Dorie and I are on a "break"

Sorry Marie of A Year in Oak Cottage and sorry Dorie (its not you, its me I swear) I am not spending this Tuesday with Dorie so there will be no "La Palette’s Strawberry Tart" from me. It is heart wrenching actually as I had grand plans for the tart, but my thighs and I have come to the conclusion that since I have to bake a cake this week for my fondant and gumpaste cake decorating class, I really shouldn't have two types of dessert in the house. They cheered when I told them that it meant one less dimple to look forward to.

Though I don't have a tart for you (well unless I count myself) I do have my cake final from course 1 of my cake decorating class (I'm currently taking the fondant and gumpaste class because course 2 didn't have enough students signed up to proceed. A travesty. I know). It came out lovely even though the roses got a little smooshed during transit.

It is amazing to me how much you can learn in four classes. I am truly on my way to becoming a cake decorating diva. You can all sing me praises and bow down to my authority on cake decorating at your leisure. It was so pretty when I walked through the door my husband exclaimed "babe you MADE that?!", and with my head held high I strolled to the kitchen and stated "YES! Isn't is beautiful!". The buttercream is my usual recipe, but the cake was fabulous. Now onto the cake...

The cake was "Beatty's chocolate cake" by Ina Garten, and I have to say this cake must really be extraordinary because as hard as I tried to ruin it (I was missing half of the ingredients) it was still phenomenal! I know what you are thinking. Why would she even attempt to make this cake if she were missing half of the ingredients? Well if you must know, I had to make a cake for my cake decorating final, and I wanted a chocolate cake and I refused to settle for yellow cake or go to the grocery store. I do not settle. I am the baking diva, and If I want chocolate cake I will have chocolate cake damn it! Seriously I was short an egg; I had the wrong chocolate (and not enough of the one I did have so I tossed in a chocolate pudding mix); I was out of vegetable oil so I used butter; I didn't use the coffee; and I used regular milk in place of butter milk and this cake was still amazing! Don't get me wrong. The texture was a little off, but the taste was excellent! So rich and chocolaty, and I am absolutely positive the next time that I make it with all of the ingredients it is going to be orgasmic! I am shaving my legs as we speak in anticipation of this mouth orgasm...

Make sure you check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see everyone else's tarts.

XOXO

Stay Sweet;)

Beatty's Chocolate cake by Ina Garten
Source:Food network.com

Butter, for greasing the pans

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups good cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

There is light at the end of the tunnel

(yes they are heart shaped. I made them for my husband *hands out barf bags*)

Cake decorating class homework assignment #2 - SUCCESS!

Ha! I am a baking diva! No funky, gooey, bleeding cake for me this week. Take that, stubborn pride! You're not the boss of me.

This week's assignment called for us to bring in frosted cupcakes. Immediately my ego took over contemplating all the different flavors and filling combinations I could create to bring into class, but being the obedient pupil that I am *dodges lightning bolts* I reigned it in and decided to keep it simple. There is absolutely no need for me to gamble with the lives of others imposing upon them my delusional creativity. Someone could get hurt, and that someone could be me (or other unsuspecting victims as my mind is still reeling from the near catastrophe of the last class). I asked my husband what his preference was and he suggested banana cupcakes. So banana cupcakes it was...with nuts...and chocolate chips because I'm a rebel at heart and I just cant help myself.


Since I had such luck with the PMS Who? cupcakes from cupcake project (props to you mami you rock!) she was my first stop for the banana cupcakes and I was not disappointed. Immediately upon entering her wonderful world of cupcakes I was directed to This recipe and I knew it was fate. Wow. These cupcakes are fluffy and moist and addictive! From the first tempting bite I was overwhelmed with a delicious banana aroma and a perfect cupcake texture. I was instantly hooked. This chick knows her stuff. My hat goes off to you (as well as various articles of clothing because I'm a true groupie and dessert slut). These fabulous cupcakes are a must try. I mean I changed some stuff of course because I'm crazy that way (you know you love it) but these are definitely a keeper. Look how pretty they were after they were frosted (please disregard the fact they were supposed to be frosted flat, I am an artist, and I cannot be held to the rules of laymen. I must follow my heart at all costs).

We learned some stuff in class that I wont bore you with (meaning I was terrible at and I wouldn't want to taint your opinion of me and my phenomenal baking skills because we all know I will be queen some day), but this was the star of the night...

Isn't my little prince adorable sitting there on his cupcake throne! I know what you are thinking. You are contemplating all the deliciously filthy things you want to do to him with your tongue, but this is a G rated blog so get your minds out of the gutter you perverts.

