very thin layer with a little bit of icing. This will seal in all the crumbs. Stick that crumb-coated cake in the fridge for a little bit (even 15 min will do) and now you’ve got a nice smooth surface to apply icing to, and stray crumbs won’t infiltrate your nice pure frosting and you won’t want to pull out all your eyebrow hair.

4. This is personal taste, but: don’t go apeshit with your frosting. A nice ring of berries, some chocolate chips, or some handsomely-lettered message (if handwriting is your thing) does just fine. I mean, by all means, feel free to add a splash of color or some sprinkles or whatever the fuck suits your fancy, but beware the slippery icing-lined slope into the land of Cake Wrecks.

That’s it! Now go forth and volunteer to make cakes for your friends’ birthdays. I guarantee they’ll taste a lot better than most of the cakes you’d buy, they’re worlds cheaper, and then there’s that whole thing about the thought counting and it being a nice thing to do. Not that you’re into that sort of thing, reader. You selfish prick.

I kid! I love you. Most likely. (I love a lot of people.) I hope you’re having a good day! I am. It’s nice out! You look good in that shirt. Alright, see you later.

Yellow Layer Cake with Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting
from Deb, natch

Yield: Two 9-inch round, 2-inch tall cake layers, and, in theory, 22 to 24 cupcakes, two 8-inch squares or a 9×13 single-layer cake (I have yet to audition the cupcakes, shame on me)

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line with circles of parchment paper, then butter parchment. (Alternately, you can use a cooking spray, either with just butter or butter and flour to speed this process up.)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just Incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. (I like to drop mine a few times from two inches up, making a great big noisy fuss.) Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.

For Frosting:

15 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons instant espresso (optional, but can be used to pick up the flavor of average chocolate)
2 1/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
1/4 to 1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the chocolate and espresso powder, if using, in the top of a double-boiler or in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted. (Alternately, you can melt the chocolate in a microwave for 30 seconds, stirring well, and then heating in 15 second increments, stirring between each, until the chocolate is melted.) Remove from heat and let chocolate cool until tepid.

Whisk together the sour cream, 1/4 cup of the corn syrup and vanilla extract until combined. Add the tepid chocolate slowly and stir quickly until the mixture is uniform. Taste for sweetness, and if needed, add additional corn syrup in one tablespoon increments until desired level of sweetness is achieved.

Let cool in the refrigerator until the frosting is a spreadable consistency. This should not take more than 30 minutes. Should the frosting become too thick or stiff, just leave it out until it softens again.

Lemon Layer Loveliness

My roommates and I hosted a dinner party the other weekend. Driven of course by my own insanity, we served a 4 course meal to 13 people. I made things. I made lots of things. I woke up at 5:00am to pull pork. I stayed up until 1am making pickles. I lack the ability to not go batshit crazy about a dinner party. My roommate at one point asked me if it would be ok if we just got some appetizers from Trader Joe’s to serve.

I practically died of insufferability. My poor roommates. I was all, NO THAT WOULD NOT BE OK. NO THAT EXTREMELY SANE AND STILL DELICIOUS AND EASY PLAN WOULD NOT BE OK. What WOULD be ok, apparently, involved me buying 7 lbs of pork shoulder, much to the amusement of the meat guys at Whole Foods. What WOULD be ok, apparently, was stuffing 35 dates with goat cheese and almonds before wrapping them each individually in slices of bacon. What would be ok, apparently, amounted to 3 full days of work, and me practically falling into a depression over the fact that I didn’t have time to make homemade slider buns.

I don’t know, readers. Sometimes I wonder about myself. I have almost zero ambition in life. I’m one of those floaters. I’m just kinda happy with how things are going, and grateful to be a part of it all. But plant the seed of anything food related, wherein I’ll be serving people I know and/or love? I become my polar opposite. I become Stressy McPerfectionist. I become Uptight and Ambitious.

I also whip up a fairly decent cake in this state. To wit: this lemon curd layer cake. I rarely wet my pants over lemon-flavored desserts. But. And there’s a big but here. A J-Lo sized But. This cake knocked my effing socks off. It was the best thing I think I made all night, and I got proposed to after appetizers (hi, my own horn, i’m tooting it. just go with it).

Make this cake. End of story. Love, KaTriesTooHard.

Lemon Curd Layer Cake
from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates!

