Happy Valentine's Day

I'm afraid I didn't take a single picture of the Valentine's flowers - it was just too crazy!  But this ombre cake is really fun!  I wouldn't mind a large slice (the other cakes featured looked just as good so you should head over and take a look!!).

Featured on Style Me Pretty and made by the Sweet and Saucy Shop

Trust you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

DIY: Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies

Sorry for the lack of posts- the holidays just get crazy! Asa and I made these little turkey cookies to go at each placle setting. Royal Icing is great for the smooth, hard finish but it just doesn't have that buttery taste. So I experimented and used the royal icing technique with a "buttercream" frosting. I simply melted 1/2c. butter and mixed in nearly a bag of pwd sugar, 1tsp vanilla, and then enough milk to pipe. Then thinned it out for flooding. We let them dry out overnight. It worked pretty well, and tasted great - but we have some perfecting to do before I'm 100% sure! I'll post more if it works out.

Here's our favorite sugar cookie recipe.

Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake

Here's the other cake, again from Beantown Baker, I made for my grandmother's birthday - and this one was especially for her. She loves fresh fruit and sweet frosting and this has both! (Again I didn't get to taste the whole thing due to Ida's sensitivities but I did get to taste the cake itself and I love this white cake recipe!  That almond flavoring does wonders to enhance it!)

(Don't you like my nephew's finger pointing to which raspberry he wants?)

(Again, I assembled these super late at night while we were doing a Settler's of Catan tournament, so they aren't they smoothest or most level cakes ever.)  My notes are in italics.

Recipe after the break

Triple Layer Oreo Cake

I have a number of blog posts in my brain that I've been meaning to actually post - this month has just slipped by!

We had a bunch of relatives in town for the weekend of the 4th and it turned into one non-stop party! This included celebrating my grandmother's 87th birthday. I volunteered to make the cakes and couldn't decide on just one recipe - so I made two (I'll post the other later). This was a ton of fun to make and I so wish I could have tasted it (Ida has been extremely sensitive to dairy and chocolate.)! But I trust my husband's taste buds and he loved it. How could it not be good - it uses a WHOLE package of Oreos!

The recipe is from Beantown Baker and I didn't alter a thing. I will say, however, that next time I'd use 9in pans - the 8in overflowed. (I didn't have the smoothest icing job as I was literally assembling layers in between my turn on Settlers.) The recipe is long and time-consuming but oh so worth it!

Recipe after the break

Shelbi's Catan Cookies

This past weekend a bunch of my relatives came up to celebrate the 4th. We're all Catan fans so we had a Catan tournament night. (Well every night became Catan night actually...) My cousin-in-law, Shelbi, came up with the brilliant idea of making the game board out of cookies. She did a whole post on the details over here. Take a look for the how to and her amazing photos. They were delicious!

(oreo - ore, marshmallows - sheep, butterfinger - brick, orange sugar wafers - wheat, nilla cookies - sand/dessert, mike and ikes - roads, gummies - cities and settlements, gummy bear - robber baron, candy melts - numbers)

William Sonoma Recipe: Easter Nest Torte

My mother-in-law threw a massive Easter lunch this year and we were in charge of bringing something chocolate.  Mike and I took the opportunity to try out William Sonoma's Easter Nest Torte - and ooh we're glad we did!  It really wasn't that hard to make - just a little time consuming  - and delicious!  

Ingredients:

Cake:
1/2 c self-rising flour (to make your own: add 1.5 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt per 1 c. flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3c cocoa powder
1 stick (1/2c) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c superfine sugar (you can throw normal sugar in the food processor for a couple pulses, or just use normal sugar - that's what we did and the texture was still great)
2 eggs
4 Tbsp orange flavored liqueur
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces

Grease a 9in springform pan and line the base.  Sift flour, baking powder, and cocoa.  Add butter, sugar, and eggs.  Whisk until creamy.  Turn into the prepared pan, level, and bake at 350 for 20-25min.  (Mine only took 12 min on convection. Watch closely.)  Remove from pan and place on a cooling rack.  Move the cake to a serving plate and drizzle with the liqueur.  (We used a toothpick to prick holes all over for better absorption.)

Measure the cake's circumference, then cut a waxed paper strip 1/2in longer and 2.5in wide.  Melt the chocolate and spoon it along the strip, spreading it to the edge on one side and shaping a wavy line on the other about 1/2in away from the edge.  Leave 1/2 in free at one end.  Set aside for 15-20min, then carefully lift the paper strip and secure it around the sponge so the straight edge rests on the plate and the ends of the strip meet. Chill.  (We found it took longer then they said to get to a pliable state that was still hardened enough to stand upright.)

