THE BEWITCHING KITCHEN TURNS 16!

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Cake is pretty much mandatory, right? This blog anniversary caught me by surprise, as we are currently away. I got a bit confused and thought that the big day was later in the month. My plan was to bake for the occasion once we arrived back home. Good thing I double-checked… Full disclosure: this cake was produced in a bit of a hurry as we prepared to leave for a 2-week trip to the East Coast. Without further ado, I share with you today a lemon cake with raspberry filling and Swiss meringue buttercream. Maybe made in a hurry, but with a huge amount of love!

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH RASPBERRY FILLING
(adapted from The New York Times)

¾ cup/170 grams unsalted butter, softened
3 cups/385 grams all-purpose flour
2 cups/400 grams granulated sugar, divided
3 medium lemons
1½ cups/360 milliliters whole milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup/60 milliliters neutral oil (I used grapeseed)
4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup raspberry jam (store-bought or home-made)

1 recipe for Swiss meringue buttercream, starting with 400g butter (details here)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray three (8-inch) cake pans with baking spray and line each with parchment paper.

Make the cake: Add 350 grams of the granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, then zest the lemons directly into the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it looks moist and sandy.

Juice the zested lemons into a small bowl. Transfer ¼ cup of juice to a large measuring cup and stir in the milk. Let it sit while you prepare the rest of the cake, reserving the remaining juice for the lemon syrup.

To the bowl with the lemon sugar, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and mix on low to combine. Add the softened butter to the bowl all at once. Mix on low until the butter is evenly distributed and the mixture looks sandy. Add the oil and eggs to the measuring cup with the milk mixture and mix with a fork to combine. With the mixer on low, slowly stream in the milk mixture. When the batter is moistened, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure there aren’t any dry pockets. Adjust mixer speed to medium and mix for 1 minute more. Divide the batter among the prepared pans, spread evenly and tap the pans on a countertop to release any large air bubbles.

Bake the cakes until slightly risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Set the pans on a wire rack and let the cakes cool for about 15 minutes. Then, run a thin knife along the edges of the pan and carefully turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.

While the cakes cool, make the syrup: Measure ¼ cup lemon juice from the remaining reserved juice. Combine the juice and the remaining 50 grams sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring occasionally. Cook until the sugar has dissolved, then pour into a heat-safe container to cool.

Make the Swiss meringue buttercream. Reserve 1/3 of the amount and dye red (I used Tulip Red). Dye a very small amount with green for the stems. I used Laurel color. Dye the rest of the buttercream with Fuchsia or any other color you like.

Assemble the cake: Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate, top side up. Brush the cake with lemon syrup. Spread raspberry jam over the top of the cake. Repeat with the second layer on top of the filling, top side down, and press gently. Add the final layer. Brush the cake with syrup, then cover the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of fuchsia frosting. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Frost the cake with fuchsia, smoothing the surface. Let that set for 30 minutes, then pipe stems with green buttercream and a tip 3. Using the tulip red buttercream, pipe the flowers with a petal 101 tip, a border at the bottom with an open star tip (like #20) and a border on top with 1M tip.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Hard to believe it’s been 16 years. Hard to find what to say about it without getting cheesy or highly predictable. So I won’t say much. I’m still having fun blogging, I’m still excited every time I hit “publish” on a new post. I am not stopping quite yet. Let’s step into the 17th year of my blogging journey, and if you’ve been following me for a while, THANK YOU! If you are new here, I hope you’ll find things that inspire you to cook, bake, and be passionate about. Life is too short not to enjoy what each day brings.

Apologies for not showing pictures of the cake cut to reveal the layers and filling. It was donated whole, so I also never got to see it. And that ends up as being part of its charm… Or so I hope…

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ONE YEAR AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 15 years old!

TWO YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 14!

THREE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 13!

FOUR YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns 12!

FIVE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 11!

SIX YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns 10, and a Giveaway…

SEVEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 9!

EIGHT YEAR AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns eight!

NINE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns Seven!

TEN YEARS AGO: Bewitching Kitchen Turns Six!

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Five!

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Four!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns Three!

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Two!

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Bewitching Birthday!

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Welcome to my blog!

16Jun2024

THE BEWITCHING KITCHEN TURNS 15 YEARS OLD!

