...got married.
9.17.11
One year ago, we ...
Showing posts with label Cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cake. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Friday, September 14, 2012
Kitchen Adventures; Coconut Cake with Berries
Have you guys read this blog? Not like she needs me to push for more followers, but Shutterbean.com may be my very favorite blog on the planet right now. Seriously.
And then she shared this cake recipe...
... and I may or may not have been dying to make it for weeks... I don't know. No one does.
Thursday night I got home from sunset yoga and hubs was playing video games. I sat down with him for a bit, but eventually got antsy and decided to bake something. I had bought all the ingredients for this cake days earlier, but was hesitant to make it - our first anniversary is on Monday and we've got our cake topper in the freezer ready to be eaten. It seemed like cake overkill.
Random thought on that: when should we move the cake top out of the freezer into the fridge for thawing? The day before we plan to eat it?
I decided "F it. He's playing video games. I'm gonna bake." ... healthy decision, right? It was something like 9:45pm at this point, which actually worked out well because this cake needs to sit in the fridge for hours on end before you can eat it.
Friday, August 24, 2012
A Welcome Home Cake
I've been on a serious baking kick lately. Cakes, breads, tarts, muffins, you name it, I want to taste it.
Last Friday when Tim was flying home from his business trip, I brilliantly decided to bake him a cake... because I missed him and I'm wonderful.
After a short brainstorm, I decided on chocolate peanut butter. I hadn't made this flavor combo in a while, so it was about time.
When I was 8 or 9, my BFF and I were on a camping trip at Malibu Creek State Park when I was first introduced to the deadly combination of chocolate and peanut butter. I had had prepackaged peanut butter cups before, but never combined chocolate and peanut butter myself. We had snuck junk food into our packs and hid away in our tent to share contraband. I had brought tiny chocolate nutcrackers or someother leftover from who knows what, and she had stashed away a tiny jar of peanut butter. After that day I was forever changed - no more prepackaged pb cups for me! I had had the magic of real chocolate and real peanut butter together and there was no going back! Ok, that's not entirely true, but for dramatic effect, let's just say it is.
I used my FAVORITE chocolate cake recipe and divided it by 4.
In my (relatively) recent baking adventures I learned that coffee makes chocolate chocolatier. Why is chocolatier not a word? Really, who hasn't used it in a sentence before in their life? WHO?
A lot of recipes I've found call for instant espresso, but recent invention has made this easier for us! Thank you Starbucks and all those who followed in their footsteps for VIA packets. For my tiny cake, I used one packet. When making a whole recipe, I'll usually use two or three - depending on how coffeey I want it. :)
For pretty and even stacking, you need to cut the tops off of each cake.
That means I get to snack when I bake, and chocolate cake is always a welcome snack.
When I made the peanut butter buttercream, it was too warm out. The frosting was ooey gooey so I had to throw it in the freezer for a bit before putting it on the cake. Kind of annoying since I'm impatient.
But once it was cool enough, I frosted the cake, put it back in the fridge for a bit and then busted out a tub of chocolate frosting I had. It was gross. My sister won it in the gift game at last year's family Christmas gathering and it was still "good"- to give you an idea of all the chemical crap they put in there - but for my decorating purposes, it worked perfectly.
Then I wanted to do something on the sides...
Oh hey, so, there's an actually recipe for the peanut butter buttercream, but to me it reads like this:
Some softened butter
A little more peanut butter than butter
Slowly mix in powdered sugar until you like the consistency.
So that's what you get too. ;)
For the cake, I'll help you out a little more,(because Kim asked for the recipe and I thought 'why not just post it?') but please bare in mind that when I divide a recipe by 4, if it says 1 1/4 cup of something I quite literally and use a 1/4 cup as my "cup" and then estimate what one quarter of it is for the 1/4 cup. It's a very "exact" science.
Ingredients:
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 stick of butter
1/3 c. sugar
3/4 of a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder (make sense? - you can also do an 1/8 c. plus half an 1/8th c. I'm here to confuse you.)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/3 c. milk
1 packet of Starbucks VIA or similar instant coffee/espresso
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Grease two 4" round cake pans, line the bottom with parchment, grease again. Set aside. Don't have 4" round cake pans? Use the smallest pan you got. :)
In bowl (1) combine four, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Mix until blended evenly.
