Brainy Buns

Strawberry Roll Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 01:07:00 +0000

The Art.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I know I've been gone awhile, but I had to come out of my baking hiatus to bring you a Valentine's Day treat because I think we all could use a little extra love right now. Inspired by the Japanese roll cakes all over the internet with cute designs baked into the sponge, I wanted to make a beautiful Valentine-themed roll cake with hearts on the outside. Not only did I want the outside of the cake to be pretty, but I wanted to create a cake where there was a perfect spiral of beautiful strawberries in every slice. This is where the internet failed me-- most of the roll cakes with strawberries in the center were either whole berries that didn't allow the cake to have a tight, pretty roll, or randomly sliced fragments. My engineer husband and I put our heads together and created the foolproof way to make a show-stopping cake with a perfect strawberry pattern running all the way through! What could be a more romantic way to celebrate Valentine's Day than solving a dessert engineering puzzle?

The Science.

So, how did we engineer these perfect strawberry spirals, you ask? It begins with understanding that each slice of the roll cake is a cross-section of the strawberries inside. The problem is, strawberries are not the same diameter from top to bottom. They have a lovely heart shape that we all enjoy, but for our roll cake that is a problem. This is why I cut off the bottom point of all the strawberries and stacked them all end-to-end across the cake for long, even rows strawberries throughout. I also decided that we needed to half the strawberries so that when we rolled the cake they would follow the contours of the roll and generate a lovely spiral.

The cake itself is a beautiful sponge that is full of whipped eggs to make it light and airy, but also gives the cake enough strength to roll without falling apart. There are three baking tools that I use here that I think are absolutely necessary for success: a proper jelly roll-sized pan, a silicone baking mat, and a heart-shaped cookie cutter.

The Recipe:

Cake:

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

powdered sugar

Filling:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 teaspoon gelatin

1 lb fresh strawberries

Preheat your oven to 350°F and place rack in the middle position. In a large bowl, beat together the egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until pale yellow and fluffy. Set aside. In another clean bowl with clean beaters, whip up the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar to the egg whites and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Sift the flour and cornstarch into the egg yolk mixture and gently fold in with a spatula.

If you are making heart designs on the outside of your cake, this is where you will want to remove a few tablespoons of the batter and dye it. I used Wilton's Gel Icing Colors in No-Taste Red because it gives a lovely strawberry-red color and it doesn't impart a bitter flavor like other dyes. Line your jelly roll pan with the silicon mat. To make a perfect grid of hearts, I dipped my heart cookie cutter in the red batter and used it as a stencil to make hearts on my silicone mat. I also used a ruler to get perfect spacing, then I used a spoon to fill the hearts in with the batter.

My cookie cutter is 1.5 inches wide and I spaced my hearts 2 inches apart, but you can do any pattern you wish! Just remember that you will be trimming off 1/2 inch on the ends once the cake is rolled. Place your designs in the freezer for 20 minutes.

While freezing your designs, complete the sponge batter by folding in the egg whites--first stirring in 1/3 of the egg whites to lighten, then gently folding in all the egg whites with a spatula until just combined. If you fold the egg whites in before you complete your heart designs, then the batter will deflate by the time you want to spread it into your jelly roll pan. Take your pan out of the freezer and gently plop dollops of your batter all over. This will minimize the amount of spreading you have to do and prevent messing up your heart pattern. Even out the top of the cake with a spatula ever-so-gently, going all the way to the corners and the edges. Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes, or until the cake is very light golden and springs back when you touch it lightly.

Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, until slightly warm. Run a sharp knife along all the edges and sift a layer of powdered sugar on top, then cover with a piece of parchment paper. Begin rolling up the warm cake from the short side, rolling up the parchment paper and the silicone mat right along with the cake. Once the cake is rolled, place it on the countertop with the seam edge on the bottom. Support the long sides of the cake with a rolling pin, baking pan, storage jar, or any other long object you have in your kitchen, in order to prevent the roll from sagging while it cools. Meanwhile, make the stabilized whipped cream following the recipe from my Chocolate Roll Cake and slice up your strawberries as in the photos.

Assembly:

Gently unroll the cake and remove the parchment paper from the top, leaving the cake on the silicone mat. Spread the whipped cream evenly over the top of the cake, leaving one inch bare on all the edges. Next, make 4 rows of strawberries spanning the short length of the cake, cut side up as shown.

