So this weekend was a very busy weekend. First of all, my second parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary with 60 of their closest friends and I volunteered to make the cupcakes to accompany the event. In the weeks building up to this one, I had to have them test the flavors and as such, I baked four different flavors: Chocolate, Carrot, Vanilla, and Lemon Raspberry. Unfortunately, the vanilla was not such a hit, being that it was a bit dense and not as flavorful as I would have liked, but the others were delicious!
Friday morning I set off on Operation Cupcake, starting the baking at 7:30 AM so as not to warm the house up too much during the hot part of the day. I started with the easiest recipe, Chocolate. The chocolate was a variation on the Hershey's cocoa recipe and I used the extra from the Carrot Cake's cream cheese frosting. A delightful pairing, if I do say so myself!
The Carrot Cake was none other than Uncle Sigrid's Carrot Cake off of Pioneer Woman, one that I've made before and gets good reviews. I double the frosting because that's what she suggests, and so I do. I always have leftover and even after the chocolate cupcakes, I had extra frosting this time too! Not one to waste, I set it aside in the fridge.
And finally, the last Anniversary cupcake: Lemon Raspberry. This little piece of heaven was brought to me by Jamie at My Baking Addiction. I happened upon this jewel of a recipe while searching for a lighter cupcake- and that's exactly what was delivered. This is a recipe to try, for sure. I cannot even describe how soft and moist and delicious these were. The texture was almost angel food cake status and the frosting was tangy and light. Overall, make these cupcakes!
This morning, my darling niece turned 11 and to celebrate, she was having friends over. She requested chocolate and so I searched my printed recipe collection and happened upon a cake I had wanted to try from The Tasty Kitchen: The Moistest, Yummiest, Most Delicious Chocolate Cake EVER! I have to say, Karly was not lying. This will likely be my new go-to chocolate cake recipe because it wasn't even a challenge to prepare. I used it with a chocolate buttercream recipe made with marshmallow fluff and what a hit! People loved the cake. It was all gone! The whole thing. I was bummed to not get a second piece. :(
Finally, knowing this was going to be a party with plenty of people, I decided to make a second recipe of red velvet, because I can. It was a recipe from Bakerella and it's pretty quick and easy, so I made it and- get this- used the last of the cream cheese frosting from Friday! Ridiculously tempting frosting- out of the house! Yeah! Also, very little waste involved in today, which is fabulous!
Overall, it was a delightful weekend! The cakes were good to me and I managed to not OD on them.
Happy baking!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Cake that Started it ALL!!!
So this hobby of mine is relatively new. I mean, I suppose I've been baking since I was a little kid, but never with the voracity that I've had as of recent. Well, for Christmas this year, my sister got me the Cake Wrecks book that is a compilation of all of the best (worst?) cake wrecks ever posted on that blog. Blogger Jen of Cake Wrecks classifies a Wreck as: "any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places." So there you have it!
In this book, there is a baby shower cake that made me laugh so hard for being so wildly inappropriate for a traditional baby shower cake that I had to do it. Sister was pregnant and receiving this book as a present was a sign that I needed to make this cake. I should mention that I had never dabbled in fondant before nor had I ever carved a cake, but I sure LOVED this cake and figured that with as many cake shows as I've seen (I'm talking to YOU Ace of Cakes!), I could figure it out as I went.
I started at the local Michael's and grabbed a tub of fondant and a jar of peach dye to make the delightful skin. Then I went home and baked three full cake recipes, one red velvet and two chocolate. I used the chocolate for the belly and the red velvet for the boobs. The carving and crumb coat were pretty uneventful. The boobs were even and pretty proportionate to the belly, so that was about as good as it gets for a newbie (although in retrospect, it would have been nice to have used a denser cake than I used to make for easier carving and frosting)!
