Mike's Tower of Cake

Mike's birthday was the same weekend as the roulette wheel cake so I didn't have time to do exactly what I wanted to. But I did get to try out some new recipes!

I have been meaning to try out some of Warren Brown's recipes but I haven't had much time to experiment lately. This cake was made with components from Warren Brown's "CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch" and it was pretty damn incredible!

I first made the "golden butter cake" and the layers didn't rise as much as I would have liked and I really hate flat cakes so I decided to make the "chocolate butter cake" as well. Delicious, but a little dense.

I filled the layers with the chocolate pastry cream recipe which was very good and the frosted the whole thing with my variation of his "flame" frosting. I would have liked to make it exact, but I didn't have everything on hand. I'm still on the hunt for cocoa butter. The frosting tasted almost like apple pie but with a kick you can feel in the back of your throat. There are several different chili powders that go into this and I think I really went overboard with the ancho chili powder. (recipe called for actual dried chili's, but whatever).

I will definitely be trying out the frosting again! Mine didn't get as thick as I would have liked, but it was delicious!

Roulette Wheel Cake!

Ok, I know i've very behind with my posts... I'm sorry. School has really cut into my free time. Anyway... better late than never I guess.

Back to business... so this cake was the first one that I completely did by myself. I always bake the cakes myself, but I usually have Mike to help me decorate. With him being back at work this was all on me. So, needless to say, I am proudest of this cake!

The only huge issue I had with it was making it spin. I had the center cake on a round cutting board attached to a lazy susan bearing, but I didn't leave enough room between the inner circle and the outer rim. Oh well. At least it looked good and tasted great!

So the cake was a classic chocolate cake with a vanilla custard filling and fresh strawberries frosted with chocolate buttercream. Makes me hungry just thinking about it! LOL

Beer Pong cake

Ok, so this is pretty overdue but I have been so swamped with school work and cake work and life in general that I haven't had much time to post up the new pics.

So this is so far the largest cake I have ever made! I am sooooo proud of it! There were a lot of problems throughout the process, but in the end, it all worked out.

This was 4 18" x 13" cakes. 2 cakes on each side. All chocolate beer. The cups and the beer can were all made with rice krispy treats and covered with red fondant. White fondant tops and rims were added. The "beer" is amber colored piping gel. The white center strip was placed on top to hide the fact that it was 2 sepreate pieces.

The first problem I had was during the baking process. When I went to flip one of the cakes out of the pan it fell onto the table and just crumbled. The cake was so moist that there was just no saving it. So I took a deep breath, baked another cake, and turned the scraps into cake balls.

There were also problems when making the "cups". We made a dozen of them a week before and the heat and humidity made them crack and sag, so 2 days before the cake was due we had to peel off all the cracked fondant and re-do them all.

Next cake will be a roulette wheel. Mike's grandfather put together the custom lazy susan for me last night! I am so excited to get started on this cake!

Chocolate Gelato..

Ok, I decided to try out this recipe by Giada De Laurentiis for chocolate hazelnut gelato. I did make a few changes though since I'm not a big fan of hazelnut. Instead of using nutella I just melted some milk chocolate into the custard. It came out great! The key is to really get the mixture cold before pouring it into your ice cream maker. I learned that the hard way when 25+ minutes later I only had some cold liquid. I had only let it cool to room temp. When it didn't work I poured it out, re-froze the bowl and let the ice cream mix sit in the fridge overnight. It was incredible!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella) (I used about 1/3 cup milk chocolate)
  
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed, for garnish (I left out)
  

Directions

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes.

Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. (I used a wisk while pouring to avoid scrambled eggs)

Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. (Don't know what the purpose of that was... mine just went right through)

Stir in the vanilla and hazelnut spread (or chocolate in my case) until it dissolves.

Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with hazelnuts.

OLD PICS!

So I found some old pics of Christmas cookies Mike and I made back in 2005!

August Sweets

I can only book 1 more cake order for September! What are you waiting for, Hurry up and order your cake!

Ok, I've been lazy and I haven't posted much up lately. Sorry. It's just been too hot to do anything! So here's some pics of what i've been doing.
































Coconut Cake! OMG if you like coconut, you'll LOVE these babies! I topped them with some almond cream cheese frosting and some extra shredded coconut!

















These are some more cake balls... Yellow cake with vanilla frosting dipped in milk chocolate.

I made a tray with these as well as decorated chocolate cake with chocolate frosting dipped in dark chocolate and strawberry cake with vanilla frosting dipped in white chocolate.

















Giant chocolate chip cookies with walnuts! So moist and gooey!
















