Bridal Shower Part 3 - Berry Cheesecake Macarons

As I wrote in my previous posts (here and here), I recently helped throw my very dear friend a Paris themed bridal shower. Of course I had to bake some macarons as part of the event’s dessert line up! The bride loves macarons, particularly the ones from Laduree, which she had for the first time when she went to Paris (and got engaged!).

I’m still on my macaron perfecting journey. I still cannot bake filled macarons (i.e., I end up with hollows). And I’m sad to say that I can’t bake them in the Winter/Fall/Spring because it’s so rainy and humid in Vancouver and I have a gas oven. After many trials and tears, I realized after talking to a foodie colleague, that gas ovens pump out moisture, which destroys macarons. I think it’s completely ridiculous that I can only bake them in the summer - to the point where I might change out my gas oven for an electric.

So good thing it’s summer! I decided on a berry cheesecake filling for the shower. Check out the verdict at the end of the post.

Berry Cheesecake Macarons

Macaron shells

Ingredients

1 ½ cups icing sugar

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons almond meal/ground almonds

3 egg whites

⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar

¼ + 2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Gel food colouring

Directions

1. Line three baking sheets with parchment. Wipe the inside of a metal bowl and whisk with vinegar to get rid of any grease. Insert a round tip # 2A into a pastry bag, place in a tall cup, and fold the edge over the outside of the cup.
2. Combine icing sugar and almond meal in a blender or food processor and pulse a few times to mix and further grind the almonds. Set aside.
3. Place egg whites in the bowl and beat until frothy. Add cream of tartar and whip to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while whisking and continue to very stiff peaks.
4. Add vanilla and combine. Add gel food colouring (I used a mix of pink and purple) and combine. Knock the meringue off the whisk by hitting it against the side of the bowl.
5. Sift the almond-icing sugar blend into the meringue. Set timer for 30 seconds and mix with a spatula to deflate the air.
6. Begin to fold and smear the mixture against the bottom/side of the bowl. Take your time and test the consistency periodically - hold some of the mixture up with the spatula and see if it flows down in a thick ribbon. If you can make a number 8 with the flow as it drips off the spatula, it’s ready. Check out this video for a reference on the consistency.
7. Fill the pastry bag with half the mixture (now called a macaronage). Pipe small circles. Refill and repeat with remaining macaronage. Bang the baking sheet 2x on the counter to release bubbles. Set aside.
8. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F. Let macarons sit and form a shell as the oven is pre-baking (15-30 minutes).
9. Bake one sheet at a time for 15 minutes. The shells should easily release from the parchment. Cool on tray before filling.

Berry cream cheese filling

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon of butter, softened

¼ cup cream cheese, softened

2 Tablespoon of your favorite berry jam

2 Tablespoons icing sugar

Directions

Beat butter and cream cheese together until fluffy and combined. Add jam and icing sugar and mix to combine.

Assembly

Spread jam on one macaron shell and add (or pipe) a dollop of cream cheese filling on the other. Combine. But wait, you’re not done! Be sure to ripen them in the fridge in a sealed container for a minimum of 24 hours. This will improve flavour and texture. Don’t skip this step! It’s worth it.

Verdict: The bride and the guests were delighted by the macarons, which of course made me really happy! It just added a really nice touch to the event. I send everyone home with leftover cake and macarons.

Bridal Shower Part 1 - Orange Earl Grey Cake

My very dear friend M is getting married! I’ve known this gal since we were in high school (we’re now in our 30’s to put this in context). We’ve been through a lot of fun and not so fun times (as is life) together and watched each other grow up. There have been times when we’ve been apart (she moved to Toronto for a while) and times when we didn’t get together often (I had grad school, she had a child!) but we have one of those friendships where we can jump right back in and nothing has changed. So I was delighted to help organize her bridal shower and send her on her way to her wedding in Santorini (talk about dream wedding!)!

We decided to throw her a Paris themed bridal shower since it’s her favorite place in the world and it’s where she got engaged. I decided to make an array of desserts to fit the theme, which I will post over the next little while.

