Spring Cake

One of the things that I like so much about making cakes is I feel like I am creating some sort of work of art. I have NEVER EVER been an artistic person. I had to take drawing in 7th grade and it was a painful experience. We once had to draw an animal, that animal morphing into some sort of tool, and then the tool. Seriously? Why? I ask you why?

So, you can imagine that when I work on cakes, I can get a little touchy with people telling me how to decorate them. I think most people don't understand that I put hours into these things, so someone telling me to just leave off part of a decoration irks me. So please, unless you specifically ordered flowers with no leaves, just trust me that most flowers have them and the whole cake will look better with them.

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Marshmallow Fondant

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16 ounces white mini-marshmallows (use a good quality brand)

2 to 5 tablespoons water

2 pounds powdered sugar

1/2 cup Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)

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Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler: Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. It usually takes about 2 1/2 minutes total. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.
Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY (palms, backs, and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle. (By the way, this recipe is also good for your hands. When I’m done, they are baby soft.)
Start kneading like you would bread dough.

Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time and then knead it in). It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
It is best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.
Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap product and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible.

Birthday Cake Part II: Conviviality

Con*viv`i*al"i*ty\, n.; pl. Convivialities. The good humor or mirth indulged in upon festive occasions; a convivial spirit or humor; festivity.

My coworker's Best Friend called me one day asking if I would make a surprise cake for B for her actual birthday celebration. She only had one request: that the phrase "Welcome to Your Mid-Twenty's" be on the cake, since B has been excited to turn 24, since that will put her in her mid-20's.

She has also proclaimed this year the year of Conviviality. And what says "conviviality" and "welcome to your mid-20's" than a Topsy-Turvey Moulin Rouge-esq cake? The top tier was 3 Vanilla with a Raspberry icing, the middle tier was carmel with carmel icing, and the bottom tier was chocolate with a chocolate ganache filling and chocolate frosting. This cake was actually relatively easy to make. The fondant went on smoothly, EC helped make it all Topsey-Turvey and the decorations were no where as detailed as the Jungle Cake. I personally think the feathers made the whole cake. Sometimes it is good to sweat the little things.

Ganache Filling

From RecipeZaar.com

6 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream

Directions

Place chopped chocolate in a medium-sized bowl.
Heat heavy cream and sugar (if using) in a large heavy saucepan over med-hi heat until it simmers gently.
Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir gently until the chocolate is mostly melted.
Let stand for 15mins to be sure all chocolate is melted.
Stir ganache gently until perfectly smooth, let cool.
Cover and chill for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight (it must be very cold or it will curdle when it's whipped; ganache can be made up to 4 days ahead).
When you're ready to assemble the cake (and NOT before), whip ganache until it's stiff enough to hold a nice shape and seems spreadable (Don't overwhip; overwhipped ganache looks granular, so watch carefully).
Spread whipped ganache immediately, as it will firm as it sits.

Birthday Cake, Part I

A while back at work I decided I was tired of guessing what type of birthday treat everyone liked for their birthday, so I made all of my co-workers fill out a staff survey. I figured that was fair, due to the fact that I was tired of trying to sneakily figure out if they liked cake and if not, what other birthday treat they would prefer.

You see, at my office, when someone has a birthday, we always have a potluck. We try to go about it in a covert manner - not let the person actually know we are having the potluck in their honor, not let them know the theme, but it has become standard practice around work to have the potluck, so the only time it is a suprise is if they forget your birthday and you DON'T get one. No bitter feelings about my birthday last year...

It was recently my coworker B's birthday, and on her sheet she said she liked "Ooey Gooey chocolate-y carmel cheesecake". So I asked her if she would prefer a cake or a cheesecake. This caused her some dilemma, so I told her not to worry about it, I would figure something out. After a little Google searching I came across this recipe for Cheesecake Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cake. Wonderful, two birds, one stone. I made some alterations, I made my own cake instead of using a box mix, and I used Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting instead of from a can.

