Champagne Cake for Mardi Gras

I am SO proud of this one!  I think it's the best decorated one yet.  I still have lots of practicing to do, especially making the corners of a square fondant-covered cake smooth.  But from where I was over a year ago, I'm doing pretty good.

I'm not one for hearts and such, so I chose a Mardi Gras theme for this February birthday cake.  I used tumeric for the gold fondant, and TruColor Natural Food colors for the purple, green, and gold decorations.  And I was also able to play around with rice paper for the feathers on top.  What fun!

I learned a lot on this cake.  I can't wait to do another like it.  Maybe on the Day of the Dead, or Talk Like a Pirate Day!  Oooooh, how much fun would those be?!

 Champagne Cake
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup champagne
6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 325° & prepare a 10" round cake pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with champagne.

In another large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake at 325 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes or longer, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

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The Perfect White Cake

The Perfect White Cake, from Cooks Illustrated by way of I Am Baker.

This is the best, most useful white cake I've ever baked or tasted. I haven't tried a LOT of white cake recipes because once I tried this one, it was so far and away better than any other I've ever baked or tasted that I quit searching for "The One."  Because it IS "The One."

The latest Perfect White Cake I just baked this afternoon using
gluten free flour (garbonzo bean based), fresh out of the oven
and still hot. Baked at 325F for one hour and fifteen minutes.
This one was even lighter than the one baked yesterday at a
lower temp for longer time.

I've made this in all kinds of ways: regular wheat, gluten free, all purpose flour instead of cake flour (*without* added corn starch), even forgot the vanilla once (accidentally putting in extra almond flavor instead), and it has always been fab.

It's springy-soft, but dense enough for fondant and stacking. (Full disclosure - I have yet to stack anything bigger than a three-tier, 8"-6"-4", so not sure how it'd hold up if you try stacking a 14" one or so, but I'd think it'd do well with good support.)

It isn't bright, clear white, but if you need that level of whiteness for a wedding or such, I'd try bleached white cake flour, clear vanilla, and substitute solid-at-room-temp coconut oil for the butter. I've used coconut oil instead of butter or shortening in other baked recipes, and it's always great. Make sure your almond flavor's clear, too. I've not tried this level of changing up the recipe so you would want to do a test run of course, but can't imagine that it wouldn't work quite well.

Just a note: bleached white flour is just that - bleached.  So in no way is it organic or even halfway healthy.  Would I ever use it?  I'm not sure.  Maybe.  Only if it was a very special circumstance when regular yellowish flour wouldn't work.  But I surely wouldn't do it often.  Everything in moderation.

Also, it may need baking for longer than the 25-30 minutes given in the recipe. Test at that time and see how you come out with it. I can't remember for sure how long at 350F, but experimenting today with baking lower and longer to get it lighter on the outside, it took an hour and fifteen minutes at 325. Came out beautifully.

Even the bottom was beautiful. I lined the pan with parchment
paper only - no grease or flour or anything else.

It freezes well, too. I did an experiment with one once: wrapped it in three layers of plastic wrap, then in a ziploc freezer bag, froze it and kept taking it out periodically to taste test it, sometimes letting the whole thing defrost and sometimes just cutting a piece off and putting it back. Six months later and it was still *really* good, as good or better than when first baked.

And, if all that's not enough, since the flavor is so neutral (yet still OH-SO-TASTY!!), you can use just about any filling or frosting or icing or ganache you can think of.  ... Well, maybe not avocado.  Yeah, probably not that.  But I bet it would even be good with cheese.  Mmmmm cheddar.  And bacon.  Ooooooh!  Bacon cake with chocolate ganache!  Nomnomnom.  I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow...