(I may or may not have rolled it up with the strawberries the wrong way and had to unroll it and try again, which explains why the photo is so messy. This is the kind of R&D that I do for all of you so you can get it on the first try.)

Begin rolling up the cake from the short end, the same direction you rolled it before. As you start rolling, gently pull the silicone mat up and away from the cake with one hand as you form a tight cake roll with the other. Using the mat in this way supports the cake and helps you roll it more tightly. You want to roll the cake so that the center has a nice swirl, but not so tight that you squeeze your strawberries out. Going slowly and keeping the mat taught will make this easier.

Once the cake is rolled, place it with the seam edge down on a cake board or serving dish. Cover
with parchment paper and support the long sides once again to keep a round shape. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Before serving, remove the parchment paper and trim off the short ends of the cake (approximately 1/2 inch) with a sharp serrated knife to reveal a beautiful swirl of strawberries.

I have to say I was so pleased with how the strawberries looked inside the cake. We had family over and every single slice I cut had four perfect strawberry slices in it, all the way to the end. If you have any left, you can store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days.

Christmas Gingerbread House

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 02:12:00 +0000

The Art.

Merry Christmas, everybody! One of my favorite ways to celebrate the season is to make beautiful gingerbread houses with my family. It's a great opportunity to do something creative to decorate your home...and then eat it. It's also an activity that everyone can enjoy. My husband even joined in this year and make a garage full of cookie sports cars. As you can see, my house is more traditional and uses primarily piped icing technique instead of candy decorations. But, if peppermints and jelly beans are your thing, go ahead and eat your heart out. Two elements that I incorporated this year to take my gingerbread house to the next level were windows made of gelatin sheets, and lighting up the interior with a battery-operated LED light for a warm glow. Putting Christmas trees inside the house also gave the interior a nice three-dimensional effect. There are many directions you can take when decorating your gingerbread house, so I encourage everyone to get creative and have fun!

The Science.

The best way to ensure you have a beautiful gingerbread house is to break out a skill I haven't used since high school: geometry. I know, try not to panic. As long as you have a pad of graph paper and follow these basic rules, you will be fine. You will use the graph paper to cut out stencils to trace your gingerbread pieces. First, make sure the vertical walls of your house are all the same height. You can use the same stencil for the front and back, and then another for both sides of your house. If you're making a traditional four-sided house with a gabled roof, then you need to make sure your rectangular roof pieces are at least 1/2 inch longer on each side than you think they should be. This is because the seams between the supporting walls will take up about 1/4 inch, and the same goes for the seam at the top of the roof. If you are planning on filling your house with elements (like my LED light and trees), it helps to make a large hole on the back that you can fit your hand inside.

I also have another tip for keeping your windows square. When you cut the windows into the dough, don't remove the pieces, but rather leave them in while baking. Then, right after you take the cookies out of the oven, use a sharp knife to gently pop the windows out. This prevents the dough from puffing up and spreading into the negative space of the windows. If you follow these suggestions, you will end up with a symmetrical, clean-cut base for all your whimsical decorating!

The Recipe.

For this gingerbread house, I used my Gingerbread Cookie recipe found here. One batch of dough is enough for two houses approximately 8 inches high. You will also need a batch of royal icing, recipe found here. The icing you use to glue your house together should be about the consistency of toothpaste, so keep adding powdered sugar until it's the correct consistency.

If you are using gelatin sheets for windows, be sure to glue them on before you assemble the walls. I find the best way to assemble the house is to fill a piping bag with the icing and pipe it onto the gingerbread with a wide round tip, then hold the pieces together for about 1 minute until they are set. Now that the house is constructed, you're ready for the fun part!

This house has many little details that add dimension. I made evergreen ivy trailing up the walls with royal icing that I dyed green and piped with a small leaf tip. I added icicles along the gables using a small round tip, and made the windows look frosty by filling the windowsills with white icing and adding sparkle sugar.

The Christmas trees were made by covering sugar cones with green icing using a star tip and finishing with Wilton Rainbow Star Medley sprinkles. Finally, a bright red door with a crumbled Oreo path completed the house.

We had a lot of fun making our houses, and I hope you will, too! They look great displayed on the table under a glass cake dome, but they also taste great if you decide to gobble them up. Either way, have a happy holiday!

Banana Split Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 02:11:00 +0000

The Art.