Finally, after letting the crumb coated cake rest overnight, I got to the fondant portion and jumped right in with the dye. Little did I know, peach means peach like the fruit, not like my (oh so fair) family's skin tone. So, after like 15 minutes of kneading the fondant and trying to add more white to level out what had become a lovely tanorexic orange "skin," I gave up. I decided to hit up an actual cake store got a whole new, very expensive, tub of fondant and a new tube of dye more appropriately named "flesh." FINALLY! Something I could work with. I also got a suggestion to use the less is more approach to the dye and start small and add more color as needed. This worked beautifully! I had 5 lbs of fleshy fondant and I was on to the rolling out process.
I got it pretty thin, although I kind of wish I had gotten it thinner. Either way, I rolled it onto the rolling pin and with mom's help, transferred it onto the cake, rolling it out gently.
I even remembered the cute little belly button. Unfortunately, I forgot to color the background (cake board) before I put the cake on it- but lesson learned.
See? Flesh-colored! And anatomically correct-ish. The last step was to add the bubbles and I used royal icing for this one. Royal icing involves using egg whites and is excellent for piping, but the icing hardens when it dries so it is not very forgiving. I used two different sizes of tips and got very good at making bubbles, but had an absolute BLAST doing it.
Everyone should break out of the comfort zone every once in a while and try a new adventure- don't be afraid of failing, just be prepared to brag about how massively you failed! That means you learned at leas one massive lesson :)
Here's my completed cake:
And one more:
And next to the inspiration cake in the book:
I wish I knew how to not let the fondant dry out so much, but I suppose I'll learn that with time.
Here's to trying new things!
In this book, there is a baby shower cake that made me laugh so hard for being so wildly inappropriate for a traditional baby shower cake that I had to do it. Sister was pregnant and receiving this book as a present was a sign that I needed to make this cake. I should mention that I had never dabbled in fondant before nor had I ever carved a cake, but I sure LOVED this cake and figured that with as many cake shows as I've seen (I'm talking to YOU Ace of Cakes!), I could figure it out as I went.
I started at the local Michael's and grabbed a tub of fondant and a jar of peach dye to make the delightful skin. Then I went home and baked three full cake recipes, one red velvet and two chocolate. I used the chocolate for the belly and the red velvet for the boobs. The carving and crumb coat were pretty uneventful. The boobs were even and pretty proportionate to the belly, so that was about as good as it gets for a newbie (although in retrospect, it would have been nice to have used a denser cake than I used to make for easier carving and frosting)!
Finally, after letting the crumb coated cake rest overnight, I got to the fondant portion and jumped right in with the dye. Little did I know, peach means peach like the fruit, not like my (oh so fair) family's skin tone. So, after like 15 minutes of kneading the fondant and trying to add more white to level out what had become a lovely tanorexic orange "skin," I gave up. I decided to hit up an actual cake store got a whole new, very expensive, tub of fondant and a new tube of dye more appropriately named "flesh." FINALLY! Something I could work with. I also got a suggestion to use the less is more approach to the dye and start small and add more color as needed. This worked beautifully! I had 5 lbs of fleshy fondant and I was on to the rolling out process.
I got it pretty thin, although I kind of wish I had gotten it thinner. Either way, I rolled it onto the rolling pin and with mom's help, transferred it onto the cake, rolling it out gently.
I even remembered the cute little belly button. Unfortunately, I forgot to color the background (cake board) before I put the cake on it- but lesson learned.See? Flesh-colored! And anatomically correct-ish. The last step was to add the bubbles and I used royal icing for this one. Royal icing involves using egg whites and is excellent for piping, but the icing hardens when it dries so it is not very forgiving. I used two different sizes of tips and got very good at making bubbles, but had an absolute BLAST doing it.
Everyone should break out of the comfort zone every once in a while and try a new adventure- don't be afraid of failing, just be prepared to brag about how massively you failed! That means you learned at leas one massive lesson :)
Here's my completed cake:
And one more:
And next to the inspiration cake in the book:
I wish I knew how to not let the fondant dry out so much, but I suppose I'll learn that with time.