Ok, this was one of the best cakes in the world. I don't know if it was the combination of chocolate cake and cheesecake or the dreamy frosting, but whatever it is, it caused a fight between two people over who got the one piece. SUCCESS!

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Cheesecake Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cake

From Christmas with Southern Living

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Ingredients:

Unsweetened cocoa

1 (18.25-oz.) package devil’s food cake mix

1 (3.4-oz.) package chocolate instant pudding mix

3 large eggs

1 1⁄4 cups milk

1 cup canola oil

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 1⁄2 tsp. chocolate extract (optional)

1 tsp. almond extract

3 (1.55-oz.) milk chocolate bars, chopped (we tested with Hershey’s)

3 (16-oz.) cans homestyle cream cheese frosting

3 (7.75-oz.) boxes frozen cheesecake bites, coarsely chopped (we tested with Sara Lee)

1 (12-oz.) jar dulce de leche caramel sauce (we tested with Smucker’s)

Double chocolate rolled wafer cookies, coarsely broken (we tested with Pirouline)

Chocolate fudge rolled wafer cookies, coarsely broken (we tested with Pepperidge Farm)

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Preparation:

Grease 2 (9") round cakepans, and dust with cocoa.Beat cake mix and next 7 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute; then beat at mediumspeed 2 minutes. Fold in chopped milk chocolate bars. Pour batter into prepared pans.Bake at 350° for 32 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool cake in pans on wireracks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.Wrap and chill cake layers at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. (This step enables you to split cake layerswith ease.)Using a serrated knife, slice cake layers in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Place 1 layer, cut side up,on a cake plate. Spread with 1⁄2 cup cream cheese frosting; sprinkle with one-fourth of choppedcheesecake bites. Repeat procedure with remaining 3 layers and cheesecake bites, omitting cheesecakebites on top of last layer. Frost sides and top of cake with remaining frosting. Drizzle desired amount ofcaramel sauce over cake, letting it drip down sides. Chill until ready to serve. Decorate cake with rolledwafer cookies and remaining chopped cheesecake bites. Store in refrigerator.

Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach

Looking at my monthly menu you can tell one of two things about me: either I really like pasta, or I am cheap, because almost all of my meals are pasta. Actually, both are true. I do like pasta, probably a bit too well. And I am cheap - I make EC turn off lights when he leaves the room, don't go out to eat very often, and take leftovers to work for lunch every day. But sometimes I need a change from the normal BLT pasta that we eat, so I found a new recipe that looked good, and it was pretty good, but I don't think I am THAT big of a fan of soggy spinach.

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Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach

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6 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

6 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound penne pasta

1 (5-ounce) bag baby spinach

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried

6 tablespoons juice from 2 lemons

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

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Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Meanwhile, combine garlic, pepper flakes and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave until garlic is golden and fragrant, about 1 minute.

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Pat chicken dry with paper towels and cut into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1 tablespoon of the garlic/red pepper oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat until oil is rippling. Add chicken and cook until well browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.

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Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to boiling water and cook until tender but still slightly firm. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water. Drain pasta and return to the pot. Stir in chicken, spinach, basil, lemon juice, Parmesan, and remaining garlic mixture, adding reserved pasta water as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Popovers

I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen recently, making various cakes. To help me pass the time, I like to listen to books on tape. My book on tape obsession dates back to middle school when I first discovered the section at the library and thought "genius, you can read a book without actually having to read". I picked up the habit again last summer as I made the 6 hour one way trek to visit EC while he lived in a different time zone completing a summer internship.

Recently I have been listening to a series about a cookie baker who solves murders. This poor baker keeps finding dead bodies. One would think that would be bad for business, but not in her fiction world. In the books, there are also recipes. I got brave and decided to try one, mostly because I was testing it to see if it would work for my brother's wedding. I don't think it will. But, the popovers were pretty good. Not like I expect them, I expected bread. These are more like a single serving German Pancake.

