Taken by Alayna

What: Chocolate Mint Cookie

Where: The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. in the Belltown Neighborhood…Click here for directions.

I’ve always said my favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip…GREEN mint chocolate chip, that is.  There is something so beautifully childish and innocent about vivid artificial coloring. It nearly accentuates my candied mint flavor experience every time I have it, whether it’s in ice cream, or Double Stuf Cool Mint Oreos.

That’s why when I walked into The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company’s doors and saw this work of art sitting on the display stand, I knew I couldn’t possibly resist.  I mean, this cupcake looks like a pure fantasy: an overflowing chocolate cake, infused with chunks of Cool Mint Oreos, topped with a heaping scoop of what imitated mint ice cream, artfully attacked with chocolate syrup, and topped with a generous chunk of sweet crunchy cookie.

The top of the cupcake is baked to a wonderful crisp—definitely something I enjoy in a cupcake.  The slightest resistance along the cupcake’s top makes it all the more satisfying.  But instead of this crisp top being a point of satisfaction, it served as an indicator of how dry the cake was. Such a shame considering what anticipation I had for this cupcake. Practically parched, the cake was awkwardly chewy and stuck to the roof of my mouth. It tasted more of flour than it did chocolate.  When combined with a chunk of the delicious Double Stuff Oreo’s, however, the cake’s disappointing flavor and texture was no problem.

No onto the frosting—It’s green, it’s beautiful, and it looks like a precious scoop of ice cream…I nearly thought that maybe it was ice cream (and how I wish it were). That would have been a sure delight.  But with one taste it was determined that it was a buttercream frosting—but what was it supposed to taste like? Mint, as its green color indicates? Hmm…Just like the last devouring of Yellow Leaf Cupcakes, the frosting embodied a very buttery taste that completely overtook any glimpse of sweetness or minty-ness for that matter. It was a failure of a buttercream by my declared standards. I hate to say it, but it was not a frosting, so much as it was a scoop of whipped, lifeless, green grease.  Extreme disappointment cascaded over my childish glee to experience chartreuse mint and chocolate goodness in cupcake form.

Oh Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company…Why did you have to let me down like this? The concept of this cupcake is undoubtedly genius, whimsical, and exciting. Perhaps I just got a bad batch? But I’m beginning to conclude that The Yellow Leaf’s buttercream frosting recipes are something I don’t enjoy.  As I’ve said before, buttercream frostings are a unique balance of sweetness, intentional flavor, and light whipped consistency.

This cupcake deserves 2 NOMS out of 5. The only thing going for this guy was the explosion of Cool Mint Double Stuf Oreo extravaganza.

Cupcakes iseng, buat iseng2 dmakan hehe.. Flavour of the month: Vanilla Blueberry.. Vanilla cupcakes filled with blueberry jam.. Yummmyyy apalagi dmakan anget2, br keluar dr oven, pas lg hujan, dtemenin with a cup of hot tea, earl grey please

Wedding cakes have gone far past their humble white buttercream beginnings into works of art. Tradition has given way to lavish cake decorations such as fondant flowers, 24 karat gold dusting, and sugar bling along with exotic new flavors being added all of the time. However, these cakes can cost thousands of dollars! So, what’s a bride to do if she wants the same impact for less change.

Brides Magazine teamed up with five noted wedding cake designers to conceptualize five wedding cakes that pull inspiration from their pricier counterparts without breaking the bank. With a few slight changes, the savings can be quite sweet.

Click here to see the cakes.

Happy bufday MUM!

Cream cheese oreo topping

Love Oreo? Here are some ideas you could choose. All you have to do is tell us your selection of cupcakes flavours and toppings added with favorite oreos, we will do the rest. These cupcakes are especially made for our mum’s bufday few days ago! Chocolate cupcakes with Oreo cream cheese topping. For added oreo, with only 10 cents of extra charge of every cupcakes. To order please email at farynazwishes@gmail.com or call/msg at 8927505/8606509. Thank you.

Farynazwishes

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons milk

Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar slowly in parts; mixing on low. Add vanilla  and 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix on high adding another tablespoon of milk if necessary for smooth consistency.