Here's to trying new things!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Peach Cobbler
For those of you who enjoy peaches, or peach cobbler, this recipe is a must try. It is one of Kelly's recipes from Evil Shenanigans. She's a great recipe giver! I really wish I could capture the smell in my house right now to go with the photo, but then I might just have a line at my apartment door.
Either way, as long as you have peaches that are ready to be sliced, this is an easy recipe. Mine decided to give me hassle and as such were not cut into pretty slices, but cut off the pit. Oh well, I figured as long as they're being cooked, it shouldn't matter. Last time I made this for co-workers and it was a smash hit (this recipe doubles very easily). So before the delicious treasure of summer known as the peach disappears for the next 8 months, make this cobbler and be prepared with plenty of ice cream!
You can't tell because this is a still photo, but those are bubbles on the side coming up from the bubbling peachy-goodness zone. See? Now you have to make this! Just to see what that zone tastes like! And to get the smell-o-vision direct to your own kitchen!
Enjoy friends!
Either way, as long as you have peaches that are ready to be sliced, this is an easy recipe. Mine decided to give me hassle and as such were not cut into pretty slices, but cut off the pit. Oh well, I figured as long as they're being cooked, it shouldn't matter. Last time I made this for co-workers and it was a smash hit (this recipe doubles very easily). So before the delicious treasure of summer known as the peach disappears for the next 8 months, make this cobbler and be prepared with plenty of ice cream!
You can't tell because this is a still photo, but those are bubbles on the side coming up from the bubbling peachy-goodness zone. See? Now you have to make this! Just to see what that zone tastes like! And to get the smell-o-vision direct to your own kitchen!Enjoy friends!
Chocolate Chipies
I can't believe that I haven't yet shared the recipe with which I have been having a love affair. Sorry Rick. I think he knows and he benefits from it, and doesn't care. It's an amazing and simple recipe. Be prepared to love me for sharing. Blogger Jamie from My Baking Addiction inspired my initial chocolate chip cookie-off and so when she mentioned a recipe that bumped her then-favorite down I had to try. Without further ado: Big Chocolate Chip Cookies.
I do make some slight changes. The dough is best eaten right away, but if you plan on actually getting to the baking phase, I would let the dough rest 24-36 hours. I didn't make full-on four ounce *gasp* cookies, but I get them large and in charge. It makes about 24 when I make these. I also use half salted and half unsalted butter. I use just over one bag of chocolate chips and at least HALF must be Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips. At least half (the other 40-50% should be semi-sweet). I have also used Ghiradelli squares chopped up and they work just fine too. Either way, at least half people!!! Finally, I sprinkle sea salt on top to bring out all of that delicious Ghiradelli! Yum. you have no idea. I beg you all to make these and report back any changes you made and if you loved these bad boys as much as I do.
I do make some slight changes. The dough is best eaten right away, but if you plan on actually getting to the baking phase, I would let the dough rest 24-36 hours. I didn't make full-on four ounce *gasp* cookies, but I get them large and in charge. It makes about 24 when I make these. I also use half salted and half unsalted butter. I use just over one bag of chocolate chips and at least HALF must be Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips. At least half (the other 40-50% should be semi-sweet). I have also used Ghiradelli squares chopped up and they work just fine too. Either way, at least half people!!! Finally, I sprinkle sea salt on top to bring out all of that delicious Ghiradelli! Yum. you have no idea. I beg you all to make these and report back any changes you made and if you loved these bad boys as much as I do.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Cheesecake!!!!!
Buenas Dias friends!!! In honor of Spain's victory of course :)
This last week Pioneer Woman posted a nummy looking Blackberry Cheesecake and since I trust her, I let Rick's family be my guinea pigs! Thanks guys! :)
Not quite sure what drove me to make this of all the yummy recipe's I saw this week, but I'm so glad I did. I decided to use blueberries since I'm not the hugest fan of blackberries with all those seeds in there. Anyhoodles. This cake was listed as easy, and she does not lie. It was SO simple. It retrospect, I am 99% sure I left out the vanilla- whoops! Still looks okay going into the oven...