This is some dark chocolate chili bark. I used a bar of Lindt dark chili chocolate, pretzel sticks, dried cranberries and some roasted peanuts. It was a perfect combination of spice and sweet!


I have also been experimenting with some strawberry cake recipes... I think I finally cake up with a good one, but I have one more idea to try out. I really need to update more often!

I have a lot of cake orders coming up, so pretty soon this blog will be flooded with "in-progress" pictures! I can't wait to get started! I have a beer pong table sheet cake (Sept. 4th), a roulette wheel (sept. 12th), a surprise birthday cake for Mike (Sept. 19th)

Then Oct. 4th I should be selling cupcakes down on 3rd Avenue! I have to call and reserve my space this week! I also have a Superman cake with some mini cakes (Oct. 24th) and a baby shower cake with cupcake favors (Oct. 25th)

Changing the name!

Ok, so I'm not sure if I like having my name in the "business" name. I have no idea what to go with. I would really like to have "Brooklyn" in the title, so that's where i'm starting. Please comment with any opinions or vote in my poll if you like one of those names.

Thanks!!!!

Home baked bread.... take 2

Ok, so I decided to try out the Julia Child recipe for white bread again because it was just sooooo damn good last time! This time I decided to try it with bread flour. The dough felt a little tough even though I only needed to add 5 cups of flour. I was instantly depressed and decided to make another batch just in case it didn't turn out right. Keep in mind, each batch makes 2 loafs. Here's what the first batch looked like....


Perfect! It was moist inside... more dense than the batch baked with the all purpose flour last time, but delicious!

The second batch is on it's second rise right now. It should be ready to go in the oven in about 15 minutes. I can't wait to compare! I hope this bread freezes well!

Ok, second batch is out of the oven and cooling. I just cut into it and it's still a little denser than the last time I baked it. The big air pockets are not there when you cut it open. I'm sure it has something to do with this weather. I guess I picked the wrong day to bake up LOTS of bread. It tastes delicious, but not as crisp as I like.

I think tomorrow is going to be another french toast kinda day!

One "ball" of a weekend!

So this weekend I had an order for 90 cake balls as baby shower favors. Half yellow cake, half chocolate cake, and all dipped in white chocolate and decorated in pink and yellow chocolate. They came out great! I can't wait to drop them off in a few hours!

Click picture to enlarge

I decided before I made those to try out a new yellow cake recipe. It was pretty good, but not as good as my regular one, so I re-baked. I ended up with so much extra cake! I decided to turn it into balls anyway and I'm so glad I did! Not only did they taste great in ball form, but it was also my cousins birthday and she invited us to come by with some of her other friends. So, since I hate white chocolate myself, I dipped the rest of the balls in dark chocolate and decorated them with shredded coconut, sprinkles, red sugar, and even more chocolate with a 22 piped on! They were a huge hit. I really couldn't believe how fast they went!

Click picture to enlarge

I still have about a dozen balls sitting on my table that I will drop off to someone else tomorrow. I think I dipped over 200 cake balls this weekend! It really is the best way to eat cake!!!!

Home made bread

Ok... let me start by saying "I hate white bread!" Completely hate it! I'd much rather have multi-grain or whole wheat. BUT... I LOVE home made white bread.

So I was looking for a new basic white bread recipe for sandwiches and such and found a Julia Child's recipe. I tried it last week and messed it up a little. Not that it was hard, I just didn't read it all. It's actually very easy to make. Especially if you have a stand mixer.

This bread baked up so nicely. The crust is nice and crisp with a light buttery taste and perfect texture. Try it! It's incredible!

Here's a crappy cell phone pic

UPDATE: Made some french toast with this bread this morning... OMG amazing! I cut thin slices and sprinkled some cinnamon and sugar into the egg with a drop of salt. Once they were in the pan I sprinkled a little extra cinnamon and sugar. I topped it with some sweet butter and syrup. My favorite french toast!

Another crappy cell phone pic... sorry.