~*~

The Perfect White Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour (or all-purpose - just substitute 2 Tbsps per cup with same amount of cornstarch - if you don't have cornstarch, it'll still be very tasty, just a bit more dense, like pound cake)
1 cup milk at room temperature
6 large egg whites at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract (or leave out, subbing ONE extra tsp vanilla)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool (if all you have is salted butter, just leave out the salt above)

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans.
• Make sure milk and eggs are room temperature. Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into medium bowl and whisk until blended.
• Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter, cut into cubes and continue beating on low for about 1-2 minutes.
• Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to flour mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat for about 1 minute.
• Pour batter evenly between two prepared cake pans.
• Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 27 to 30 minutes, though could be much longer depending on your oven.
• Alternately, for a lighter crust: Bake at 325 for one hour, test, and bake for an additional 15 minutes if not quite done.

~*~

Three-tier, gluten-free Perfect White Cake with cream cheese frosting. Made July, 2014.

 ~*~

Snow Cake ~ January, 2015

 ~*~

Kentucky Christmas Cake ~ Fruitcake

Since it's Christmastime, I thought I'd try a sort of fruitcake.  The one I chose is called Kentucky Christmas Cake.  I made it the same week I decorated and took it to work and it was kind of dry.  I think next time I'll do the traditional "feeding" - cooking it a month or more ahead of time and pouring whiskey or bourbon over it every week.

I also made homemade marshmallows to top it with.  I was aiming for a "naked cake" look; stacked, un-iced cakes.  Then have the marshmallows running down the "mountain" like snow.  In order to do that, I had to work quickly, putting a bit in between each layer, stacking it, then pouring it down the cake from the top down.  It didn't quite turn out like I'd hoped, partly I think because I didn't work quickly enough and they cooled off too much to run down the cake really well, but I still liked it a lot.

Kentucky Christmas Cake

2 tsp nutmeg
¼ cup whiskey
1 lb. pecans, coarsely chopped
½ lb. raisins or sultanas
1½ cups flour, divided
1 cup butter
1½ cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp baking soda
⅛ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325°.  Grease and flour a 10" tube pan, or two 8" cake pans.
Soak the nutmeg in the whiskey for ten minutes.  Stir together pecans, raisins, and ¼ cup flour.  Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.  Fold in remaining flour, along with cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, soaked nutmeg, pecans, and raisins/sultanas, until well combined.

Spoon into prepared pans and bake for one hour and fifteen minutes, or until cake pulls away slightly from the edge of the pan.  Let stand in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack for complete cooling.


Homemade Marshmallows
from The Barefoot Contessa

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

With a sieve, generously dust an 8 by 12-inch nonmetal baking dish with confectioners' sugar. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth the top, and dust with more confectioners' sugar. Allow to stand uncovered overnight until it dries out.

Turn the marshmallows onto a board and cut them in squares. Dust them with more confectioners' sugar.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake - September's Cakes

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

with Chocolate Ganache and Fresh Strawberries

2¼ cups cake flour
¼ tsp salt
2½ tsp baking powder
½ cup butter
1½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup crushed, fresh strawberries
1 cup cream
½ cup milk


Cream Cheese Icing

Chocolate Ganache


Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.  In separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat for 3 minutes.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with strawberries.  Beat for 2 minutes.
Pour into two 8" baking pans and bake for 350° for 25 minutes (or 325° for longer).

Ice with cream cheese icing, stacking as you go, and cover with a thick chocolate ganache.  Decorate with a few fresh strawberries.

Marshmallow Fondant

I love marshmallow fondant!  It's easy to make from materials that don't cost much, really dresses up

a cake, and tastes pretty darn good, especially when compared to store-bought.  That stuff's nasty.  One of these days, I'll learn how to make my own marshmallows so it'll taste even better, and I can avoid corn syrup and all the other nasties in regular marshmallows.  But until then, I'll keep using this recipe:

 Marshmallow Fondant

1 16 oz. package marshmallows

2 or 3 Tablespoons butter

3 to 5 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla (optional)
Note:
For snow white fondant, substitute a clear oil such as coconut for the butter, and leave out the vanilla unless it's clear as well.

Melt butter in a 3 or 4 quart cooking pan over medium heat, rolling pan until butter covers then entire bottom and sides.  Add marshmallows and stir until melted (it may take a while).  Remove from heat and sift in sugar one cup at a time, stopping when it becomes like a firm ball of bread dough.