One of the best things about summer vacation is enjoying a huge banana split in the sunshine. In the name of summertime, I wanted to capture the essence of the banana split in a cake. So, I created this pretty treat! It has everything: three layers of cake representing the vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate scoops of ice cream, caramelized bananas, chocolate ganache, even cherries and rainbow sprinkles. The great thing about this recipe is it makes cupcakes as well, so you can feed quite a crowd from just one banana split.

The Science.

The tricky part for this cake was to incorporate the strawberry and banana flavors without compromising the texture of the cake itself. I spent a lot of time a few years back developing the perfect white cake recipe, and I knew that if I added fruit to it I would have to go through all kinds of testing again to compensate for the added moisture. I avoided this problem by instead putting the strawberry flavor in the icing and only dying one of the cake layers pink. Then, I caramelized the bananas to prevent them from becoming a gross, brown mess (as sliced bananas are wont to do) and used them as the filling between the cake layers. This way, I still had all the required flavors in the cake, without investing too much in the old R&D. One suggestion I do have is dividing your baking up over a couple days. I made the chocolate cake and cupcakes the first day, then finished everything else on the second day. Another good idea is to ensure the maraschino cherries are thoroughly rinsed and drained on paper towels so they don't drip pink goo all over your icing.

The Recipe.

Chocolate cake:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
1 cup dutch cocoa
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 6x3-inch round baking pan with baking spray, and line with parchment paper. Also prepare a standard cupcake tin with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, dissolve cocoa in boiling water to allow it to "bloom." In a large bowl, beat together egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in bloomed cocoa. Fill cake pan and cupcake tin 2/3 of the way, and bake on center rack for 20 minutes. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, peel off the parchment paper.

White cake:
6 egg whites, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup salted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 6x3-inch round pans with baking spray and line with parchment paper. Prepare a standard cupcake tin with liners. In a medium bowl, beat three egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Set aside. Sift together flour and baking powder in another bowl. In a large bowl, beat together remaining cup sugar, butter, remaining egg whites, and vanilla. Alternately add one third of the flour mixture and buttermilk, beating between each addition just until combined. Fold in beaten egg whites with a spatula. Divide batter in half, and tint one batch pink (I used Wilton Icing Colors Pink). Pour each batter into a pan until 2/3 full and smooth the tops with a spatula. Fill the cupcake tins until 2/3 full as well. Bake on center rack for 20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto wire racks to cool completely and remove parchment paper.

Strawberry buttercream:
2 cups (1lb) salted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup seedless strawberry jam (e.g. Hero Strawberry Fruit spread)
5-7 cups powdered sugar

In large bowl, beat together butter and jam on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add sugar until icing makes stiff, jagged peaks. If icing tastes too sugary or grainy, add a couple tablespoons of milk.

Caramelized Bananas:
2 ripe bananas, diced
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Melt butter in a frying pan on medium heat. Add bananas and cook until light brown on both sides. Add brown sugar and stir bananas to coat, continuing to cook until caramelized, about 3 minutes.

Dark chocolate ganache:
4oz 60% cacao bar chocolate (e.g. Ghiradelli baking bar)
1/4 cup 40% heavy whipping cream

Break up chocolate into bits and place in a small microwave safe bowl. Add cream and microwave in two 30-second intervals, stirring between. Be careful not to overheat, or the chocolate will seize up and become hardened. Continue to stir until the chocolate completely melts and becomes glossy. Cool slightly before dripping onto the cake.

Assembly:

Gather these additional supplies:
2 jars maraschino cherries with stems, rinsed and drained on paper towels
rainbow sprinkles
1M piping tip and piping bag

Place the chocolate cake layer on a cardboard cake circle or rotating cake stand and cover with a thin layer of icing and half of the bananas. Place the pink cake on top, covering with icing and the remaining bananas, then top it off with the white cake layer. Spread a thin coat of "dirty" icing all over the cake before placing it in the freezer to cool (we'll make it look pretty later). Meanwhile, pipe icing on the cupcakes with a 1M star tip (technique here). Top with cherries and sprinkles.

Pull the cake out of the freezer and cover with icing using an offset spatula. For a very smooth finish, use an icing smoother and rotating cake stand. Be sure to get the top of the cake very level. Spoon the slightly warm ganache on top, using the technique described in my Candyland Drip Cake recipe. For the finishing touches, pipe 6 small 1M swirls on top of the cake, top with cherries, and (judiciously) add some rainbow sprinkles.