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This is a basic butter cream that I like. It is easy to make and taste great. This recipe is also easy to flavor and colour without ruining it. It is the basis of most of the butter cream icing recipes that I have made.

Birdhouses are so cute, aren’t they? Little homes for little critters. Someone’s mamma thought so, too, so he asked me to make one in cake-complete with critter. Armed with wild ideas and a Wilton house pan, I set forth to create mamma’s passion in cake-despite the horrible heat and humidity and a great lack of central air. The last part’s gonna be important. Remember it and be kind, k?

You can find the pan here:

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3191DF-475A-BAC0-53BA3BD42B6F8C98&killnav=1

I made 4 houses and skewered them mightily to a double layered covered foam core board base. Yes, 4 houses. I wanted it to be square shaped and that takes 4 houses. Now you know why they were skewered mightily. So great did I skewer that the delivery sheet included a diagram for removal.

Everywhere there’s an arrow, there’s a skewer and they were all inserted at an angle and had to be pounded into the board below, with the exception of the one in the birdhouse door. Don’t put the birdhouse door skewer in just yet, though. We’ll do that later. Each house was torted and filled with cream cheese icing, and then the houses were glued together with more cream cheese icing. The whole shebang was then iced in cream cheese icing. Do you get the feeling cream cheese icing is important to the tale? That’s ‘cause it is.  Back to the cake:  I think that’s all you need to know before we get started on the décor. If not, holla’.

Once the cake is upright and sturdy, find a round object the size that you want the “hole” to be and press it into the cake to mark the area. Dig it out as much as needed.

From here, we start with the fondant. You will need white, teal, yellow, orange, and lilac fondant.  I made a mistake which I often make when adding gum-tex to fondant. I added it when the fondant was in the liquid stage instead of kneading it in once all the powdered sugar is added. This creates clumps. I dunno why, but is shore do. However, no problemo for this cake. It just adds to the authenticity of the wood look I’m creating. If you don’t like that look, add the gum-tex at the proper time.

Roll out the white fondant. Cut a circle the approximate size of the hole you created and stick it in there. It will get messed up, but do it anyway. I hate to muck up something alone. When that’s ready, compare your pan to the actual cake to check for size and then cut out 2 pieces of white fondant for the front and back using the pan as a guide. Mark the top and bottom edge of your pieces for even lines. Using a straight edged something that’s food safe, press board lines into the fondant. Now it’s ready to be applied to the cake. Expect the fondant to stretch. Just get it onto the cake the best you can and trim as needed. Press the fondant into the bird hole and smooth ‘til pretty.

Measure the sides of the cake from the bottom edge of the roof line down, cut 2 pieces of fondant, make the board lines again, and stick those onto the sides. Once those are on snugly, go ahead and put in the birdhouse door skewer.

I know you’re asking, “Why is the frosting so lumpy?” No air conditioning and cream cheese icing, that’s why.  Try not to obsess about it. Not a thing I can do about it but hope it doesn’t show thru the fondant so let’s move on to the fencing, huh? Cut out 4 more rectangles- each the width of the side where you will be placing the fence. The height is up to you. Cut these rectangles into boards- each the same width. Now you have sticks and they need turned into fence boards. To do this, cut the tops of each one at an angle like so:

The boards need joined, so cut rectangular strips to go across them once they are on the cake, measuring the circumference of the cake so you know how much you will need. You will need this amount twice. Apply the boards and then the joins to the cake like so:

As you can see, my fencing stops at the door. It was a height thing. Your results may vary.

Front, back, sides, fencing: it must be time for the roof. Wad up the rest of the white fondant, and seal it in a baggie to keep it fresh and soft. Roll out the teal fondant and cut circles- approximately a crap ton.

These will be applied similar to real shingles. Start at the bottom and work your way up.

Part way through, I realized it would work better if I also put shingles along the side before working upwards. This helped me plan the spacing. As you can see, you are going to work your way across the roof, placing the next row of shingles between the shingles of the previous row. Otherwise, it will look weird. Go ahead, go outside and check your own roof. The seams are staggered. They should be the same on a cake house, too.

