Week 3: Banana Cake with German Icing

For week 3 of Cakes 1, we made Banana Layer Cake with a German Icing.  Not sure I can call it a layer cake since I didn't really layer it...I guess I could've torted the cake and placed the icing in the middle, but I thought this looked nicer.

This cake was fairly light but the instructor recommended not layering 2 banana cakes together as it would become too heavy.  She said if you wanted a taller or layered cake, to sandwich this cake between two layers of chocolate cake or vice versa.  I think I might try that next time I use this recipe.

The recipe for this cake is similar to the carrot cake from week 2, in that it doesn't have any traditional fat, like butter or oil.  The fat used for the carrot cake was eggs and here we used eggs and shortening.  I usually start cakes by creaming butter and sugar together, but here we creamed shortening and flour first, which is interesting because I always thought to add the flour last to make sure it wasn't over mixed.  Although the flour was mixed quite a bit here, I found the cake to be light and fluffy and not tough as you'd expect when over mixing flour...I guess this is a result of add
shortening.

The German icing was a nice complement to this cake.  It's a cooked icing which contains milk, egg yolks, butter, sugar, vanilla, coconut and walnuts.  I think traditional German icing contains pecans, but the walnuts work well also.

The assembly of the cake was quite rustic, I simply spread the German icing on the top of the cake with the back of a spoon. 


Here's a fun fact: contrary to popular belief, German icing, often used on German chocolate cake, did not actually originate in Germany but from an American chocolate maker named Sam German!




Overall, I'm not sure if I'm completely sold on a butterless banana cake, but it was definitely yummy enough to make again :)

   

Baptism Bible Cake

I made a cake for my niece a few weeks ago :)   It was a bible cake made with the Wilton's book pan that her parents provided for me.

They requested a traditional butter cake.  I had some issues with cracking on the top during baking.  I think it was because I had the oven temperature too high (350) when I should really have done it at 325 or even 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  The 350 degrees would usually be okay for a butter cake, but since this pan is so large, I should've reduced the temperature to make sure the middle was baked before the outsides started burning.  The cracking wasn't too big of an issue though since it went on the bottom, so I just trimmed it to make it level and flipped it over.

I crumb coated the cake in a simple buttercream icing, just  butter and icing sugar and made it as smooth as possible.  I left that to set in the fridge while I made the LMF fondant.  LMF is really easy to make and ready for use right after it is made which makes it quite convenient.  So as soon as I made the fondant, I rolled it out and covered the cake.  To make the crease in the book more visible, I used the ball tool from my gumpaste tool set to push into the crease. 



 After tinting some fondant pink, I used a mold to make the border and a strip of rolled fondant to make the book mark.  The silicon molds are very convenient for making borders and other decorations.  The key to using them is to brush it with cornstarch or powdered sugar first, so the fondant/gum paste pops out easily and to push the fondant/gum paste in level with the back of the mold so that the decoration sits flat on the cake when its done.

I formed the cross out of strips of fondant mixed with some tylose powder to stiffen it up.  The cross was a little tricky and took me some time to get right, as it was hard to free form all the pieces and make them symmetrical.  The letters were made with tappits.  The detail above the date was made using the same mold as the border.   




This cake ended up getting completed all in one day, from baking to completion.  This is a big accomplishment for me since usually I take days to get a cake done!

Winter Topsy Turvy Birthday Cake

I was asked to make one of my closest friend's son's first birthday cake!  She wasn't picky, just wanted a topsy turvy cake with a wintery theme.  So, I got to work watching videos and reading tutorials on how to make a topsy turvy cake.

As it was around the holidays and I had lots of other baking to do, I baked the cakes 2 weeks in advance and placed them in the freezer.  This not only helps me be less stressed closer to delivery, but also makes for a moist cake that is easy to carve with less crumbs.  I also made the LMF (fondant) about a week in advance and tinted it the colours needed.

The bottom tier started out with 3 layers of 9" round confetti cake (I doubled this recipe).  After a week, I thought that the 3 layers were not tall enough and made another 2 - 9" rounds from cake mix.  The middle tier was made out of 4 layers of 6" round chocolate cake (the only change I made to the recipe was adding some instant coffee to the boiling water, to enhance the chocolate flavour).  The top tier was rice krispie treats cut into a cube. 


I filled and stacked both cakes with Italian meringue buttercream (IMBC).  With the confetti cake, I alternated the scratch cake with the mix cake.  This was important to do as the cakes had very different consistencies and colours, so not alternating would make it look very odd.