Cover your counter with some butcher paper if desired, wax side up.  Cover your hands with a health amount of coconut oil, rubbing it all over the butcher paper or counter as well.  Turn out the marshmallow "dough" onto the prepared paper and roll out to 1/8" thickness, adding more oil as needed.

If the fondant is sticky yet firm and stretchy, or is dry and breaks/cracks, add more oil.  If it's sticky and gooey, add more sugar. 

~*~

When I first started making this, I used a LOT of powdered sugar since the recipe called for it.  It also said to keep adding sugar if it got sticky.  All that sugar did was make it dry, so dry that it would crack and break.

Sometimes that made happy accidents, such as with the dark brown cake above.  I wanted to cover that peanut butter cake with chocolate fondant, so I kept adding cocoa and kept adding cocoa (instead of powdered sugar), thinking it would help the stickiness I was encountering since the cocoa was dry like sugar (I was still believing in the original recipe).  It just kept breaking into pieces, so I stacked them and rolled them, leaving the lines from the cracks so that it looked like leather.  Neat. 

That fondant was leftover from the fondant I used to cover the gold cake above.  For that one, I followed the original recipe that called for a lot of sugar.  Because it was so dense, I wasn't able to roll it out very thin.  It ended up fairly thick.  You can see how thick if you look closely at the triangle cutouts surrounding the base on the sides.  Those were cut from the same fondant.

It wasn't what I'd call bad tasting really, but the marshmallow flavor did kind of overwhelm the cake flavor because there was so much of it.  I switched to peeling off half of the fondant before taking a bite and it was much better.  (Btw, I used Wilton gold dust and lemon extract to paint it on.  Lemon wasn't the best flavor with the chocolate, but it was all I had on hand. I've since bought a bottle of everclear for painting since it evaporates completely.)

For the lighter brown cake just above and to the right, I also covered it with some previously-frozen white fondant with cocoa kneaded in.  This time I did things a bit differently, adding "wet" and "dry" both as I kneaded.

I covered my hands in a generous amount of solid-at-room-temp coconut oil, then rubbed it over the entire blob of fondant.  I started kneading it, dipping into the oil and adding more to the blob as I went.

Once it was well-softened, I spread it out into a flat blob about 8" across and topped it with a good bit of cocoa, maybe 1/4 cup or more.  Then I folded it and kneaded it, folded and kneaded, until the cocoa was worked in.  I kept this up, adding more oil and cocoa as needed, 'til it was as brown as I wanted and the color was even.

Once I started rolling it out, I noticed it was much easier than it ever has been, and I was able to get it thinner than I ever have.  I'm thinking the extra oil was the answer, though I may have gone a bit overboard with the oil.

With the oil and thinness, it was harder to pick up.  If it touched any part of itself, it stuck firmly.  I carefully pulled it off the paper, holding it with both hands, and draped it over the cake.  All those beautiful folds in the cake?  Just happened that way!  I love it.  It's never done that before.  It was a bit shiny, too - not sure that would work on other cakes, but it did on this one.

The white cake above and below was covered with fondant with a teaspoon of regular vanilla mixed in.  It makes it an attractive creamy, beige-y off white.  I like how that makes the snow white cream cheese icing really pop.  Also, I think I got the "wet" and "dry" additions while kneading about right on this one.

I think one of these days I'll experiment with coloring more.  Maybe I'll try kneading in a LOT of tumeric.  I think I'll also try beet juice, probably with extra sugar to counteract the extra moisture in the juice, though will probably try this on a small amount as I'm thinking it might make it too sticky.  And then maybe I'll try spinach for green.  Wonder what that'll look like.  And blueberry juice, and cherry juice, and ... and ...

Or I'll just learn to paint.

Heaven & Hell Cake

June's birthday cake at work was the Heaven and Hell Cake ~ angel food and devil's food layers with peanut butter ganache in between.  It was a lot of work, but worth it.  I did change it up a bit and put a layer of chocolate ganache in the very middle.  Yum.