First, cake! I made two cakes, an orange earl grey cake and a chocolate cake (to satisfy those for whom only chocolate will do). The orange earl grey cake was supposed to be two separate cakes (and orange creamsicle cake and an earl grey cake), but plans changed and I did a mash up - the flavours worked well together.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Orange Earl Grey Cake

Orange cake layers by Tessa Huff

I baked them in two, 6-inch cake pans and the remaining batter in a small loaf pan (for snacking on).

The cakes baked for around 40 minutes or until a toothpick came out clean (started checking around 30 minutes).

When cooled, slice off the domed tops and slice cakes in half so you end up with 4 layers. (If making ahead, wrap in plastic and freeze. Defrost with the plastic on when ready to assemble.)

Earl grey cake layers by Tessa Huff

I cut the recipe in half and baked in two, 6-inch cake pans for around 40 minutes (or until a toothpick came out clean - started checking around 30 minutes).

Tea syrup by Tessa Huff

Ingredients

½ cup water

½ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon loose leaf earl grey tea

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil. Bring down the heat to a simmer and add the tea. Let simmer for 10 minutes then take off heat and cool. Strain the leaves.

*I steeped the tea in the syrup for a week in the fridge for extra flavour

Cream cheese filling adapted from recipe by Tessa Huff

Ingredients

½ cup butter, softened

3 cups icing sugar

¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons cream cheese, softened and whipped with a fork

Zest of ¼ of an orange

3 Tablespoons of tea syrup (recipe above)

Directions

In a bowl, beat butter and icing sugar until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until combined. Add orange zest and tea syrup. Feel free to add more syrup to get the consistency you want (should be spreadable).

Earl grey swiss meringue buttercream

Adapted from recipe by Tessa Huff

Ingredients

3 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 ½ cup unsalted butter

3 Tablespoons tea syrup (from above)

½ teaspoon of ground earl grey tea

Directions

1. Wipe down bowl of stand mixer and whisk attachment with vinegar to get rid of any grease.
2. Combine egg whites and sugar in bowl and place over a pot of simmering water. Place a candy thermometer on the side and whisk more or less continuously until the mixture reaches 155 degrees F.
3. Take off the heat and whisk using the stand mixer until thick, glossy and cool. I like to put a gel ice pack around the bottom to speed up the cooling process.
4. Meanwhile, cut butter into cubes. When the meringue is cool, change to a beater attachment and beat on medium, adding cubes of butter one at a time. Beat on high until smooth (may take a while, sometimes up to 20 minutes).
5. While on medium, gradually add tea syrup. Stop and add the ground tea and beat to combine.

Assembly

1. Place orange cake layer on a cake board. Brush with tea syrup. Spread a cream cheese filling on top. Place another orange cake layer and repeat.
2. Repeat with the two earl grey cake layers. Finish with the remaining two orange cake layers.
3. Crumb coat with the Earl Grey Swiss Meringue buttercream. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to set. Add another layer of buttercream and repeat until you get a smooth coat. Decorate and enjoy! (Keep the fridge and bring to room temperature ~2 hours before eating.)

Verdict:

The shower came together splendidly! The bride was really happy with all the little details and had a lot of fun. I’m so happy with how everything turned out and glad that I could send her on her way with a bang! I’m still coming down from the high of the event!

Oh and the cake? It was delic. I especially liked the fluffiness of the orange cake. The earl grey flavour was a complimentary flavour.

Caramel Chocolate Chip Layer Cake

I was really itching to bake something and as if on queue, there was another birthday celebration. I was thinking about how much I liked this birthday cake, but wanted to swap the passion fruit curd for something else.  I figured replacing it with cheesecake might be nice, and why not add caramel too?  I was excited to start this multi-layer cake project!

Check out the verdict (and lessons learned) at the end of the post!

                                                      

Caramel Chocolate Chip Layer Cake Parts

All parts are from (or adapted from Milk Bar Cookbook except for the caramel sauce.