Combine softened butter and sugar in bowl (2). You really want to make sure the butter is soft (but not melted) so they blend together to become a sort of sugar/butter cream. Feel free to use any kind of electric mixer, but since this recipe is so small, a stand-mixer is major overkill. You'll only end up mixing 1/3rd of the batter, have to mix it by hand anyway, and then you'll have lugged that huge thing out for no reason. ;)
Add the egg, gently beat in.
Add 1/3 flour/cocoa mixture, mix in evenly
Add 1/2 of your milk, mix in evenly
Add a second 1/3rd of the flour/cocoa mixture (aka half of what is remaining), mix in evenly
Add the rest of the milk and the vanilla, mix in evenly
Mix in the rest of the flour/cocoa mixture
AND FINALLY, add the instant coffee packet, mix in evenly.
Pour half the batter into each of your 4" pans and put them in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean. These will bake faster than normal cake because they are smaller. Hooda thunk?
You can also use one small cake pan. Careful not to fill it too high or the batter will rise and spill out all over your oven - speaking from personal experience.
Allow them to cool. They should pop out of the pans pretty easily - that's why you did the grease & parchment routine. Trim the tops so they're flat and lovely. Put some peanut butter buttercream on top of one and stack the other on that. Then cover the whole thing with that stuff. :)
Write a note to your hubby in strange leftover icing and then put it in the fridge for a little while. Or don't. Scarf it down right there. It's small... right? It's not like you're eating a whole cake by yourself.
.jpg)
Last Friday when Tim was flying home from his business trip, I brilliantly decided to bake him a cake... because I missed him and I'm wonderful.
After a short brainstorm, I decided on chocolate peanut butter. I hadn't made this flavor combo in a while, so it was about time.
When I was 8 or 9, my BFF and I were on a camping trip at Malibu Creek State Park when I was first introduced to the deadly combination of chocolate and peanut butter. I had had prepackaged peanut butter cups before, but never combined chocolate and peanut butter myself. We had snuck junk food into our packs and hid away in our tent to share contraband. I had brought tiny chocolate nutcrackers or someother leftover from who knows what, and she had stashed away a tiny jar of peanut butter. After that day I was forever changed - no more prepackaged pb cups for me! I had had the magic of real chocolate and real peanut butter together and there was no going back! Ok, that's not entirely true, but for dramatic effect, let's just say it is.
I used my FAVORITE chocolate cake recipe and divided it by 4.
In my (relatively) recent baking adventures I learned that coffee makes chocolate chocolatier. Why is chocolatier not a word? Really, who hasn't used it in a sentence before in their life? WHO?
A lot of recipes I've found call for instant espresso, but recent invention has made this easier for us! Thank you Starbucks and all those who followed in their footsteps for VIA packets. For my tiny cake, I used one packet. When making a whole recipe, I'll usually use two or three - depending on how coffeey I want it. :)
For pretty and even stacking, you need to cut the tops off of each cake.
That means I get to snack when I bake, and chocolate cake is always a welcome snack.
When I made the peanut butter buttercream, it was too warm out. The frosting was ooey gooey so I had to throw it in the freezer for a bit before putting it on the cake. Kind of annoying since I'm impatient.
But once it was cool enough, I frosted the cake, put it back in the fridge for a bit and then busted out a tub of chocolate frosting I had. It was gross. My sister won it in the gift game at last year's family Christmas gathering and it was still "good"- to give you an idea of all the chemical crap they put in there - but for my decorating purposes, it worked perfectly.
Then I wanted to do something on the sides...
Oh hey, so, there's an actually recipe for the peanut butter buttercream, but to me it reads like this:
Some softened butter
A little more peanut butter than butter
Slowly mix in powdered sugar until you like the consistency.
So that's what you get too. ;)
For the cake, I'll help you out a little more,(because Kim asked for the recipe and I thought 'why not just post it?') but please bare in mind that when I divide a recipe by 4, if it says 1 1/4 cup of something I quite literally and use a 1/4 cup as my "cup" and then estimate what one quarter of it is for the 1/4 cup. It's a very "exact" science.
Ingredients:
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 stick of butter
1/3 c. sugar
3/4 of a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder (make sense? - you can also do an 1/8 c. plus half an 1/8th c. I'm here to confuse you.)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/3 c. milk
1 packet of Starbucks VIA or similar instant coffee/espresso
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Grease two 4" round cake pans, line the bottom with parchment, grease again. Set aside. Don't have 4" round cake pans? Use the smallest pan you got. :)
In bowl (1) combine four, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Mix until blended evenly.
