Minecraft Cake with Creepers

For Gavino's 11th, E and I crafted him a fun   chocolate and vanilla cake with lime fondant decorations.

Happy 10th Mads!

Chocolate Chunk cake recipe from The Colophon Cafe. Cake Crafted, inspired by Minecraft.

Colophon Cafe Chocolate Chunk Cake
-a dark, dense, chocolate cake that's not too sweet, with a chocolate frosting to match. I also spread several tablespoons of fresh raspberry jam between the second and third cake layers to cut the full-on chocolate power of this cake.

2/3 c. cocoa powder
1 c. boiling water

First, add the boiling water to the cocoa powder, whisking slowly. Set this aside as you prepare the rest of the batter. 

3/4 c. softened butter
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs. vanilla

Cream the butter and sugars, add the eggs and yolk, then the vanilla. Once creamed, mix in the slightly cooled cocoa mixture. 

Then add, 

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

And, blend to combine. Then, with your stand mixer on medium-low, slowly pour in 

1 2/3 c. buttermilk

Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again for 60 seconds. 

Pour batter into baking-sprayed 10-inch square baking pan and bake at 350-degrees F for about 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick-test comes out clean. (I used a professional anodized aluminum baking pan, so baked my cakes at 325-degrees F for almost 50 minutes). 

I baked two of these, then sliced each cake layer into two layers to fill and stack. I filled with the Colophon's chocolate frosting, slightly modified with vanilla extract, and frosted the whole cake with it too, then topped it with my usual buttercream (which I don't measure anymore, and would guess that I make with only about 5 c. of powdered sugar now) with a splash of almond extract and about 1/3 cup of cream cheese, plus some powdered lemon peel from Penzey's.

Colophon Chocolate Frosting

1 c. softened butter
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla 
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. half-and-half

Cream the butter and cocoa powder together, then add the vanilla and a splash of the half-and-half, and mix. Then, mix in the powdered sugar, and slowly add the rest of the half-and-half to the frosting, scraping the bowl as needed. 

#minecraftcake

Campfire Cake

My Girl Scout troop bridged to Juniors this weekend, so I made them a campfire cake. This hard candy recipe from Allrecipes.com was perfect for the flames, but I would at least halve it (maybe even divide by four) for future use - it made a ton! 

King's Cake

The chocolate peanut butter cake from Sky High (I have the book now) and featured on the Smitten Kitchen blog (http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake/) again... gluten free cake this time though, and quite tasty. It made a festive and fun King's Cake for Epiphany last night and I put two beans in this year, which Joel & I got! 

Rainbows, Birthdays, and Pumpkin Spice Kisses

This isn't the first (or even the second) time I've made an "epic" rainbow cake for someone's birthday, but I usually do save it for a significant milestone. Madeline's 5th, Sharon's 60th, and now Jamie's 40th. Jame's was the tallest cake yet since we did the full Roy G. Biv of rainbow colors, plus a pink layer on the bottom. Eight layers of goodness, especially since I used the vanilla cake recipe from Smitten Kitchen! It was delicious, sturdy, and worked well with all my colors. I used this recipe for the frosting (always delicious).

And, this weekend I made these Pumpkin Spice Kiss (and Kissless) Cookies that I spied on Pinterest from Sprinkle Some Sunshine right here. They are not too sweet, especially the rolled-in-cinnamon-sugar kissless ones), and tasty!

Sous Chef Erik

When it comes to the kids helping in the kitchen, Erik is far and away the more enthusiastic helper. Madeline can be recruited, but Erik seeks out the sous-chef position on a regular basis. And, I say "You're welcome," to his future spouse, partner, and/or roommates. The boy knows what fondant and pesto are... and the difference between Miso and Phở , and he's four. This can (hopefully) only bode well for the future.

Here's the boy rocking some old-school English Muffin pizzas (that were a huge hit at our Dr. Seuss party this week)...
And, using gum paste to apply flowers to Sophia's castle birthday cake...

Amethyst luster dust? He approves!

