Fire Helmet Cake

Oh, this cake. It gave me so much grief.

But before I get into any of that, let's start at the beginning.

My brother and his wife: They're having a baby. A baby boy, due next month. A few months back, Marie's mom and sisters started planning her shower, and asked me to make a cake. Of course, I said yes--first of all, because it's for my brother and sister-in-law (so... duh), and secondly, because I do enjoy a good motivator to get me back into the kitchen to bake and do my thang.

It wasn't long after that when Marie's mom texted me and said that they had settled on a firefighter theme for the shower. You see, my brother is a volunteer firefighter. He's been with the department since he was 15 years old, when he started off as an "explorer." He went to school and got a degree in fire science, even. So it's a big part of their lives.

This presented a little bit of a problem, though. The first instinct is probably always to do a fire truck cake. But... I've already done a fire truck cake before. (One that I loved and am still very proud of. In fact, more than two years later, that post still tops the list of the most popular posts on this blog.) I have this thing about not repeating cake projects that I've already done. I figure that if I spend that much time on something--most of my cakes of this magnitude take a full week to prepare--I'm not going to do the same thing twice!

I set out to Google for inspiration. At first I was going to do a traditional two-tiered cake and simply cut out little firefighting designs from fondant and paste them on. I saw fire helmet cakes as well, but I was intimidated by them because they all involved covering the cake in fondant. While I've made and worked with fondant to make details for a cake, I had never actually covered a cake in it.

But as the weeks went on and we got closer to the baby shower, I decided to go big or go home. To take the plunge. To challenge myself. To go where I'd never gone before.

All of that.

Thankfully, I'm pretty happy about where I ended up. :)

This cake was far from perfect. I believe that many of the problems I experienced with the fondant were due to the colors I had to make--red and black. I found that the white fondant and yellow fondant were much easier to work with, but the consistency of the red and black were different because I had to add so much coloring to them to achieve the right shades (despite using the amazing Americolor gels).

I managed to cover the cardboard that I used for the base without much issue, but when it came time to cover the actual cake in red--it was sort of a disaster. The fondant cracked in a bunch of places, but I was too far gone to remove it and start over, especially since there was now buttercream frosting on the back of it. I contemplated taking the fondant off completely and covering the whole thing with buttercream, but that would've meant that I would've wasted my time (several nights) making and coloring fondant that wouldn't be used. Plus, I'd have to make and dye buttercream red, which was just NOT an appealing option me.

I soldiered on without freaking out too much. I don't think I even dropped that many curse words, which says a lot. I Googled "how to fix cracked fondant" and tried a bunch of things. I whipped up a tiny batch of royal icing to use as spackle, but then I accidentally dyed it too burgundy. I still gave it a shot to patch some of my worst holes, but it was obvious because of the color change. Then, I whipped out some red candy melts and melted them, but the red was too pinkish. I added a little Americolor gel into it to darken it, but it seized up (whoops! lesson learned) and became very paste-like. Surprisingly, I had just accidentally created the perfect mixture to fill in my minor fondant cracks. I was able to spread the paste into the little cracks with my finger, and it covered them REALLY well.

For my large cracks/patches that were super obvious, I surveyed the situation and realized that I was lucky in that their placement made them very easy to cover up.

I placed the shield over the biggest flaws, then managed to cover up large parts of the other ones with the black band and the yellow reflectors. Whew!

I had problems with the black edging around the cardboard base cracking as well, but I didn't sweat that as much. I smoothed it as best as I could with my fingers, and moved on with it! The funny thing was that the consistency of the red and black fondant ended up looking a lot like leather--which is something that someone pointed out to me at the shower. They were actually saying that because of this, it looked MORE authentic! Who knew?

Other than my problems working with the fondant, this cake was really not that bad. In other words, if I were to ever do it again (which isn't very likely due to my rule!), I would just buy store-bought fondant for the red and black and call it a day, because I'm sure it's much easier to work with.