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Popovers

From a book on tape

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4 eggs

2 cups milk

2 cups unsifted flour

1 teaspoon salt

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Heat oven to 450. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with Pam. Whisk eggs by hand until light and uniform, approximately one minute. Whisk in milk, then dump in flour and salt all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until flour is moistened and incorporated - mixture will be lumpy. Pour into cups and bake for 30 minutes. Don't open the oven while they are baking or the Popovers will fall. Bake until browned. When you take them out of the oven, pierce the tops with a knife to release the steam and let stand for 1-2 minutes before serving.

Showering a Baby

I have this friend, who is pregnant. She was nice enough to invite me to her baby shower, so I offered to make her a cake (since I am a nice person too). The theme was jungle and the baby's room is decorated in all sorts of jungle paraphernalia (it's pretty dang cute or pretty photogenic, at least, since I have only seen pictures). It is decorated in Target's NoJo Jungle Babies stuff, and, since the baby shower theme was a jungle theme, I had the genius idea of making a jungle themed cake. Yes, I know, I don't know how these wonderful cake themes come to me either, I am just brilliant :P
Anyway, the cake took FOREVER to make, but was totally worth it, even though I didn't get to have any because at the shower they didn't want to cut into it and I had to leave early to pick EC up from church. I am sure it tasted great though, since I used a recipe that Addie has raved about, and she has yet to lead me astray. I also used a Raspberry Icing recipe for the filling of one cake and for the cupcakes. B said she liked it, so it may be what I use for the upcoming wedding cake.

Raspberry Icing

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar (sift if lumpy)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam (or more to taste - I added more, I also couldn't find seedless, so mine was seedy - hee hee)
1-2 drops red food coloring if desired (I did not so desire)

Mix ingredients together first on low speed, then beat on high until frosting is fluffy.

Out of this World Cake

For the past while I have been working on a birthday cake for my boss's son. He is turning three this year and the theme is "Celebrate His Third Orbit Around The Sun" - so my boss requested a solar system themed cake. She left the majority of the design up to me, she told me she wanted it to be a white cake with a strawberry filling - something simple for the little kids - and rectangle. Other than that I had complete creative control. The problem with giving me creative control is that I'm not very creative, as before mentioned. So, one night while EC and I were out dining at the local Tucci's (which wasn't amazing), we were talking about the cake, and he started sketching ideas for me on the paper tablecloth (which was amazing).

Armed with my tabletop drawing, I set out to work. Everything on the cake is edible, a positive since most kids I know like to stick everything in their mouths. I made stars, sculpted planets, UFOs, and little green aliens. EC got into the spirit of things and sculpted the tentacle alien.

My boss also requested cupcakes for the adults. Each cupcake was topped with a space topper and lots and lots of frosting. The vanilla cupcakes are probably the best cupcakes I have ever had in my entire life. Period. The chocolate cupcakes were ok, but not nearly as good. The actual cake, as requested, was a simple white cake. I couldn't resist adding a few sprinkles to the cake batter though, creating a "Funfetti" look.

(This was my alien, that I was super proud of)

Classic White Layer Cake

From Cooks Illustrated

Nonstick cooking spray2

2 ¼ cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus more for dusting the pans

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

6 large egg whites (¾ cup), at room temperature

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract1

¾ cups granulated sugar (12¼ ounces)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks), softened but still cool

1. For the Cake: Set oven rack in middle position. (If oven is too small to cook both layers on a single rack, set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle positions.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans (I used a 9x13) with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour.
2. Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.
3. Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
4. Add all but ½ cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1½ minutes. Add remaining ½ cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.

*To make cake Funfetti - add two tablespoons Jimmies. Gently stir until incorporated.5. Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans (or in my case, one 9x13 pan); using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. (If oven is small, place pans on separate racks in staggered fashion to allow for air circulation.) Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.
6. Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1½ hours.