Happy 6th Birthday to cousin Sophia! Erik loved pasty chef-ing it up with this fun creation. Especially the fondant. And, I was very pleasantly surprised by how easy and fun fondant was to work with too... easy to mold and shape, and much less messy to transport this cake on a 2-hr car ride when covered with sweet, smooth fondant rather than Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Hey, Jelly Man!

Our fabulous buddy, Gavino turned 6 last Monday, and today we're celebrating with him and his family. His cake-request this year? Jelly Fish. And, so...

I started out by looking at ideas online, then showed three cakes to Madeline and asked what she though we should do. She wanted to combine two styles into what we have here (which was my idea too, although she didn't know that). And, of course, we added our own flair as well, with all the decor ideas. The kids had a blast helping decorate... (all that candy, fruit leather and licorice)

And, in the end, Madeline said that it needed "bubbles from the jelly fish swimming," so voila!

The cake is 9x13-inch vanilla bean, frosted with tinted vanilla buttercream. The "Mama" jelly is a slice of cream-filled chocolate roll (from the QFC bakery), and the baby jellies' bells are each an end-slice of a Twinkie! The white tentacles are vanilla-sugar-sprinkled pie dough strips, and the other tentacles are Nerds ropes, fruit leather, slices of red licorice (Madeline's idea), and frosting. I hit all the jellies with a little Wilton tinted spray (purple) at the end.

Wordless Wednesday: Glorious Gluten Free!

Sparkly, Pretty Girl!

So, how do you follow a 7-layer, 9 pound rainbow cake for your girl's second 5-yr birthday celebration? Well, with a very large mermaid cake of course. Courtesy of Family Fun, we had a decent map of how to construct this cake, although I wanted to use more cupcakes (the easy-to-serve to preschoolers factor). We also chose to add arms, hands and a nose to our mermaid girl, and (of course) accessories and some edible flowers (Nasturtium, Borage and Squash blossom) to jazz her up!

The girls loved helping decorate, and they both had some great ideas to embellish this gal (shells, necklace, bracelets). Their favorite decorating item was the Wilton gold edible "glitter" stars. They are really cool, and looked neat in the mermaid's hair and on her tail. I used my new favorite Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe to frost her, and needed one and a half batches. The tail took 3.5 rolls of Necco wafers, and I covered it with Wilton green edible spray since M wanted a green tail. And, I'm very thankful that I had this heavy-duty white poster board with my craft supplies because this sparkly, pretty girl was way too big for anything else. Miss M, and all her school buddies loved this mermaid gal, and she was really fun to make. Check out more specific instructions on Coolest Birthday Cakes right here.

Madeline's Super-duper "Super Epic" Rainbow Birthday Cake

What to make for a rainbow-loving girl who is turning five? Well, a seven-layer rainbow cake, of course! I got the idea here, but I had to add a pink layer since that's how our Madeline sees the rainbow — it always includes pink!

And, in an effort to cut back on the butter just a little, I used a Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe from here instead (two batches, total), and let me tell you, it's the best frosting I've ever tasted. Not just ever made, but ever tasted. It's that fabulous! I ended up using about a batch and a half in the end. I added chocolate extract, vanilla, a touch of almond, and a little orange-flower water, so the flavor was complex and excellent.

It was good to have 20 people to share this cake too, it weighing in at 4 kilograms and all... really. I weighed it. There was about 9 oz. of batter for each layer before baking, plus the frosting, so it's understandable.

Happy birthday, sweet girl!!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

(adapted from The Domestic Goddess)

5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 lb. (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp. chocolate extract, 1/4 tsp. almond extract, and a splash of orange flower water

1-2 cups confectioners’ sugar (optional for sweeter version, taste as you go)

Method:
Mix the egg whites, sugar and salt in a double boiler set over a pot of simmering water. Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture is hot to the touch – about 3 minutes and the sugar has dissolved (until you can't feel sugar-grit in the whites).

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated. The frosting might get to a point where it looks curdled, just beat on low speed until thick again, about 5 minutes more (be sure not to overbeat it) . Add extracts and mix until combined. Taste the frosting – if the taste is sweet enough for you – you’re done. If you like it sweeter, add up to 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar to sweeten. Tint with gel icing color as desired (not liquid coloring).