The crust is interesting, because it's Nilla Wafers with Walnuts instead of graham crackers. I really liked the flavor and may just use less of it next time, the crust was a little thick for my taste. I was really hoping that I could be the magician who could make a non-cracking cheesecake, but alas, no. I had a giant whopping, San Andreas-style crack smack dab in the middle. I think it was because my oven is a little funky on the temperatures. Yeah, that sounds good. Either way, it was a fairly easy fix, I just poured the topping on it! I'm pretty sure it didn't get to cool as long as it should have, but I was on a time crunch-o-rama time! Once it had a chance to actually cool, we all tasted it and the verdict is- it's a hit!
I had to have Mike's family finish the rest so as to avoid adding more inches to the hips, but not before I got another piece of it myself :)
And now? It's all gone:
I think next time I would try subbing the cream cheese for low fat cream cheese and see if that makes a huge difference. Also? STRAWBERRIES! YUMMMM. Those would make an amazing addition to this cheesecake. Either way friends, please, for your own sake, make this one. You'll thank me (and Pioneer Woman) later.
This last week Pioneer Woman posted a nummy looking Blackberry Cheesecake and since I trust her, I let Rick's family be my guinea pigs! Thanks guys! :)
Not quite sure what drove me to make this of all the yummy recipe's I saw this week, but I'm so glad I did. I decided to use blueberries since I'm not the hugest fan of blackberries with all those seeds in there. Anyhoodles. This cake was listed as easy, and she does not lie. It was SO simple. It retrospect, I am 99% sure I left out the vanilla- whoops! Still looks okay going into the oven...
The crust is interesting, because it's Nilla Wafers with Walnuts instead of graham crackers. I really liked the flavor and may just use less of it next time, the crust was a little thick for my taste. I was really hoping that I could be the magician who could make a non-cracking cheesecake, but alas, no. I had a giant whopping, San Andreas-style crack smack dab in the middle. I think it was because my oven is a little funky on the temperatures. Yeah, that sounds good. Either way, it was a fairly easy fix, I just poured the topping on it! I'm pretty sure it didn't get to cool as long as it should have, but I was on a time crunch-o-rama time! Once it had a chance to actually cool, we all tasted it and the verdict is- it's a hit!
I had to have Mike's family finish the rest so as to avoid adding more inches to the hips, but not before I got another piece of it myself :)
And now? It's all gone:
I think next time I would try subbing the cream cheese for low fat cream cheese and see if that makes a huge difference. Also? STRAWBERRIES! YUMMMM. Those would make an amazing addition to this cheesecake. Either way friends, please, for your own sake, make this one. You'll thank me (and Pioneer Woman) later.
Monday, June 21, 2010
In honor of the first day of summer: PEACHES!!!!
Good day to all! It's officially summer here and in honor of this wonderful and glorious season (or so I say until the 100+ temps get here), and mostly for Father's Day, I made Peach Upside Down cake!!! Holy smokes! I've been frequenting a new baking blogger recently, Evil Shenanigans, and she has some delicious looking recipes on her page. Last week I tried her Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Chips, and Sunday I tried this Peach Cake. Let me tell you- it turns out just as beautifully from an amateur (me) as it does in her photos. I forgot to actually take photos, but you'll just have to take my word for it.
The recipe is super easy, and more importantly, super delicious! Please, for your own good- make this cake.
Happy summer friends!
update: I re-made this cake JUST so I had photographic evidence of how beautiful it is. Or just so that I have to eat it again. You decide.
Now that I look at it I should have squeezed one more slice in, but still a feast for the eyes!
The recipe is super easy, and more importantly, super delicious! Please, for your own good- make this cake.
Happy summer friends!
update: I re-made this cake JUST so I had photographic evidence of how beautiful it is. Or just so that I have to eat it again. You decide.
Now that I look at it I should have squeezed one more slice in, but still a feast for the eyes!Thursday, June 10, 2010
A comedy of errors... AKA- Why I normally follow recipes!
