Buttecream icing and I haven't been getting along. I tried a few recipes, hated them, and basically didn't know where else to turn. I had to make a cake for an upcoming work party, so I went off in search of a new buttercream icing recipe. I stumbled on the Repressed Pastry Chef and thought, with this glowing review, how can I not try it?? In terms of flavor, I LOVED IT. In terms of texture, it didn't go on the cake as smoothly as I wanted, but perhaps I added too much water, not enough, or just plain stink at icing cakes so that's my problem. I will play with it on my next cake and see how it goes. Anyway, I'm in love.
1 stick salted butter - room temperature 1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature 1 cup shortening 1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract 2 pounds confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, 10x) 4-6 tablespoons very cold milk
Directions Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk... one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.
I am still technically on a baking hiatus, but the cute Halloween related cupcake decorations at Target got to me. I decided that I NEEDED to bake cupcakes and bring them to work. The decision for what kind of cupcake was easy....pumpkin! I had seen a recipe in my google reader at Fresh From Cate's Kitchen and I instantly knew I wanted to make them! Pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting... how good does that sound?!
Along with the Halloween cupcake liners, sprinkles, and carved pumpkin flags that I planned to adorn the cupcakes with, I thought I'd try my hand at more decorating with royal icing. I had some leftover thinned royal icing that I wanted to re-thicken and make spiders with. I completely forgot about thickening it, and ended up working with the thinned icing. After about 24 hours of drying, they were completely dry, and I think they turned out really cute! I used an offset spatula to carefully dislodge them from the parchment paper, and only broke one leg. :-)
Behold... my army of spiders! The cupcake recipe was soooo easy to throw together. I love the recipes where you just throw together all the dry ingredients, throw together all the wet ingredients, mix them together gently and you are done! The frosting recipe makes enough to quite liberally frost the 18 cupcakes I made, so if you are following the cupcake recipe and only making 12, you could cut down the frosting recipe a bit. Overall, the two go SO well together, the flavors really play off one another. Great dessert! Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting From: Fresh From Cate's Kitchen Yield: 12 cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
Preheat oven to 350 and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and sugars.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.
Gently stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely on a wire rack
For the frosting:
4 tbsp butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 cups powdered sugar
With the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and cream cheese.
Add maple syrup and beat on medium until combined.
Mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, then mix on medium-high until smooth.
These were too cute not to make! Typically, I am anti-making one type of food look like some other type of food, but this looked too fun. Someone on the What's Cooking board found them on the Martha Stewart website, and I decided I had to make them for a summer party.
These were pretty easy to throw together, you could probably use any vanilla cupcake recipe you like (but I don't have a favorite so I made the one from the website). Just get some frosting, yellow and white jelly beans, a few yellow starburst, and you are on your way! They are fun to decorate and super cute. Corn on the Cob Cupcakes From Hello, Cupcake!, by Karen Tack Yield: 24 Cupcakes (I only got 19)
For the Cupcakes: ~2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ~2 teaspoons baking powder ~2 teaspoons baking soda (I used 1.5 tsp) ~1/2 teaspoon salt ~1/2 cup milk ~1/2 cup vegetable oil ~1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 2 tsp) ~1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened ~1 cup sugar ~3 large eggs
Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Combine milk, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; beat until well combined, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack; let cool completely before decorating.
For Decorating: ~Vanilla Frosting ~yellow food coloring ~3 1/2 cups small yellow, cream, or white jelly beans, such as Jelly Belly ~4 pieces yellow fruit chews, such as Laffy Taffys or Starbursts ~1 tablespoon black decorating sugar (I skipped) ~1 tablespoon white decorating sugar (I skipped) ~8 sets of corn holders (optional)
Directions Color the frosting pale yellow with food coloring.
Working with 3 cupcakes at a time, frost cupcakes with yellow frosting. Arrange 5 rows of jelly beans, close together, on each cupcake. Place the 3 cupcakes side by side on a corn dish or serving platter to resemble an ear of corn. Repeat process with remaining cupcakes, frosting, and jelly beans.
Cut the fruit chews into eight 1-inch squares. Soften the edges slightly by hand so that they look like melted butter. Place 1 square on top of each ear of corn. Sprinkle with sugars. Insert a corn holder in the end of each ear of corn, if using. Serve.
The amazing Elly from Elly Says Opa! has graciously turned her blogging event, Eat to the Beat, into a quarterly event. I was SO glad to hear she would be continuing it (see my first entry here). There is just so much music to go around, there'd be plenty of material for event after event.
A few weeks ago, I popped into my favorite local liquor store, and noticed a vendor with a little tasting table set up. Never one to pass up a free tasting, I stopped by to see what he was offering. His first words were, "Would you like a rose mimosa?" That was just about all I needed to hear! He went on and on about this wonderful rose nectar that has been made the same way since the 1200s and blahblahblah. I was way more interested in the yummy bubbly than his very detailed account of his product (oops). I bought two bottles of rose nectar and continued on my way. I got to thinking about what I could do for the next round of Eat to the Beat (as the deadline rapidly approached) and I decided I wanted to use the rose nectar in something other than a rose mimosa. Instantly, the 80s hair band memories sprung to the front of my mind, and all I could think about was...
So... what to do with my rose nectar? Two lines from the main chorus became my inspiration.