For the rest of the decent folk here is the recipe (as with most recipes my changes are in parenthesis):

The Banana Cupcake Recipe (Makes 18)
1 STICK BUTTER
1 CUP SUGAR (i used 1/2 cup brown 1/2 cup regular)
2 EGGS
1/2 CUP SOUR CREAM (I used Nestle table cream or Media crema instead and it made it sooooo moist. It can be found in your local goya aisle)
1 TSPN BAKING SODA
2 CUPS SIFTED ALL PURPOSE FLOUR (I used cake flour)
1 TSPN VANILLA (I added cinnamon too)
2 BANANAS
1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup nut ( I used pecans)

CREAM BUTTER AND SUGAR

ADD EGGS

ADD SOUR CREAM (or media crema),FLOUR, AND BAKING SODA

ADD VANILLA, ADD MASHED BANANAS

Stir in desired mix-ins by hand

BAKE FOR 20 MINUTES AT 350

Buttercream recipe

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

4 c. sifted powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp. milk (keep adding milk until you achieve the desired consistency)

1 tsp. light corn syrup

1 tbsp. Meringue Powder

pinch of salt to taste (it helps to make it less sweet)

XOXO

Stay sweet;)

Part 2 of the HW disaster-Thank God for small favors

All I can say is that I was thisclose to giving my entire class food poisoning, and possibly causing a law suit for my instructor, but don't panic all is well even though they narrowly escaped their deaths. Lets just say that I am not quiting my day job any time soon because a master baker I am not. On a more positive note I'm much more knowledgeable now, and I am sure not to poison anyone in the future. With that said there were both positive and negative aspects to my cake and everything is a learning experience;) Lets get on with the story shall we?


Well, though I tried relentlessly to sabotage my first class project I failed miserably. It seems that luck was on my side (somewhat) because I succeeded brilliantly in impressing both my peers as well as my instructor. The bright rainbow colors complimented the dark chocolate beautifully, and in fact looked much prettier on my dark chocolate cake than on the other plain Jane light blue cakes in class (that may be a slightly bias remark, but this is my little world, and in it I am the queen of perfection so get over it). Furthermore I was not the only willful student who did not bring in their light blue cake, but I was the only one who brought in a perfectly frosted, level, crumb free cake (now that part was not an exaggeration)! All hail the frosting queen!

( Because I know you are all dying to know; Julio is my husband, and the love of my life, and the most wonderful man in the world.)


Please note that It had been stated the previous week that we would taste each others cake in class, but since we had gotten so caught up in decorating by the time we knew it the clock read 9:00PM, and it was time to go (Thank you Jesus! Crisis averted). I received many Ooooohhhsss and AAaaaahhhss over my cake, and with my head swollen and my heart happy I skipped off (more like floated) to my car and drove home as quick as I could so that I could try this cake that J and I have been salivating over for the past 4 days. DUN DUN DUN!

*stunned silence*

Yes, that's right. No need to check your eyeballs to make sure you read that correctly. This cake has been in my fridge with sliced (not so) fresh strawberries in it for 4 days . You see, the thing is, my instructor stated in our previous class that buttercream acts as a preservative and you could refrigerate the cake for up to a week and it would still be fresh and delicious. Now keeping this new information in mind I made my cake on Sunday night because my weeknights are ridiculously busy, and assumed all would be well. Needless to say this "fresh" theory does not apply when it comes to certain fillers in the cake. Fillers that could go bad. Fillers such as fresh berries. *GASP*

My beautifully decorated cake makes it home, and I rush to the kitchen with J right behind me and I hurriedly slice a nice huge piece...





and a weird overpowering rotting fruit/strawberry smell assails my nostrils (and almost burned my nose hairs). I shrug it off to the weird strawberry goop that had been bleeding out of the cake and grab a fork. Wanting to savor every detail of this masterpiece I first taste the cake alone , and I prepare my taste buds for pure chocolate bliss. I envisioned myself dancing on chocolate clouds in a chocolate sky with strawberries and shredded coconut raining down upon me.



I'm twirling and singing and giggling and I shove a piece of cake in my mouth and I'm overwhelmed with....disappointment. The cake was not very impressive (the buttercream is another story it was AMAZING try it you'll want to bathe in it). It wasn't chocolaty enough and it wasn't moist enough and I didn't feel drowned in chocolate the way I should have felt eating "Devil's food cake". This recipe was a dud (damn you Ghirardelli and your deceiving delicious looking pictures!), and I began to kick myself for not using a recipe I had already tried.

Determined to make the best of the cake I take a hefty forkful of the yummy (read rotting) strawberry/coconut filling and I chew and gag and cough and run to the garbage pail and continue to gag. It was as if I had taken a bit out of a giant pile of rotting garbage. The strawberry was mushy and slimy and the juice was smelly and bitter and mixed with the coconut it was pretty close to a chick who hadn't showered in a week attempting to cover up the smell with perfume. J being just as anxious to try the cake thinks I'm being dramatic and takes a hefty forkful himself and immediately exclaimed "Babe its rotten!"

There you have it folks, fresh berries cannot be carried over for more than a day as they begin to break down and rot. Make no mistake though, I am still a baking diva;) These trials and errors are only preparing me to eventually take over the world with my mad baking skills.

