Cake – Part Deux

Happy Tuesday Ya’ll! (I say “ya’ll” because I live in Texas and say it all the time anyway, and also because once you see how much butter is in the following recipe you will think I’m Paula Dean.) Well I did another cake this weekend, a baby shower cake. It wasn't for anyone I know so of course I had to do a tester cupcake to try it out (quality control, you know). I made a butter cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream. I always make a double batch of the frosting, just in case. You never know when you might need a little extra, or are tempted to eat a spoonful. Is eating a peanut butter and buttercream sandwich a bad thing? The butter cake turned out great, really moist, and the strawberry filling complimented it well. The filling technique will work great for any type of fruit filling, not just strawberry. The other half actually ate the left over strawberry filling with all the cake scraps from leveling mixed in, like cereal with a bowl and spoon. I’m assuming his muffled “mmm hmmm” is his stamp of approval. 

Summer Berry Cobbler

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. I had a great holiday weekend, but it just wasn’t the same without fireworks. Here in Texas all fireworks were banned due to the fire danger. So we had to settle for great food. Hopefully this Summer Berry Cobbler will provide fireworks…in your mouth. :) I ended up taking this beautiful cobbler full of fresh berries made with blueberry scone dough along with homemade vanilla bean ice cream, and refreshing white sangria to our gathering. This cobbler would fit in great with a summer BBQ or just a relaxing meal at home. Berries are everywhere right now, and you can find a variety at your local farmer’s market, so throw in what you like or any kind of seasonal berry and enjoy. 

Cake-a-palooza

Well I’ve been baking a lot lately alright, but I haven’t really been experimenting much (unless design counts).  The last couple of weekends I’ve been cranking out cakes, for a birthday, Father’s Day, and a baby shower.

This is the baby shower cake, the bottom tier was vanilla cake with cheesecake filling and vanilla buttercream, and the top tier was a chocolate cake (so good) with a cheesecake filling and vanilla buttercream. Both were covered with fondant and decorations and bow are fondant as well. I wanted to post the recipe for the chocolate cake for you guys because it is the best I have ever found. It is so moist and rich try it and you will love it!

I really love playing with fondant and seeing what I can do with it. I also love eating cake so this is such a perfect hobby. Lately I’ve been working on flowers, roses, carnations, calla lilies, and daisies. And apparently zebra prints too.

I found this recipe on Cake Central, a place I frequent often for inspiration for cake design. I can’t tell you enough how glad I am I found this recipe. It will be my go to chocolate cake recipe. 

Orange and Raspberry Mini Cupcakes

This recipe is inspired by an orange and raspberry cake that Giada De Laurentiis does. She uses a cake mix which would be a great shortcut if you need a quick cake, but I can’t help feel like I’m cheating. Box cake mixes have come a long way though, the complaint used to be a slight fake taste which I believe is caused by the preservatives in the mix, but now days it’s barely noticeable. But me personally, I would like to say it’s from scratch. So I used the same flavor combo, but totally changed the recipe. 

So what do you guys think, box mixes vs. from scratch?? 

These little guys pack a sharp citrus flavor which is rounded out nicely by the raspberry filling and frosting. I chose to do mini cupcakes because they are so easy to just grab and pop in your mouth, but if you need a sit down dessert feel free to make it in regular cupcake or cake form. These are light and fresh and fit in well at a summer BBQ. 

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Cheesecake with a Cashew Crust and Passion Fruit Caramel

(I have to apologize for the bad photo, I took this cheesecake

to a BBQ before taking any pictures and only had this meager

paper plate to work with, plus I only have a point and shoot camera.)

I have been craving cheesecake and I know the richness of mascarpone would definitely put it over the top.  We've all had that slice of cheesecake that is just a little too tart. In fact, for the longest time I didn't even think I liked cheesecake after getting too many just that way. If you haven’t tried mascarpone cheese yet, try it, it’s amazing. It’s the same consistency of cream cheese, but tastes like fresh cream, it’s so rich, and no tartness, so I knew I wanted to include it in my next cheesecake. To add to that, I’ve decided that my new favorite frosting is Cupcake Project’s, Vanilla Bean Buttercream, it tastes like melted vanilla ice cream, and you really could just eat it right of the spoon. So I thought I’d try a Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, hoping for the same result. In searching for a recipe I happened upon a new blog that I now frequent, Spache the Spatula, I found this delicious recipe there, which she adapted from Epicurious. If you’d like to see a better photo of this cheesecake, head over to her blog, she has beautiful photography. This recipe is a re-print from her blog.

This cheesecake is amazing.  It's so creamy and smooth, and that little spice in the crust is just perfect.  I think this would be a great base for all cheesecakes.  The passion fruit caramel took a little longer to caramelize for me, but it was so worth it.  You can taste a hint of tartness from the topical fruit.  My mom, who was over while I was baking, enjoyed liking the bowl she thought it was so good.  Happy baking guys.

Chocolate-Ricotta Tart

I’m a big fan of Giada De Laurentiis; she’s one of my favorite celebrity chefs on the Food Network. Every now and then, while trying out her recipes they might not hit the mark, but most of the time they are great, especially her sweets! When I saw this recipe I knew it would be delicious. This chocolate-ricotta tart has a creamy, smooth chocolate filling and a nutty crust, who wouldn’t love that?  Not to mention that I love tarts! I love the fluted sides, they are always so pretty, and make the dessert look fancy, even if it wasn’t really the hardest thing to make. Go ahead and make a tart and impress and your family and friends.

April Showers bring…..more baked deliciousness

The month of April was a busy one for me, but I made sure to get my fill of sugary confections. I also managed to gain back some of that lovely weight I had lost in March, go figure. Here in San Antonio we have a little festival in April we call Fiesta, which means plenty of alcohol and any kind of food on a stick you can think of. It’s a city wide party and it’s full of food, drinks, and events. 

A little history… 

Fiesta San Antonio started in 1891 as a one-parade event and has evolved today into one of this nation’s premier festivals with more than 100 events and an economic impact of almost $284 million for the city. Fiesta is “The Party with a Purpose.” Each event is produced by a nonprofit organization selected by the Fiesta® San Antonio Commission. The funds they raise provide services to San Antonio citizens throughout the year. 

If you are in the area in April and want to attend Fiesta or just want to read up on it here is the Official Fiesta Website. 

In honor of Fiesta I decided to bake something appropriate so I chose Cupcake Project’s Margarita Cupcakes. With tequila in the cake and the frosting this was a perfect fit.

While attending an event, the King Williams Fair, I managed to find the gourmet food trucks. One of the ones I have wanted to try out for a while was Saweet Cupcakes, and I’m so glad I did!  I tried the Belgian chocolate cupcake with the vanilla bean buttercream and it was amazing! Deep rich chocolate complemented by the creamy, smooth buttercream. Yum!

Before I fell off the wagon though, I did do a little healthy baking. I made whole wheat cranberry orange muffins, which I seemed to have misplaced the recipe, but will update you if I find it. The sweetness of the citrus and tartness of the cranberry compliment each other perfectly. If you are not trying to be healthy there are tons of great recipes out there for you to try. The next one I want to try is Ina Garten’s Cranberry Orange Scones.

April was great. Hope there is another sweet month ahead of me. :)