Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Iron Cupcake: July 2009, Entry 2

Second entry for Iron Cupcake July is.....drum roll.....a Sage-Poached Pear filled Pumpkin Cupcake with Sage Whipped Cream frosting. If there was a section in Iron Cupcake for "longest names" I think I'd win.

But, I'm telling you - if you like all things fall, like me, you will LOVE this cupcake. It's going to be a must-have (just like shoulder pads and neon pink - they're back baby!), at least in my household.

I wanted to do something with sage and pear because its a unique combo. I swear I read about this somewhere and of course now I can't find the article, otherwise I would have linked to it. Pumpkin and sage are often paired together, so I thought the spicy and moist cupcake base would be great with the herb-poached pears. With all the flavors, spices and herbs going on I just did a light and sweet "real" whipped cream frosting.

Even though it might sound like there's a lot of sage going on (I mean, the challenge ingredient is herbs) - it's not overpowering and the whole cupcake, filling and frosting combo is delish.

If you are a nerd like me and are interested in food and flavor trends, check out the following links. The food pubs and trades always send out trend info right before and right after the new year.

Flavor pairings

Food and ingredient trends


Iron Cupcake info:

I'm competing to win the following prizes. July ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

•A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
•A delicious treat from CIRCLEMONKEY http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5335273
•Asweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
•PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382

Corporate prize providers:

•HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com/
•HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/
•JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com/
•TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com/
•A t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/
•Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com/
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Iron Cupcake: July 2009, Entry 1

I'm not, nor have I ever been pregnant (not that there's anything wrong with that) - but I happen to like peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. I haven't had one in a long time - probably not since I ate real peanut butter, not Better 'n Peanut Butter (it's really good tho, I promise!).

Well, I found myself with a lot of leftover peanut butter frosting from the birthday cake craziness and the next baking project I had coming up was the July Iron Cupcake challenge. HERBS.



Hmm...you can probably see where I'm going with this. It might seem out there, but I wanted to do a take on the old peanut butter and DILL pickle sandwich. Hence, the Sweet Buttermilk-Dill Cupcake with Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting was born.


The buttermilk and dill aren't overpowering, so the cupcake is still sweet - and the frosting is just damn good (add cinnamon if you're feeling a little crazy!). I even made it with reduced fat pb, but I'm sure the heavy cream made up for it.

I'm going to work on another entry, maybe something with sage...

In the meantime, here are a few tips, since I love tips. I'll post this recipe separately.
  • When working with herbs, start with a little bit and slowly increase to taste - you can always add, but it's hard to pick little bits out of a batter or frosting
  • When working with brown frosting, do not use a large round open decorating tip - unless you want your cupcake to look like you know what! (or, do you think mine still looks like you know what?)

Iron Cupcake info:

I'm competing to win the following prizes. July ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

Corporate prize providers:

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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Finished Birthday Cakes

I apologize for my lack of photography skills in these pics. But, I was extremely busy with my deadline (OK, so it was self-inflicted, but whatever!) of multiple cakes due on the same day for the big 30th B-day Bash. Check 'em out below!
Giant Corn Dog Cake!
Chocolate butter cake with homemade raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting


Christian Louboutin High Heel Shoe Cake
Golden luxury butter cake with whipped chocolate ganache frosting;


Classic Layered Birthday Cake
Banana cake with cinnamon peanut butter fudge filling and
white chocolate cream cheese frosting
Bachelorette Cake
Vanilla-apricot pound cake with apricot syrup and vanilla buttercream frosting
(oh, and a special twinkie surprise underneath the purple thong)


I'm not going to go into detail on every cake - that would take too long and you would get bored. So, I'll just try to touch on some highlights and give some tips if you are ever planning on making multiple cakes.


First off, I have to give props to my guest star "creative director" - my awesome sister - on the bachelorette cake. (she's the one who just got her MFA in costume design from UCLA) While we were sitting in traffic I had her draw up some designs and then she ended up decorating the cake, since I kinda had a few other things going on. Anyway, this cake is hilarious and AMAZING! I mean, look at the attention to detail! So...I guess I can add "exotic" cakes to my repertoire?

Feedback on the other cakes is as follows...
  • Banana cake = best tasting. Everyone raved about this cake flavor combo.
  • Shoe cake = prettiest. If you don't think this is pretty, there's something wrong with you!
  • Corn dog cake = most impressive. Not too shabby for my first carved cake.

Cake tips:

Plan ahead - obvi. Everything had to be done on Saturday, July 4. I started baking/prepping on Sunday, June 28. However, I started on the gum paste shoe about a week before that - it takes a few days to dry and I had never done a shoe before so wanted plenty of time.

  • Back out from your due date and plan to bake/make something every day - so you don't drive yourself crazy (well, it could still happen...).