Display this show-stopping cake and cupcakes as your centerpiece at your party or barbeque, with a sliver cut out so everyone can appreciate the layers. Adding some confetti to the table also adds some festivity and ties in the rainbow sprinkle theme. Leftover cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Donkey Piñata Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Mon, 06 May 2019 01:47:00 +0000

The Art.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope you all had plenty of tacos and tequila. To celebrate here on Brainy Buns, this is the most piñata-y cake I could make. Not only does my creation look like an adorable donkey piñata on the outside, but it is also filled with delicious candy that spills out when the cake is cut. But it doesn't stop there! Brightly colored cake layers and churro icing are also found inside. This little donkey is ready to party, right down to his little tail!

The Science.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what flavors to incorporate into this cake. There are so many delicious Mexican flavors to choose from, and for a brief moment I even considered filling the cake with prickly pear jam. In the end, I settled on churros because they're the one Mexican sweet I can never get enough of. In order to get the malty, cinnamon flavor of churros into my cake, I crushed up Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and mixed it into the icing before spreading it between the cake layers. This gave the icing a convincing churro flavor, and also a wonderful crunch! Of course after making this I discovered that General Mills actually sells a churro cereal, so if you would like to try putting that in your icing instead, go for it!

The Recipe.

Yellow Cake:

3 1/3 cups cake flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup salted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

6 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350^oF. Spray four 6inch x 3inch cake pans with baking spray and line with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, comine flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in large bowl on medium-high until fluffy, then gradually beat in sugar. Beat eggs in, one at a time. Stir vanilla into buttermilk. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter/sugar/egg mixture while beating on low speed. Beat an additional 30 seconds.

Divide the batter equally into four bowls and dye blue, orange, pink, and purple with food coloring. Pour batter into pans and lift and drop the pans on the counter a couple times to eliminate bubbles in the batter. Bake on center rack for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack and remove the parchment paper to cool completely

Buttercream icing:

2 cups salted butter, room temperature

6-8 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, crushed

In a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, until icing becomes thick enough for piping. I look for stiff, jagged peaks as my indicator. Adding the sugar in increments results in better incorporation into the butter, so you can use less sugar for the same consistency. If the frosting tastes too sweet and feels grainy, add a couple tablespoons of milk.

Divide icing into five bowls. Tint four bowls blue, pink, purple and yellow with gel icing colors. (It will take A LOT of dye, be patient.) Stir the cereal into the white icing, which you will use between the cake layers.

Assembly:

Gather together these additional supplies:

Candies

Sugar cones

Wilton fondant: pink, black, and white

Once cakes have cooled, use a 1.5-inch round cookie cutter to cut the center out of three of the cake layers. (Do not cut a hole in the top layer.) Stack the bottom three layers, spreading the churro icing between as you stack them. Fill the hole in the center with whatever candies you like. I used pretzel M&Ms because I like the shape and colors, and the crunch adds nice texture. Place the final cake layer on top.

To ice the cake, I used a rose petal tip #104 to make the multicolored ruffles. This will go much faster if you have four #104 tips, but you can switch between colors with one tip if you don't. I highly recommend using a rotating cake stand for this, as well. Rotate the cake slowly and move the tip toward and away from the surface of the cake as you pipe to make the ruffle pattern. I found that three rows of ruffles for each color looked just right. It also helps to start and end rows on the back of the cake, so those seams can be covered up by the tail. To make the ears, take two sugar cones and place them upside down on top of the cake, and cover them with icing ruffles.

To make the donkey's cute little face, knead together some of the black and white fondant to make gray. Roll out the gray fondant with a rolling pin, using a sprinkling of powdered sugar to prevent sticking. Cut out an oval to make the snout, and then roll two U-shaped nostrils of the black fondant. Stick the nostrils onto the snout with a small amount of water and let them set together a few minutes before gently pressing the snout onto the front of the cake. For the eyes, cut out two black circles of rolled fondant and four smaller white circles of fondant. Affix them together with water to create shiny anime eyes before gently pressing them onto the cake above the snout. You can make the tail by rolling a rope of black fondant with your hands, and then snipping and shaping the end to look like hairs. Attach the tail with a couple of toothpicks. The toothpicks will be covered up by the bow, which you can assemble from strips of pink rolled fondant.