Combine softened butter and sugar in bowl (2). You really want to make sure the butter is soft (but not melted) so they blend together to become a sort of sugar/butter cream. Feel free to use any kind of electric mixer, but since this recipe is so small, a stand-mixer is major overkill. You'll only end up mixing 1/3rd of the batter, have to mix it by hand anyway, and then you'll have lugged that huge thing out for no reason. ;)
Add the egg, gently beat in.
Add 1/3 flour/cocoa mixture, mix in evenly
Add 1/2 of your milk, mix in evenly
Add a second 1/3rd of the flour/cocoa mixture (aka half of what is remaining), mix in evenly
Add the rest of the milk and the vanilla, mix in evenly
Mix in the rest of the flour/cocoa mixture
AND FINALLY, add the instant coffee packet, mix in evenly.
Pour half the batter into each of your 4" pans and put them in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean. These will bake faster than normal cake because they are smaller. Hooda thunk?
You can also use one small cake pan. Careful not to fill it too high or the batter will rise and spill out all over your oven - speaking from personal experience.
Allow them to cool. They should pop out of the pans pretty easily - that's why you did the grease & parchment routine. Trim the tops so they're flat and lovely. Put some peanut butter buttercream on top of one and stack the other on that. Then cover the whole thing with that stuff. :)
Write a note to your hubby in strange leftover icing and then put it in the fridge for a little while. Or don't. Scarf it down right there. It's small... right? It's not like you're eating a whole cake by yourself.
.jpg)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Deliciously Delicious Cupcake
For Memorial Day, I made these:
In case you were wondering, they're basically the most joyous little cakes ever. I filled them with strawberry mash and I have been eating at least 2 per day without fail since Monday. Tuesday I ate four. I will miss them when they're gone (we have one left), but I will be glad to have a break from temptation for a while.
I'm placing a mark. order today. Anyone want me to order something?
FYI, sales is so discouraging sometimes. I mean really, praise Jeebus that I have a full time job to pay the bills.
I'm placing a mark. order today. Anyone want me to order something?
FYI, sales is so discouraging sometimes. I mean really, praise Jeebus that I have a full time job to pay the bills.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
In honor of the apocalypse
Lately I've been keeping myself pretty busy. I'm trying to get more involved in Mark. again and I'm really happy about it because a) I feel like Mark. is really stepping up their game. I've seen a huge quality improvement and they're really trying to appeal to a broader demographic instead of just teens and college students, b) I get awesome discounts on all this new higher quality stuff catered to my demographic, and c) it gives me an opportunity to get in touch with a really good friend of mine who I haven't spent much time with lately.
So, if anyone who reads this is interested in checking out some totally awesome makeup, clothing and accessories, let me know. I can get you a magalog and some free samples. :)
I've also been trying to dedicate myself more to my at home cake business. The last two weekends, I have had some wonderful opportunities to challenge myself and create cakes using at least one method I'd never used before.
Last weekend I made fresh whipped cream and iced the entire cake with it. It tasted like a giant strawberry shortcake and was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. (Tim and I share the cake tops when I even out the tops of the cakes)
This weekend I was asked to make a cake that was half red and half white with red filling. The red filling was easy peasy, but I had a much harder time with making half the cake red than I thought I would. Plus I challenged myself into doing this with fondant, so I had to dye half of it red. It turned out pretty nicely, if I may say so.
And finally, today we finally had ourhopefully last meeting with the woman who is doing our wedding invitations. We just had a 20 minute meeting today to go over exactly what we wanted on what kind of paper since at the end of our last meeting, we weren't sure what the company would actually be able to do. She's going to email my mom and I the proof sometime during the coming week so that I we can approve it and order the invitations. Tomorrow Tim and I have to go bug my parents to get the actual number of people we will be inviting so we can see how many invitations we'll need.
Not excited about that. There's too much drama in guest list making.
Supposedly The Rapture has happened. I guess not a lot of people were worthy or going straight to heaven since I haven't noticed anyone missing yet - nor have I noticed any fire and brimstone lurking about. I hope everyone has a pleasant post-apocalyptic weekend?
So, if anyone who reads this is interested in checking out some totally awesome makeup, clothing and accessories, let me know. I can get you a magalog and some free samples. :)
I've also been trying to dedicate myself more to my at home cake business. The last two weekends, I have had some wonderful opportunities to challenge myself and create cakes using at least one method I'd never used before.