Don't be afraid to freeze. Cake is usually best the day its baked. But, there's no way to make and decorate four cakes in one day. Well, unless you have a large staff and a commercial kitchen. I don't. So, bake the cakes ahead of time; when completely cool cover in plastic wrap and foil; put in freezer.

  • Let cakes thaw in their wrappings in the fridge.
  • Don't thaw on counter because the condensation with make your cake soggy.

Be prepared for mistakes - if its your first time trying something. I'm somewhat of a crazy perfectionist (when it comes to certain things) so its hard for me when a frosting doesn't turn out, or a cake falls (both of these happened to me last week).

  • Mistakes will happen - even to the best bakers. So, take a breath and take a step back. You can usually find a way to fix most problems.
  • Brad had to remind me of this a few times...
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Birthday Cake Bonanza!

So, I turned 30 on Monday. That's me below at my FIRST birthday. I can't believe I'm really this old, probably because I have the mindset of a 15-year-old (which reminds me, I have to watch my DVR'd episode of last night's "NYC Prep"). But this isn't going to be a whiny post all about getting older, getting bags under my eyes and blah, blah, blah. This is going to be about one of my favorite things...CAKE!



Birthday cake to be more specific. I'm attempting to do something I've never done before. I'm baking and decorating three birthday cakes for my upcoming birthday party on July 4th. (It's actually a joint party with Brad and two of our other married friends who have summer birthdays). My girlfriend actually has the same birthday as me, can you believe? I had never met anyone with the same birthday as me...until I met her. Crazy, I know. :) Good thing I like her...I didn't at first, but that's a different story.

OK, back to cake. Oh, I almost forgot - I'm actually making four cakes this week. I'm helping my S-I-L with a cake that she needs to take to a bachelorette party - so it will have some kind of fun "man" decoration. I haven't fully figured that out yet...

Anyway, here is the cake line up:

  • Four layer, 9-inch round banana cake with peanut butter/cinnamon fudge filling and white chocolate cream cheese frosting (pour moi - I had banana cake on my first b-day, in that pic above - so I thought it would be fun to recreate 30 years later)

  • Four layer, 8-inch square golden butter cake with light whipped chocolate ganache frosting (for my girlfriend - there will also be some surprise decorations - but she reads this blog so I'm not telling...)

  • Four layer, 9x13 corn dog-shaped cake made with chocolate cake, raspberry filling and mousseline buttercream (for Brad - this will be my first-ever "carved" cake - so wish me luck! yes, it's going to look like a giant corn dog...or at least I hope it ends up looking that way!)

  • Four layer, 8-inch square vanilla-apricot cake with apricot syrup and probably the mousseline BC too (this will be for the bach party)

I've made three of the cakes. They are all wrapped with plastic/foil and are sitting in the freezer. (by doing so I've realized that I hate plastic wrap and probably need a lesson in "wrapping.")

I've even made some headway with the frostings/fillings. I want everything to be done on Friday, so I scheduled out to bake/make something every day this week.

So far, I've realized that two cake pans are definitely better than one - if you are making layer cakes. Its really annoying to make a recipe, bake the cake and then repeat immediately when the pan is cool enough.

If you are interested in a few good pointers for cake baking, see below.

  • Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature (butter, eggs, milk) before mixing
  • Use cake flour, instead of all-purpose, and be sure to sift it
  • Prepare your pans well by greasing all sides and bottom, lining the bottom with parchment paper, greasing the paper, and flouring the pan (you can use cocoa powder when making chocolate cake)
  • Use Magi Cake strips or Bake Even strips to ensure an even flat cake

Stay tuned for more updates on this cake adventure and pics!

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

RECIPE: Vanilla Cupcakes with Straspberry Filling and Basil-Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

CUPCAKES

(from All Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cake Cupcakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum)





Yields 9 large cupcakes



Ingredients:

· 3 large egg yolks (room temp)

· ½ cup milk (room temp)

· 1 ½ tsp vanilla

· 1 ½ cups sifted cake flour

· ¾ cup sugar

· 2 1/4 tsp baking powder

· ½ tsp salt

· 6 tbsp unsalted butter (room temperature/softened)





Directions:

· Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line cupcake tin

· In a medium bowl, lightly combine the yolks and ¼ of the milk and vanilla

· In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend

· Add the butter and remaining milk and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened

· Increase to medium speed and beat for 1 ½ minutes

· Scrape down the sides

· Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition

· Scrape down the sides

· Fill paper-lined cupcake tins two-thirds full and bake 20-25 minutes or until cupcakes test done

· Let cupcakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then remove and let cool completely on a rack before filling and frosting



*Note, this recipe made nine very large, somewhat overflowing cupcakes with big tops. If you would like to make smaller cupcakes, just make more with the same amount of batter.



