tast-e | baking and cooking adventures

Black Bean & Date Brownies with Caramel

2012-02-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

We were having a health challenge at work and one of the tasks that we could do to get “bonus points” was to have a healthy potluck. I decided to make a dessert that was healthy without compromising taste. Enter – black bean brownies. I came across many recipes that used black beans instead of flour, which increased the health element, but ignored the unhealthiest part of a brownie: the refined sugar. Luckily, I found and adapted a black bean brownie recipe that used dates instead of sugar. So, the only added sugar in this recipe is the caramel topping, which you can certainly leave out.

Some secret ingredients:

a. Coffee – a little coffee enhance the flavor of chocolate. Since I wasn’t using Medjool dates which are meatier and softer, I decided to soak regular dates in coffee to soften them. I also added instant coffee to the batter.

b. Dutch process cocoa powder –for an intensely dark rich brownie (see picture below).

Left: Dutch processed; Right: Regular cocoa

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Black Bean & Date Brownies with Caramel

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1 cup dates

Hot coffee

2 cups cooked black beans

3 Tablespoon oil or melted butter (coconut oil would add a nice flavor element!)

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon instant coffee

2 Tablespoon vanilla syrup or 1 Tablespoon extract

¼ cup + 3 Tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder

3 eggs

Caramel Ganache Topping

15 caramels

2 Tablespoon cream

Directions

1. Cover dates with hot coffee and soak for ½ hour until soft. Drain and discard coffee.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking dish with parchment so that the paper hangs over the ends for easier lift (I used an 8x8 inch dish).

3. In a food processor or blender, blend dates, black beans and oil until smooth.

4. Add baking soda, salt, instant coffee, vanilla, and 1/4 cup cocoa powder and blend until smooth.

5. Taste the mixture, and add more cocoa 1 Tablespoon at a time to your flavor preference. The mixture should not taste like beans or dates.

6. Transfer mixture into a bowl, add eggs, and blend with a hand mixer.

7. Pour mixture into the baking pan.

8. To make the caramel ganache topping, put the caramels and cream in a double boiler and stir over medium heat until melted and combined.

9. Pour over brownie batter and swirl with a knife.

10. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool before cutting.

Dates soaking in coffee.

Caramel with cream.

Before baking.

Verdict: These were a big hit at work! I was surprised by how tasty and moist they were – an awesome alternative to those traditional brownies that make my throat hurt from the excessive sugar. The caramel topping gave them an additional flavor element that took them to a whole other level for me. I made them a few days later with azuki (red) beans and coconut oil, which also turned out really well.

Sticky Bun Cookies

2012-02-20T22:22:00.000-08:00

Finished! I’m done reading the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook, cover to cover, and it was exhilarating! I love how this book has many mini-recipes that can be added to other recipes or combined to make desserts/snacks that are out of this world! It encourages the reader, and inspires me, to be creative and experiment with flavor combinations. Best book ever!

So here’s my first of many inventions inspired, adapted, and borrowed from the Milk Bar Cookbook. It’s an attempt to make a cookie that reminds you of a sticky bun – cinnamon-y and toffee-y.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Sticky Bun Cookies

Components adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook.

Makes 13 cookies.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Recipe

*Makes an awesome snack on its own!

Ingredients

80g white bread (1/8 of a loaf or 1 kaiser bun, which is what I used)

¼ cup brown butter (microwave butter for 2 minutes until golden brown, check at the 1.5 minutes)

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Tear bread into ½ inch pieces and put in a bowl.

3. Pour in brown butter, toss, and let sit for 1 minute.

4. Spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat.

5. Bake for 20 minutes. Should be crispy. Cool completely before using in the recipe.

Kaiser bun I used for the cinnamon toast crunch.

Cinnamon toast crunch after baking.

Graham Clusters Recipe

*Makes an awesome snack on its own!

Ingredients

¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon graham cracker crumbs

1 Tablespoon milk powder

½ Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

1 Tablespoon milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2. In a bowl, toss graham crumbs, milk powder, and sugar.

3. Whisk butter and milk, and pour into graham mixture. Toss to coat.

4. Lay crumbs onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. The cluster will harden as they cool. Cool completely before using in recipe.

Graham clusters after baking.

Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

½ egg

½ teaspoon vanilla syrup or ¼ teaspoon extract

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup bread flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ cup cinnamon toast crunch

½ cup graham clusters (or however much the recipe above makes)

¼ cup roasted pecans, coarsely chopped

¼ cup toffee bits

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and both sugars with a beater on medium high for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add egg and vanilla, and beat for 7-8 minutes. Add cinnamon and beat until combined.

3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low just until dough comes together (1 minute).

4. Add cinnamon toast crunch, graham clusters, pecans, and toffee bits. Fold in with a spatula.

5. Scoop dough using an ice cream scoop and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Do not bake un-chilled dough.

To bake:

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

7. Place cookie dough rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat, 4 inches apart.

8. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet before removing to a rack.

Dough scooped out and ready for the fridge.

Verdict: This is a very rich buttery cookie! Great cinnamon and toffee flavor, and crunch from the cinnamon toast crunch and pecans. I really liked the multiple textures of crunch and soft dough! Plus, your kitchen smells like heaven for the rest of the day! I gave these to my sister and friends who also liked them.