Again, like a real roof, you have to cap it with a row of shingles:

While you have the teal out, go ahead and cut out the flower box. Roll out bits of white, yellow, and purple, and using a flower plunger cutter thingy, cut out flowers. Arrange all to your liking on the front of the house. Repeat for back, if desired.

So far, it’s been fairly simple: cut and apply, cut and apply. Now we’ll get down to the harder part: the bird. My bird is wacky, but that’s what the client asked for so that’s what he’ll get.  First the picture, then the explanation; at least as much as I remember. I used a picture to guide me and I found it on cakecentral in the galleries. Here he is in progress:

Roll one square teal oval for the body and head. Use the non-pointed end of a skewer to make his belly button.

Roll 2 white fondant balls for the eyes and cover those partially with teal for the eyelids.

For the feet, I used orange fondant and a flower cutter and removed the extra petals.

The wings were created from a rectangle. I rounded one end then used a pointed fondant tools to push in 2 areas on the other end to make it look similar to a wing.

The tuft of hair was created with a clay gun. I made a thin round strand, cut it in pieces, and then joined them together by squooshing.

The beak is 2 triangles of fondant. Before placing one triangle on top of the other, roll teeny balls for the teeth. Place the teeth on top of the bottom triangle, then place the top triangle and lightly press the whole shebang together. Press the non-pointed end of a skewer lightly into the beak to create the nostrils. After that, let it dry with 1/3 of it hanging over a low edge so it dries with a slight curve.

When all that is complete, mark the pupils with a black food marker and join all the pieces with piping gel. Keep the extra hair tufts in case of breakage. Let the food marker dry before you put it all together or you may be giving your bird the bird if it smears.

All that’s left now is put your wording on the board and place the bird. Ta-da! Not exactly a Rockin’ Robin in his ‘hood, but it’ll do.

To answer your remaining questions, the weather played a huge part in the pain-in-the-behind-ness of the creation of this cake. The frosting made everything slide. The fondant stretched out of shape and didn’t want to stay put. It was cream cheese frosting so I had to be very aware of how long it was out of the fridge, too. I kept putting the cake in the ‘fridge to harden, take it out and work on it for 5 minutes, repeat ad infinitum. It took a lot long longer than it should have, it became and stayed shiny, and I never did get it to look as professional as it should have looked. The weather is totally beyond my control. I have no idea what the weather is going to be when I agree to make a cake, so it’s a crap shoot. Nice clients understand this. Not-so-nice ones get their cakes from someone else. :) My client, and his mother, was very happy with the cake, and in the end, that’s all that counts. That doesn’t mean I won’t harp on getting central air, but it does show you that sometimes all you can do is all you can do, and no amount of complaining is going to make it perfect or make it take less time.

Happy Dry Cool Weather Caking!

Baby TV theme cupcakes.. Berhubung Divo gk pernah ntn Baby TV (dr baby,dia sukanya udah Barney, Dibo n Animal Mechanicals ), I was completely lost, apa siy karakternya baby tv ini? Thank God, mba Rindha, yg order kirim in gambar karakter2 yg di request.. Ada Pitch n Potch, Tulli, Egg Bird, Topiz n kupu2 yg jadi maskotnya Baby TV.. Isi cupcakesnya brokus coklat dgn chocochips..

A bit of incident..buat figurine fondantnya ada yg ketinggian,apalagi tanduknya si Tulli mentok ma mika bolanya,jadi mesti rada di tidur in gitu hihihi..sorry

These are my two basic frosting/icing recipes. I don’t usually measure the ingredients but here is a basic method:

 About 400g cream cheese, softened
 4 cups sifted icing sugar mixture
1 cup (about 230g) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

 Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.

 Buttercream Frosting

 250g butter, softened
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 Icing sugar mixture

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon strawberry Kool-Aid
2-3 tablespoons milk
1-2 drops red food colouring (optional)

Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar slowly in parts; mixing on low. Add vanilla, Kool-Aid powder, and 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix on high adding another tablespoon of milk if necessary for smooth consistency.

The icing will be pink; add 1-2 drops of red food colouring to get a strawberry red colour.

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I started making this for my niece who loves strawberries. You can use strawberry oil or extract, but I usually have the Kool-Aid around anyway.