To make the cake itself, I baked two 9" round layers, plus a "dome" cake by using one of my glass Pyrex bowls. I didn't take many pics of the process, except this one that I sent Michael in the middle of the afternoon on Friday:

You can sort of see my three cake layers here. I stacked the two 9" layers, then put the dome-shaped cake on top. I carved them a bit to make everything a little more oval-shaped. (I had borrowed one of my brother's friend's helmets for the week so that I could have a live reference for sizes and shapes of things.)

I used rolled fondant "worms" to make the ridges on top of the helmet, putting them into place prior to covering the whole thing with the red fondant. I traced one of the reflectors on the actual helmet and then cut them all using my traced image as a template. I "glued" them on with a little bit of water.

The base of the cake (the brim of the helmet) is made out of foam core that I covered in fondant.

For the shield, I actually made a little bit of my fondant into gum paste so that it would harden faster and sturdier than fondant. I traced the shield on my sample helmet and then traced that shape onto the fondant and cut it out with a pizza cutter. I also traced and cut out the little strips of red. I stuck the red strips onto the white shield and then laid the shield on top of a stock pot resting on its side, so that it would dry in a curved shape.

For more information and detailed photos of these steps, check out this tutorial that I used as my guide for many elements of this cake.

My brother's helmet # is 8, but I used 28 in honor of the baby's due date. I planned the wording around the number--I figured I had to make it clear it was a baby shower cake somehow! The numbers 2 and 8 were cut out of black fondant with my number cookie cutters. I freehanded the rest using buttercream. Obviously, the baby's last name was on the cake, but I blurred it out here for privacy reasons. You'll just have to imagine how it looked for real. :)

Because we needed enough cake to serve 65 people, I also made two batches of cupcakes and topped them with buttercream and my candy melt flames that I first developed the idea for back when I did Poppy's fire truck cake. I love these fire cupcakes! All I do to make the candy melt flames is to print out a clip art graphic of a flame, then trace it using candy melts. Once they harden, I peel them off of the wax paper and stick them into the frosting on the cupcakes.

WHEW. I think that covers everything.

The cake was a hit with my brother, sister-in-law, and the shower guests. Despite my mistakes with it, I am still really happy with how it turned out. Another cake in the history books! :)

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Butterfly Cupcakes & Swiss Meringue Buttercream

My brother and his fiancee got engaged in November, set the wedding date at the very end of February, and are getting married in May. (My brother will be deployed this summer, and they want to be hitched before he leaves.)

Needless to say, time is flying! I could hardly believe it when I realized that the bridal shower was only a few days away. And I kinda-sorta panicked a little when I still didn't have a plan for the cupcakes that I had promised to make. This is coming from someone who is normally a monster planner. I'm going to go ahead and blame the situation on the whole "working mom" thing.

ANYHOO...

On Friday, I still hadn't decided what kind of cupcakes to make. I wasn't planning on doing anything fancy with the decorating; just a pretty color frosting in a little swirl on top. But then, as I was going through my bookmarked recipes looking for exciting flavors, I came across cupcakes that I had saved a LONG time ago (almost two years ago, actually), just waiting for an excuse to make them. And, well, this was the perfect excuse.

Enter: Butterfly cupcakes.

The other five bridesmaids and I had agreed on not really having a "theme" for the party. We were going more for a "look and feel," which we decided should be sort of "light and springy." When I designed the invitations, I used lime green and aqua colors, so we stuck with them. So imagine my glee when I saw these cupcakes, knowing that I could use those same colors--AND, don't pretty little butterflies just scream "spring" to you?

Given that this was Friday and the shower was on Sunday, and I was just then making the decision to do these, I knew I was a little insane. But I also haven't done a real time-intensive project like this since before Nora was born, so I figured I was due. I ran out and got all of the supplies I needed on Friday night, and made half of the butterfly wings that same night. I made the remainder of the butterfly wings and the antennas on Saturday morning, then baked the cupcakes and made frosting during the day, and decorated on Saturday night. Whew.