Filling:

2 tsp powdered gelatin

2 Tbsp cold water

3 egg yolks

1/4 c superfine sugar

1 tsp conrstarch

1 1/4 c milk

7oz semi-sweet chocolate

1 1/4 c whipping cream

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and set aside to soften.  Beat the egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar, cornstarch, and a little of the milk.  Put the remaining milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring just to a boil.  Pour it over the egg yolk mixture, whisking well.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently, stirring until thickened.  Do not allow to boil.

Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin until dissolved.  Break the semi-sweet chocolate into pieces and add to the gelatin mixture.  Leave to melt then stir until smooth.  Cover with waxed paper and allow to cool until just beginning to thicken then remove paper.

Whip the cream into soft peaks and fold it slowly into the chocolate mixture.

Turn into the chocolate mould on the sponge and level.  Chill.  Remove the waxed paper strip from the outside of the cake.

Decorate:

5oz milk chocolate

small chocolate eggs

The recipe says to:

Use a sharp knife, slice the milk chocolate into long thin shards and lay on the cake in a nest.  We just went ahead and melted more semi-sweet chocolate, spread it on waxed paper and then broke it into pieces which we arranged on the cake.

Chill.

Enjoy!  It's super rich, creamy, and not too sweet!  (Not to mention my husband is quite the chocolate pro!)

Artist's Cake

My dad is a very talented artist, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, and today is his birthday! We celebrated early and my sister-in-law and I made this cake for him. We got the cupcake idea from "What's New Cupcake" (What's New, Cupcake?: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion) and had the Safway bakery print out one of his paintings (here's the original) on edible paper.

I tried out a new "buttercream" frosting recipe to try for a super smooth surface and it worked great! Here's the recipe (from here):

1 cup Crisco (or other quality vegetable shortening)

1/2 cup (stick) of butter, (allowed to come to room temperature)

1 tsp clear vanilla flavor (clear so that your buttercreams soft yellow color isnt compromised)

1 tsp of flavoring such as crème bouquet or lemon (optional) (I'd add extra butter flavoring)

1/4 cup milk (more or less as needed for consistency desired)

1 pinch salt (for use with unsalted butter only)

1 tsp meringue powder

2 lb bag of powdered (confectioners) sugar that has been sifted

On lowest speed, incorporate the these last three ingredients, just until they’ve begun to combine, and then turn the mixer up to medium speed, and blend until smooth and a little fluffy. If using a stand-up mixer, this texture will achieved after about 2 minutes, and if using a hand-held mixer, after about 5 minutes.

If while you’re mixing, the mixer beings to strain or you notice the icing is too stiff, add more water or milk, very small amounts at a time until you have the consistency you want. If the mixture becomes too soft, then simply add more powdered sugar.

And the best tip they gave to get that perfectly smooth top - Paper towels!! And not just any - they have to be Viva since Viva doesn't have a textured pattern on there. Once you've frosted the cake and let it sit for 15-30min or until it's "crusted" then you place your paper towel on there and start gently rubbing with your hand. Works like a charm!

Pale Pink

I just love this cake!  Very simple but it also looks like it tastes delicious!  (image from Style Me Pretty - I think!)

How to make a carnation look good!  (pic from here)

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

Cake

• 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 2 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1.5-2 tablespoon red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs

Frosting

• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 - 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 
  

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Sift sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, sour cream, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20-27 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

For frosting:
Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Whip the cream - adding a little powdered sugar and vanilla as you go.  

Fold in the whipped cream to the cream cheese frosting.

Split cake layers in half (so you have four layers).  Put filling in and dirty ice the outside.  Chill for a good hour.  Then frost the rest of the cake to avoid crumbs.

(original recipe from epicurious, alterations by KCD)

Sugar Cookie Recipe

This is my mom's sugar cookie recipe that she's made for years.  We use it for any roll out sugar cookie you need - it's not too sweet and has a great texture.  This was the first time I tried putting it on sticks and it worked great.  I rolled it a little thicker, chilled the dough after cutting out the shapes to avoid them getting misshapen from the stick, and then slid the sticks into the cookies right before I put them in the oven.