I made rainbow cupcakes that I seen on Picky Palate blog.  Her cupcakes are so beautiful.  But mine didn’t look as good as the ones she made.

I made a few changes, maybe it affected the color but the taste was great and they were so moist.  I used a white cake mix instead of yellow (I don’t think it affected the color).  I thought I had a instant vanilla pudding mix in the pantry, but I was wrong.  I had : butterscotch, chocolate, pistachio.  So I took butterscotch.  Maybe it affected the color but chocolate would have been worst for the color LOL

I made only 12 cupcakes.  So they were big.  I was not so good at separating the colors.  So I did it the best I can.  I would like to present you a beautiful cupcake but I can’t for now.

Close your eyes LOL   Tadam!

I wanted to do a frosting and chose Wedding Cupcake Buttercream from RecipeGirl.  I did half the recipe.  I’m glad cause my boyfriend and my son prefer these cupcakes without frosting.  They’re so boring LOL  Anyway, I kept the frosting for my cupcakes and I’ll probably have to do more cupcakes because of the leftover frosting that is waiting in the fridge

I really love this buttercream.  It’s so yummy!

Box of cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes

Yam cupcake

Pandan cupcake

Strawberry cupcake

Recently, we received an order of 170 cupcakes for Hari Guru (Teacher’s day) celebration. Our client requested for simple cupcakes. Here we introduced our new ranges: Pandan, Yam, Strawberry and Peppermint (not in the pic) cupcakes. We received really good feedbacks on these cupcakes, so why not try them To order please email at farynazwishes@gmail.com or call/msg at 8927505/8606509. Thank you.

I was asked by a friend of a friend to make 3 baby shower cakes. I was told that the baby was a boy and to just use my imagination. They really liked the last shower cake I made and wanted something similar. I decided to do 3 different cakes that were similar but not exactly the same. Each cake was a different flavor. One cake was pumkin with cream cheese filling, one cake was triple chocolate with buttercream filling and one cake was butter cake with mixed berry filling. I was told the client was very happy with the cakes.

Last week, Toby (a friend of mine from the lodge) asked if I would be willing to donate cupcakes that she could sell to raise money for families in need that we are helping out. Of course, I said yes!! I made 2 dozen Red Velvet Cupcakes. She sold out! YAY!!

For all of our fans who are into watching grown folks fight like cousins at a family reunion, this cake is for you. With one exception, it’s easy enough to make. Yeah, it’s the exception that’s gonna kill you; but let’s cross that mat when we get to it.

Supplies are simple: square cake, frosting, fondant, chocolate and mold, black straw shaped objects, and fondant (of course).

First, the cake. Square shaped. Anything beyond that is your choice. My line between vanilla and chocolate didn’t come out centered. Note to self: bake 2 separate cakes and join them next time.

Torte, fill with gray colored buttercream, stack, settle, and board the cake.

Crumb and final coat with more gray frosting.

Easy-peasy so far, right? Don’t freak out on me yet. The next stuff is still pretty easy, too.

Using gray fondant, create a rectangle tall enough to cover the height of the cake and long enough to go around the perimeter. Make sure it’s fairly thick to prevent tearing.

Lightly grease on side of the fondant so it doesn’t stick together when you do this:

Rolling it is the easiest way I’ve found so far to move it without stretching beyond all practical use. Roll into a tube, take it to the cake, and unroll it around the cake while adhering it to the side. Once you’re all the way ‘round, trim off the excess and finish adhering it. This is now the back of the cake so plan ahead for this and start unrolling on the ugliest side so you end there, too.

Back before final adjustments:

Front:

Grumble under your breath while you fuss with the height (mandatory).

Still keeping it easy, grab a dowel rod, skewer or other implement and begin dotting the top of the cake to simulate a mat.

The deeper dot in the middle was my starting point. That’s the only thing I measured. There are so many dots on this that unless you veer way off course, it’s not noticeable. Although it looks time consuming, it only takes about 5 minutes to accomplish unless you get obsessive about it. I didn’t. The cake had to be out the door at 7 the next morning and it was already after 9 the night before. Obsessiveness is for those who have loads of time or who don’t have deadlines. In other words, not me.

Logo-ize any way you please.  Remember: you cannot sell an exact copy. Don’t call me when the feds come.