Lemon Curd:
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp freshly grated lemon peel
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Cake:
2 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup buttermilk or milk
1 tbsp freshly grated lemon peel
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsps confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp freshly grated lemon peel

Whisk together the egg yolks, lemon peel, lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan. Cook the mixture on medium heat, whisking constantly, until the lemon curd thickens and becomes foamy, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter a tablespoon at a time, until the curd is smooth and uniform. Cover and refrigerate the until you’re ready to fill the cake.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Butter 2 9-inch round cake pans and dust them with flour; tap out the excess. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat the reserved egg whites in a separate bowl until they begin to form stiff peaks; set aside. In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream with an electric mixer or whisk until soft peaks form. Gently stir in the buttermilk, lemon peel, and vanilla into the whipped cream; then fold in the egg whites. Add the flour mixture in thirds and stir just until the batter is uniform. Pour half of the batter into each of the prepared pans.
Bake until the cakes begin to pull away from the edges of the pans and a knife tests clean in the center, about 30 mins. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes; then turn them out onto a rack to cool completely.
With a long serrated knife, use a sawing motion to carefully slice each cake in half horizontally to form four layers in all. Place one layer on a serving plate and spread it with one-third of the lemon curd. Stack the second layeron top and spread with another one-third of the curd. Repeat for the third layer, and then top the cake with the fourth layer. Set aside.
Whip the heavy creamy for the frosting with an electric mixer or whisk until soft peaks form. Fold in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and lemon peel and continue to whip just until stiff peaks begin to form. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Swirl bread, the girls said

You know those days when you’re wearing a polka-dotted dress and you’ve had like SO MUCH COFFEE and you’re walking around all day all I’m Wearing a Polka-Dotted Dress and I’ve Had Way Too Much Coffee!? Well. I’m having one of those days. Most people know that, for me, having too much coffee and then writing a blog post is the blogular equivalent of drinking and driving, which is to say: it’s reckless.

I get all CAPSY and wordsy and all over the goddamn place, swerving between completely incomprehensible and like WAY TOO EXCITED ABOUT NOTHING. But I can’t help it! Coffee lights a fire under my ass, and all I want to do is TYPE! Please picture me saying that while I do sparkle fingers.

SO I MADE THIS BREAD the other night, when some friends came over for craft night, but instead of actually crafting we drank wine and gossiped about men and ate baked goods, because we all try really hard not to be stereotypes of every girl ever, but in the end we fail because we have like, girl genes, or something, which make us prone to wine and gossip and baked goods (not to mention craft nights in general). Plus I was wearing a skirt. I KNOW.

To be noted is how QUICKLY this bread went, even with half of the regular flour substituted with WHOLE WHEAT flour, because we’re watching our FIGURES here and we like to be HEALTHY when we engage in baked good gorging sessions. But you know, people went back for seconds! And thirds!

Also to be noted: CHOCOLATE SWIRLS (mine didn’t swirl, BAH!)! It’s like. YEAH. GET ON THAT. Riiiiiiight?

Disclaimer: SO MUCH COFFEE!

Chocolate Swirled Bread
from Moosewood Book of Desserts

2 eggs
5 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Streusel:
2 tbsps unbleached white flour
2 tbsps butter
3 tbsps sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, or more to taste

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter or oil a 9×5-in loaf pan and dust it with flour.

Separate one of the eggs, placing the yolk in a large bowl and the white in a smaller bowl. Coarsely chop the chocolate into pea-sized or smaller pieces. Mix with the egg white and set aside. To the egg yolk, add the second egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and beat about a minute, until well blended. Stir together the dry ingredients and set aside.

Using a pastry blender, two knives, or a food processor (or your hands, for reals), combine the streusel ingredients until crumbly but not too finely textured. Spread 1/3 of the streusel mixture over the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Add the chocolate, folding or swirling it into the batter with a rubber spatula; don’t over mix it or the cake will not be as nicely marbled (i failed big time at this).

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and top with the remaining streusel. Bake for about 1 hour, until the bread is firm and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Allow it to cool before removing it from the pan.

Pi Day the Sequel: Now with more crack

Everyone, today was Pi Day! I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already. You know, I used to measure my years by the start of school. I think it’s only appropriate I shift my internal calendar to begin and end on Pi Day. I mean, right?

Here’s the problem. I have limited time to write this in order to slide it in on time (an achingly familiar story in my life), so I’m not sure this will be my best work. But it doesn’t even really matter, because I made crack pie.

Yes. You are reading this correctly. I made crack pie. Do you want to know why they call it crack pie? Well, you are not alone. I have several guesses, which I will share with you:

1) Obvious. It is addicting. Crack-level addicting. Keep-my-girl-Whitney-away-from-this-pie addicting.