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Wow! Just WOW! Talk about a blogging milestone, I am having a hard time believing that for 15 years I’ve been cooking, baking, taking pictures, writing posts, and hitting PUBLISH, without a break… Last year I was feeling a bit discouraged and debating whether to quit, but I don’t feel the same way now. My love for blogging is renewed, maybe even a bit stronger. But what matters most in the anniversary of a blog is how to celebrate it. That brings cake to mind. And cake is what I have for you!

CONFETTI CAKE WITH RANUNCULUS BUTTERCREAM PAINTING
(cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction, buttercream and tutorial for cake painting from MyCakeSchool)

for the cake:
207g cake flour (1 + 3/4 cup)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
113g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (1/2 cup)
200g granulated sugar (1 cup)
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
120g full-fat sour cream, at room temperature (1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
120ml whole milk, at room temperature (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

for the buttercream:
910g confectioners’ sugar (2 pounds)
113 g unsalted butter softened (1/2 cup)
286 g solid vegetable shortening such as Crisco (1 + 1/2 cup)
2 Tablespoons clear vanilla extract
¼ cup milk 57 g full-fat milk (1/4 cup)
½ teaspoon salt to cut the sweetness

Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease three 6-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg whites on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes, then beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed.

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients just until combined. With the mixer still running on low, pour in the milk and mix just until combined. Gently fold in the sprinkles. The batter will be slightly thick.

Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for around 18-21 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack.

Make the buttercream: Cream butter, shortening , salt and extracts until creamy and smooth. Add powdered sugar and milk. Mix thoroughly on medium speed for approximately 8 minutes. For the last two minutes decrease the mixing speed to very slow until creamy and smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally during the mixing process. Frost the cake fully with white frosting, make portions of buttercream with the colors needed, and follow the instructions on the video to decorate the cake.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I wanted a colorful cake for the 15th anniversary of the Bewitching, and felt that this Springtime motif would be perfect… Now for a little bit of “behind the scenes” disclosure: while you read this post, we will be in Europe, in fact almost getting ready to fly back home. It turns out that before we left I prepared a bunch of posts to be published while we were away, but thought the anniversary of the blog was later in the month. I noticed my mistake just a few days before our departure… My first reaction was to forget all about it, deal with it later, but Phil said “you’ve been in the tent, you can do this! pretend it is a technical challenge”. What can I say? He definitely knows me well, so the outcome is this blog post… This was a cake baked in full frantic mode, my friends… what won’t I do for the love of blogging?

FLASH BACK

ONE YEAR AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 14!

TWO YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 13!

THREE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns 12!

FOUR YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 11!

FIVE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns 10, and a Giveaway…

SIX YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 9!

SEVEN YEAR AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns eight!

EIGHT YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns Seven!

NINE YEARS AGO: Bewitching Kitchen Turns Six!

TEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Five!

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Four!

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns Three!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Two!

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Bewitching Birthday!

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Welcome to my blog!

16Jun2023

THE BEWITCHING KITCHEN TURNS 14!

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Fourteen years. One thousand, six hundred and thirty eight posts published. I confess this is the first anniversary that finds me with a little less gas in the tank. Am I going to stop? No, not yet. I still love sharing recipes and little bits about our life, the kitchen, the pups. So I am committed to one more year to make it to fifteen, and will re-evaluate at that point. To celebrate this day, I offer you a cake: Red Velvet with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Made a little more special by decorating it with meringue sticks, not too complicated to make, and so striking to look at! Recipe from Kirsten Tibballs at Savour Cooking School.

RED VELVET CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
(from Kirsten Tibballs)

Recipe is copyrighted and I did not get permission to publish it, so you need to be a member of Savour School to obtain it. Click here for details.

Comments: The cake is actually quite simple to put together. You can definitely use any red velvet cake recipe you are fond of, they are pretty similar with all the usual suspects. Make three cakes, 8 inch in diameter. When you trim the top of the cakes, use that part to make cake crumbs (I dried mine in a very low oven for 3 hours).

I loved making the meringue sticks, with a simple Swiss meringue method. A piping bag with a 4mm round tip is used to pipe lines that get coated with cake crumbs and baked for 2 and a half hours at low temperature, like required for meringues. Once the cake is iced, just glue the sticks of varying size all around.