Cookies and Cream Cookies

2012-02-12T00:43:00.000-08:00

My buddy’s girlfriend sent me an early birthday present! She sent me the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook! I screamed because as I’ve stated here. I’ve been wanting this book since it came out. Well, I’m completely in love with this cookbook. I’m in the process of reading it cover to cover. I sleep with it in my bed, and I don’t want to part with it when I go to work in the morning. While at work, I often think about how I can’t wait to get home to my book. Did I say I’m in love with it? Every recipe blows my mind with its creativity and techniques. Needless to say, I’ll be baking and posting from this book often, once I’ve finished reading it. In the meantime, I wanted to test out two of the techniques from the book in a different recipe: 1) creaming the butter and sugar for 10 minutes, and 2) adding “the crunch”. Hence, these Cookies and Cream Cookies. And yes, clearly I’m going through a cookies and cream phase.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Cookies and Cream Cookies

Adapted from here.

Inspired by Momofuku Milk Bar.

Makes 20-25 cookies depending on the size of your ice cream scoop.

Chocolate Crunch Recipe

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup chocolate wafers (about 20 wafers - those dark chocolate cookies that are basically the cookie part of Oreos.)

1 Tablespoon sugar

¼ cup milk powder

6 Tablespoon of butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, crush chocolate wafers into small chunks using your hands.

3. Add sugar and milk powder and toss to combine.

4. Add melted butter and toss to coat the chunks.

5. Lay on baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until there’s some browning on the underside.

7. Cool completely before adding to dough.

Crushed chocolate wafers.

Chocolate crunch after baking.

Cookie recipe

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1 teaspoons vanilla syrup (or 1 teaspoon extract)

1 ½ cups flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 Hershey’s Cookies n' Cream chocolate bar, chopped

Chocolate Crunch (from above recipe)

Directions

1. Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.

2. In a large bowl (or in a standalone mixer), cream butter for 2 minutes.

3. Add brown sugar and beat on medium for 8 minutes.

4. Add cream cheese and beat until thoroughly incorporated.

5. Add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

6. Add flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.

7. Stir in chocolate bar chunks and Chocolate Crunch.

8. Chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes (and not any longer) to make the dough easier to work with. If you are baking it the next day, bring the dough back up to near room temperature. Do not bake cold dough – it will not bake properly.

9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

10. Scoop dough with ice cream scoop so that it’s flush (not heaping). Place on a parchment paper or silicone mat lined cookie sheet.

11. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until the edges are brown and the top is showing slight browning.

12. Place Cookies n' Cream Kisses on each cookie. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet before moving to cooling rack.

*It’s OK if they look a bit underdone when you first take it out of the oven as long as there’s some resistance when you press the Kisses onto them. The cookies will finish cooking on the sheet.

*If you can’t find (or don’t want to use) chocolate wafers and make the Chocolate Crunch, you can substitute with chopped Oreos. However, I would leave out the Hershey’s Cookies n' Cream chocolate bar as it might be too much.

Chopped Hershey's Cookies n' Cream chocolate bar.

Dough ready to be scooped.

Before baking.

After baking.

The "Kisses" melt from the heat of the cookies.

Verdict: I brought these cookies for my colleagues and my girlfriend Joanne and got rave reviews from both. They are soft, but with crunch from the Chocolate Crunch. What I like about these cookies is that the “cream” really comes out, probably from the milk powder and the Hershey’s Cookies n' Cream chocolate bar. Joanne said that they may be the best cookies I’ve every baked! Hmm, challenge accepted, Joanne!! By the way, best birthday gift ever! Thanks Yoko!

Momofuku’s Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies - adapted

2012-01-29T17:17:00.000-08:00

(one of) The main reason I want to visit New York is to eat at Momofuku’s Milk Bar. They’re desserts look like they’re out of this world creative and awesome! Crack pie, cereal milk soft serve, cinnamon bun pie?!!! Needless to say that I super want the cook book. In the meantime, I’ve found some of their recipes online, which I'm excited to try out. First on the list is the Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie. This cookie, as with all their recipes, is a multi-step, time consuming process. I’ve altered the recipe based on the comments made by others who have made it – reduced the sugar and butter and used chocolate chunks instead of chips.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Cornflake Chocolate Chunk Marshmallow Cookies

Adapted from here.

Makes 20.

Make Cornflake Crunch first

Ingredients

3 cups cornflakes

¼ cup milk powder

2 Tablespoon sugar

¼ cup melted salted butter

Directions

1. Heat oven to 275 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.

2. In a medium bowl, crush cornflake to large crumbs.

3. Add milk powder and sugar and mix.

4. Add melted butter and toss to coat.

5. Spread onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until toasted.

6. Cool before adding to cookie batter.

Cornflake crunch after baking.

Cookie recipe

Ingredients

½ cup room temperature salted butter

¾ cup sugar

1/3 + 2 Tablespoons tightly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla syrup or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups bread flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups Cornflake Crunch

2/3 cup dark chocolate chunks

1 ¼ cup mini marshmallows

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and both sugars with a beater on medium high for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add egg and vanilla, and beat for 7-8 minutes.

3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low just until dough comes together (1 minute).

4. Add cornflakes and chocolate chunks and mix just until incorporated (30 seconds).

5. Mix in marshmallow and mix just until incorporated (30 seconds). Dough may be crumbly.

6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerator for 24 hours.

Cornflake and chocolate.

Batter ready for the fridge.

To bake:

7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment or baking mat.

8. Pack dough into a medium/large ice cream scoop. Place on baking sheet 4 inches apart. If the dough crumbles, gather it into a pile (as it bakes, the batter will incorporate the crumbs).