(Loosely inspired by: http://www.wwe.com/)

Let’s see: what supplies are left? Mmm, chocolate. There’s no room on this cake for writing unless you want to detract from the look, so I chose to make a chocolate plaque that can lean against the side. Don’t tell our big boy, but I used part of a mold for a baby carriage to make the plaque. Hey, it’s not my fault I couldn’t find a plain rectangle candy mold. The cake must go on and one has to use what one has, yes? Yes. So, carriage mold it is.

Melt your chocolate, pour it into a clean mold, tap the mold on the counter until the bubbles rise to the top and pop. Refrigerate mold until set, unless you have a lot of time. If you have enough time, just leave it on the counter to harden. Once it’s set, tap it out of the mold and inspect it for obvious flaws. Repeat as necessary.

My handwriting still stinks on cake, despite practice, so I cut out fondant letters. Feel free to pipe letters if you can. I can’t (not yet, but someday!) so I fondanted.

The name has been covered to protect the innocent. Or the presumed innocent. Or the minors among us. Definitely the latter. The cake was for a teen AKA a minor, so I covered it. Pervs and freaks and all that. The age didn’t fit so I left it out. Plan ahead if the age must be on it. Elsewise, you’ll end up here: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ if you try to squeeze it in. As much as I love the place, I’d rather not play a starring role, if ya know what I mean.

What’s left? Thaaat’s right. The hard part. Ugh. Do we have to? Can we just skip to the final picture? Please? Pretty please with whipped cream, cherry, and nuts on top? Dang it.

Okay, the ropes. I recommend you find black licorice strings if you frustrate easily and can get away with it. I couldn’t. A caker’s gotta do what a caker’s gotta do. My supplies included 10 black straws and a box of black coffee stirrers. Stash the coffee stirrers for another project ‘cause they won’t work here, darn the luck. I purchased the straws at the dollar store. They had plastic skeletons on them that slid off the straws and make great toys for someone else’s house. No, I don’t know if your dollar store will have them. I looked everywhere for them and probably the only reason I found these is because it was near Halloween. Best of luck to you in your hunt.

The posts are easy. Stick a straw in the corner, and cut it so it’s about yea high above the cake. Nope, I don’t have a more exact measurement. Night before, remember? Remove the straw and cut 3 more just like it. Save any small pieces. I got 2 corner posts and a scrap from one straw. Stick one straw per corner in the cake.

Think and play with straws for awhile. Wake up the snoring giant on the loveseat and beg for help. Walk away when he starts showing signs of extreme aggravation. Return just in time to help said giant join the last piece.  That’s how it works at my casa. Nearly every cake is a family adventure. Bonding time. Yeah, that’s it.

As near as I can figure, this is how he did it:

Split the uprights- the corner straws. On opposing sides, cut down the length from the top to the point you want your first set of ropes to sit.

Join four full length straws together by gently shoving one inside another. You’re going for a complete square when it’s done. Repeat with 4 more straws.

You’re going to slide your ropes into the corner posts. As each corner is placed, cut a short length of straw to hold it down. Cut the length of the short pieces so they come up to where you want the second set of ropes to start. Do the same with the next set of ropes, but higher up (obviously) and cap the whole thing with another short piece of straw.  I know- this description isn’t clear enough. Hang on; I’ll take some pics that will hopefully explain it better.

Create ropes:

Slit corner posts:

Slide the ropes into the corner posts:

Cut a short length of straw:

Cap the first set of ropes:

Repeat for the remaining 3 corners.

Start from the beginning for the second set of ropes until you finally-

Cap the second set of ropes:

Expect to growl at the last cap. It won’t be happy, but it will eventually do what you need. You may need a second set of hands, though.

I know, I know. It’s not edible and it’s on a cake and I have a “thing” about that. I considered all the options- make fondant ropes and let dry, coat spaghetti in chocolate, use pretzel rods for posts, etc… etc…etc…. Nothing would work as well as this would. I needed a certain look and I needed the cake to travel 45 minutes to delivery and then another 15 minutes to its final resting place. My fondant ropes would probably show chatter from my tool and fondant never dries completely when you really need it to. If perchance it did dry, it was sure to break in transit. I’m leery of using spaghetti in general because I’m afraid it will soften, despite many people who use it successfully. I’m just not that lucky in life.  Besides, what are the odds I can coat the spaghetti to make it that thick and that the chocolate would coat evenly? Slim to none, in my inexperience. I looked for a candy mold to use, but there were none to be found. 

