Baby Shower and a Frosting Tip

 And here is the final cake project of the month.  I made three dozen orange crush cupcakes (rememberthose?) with teeny, tiny gum paste toppers for a baby shower.

 

Because the toppers were small, I used fine point food coloring markers to add the details.

I also tested an AMAZING tip from Dollar Store Crafts that I discovered on Pinterest.  How on earth did I manage before Pinterest?

Generally, I don’t mind getting messy and sticky while playing with food.  It’s all part of the process. However, after the glow of another successful cake has worn off, dealing with a messy clean-up is another matter altogether.

 

Instead of filling the frosting bags, scoop the frosting onto a piece of plastic wrap.

Wrap the plastic wrap around the frosting and twist the ends closed (check out the video).

Put the coupler in the bag like you usually do and drop the wrapped frosting inside, pulling one of the twisted ends through the end.

Snip off the plastic tail and attach the frosting tip.

Clean-up is even easier – just pull the plastic out of the bag.  Genius!

The Daring Bakers’ Challenge, 2011 November: Filipino Desserts

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert –the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka, which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

 

Not to be too cocky, but I am now three for three in boiling sugar without injury.  Yeah me!  I’m very excited to share with you my first Daring Bakers’ Challenge. (Check out the Daring Kitchen to learn more about this great project.) 

When my friend from the Philippines told me she comes from the cashew capital of the world, I decided to make the Sans Rival cake using the traditional cashews.  I did, however, break with tradition by adding chocolate.  Rich, French buttercream and crunchy layers of dacquoise (meringue with nuts) sounded fabulous; adding chocolate to the mix sounded even better.

Sans Rival

10 large egg whites, room temperature

1 c sugar

1 t cream of tartar

¼ c cocoa

2 cups chopped, toasted cashews

Reserve enough chopped cashews for decorating the side of the cake and grind the remainder of the nuts to a grainy texture.

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line four 8-inch cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and brush with oil. Butter and flour the sides well. (If you only have two 8-inch cake pans, be sure to let the pans cool between batches.)

In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy, about 2 minutes.  Sprinkle with cream of tartar.

Gradually add sugar and cocoa, a couple of tablespoons at a time, beating on high speed until stiff shiny peaks form, about 7-10 minutes.

Fold in ground nuts.

Divide meringue into four equal parts and spread evenly in pans.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot. Allow it to cool slightly, then peel off the parchment paper while the meringue is still warm. 

 

French Buttercream

Afraid I didn’t get any pictures of this process.  Sigh.  I was too busy focusing on not burning myself with the hot sugar.  

5 egg yolks, room temperature

1 c sugar

¼  c water

1¼ c butter, room temperature

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks at high speed until they have doubled in volume and are lemon yellow.

Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235°F.

With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl (be careful not to splash and burn yourself), until all has been added.

Continue beating on high until the mixture is room temperature, about 15 minutes. Still on high, beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time then add chocolate.

Refrigerate for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.

I sprinkled cashews between layers.

To assemble the Sans Rival, set a meringue on a cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream and continue stacking meringue and buttercream. Decorate with reserved nuts.

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Babinka is a dessert traditionally served at Christmas. The trickiest part of this recipe for me was peeling the salted duck eggs.  I just couldn’t get a pretty slice of egg, so I only added it to two of the cakes. 

Next time I’ll know better.  The subtle sweetness of the cakes and the saltiness of the eggs blended beautifully.  I followed the recipe from Jun-blog.

mixing the batter

salted duck eggs

headed in the oven

broiling the toppings

Chocolate Ginger Truffle Cake

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

As promised, here’s the chocolate truffle cake recipe.  Usually, I flavor the cake with strong brewed coffee (orange zest in the cake batter or raspberry jam between the cake layers is tasty, too), but for Thanksgiving dessert I thought as hint of ginger would be yummy.

Remember to take the finished cake out of the fridge a couple hours before serving.  The truffle filling sets up hard (a sharp knife dipped in hot water will do the trick) and you probably don’t want to take a chainsaw to your dessert.  While power tools add drama to the presentation, you’ll end up wasting a lot of cake.  No one wants that.

Chocolate Ginger Truffle Cake (adapted slightly from Forrest Gump: My Favorite Chocolate Recipes)  

1 c cocoa

2 c boiling water

2 ¾ c flour

1 ½ t grated ginger root

2 t baking soda

½ t baking powder

½ t salt

1 c butter, softened

2 ½ c sugar

4 eggs

1 ½ t vanilla

Truffle Filling

12 oz chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate

1/3 c butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 c powdered sugar

1 T egg substitute

½ t ground ginger

2 T milk

Chocolate Frosting

6 oz semisweet chocolate

½ c half and half

1 c butter

2 ½ c powdered sugar

To make the cake, preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.

Stir together cocoa and water until smooth.  Set aside.

Combine flour, ginger root, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Beat together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture and cocoa mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Be sure to incorporate each addition thoroughly.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cakes spring back with a light touch.  Cool cakes in the pans 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the truffle filling, melt the chocolate in a large bowl.  I microwaved it in 20-second intervals, stirring between each interval. When the chocolate has melted, with an electric mixer, beat in butter and powdered sugar until the mixture is smooth.  Beat in egg substitute and milk, then stir in ground ginger.

Immediately spread the truffle mixture between the cake layers.

To make the frosting, combine the chocolate, half and half, and butter in a large saucepan.  Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the powdered sugar.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool for 20 minutes.

Put the bowl of frosting on a bowl of ice water and beat the mixture at medium speed until it reaches a spreading consistency.

Moon Cake

So, I’m halfway through Operation Four Cakes in 11 Days While Working Full Time and Traveling for Thanksgiving. My house is a disaster area. 

By that I don’t mean it’s more than a little messy, with dirty dishes in the sink and unfolded laundry on the sofa.

What I mean is that I’m seriously considering grabbing my dog and my computer and moving. Every dog-safe area is overflowing with stuff – cook books, junk mail, clothes, crafts projects, gifts, and on and on and on.

I may not be graceful (or even slightly coordinated), but I sure am an impressive stacker.  There’s only been one minor avalanche so far.  Yeah me.

Anyway . . . here’s the cake I made for my niece this weekend. As usual, she blew me away with her talent - and comedic timing.  The play was hysterical.

I cut out building shapes from black fondant and let them dry.

I used blue fondant for the night sky.

To add some depth, I painted the sky with purple and black food coloring and threw in some silver stars. 

Since the play took place in a theater, I added a curtain.

And of course, I couldn’t forget the moon.