Then came the carving...this part was kind of stressful for me, as I was worried about the angles and accidentally cutting off too much, but the cake was very forgiving.  I cut on an angle from the top corner down and then took the trianglular piece of cake off, inverted it and stuck it back on with icing to steepen the top angle.  I also tappered the sides of the cake slightly to exaggerate the topsy turvy look.  For the bottom tier, I made a flat area in the middle to fit the middle tier snugly.  I put bubble tea straws vertically in this area to support the weight of the middle tier.  (sorry I didn't take the picture after the straws were inserted)  

I then crumb coated the bottom tier with more IMBC and covered the middle tier with chocolate ganache.  I realized at this point that both of these tiers were much too tall and removed 2 layers from the confetti cake and 1 layer from the chocolate.  I started thinking what was the point of baking the extra 2 mix cakes, but realized I wouldn't have had the same height with just the 3 layers of scratch cake, so it wasn't a complete waste of time :)




It was probably past midnight, into the day of delivery and it was time for fondant :)  There are some flaws in the fondant, but most of that was all covered with decorations.  :) 




 A few days before delivery, I made the royal icing snow flakes.  I drew snow flakes out on paper, covered it with wax paper and piped over it with a small icing tip.  These dried for a few days to made sure they were hard.  I made lots of extra snow flakes because they are super fragile and break easily when trying to attach to the cake with royal icing.



The top tier was done 2 days before delivery, I covered it in red fondant and white fondant ribbon.  For the bow on the top, I made the small loops separately and let them dry over night before sticking it all together with royal icing.  The 'tissue paper' for inside the box was rolled fondant, left to dry on an uneven surface.  This tier was stuck to the middle tier with more royal icing.   







The cake drum was covered in a thin layer of fondant (I did this last minute, but if I was to do it again, I'd do it in advance so the fondant wouldn't be so soft when putting the cake on).  I cut out various sizes of red fondant circles and attached them to the middle tier with water.  The snowman was made out of a 50:50 mix of fondant and gumpaste.  I used tappits to make all of the letters.

After many many hours in the kitchen, the cake was ready for the box :)
   





They had a really nice set up and I think the cake fit nicely in it :)  Happy First Birthday Zac!

Week 2: Carrot Cake

So I've signed up for another baking course at George Brown College...I'm taking Cakes 1 :)

I missed the first week, where they learned how to make pound cake.  That would've been good to
learn, since I don't really know the difference between pound cake and butter cake, but oh well, at least I have a new recipe to try.

This week was carrot cake.  It was interesting to learn how to make it in a new way.  I've always made carrot cake using butter and/or oil and adding pineapple for moistness but this recipe didn't call for either.  This recipe called for heating eggs and sugar over a water bath, then whipping them to soft peaks.  Then gently folding in the grated carrots and flour by hand.  We had to be very careful not to over mix, since it is really easy to lose volume at this point.

The icing was a cream cheese icing made with quark folded into whipped cream.  I'd never heard of quark before, but apparently it's a pure form of cheese, unlike the usual cream cheese we buy from the grocery store.  We had to beat the quark until it was smooth before folding in the cream and this took quite a while.  We had to be really patient with it to make sure we got a creamy smooth icing, free from any quark lumps.  

To decorate, I tinted marzipan orange, then rolled it by hand to look like mini carrots.  Using the dull side of a knife, I made lines on the marzipan to make it look more real, then piped green piping gel on the tips. :)

Using an icing comb, I made ridges on the side  of the cake and then added a small almond border to the bottom.

The end result was quite tasty and light for a carrot cake.  I will definitely use this recipe again. 

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

I went to a Christmas Potluck with a few friends and obviously I volunteered to bring dessert :)

After going through a few recipes, I decided to go with a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake off of Allrecipes.com.  Reading through a lot of the comments, I did as many reviewers suggested, baked it in a water bath and doubled the amount of crust.  When I make this again, I think I will just do 1.5 times the recommended amount on the site as the crust to cheesecake ratio was slightly high but double was still yummy.

This cheesecake came together quite quickly, the part that took the most time was making the raspberry sauce and straining out the seeds and even that didn't take that long.

The crust was straightforward, just melted butter, sugar and cookie crumbs.  I opted to crush up chocolate wafers myself over buying the already ground up cookies.  I find that it has a fresher taste, but this may all be in my head :p  After mixing together the crust ingredients, I pressed them into the bottom of a springform pan by hand, trying to make it as packed in as possible.  The crust was made fairly level, but I made it a little higher around the perimeter to make sure that none of the cheesecake filling leaked out of the pan.