9. Bake for 13 minutes. Cool on baking sheet before moving to a rack. Keep dough in refrigerator between bakes. Do not bake room temperature cookie dough.

Before baking.

After baking.

Verdict: These cookies were a hit with everyone, old and young! They were crunchy and chewy, sweet and salty. My friend’s picky 3-year old said that they were so yummy! It was really fun to put all that energy into a cookie and have them turn out great. Next step – go to New York and try the original!

Homemade Raincoast Crisps

2012-01-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

I’ve been feeling like snacking lately, so I’ve been making healthy, but not your ordinary, snacks. This past week I’ve made crispy roasted chickpeas and homemade popcorn (did you know that you can put popcorn kernels in a brown paper bag and microwave them?!! No more stove top or packaged microwave popcorn for me!!). This coming week I’ll be making kale chips (everyone seems to be making these – they are all over food galleries e.g. http://foodgawker.com/).

This weekend, I made raincoast crisps. If you don’t know what they are click here for the original product. I never buy these because they are super expensive, so I make them. I reduced the sugar from the recipe that I found and made sure I added lots of dried fruit for the sweetness.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Raincoast Crisps

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

2 cups flour (I used a combination of whole wheat, spelt, and rye, but the original recipe calls for 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all purpose)

2 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk

2 Tablespoon sucanat (or regular sugar)

2 Tablespoon maple syrup or honey

1.5 cups of seeds, nuts, and dried fruit (I used pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chopped pecans, raisins, dried currants, chopped figs, chopped dried apricots)

Baking Part 1

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. Add buttermilk, sugar, and maple syrup and mix.

4. Gently mix in seeds, nuts, and fruit.

5. Divide into 2 loaf pans and bake for 37 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Cool, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze.

Baking Part 2

1. When loafs are partially frozen, slice thin and lay on an ungreased cookie sheet.

2. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15 minutes, flip crisps over, and bake for another 10 minutes.

3. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Before baking.

After baking.

Before baking the second time.

Verdict: I LOVE these crisps!! I baked one loaf and kept the other in the freezer for another day (when I’m craving snacks). They are pretty filling because of the hefty flours and not too sweet. I especially love the crunch!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

2012-01-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

Another birthday, this time my friend Jerry. What to make for a guy who has no dessert favorites but is happy with everything? Last year I made him a black and white cake (see photo below). This year, I went with another black and white cake, but in cupcake form. Plus, I’ve been wanting to make a cookies and cream dessert for a while!

Jerry's 2011 birthday cake.

See the verdict at the end of the post!

Cookies and Cream Cupcake

Adapted from here.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

1 pack of Oreo cookies

1 1/8 cup flour and 1 Tablespoon pastry flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter – softened

½ and ¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla syrup or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk – room temperature

2 egg whites – room temperature

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.

2. Prep Oreos

a. Twist 12 Oreos in half and place the side with cream on the bottom of the cupcake liners (cream side up).

b. Cut other half of cookies for later decorations. Crush the others into a fine crumb to add to frosting.

c. Roughly chop 10 Oreo cookies and toss in 1 Tablespoon of flour. Set aside to fold into batter.

3. Whisk 1 1/8 cup flour, baking power, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually beat in ¼ cup sugar until stiff peaks. Set aside.

5. In a separate bowl, cream butter and ½ cup sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat to combine.

6. Add flour to butter mixture in thirds, alternating with buttermilk, starting and ending with flour and beating between additions.

7. Fold in egg white mixture.

8. Fold in chopped Oreo cookies.

9. Spoon into cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Oreo in the cupcake liners.

Cut the twisted off cookie in half for decorations.

Chop 10 Oreos to fold into batter.

Before baking.

After baking.

Cookies and Buttercream Frosting

In a large bowl, combine 1 cups of butter (softened), 4 cups of icing sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla syrup, and 1/4 cup of milk. Beat until smooth. Add crushed Oreo cookies (about ¼ cup) and beat until combined.

Ready for delivery!

Verdict: Jerry seemed pretty happy that he got cake for his birthday. I wasn’t there when he tasted them, but I thought they were super delicious. The cake is not too sweet, which balances the sweet frosting. Plus, the cookie at the bottom of the cupcake stays crispy and gives it a change-up in texture. A success! I wonder what other cookies I can bake into a cake…

Fruit Topped (flan-like) Butter Cake

2012-01-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

It was my friend Tina’s birthday. I wanted to make her a cake, but she’s not huge on cakes. Her favorite cakes are the ones with fruit on top because she loves fruit and usually ends up just eating the fruit. Since she was having a party and I figured not everyone would be happy just eating fruit – can you picture her blowing out a candle in a piece of fruit? I can’t! Plus don’t people super anticipate a delicious cake at a birthday party? I do! – I figured I had to incorporate a cake into the creation. So, I did a thin layer of cake with raspberries throughout, lemon curd (since I had some from my last post), and lots of fruit. This turned out to be quite flan-like!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Raspberry Butter Cake

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

¾ cup + 2 Tablespoon cake flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup + 2 Tablespoon butter, softened

½ cup sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup buttermilk

2 Tablespoon sour cream or yogurt

½ cup berries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar with a beater until fluffy.

4. Beat in egg and vanilla.

5. Mix buttermilk and sour cream or yogurt in a cup.

6. Mix in flour to egg mixture in 3rds, alternating with milk, starting and finishing with flour.

7. Fold in berries.

8. Bake in a 9 inch cake pan for 29 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Before baking.

After baking.