I'm sure you're probably wondering how I made them. And, well, Lord knows I didn't have time to take pics during the process. I barely got them done in time, people. Luckily, however, Annie over at Annie's Eats put together an awesome pictorial on how to do them. So head on over there to check it out, if you're so inclined. (And, before you ask, I got the adorable cupcake wrappers--which just so happened to be in the exact colors that I needed; score!--at Michaels.)

The other reason I almost checked myself into an institution is because I chose THIS occasion to deviate from my usual vanilla buttercream. Instead, I chose to make a much-more-labor-intensive swiss meringue buttercream, since I keep seeing so many food bloggers talking about it. And while it came together pretty easily for me, it did take a lot more time.

After all is said and done, I have to admit that I don't really get what all of the fuss is about. But it's good--I guess I was just expecting it to be A-MAZ-ING. If you are put off by traditional buttercream because it's too sweet for you, you'll probably love this--it's sweetness is much more mild. When I tried it straight out of the mixing bowl, my initial reaction was that it tasted like straight butter. And no wonder, considering how much butter goes into the recipe. However, when paired with cake, the flavor of it is actually quite complimentary. I think it's just one of those things that you'll have to try for yourself!

Oh, and I used this recipe for my white cupcakes.

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
(Source: Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 lb. (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Combine the egg whites, sugar and salt in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees and the sugar has dissolved.

2. 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 8 minutes.

3. Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated. If the frosting looks soupy or curdled, continue to beat on medium-high speed until thick and smooth again, about 3-5 minutes more (don’t worry, it will come together!)

4. Stir in the vanilla extract and mix just until incorporated. Tint with gel icing color as desired.

5. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

Yield: about 5 cups

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Wine-Themed Cake

My brother is getting married in October, so on Sunday the bridesmaids hosted a bridal shower for his fiancee, Marie. The atmosphere was designed to be pretty elegant, and we loosely planned the event around a theme of "wine and cheese."

Because the attendance was going to be quite large, I knew early on that I wanted to make my first two-tier cake. I considered a few different designs, but all incorporated grapes. Some involved piping grape shapes out of buttercream, but the ones I loved the most used real grapes to garnish the cake.

Even with the two-tier cake (I used a 9" double layer and 6" double layer cakes for mine), I was worried we wouldn't have quite enough cake, so I also made two dozen cupcakes to supplement. Both tiers of the cake were chocolate, and the cupcakes were vanilla. I positioned everything on my trusty dusty 2'x2' board, covered in a plum-colored fabric.

You're not seeing things--the grapes have a little bit of a sparkle to them. I made "frosted" grapes to give them a little extra something. It was my first time using such a method, so it required a little trial and error. Most of the directions I found for frosted grapes involved dipping the grapes in egg whites and then dipping them in sanding sugar. I didn't want to feed raw egg whites to strangers, so I found an alternative--I was able to make an "egg white solution" using meringue powder and water. And it's salmonella-free! :)

Anyway, the trial and error part came into play when it came time to figure out how much solution to leave on the grapes to dip them. At first, I was leaving too much, so the sugar was clumping up. I eventually figured out that dipping the grapes, then dabbing them with paper towels worked to get a lot of excess moisture off, then I'd dip them. If you're interested in frosted grapes, just Google--there are tons of recipes/directions out there.

The night before the shower, I frosted the cakes, assembled them (again, if you want to know how to securely assemble two tiers, Google is a great resource), then added the shell borders. I also piped frosting onto the cupcakes, and, of course, prepared the sugared grapes.

The morning of the shower, I transported the cake, cupcakes, and grapes to the shower location separately. Once there, I got to work on garnishing everything. I topped each cupcake with a single frosted grape. For the cake, I used a large bunch of grapes for the top, then used smaller bunches on other areas of the cake. To help secure the grapes to the cake, I piped dollops of frosting in the spots where I wanted to stick them, using the frosting as "glue." As a finishing touch, I added little beads of frosting all over the sides of the layers.

Done!

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3D Dinosaur Cake

Several weeks ago, Kara told me that the theme for Hunter's 1st birthday party was going to be dinosaurs. She asked if I'd be willing to make invitations and the cake. I readily agreed.