Cutting this cake is all part of the ceremony! It's great to hear your guests gasp as the piñata candy spills out. On the off chance that you have cake left over, you can store it in the fridge for a few days.

Chocolate Roll Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 20:30:00 +0000

The Art.

It's Christmas baking time, everybody! I've posted quite a few Christmas cookies over the years, including Iced Snowflake Sugar Cookies, Gingerbread Cookies, and a Meringue Christmas Tree. This year, I wanted to step away from the cookies and make a pretty Christmas cake. The idea of making an iced yule log was appealing, but by now everyone has eaten so many sweets they didn't even want to think about icing. So, I settled on this simple Chocolate Roll Cake. A naked dark chocolate sponge filled with barely sweetened whipped cream is the perfect treat for everyone who's had a few too many of Santa's cookies...but still has room for a little more.

The Science.

The trickiest part of making a roll cake is getting a beautiful swirl shape without any splits or cracks. There are several factors that contribute to success here. First, this cake is a flourless sponge with lots of whipped egg whites that make the cake very elastic and easy to handle. Second, baking the cake on a silicone mat not only prevents the bottom from getting overbaked and dry, but also helps immensely with the rolling process because you can use the mat for support as you roll. And finally, rolling the cake up while it's warm and cooling it in this shape makes a beautiful round roll that won't look squashed in the end.

The Recipe.

Flourless Chocolate Sponge:
6 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar, divided
6 egg yolks
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 10in by 15in jelly roll pan with a silicone mat. Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add half the sugar while beating, until stiff peaks form. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the remaining sugar, egg yolks, and cocoa powder. Beat on medium-high speed for at least two minutes, making sure to scrape the bowl periodically. Getting this mixture well mixed and fluffy is very important for the texture of the cake. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and stir to lighten the batter. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites just until combined, making sure not to deflate the batter while doing so. Pour batter onto prepared pan with mat, spreading the top very evenly with a spatula. Bake for 15 minutes, until the center springs back when lightly touched with your fingertip. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a sharpe knife along the edges to release them from the pan. While the cake is still warm, dust the top with a small amount of cocoa and cover the top with parchment paper (the cocoa prevents sticking). Begin rolling up the warm cake from the short side, rolling up the parchment paper and the silicone mat right along with the cake. Once the cake is rolled, place it on the countertop with the outside edge on the bottom. Support the long sides of the cake with a rolling pin, baking pan, storage jar, or any other long object you have in your kitchen, in order to prevent the roll from sagging while it cools. Meanwhile, make the whipped cream.

Stabilized Whipped Cream:
1 teaspoon gelatin
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk attachment in the freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine gelatin and boiling water in a small bowl and stir until dissolved. Gradually stir whipping cream into the gelatin, going slowly so the gelatin doesn't seize. Place whipping cream and gelatin in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Whip the cream/gelatin in the chilled bowl with the chilled whisk on medium speed until soft peaks form. Continue beating while gradually adding the powdered sugar, until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate cream until the cake is completely cool.

Assembly:

Gently unroll the cake and remove the parchment paper from the top, leaving the cake on the silicone mat. Lightly brush away any excess cocoa powder. Spread the whipped cream evenly over the top of the cake, leaving one inch bare on all the edges. Begin rolling up the cake from the short end, the same direction you rolled it before. As you start rolling, gently pull the silicone mat up and away from the cake with one hand as you form a tight cake roll with the other. Using the mat in this way supports the cake and helps you roll it more tightly. You want to roll the cake so that there are no air holes and the center has a nice swirl, but not so tight that you tear the cake. Going slowly and keeping the mat taught will make this easier.
Once the cake is rolled, place it with the outside edge down on a cake board or serving dish. Cover
with parchment paper and support the long sides once again to keep a round shape. Refrigerate for at least four hours. Before serving, remove the parchment paper and trim off the short ends of the cake (approximately 1/2 inch) with a sharp serrated knife to reveal a beautiful swirl filled with cream. You may arrange the cake board with any decorations you wish; I chose rosemary sprigs, sugared cranberries, and star anise for a rustic Christmas theme. You can also skip the decorations and use a sifter to dust the cake with either powdered sugar or cocoa for a simpler look. Leftover cake can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days.

Pink Champagne Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 14:58:00 +0000

The Art.