2) It’s worse for you than crack. Do you want to know how many egg yolks went into it? The answer is no. Do you want to know how many cups of sugar are in this bad boy? Also no. Do you want to know the butter count? No. God no. How about the cream level? I’m serious. Don’t scroll down to the recipe. Avert your eyes. It’s indecent. It should be illegal. Like crack.

3) When you’re driving your sister’s car back to Oakland after borrowing it (for a trip during which the MUFFLER FELL OFF and you TIED IT BACK ON WITH A ROPE), the piece of pie you bring as reconciliation for aforementioned muffler damage will not be properly cooled and will crack. [This guess being of course the most logical guess.]

Whatever the reason, consider yourself fairly warned. This pie was not just arbitrarily named crack pie. It’s not just $44 per pie at Momofuku in NYC for shits and giggles. There are reasons. Buttery, creamy, cookie-crusty, egg-yolky, sugary reasons. And this concludes an entire post about crack pie wherein I did not try to make a variation on the “crack is wack” joke. I am officially an adult.

Momofuku’s Crack Pie
from the LA Times with thanks to Alex for sending me the recipe!

Total time: 1 1/2 hours, plus cooling and chilling times
Servings: Makes 2 pies (6 to 8 servings each)
Note: Adapted from Momofuku. This pie calls for 2 (10-inch) pie tins. You can substitute 9-inch pie tins, but note that the pies will require additional baking time, about 5 minutes, due to the increased thickness of the filling.

Cookie for crust
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
5. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.
6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

Crust

Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon (3/4 ounce) milk powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
2 prepared crusts
Powdered sugar, garnish

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.
3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.
4. Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells.
5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie), about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.
6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. The pies are meant to be served cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Each of 16 servings: 432 calories; 4 grams protein; 45 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 27 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 187 mg. cholesterol; 36 grams sugar; 125 mg. sodium.

Apparently

So apparently it was LAST WEEK that was no-cuss week, in which case:

HOLY FUCK THOSE CUPCAKES WERE AMAZING.

End of post.

Holy faking shitakes.

Two things have converged that make this post extremely difficult to write: National Cupcake Day and National No-Cuss Week. Why anyone would put those two things together is beyond the realm of my own comprehension. And yet, I feel I must abide. My sister’s boyfriend let me know I slid my last cuss-laden missive in just under the wire, and I’m sliding this post in just under the National Cupcake Day wire, so I’m going to TRY to be GOOD.

Which means I can’t use expletives to express the degree of greatness of these cupcakes. I understand that there are a whole host of fake cuss words (see: title of this post) that folks like to use instead of the real deal. To me that is like drinking nonalcoholic beer–can it ever really be satisfying? And, what exactly is the point? There is something so primal about the utterance of a cuss. It comes from deep in your belly and it carries about 3 pounds of stress with it as it escapes from your lips, in the bathroom stall at work after a frustrating meeting, during the last 3 miles of a half marathon, after you watch those 2 scoops of ice cream fall unceremoniously from your sugar cone, following a really terrific ____ (mom, dad, really, i’m so sorry. although, technically i could be referring to the s word here. wait, is that what you all thought in the first place? i suppose either way you go with it, you’re a dirty bird. or i am. for writing it.).

Or, as an qualifier for these cupcakes. These CUPCAKES. These really _____ fantastic cupcakes. Sweet spicy sausages. Sweet merciful god above. Fine fancy moses. Dear lord. Lordy lordy. Lawsy lawsy. Humina humina. Aaooooga. Ham sandwiches. Great googly moogly. Good golly miss molly. THESE CUPCAKES.

Since simple prose doesn’t seem to be hitting the mark, let’s try poetry.

Chocolate of a bitter sweet
Kindly lend your density
Eggs of both halves roundly beat
To varying intensity
Deep dark oven do be kind
And beseech only to rise
High above the rims and mind
Ever eager and prying eyes
Cream so cold and pure and white
Peppermint’s delicate kiss
Dolloped in the center might
Result in only this:
A treat devoured in moments mere
No thoughts to how we’ll weigh
Seconds are no question here
It’s National Cupcake Day

Don’t walk. Run. NOW.

Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with White Chocolate Peppermint Cream
from Smitten Kitchen who adapted from several sources [Deb's words below]

Be ye not intimidated by all of the fancy words floating around here: this recipe is approachable stuff: melted chocolate, separated eggs, things folded together and whipped again. Your hand mixer does all of the work. You, however, may have all of the glory when you surprise your lady- or ladfriend with these this weekend.