If using frosting within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring frosting to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Yield: about 5 cups

Coconut Heaven — and 15 Years!!

It's a tradition of sorts for Joel and I to have a Pepperidge Farm coconut cake on our anniversary. There have been years that we've had a different "birthday" cake or pie, but usually it's coconut, and there are always candles. Always. This year, I decided to bake a coconut cake, complete with cracking a fresh coconut. It was fabulous...

And, my sous-chef-in-training LOVED using a hammer in the kitchen!

It was pretty fun when Erik and I realized that one of the pieces broke into a "C" shape during the cracking, hulling and peeling process!

Fresh Coconut Cake
(recipe adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, April 2010)

Batter
5 eggs (at room temp)
1 c. unsalted butter (room temp - I used 1/2 salted and 1/2 un.)
1 c. whole milk (room temp)
3 c. sifted cake flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla

Frosting
3 egg whites (at room temp)
2 c sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 c. hot water
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 fresh coconut, husked, peeled and shredded (use your food processor) about 3-4 cups

Cakes: Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Let eggs, milk and butter stand at room temp for 30 mins. before beginning. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Prepare 3 8-inch pans with parchment in the bottom and grease & flour all pans. In Kitchenaid, beat butter for 30 seconds, add sugar and vanilla and beat on medium about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Then add flour and milk alternately, beating on low until just combined. Batter should be satin-smooth when ready. Divide between three pans and bake 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool completely.

Coconut: Pierce eye of coconut to drain coconut milk, then strike all over with hammer, on a towel until husk cracks. Remove husk, and then peel brown skin from coconut meat with vegetable peeler. Shred coconut with grater attachment in your food processor.

Frosting: Combine sugar, cream of tartar and water in medium pan over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved. Cover and bring to boil, then boil 2 minutes. Attach candy thermometer and cook, without stirring until 240-degrees F (5-10 mins). If your candy thermometer is broken and you let this reach 250 (like I did), the frosting will be less fluffy/lower in volume, so test that thermometer and keep an eye on the syrup. Meanwhile, in Kitchenaid with whisk attachment, beat eggs until frothy, then add the 1/4 tsp. salt and beat on high until stiff peaks form. When the syrup is 240, stream it into the eggs whites with mixer on low. Beat in the vanilla and increast spped to med-high. Beat until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes).

Assemble cake by layering frosting and cake layers, then frosting the whole cake with the remaining frosting. Finally, apply the coconut to the top and sides of cake with your hands quickly and press down to "stick." Enjoy!! Serves 16.

To choose a good coconut, make sure it feels heavy for its size (compare others), and shake it. You should hear the coconut milk sloshing around inside. If the one you pick is bad, return it to the store for another! Really, the fresh coconut is worth the trouble (we had fun doing it).

Cat In The Hat Cake

Well, of course there was a cake for the Dr. Seuss party! Although, technically it was a jelly roll (thank you for the inspiration, Amelia Bedelia ala Peggy Parish!). The frosting is tinted whipped cream (with powdered sugar and vanilla), and the brim of the hat was formed from my favorite Play Dough cookie recipe.

Cat In The Hat Cake adapted from
Daisy Martinez (Daisy Cooks!) Brazo de Gitano, or "Gypsy's Arm"

Vegetable cooking spray
¾ cup sifted cake flour (you can make your own with corn starch and flour*)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
For the filling
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whipped cream cheese at room temperature
One 17-ounce jar guava jelly or 1.5 cups strawberry jelly

1. Make the cake: Preheat the oven 350° F. Grease a 13 x 18-inch jelly roll pan with vegetable cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper or waxed paper. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Beat the eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a bowl with a handheld mixer) at medium-high speed until foamy. Add the sugar gradually in three batches and continue beating until very fluffy and pale yellow.

2. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the eggs in three batches, folding each one into the egg mixture with a rubber spatula until just a few streaks of white remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer, making sure to poke it into the corners. Bake until the cake is golden brown and it feels spongy not tacky to the touch, 14 to 16 minutes. After the cake cools to the touch, roll it up (starting at the shorter end) and let it continue to cool rolled up (makes it easier to roll with filling later).