All that to say: give it up.

Buy black straws.

I think it’s worth it. Judge for yourself:

50th Anniversary & 19th Birthday Cake

A combination 50th Anniversary and 19th Birthday cake.  This cake gave me fits trying to figure out how to work the two events together!  I like how it came out though!

Yes, I admit, I totally use leftover icing. All the time. I’m heading out of town tomorrow for the holiday and wanted to use some of the icing I had left in the fridge. Well, it’s not like it’s going to go bad if it’s refridgerated, icing is just powdered sugar and butter (or earth balance), so it can last in the fridge as long as butter can (which, according to Cooks Illustrated, is a month in the refrigerator and four months in the freezer*).  If this blue looks familiar, it’s the same blue from Sal and Levi’s “We Got Hitched” party. And, apparently, dubbed “Smurf Cupcakes” by my housemate Sara. These were just a quick batch of cupcakes for the house, and they won’t even last 24 hours.

So even though I’m heading off to the frozen tundra of Ohio and Ontario, I’m sure there will be plenty of baking and cooking in my near future. I know that on Wednesday I’ll be making carrot cake and pumpkin pie for my family’s Thanksgiving (yes, my sister hates pumpkin pie, so the carrot cake is for her), and I’ll be posting photos along the way. Smurfy!

*The same article says that legally, eggs can be up to 2 months old by the “sell by” date. Um. Really?

**PPS. Don’t forget – more photos on my Flickr page.

So for some reason, I have never made a perfect buttercream frosting. It agitates me – it seems like such a simple thing, but I never get the butter/milk ratio quite right. My perfectionism wants the ideal ratio!

My friend Melissa (whose amazing-looking chocolate mint cupcakes are featured above) vows that this is the premium combination, thus I am storing the information for future reference. She actually uses milk, but another friend just pointed out to me that it’s cream that makes a perfect buttercream (um, how on earth has this never occurred to me?) so I’ve modified slightly for my records.

• 1C butter, beaten (ooh, another thing I’ve never done!)
• 4C powdered sugar
• 1/4C heavy cream
• Vanilla/other extract to taste

I’ll test this out in the next round of baking that requires frosty deliciousness!

Wuahhh,buat cupcakes yg ini ada banyak cobaannya: pertama, gara2 hujan, jalanan macet, sampe rumah br jam 6 sore..trus, br sampe pintu rumah, dbilangin kalo air mati, mesin air nyala tp airnya gk keluar wuahhhh..panik, secara udah jam 6 sore, harus buat 60 cupcakes, air mati pula hhuhuhu hiks hiks gimana niy??

Sambil harap2 cemas, buat dulu deh adonan pertama cupcakes rasa vanilla chocochips.. Yipee!! Sambil nunggu cupcakes matang, air udah bisa keluar lagi wuahhaha..lega deh..sekarang bs konsentrasi buat cupcakesnya

Cupcakes ini di pesan Astri buat suaminya yg ulang tahun, bagi2 cupcakes ma temen2 kantor suaminya,wuihhh..mau juga dong dibeliin cupcakes, As hihihi.. Temanya cupcakes dgn merk laptop/komputer gitu deh.. Pake edible n buttercream yg warna warni.. Siiippp.. Selain alas nya yg warna warni,lg nyoba2 buat lollipop swirl alias swirlnya juga warna warni kyk permen lollipop

Semoga suka ya..thanks buat ordernya, As happy belated birthday, Ol..

DANGER: These cupcakes may cause good children (and adults) to turn into brats.

Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 30 Lindt Dark Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Truffle Buttercream

• 9 ounces dark milk chocolate, in pieces
• 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate, in pieces
• 3 ounce unsweetened chocolate, in pieces
• 2 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

How?:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard sized cupcake tins with paper liners.