Assembly

1. Spread lemon curd (or custard) on cake.

2. Lay out fruits on top in a nice pattern.

3. Brush on a glaze (I used a store bought glaze – see picture), or heat apricot or apple jelly and use as a glaze.

Store bought glaze.

Verdict: This cake was pretty good and moist. I’d like to bake it in a loaf pan and try it without the fruit. It had a really nice vanilla flavor that I think will be delicious on its own. The birthday girl – as always - picked off and ate the fruit!

Angel Meringue (cup)Cake with Lemon Curd

2012-01-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

The boyfriend and I were going to a post-Christmas, pre-New Years potluck with his friends. We were asked to bring a dessert, so obviously of the two of us, the task was given to me. I knew that someone was going to bring a cheesecake, so I wanted to bring something that was the opposite of cheesecake. So, what’s the opposite of cheesecake? I’m thinking a light and fluffy angel food cake – the key to which is whipping up egg whites to stiff peaks and folding in the flour. Since angel food cakes require a lot of egg whites, I use a carton of just egg whites (like eggbeaters). Well, this time, I tried whipping up the egg whites, and it wouldn’t whip up…5 times! I finally decided that some yolk accidentally made its way into the carton during the assembly process (since even a drop of fat will keep the egg whites from whipping up), so I bought another carton. Presto, stiff peaks! I made cupcakes with the left over batter.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Angel Food Cake

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1 cup + 1 Tablespoon cake flour

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

12 egg whites

1 Tablespoon warm water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Sift flour and ¾ cup of sugar 4 times into a bowl.

3. In a large (non-plastic) bowl, beat egg whites and warm water until foamy (30 seconds).

4. Add salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla, and beat on medium until soft peaks.

5. Gradually add the remaining ¾ cup sugar while beating. Beat to stiff peaks on high.

6. Sift flour mixture over egg whites in six parts and fold in with a spatula.

7. Pour into an 8 inch ungreased cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

8. Flip the cake pan upside down and balance the edges of the pan on cups (see picture). Cool like this for 1 hour as it will ensure a high cake. When completely cool, run a knife along the edge before unmolding.

*if you have extra batter, bake cupcakes for 16 minutes

After baking

Cooling upside down on (step 8)

Meringue

From previous post.

Ingredients

2 egg whites

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200^○ F. Trace 2 circles (of the cake pan from above recipe – I used 8 inch pans) onto parchment paper. Place circle side down onto baking sheet.

2. In a large metal bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt to soft peaks.

3. Add vanilla and beat.

4. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff.

5. Spread meringue into the circles on the baking sheet.

6. For meringue decorations, line a piping bag with raspberry jam and fill with egg white mixture. Pipe decorations on baking sheet.

7. Bake for 1.5 hours or until they are thoroughly dry. Leave in oven with heat turned off for another hour.

Meringue lined with raspberry jam.

Before baking

Cake assembly

1. Place first meringue layer on plate. Apply lemon curd (I used store bought).

2. Place angel food cake on top.

3. Apply lemon curd on cake. Place meringue layer on top.

4. Apply lemon curd on the meringue layer and decorate with raspberry meringue decorations.

Cupcake assembly

1. Core cupcakes using a paring knife and fill with lemon curd.

2. Place core back into cupcake, and spread a layer of lemon curd on top.

3. Place a raspberry meringue decoration on top.

Cored cupcake

Verdict: The cake was a perfect alternative to the cheesecake! It turned out super fluffy and the meringues gave it a nice crunch! The lemon curd gave it a tartness that complemented the sweetness and gave it flavor! I am always amazed by how a simple cake with very little ingredients (and no fat) can be so tasty!

Best Ever Butter Cookie

2011-12-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

I’ve been making these butter cookies every Christmas for over 10 years. They are the best – simple, buttery, and very addictive. My friends are huge fans – some would say these are their favorite out of all the cookies I make. The secret ingredient is the vanilla syrup – instead of using vanilla extract, I use vanilla syrup that coffee shops use to flavor their coffee. I used to decorate these cookies with icing, but now I prefer to sprinkle decorations before baking.

Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 ¼ cup sifted icing sugar

2 Tablespoon vanilla syrup

1 egg

2 ½ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

2. Beat in vanilla syrup and eggs.

3. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Gradually add into butter mixture.

4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight. You can also freeze the dough for up to 6 months.

5. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

6. Roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness or less, and cut shapes with cookie cutters.

7. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and add decorations (if desired).

8. Bake for 4-6 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden.

9. If decorating with royal icing, ice after the cookies have cooled completely.

Before baking.

I made sent some of these cookies to my friend in Toronto. Here’s how I packaged them.

All ready for more newspaper to cushion the cookies.

Verdict: Delicious as always! Even better the next day as the flavours become more prominent.

Gingerbread House

2011-12-19T09:16:00.000-08:00

I love the smell of gingerbread during the holiday season. I make a gingerbread house every year just to fill the apartment with the smell. I used to buy the pre-made houses, but started making them from scratch because I get to design my own house. Here are a couple pictures of the one I did last year:

This year, I used the same recipe, but made a different house template. I also used melted white chocolate melting wafers to pipe the designs instead of royal icing (mostly because I was lazy to make the icing, plus, there’s always a lot of leftover icing that I unhappily end up throwing out).

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Gingerbread with Fresh Ginger

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 ½ Tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons water

House template

Measure and cut out house piece paper templates. You can find one here. If you are going to include a surprise inside the house (e.g., a Christmas tree), be sure to cut our some windows so that you can see it.