When it came time to plan for the cake, I googled for ideas and came across the perfect cake--a 3D dinosaur cake! I was a little intimidated by all of the carving that was required, but it didn't seem too bad, so I decided to give it a try. The result?

The dinosaur is made with two 9-inch cakes, cut and pieced together to make up the dinosaur. The spikes are made of fondant, dyed orange, cut into diamond shapes, and dried until stiff. The dinosaurs eyes are yellow sprinkles that I had in my cupboard, and although you can't see them, he has toenails made of chocolate chips.

Frosted and decorated, it all makes for a pretty awesome looking cake. For instructions and additional photos, I'm going to send you right to my source. I followed their directions and studied their photos, and recreated their template in order to carve the cake.

Since I believe that all 1-year-olds should have their own smash cake, I also made an extra 6" round cake and then carved it into the shape of an egg. I decorated it to be a "dinosaur egg," and placed it on the cake board for display with the dinosaur. Some fondant water and some buttercream grass, and the look was complete. Very proud of this cake!

The party turned out great, and fun was had by all (especially the birthday boy). Pictures to come tomorrow...

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Sesame Street Cupcakes

Today was the polar opposite of yesterday. Today, I had no problem sleeping in until 9:30 a.m., as it was completely gloomy and rainy outside. Still, I had a bunch of things on the agenda that needed to get done, so it wasn't exactly a lazy day. It sure did feel nice to sleep in, though!

My sister-in-law, Melissa, asked me to make a birthday cake for Logan's first birthday, as I did for Brendan's first (and second) birthdays. She told me that the theme for the party was going to be Sesame Street, and left it up to me from there.

A few weeks back, when I did Google searches to look for inspiration for cakes, I came across some really cute character cupcakes. Since I knew I was going to be doing a huge cake for Poppy's birthday just one week before, I figured cupcakes would be a nice change of pace. I was right--these seemed like very little work compared to the fire truck cake. The most tedious part was actually coloring all of the icing--so many colors! After that, they actually came together pretty quickly.

Although I found pictures of a TON of different characters in cupcake form, I decided to stick with four of them--Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch. Also, to make sure all things are "fair" among brothers, I had to make Logan a smash cake like I did for Brendan. I decided to keep it pretty simple and pipe the Sesame Street sign on top, to tie everything together with the cupcakes.

A closer look at the cupcakes:

All of the characters' eyes are made with mini marshmallows that I cut in half with kitchen scissors. I piped the little pupils on with black buttercream. The mouths for Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar are all made out of half an Oreo cookie. I piped Elmo's fur with a star tip, and his nose is an orange miniature gumball. Cookie Monster's fur is piped with tip #233, used for hair, fur, grass, etc.

Big Bird's feathers are done with a leaf tip. I made the pieces for his beak using yellow candy melts. I drew the shape on a piece of paper, then traced it using the melted candy. I let them dry, then used two of them for each Big Bird (one for the top part of the beak, one for the bottom). I piped on Big Bird's eyelids using a light blue buttercream. Like Cookie Monster, Oscar's fur is also done with the #233 tip. One of the things that makes Oscar look like Oscar is the eyebrows, so I drew those on using brown buttercream.

And a closer look at the cake.

These were fun to make. I loved Sesame Street as a kid!

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Fire Truck Cake & Fire Cupcakes

When my husband asked me if I'd be willing to make a cake for Poppy's surprise 80th birthday party, it didn't take long before I had pictures and ideas running through my head. And once I had it set in my mind that it would be a fire truck cake, there was no way I was going to let them bring in some store-bought cake for Poppy's big birthday party.

The only challenge that lay ahead was in figuring out just how in the hell I was going to pull this off.

It involved sculpting, people. And measuring. And fondant pieces and red icing. Red, which is a freaking bear of a color to make. Oh, and a TON of icing. Like, 5 batches worth. And um, to top it all off, I had to figure out a way to make this cake to serve 80 people.

I can say now: mission accomplished. (Thank you, baby Jesus.)