I was also making a cake for Toddi's birthday and covered it with marshmallow fondant.  I had some left over, so decided to play with it. 

I'd already colored some icing for this cake with tumeric (yellow), cocoa (brown), and paprika (orangey-red), so tried coloring the fondant with tumeric, too.

It didn't turn out so well.  It might have worked had I used more, but it wasn't looking appetizing, so decided to try working in some cocoa.  It took a lot of cocoa, but turned out nice.

I love playing around, not really having any outcome I'm dead-set on, just seeing what happens.  I learn a lot that way. 

While playing with the fondant this time, I learned that it's good to add oil when it gets sticky.  Before, I would dust on some powdered sugar.  It just made it more sticky, and more dry and brittle.  But that's what I'd read online, so I kept at it. 

This time I was using some fondant I'd made before and froze for later.  Since it was dry, I thought it would be good to coat it and my hands in a little coconut oil.  I don't know why I didn't connect those dots before.  I'm glad I finally did since it was SO MUCH EASIER to knead it and roll it this time! Very little stickiness, nice and smooth, easy to fold and knead without it splitting much, and when it did it was a cinch to knead those right out. 

And I was able to get it thinner than I've every gotten it.  Thin enough that it draped so beautifully when I put it on the cake.  I saw that, said "Huh", and went with it, tucking it in a bit and trimming to fit the plate.  Another nice thing learned from just going with the flow.

Nice.  I love learning new tricks.

~*~

Heaven & Hell Cake

Angel Food Cake
2/3 cup cake flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup egg white ( about seven or eight)
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract 

Devil's Food Cake 
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda 
 
Peanut Butter Ganache/Mousse
12 ounces cream cheese
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 cups peanut butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup heavy cream 

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate 

Directions:

Angel Food Cake
Preheat oven to 375°F.  Cut a circle of parchment paper or wax paper to fit the bottom of a 9" cake pan. Do not grease the pan or paper. Sift together the flour and powdered sugar and set aside. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer. Beat slowly while adding the salt and cream of tartar and continue beating for 1 minute or until soft peaks form. Increase speed to medium, add sugar into whites by tablespoons until all is incorporated, then beat about 1-1/2 minutes longer. When egg whites have stiff peaks, add vanilla and almond extract. Remove bowl from mixer and sprinkle half of the powdered sugar-flour mixture and fold in again, using a minimum number of strokes so the egg whites do not deflate. Gently spoon the mixture into the pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Do not over bake or the cake will sink in the center.

Devil's Food Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F.Oil and flour a round 9-inch cake pan. Sift the cocoa powder into the mixing bowl, then drizzle in the coffee while whisking to make a smooth paste. Set aside. (Might be more liquid than paste) Combine shortening, sugar, vanilla, and eggs and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Alternately add the cocoa-coffee mixture and the flour mixture to the sugar-egg mixture and continue beating until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Test for doneness.  
Peanut Butter Ganache/Mousse
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream cheese until light and creamy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, then the peanut butter.If mixture looks lumpy, add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Continue beating until thoroughly incorporated and fluffy. Transfer mixture to another bowl and set aside. Place heavy cream in the electric mixer bowl and whip until stiff. Carefully, but thoroughly, combine both mixtures; set aside. 

Chocolate Ganache
In a saucepan, bring the cream just short of a boil and stir in the chocolate. Remove from heat, cover pan and let the chocolate melt. Whisk to combine thoroughly then let cool to room temperature.

Assembling the cake
When both cakes have cooled, carefully slice them in half horizontally with a long, serrated knife so that you now have four layers. Place one layer of the devil's food cake on a cake plate and spoon 1/3 of the peanut butter mousse on the top. Place a layer of the angel food on top of the mousse and spread with the chocolate ganache. Place another layer of devil's food cake, then peanut butter mousse, then angel food cake.  Frost with cream cheese icing. 

Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving. Slice thinly. It's rich! 