Includes

1.   Chocolate chip cake

2.   Chocolate crumb

3.   Caramel sauce

4.   Liquid caramel cheesecake

5.   Coffee frosting

*Everything can be made a few days in advance except for frosting.

Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

1 ¼ cup sugar

¼ cup tightly packed light brown sugar

3 eggs

½ cup butter milk

½ cup oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cup cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cake pan with parchment.  The original recipe suggests baking the cake as a sheet and cutting circles from them.  I used round baking pans and sliced the layers.

2.  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars for 2 minutes until fluffy.  Add eggs and mix for 3 minutes.

3.  On low speed, gradually beat in buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.  Increase speed and beat for 5 minutes until the mixture is homogenous .

4.  Add flour and baking powder and mix on the lowest speed for 45 seconds until just combined. Fold in ½ cup of chocolate chips.

5.  Pour batter into pans and sprinkle the last ¼ cup of chocolate chips.

6.  Bake until toothpick comes out clean.  30-35 minutes for a sheet cake, 55 minutes for a tall round pan.

7.  Cool and cut layers or rounds to the size of the cake you want.

Chocolate Crumb

Ingredients

1/3 cup flour

½ teaspoon cornstarch

¼ cup sugar

1/3 cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons salted butter, melted

Directions

1.  Heat oven to 300 degrees F.

2.  Combine flour, cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl.

3.  Add butter and mix with a hand blender or stand mixer on low until you get small clusters.

4.  Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

5.  Cool completely before using in recipe.

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

½ cup sugar

2 Tablespoon corn syrup

3 Tablespoon butter

1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions

1.  In a small pot over medium high heat, melt sugar and corn syrup until golden.

2.  Mix in butter.

3.  Carefully mix in whipping cream.

4.  Transfer to a bowl or jar to cool completely.

*Use in cheesecake recipe

Liquid Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 brick of cream cheese

½ cup sugar

¼ cup caramel sauce (from above recipe)

1 Tablespoon corn starch

½ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons milk

1 egg

Directions

1.  Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F.

2.  Beat cream cheese for 2 minutes.  Add sugar and beat for another minute or until incorporated.

3.  Beat in caramel sauce until smooth.

4.  In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and salt.  Beat in milk, then egg until thoroughly mixed.

5.  Gradually add the egg mixture to cream cheese mixture as you beat on medium speed.  Beat for 3 minutes.

6.  Pour batter into a baking pan (mine was 6 inch x 6 inch) and bake for 15 minute or until the edges are set but the middle is still jiggly.

7.   Cool completely and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Liquid caramel cheesecake after baking.

Coffee Frosting

*Make frosting right before use.  Do not make ahead of time and refrigerate – it will separate.

Ingredients

1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

¼ cup homo milk

2 teaspoon instant coffee powder

Directions

1.  In a small bowl, whisk milk and coffee.

2.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 3 minutes, until fluffy.

3.  On low speed, gradually add coffee milk and whip until fully combined after each addition.  You’ll end up with fluffy, shiny, frosting.

*If you’re having a hard time incorporating the milk into the butter, add more icing sugar.

Assembly

1.   Place the bottom layer of the cake on a plate. Wrap a piece of acetate around the cake and secure it together with tape so that it forms a ring.

2.   Spread half of the remaining caramel sauce.

3.   Spread half of the caramel cheesecake on top. (Piping it makes the job easier)

4.   Sprinkle half of the chocolate crumb on top.

5.   Pipe 1/3 of the coffee frosting on top of the crumb. 

6.   Add next layer of cake, and repeat the process.

7.   Put in freezer for at least 2 hours. Peel off acetate and defrost in the fridge for 3 hours before serving.

Lesson’s learned: I baked the chocolate chip cake in one tall cake pan, which was a mistake.  The chocolate chips sank to the bottom and sides.  Next time, I’ll use 3 separate cake pans, or bake as a sheet cake and cut out layer.

Verdict:  This cake was well received.  It was very sweet, so know your audience!  This cake easily serves 16 people because you don’t need very big slices.  I especially enjoyed the caramel cheesecake – it was divine!