NIGHT SKY OMBRÉ CAKE

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Inspiration from this cake came from a book I’ve had for many years: Cake Decorating for Beginners, by Rose Atwater. It is a wonderful book, full of cute ideas, some pretty simple, some a bit more involved. I love ombré style cakes, having done some in the past.

NIGHT SKY VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE FILLING
(inspired by Rose Atwater)

for the cake:
1 +1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 + 1/2 cups sugar
½ teaspoons salt
2 tsp buttery vanilla emulsion (from Lorann)
3 large eggs

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour three 8 x 2 inch round cake pans, line bottom with parchment paper. Reserve.

In a small bowl, mix together the milk and heavy cream. In a medium bowl, sift together the two types of flour and baking powder. Set aside. Cream the butter using a stand mixer and the paddle attachment on medium speed until it’s soft and light, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and salt and mix until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, and mix until just combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 20 seconds after each egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Turn the mixer speed to low, then add one-third of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add half of the milk mixture and mix until just combined, then add another third of the flour mixture. Repeat with the remaining milk and flour mixtures. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and spread it out evenly. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean.

for the ganache filling:
230g dark chocolate, cut in pieces
240g heavy cream

Heat cream until simmering, pour over chocolate in a large bowl. Allow to sit for 5 minutes than whisk gently until smooth. Let it cool for 15 minutes then place in the fridge for 90 minutes. Use a hand held mixer to whip the ganache until lighter and fluffier. Use to fill the two layers of the cake.

for the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
¼ teaspoon salt
2 pounds (approximately 8 cups) powdered sugar
food gel dye, Americolor Royal Blue and Diamond Black

In a large bowl, use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, and beat together the butter, shortening and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

Add 2 tablespoons of the milk, the salt, and half the powdered sugar and mix just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, gradually add in the remaining sugar. Add more milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency.

Divide the frosting in three bowls, and one drop of blue to the first bowl, two drops to the second, and 2 drops blue + 1 drop black in the last.

Assemble the cake: Place the first cake on a board, add ganache as a smooth layer on top. Place second cake over ganache, repeat the process. Add last round of cake and press gently. Frost with a thin layer of frosting in the lightest color (or do it before adding any dye to the buttercream). Let the cake cool in the fridge for an hour or more. Frost with the dyed buttercream: cover the top and 1/3 of the height from top to bottom with the darkest color of blue. Add the medium tone to the second third of the cake, and the lightest color to the bottom. Use a scraper to smooth the layers. Add texture with a little spatula as you turn the cake. Add star sprinkles.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I wish I could report on taste and looks as it was sliced, but I donated the cake whole, so my fingers are crossed that the recipients liked it… At any rate, it is hard to go wrong with vanilla and chocolate ganache, right? The buttercream is simple to prepare and crusts nicely in case it needs to sit for hours at room temperature. I love the effect of the different colors. Of course, I had to add some gold dust because I cannot help it… I bet you are not surprised!

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16Jan2025

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Such a classic bake, and so simple!

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

120 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
50 grams (1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons) natural cocoa powder
225 grams (1 + 1/8 cups) granulated sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
85 grams (about 1/2 cup) grapeseed oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
75 grams (1/3 cup) milk, room temperature
170 grams (3/4 cup) very hot water

Makes 12 cupcakes. Use paper liners in your pan.

Heat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk very well to fully combine the dry ingredients.

Add the oil into the mixing bowl and mix on medium speed with a hand mixer until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the bowl and continue mixing until smooth.

With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the milk and then the hot water. Continue mixing until everything is evenly incorporated, the batter will be super thin, do not worry about it. Place the batter in cupcake pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. This will take 20 to 25 minutes, but check a couple of minutes earlier. Cool completely before frosting.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

113 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
175 grams (1/2 cup) smooth peanut butter (Jiffy works great)
210 grams (1 + 3/4 cup) powdered sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 to 3 tablespoons of milk to adjust consistency

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and peanut butter on medium speed for about a few minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the powdered sugar and salt into the mixing bowl and start mixing on low until the sugar starts to combine with the butter. Turn the mixing speed up to medium-high and beat for about 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract. Add milk to adjust the consistency. If not using immediately you can refrigerate for several days. Bring back to room temperature and whip again before using to frost the cakes.