As with any cake project I've taken on, I started in Google Images to find photos for inspiration. It was a little bit difficult to find something that fit my own vision, but I felt like I really needed something to go on to help me with this monstrous task. Thankfully, I eventually found Julie at Peanut Butter & Julie. She did a really cute fire truck cake that pretty closely fit what I was picturing in my head. And, even better, she was super helpful in answering questions for me, too. So big thanks go to Julie.

Still, I found that with many parts of this project, I really just had to figure it out as I went along. Thankfully, it all ended up working out for me. But it was a lot of work. So much work. I literally worked on some aspect of this thing every night this past week, starting on Monday. Before I even started, I made a "schedule" of tasks for each night, doing what I could in advance.

And it's done! It's DONE. So pardon me while I share a bunch more photos. I just can't resist. (I'll also share some more info, too, for those of you who may stumble across this post doing your own Google searches for "fire truck cakes.")

The cake itself is constructed from four half-sheet cakes. I used a regular cake recipe (red velvet--I thought the color was really appropriate for a fire truck!) in each one, so the cakes were pretty thin. I found it was easier to work with thin layers because of the sculpting/shaping I decided to go with in the middle (with the varying heights). I filled the cake with buttercream icing between each layer, and it's frosted with buttercream as well.

The tires are mini chocolate donuts, and the lights are Jolly Ranchers. The ladders and the hose are made out of marshmallow fondant. The ladders are hanging on the sides of the truck using pretzel sticks as hooks. Everything else is buttercream. I "dirty iced" the whole cake, then covered it using a medium star tip.

I sculpted the fire hydrant out of fondant and let it dry out in the open for several days. The hose and water are also made of marshmallow fondant. The writing is in buttercream.

The cake board is a 2'x2' piece of plywood that we got at Home Depot. I covered it in black fabric (thanks again for the tip, Julie). The cake itself is sitting on a cakeboard that I cut to the exact size of the cake. When I first set the cake on it, there were little edges of the cake board showing, but as I iced and decorated, it was easy to cover up the edges of the cake board so it wasn't visible. It looked like the cake was sitting directly on the fabric.

I'm worried that the cake might not feed everybody at the party, so this is my solution. I made a batch of vanilla cupcakes (24 of them), and topped them to look like fire. The icing is yellow/orange buttercream, and the flames are made out of candy melts. I printed out a picture of a clipart flame, and traced it a bunch of times to make the candy topper for each cupcake.

Happy 80th Birthday, Sibby. :) I should've explained the significance of the fire truck--Poppy has been a volunteer firefighter for many, many years. Of course, he can no longer do any of the actual firefighting work, but he's still heavily involved in the fire company. I'd say the majority of the attendees at the party are going to be his buddies from the firehouse. It seemed only appropriate to honor Poppy and all of his friends.

I can't wait to show off this monster at the party tonight!

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Super Cookie

Today is the day. The last day of football until training camp begins again in July. It's always bittersweet--I miss football, but I am always ready for a break.

We are expecting a group over here in a little while for the game. We've hit the gym (gotta counteract those extra calories somehow) and completed errands. We've vacuumed, we've cleaned, we've scrubbed. We've adorned the table with a gold (hint, hint) tablecloth. We've set out serving dishes to prepare for the goodies that are to come.

And now, we just wait. Our guests will be here soon. Surely, there will be way too much food, way too much chaos, but also way too much fun.

Oh, and as is tradition, I decorated a SUPER COOKIE for the occasion.

Go Saints! (To make a long story short--I don't like Peyton. And I do like Brees. And you know, the Saints have never gone to the Super Bowl. And come on, who doesn't love an underdog?)

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Monkey & Banana Cake

A year ago, my friend gave birth to her son after a grueling 38-hour labor. Today, I spent my evening making Rowan's first birthday cake.

Theresa e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago and asked if she could hire me to make his cake. I, of course, agreed without hesitation. We talked a little bit about themes, things Rowan likes, and what would work for a cake. She also expressed interest in having a small smash cake just for Rowan. One of the first things she mentioned to me was monkeys, and when I started googling for ideas, I came across a few pictures of monkey cakes with banana smash cakes. Perfect.