2. Using the paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, and salt, until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

3. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. On a slow speed, add one-third of the flour, then half the milk, then another third of flour, the rest of the milk then the rest of the flour. Scrape down in between.

4. Spoon batter into paper-lined cups, only filling half-way up. Press a truffle into the center of each.

5. Bake for 14 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean. (Stick the toothpick in a little off center and don’t go all the way down to the bottom.) Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to the cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

6. For buttercream, melt the chocolate over a double boiler of hot water, but not simmering. You can remove it from the heat when it’s still lumpy and stir until smooth. Let it cool until no longer warm to the touch.

7. Whisk the chocolate into the butter, until uniform in color. Frost cupcakes with it and keep in room temperature. Eat within 24 hours.

Today’s quilt and cake are related.  This sweet quilt is the “nest” pattern made from 30’s fabric by Judy.  I used the pantograph “Flight of Fancy” on it.  The cake was for a bridal shower.  Seems to me that marriage is the building of a nest to have a family and nuture a relationship.  So that’s my two nests today!

Thanks for stopping by

Linda

Well, seeing as I’ve started this blog, I ought to keep talking to you (assuming there is someone out there that’s actually reading this!!) Having thrown myself out into the world yesterday with my crazy idea of becoming the “Cupcake Queen of the South” and having left the house at 6:45am this morning, I find myself sitting on a packed train out of London and it will be another 45 mins before I’m home – by which time, my husband will have eaten (he gets grumpy if there’s too long between mealtimes!) and my daughter will be tucked up in bed looking the picture of innocence as she snores with a ferocity that may well get us an asbo for noise pollution! Why do I do it? I have asked myself this very question and the answer is quite simple – it’s what I was conditioned to do. You get yourself an education, you then find a career and then life somehow gets in the way – you then find yourself 10 years or so down the line with a family, mortgage and lots of other responsibilities. Not that I mind the family or the mortgage, but I feel hemmed in by the amount of time I spend working to be able to afford either, not to mention the guilt of my daughter being in nursery 5 times a week and spending more time with her key worker than she does with us! So where was I, oh yes…..sitting on this packed train wondering how much longer I can take the serial monotony of office life. Now don’t get me wrong – I happen to have a good job, the company I work for is pretty good, and I like the people I work with, so this is not one of those self-pitying “woe is me, my life sucks and I can’t do it any more” bits of bilge. This is something I’ve dreamed of doing for a long time but just never had the guts to give the dream a shot. Perhaps part of the motivation is indeed my little girl and the fact I want to spend more time with her, but it’s so much more than that – I love baking, I love the evocative smells that emanate from the oven, and the reaction from people when they taste something I’ve made for them…..and if you can smother it in buttercream then all the better! 

The bit above was written earlier tonight and I’ve only just remembered that it needed posting (now there’s a great start to my blogging escapades – lesson number 1 – always remember to post what you’ve written! tut, tut!

So perhaps the next step ought to be to tell you how my love affair with baking started……but I think I’ll save that for another day when I’m a little less knackered from my intrepid travels to deepest darkest Londinium!!  Night peeps!

I’m a big Harry Potter Fan.  I didn’t start reading these books until recently.  I figured by the time the fifth movie came out that it was time to join the rest of the population. Little did I know what a guilty pleasure these books are.  The further I get in this series the more I’m aghast at just how huge J.K. Rowling’s imagination is.  

My favorite Character (I’m reading The Half Blood Prince currently) is Sirius Black.  I didn’t think it was possible to have a crush on a fictional story book character…it is.  (If you haven’t read the Potter books, stop reading this blog and go to the Library.  –Spoiler Alert) Sirius is a wrongly accused felon, escaped convict, member of the rebel organization Order of the Phoenix, general outlaw, and Harry’s Godfather.  Sirius is misunderstood, bruding, and the way Gary Oldman portrays him in the movies is just wonderful.

So here is a spin on a recipe straightout of my grandmother’s kitchen.  Black Out Cake was big in the 1950’s.  Traditionally this is a multi layered chocolate cake, covered in chocolate frosting with layers of chocolate pudding in between.  The signature mark of a Black Out Cake is the chocolate cake crumbs crushed against the sides of the cake.  I looked around, improvised and decided to just take license with the amount of chocolate in this recipe as I wanted this not to be just a Black out Cake, but a Sirius (seriously) blackout Cake.