Ingredients:
1c butter
1c pwd sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
dash salt
2.5c flour

Cream the butter and powdered sugar.  Add the vanilla and beaten egg. Sift in salt and flour.  


Roll to 1/8in thick. Cut out shapes.


(optional - chill.  I've found this helps the cookies maintain their shape)


Bake at 350 F for 8min (or lightly golden).


(These freeze well too.)

Budget Savvy: Wedding or Bridal Shower Cake

Isn't this cake fabulous!?  Especially if you're doing a vintage themed wedding or bridal shower.  And the best part is it's super easy to do.  You could head to Trader Joe's and get some of their fantastic cakes and have friends frost a bunch of these for an impressive and inexpensive dessert table.
(from I am baker)

Shamrock Cupcakes

We had a St. Patty's Day dinner to go to and I didn't want to or have the time to spend hours on dessert, so I went with a basic vanilla cupcake from Hello Cupcake and just tweaked it a bit.  I added a mint "buttercream" to mimic the mint oreos and that was that!  (Asa LOVED helping out by adding/eating the oreos.)

Ingredients:

2 3/4 c + 1 T cake flour (I switched to cake flour they called for 2 1/2 c all purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c milk (I used 1/4 milk 1/4 half/half since I had some that needed to be used up)

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 c sugar

3 large eggs

1 c chopped mint oreos

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 24 muffin cups

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Combine the milk, oil, and vanilla in a separate bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy - about 3min.

Add the eggs, one at a time.  Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the milk - beginning and ending with the flour.  Beat just till blended

Add the oreos.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.  15-20min.  (less on convection)

Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting:

(this is an approximation since I didn't measure)

6 T butter softened

3-4 c pwd sugar

vanilla

milk or half/half

mint extract

green food coloring

Beat butter with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add pwd sugar on low and slowly incorporate.  Add 1/2 tsp vanilla and a few drops of mint extract.  Add milk 1 T at a time until it reaches the right consistency.  Add food coloring and beat.  Frost and top with an oreo!

 Hello Cupcake is a great and easy book for kid's cupcakes!  (As is the sequel- What's New Cupcake?)

Shamrock Cake

Isn't this Shamrock Cake great??!  This is from i am baker.  It's a similar idea to the rainbow cake I'm sure you've seen around - but really fun!

Tuxedo Cake Pops

Asa and I tried out Bakerella's cake pops for the Oscars.  We hadn't made them before and they turned out great.  Although they are really really sweet! White chocolate coated cake and frosting!  I'm not a white chocolate fan - but they are definitely fun to make!

(We used bats from our halloween sprinkles for the tie, and I piped melted white chocolate for the buttons.)

Enjoy the Oscars!

(picture from sheekshindigs.com)

We're doing a pretty casual party - it just comes up so fast after Valentine's, amidst a bunch of birthdays and we're not die hard fans so I tend to be last minute!  Sometime I'd like to go more all out - maybe next year... 

I'm a big sucker for cookie cutters!  

(picture from pizzazzerie.com)

Maybe then we'll make the stacked oreo cake (from Martha Stewart - takes ~20 oreo packages!) but we wouldn't be able to eat it all. (this would make a fantastic groom's cake by the way!)

(from Twig and Thistle)

Heart Shaped Thumbprint Cookies

Continuing on through Valentine's Day ideas: 

I saw some peanut butter and jam filled heart cookies in the latest Martha Stewart and since I hate pb cookies just decided to try out the idea in a basic thumbprint cookie.  And they turned out pretty well!!

I used Emeril Lagasse's recipe and made some alterations - alterations in italics. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raspberry jam or jelly
• 1 tablespoon Chambord or kirsch (I just use any berry liqueur I have on hand)
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (I didn't have lemon and substituted grapefruit - worked great!)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets.

In a small bowl, combine the jam and Chambord. Stir to combine.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt andwhisk to blend.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemonjuice and vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and beat just until moist clumps form. Gather the dough together into a ball.

Pinch off the dough to form 1-inch balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Use your floured index finger or 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to create depressions in the center of each ball. (Instead of just doing one impression, push slightly to the side and then to the other side.  Clean fingers make a neater impression.  Make sure to avoid a low side or your jam will run out. I would add a 20min chill in the fridge here to help maintain the shape.  I didn't do it and some of them got a little flat and less heart shaped.)   

Fill each indentation with nearly 1/2 teaspoon of the jam mixture. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. (took less time)

Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!  They'd be really cute in a window box, clear bag with ribbon, wedding day favors, etc...