3. Make the filling: Beat the heavy cream and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a bowl with a handheld mixer) until it is fluffy. Add the vanilla and continue beating until the cream holds soft peaks when the beater is lifted from it. Add the cream cheese half at a time and beat just until blended into the cream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Line your work surface with a sheet of waxed or parchment paper. Invert the cake onto the paper and lift off the pan. Peel the paper off the top of the cake. Spread the jelly in an even layer over the cake, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Do the same with the cream cheese mixture. Starting at one of the short sides, roll the cake up into a compact roll, working gently to avoid tearing the cake or squeezing the filling out. Set the cake seam side down on a serving platter. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day before serving.

5. To serve, pipe tinted (and sweetened) whipped cream onto the "hat" in alternating red and white stripes. Add cookie brim. Enjoy!

*Basically, sift all-purpose flour, then measure out 1 cup. Remove 2 Tbs. of flour and replace with 2 Tbs. of corn starch, then sift several times. Measure out the amount you need. To make 2 cups of cake flour, it would be 1.75 cups all-purpose and .25 cups of corn starch.

Wall*E is One Tough Cookie!

Well, Wall*E turned out great, in the end, and tasted fabulous, and G loved him! However, he lost his head three times, one arm entirely, and his neck just got shorter each time he lost his head.

Erik loved snipping the black licorice for his "tracks," and Ro was pleased with the base and tracks made of rice Krispie treats. The body was lemon poppy seed pound cake, and the head was wafer ice cream cones and macaroon cookies stuck together with melted white chocolate. Next time, I will frost the head and neck with buttercream rather than the cream filling from the center of the cakes (but this time I lost my fave pottery bowl and half our frosting to the floor *crash!*, so had to improvise). I think the moisture from the filling (used as frosting) contributed to the last two face-plants. The previous head falling was due to my use of cookie stick as support rather than the dowel that replaced it (that Joel cut and sanded for me).

Light & Creamy Whipped Filling
1 c whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks with sugar and vanilla
3 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla
Add the cream cheese half at a time and blend
1 8-oz. tub whipped cream cheese

Fill jelly roll, cake layers, or use as frosting (but not on a wafer-cone Wall*E head!)

Happy 5th Gavino!!

Lovely, and 21-years Old!

Happy Birthday to Ro!

Rochelle's birthday being in January, and specifically right when I'm working out and lightening/healthy-ing up the diet, she got a non-fat chocolate cake for her birthday today. Now, don't go away just yet. It's good. Really. Moist and delicious, chocolate-heaven. It really doesn't taste light at all... And, while Ro is also lovely, she's got a couple years on this lovely cake recipe that I've kept for 21 years... I've saved it since I was a sophomore in high school. It's originally from SHAPE magazine, circa 1989, and it's got a nearly fat-free frosting to go with it. But, seeing as I'm far less extremist these days, I skipped that super-healthy frosting in favor of a little bit of chocolate-peppermint buttercream for the filling and sides, and a simple ganache poured over the top. Balance is a good thing. I also grated two Lindor dark chocolate truffles over the top and added some candy-cane hearts and other decor to make a flower shape. You know, because this was a birthday celebration cake!Here's the whole SHAPE-approved recipe...

Nonfat Chocolate Cake & Frosting (SHAPE magazine 1989)
1.5 c sugar
1.75 c flour
3/4 c cocoa powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 c nonfat milk
1/2 c applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
1 c boiling water

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Spray and flour pan/s (really - do it, or the cake will not come out of the pan). Combine dry ingredients, then add all the wet ingredients except the boiling water. Beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes, then stir in boiling water. Bake 35-40 minutes.

Nearly Fat-Free Chocolate Frosting
4 Tbs light margarine
2 Tbs plain, non-fat yogurt
1/2 c cocoa powder
2 c powdered sugar
3 Tbs non-fat milk
2 tsp vanilla

Cream margarine and yogurt, then add cocoa and sugar alternately with milk. Add vanilla, and add additional milk as needed to get the consistency that you want.