Heaven & Hell Cake recipe #22312 on Food.com

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake ~ May Birthday Cake

I love chocolate, and so do everyone at work, so this month I decided to try another chocolate cake.  I was looking through the recipes at Hersheys.com and found this one.  Man, is it good!! 

I made marshmallow fondant to cover the cake.  I used vanilla in it, so it was slightly off-white.  I didn't really notice it until I went to put it on the cake.  It was quite apparent when put alongside the snow white crumbcoat of cream cheese icing.

But it was pretty!  Made it look like a wedding cake.

 When I started the writing with the same snow white cream cheese icing, it stood out on the beige-y fondant, looking even more white.  I really like that.

Then when I cut into it, the dark chocolate interior made it even more apparent, how white the cream cheese icing is.

Man, isn't that something?

~*~

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:

ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes. 

Link to Recipe on Hershey's.com

April Birthday - Kirk's Grandma's Italian Cream Cake

I'm amassing quite the cake cookbook!  And I've got another winner of a recipe to add to it - Kirk's Grandma's Italian Cream Cake.  I made it last week and boy what a reception it got!  Yeah, everyone loves free cake, so they're not apt to complain if it wasn't tasty, but I've been quite blunt with some people that I want honest feedback, and they've been giving it to me (Thanks, Sarah and Kirk.  Really.  You're helping me become a better baker and I appreciate it greatly.). 

A few months ago, Kirk gave me his Grandma's Italian Cream Cake recipe.  I kept wanting to make it but didn't.  Month before last, I went to make it and realized I didn't have all the ingredients (buttermilk isn't something I keep on hand), and last month I had to make the Guinness Cake.  It was so fitting that I couldn't not do it.

Gluten-free one, using Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour and Xanthan Gum

There was also the nervousness that helped me procrastinate.  It's a little more involved than other cakes.  You have to beat the egg whites stiff and fold them in gently or it'll be heavy.  Kirk gave me great instructions on that, but I was still afraid I'd screw it up.  I'd never whipped egg whites, much less folded something into them, and I was a bit hesitant.

But this month, I decided I just had to go ahead and try it.  Man, I'm glad I did.

~*~*~*~

Italian Cream Cake

Ingredients:
      For cake:

Regular organic wheat flour one

1 stick salted butter
½ cup solid-at-room-temp coconut oil
2 cups sugar
5 large egg yolks
2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup buttermilk             
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
5 egg whites beaten stiff
        For icing:
 16 oz cream cheese 
1 stick softened butter
1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

1. CAKE: Grease and flour three 8” cake pans then line the bottoms with waxed paper.
2. Preheat oven to 350˚.
3. Cream butter, coconut oil, and sugar.  Add egg yolks one at a time beating well after each addition.
4. Sift flour and soda.  Add flour mixture to wet ingredients, alternating with buttermilk.
5. Add vanilla, coconut and pecans.
6. Fold in the beaten egg whites by hand.
7. Bake for 25 minutes – test with a toothpick.  Cool on wire racks and remove from pans discarding wax paper.
8. FROSTING: Once cake has cooled completely – two hours or so – begin frosting – all frosting ingredients should be at room temperature.
9. Cream the cream cheese with butter {Linda's note: Beat the HELL out of it.}.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla. {Then beat the HELL out of it again.  I beat it for at least ten full minutes on high in my stand-up mixer.  It was incredibly light and fluffy.}
10. Place a dollop of icing to the bottom of the platter to stabilize the first layer then frost as with any cake using toothpicks to stabilize the multiple layers.
11. Press pecans onto the side with your hands (this handily masks any imperfections on the sides).
    Notes: 
    • Kirk's recipe had 1/2 cup Crisco shortening, but I subbed the coconut oil since I didn't have any Crisco on hand.
    • I also made a gluten-free cake by subbing  Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour for the regular flour, only this time I noticed a note on the side of the package that said to use xanthan gum with it.  I happened to have some on hand, so added the appropriate amount.  I think it made a big difference.
    • I doubled the recipe for icing since I made two cakes, but didn't have enough cream cheese (had three 8oz. packages, needed four).  So I subbed another stick of butter and it turned out fine.