Sirius Black (Out) Cake:

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of milk

2 1/4 flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 unsalted butter

1/4 shortening

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 bar bittersweet chocolate (ghiradelli is what I used.)

The bittersweet chocolate was not originally in this recipe.  Melt in a double boiler or like I did, place it in a oven safe bowl and pop it into your preheating oven (350 degrees).  It only takes a few minutes to start melting.  Take it out and stir and you’ll find you don’t have to have it completely melted in the oven, stirring it will finish the melting process. Remember its very easy to burn chocolate!!  Let the bitter sweet chocolate cool, but not harden.

Sift your dry ingredients: flour, soda, powder, salt.  Set aside.

Whisk together milk and cocoa.  The mixture will become a thick mousse like consistency.  Set aside.

Cocoa and Milk

Combine butter and sugar until FLUFFY.  Trust me you’ll want to stop beating this at the crumbly stage, but mix until its legitamately FLUFFY.  Add one egg at a time, beating well after each egg.  Now add dry ingredients and milk ingredients alternating.  

By the way this is the classic process in making homemade spongey cake:  

1. Beat butter and sugar till fluffy.

2. Add one egg at a time

3. Alternate flour mix and milk, starting and ending with flour.  

Alright we are almost done.  Fold in the bittersweet chocolate, remember it shouldn’t be hot and it should still be a liquid consistency. 

Grease with butter or shortening then dust with thin layer of flour

Pour batter into two 8″ or 9″ round pans.  (butter and flour the pans) And cook for apprx 30 minutes.  The addition of the bittersweet chocolate makes this cake more like a brownie and more likely to dry out so make sure not to overcook.

Filling:

2/3 c white sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 c milk (2%)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate OR 3 oz 100% cocoa ghiradelli chocolate. (Siriusly take license with the chocolate!)

Combine everything over low heat.  Increase heat  to medium, whisking constantly until pudding is boiling.  Remove from heat.  Place in a bowl with plastic wrap against surface of pudding so it doesn’t form a skin (eww pudding skin!).  Refridgerate until cool.

Make chocolate butter cream icing. (Ingredients: butter and /or shortening, vanilla extract, water, Unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar.)There is a video with it if you forget how. Click Butter Cream on the side bar.

You’ll also want to make Ganache.  Ganache is semisweet chocolate and heavy cream.  I used 16oz. chocolate and 8oz. of cream, melted and whisked over low heat.  You can do a 1:1 ratio.  Ganache can be heated and used as a syrup, cooled slightly and piped, or spread like a frosting.  Its pretty awesome in terms of versatility.

OKAY.  So when your cake is cool slice each layer in half (horizontally).  Now you will have a 4 layer cake.  You could go as far as 3 times if your cake is thick enough. Pipe a ring of frosting around the bottom layer and fill in with pudding.  Stack the next layer and repeat.  Now frost the cake with butter cream and refrigerate.  Once the cake has “crusted” meaning you can touch the icing with your hand and it doesn’t stick, instead it is smooth and hard–has a layer of crust– you are ready to cover with ganache.

Its best to assemble this cake on a cardboard cake circle that is the exact same size– so an 8″ circle for an 8″ cake.  This will allow you to move the cake around, pour Ganache over it without messing up the board or plate you will ultimately display the cake on.  If by this point your ganache has hardened, reheat in the microwave, or over low heat or by placing in a bath of warm water.  Mix to assure that all the ganache is melted and smooth.

Place a tall sturdy cup on a large cookie sheet.  Place cake on top of cup.   You can now pour the ganache over the cake– be generous and just DUMP it!  push ganache toward the side with a long metal spatula.  Excess will drip onto cookie sheet, and you can reuse this extra on other cakes later.  Once cake is covered make one smooth pulling motion across the top of the cake to assure that the layer of ganache is even– this will also give you a smooth top.

Like I said Ganache can also be piped.  I added some black food coloring to my leftover ganache and placed in a piping bag and just swirled it all over the cake.  I was trying to imitate all the cool prison tattoos Sirius has.  I thought this was a bit cooler than crumbing the side.