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, molasses, ginger, cloves, and baking soda until well combined.

2. Mix in flour and water.

3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. You can freeze for up to 6 months.

4. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

5. Roll out dough in pieces big enough for each template piece. Transfer rolled out dough to baking sheet, place template on top, and trace around with a butter knife. Remove the excess.

6. Bake for 6 minutes (longer if dough is thicker), and leave on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Assembly

1. Since I used melted chocolate, I decorated the house pieces before assembly. Use either melted white chocolate or royal icing to pipe designs.

2. To make the glue that will hold the pieces together, cook 1/3 cup sugar in a saucepan on low heat until golden. Use a spoon to spread the sugar “glue” on the edges of the house and press together. Work quickly as the “glue” hardens almost immediately spreading onto the gingerbread. Be very careful not to touch the cooked sugar –it will burn you!

3. After the walls are secured to the base, glue the Christmas tree inside.

The sugar glue is ready when this colour.

The back.

The surprise inside!

Verdict: The smell of gingerbread fills the apartment for weeks! I made gingerbread cookies with the left over dough, which were very tasty! I’ve never made gingerbread with dried ginger, but these cookies made with fresh ginger are flavourful! As for the white chocolate, I think I’ll go back to royal icing next year, as the melted chocolate was a tad too liquid to do intricate piping work.

2 Types of Rice Crispy Squares

2011-12-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

When my colleague told me that her mom made rice crispy squares with Mars chocolate bars, I had to make them! She melted the Mars bars before adding the cereal, but I decided to cut them into chunks and disperse them throughout the squares. I have also wanted to try making browned butter rice crispy squares, so I thought I would make these too, and bring them for my colleagues at work.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Browned Butter Rice Crispy Squares

Adapted from here. http://ricekrispies.ca/cgi-bin/rk_ca_2007/recipe.pl?id=14

Ingredients

¼ cup butter

5 cups mini marshmallows

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla syrup

6 cups puffed rice cereal

*For a chewier square, double the butter if browning

Directions

1. In a large pot, melt and brown butter (i.e., cook until it browns and smells like toffee) over medium-low heat.

2. Stir in marshmallows until melted.

3. Stir in vanilla.

4. Take off the heat and add puffed rice cereal. Stir until well coated.

5. Press into a pan, and cool before cutting.

Mars Bar Rice Crispy Squares

Recipe is the same as above plus 4 Mars bars, cut into chunks.

Stir in the chopped Mars bars after adding the puffed rice cereal.

Chopped Mars Bars

Verdict: Both these squares were very tasty! My colleagues seemed very pleased! I liked the way you get a chunk of the chocolate bar with some bites of the square.

I would recommend doubling the butter if you are going to brown it as a lot of it evaporates during the process. This will make a chewier square.

Chestnut Banana Bread

2011-12-05T18:04:00.001-08:00

What to do with super ripe bananas? Banana bread of course! As per usual, I wanted to kick it up a notch, so I added 2 things: browned butter and chestnuts. Since this was going to be for me, I used whole grain flour and no sugar, but I’m sure they’ll be just as tasty with regular flour and sugar. Another thought: all butter should be browned butter! Making the browned butter was incredible - it made my mouth water and kitchen smell like toffee happiness!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Left: chestnuts in shell; Right: shelled chestnuts

Browned butter after cooling.

Chestnut Browned Butter Banana Bread

Ingredients

¼ cup butter

4 ripe bananas

1 egg

1 ½ cups flour (I used ½ cup each of whole wheat, spelt, and cake flour)

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ cup chopped chestnuts (I used shelled chestnuts, but you can roast and peel your own!)

Directions

1. Make browned butter by heating up butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Swirl pan frequently as it bubbles gently. The butter is finished when it darkens in colour and smells like toffee. Place in a bowl and cool.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line loaf pan with parchment paper or grease and flour.

3. In a small bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add egg and butter. Mix.

5. Add the chopped chestnuts and mix.

6. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

7. Pour into pan and bake for 65 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

8. Cool on rack before slicing.

* If you prefer a sweeter banana bread, add ½ cup of sugar at step 4.

Left: Chestnuts before chopping

Before baking.

After baking.

Verdict: This recipe created a moist bread that was flavourful and not too sweet. The chestnuts gave it a soft chewy texture that I loved. These are a great snack!

Apple Cranberry Tarte Tatin

2011-11-26T22:00:00.001-08:00

I was in the mood to make a simple snack or dessert that I could make with the ingredients in my fridge. I remembered watching a cooking show in which they made an apple tarte tatin, and thinking that it was so easy and required very few ingredients. On the show, they made a pie crust, but since I had puff pastry, I figured that would work just as well (and keep me from having to make a crust!). I also thought it would be nice to add cranberries.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Apple Cranberry Tarte Tatin

Inspired from here.

Ingredients

3 firm apples (I used Galas)

Juice of ½ a lemon

¼ cup butter

¼ cup sucanat sugar (or brown sugar)

2 Tablespoon real maple syrup

1/3 cup cranberries

Puff pastry

Directions

1. Peel and core apples. Cut into 4.

2. Place in a bowl and mix with lemon juice. Set aside.

3. In a cast iron pan, melt butter on medium heat.

4. Add sugar and maple syrup, and cook until bubbly (around 1 minute).

5. Add apples and cook for 15 minutes on medium. Let the syrup bubble and reduce - it should be much thicker after 15 minutes.