Oh, and to do the candy cane hearts... just heat the oven to 200-degrees F, arrange two mini candy canes for each heart in heart shape on parchment and bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove pan, and shape/squish connection points with chopsticks or spoons (so you don't burn fingers), then pop back in the oven for an additional 1-2 minutes. Voila! Wouldn't these be fun Christmas ornaments to hang on the tree? I just found them online last week, and luckily had an extra box of mini candy canes that fit the bill!

3, 2, 1... Blast Off!!!

Erik wants "... a rocket, an astronaut and Pluto," for his birthday, so here it is (delicious vanilla pound cake filled with vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream and seedless Marionberry jam, frosted with vanilla lemon buttercream):


And... some mini cupcakes to represent the dwarf planet... Pluto!

Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates...

Happy Birthday, Jamie! In honor of the BIG "Twenty-17" as Madeline would say, here are some delicious chocolate cupcakes decorated like a box of chocolates (love my cupcakes cookbook Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson, and all the fun ideas in it)!Well, and then I had to do something fun with the rest of the cake batter, so there's a nice gift box of treats to go with it—and who doesn't need a box of cupcakes to celebrate their birthday with?
For the cake, I used a recipe from Martha Stewart that I've heard great things about...

One Bowl Chocolate Cake
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook (adapted, as usual)
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 c. warm water
3/4 c. buttermilk
3 Tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven 350-degrees F. Spray with cooking spray - two round 9-inch cake pans, one 9x13 pan (or 18 mini cupcakes, and 12 standard sized ones); set aside.

In the Kitchenaid, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Batter will be fairly thin.

Bake about 20 minutes (less for mini cupcakes). Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Happy New Year!

Jewish New Year, that is, and boy is this a wonderful cake to celebrate the occasion. Joel mentioned that his boss, Mike, was hunting down stores in the area that sold Honey Cake for Jewish New Year, and had only found a couple. I was intrigued. Clearly, I needed to hunt down a recipe.I found a very promising version on Epicurious.com from Marcy Goldman's book; A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking. The recipe got a 97% approval rating on the site, and that's impressive, so I made it this week. It's a lightly spiced (cinnamon, allspice, cloves, vanilla) zucchini bread-type cake, but better—orange juice, coffee (or brewed black tea), oil, honey and whiskey (optional) all add to the moistness of the cake too. It was delicious, and Mike agreed. Apparently, the Honey Cake that he's had in the past had a courser crumb, and was not as sweet. But, he prefers this recipe, so here it is. Definitely a keeper!

Princesses, Mermaids, and Rainbows... she's 4!

Madeline wanted a "castle cake just like Malaika's" for her birthday, and I very nearly bought one from QFC, but... we make cakes for everyone else, and Mad has the best time helping, so I started brainstorming. And, then a little closer to her birthday she wanted, "A castle cake with all the princesses, and Ariel and all her sisters. And the ocean."

Yeah, OK. I can do that. Two figurine sets from the Disney Store, brown fondant, sugar cone towers, Wilton white chocolate candy melts, seashell truffles from Trader Joe's, Little Debbie peanut butter sticks "stairs," sugar paste Little Mermaid decorations and letters/numbers, and Nerds for decor, we were done. Well, plus one waffle cone tower, chocolate, vanilla and rainbow cake, and a lot of buttercream. Phew!

Literally the day before I baked the cakes, I stumbled upon a recipe for "Rainbow Cake" online. Now, our rainbow-loving girl really needed that too, so I did it, she helped, and she adored it. Actually, all the kids at the party ate the rainbow ocean pieces, exclusively.
There are $18 worth of princesses and mermaids on the cake, and they were worth every penny (and then some). She plays with them all the time, and they work very well with the kids' treehouse/dollhouse.

It's a good thing I'm not a perfectionist because there were a lot of things about this cake that were so very imperfect, but... that's what gives it character! And, it was delicious, by the way!!
I used Magnolia Bakery's recipe for vanilla buttercream to frost the entire cake - just dyed blue for the water:

Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 c unsalted butter, softened

About 7 c powdered sugar

1/2 c milk

2 sp vanilla

Cream the butter in the bowl of your Kitchenaid mixer, then add 4 cups of the sugar, the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 mins.), until the icing is of desired consistency.

Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.