Use a piping tip like Wilton 1M if you like to make a rose pattern on top. Spraying gold is optional but nice…

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I love this cake recipe so much because it is simple, straightforward and always works. You can use hot coffee instead of hot water, but I tend to simplify it and just grab water from the tap, as hot as I can get it. I know many people prefer Swiss buttercream frosting but I donate the cupcakes and not knowing how long they will sit waiting, I rather use a sturdier buttercream, which is also much simpler to prepare. If you are a peanut butter/chocolate lover, this cupcake is for you!

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20Oct2024

HALLOWEEN ALMOND COOKIES

Posted in Cake, Cookies, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

I am not quite sure why they are described as cookies, to me they are more like little cakes. They are often served during the holiday season in Italy, known as Almond Rainbow Cookies. To mimic the colors of the Italian flag, the layers are green, white and red. I used the basic recipe and turned them into Halloween creatures. What do you think?

HALLOWEEN SESAME-ORANGE ALMOND COOKIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

4 eggs (separated)
1 cup sugar
7 oz almond paste
2 + 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
2 tsp black sesame paste
1/2 tsp orange emulsion
black and orange food coloring
raspberry jam (I used SOLO raspberry filling)
7 oz semi-sweet chocolate
small amount of white chocolate and orange fat-soluble dye for decoration (optional)

Heat your oven to 350°F and line 3 baking pans (13 by 9 inch) with parchment paper. Reserve.

In an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites using the whisk attachment on medium-high speed and add 1/4 cup of the sugar a little at a time. Beat at high speed until you have glossy stiff peaks then transfer to another bowl and reserve until needed.

Clean the bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Mix the almond paste and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until well incorporated, about 3 minutes. They will look like small pebbles. Add the butter and beat until pale and fluffy, another 3 minutes. Next add in the yolks and almond extract until well combined. Reduce the speed to low, then add flour and salt and mix until combined. Fold half of the egg white mixture into almond mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently until everything is mixed all together.

Weigh the batter and add 1/3 to one bowl, 2/3 to another. To the smaller portion, add the sesame paste and the black dye, mix well to incorporate. Add the orange extract and orange dye to the other bowl.

Spread the black batter into one of the prepared pans. Spread the orange batter divided in the two other pans. Bake each pan for about 12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool completely. Now it is time to assemble.

Place one orange layer onto a baking sheet with some parchment paper. Spread a thin layer of jam, then place the black layer on top, and spread another thin layer of the jam. Place the second orange layer on top of the black and cover with plastic wrap. Place another baking sheet on top with some weight and let it chill in the fridge for 4 hours.

Remove the weight and plastic and bring layers to room temperature (so that the chocolate won’t set too fast when you spread it). Melt chocolate in a microwave at 50% power until smooth. Trim the edges of the assembled layers and spread a thin layer of the chocolate on top of the cake. Place it back in the fridge to chill and until chocolate is firm. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, place another baking sheet on top, carefully flip the cake. Spread a thin layer of chocolate and chill again until firm. Melt some white chocolate and dye it with fat-soluble orange dye, then make swirls on top (optional).

With a serrated knife cut the cookie/cake in rectangles while still very cold.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I cannot lie to you, as it stands right now, I am not sure I will ever make these again… Labor of love, yes, no doubt. Maybe a second time will be easier but I was quit exhausted at the end and until I cut the pieces and looked at them all lined up, I was not sure of the outcome. For starters, it is hard to judge the thickness of the batter as you spread it on the baking sheet, so it was not easy for me to make sure the three layers had the same dimension. But overall, I think it was all fine. The taste (I tasted some trimmings) was really pretty spectacular. I love almonds and any sweets made with almonds so if you are part of my cheerleading team, you will love these!

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5Aug2024

LEMON BUNDT CAKE, A REAL WINNER

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Lemon Cakes can be a bit tricky as far as flavor goes. I have made a cake from a super reputable source that promised to deliver the most intense, most lemony flavor coupled with a moist and tender cake. It was tremendously convoluted, a ton of work and to be absolutely honest with you, the America’s Test Kitchen version delivered it all for 1/10 of the trouble. Which is saying a lot, as they are known for never cutting corners.