So here's the recipe... it makes 2 loafs! I may try to half it next time, but i'm not sure. So far it keeps pretty well. I may try to freeze a loaf next time.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups water (105-115 F)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 7 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a bowl and mix with yeast and sugar til foamy. (I put it in my stand mixer bowl)
   
2. Let sit for 5 minutes until creamy.
3. Put the yeast mixture, rest of the water and 3 1/2 cups of the flour into the mixer with the dough hook. (I only added 3 cups at this point)
   
4. Mix slowly until blended then add the rest of the flour. (I added it a cup at a time. I only needed about 6 1/4 cups. Depending on season, weather, and humidity the amount may change)
   
5. Increase speed and scrape down the sides til the dough comes together.
6. (If it doesn't add a tbsp of flour at a time til it does.) Add salt and mix at medium speed for 10 minutes (or do half in mixer and half kneading-I did about 10 minutes in the mixer and just kneaded it for a minute or 2) til dough is smooth and elastic.
7. Back in mixer add butter 1 tbsp at a time (dough may come apart, but mixing will pull it back together-My dough didn't come apart.).
8. Turn dough out on lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball then place in a large buttered or oiled bowl.
9. Turn dough so it is completely coated in the fat, then cover in plastic for 45 minutes to an hour, til it has doubled in size at room temperature. (I let it sit in the hot kitchen for an hour)
   
10. Butter 2 loaf pans.
11. Deflate the dough, cut in half and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
12. Roll out into a 9 x 12-inch rectangle. (I eyeballed it)
    
13. With the short end facing you, fold the dough into thirds like a sheet of paper to go into an envelope, creating a roll.
14. Pinch the seam closed, and pinch the ends enough so it will fit in the loaf pan.
15. Drop in the loaf pan seem side down, and repeat.
16. Cover the loaves with buttered plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place (80°F) for 45 minutes, until they double in size. (This is the step I left out the first time)
    
17. Preheat the oven to 375°F and put the rack in the center of the oven.
18. Bake for 35-45 minutes til they are honey brown.
19. Immediately turn out of pans onto a rack to cool.
20. Once almost completely cool, they can be cut.
21. Store in a brown paper bag for a day or two.
22. Once cut, turn cut side down onto a cutting board and cover with a kitchen towel.

Kindle malfunction

Ok, so I'm on the train on my way to jury duty and I just took my kindle out of my bag. Last night I had it on and the battery was more than 3/4 charged. I downoladed a new book, turned the wireless off and then turned the Kindle off. Somehow its dead! I have no idea how! I know it shut off. I always check it.

So now I have to spend the day at jury duty with nothing to read. I really hope the rest of the day is better than this. I also didn't bring an umbrella cause it said no rain today.... I really hope I don't get rained on now! At least the train is empty and airconditioned! But moving very slowly.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

October 4th, 2009

So I decided to take advantage of the 3rd Ave. feast on Oct. 4th. I can't wait! The only thing I'm a little nervous about is all the cupcake competition in the area! Mine may be better, but how do I convince people to try them out with so many others around?

So my plan is to make some standard chocolate and golden and then focus on some specialty flavors. I plan on having lots of my PB&J's, red velvet, chocolate beer, a coconut, a chocolate cherry and I'm working on a strawberry. I can't wait! Save the date!!!!

I really hope to do as well in Bay Ridge as I did in Coney.

Testing!!!

Trying out mobile blogging!!!! Woohoo!!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

"Flea by the Sea" update:

Ok, so we already decided that we couldn't afford to continue selling our cupcakes down in Coney, but today we decided to take a ride down and see what vendors came back after the price increase. It was dead! I could not believe how empty it was. There were so many empty spots that several vendors that paid for the smaller spaces were able to spread out and take up two spaces. In total I think there were about 25 vendors!

To make matters worse, I was told by 2 vendors that last weekend the staff members passed out flyers with new lower prices for the month of August. When they showed up today to pay for the month they were told that those prices are not being honored and it's an additional $300+. Needless to say I don't think those vendors will be back either.

They are making a HUGE mistake. They may not be making much money on this, but think about it... if they manage to rent out both tents on both sides at a lower price, isn't that better than having only 20-something vendors total? It's simple logic.

So anyway, it was good for about a month. We did great while we were there, but now it's time to move on.

I think we will be participating in the 3rd Ave. fair on Oct. 4th. I'm really looking forward to that one!

3 cake weekend...

All the cakes from this weekend!!!

This one is for a dog's birthday. (more of an excuse to get together and have a BBQ and few drinks). It's made with red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting. The bulldog on top (Soco) is made of rice krispy treats and covered in fondant.

Ok, here's a pic of cake #2... delivered it tonight. It's the first purse cake we've done, so I know it's not perfect. We really had a hard time with the handle. But I love the zipper look.

Last cake of the weekend! Talk about "Death by Chocolate"! This cake was 3 layers... bottom layer, triple chocolate brownie with chocolate chips... next 2 layers, chocolate cake. The filling was a semi-sweet chocolate gonache and it was covered in chocolate buttercream. It was then decorated with fondant cut-out stars as well as hand piped vanilla purple stars. I LOVE tall cakes!!!! I had so much fun with this one!