6. Sprinkle cranberries over the apples.

7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

8. Roll out puff pastry so that it’s big enough of over the cast iron pan.

9. Place puff pastry on over the apples, tucking in the edges. Pierce air vents into pastry with a knife.

10. Bake for 20 minutes.

11. Cool until still a little bit warm. Place plate on pan and invert. If apples stick to the pan, pick them off and place on the pastry.

Apples in lemon juice.

Melting butter.

Butter, sucanat, and maple syrup, ready for apples.

Apples cooking in syrup.

Apples ready for pastry.

Puff pastry rolled out.

Adding air vents.

After baking.

Verdict: This tart was SO delicious. The apples melt in your mouth and the cranberries give a nice tartness. I will definitely make again. It was such a simple dish with high visual and taste impact!

Apple Raspberry Bran Muffins

2011-11-13T12:23:00.001-08:00

I wanted to make a snack that I can bring to work. I get hungry around 3pm – that time between lunch and dinner. I like muffins but the ones at the stores have a ton of sugar and are huge! Time to make my own.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Apple Raspberry Bran Muffins

Makes 7 small muffins.

Ingredients

Dry:

½ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup bran

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Wet:

1 egg

¼ cup oil

1/3 cup yogurt

¼ cup sucanat sugar (or brown sugar)

¼ cup apple juice

½ cup (total) of raspberries and cubed apples

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with 7 cupcake liners

2. In a small bowl, whisk all dry ingredients. Set aside.

3. In a larger bowl, beat all wet ingredients.

4. Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix with a spatula until just combined.

5. Fold in apples and raspberries.

6. Spoon batter into liners, just over ¾ full.

7. Bake for 13 minutes, or until toothpick comes out dry.

Before baking

After baking

Verdict: These muffins turned out super moist and perfectly sweet. The raspberries gave them a really nice kick of flavor. These will make a great afternoon snack at work!

Twilight Cake

2011-11-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

My friend asked me to make a birthday cake for her boss – a die-hard Twilight fan. She said that her boss likes a light cake with fruit. She also handed me a chess set and Twilight stickers. If you’re a Twilight fan, you’ll know that the cover of the Breaking Dawn book has a chess set.

For this Twilight cake, I thought an angel food cake with raspberries would be fitting. And I managed to work in the chess set and stickers, too.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Raspberry Swirl Angel Food Cake

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups sifted cake flour

1 ½ cup sugar

Pinch of salt

½ cup raspberries

1 ¾ cups egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put rack in lower third. Lay parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan.

2. In a small bowl, sift flour, ½ cup sugar and salt together 2 times. Set aside.

3. Mash raspberries with a fork and press through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. You should end up with ¼ cup of mashed raspberries.

4. In a large clean metal bowl, beat egg whites until foamy.

5. Beat in cream of tartar and vanilla until near stiff peaks.

6. Beat in remaining 1 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time until stiff peaks.

7. Sift flour over egg whites and fold in with a spatula.

8. Transfer 1/3 of batter to the pan and spread evenly. Dollop raspberries onto batter.

9. Repeat step 8. Top with the last 1/3 batter.

10. Run a knife through the batter.

11. Bake for 22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

12. Cool in the pan for 1 hour before unmolding.

13. Slice cake into 2 layers.

Egg white mixture before adding flour.

Dollops of raspberry (Step 8)

Before baking

After baking

Raspberry Filling

Ingredients

Raspberry jam

Small pack of raspberry gelatin

1 cup of raspberries (I used thawed frozen ones)

Directions

1. Microwave jam to liquefy.

2. Add raspberry gelatin. Taste as you go to get the flavor that suits you.

3. Mix in the raspberries.

4. Let it set in the refrigerator. If there’s a lot of excess liquid, strain the mixture.

Buttercream Frosting

Beat 1.5 cups of softened butter, 6 cups of icing sugar, 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and 3 teaspoons of milk until fluffy.

Assembly

1. Lay bottom cake layer on the plate. Spread a thin layer of buttercream frosting and outline a “dam”.

2. Spread the raspberry mix on top (within the dam).

3. Place second cake layer on top.

4. Frost entire cake and decorate – I put a chess board on top, and a ribbon with Twilight stickers around the sides of the cake.

Step 2

Covered with buttercream

Chess board with straw glued to the bottom as an anchor

Verdict: According to my friend, the cake was a hit! When they cut the cake, the raspberry filling squirted out and looked like blood, which added to the effect of Twilight! My friend served it with “blood” punch!

Halloween Candy Cookies

2011-11-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

We were having a Halloween costume party at work with prizes for the best costume in a few categories. We had some prizes, but we needed a few more, so I decided to make cookies and package them up. I wanted them to be Halloween themed, but without the hassle of piping bats or pumpkins. So, I decided to use Halloween candy – Smarties and Crunchie chocolate bars.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Smartie and Crunchie Cookies

Adapted from here.

Makes 18 cookies.

Ingredients

1 1/8 cup flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup salted butter

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

2 teaspoons corn syrup

½ cup chopped Crunchie bars

½ cup Smarties

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay parchment paper on cookie sheet.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.

3. In a larger bowl, beat butter and both sugars until fluffy.

4. Add salt, vanilla, egg, and corn syrup ad beat until mixed.

5. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

6. Divide dough in half and put into 2 bowls. Mix in Crunchie chunks in one half, and Smarties in the other half.

7. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

8. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack.

Chopped Crunchie bars

Before baking.

Verdict: These cookies were so good! I especially liked the Crunchie cookies! They had a great caramel flavor! My co-workers seemed pretty happy about winning them! By the way, I won “Most original costume” – I was a lamb (and No, I did not win my own cookies!).