Every rose has it's thorn Just like every night has it's dawn
Dawn, to me, brings to mind oranges and orange juice. First stop: Morning Rose Madeleines! These weren't quite as rose-y as I would have liked, but they were every bit as yummy as a madeleine should be! ______________________________________________________________ Morning Rose Madeleines Adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours, by Dorie Greenspan Yield: 12 Madeleines
~1 cup all-purpose flour ~1 teaspoon baking powder ~Pinch of salt ~½ cup sugar ~Grated zest of 1/2 an orange ~2 large eggs, at room temperature ~2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract ~1/4 cup rose nectar (such as Sence) ~¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the glaze: ~1/4 cup milk ~Powdered sugar ~15-20 drops of orange extract
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Working in a mixer bowl, or in a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl. Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until pale, thick and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and rose nectar. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the batter form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines. (For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pans.)
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan (or pans), give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.
Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don't worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven's heat will take care of that. Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, and minis for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the molds by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Gently pry any reluctant madeleines from the pan using your fingers or a butter knife. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature. If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pan(s) before baking.
To make the glaze, combine the milk, powdered sugar, and orange extract and mix well. Dip warm madeleines in the glaze, or drizzle about 1 Tablespoon over each madeleine. Allow the glaze to set and the madeleines to finish cooling before serving. ___________________________________________________________
I was happy with the madeleines (maybe not as rose-y as I'd like, but darn tasty), but I couldn't stop thinking about that message. Every rose has it's thorn. What's my rose? What's it's thorn? Right now, my rose is baking. I love it, love spending every weekend trying new recipes, new techniques, living to tell about it... and bring the goodies to work. That's where that thorn part comes in. Baking 2 or 3 different baked goods every weekend is not conducive to a slim waistline (hence, if you've been reading, my 2 week divorce from sugar). I pass it all off to my workers (no doubt I am a rose and thorn to them for the same reason!) to lessen the blow, but I certainly take my Quality Control duties quite seriously. I decided to go for one more recipe...Every Rose Has It's Thorn Cupcakes (nice long name, eh?). So....What is your rose? And it's thorn?
Once again, the rose flavor hides behind the orange, so maybe next time I'll skip the zest in the cupcake batter. But, these are SO light and airy and wonderful! Every Rose Has It's Thorn Cupcakes Adapted from Orange Chiffon Cupcakes, from Cupcakes!, by Elinor Klivans Yield: 12 cupcakes (Note: I wanted 18, so increased the recipe accordingly, and wound up with 28 cupcakes... so I'm leaving the recipe as a 12 cupcake yield)
~1 and 1/2 cups of cake flour ~1 cup of sugar ~1 teaspoon of baking powder ~1/4 teaspoon of salt ~1/3 cup of canola or corn oil ~4 large eggs, separated ~1/3 cup water ~1 and 1/2 teaspoons of grated orange zest ~1/4 cup of rose nectar ~1 teaspoon vanilla extract ~1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift the cake flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Use a spoon to make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and put the oil, egg yolks, water, orange zest, rose nectar, and vanilla extract in the well. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the mixture until it is smooth and thick, about 3 minutes.
In another bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar is dissolves. Beat on high speed until the egg whites look shiny and smooth and the beaters for mines in the mixture; if you stop the mixer and lift the beaters, the whites should cling to the beaters. Slowly beat in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, about a tablespoon at a time, then beat for another minute after you get all the sugar incorporated. Stir about 1/3 of the beaten egg mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Then, with a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining egg white mixture. Folding over and over until no white streaks remain.
Wohoo! No over-beaten egg whites!
For easy pouring, transfer the batter to a pitcher with a lip. Using about 1/2 cup for each, pour the batter into the cps. The batter will come just to the top of each cup. Do not smooth the tops, let the batter remain in fluffy mounds. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. The cupcakes will rise about 1/2 inch above the top of each cup.
This actually didn't work out so nicely and I resorted back to scooping with the spatula after this photo. And yes, that's a gravy boat.
Carefully loosen the cupcakes from the pan, cool on a wire rack until completely cooled, about 45 minutes. I used a simple buttercream icing with a few drops of orange extract added, to taste.
They looked so beautiful! (I will spare your eyes (and their embarrasment) by not showing what happened next... total shriveling!)
Saturday, June 14th, I drove on down to Darien, IL for the Wilton 80th Anniversary Open House (at THE Wilton store... yes readers: ONE store, ALL Wilton - dangerous! [Especially at 25%off]). It was a day filled with cakes, demonstrations, raffles (I didn't win, BOO), more cakes, and of course - shopping. There were 4 demonstrations: Sugar Artistry, Fondant, Gum Paste, and Brush Embroidery, taught by Colette Peters! Gum Paste and Brush Embroidery are, by far, my favorites. In addition, they had a cake decorating contest that morning and displayed the cakes through the day. Here are some of my favorites:
Here is the Wilton 80th Anniversary Cake!
After the demos, I had the opportunity to meet Colette and get her autograph. Yay! (But I certainly felt silly being the only person in line without a book of hers! Hey, I'm just starting out, if you didn't notice.)
I decided to make Dorie's Perfect Party Cake (from Baking: From My Home to Yours) for an occasion at work, and use it as a chance to practice more cake decorating (see my first attempts here). I had lots of issues with icing consistency (I used the Wilton buttercream recipe, sub-ing half the shortening for butter), and it was about 85 degrees in my kitchen. Hopefully the next time around, my roses will stop falling over. :-)
I wanted to try my hand at cake decorating. I have a Wilton book, and some tips, so I decided to play around a bit. Using the Lime Cupcakes with White Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes from Kelsey, I did some simple leaves and (possibly the easiest) flowers. I can't wait to make some decorating icing (this wasn't quite right) and try more!
I got to thinking about what I could do for the next round of Eat to the Beat (as the deadline rapidly approached) and I decided I wanted to use the rose nectar in something other than a rose mimosa. Instantly, the 80s hair band memories sprung to the front of my mind, and all I could think about was...
