My weekend- Jungle Cake (cake 3 of 3)

Yes! We're in the home stretch. This cake was for my co-worker's daughter's 1st birthday. She and I were pregnant at the same time (which I'm sure our company loved) and her little Olivia was born just a couple months after the Octopus. I was excited to make this cake- my friend gave me a napkin that they were using as a guide for the design of the cake. So cute.The first tier is lemon cake with lemon cream cheese buttercream and the second tier is red velvet with cream cheese buttercream. Because I'm such a loser with our new camera, I really hope the birthday girl's parents got some better (i.e. non-blurry) pics of the cake! :(

My weekend- Dirty 30 Cake (cake 2 of 3)

For the record, I didn't come up with the name of this cake. A friend called me up late last week, saying her friend was having a birthday party on Saturday night and her cake-baker had a family emergency and couldn't make her cake so she asked if I could make it. Knowing I had two other cakes this weekend, I hesitated. But then I thought, oh well if it's a simple design, I have time. So when I spoke to the birthday girl, she just wanted off-white fondant with leopard print ribbon along the base. Simple. For 80 people. Oh, wait...
This is the largest cake I've made. I was a bit nervous about the 12" layer since I hadn't ever covered a cake that big, but it turned out ok. I was also nervous about not being the one delivering it because the cake was pretty big and pretty heavy and my poor friend who was taking it to the party probably weighs the same as the cake. But I think it made it there in tact and still standing. The tiers are all red velvet with italian meringue cream cheese buttercream.
So, we got a new camera and I'm not good with it. Obviously, this picture is crooked and the top tier did not look like that in person. I should've had my husband take the pics! :)

My weekend- Pokemon Cake (cake 1 of 3)

For Gabe's 16th birthday, his mom asked me to make a Pokemon cake with "any of the first 150 characters." Since I had no idea what Pokemon was except for the yellow guy, I was nervous. Luckily, Wikipedia has Pokemon information galore and I was able to pick a handful that hopefully would be in the same environment together. The cake is covered in fondant and the figures and decorations are fondant/gumpaste. Both tiers were banana cake with vanilla italian meringue buttercream. I used Warren Brown's Mr Banana Legs recipe from Cake Love. AMAZING!

DB- Homemade Pizza

Ok, so I'm a little behind, but once you see what I've been doing, I think you'll agree that it's been a hectic week. This month's (October) Daring Bakers Challenge, chosen by Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums was for homemade pizza from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart. This was so great- I loved that you could make the dough in about 10 minutes and leave it in the fridge for a couple days, and then just pull it out, add some toppings, pop it in the oven for a few minutes and you're done! I just chose basic toppings- olives and artichoke hearts. Beansy and her sis don't care for anything too sophisticated. I'd love to try it with proscuitto, fresh mozzerella and basil.

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.
Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled -

1 3/4 Tsp Salt 1 Tsp Instant yeast 1/4 Cup Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with) 1 3/4 Cups Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C) 1 Tb sugar Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting
DAY ONE
Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).
2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.
NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.
3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper. 4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).
NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts. 5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.
NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.
6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.
7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.
NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.
DAY TWO
8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours. 9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F).
NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.
10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.
NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.
11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches - for a 6 ounce), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.
12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.
NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.
13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.
NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pan to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.
14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Star Cake

I made a simple small cake for Grandpa Dewey's birthday. I was going to make a monkey because he's famous for making our girls laugh with monkey noises, but I think the filling is too soft to hold up such a heavy figure. Plus, I have two cakes to make this week and I'm sure I'll get enough of making figures (one of which will have a monkey)! White cake with pistachio cream filling covered and decorated with fondant.