Lemon Vanilla Pound Cake

2011-10-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

I had sour cream left over from a previous baking project that I wanted to use up. How about a pound cake? I found a potentially good recipe for a lemon pound cake that I wanted to tweak in healthy way. So I replaced some of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour and halved the sugar and replaced it with sucanat (pure dried cane juice – unrefined sugar). I wondered how it would turn out...

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Lemon Vanilla Pound Cake

Inspired from here.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat pastry flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

¾ cup sucanat

3 eggs, room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla

1/8 cup fresh lemon juice

½ tablespoon lemon zest

½ cup sour cream

Directions

1. Line a (smaller) tube pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Sift flours, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy.

4. Add sugar and beat for 5 minutes.

5. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

6. Beat in vanilla, lemon juice, and zest.

7. Using a spatula, mix in dry ingredients.

8. Mix in sour cream.

9. Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour (or until a cake tester comes out clean).

10. Lift the cake out of pan by the parchment paper, and cool on rack.

Before baking.

After baking.

Cooling.

Verdict: This pound cake was delicious, if I do say so myself! It was flavourful and moist! The sucanat gave a nice flavour, as did the lemon and vanilla. And the great thing about the whole wheat pastry flour is that it didn’t give it a gritty texture! A nice afternoon snack that I’ll be making again.

Thomas the Tank Engine Cupcakes

2011-10-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

It was my friend’s son’s 3^rd birthday, and he was having a Thomas the Tank Engine themed party at a school gym with lots of kids. Last year, I made him a devil’s food Yo-Gabba Gabba Brobee cake.

This year, we went with cupcakes as it’s easier to serve to kids. I thought that vanilla cupcakes with sprinkles would be a crowd pleaser.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Sprinkle Cupcakes

Adapted from here.

Makes 23 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup salted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon vanilla paste

2/3 cup whole milk

Sprinkles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Line cupcake pans with liners.

2. In a bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. Add butter and mix on until you get fine crumbs.

4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, vanilla paste, and vanilla extract, until smooth.

5. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

6. Add milk and mix until just combined. The batter will be liquid.

7. Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full.

8. Add sprinkles to each cupcake and give a gentle swirl.

9. Bake for 12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Before baking.

After baking.

Frostings

I used 2 types of frostings:

Buttercream Frosting – with orange gel colouring

Mix 1 cup of softened salted butter, 4 cups of icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and 2 Tbsp milk until whipped.

Marshmallow Frosting – with blue gel colouring

Stir 1 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of water, and ¼ tsp of cream of tartar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the soft-ball stage.

In a big bowl, whip 2 egg whites and 1 tsp vanilla to a soft peak. Gradually add the sugar syrup while whipping to stiff peaks (may take 7-10 minutes).

With sprinkles.

Decorations

Thomas flags

Cut out construction paper circles and place Thomas the Tank Engine stickers in the center.

Glue 2 of the circles together with a candy stick in the middle.

Insert flags in the cupcakes after piping frosting.

Verdict: These cupcake were interesting. They were not overly sweet, which was nice because it balanced out the sweet frosting. The kids and parents seemed to enjoy them!

The birthday boy!

Whoopie Pies

2011-10-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

My friend had a (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. I wanted to bring something small that the guests could eat even after a large turkey dinner - and it was a HUGE dinner (2 turkeys, ham, salmon, ribs, 2 brussels spout dishes, beans, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, dressing, bread, vegetarian pie, 2 gravies, and 2 tables to lay it out on!). A cake seemed too much, and I figured that there would already be a pie (and yes, there were 2 huge pumpkin pies). So I thought about whoopie pies! I had never made them before, but I love saying “whoopie pie”! Plus, they are fairly bite size and cute!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Whoopie Pies

Adapted from here.

Makes 19 whoopie pies.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

½ cup cocoa

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk – shaken

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup salted butter – room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

2. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt

4. In a cup, mix buttermilk and vanilla

5. In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy.

6. Add egg and beat until mixed.

7. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with buttermilk, and mixing between additions.

8. Spoon (2 Tablespoon sized portions) onto cookie sheet and bake for 9 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

9. Cool thoroughly on a wire rack.

Before baking.

After baking.

Assembly

Pipe filling on a cookie and sandwich it with another cookie. I used left over frosting from other baking projects (vanilla buttercream, raspberry buttercream, cream cheese frosting, and peanut butter cream cheese frosting), but next time I’ll try this boiled frosting. Add sprinkles to the exposed frosting.

Frosting in piping bags and sprinkles.

Clockwise from top right: vanilla buttercream, raspberry buttercream, cream cheese frosting, peanut butter cream cheese frosting.

Verdict: These were pretty delicious with a variety of fillings for people to choose from. The chocolate layers had great flavour and moist texture. Next time, I’ll pipe the layers so that they’re all the same size and shape!

Jar Cakes

2011-10-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

I’ve always wanted to try making jar cakes – cake in jars. They’re so easy to transport! Since it was my friend Rica’s birthday, I decided to make them for her. I coupled a peach cake with a strawberry cream cheese frosting. Instead of cutting out circles to place in the jars, I used muffin tins!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Peach Cake

Adapted from a post comment.

Makes 12 jar cake layers to fill 3 small jars.

Ingredients

1/4 cup peach puree*

3/4 cup flour

0.5 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

0.5 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/8 cup milk

*peel a peach and puree in a blender. In a saucepan, simmer over low heat to reduce.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Grease and flour muffin tray.

3. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together.

4. Beat butter and sugar.

5. Add vanilla, egg, and peach puree.

6. Mix in milk.

7. Mix in flour.

8. Fill muffin tins ¼-1/3 full.

9. Add any remaining puree on each cake layer.

10. Bake for 13 minutes.

Peach puree.

Before baking.

After baking.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

Adapted from here.

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

1/2 packages of cream cheese (4 ounces), room temperature

1 Tbs + 1 tsp butter, room temperature

Heaping 1/3 cup icing sugar

1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup strawberries

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, butter, and sugar until creamy.

2. Mix in vanilla.

3. Pure strawberries in a blender or food processor. Mix into cream cheese mixture.

4. Add more sugar if it is too runny. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Assembly

1. Place a cake layer in a jar.

2. Pipe frosting on top.

3. Place next cake layer on top of frosting, and repeat until full.

4. Sprinkle top layer with sprinkles.

Step 1: place cake in jar

Step 2: add frosting

Step 3: repeat

Replace lids with nice fabric or paper

Add ribbon and spoons

Verdict: These turned out pretty! I wished that the peach flavor was more pronounced – adding peach flavoring would have helped with this. Adding cut up fruit as a layer would also have been delicious too! I decorated with ribbon and added a spoon that made them ready to transport and ready to eat!

Wedding Desserts Part 2 – Cupcakes

2011-09-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

Wedding Desserts Part 1 was about the cake I made for my friend Joanne’s wedding. This post is about the cupcakes that I made for her guests. As the cake was chocolate and vanilla, so were the cupcakes. Instead of doing the usual swirl frosting, I decided to hand pipe hydrangeas. Thank goodness her bridesmaids helped me with the piping! I had baked the cupcakes a few weeks in advance, and froze them, so they just needed to be frosted. We had a piping assembly line: Charlene unwrapped the cupcakes (and was the motivation cheerleader), Gabbie and I piped the hydrangeas, and Tina piped the centers on the hydrangeas and placed them in the boxes. It took 3 hours and ended in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, but we were happy to have contributed to our friend’s special day! We were then off to celebrate Joanne’s final night as a single girl – and what an interesting night that was!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Cupcakes

The vanilla and chocolate cupcakes were made from the same recipe as the cake, posted here. I ended up making 3 batches of the chocolate and 2 batches of the vanilla to make 150 cupcakes and the cake.

Buttercream frosting

The recipe for the buttercream frosting was the same as the cake, found here. I doubled the recipe by 6 to cover the cupcakes and the cake.

I coloured a ½ cup of the frosting as a darker yellow, and 1/3 of the rest of the frosting as a yellow-ish green.

Hydrangea frosting

Fill 1/3 of the frosting bag with green frosting, and 2/3 of the bag with white.

Add a tip #104.

See this video for the frosting technique (starting from 6:09). Add yellow dots to the center of each flower using tip #3.

Piping hydrangeas

Piping the centers

Verdict: They turned out beautiful! Very pretty when all the cupcakes were displayed together. 150 was the perfect amount for 140 guests, with a few left over to send them home with!

Wedding Desserts Part 1 - Cake

2011-09-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

Tired. So tired.

I usually post once a week, but I have not been able to the last couple weeks because I have been busy planning and putting together the cake and cupcakes for my friend Joanne’s wedding. This week was recuperation week, and I’ve finally rounded up enough energy to write a post.

So, the plan is to break this up into 2 posts: the cake and the cupcakes. First the cake…

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Hydrangea and Ivy Cake

My friend Joanne wanted hydrangeas and ivy on her wedding cake. As we had planned on serving cupcakes, I made a small cake for her and her groom to cut into. To see a post on the cake tasting process, go here.

Vanilla and Chocolate cake

Vanilla cake recipe from here.

Chocolate cake recipe from here.

Baked separately in 8 inch pans.

Almond-Cocoa Filling

My friend Tina brought back a “Nutella” from Germany that is made of almonds rather than hazelnuts. It is so tasty. I used this as the filling for the cake.

Almond cocoa spread.

Buttercream frosting

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

4 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons milk

Directions

Add all ingredients into a large bowl and mix until smooth

Hydrangeas

1. Roll out fondant and cut out hydrangeas using a flower cutter.

2. Brush flowers with green petal dust.

3. Thread a hooked wired through middle of the flower and fasten with royal icing.

4. Hang upside down to dry.

Hydrangeas hanging to dry.

Ivy

1. Add green gel colouring to fondant.

2. Roll out fondant and cut out ivy using a cutter and embosser.

3. Roll out edges with a ball tool.

4. Thread wire into the ivy, and leave out to dry.

Tools (left to right): ball roller, cutter and embosser, wire.

Coloured fondant.

Rolled out fondant.

Cut and embossed ivy.

Rolling out edges with ball roller.

Threading wire into ivy.

Cake assembly

1. Fasten chocolate cake layer onto cake board with a little bit of frosting.

2. Spread filling onto cake.

3. Put vanilla layer on top of filling.

4. Add a crumb coat to the cake and freeze for 10 minutes.

5. Add a thicker layer of frosting and smooth with a spatula dipped in water.

6. Add hydrangea and ivy.

Filling.

Crumb coat.

Verdict: The bride and groom loved the cake, and the hydrangeas and ivy fit perfectly with the decor! Upon cutting it, they opted not to smash the cake into each other’s faces. They ended up eating it for 2 days after the wedding!

Cutting the cake.