They are super strict about copyright issues, and rarely reply to requests asking permission to publish their recipes, however I was able to find this one online. If you’d like to make this deliciously lemony cake, pay a visit to this site. No difference from the recipe found in The Perfect Cake (2018), a cookbook I highly recommend. To bake this particular version, I used the Bavaria Bundt pan from Nordicware, but any pan with 10 to 12-cup capacity will do the job. I just love the way they un-mold like a dream!

When I make a Bundt cake, I donate it whole, so I cannot share a picture of the crumb, but I’ve had excellent feedback about this baby. In fact, I’ve made it three times already, using different Bundt pan shapes. Always a winner!

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28Jul2024

CAKE PUCKS, MY NEW ADVENTURE!

Posted in Cake by sallybr

My first time making these, after flirting for a long time with the concept, while staring at my molds in a state of paralysis. In a way, they are not too different from Chocolate-Covered Oreos – that I make often – but the level of complexity goes up a bit. With cake pucks, you can use all flavors and kinds of cakes, as well as cookie dough, rice crisps, as long as you adjust the consistency to make…. the PUCK component. I see many of those in my future… For my first time, I chose Red Velvet with a thin Oreo inside. Check them out!

RED VELVET CAKE PUCKS WITH THIN OREOS
(adapted from this recipe)

molds used: BENTYCAKES SET

1 red velvet cake mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla
Oreo thins
1/2 cup buttercream
Ghirardelli melting wafers, dark chocolate

Combine cake mix, eggs, water, oil and vanilla until fully mixed. Pour mixture in a greased 9×13 baking pan and bake at 350 F until done, with toothpick coming out clean as tested in the center of the cake (about 25 minutes).

Allow cake to cool, then crumble and mix in buttercream. Add about a tablespoon of cake mix to your small cake puck mold. Place one Oreo thin on top of the mix and then continue to fill the mold with cake mix. Use bottom of a measuring cup to gently pat the top of the cake puck centers down so they are level with the mold. Scrape off any excess mix.

Place mold in the fridge for 3 hours or freezer (45 min) to chill.

Melt 17 ounces chocolate (or the amount compatible with the number of cakes you will make) with one tablespoon of refined coconut oil for 1 minute. Continue to microwave in increments of 20 seconds until chocolate is smooth and fully melted.

Fill cavities of larger mold with chocolate a little less than half-full. Place chilled center on melted chocolate. Gently apply even pressure as you slowly press the center down until chocolate comes up from the sides and covers the top of the center. Scrape off any excess chocolate. If there is not enough chocolate to cover the center. Add chocolate and scrape away excess. Tap the mold tray on the counter to eliminate air bubbles.

Place mold in freezer for 10 minutes, they should set quickly because the cake component is very cold. Un-mold and have fu decorating your little cake pucks!

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Before I started this new adventure, I joined this group on Facebook to see what others were doing and learn from their shared experiences. For the most part they use cake mixes for the “puck” component because home-made cakes can be overly moist. I decided to take that approach for my first time, as I was absolutely clueless about the whole thing. So I started from a boxed Duncan Hines Red Velvet, adapting the recipe as advised by the experts. Bake, let it cool, and crumble it. Mix with buttercream (I had some leftover from another project made with butter & cream cheese), add to the puck mold.

Then I used this set of molds from Bentycakes to make the pucks and later cover them with chocolate.

Once that part is done, marvel at how well they un-mold to reveal the smoothest little cake puck!

For the set covered with dark chocolate, I opted to decorate with Royal icing drizzle and molded fondant painted with luster powder gold + vodka.

Once you cut through, the little Oreo inside adds a lot of cute to the equation… and of course, a bit more contrast in texture.

The ones covered with white chocolate dyed pink, got a simpler decoration, just the white fondant sprayed with PME luster pearl.

That decoration also works well on a dark chocolate background…

Of course, the possibilities to make other types of cake pucks are endless, and I am just getting started. My next goal is to use warm cake crumbled without adding buttercream, as I heard it can work well, and of course opens the horizons to cakes made from scratch. Stay tuned for more “pucking” adventures!

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