STRASPBERRY FILLING



Ingredients:

· 1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned and chopped

· 1 cup fresh raspberries, cleaned and chopped

· 3/4 cup water

· Slightly less than 1/2 cup sugar (you may need to add more if the mixture is not thickening up)

· Dash of black pepper, to taste

· Dash of salt, to taste

· Fresh lime juice from 1 lime



Directions:

· Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan

· Place on high heat and bring to a boil

· Once mixture is boiling, lower heat to medium and cook mixture, stirring until it has reduced to a thick filling

· Once mixture has reached desired thickness, remove pan from heat and transfer filling to a bowl to cool

· Let cool completely before filling cupcakes



BASIL-LIME CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

(adapted from Wilton)





Ingredients:

· 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

· 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

· 2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice, to taste

· 1-2 tbsp minced fresh basil, to taste

· 4 to 5 cups confectioners' sugar (or more or less depending on desired consistency)



Directions:

· Combine softened cream cheese, softened butter, lime juice, and basil in large bowl or bowl of mixer

· Beat mixture until light and fluffy

· Add sugar, one cup at a time, mixing in between

· May use between four to five cups of sugar for this recipe, depending on the consistency you want

· If it is too thin, add more sugar slowly to the mixture

· Chill frosting before piping on cupcakes



TO ASSEMBLE CUPCAKES

· Use a small round cookie/biscuit cutter (or just use a spoon) to cut out the center of the cooled cupcakes

· Fill cupcakes with about 1 tbsp filling, or enough to fill the hole you created

· Pipe swirls of frosting over the filled hole and over the entire cupcake

· Garnish with fresh strawberries and raspberries if desired

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Monday, June 22, 2009

Iron Cupcake: June 09 Summer Berries, Entry 2

My second entry for Iron Cupcake summer berries is a Vanilla Cupcake with Blackberry Filling and Sweet Corn Buttercream Frosting. This entry was supposed to be the more "out there" one with the whole adding of corn to the frosting. Brad actually liked this one better than the straspberry. I was surprised - but, I had previously made him sweet corn ice cream with blackberry sauce (he loved), which is where the inspiration for this cupcake came from.



I swear that I had tasted something like a sweet corn ice cream at Jeni's in Columbus, Ohio (awesome and unique ice cream!) and sampled it with a blueberry or blackberry ice cream. But now I think that I might have made it up? At any rate, I felt the need to try this combo of sweet corn and blackberry. In my head it sounded good and I guess I was right, because the cupcakes were pretty darn good.

You might think a sweet corn frosting sounds gross, but since its sweet it just adds to the flavor of the frosting. It's not an over-powering strong corn taste. You do get lil bits of corn kernel is some bites, but it gives the frosting a nice texture.

The huge, fresh blackberries I got at Stanley's for an insanely low price made the filling SO GOOD! I again added black pepper and some lime juice to contrast with the sweet berries. Yum.

I used the same vanilla cupcakes as the previous post.

OK, so hope you like these pictures and descriptions - now vote for me starting June 28 at 8 p.m. :).

I think this is hard because you can't TASTE the cupcakes - so how do you decide who to vote for? Best pic? Best descrip? (Btw just saw "Spring Breakdown" a direct-to-DVD movie with Parker Posey, Rachel Dratch and Amy Poehler - if you've seen, you'll get the aforementioned reference.)

Happy Cupcake!


Voting details:

Required Iron Cupcake info:
I'm competing to win the following prizes from the following prize providers and sponsors.


Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

Corporate prize providers:

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Iron Cupcake: June 09 Summer Berries, Entry 1

My first entry ever for Iron Cupcake is a Vanilla Cupcake with Straspberry Filling and Basil-Lime Cream Cheese Frosting. The ingredient theme for June was summer berries, so I combined sweet strawberries and raspberries (i.e., "straspberry") with a light and buttery vanilla cupcake.



I wanted to do something "different" but also something not so "out there" - so the end cupcake would still be appetizing. I tried a few recipes, some including berries in the actual batter, but found that adding the fruit in that way really changed the texture of the cupcake. Those actually ended up tasting more like muffins than cupcakes.


Strawberry and basil is a fairly common pairing, so I figured that would be a natural selection for a lot of people. But, I still wanted to try this route - again, the not so out there route. So, I tried to change things up a little bit by using the basil in the frosting with the lime juice and cream cheese. Also, the filling has a little black pepper and lime juice for a spicy/tangy kick. The vanilla cupcake was the perfect complement to hold up against the flavors of the straspberry filling and fresh, tangy frosting. If you want my recipes, please ask and I'll email them.


I've checked out some of the other entries though and I think I'm up against some tough competition. Stuff like Sichuan Blueberry Pancake Cupcakes and Blackberry Lemon Polenta Cupcakes.

Jeesh...I might have to up my ante next month. Read the next post for my second cupcake entry! And, I'd love to get your votes, of course. :)



Voting details:
Required Iron Cupcake info:

I'm competing to win the following prizes from the following prize providers and sponsors.

Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:


Corporate prize providers:
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