And so I set out designing and creating my own. Here is the finished product:

Pretty cute, right? I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's so cute and I can't wait to see the photos from his party on Sunday!

The monkey's face/head is made up of a two-layer 9" cake. I then baked another two layers (again, 9") from which to carve the circles for the ears, as well as the banana. Those are all two layers, too. Everything is iced and decorated with vanilla buttercream.

The banana smash cake also provided the perfect place to write the birthday message.

For the cake itself, I decided to try out yet another new white cake recipe. I sampled the scraps, and it was delicious! The texture was fluffy and springy, and the almond extract adds a wonderful flavor to it that's different than your traditional white/vanilla.

Classic White Layer Cake
(Source: Cooks Illustrated, as seen on The Way the Cookie Crumbles)

Serves 12

CI note: If you have forgotten to bring the milk and egg white mixture to room temperature, set the bottom of the glass measure containing it in a sink of hot water and stir until the mixture feels cool rather than cold, around 65 degrees. Cake layers can be wrapped and stored for one day.

Ingredients:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus more for dusting the pans
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool

Directions:
1. For the Cake: Set oven rack in middle position. (If oven is too small to cook both layers on a single rack, set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle positions.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour.

2. Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.

3. Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.

4. Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1.5 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.

5. Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. (If oven is small, place pans on separate racks in staggered fashion to allow for air circulation.) Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.

6. Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1.5 hours.

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Lightning McQueen Cake

Our nephew, Brendan, turns two on Thursday. I can't even believe it--seems like just yesterday he was born! It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that not only has it been two years since he was born, but he also has a baby brother now. Life can change so much in so little time...

Anyway, his party was today. Last year, fresh out of my cake decorating classes, I made his 1st birthday cakes (Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, too!). A few weeks back, Melissa asked me if I'd be willing to make his 2nd birthday cake, too. Of course, I accepted the assignment with pleasure.

Melissa told me that she was planning a "Cars" (the movie) theme for Brendan's birthday party. She said that his favorite character from the movie is Lightning McQueen, the main character.

This is Brendan's finished cake:

I was pretty happy with how it turned out, and Brendan seemed to love it (as much as a 2 year old is going to love something, ha!). I had a lot of fun making it on Friday afternoon. More pics from Brendan's birthday to come soon...

In the meantime, I want to share the recipe I used for the cake. All of the frosting and the filling was simple vanilla buttercream, but for the cake, I used Dorie's Perfect Party Cake recipe. It was the first time I had ever made it, and it was really tasty--it had a subtle lemon flavor that was nice. I'll definitely use it as a "go-to" cake recipe in the future.

I'll include the full recipe for the cake, including Dorie's buttercream and filling recipes, even though I didn't use them. Enjoy!

Perfect Party Cake
(Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan)

For the Cake:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream:
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing:
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make The Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the tough – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

To Make the Buttercream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake: Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with the third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream left over). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving: The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but it’s best to let it set for a couple of hours in a cool room. Serve it at room temperature with anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to 2 days.

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Graduation Cake

I spent the majority of my evenings this week working on a graduation cake for my sister-in-law, Cristina. She graduated from high school last month, and her party is tomorrow. Because of the number of people invited to the celebration, she needed a pretty gigantic cake--a full sheet cake. I had never made a cake that big, but happily accepted the challenge.

(Pardon the white square--behind it is Cristina's school logo. For her privacy, I didn't want to broadcast the name of her school. So you'll just have to imagine what a kickass job I did recreating the logo. HA!)

The cake turned out well, but not without a few obstacles along the way. The biggest issue occurred on Wednesday night when I tried to transfer one of the cakes and the entire thing crumbled apart. I had to throw it out and start all over. NOT A GOOD NIGHT, I assure you.

Anyway, it all worked out in the end. I made the cake out of two 11 x 15" cakes, one chocolate, one vanilla. I iced them together with vanilla buttercream. I decorated today, also with vanilla buttercream. I used my alphabet cookie cutters to outline the letters in the icing, then filled them in.