I melted the white chocolate chips in the microwave with cream.  I find that its easier to melt the chocolate in the microwave instead of using a double boiler, but it can be done either way

To make sure the raspberry sauce was evenly distributed through the cake, half of the batter was added to the springform pan and a couple of tablespoons of the raspberry sauce were swirled through it.  After adding the rest of the batter, I made a dot in the center and then concentric circles about that on the top of the cake with the sauce.  This was made easier as I put the sauce in a squirt bottle, but it could've also been done with a ziploc bag with a corner cut off.  I took a long skewer and pulled lines out of the center at regular intervals, and then between those, pulled the skewer from the outside toward the center.  (That's how I got the pattern to the right)

I baked the cake in a water bath for a little under an hour, then turned the oven off and let it sit in there until the over was cool.  This helps to cook the cake evenly and prevent cracking.

We ate this the next day after it had chilled for about 24 hours and it released easily from the pan, but I did run a knife around the edge before removing it just in case.

I definitely recommend trying this recipe!

Recipe adapted from allrecipes

Yield: 1 - 10 inch cheesecake 

Crust
2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
6 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Sauce
10 oz frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water 

Filling
2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 6 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 10 inch springform pan.   
2. In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Microwave white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.
4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan.  Create concentric circles with the sauce on the top.  Using a long skewer, pull in and out of the center to create a pattern.
5. Place springform pan in large roasting pan and fill roasting pan with boiling water to go about an inch up the side.  Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set.  Turn off oven and let cake sit inside until oven is cool.  Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce

 

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

This recipe has become my go to cookie recipe.  Who doesn't like good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies?  They are so comforting and easy to make!

The special ingredient, vanilla pudding mix, keeps the cookies soft and tasting fresh for days.  All the other ingredients are what you would expect; butter, flour, eggs, baking soda, sugar, vanilla and chocolate chips.

The cookie dough comes together really quickly.  I cream the butter and sugar in my standing mixer, add the pudding mix, then eggs and vanilla.  Then hand mix in the flour and chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop, I scoop out equal mounds of dough.  (When these pictures were taken, I wasn't baking in my kitchen, so I improvised with a measuring cup)  I like to use an ice cream scoop or measuring cup as it makes sure all the cookies are an equal size and bake evenly as well.




 I baked them on a parchment sheet for about 8 minutes.  I like to slightly under bake the cookies, so that they have a nice soft chewy center.  I take them out of the oven just before the center looks fully done and leave them on the baking sheet to cool.  They will continue to cook for a bit from the heat of the baking sheet.  I was baking in a convection toaster oven, so it may take longer in a full size oven.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes

Yield: 6 dozen

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.

 

S'mores Cookie Bars

A few weeks ago, I made some s'more cookie bars for some guys at work.  What could be better than all the ingredients of a s'more plus a chocolate chip cookie?!


The recipe was straight forward and only took about 30 minutes. I doubled the recipe below and used a 10"x10" tray.

I started with the graham cracker crust, which is just graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Once that was pressed into the baking tray, I followed the recipe to mix the remaining ingredients together (minus the topping) and spread it as evenly as I could on top of the crust.








After it had baked for about 10 minutes, I took it out and sprinkled the remaining marshmallows and reese's pieces on top.







Once it was done baking, I left it to cool for a couple of hours and then cut it into cubes.  I thought it was severely under baked when I went to cut it, but it turned out the right amount of gooey by the next day when we ate them.

These cookies went over well at work, but if I was to make it again, I would reduce the sugar by at least half.

Recipe adapted from Chocolatechocolateandmore

Yield: 16 bars

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini marshmallows plus a few extra for the top
1/2 cup reese's pieices

1. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper. Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Place in bottom of prepared pan and press down to form a crust.
2. Cream 1/2 cup softened butter, add in sugars and cream again till fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla. Mix again. Combine Flour, baking soda and salt, then add to butter mixture. Once all combined, fold in chocolate chips and marshmallows. Spoon Cookie dough on top of cookie crust as evenly as possible. Don't worry about spreading perfectly. Dough will spread as it cooks to fill in any gaps. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
3. 8-10 minutes before bar is done cooking, sprinkle remaining marshmallows and reese's pieces on top, just to decorate. Return to baking for remaining time. Remove pan from oven and let cool completely before cutting.