This past year has treated me pretty well, so I decided to have a birthday celebration that my sister described as "extra." Printed invitations, wine, charcuterie, and this beautiful cake with pink champagne icing. You can tell I went all out because I splurged on a bottle of Pannier Brut Rose Champagne, which might have had something to do with the fact that the label matched my pink and gold theme. Gold edible confetti, glitter cake picks, and a table scattered with pink and gold confetti completed the look. Champagne is inherently celebratory, so you could also make this cake for a wedding shower, graduation, or anytime you would like to pop open a bottle.

The Science.

Even with all of the glittery decorations, the champagne icing is what really makes this cake stand out. I had great success blending liquor into meringue icing for my Elderflower Cupcakes a while back, but this time I wanted an icing that was more sturdy for decorating. With this in mind, I decided to make a Swiss meringue buttercream. By adding the champagne to the cooked meringue first, the bite of the alcohol evaporated off, leaving the light fruity taste of the pink champagne. Cooking off the moisture in this step also helps the butter incorporate into the meringue at the end.

The Recipe.

For the cake, follow the white cake instructions from my Orange Creme Cake, except pour the batter into three 6 x 3 inch round pans coated with baking spray and lined with parchment paper. If you would like a pink ombre effect, you can divide the batter into bowls and add pink food color before pouring into the pans. After baking, invert cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely. If you would like to make cupcakes as well, make a double batch of batter and pour the rest into lined cupcake tins and bake cupcakes for approximately 17 minutes.

Pink Champagne Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup rose champagne or sparkling wine
1 pound (4 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
pink food color

Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a small saucepan. Place the egg whites, sugar, and champagne in a medium metal bowl, then place the bowl over the simmering saucepan to make a double boiler. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water, we only want the steam to cook the egg whites gently as they whip. Using a hand mixer, beat the mixture on high speed for 5 minutes, until stiff peaks form. Remove from heat, and continue to whip until the meringue is cool, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the butter while beating on high, 2 tablespoons at a time. Add the sea salt and food color and beat until completely incorporated and the icing is smooth.

Assembling the cake:

Level off any crown on your cake layers with a serrated knife. This will ensure that you have a beautiful, even cake in the end. Place the bottom cake layer on a rotating cake stand (or a flat plate or stand you can turn with one hand). Spread with icing, then place the next cake layer, and repeat. Once you have all three cake layers, cover the entire cake with a thin crumb coat of icing. Using an offset spatula or long knife, spread another layer of icing onto the cake. In order to get perfectly smooth icing, I used this icing smoother while slowly rotating the stand.

To decorate, I pressed Wilton Gold Edible Heart Accents onto the cake, in a gradient going up the sides to mimic champagne bubbles. I then placed the cake on a gold cake board and decorated with gold glitter cake picks. For the cupcakes, I piped a swirl of icing with a 1M tip and sprinkled with the gold hearts. To complete the display, I scattered gold and pink confetti on the table and displayed the beautiful champagne bottle alongside. The cake can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. However, water condensation might make the edible confetti disintegrate into the icing so it's best if the confetti is added shortly before serving.

Swiss Meringues

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 02:21:00 +0000

The Art.

One of the baking projects I wanted to accomplish this winter was to make a beautiful drip cake piled high with macarons, meringues, and candies. The end result was my Candyland Drip Cake and I had a lot of fun putting it together. It was also very intensive, since I wanted to make the meringues and macarons myself. I made a previous post featuring Italian meringues, but this time around I wanted the glossy, delicate shape of Swiss meringues piped with a French tip. The crisp texture and airiness of these cookies accompany tea or coffee perfectly. I suggest making them on a weekend while you are doing your chores, since they require a couple hours in the oven.

The Science.

The difference between Italian and Swiss meringues is that Italian meringue is beaten at room temperature, whereas Swiss meringue is heated. When egg whites are beaten at high speeds, the albumin protein in the egg whites begins to bind together and aggregate [1]. This traps little air bubbles incorporated by the whisk, making a fluffy meringue. Cream of tartar further aids in the protein aggregation by stabilizing the tangled proteins. In the case of Swiss meringue, the heat provides energy to the aggregation reactions and results in a stiffer meringue with smaller bubbles.

I also wanted to share with you an unexpected finding I had regarding food color. The very first batch of meringues I made was dyed with my staple Wilton gel icing colors. I was surprised to find that the blue meringues were cracked and full of large bubbles, while the white ones were fine. Of course, my chemist of a husband took one look at them and said it was because the gel food coloring was cooking up faster than the meringue, causing some parts to shrink rapidly and pull the cookies apart. So, my suggestion to all of you is to use standard liquid food coloring if you want your cookies to come out right!