Well hello there! It's been a while. I promise you I've been baking, but I always forget to take photos and my adventures have been rather uneventful- until last night. I've had two bananas ripening on my counter for about a week now, so last night was pretty much my last chance to use them in a recipe. Bakerella posted Blueberry Banana Muffin recipe a couple of weeks ago and I thought it sounded enticing so I've been kind of saving my two bananas to bake these delightful treats. Her blog makes them look SO perfect!
Everything started out just fine:
See? Just fine. Eggs, flour mixture, sugars, banana, buttermilk... Improvisation in baking is just not my strongest suit.
Her recipe calls for fresh blueberries, but I've been out of town and my fresh fruit selection is scant at best. I had some frozen blueberries- so I decided that any blueberries would do. It also calls for a cup of bananas smooshed up. Well my two bananas only made up 3/4 cup when smooshed, so I improvised with buttermilk for the remaining 1/4 cup. I really thought this would work! The strawberry bread (Make this bread. You will thank me. Oh, and make it withtwo cups of berries) I made last week was SO pretty. And SO delicious! And it had buttermilk- therefore, every quick bread must taste fine using buttermilk, right? That was my logic and I'm sticking to it.
So as I'm mixing, I'm just about to the last step, gently folding in the blueberries, and I look around to make sure I've gotten everything. I really did look, but apparently I have selective vision I missed the butter that was sitting in plain sight. After I folded in the blueberries (thanks to their frozen-ness, they made pretty purple swirls throughout the batter) and had the batter evenly distributed in the muffin cups, I realized my snafu. Well, poo. I proceeded to scoop the batter back into the mixing bowl once I decided that missing the butter completely would be worse than having completely purple batter. So I go the most gentle route possible and used a wooden spoon to "mix" in the butter. What a mess. The butter was not creamed and therefore never made it past the chunk phase. I did my best to at least distribute it through out the muffins, but it was a horrible result.
The muffins never even made it into my mouth. They felt game-y and tough (can quick breads be game-y???) so I didn't even try them. Unfortunately, because so many things went wrong, I can't even point out how to make this recipe usable, except to tell you to just do as Bakerella says. I'm sure she's right! :)
Everything started out just fine:
See? Just fine. Eggs, flour mixture, sugars, banana, buttermilk... Improvisation in baking is just not my strongest suit.
Her recipe calls for fresh blueberries, but I've been out of town and my fresh fruit selection is scant at best. I had some frozen blueberries- so I decided that any blueberries would do. It also calls for a cup of bananas smooshed up. Well my two bananas only made up 3/4 cup when smooshed, so I improvised with buttermilk for the remaining 1/4 cup. I really thought this would work! The strawberry bread (Make this bread. You will thank me. Oh, and make it withtwo cups of berries) I made last week was SO pretty. And SO delicious! And it had buttermilk- therefore, every quick bread must taste fine using buttermilk, right? That was my logic and I'm sticking to it.
So as I'm mixing, I'm just about to the last step, gently folding in the blueberries, and I look around to make sure I've gotten everything. I really did look, but apparently I have selective vision I missed the butter that was sitting in plain sight. After I folded in the blueberries (thanks to their frozen-ness, they made pretty purple swirls throughout the batter) and had the batter evenly distributed in the muffin cups, I realized my snafu. Well, poo. I proceeded to scoop the batter back into the mixing bowl once I decided that missing the butter completely would be worse than having completely purple batter. So I go the most gentle route possible and used a wooden spoon to "mix" in the butter. What a mess. The butter was not creamed and therefore never made it past the chunk phase. I did my best to at least distribute it through out the muffins, but it was a horrible result.
The muffins never even made it into my mouth. They felt game-y and tough (can quick breads be game-y???) so I didn't even try them. Unfortunately, because so many things went wrong, I can't even point out how to make this recipe usable, except to tell you to just do as Bakerella says. I'm sure she's right! :)
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