Look at my little cap and diploma! I was so proud. The bottom part of the cap was just black buttercream with black sugar crystals sprinkled on top. For the mortar board part of the cap, I traced the pattern on wax paper using melted chocolate, filled it in, sprinkled it liberally with black sugar crystals while it was still wet, then let it dry. Then I squeezed a blob of black icing on the cake and placed the chocolate mortar board on top of it to give it a 3-D look. I got this idea on Cake Central, and it turned out super cute!

The tassel, diploma, and ribbon were all made of marshmallow fondant. I had never worked with it before, so that required a bit of practice time, too.

Congratulations, Cristina!

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Baby Carriage Cake

A few weeks ago, Nicole e-mailed me to ask if I'd be interested in making a cake for her upcoming baby shower. Her mom (the shower host), was looking to have a variety of decadent cakes, but Nicole also wanted her to include something baby-themed.

After doing some browsing online, I sent her a few cute options. Nicole chose the baby carriage cake. I was excited because I had wanted to take a crack at this thing!

I met Nicole when we were both planning our weddings, when we both went to a "knottie get-together." She got married a month after we did, in July. Now, she and her husband, Gabe, are expecting their first child in June. The baby's gender is going to be a surprise, so the cake had to be gender-neutral. I loved how this cake used both pink and blue.

The cake was made out of two 9-inch round layers. I cut out the carriage and handle from one of the layers, then cut the two small wheels out of the other. I torted each layer so that I could put a thin layer of buttercream and fresh sliced strawberries in between.

The decorating went pretty smoothly, aside from the basketweave. I was rusty since my cake classes were so long ago, and I was having issues remembering what order to do the pattern in. I'm going to be honest; I wanted to throw my decorating tools across the room a couple times! But the fact that this was a paid job kept bringing me back to get it done, and get it done right. I eventually figured it out (thank god).

I made extra batter and made a small 6" round cake for my grandma's birthday (which was today), too. I couldn't make a strawberry cake without making extra for us to try! I will post the recipe tomorrow.

Nicole, I hope you enjoyed your baby shower (and brought home lots of loot!). I hope the cake was well received. Congratulations again to you and Gabe!

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Dirt Cake

For the baby shower, in addition to the cookies I made for favors, I also made a bugs-themed cake--you know, for dessert. :)

I used my big jelly roll pan (10.5 x 15.5") and made a gigantic chocolate fudge cake. And OK, I'll admit it. I cheated. The cake was from a box. Good ol' Betty came to my aid yet again. (It was good stuff.)

Once it was done, I did cut it into two layers. The filling? Oreo buttercream. Then I frosted it with vanilla buttercream that I colored bright green. I put a couple handfuls of Oreos through the food processor to make "dirt," and then spread that around on the top of the cake in a big rectangle. Then, using one of my Wilton piping tips, I piped all of that awesome looking grass onto the top edges and the sides. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, but it was worth it in the end. I absolutely loved how this turned out.

To finish it all off, I placed several gummy worms on top, then made a little sign with a quote on it that tied the cake back into the "baby boy" shower theme. "Boys are meant for kisses and hugs, for watching rainbows, and catching bugs."

Perfect!

We didn't stop with just a "dirt and grass" decorated cake. No, sir. On Friday night, when were doing the food preparation at my mom's, Marie and I also threw together a "real" dirt cake. And we served it right out of a bucket!

It was the cutest. Vanilla pudding, cream cheese, cool whip, butter... all mixed together and then layered with... you guessed it, more "dirt." The dirt for this dessert was made up of about 1.5 packages of Oreos. It was a lot of dirt!

Topped it off with more gummi worms and stuck a small bunch of fake flowers in it. Also made another little sign with another quote on it that related to boys and dirt. "Trucks and dirt and shades of blue, little boys are angels, too." Put together, and with the rest of our decor, it was really quite adorable.

Here is what it looked like once it had been mostly devoured. It was a huge hit! (Such a hit, in fact, that Kara's 6-year-old cousin told me she wished I was her mommy! *gasp* It was really sweet, I just wish she hadn't said it right in front of her real mommy!)