Pistachio Cream Filling
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/4 c sugar
3 tablespoons pisatchio pudding mix
Whip the cream until soft peaks form. With the mixer on low, gradually add the sugar. Once added, turn the speed up to high and whip until stiff peaks form. Fold in pudding mix. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

I

TWD- Pumpkin Muffins

Ok, so I did make Pumpkin Muffins last week (admittedly, before I saw what this week's TWD recipe was), but I was still excited to try this recipe, which was chosen by Kelly. The muffins are moist and tender, with chewy golden raisins.
The recipe makes a lot of batter- I filled the muffin tins about 2/3 full, with still a lot of batter left. So I kept on filling until most of the batter was gone- the cups were almost 100% full. The recipe calls for sunflower seeds as the topping, but I crumbled TJ's Cinnamon Alphabet Cookies on top. The muffins baked up beautifully- with tall (but not overflowing) tops and the cookie crumbs got toasty and golden. Good thing I was paying attention (kids were napping)- mine were done in 18 minutes instead of the 25 stated in the recipe. Maybe I should've taken them out a minute earlier, too- they were the tiniest bit dry.
The muffins aren't as sweet as mine, which was good, but I think I prefer mine (and mine are healthier, too).Yes, I know that's a V, not a U, but I couldn't find a U. And RVCA does it, so why can't I?

Check out Kelly's blog for the recipe!

The Cake Slice- Hot Chocolate Chiffon Cake

I'm so excited- this is the first Cake Slice Bakers recipe. This is a new baking group started by Gigi and Katie making cakes from Sky High: Irresistable Triple-Layer Cakes. I LOVE making layered cakes! The recipe is really for a cappucino chiffon cake, but we're not coffee or alcohol drinkers so I substituted hot chocolate (made with sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder and water) for the cappucino and was pleased with the results. Instead of the rum, I increased the amount of hot chocolate for the cappucino and added the almond extract.I thought the 6 cups of whipped cream was a little much- I honestly had a stomachache after my not-really-that-big-slice. Three one-inch layers of whipped cream, plus the amount on the sides proved too much for me. Next time, I'd cut down that amount.

The cake reminds me a lot of tiramisu (probably even more so if coffee was used)- once soaked, the cake is moist and dense with fluffy whipped cream. I omitted the nutmeg as my husband hates it and has MEGA nutmeg detector. I cut the cinnamon down a little, too- the cinnamon flavor was still quite strong. Maybe we have sensitive taste buds?

CAPPUCCINO CHIFFON CAKE
Makes an 8-inch triple layer cake
1/4 cup of neutral oil (ie. vegetable, canola, or soybean)
6 eggs separated
6 tablespoons of freshly brewed espresso cooled to room temperature
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 and 1/3 cups of cake flour*
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
Cocoa powder or cinnamon for dusting
(*The recipe calls for cake flour and if you only have all-purpose flour on hand, you can substitute 3/4 cup (105 grams) all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch.)

Espresso Syrup
1/3 cup hot freshly brewed espresso
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup dark rum, such as Meyers*
(*if you want to leave out the rum you can use molasses thinned with pineapple juice and flavored with almond extract to equal 1/3 cup. Or use 1 to 2 teaspoons of rum extract flavoring but you'll have less syrup.)

Vanilla Whipped Cream
3 cups of heavy cream
1/3 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line the bottom s of three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper but do not grease.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the oil, egg yolks, espresso, and vanilla; whisk lightly to blend. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, 1 cup of sugar, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium-low speed until frothy. Raise the mixer to medium high and gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Do not whip to stiff peaks or the cake will shrink upon cooling.
4. Add the espresso-egg mixture to the dry ingredients and fold together just until combined. Add one fourth of the egg whites and fold them gently into the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites just until no streaks remain. Divide the batter among the pans.
5. Bake the cakes for 18 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans. Once cooled run a knife around the edge of the pans to release the cakes. Invert onto a wire rack and remove the parchment papers.
6. To assemble the cake, place one cake layer flat side up on a cake stand or platter. Soak the cake with 1/3 cup of the espresso syrup. Spread 1 and 1/3 cups of whipped cream evenly over the top of the cake. Repeat with the next layer the same steps. Finally top with the third layer. Soak with syrup and frost the top and sides of the cake with the whipped cream.
7. To decorate the cake smooth out the whipped cream as much as possible on top. Lay a paper doily on top and sift cocoa powder or cinnamon over the doily to reveal a lacy detail.

Espresso Syrup
makes 1 cup
In a bowl, stir together the espresso and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the rum and let cool to room temperature.

Vanilla Whipped Cream
makes 6 cups
Place the cream, sugar, and vanilla in large chilled mixing bowl with chilled beaters. With the whip attachment, beat the cream until stiff peaks form.