~*~

October, 2014 birthday cake - Kirk's Grandma had just passed away.  The sign says "In honor of Kirk's Grandma, these are Italian Cream Cakes made from her recipe."  

~*~

March Birthday Cakes - or, What Can Be Better Than BEER CAKE!

This month, a coworker was turning 21.  That's a milestone birthday, so I thought something special was in order.  That week was incredibly hectic, so didn't really have time for anything fancy.  I had a recipe for Rich Guinness Cake in my "To Try" book, so decided to make that to mark the occasion, bring it in on his actual birthday on the 16th (Bonus: Guinness cake doing double-duty for St. Patrick's Day!), and call it good.

The bottle of Guinness is real.  (I WISH I was that good.)

But I'd had a thought that building a cake in the shape of a pint would be so cool.  I've wanted to try sculpting a "3D" cake for a while now.  It would be fun, funNY, and fabulous!  ... But ...  With so much going on this week, I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off.  So I relegated it to "next year" or "someday".

I always do that.  I always think of learning how to do something that sounds interesting, or building some cool thingamabob I dream up, or trying something new that piques my fancy, but I have a bad habit of saying "someday", "maybe next time", "one of these days...", instead of actually doing it.

A year or two ago, I made a resolution to stop doing that, to push myself instead of procrastinating and relegating things to the SomeDay Pile.  I've done pretty good at breaking that habit.

That's why I teach preschool now, give classes and talks at libraries and garden clubs, and have an orchard out back of a huge vegetable garden with raised beds and an asparagus patch in it.  It's also the impetus for the Monthly Birthday Cakes for everyone at work - I'd been wanting to learn to bake tasty, pretty cakes for years, so jumped right in, thinking that if I screw up it wouldn't matter.  I mean, who complains about free cake, right?

So the thought of building that pint cake kept bugging me.  I really wanted to do it.  But I didn't have the time.  I really didn't - one of my other resolutions a while back was to quit stretching myself too thin with too many things to do and to make time for myself, time to do things that feed my soul.  I try to only do things now if I really enjoy them.

Regular wheat-flour cake on the left, gluten-free on the right.

The resolution to scale back is at odds with the one to chip away at the Someday Pile of course.  So what's evolved from these conflicting resolutions is this: When I am faced with Doing Something Cool And Fun Just Because I Can, I put it in the Maybe Pile.  Every so often, I take a look at that pile and see what's floated to the top.

For days, Pint Cake was on top, jumping up and down, yelling, "Make me!"  I kept thinking about how I'd do it, turning ideas over and over in my head - use wire to support it ... no, didn't have any food-safe wire ... bamboo skewers, yes! ... glass, what to use for glass ... homemade gummy! ... but it would leave a seam ... hmmm ... maybe dark chocolate would be shiny enough ... mmmmmm, dark chocolate ...   And on and on it went.  So I decided I'd give it a try, but NOT make a plan to definitely do it.  I would just play, and maybe learn something even if I didn't end up with a Pint Cake.

When I baked the Guinness cakes for that month, I poured a little extra batter into a shallow pan to fool around with.  I cut out some circles, small ones and bigger ones.  I stacked them, put toothpicks in them, thought of how much that would hurt if someone bit into them just right, removed the toothpicks, restacked them, thought maybe glue would be better, put dowels in them, and otherwise cogitated and ruminated on just how to do this. 

Ultimately, I succeeded!!  And it was so cool.  My first sculpted "3D" cake.  And I'm insanely proud of it. 

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How I made it (recipes below):

While baking the other cakes, I poured a thin layer of extra batter into a 4" x 18" cake pan.  It baked up to about an inch and a half tall, or thereabouts.  Using round cookie cutters in two sizes (2 1/2" and 3"), I cut four pieces from the cooled cake, two of each size.  