Tune in next week for apple martini cupcakes (mother's day treats), my first TWD adventure, and banana, walnut chocolate chip cupcakes.

XOXO
Stay Sweet;)

Crisco goes awry

Cake decorating homework assignment - Disaster #1





Don't let that deceiving exterior fool you. Much like its maker, there is trouble lurking within...


As some of you may already know I have signed up for a cake decorating class to feed my addiction, and to say that my first assignment did not go smoothly is an understatement. Not that I had trouble following the directions or that it was complicated. Simply that my constant inclination to improve on the perfect went amiss. Why, oh why, am I constantly plagued with delusions of grandeur regarding my baking skills? Clearly I'm a novice, and have no business imposing my self proclaimed creativity on unsuspecting class projects. This poor cake never stood a chance against my ego.


For starters when I went to the supermarket to buy Crisco for my buttercream, they were all out of regular Crisco and only had butter flavored so I excitedly picked up the butter flavor. In my head I had visions of my class cheering me on about how delicious and flavorful my buttercream was, and what did I use, and how did I think of using butter flavored Crisco. I would be celebrated as a genius! I would be the world renowned buttercream queen! I tell you the ego is tricky, tricky thing. Now keep in mind that for my first class project I had to bring in a layer cake frosted in light blue buttercream frosting, representing a pretty sky (we are going to add a rainbow to it in class), and note the color of my cake. Now onto my buttercream debacle.


I open the infamous butter flavored Crisco and much to my surprise it's yellow. Now a more experience baker would have known this, but being the novice baker that I am I had no idea that meant my pretty white buttercream would in turn be yellow as well. So I plop my shortening in with my butter and I begin adding my sugar and instead of pretty white fluffy buttercream, much to my dismay I start to get pretty yellow butter cream. Now alarm sets in as I realize if I add blue coloring to my yellow cake frosting it will turn green! What's a novice baker to do? I had no idea, so i added some cocoa and made chocolate buttercream. Fast forward to assembling my layer cake...





I began by making a dam to hold in the filling just like they showed us in class. As I start to frost my first layer I realize that my buttercream is unusually stiff, and hard to spread and it hits me that I forgot to add additional milk when I added the cocoa so it was the wrong consistency, and it pretty much ripped my cake layer to shreds when I tried to frost it. After much trial and error of removing crumbs and giant cake pieces and filling in holes my first layer was frosted. Just then my ego starts to take over, and I think to myself Wouldn't it be awesome if I added some fresh strawberries to the filling? It would be so impressive, the instructor and my classmates would say "Wow, you are so creative! You really shouldn't be in this beginner's course you are just too talented!".

Then because I can never leave well enough alone, and my inner baking diva cries to be heard i added coconut...

Now I have a HUGE 2" gap, and I'm clueless as to how to fill it and again panic sets in (aside from the cavernous gap note how level my layers are. Ha! I may be a novice, but I have the heart of pastry chef ).

How the hell am I going to fill in this monstrous gap with the unruly buttercream? Damn my stubborn pride. Also I am a bit nervous that I will not have enough to frost the entire cake. So after an hour and half of ripping the cake to shreds with the unforgiving buttercream I did it (as you can see by the initial picture posted above above), and because I deserved it, I ran a victory lap around my dining room table and cheered myself boisterously because I am a baking diva after all.

I wake up this morning and run to the fridge to check on my cake and what do I find? I find my masterpiece sitting in a pool of gooey strawberry juice mess. What kind of craziness is this? What in the world happened? Can you not refrigerate cake with fresh fruit in it? I have no idea what happened, but I'm taking it to class anyway (if it doesn't collapse first having been drowned in evil, evil strawberry goop) and I can only hope that even if my cake doesn't get the acclaimed accolade it deserves it at least survives the day.

Stay tuned for part two of this disaster when I take it to class and attempt to decorate it...

XOXO

Stay sweet;)

Devil’s Food Cake (Literally)
Source: Ghirardelli.com

· 1 1/2 cup(s) Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa (I used Ghirardelli)
· 2 cup(s) flour
· 1 cup(s) granulated sugar
· 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
· 1/2 teaspoon(s) cream of tartar
· 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt (optional)
· 1 1/2 cup(s) buttermilk
· 1 cup butter, softened
· 4 eggs
· 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottoms of two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans, and line with waxed paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, ground chocolate, granulated sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Add 1 cup of the buttermilk and 1 cup of butter. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of buttermilk, the eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake 30 to 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the cake’s center. Cool on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans, discard the waxed paper, and transfer them to the wire rack to cool completely.

Unruly buttercream

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

4 c. sifted powdered sugar

3/4 c. sifted cocoa

3-4 tbsp. milk

1 Tsp. light corn syrup

1 Tbsp. Meringue Powder

Cream shortening, butter, and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar, cocoa, and meringue powder on medium speed, scraping down bowl often. Add milk and corn syrup until light and fluffy.