[Updated to note: Many people who have made this say they're getting 12! cupcakes. So you might have more chocolate awesomeness than you'd intended. If you end up with more cupcakes, go ahead and double the whipped cream recipe. To be safe. You will not regret it.]

Makes 9* cupcakes (see Note above)

Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes
6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I preferred this with bittersweet)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) (86 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) espresso or instant coffee powder
3 large eggs, separated
6 tablespoons (97 grams) sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White Chocolate Mint Cream
2 ounces (56 grams) white chocolate, finely chopped
3 ounces heavy whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

Get the white chocolate mint cream ready for later: Place the white chocolate in a small bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute to melt the chocolate. Whisk well. Add the peppermint extract and whisk again. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the cream. Chill until very cold, about two hours.

Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 9 standard-size (3-ounce) muffin cups with paper liners. Stir chocolate, butter and espresso powder together in heavy medium saucepan over low heat mostly melted, then remove from the heat and whisk until it is fully melted and smooth. (I like to put the butter underneath the chocolate in the pan, so that it protects the chocolate from the direct heat.) Cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

Using electric mixer (a hand mixer, rather than a stand mixer, actually works best here because the volumes are so small) beat egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Briefly beat lukewarm chocolate mixture, then vanilla extract, into yolk mixture. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and all of the salt, beating until medium-firm peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each three-fourths of the way. (You might find, as I did, that you had enough leftover for a extra half-cake. That’s your “taste tester”. It’s a, uh, very important part of the process.)

Bake cakes until tops are puffed and dry to the touch (some may crack, embrace it) and a tester inserted into the centers comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a cooling rack, where the cupcakes will almost immediately start to fall. It will be all the better to put your mint cream on them.

Finish your masterpiece: Beat mint white chocolate cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form. Remove cupcakes from pan, arrange on a platter. Fill each sunken top with a healthy dollop of white chocolate mint cream. Top with shaved dark chocolate, if you’re feeling fancy. I’d say “eat at once” but I suspect that you already have.

Extractly!

Are you afraid to buy vanilla beans in bulk because you don’t think you use them often enough? Well I mean, first of all, you should use vanilla beans more. This cake and this ice cream and this crumble are reason enough. Plus you can go to Costco and get them relatively cheaply. Or if you don’t anticipate needing enough vanilla beans to fill, I don’t know, several bathtubs, most health food stores with bulk sections will let you buy them a handful at a time.

And once you have the vanilla beans in hand, you have no idea how close you are to having vanilla extract. Let’s be honest, vanilla extract is pricey, at least if it’s halfway decent. And it goes quickly–I know I’m pouring it by the teaspoon and tablespoon-ful into most of my recipes. 3 vanilla beans can give you a cup of your own homemade extract, which in addition to being of really great quality, is kind of a lot of fucking extract, if I may attempt to quantify it.

All you need is a tightly sealing container and some alcohol. Vodka is the spirit of choice, mainly because it doesn’t impart any additional flavor to the extract, but rum and bourbon are acceptable substitutes I hear (the latter of which I suspect imparts quite a bit of flavor, but not unwanted-ly). I chose some clear rum (or it chose me, rather, as it was the only alcohol we had on hand) and a fancy container (i was making mine as a gift), but feel free to experiment with your liquor and seal it in a regular old mason jar. Or a thoroughly washed out pickle jar. Or an old juice bottle, I don’t know, use your brain here.

In 2 months this will be some kickass vanilla extract, with minimal work. Just shake the bottle up every few weeks and let the alcohol do the rest. Wasn’t this post so informative? Don’t you thank your lucky stars each day that you know me? Isn’t Groundhog Day a really great movie? Isn’t it frustrating when the bottoms of yogurt containers are fluted so that your spoon can’t scrape all the remaining yogurt out, Trader Joe’s yogurt I am looking DIRECTLY AT YOU? Have you ever seen a llama, wearing polka-dot pajamas, down by the bay?

Homemade Vanilla Extract
sleuthed out over the internet

3 vanilla beans
1 cup vodka, rum, or bourbon
1 tightly-sealing container (mason jars are your friend)

With a paring knife, slice the vanilla beans lengthwise, leaving about 1/2″ unsliced at the top & bottom. Place the vanilla beans in your clean container and pour in 1 cup of alcohol. Seal the container and shake it every few weeks. DONE. Then wait a few months.