Out of a cardboard cake board, I cut two round pieces the same size as the smaller cake pieces and stacked them to form a base, then stuck three wooden skewers through the two layers of cake board, spacing them out in a triangle pattern a bit apart from each other.  

I love how he looks drunk almost more than I love the pinky.

I slid the cake pieces onto the skewers, top down, small pieces first (for the base of the glass).  Once I got them skewered and snugged at the bottom of the skewers, I noticed the cardboard bases were a bit bigger than the cake, so I trimmed them with an exacto knife.  

Once I was happy with how it was sitting, I covered the sides including the cake board rounds with extra-strong chocolate ganache.  I refrigerated it 'til it was hardened (I left it in overnight, but an hour in the fridge or half an hour in the freezer should do), then took it out and added another thicker layer, then back in the fridge.  Once it was hardened again (overnight again, but as before, less time would do), I took it out of the fridge and let it sit about half an hour while I made the icing for the other cakes.  Then I smoothed the sides with my warm hands.  It was still quite hard, but the warmth from my hands was enough to melt the chocolate just so that it was a bit pliable, enough that I was able to sculpt it into a more realistic shape than it had been in, with slowly sloping sides and crisp top edge.  

Took them just three short hours to finish them all off.

Lastly, I rubbed on some coconut oil to give it a bit of sheen like glass, using a piece of plastic wrap to rub with so I didn't leave more fingerprints (be sure to rub long enough that all the chunks of unmelted coconut oil are melted and smoothed out).  Then into the freezer for an hour while I iced the other cakes.

Next, I trimmed the wooden skewers to just above the top of the cake, leaving enough to stick up a bit and help hold the icing that would be the foam.  For the foam, I used some of the cream cheese icing I'd made to ice the other two cakes - removed some from the mixing bowl before adding the green color, and slightly tinted it with cocoa.  Then back into the fridge with it.

I glued it to the cake plate with some of the ganache, then put it back in the fridge.  It was stuck on so well that when I took it out of the fridge the next morning, I could turn the plate upside-down and it stayed on!  But, when I tried that trick an hour or so later at work, it fell off.  ACK!  Luckily, I caught it and only put a couple fingerprints on it.  Whew!  So much for showing off! 

Rich Guinness Cake

I filled it with the rest of the ganache. A seam of chocolate in there was nice.

from Food.com

2/3 cup stout beer, such as Guinness
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2/3 cup sour cream

♣ Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter one 8-inch round cake pan. Line with parchment or wax paper. Butter paper.  

♣ Bring stout and butter to a simmer in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa; whisk until smooth. Cool slightly.  

♣ Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl to blend; set aside. Beat egg, yolk and sour cream with electric mixer in another large bowl to blend. 

♣ Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture, and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat 30 seconds on slowest speed. Fold batter using rubber spatula until completely combined.  

♣ Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 50 to 55 minutes, or until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Transfer to rack; cool.

Extra-Strong Chocolate Ganache

I saw this in a thread on Cake Central.  A poster was raving about how firm it was and what a wonderful base for further decorating.  It's a LOT like the recipe for White Chocolate Ganache on Food.com. 

♣ 3 parts extra-dark chocolate (can substitute others from the baking aisle - add sugar as needed if using baking, bittersweet, or unsweetened)
♣ 1 part heavy whipping cream

Warm the cream in a double boiler over medium heat.  Add the chocolate, broken up into small bits.  Continue to heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted, fully incorporated with the cream, and smooth.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3 to 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Mix the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on low until fully mixed and smooth.  Add the sugar, one cup at a time, allowing each cup to mix in thoroughly before adding the next.  Continue adding sugar until you get the desired consistency.
Optional: You can add a teaspoon or two vanilla or other flavoring of your choice, as well as color if desired.

This is fast becoming my go-to frosting since you can use it for a main covering as well as piping, it's so versatile (any kind of flavoring or color goes with it), and everyone LOVES it (and it IS good - better than regular buttercream).  I've gotten so many compliments on it.  It's one of the main things people ask about.

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I think he liked it.