I wasn't sure how many people were going to want to eat the dirt cake AND the chocolate cake, but everyone wanted both. Since the dirt cake was kind of like "cookies and cream," it went really well with the chocolate cake--it served as a good ice cream substitute. In case you're interested in trying this out, I'll share the recipe that we used.

Dirt Cake

(Source: Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup butter, softened

- 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

- 2 (3.5 oz.) packages instant vanilla pudding mix

- 3 1/2 cups milk

- 1 (12 oz.) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

- 32 oz. (2 packages) Oreo cookies

Directions:

1. Chop Oreo cookies very fine in a food processor. The white cream will disappear.

2. Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl.

3. In a large bowl, mix milk, pudding mix, and whipped topping together.

4. Combine pudding mixture and cream cheese mixture.

5. Layer in flower pot or bucket, starting with cookies, then cream mixture. Repeat layers.

6. Chill until ready to serve.

7. Add gummy worms, artificial flowers, and trowel. Enjoy!

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Are you ready for some football?!

We are in preparation mode for our Super Bowl party tomorrow.

Tonight, I made a cookie cake and decorated it for the occasion:

Once again, I used the Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and just baked it in a pizza pan instead of making the cookies. Decorated with Wilton buttercream, and there you have it. I have a serious weakness for cookie cake, so I can't wait to dig into this thing tomorrow.

My writing could still use some work, but I found that this time worked out better than last time. I have to keep practicing.

I was super paranoid about freehanding the "Steelers" part of the logo, but I did it and I was actually happy with it. Shocking.

Who are you rooting for?

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Happy New Year

We're about to take off for a party. I just wanted to wish you all a happy and safe New Year. I hope you all have fun, whether it's at home, at a party, out to dinner, etc. as we bid farewell to 2008 and say hello to 2009!

In addition to the Oreo truffles, I decided to make a cookie cake and decorate it in honor of the holiday. It didn't come out as well as I wanted (I need some serious practice on my writing), but I guess it's still cute:

I used the Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but obviously just spread the dough into a pizza pan. I sprayed the pan liberally with nonstick spray, and I only spread the dough out to about 1-2 inches from the edges to allow for spreading. I baked at 325 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes.

Hopefully my fellow party-goers will enjoy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Wilton Course II, Class 4

I finished up Wilton Course II last night. It was fun to actually bring a cake to work on. You feel so much more accomplished when you leave class with a fully decorated cake!

(I interrupt this regularly scheduled post to report that sunlight just broke through the clouds and is shining through my window. Yes, that's right. SUN! We literally have not seen the sun in over a week. It's depressing. Anyway, I'm sure it won't last long. In fact, it's already fading back behind another cloud. Boo.)

We started class by learning and practicing basketweave. We started off on the practice boards, flat on the table. Then we put the practice boards on the stand so we could try to do the basketweave on an upright surface (much more challenging). Once we had that down, we moved on to learning the rope border. Pretty easy. Not much different than a shell, it's just you have to make small "S" shapes over and over.

Then we got to move onto our cakes! Very exciting. We started off with the basketweave, which took much more time and a lot more icing than I ever anticipated. Holy cow, my finished cake is HEAVY! There is a lot of buttercream on that sucker.


Next time, I would expand the basketweave by going up one more row at the top. I didn't quite cover the entire side, even after adding the rope border, so I'm not 100% pleased with how it looks. After finishing the basketweave, I did a rope border on the top and bottom edges of the cake.


Then it was time to bust out the flowers that we spent three classes making. I had way more flowers than I actually needed for this cake, so I picked over them and chose some of the best ones for the cake. Some of them broke as I was transferring them off of the wax paper and onto the cake (I'm looking at you, daisies!) but most were pretty successful. I did my best to arrange them in a nice way, then filled in gaps and made them look more natural by piping in some buttercream leaves.


Ended it all by adding one of my colorflow birds to the side.


Tada! I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm bringing the cake into work today, and judging from their past reactions, I know I'm going to have to argue to get them to even cut into it and eat it. It's a cake, people! You're supposed to eat it!

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