Last weekend I made fresh whipped cream and iced the entire cake with it. It tasted like a giant strawberry shortcake and was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. (Tim and I share the cake tops when I even out the tops of the cakes)
This weekend I was asked to make a cake that was half red and half white with red filling. The red filling was easy peasy, but I had a much harder time with making half the cake red than I thought I would. Plus I challenged myself into doing this with fondant, so I had to dye half of it red. It turned out pretty nicely, if I may say so.
And finally, today we finally had our
Not excited about that. There's too much drama in guest list making.
Supposedly The Rapture has happened. I guess not a lot of people were worthy or going straight to heaven since I haven't noticed anyone missing yet - nor have I noticed any fire and brimstone lurking about. I hope everyone has a pleasant post-apocalyptic weekend?
Monday, March 7, 2011
Almond Mocha Cake + House = Success!
We'd been trying to have a sort of house warming shindig for months. We moved into our house in October and have been struggling to get the place in acceptable condition for having people over pretty much ever since. It has been a topic of much stress in our home, since I was pushy mcpushypants and Tim was the only one tall enough and strong enough to do all the things pushy mcpushypants wanted done.
FINALLY, the living room, dining room, and downstairs bathroom were in nice enough condition that we could successfully entertain a small crowd of family members. So, on Saturday, March 5, 2011, we had a awesome little pot luck (with a birthday cake for my big sis).
As I mentioned below, I wanted to try out this awesome recipe for a pistachio cake, but had no luck finding pistachio extract. So, I opted for one of my favs - almond; delicious and available in extract form at any supermarket you can think of.
I also followed the guidelines to create a absolutely delicious mocha buttercream. I did not think it was going to be as marvelous as it was.
My method for baking is a little unconventional - only because everyone says baking is a "science". I believe in the use of measuring cups/spoons, but I also believe that it's perfectly acceptable to fill a cup roughly 3/4 of the way when the recipe calls for 3/4 cup.
Because of this [awesome] technique, each cake I bake turns out a little different than the last. This one came out almost like a pound cake. It was so good. It may have been the most delicious cake I have ever made. Easily my favorite so far.
Last night after we got home from dinner, Tim and I polished it off. There was only about a sixth of the cake left, so it was easy to split.
I am quite pleased with my new recipe. I would very much like to make it again.
 |
| I burnt the almonds, so I had to use pecans to decorate instead. Oh well. |
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Hunt for Pistachio Extract
I am not the biggest fan of Martha Stewart. My perception of her hovers right around mean lady with an affinity for baking, interior design, and cheating the stock market. We can blame the TV movie starring Cybill Shepherd for the "mean lady" part.
So, when my fiancé got me a copy of the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook for my birthday the year before last, I was conflicted. I managed to get past the "Martha" of it and flipped through it to find some recipes that I actually got really excited about. The biggest was a recipe for a pistachio mocha wedding cake.
Since I have/had no plans to make a wedding cake, I thought I could adjust the recipe to make a cake for my sister's upcoming birthday. So last night I was going over the recipe only to realize that the only thing that separates pistachio cake from white cake is the pistachio extract, which I don't recall seeing in a grocery store ever.
Today I started calling around to see if stores had it...and you know what? THEY DON'T! Not Whole Foods, not Henry's, not Ralph's. Online forums even said "you can't buy it. make it yourself with real nuts!"
Needless to say, I am a tad disappointed. I was able to find some pistachio extract online, but I don't want to pay for expedited shipping and I don't want to risk it not getting here in time.
So, no pistachio cake for me - and no surprise whatsoever that Martha chose an ingredient that's not exactly easy to find.
So, when my fiancé got me a copy of the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook for my birthday the year before last, I was conflicted. I managed to get past the "Martha" of it and flipped through it to find some recipes that I actually got really excited about. The biggest was a recipe for a pistachio mocha wedding cake.
Since I have/had no plans to make a wedding cake, I thought I could adjust the recipe to make a cake for my sister's upcoming birthday. So last night I was going over the recipe only to realize that the only thing that separates pistachio cake from white cake is the pistachio extract, which I don't recall seeing in a grocery store ever.
Today I started calling around to see if stores had it...and you know what? THEY DON'T! Not Whole Foods, not Henry's, not Ralph's. Online forums even said "you can't buy it. make it yourself with real nuts!"
Needless to say, I am a tad disappointed. I was able to find some pistachio extract online, but I don't want to pay for expedited shipping and I don't want to risk it not getting here in time.
So, no pistachio cake for me - and no surprise whatsoever that Martha chose an ingredient that's not exactly easy to find.
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