The Recipe.

Meringue cookies: (Makes 50)

3 large egg whites

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup superfine granulated sugar

liquid food color (optional)

Preheat oven to 200°F. Bring a medium saucepan with 1 inch of water to a simmer; this will be the bottom part of your double boiler. Combine all ingredients (except the food color) in a large heat-proof bowl. Place the bowl over the steaming saucepan and whip the egg whites on high speed with a hand mixer for 5 minutes. Be sure to have an oven mitt on the hand that is stabilizing the bowl so the steam doesn't burn you. The meringue should make stiff peaks on your beaters when you pull them out of the bowl. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to beat on high speed until the meringue cools to room temperature, about 2 minutes. This is when you may whisk in the food color if you wish.

Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper, sticking the paper down at the corners with a dab of meringue. Spoon meringue into an piping bag fitted with a 6B tip, and pipe 1-inch stars onto the baking sheets, 1/2 inch apart. Bake 2 hours, switching the top and bottom racks halfway through. After baking, leave cookies in the oven to cool 1 hour with the door held ajar a couple inches with a spoon handle. Meringues can be stored at room temperature in an air-tight container.

1. O Chef, "Beating Egg Whites into Submission." http://www.ochef.com/223.htm

Candyland Drip Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 02:19:00 +0000

The Art.

This is my first foray into drip cakes, and I'm kicking myself that it took me so long! I was intimidated by all the beautiful cakes I had seen with bright icing dripping down in perfect little streams, and I imagined that my attempt would either be a runny mess or a clumpy defeat. However, I am happy to report I got it on the first try! You can, too, with the right chocolate and a few easy tricks. My favorite part about drip cakes is that they are usually piled high with other treats, such as these airy Swiss Meringues and Raspberry Macarons. The recipes for these are coming soon as well, so stay tuned!

The Science.

I did quite a bit of research on the best way to make chocolate ganache before I began, but I was frustrated that everyone had wildly different recipes. In the end I concluded that it comes down to the type of chocolate that you use, and whether you want a more matte ganache like this one, or a shiny one. I used Ghirardelli white chocolate melting wafers for this cake because they taste absolutely amazing and I wanted something that was easy to melt and work with. However, you can use a wide variety of chocolates or melting wafers for your cake. The trick is determining the ratio of chocolate to cream that is best for your particular chocolate. For my Ghirardelli wafers, it was about 3 volumes of chocolate wafers to 1 volume of cream. For harder bar chocolate, like dark chocolate, it will be closer to equal amounts. Unfortunately I can't give a hard and fast rule for this, you will have to take some time to melt your favorite chocolate and play with the ratios until you get it right. This is why you always buy extra chocolate and cream-- in addition to the fact that chocolate does tend to mysteriously disappear when I'm in the room!

The Recipe.

Cake:

For this cake, I made a 4-layer spice cake using 6x3inch round tins. The recipe for spice cake can be found here. I then leveled the layers flat with a knife and assembled and iced the cake with a batch of buttercream icing. Place the cake in the freezer for at least an hour before you add your drip ganache, so it doesn't stream down the cake too quickly.

Drip Ganache:

6oz. Ghirardelli White Chocolate Melting Wafers

2oz. Heavy Cream

Combine chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between, until just melted. It is important to wait for the ganache to cool slightly before you spoon it onto the cake. It has reached the right temperature when it drips slowly off of your spoon, like thick honey.

To begin decorating your drip cake, use a teaspoon to pick up some ganache, and slowly pour it onto the cake, about 1/4 inch away from the edge. Stop pouring slightly before the drip reaches the length you want it to be, as it will continue to drip down. Continue to do this at regular intervals around the cake, varying the length of the drips. Finally, use the remaining ganache to flood the top of

the cake, but be careful not to spill it over the edges.

To decorate this cake, I used a variety of shapes, textures, and sizes to make a visually interesting pile of sweets. It's very in vogue to place macarons on top of cakes right now, and if you don't have time to make your own you can buy them in most every color to match your desired color scheme. I liked adding the Swiss meringues piped with a French tip because the star shapes provide contrast against the round cookies and candies. It's also always a good idea to have smaller candies that you can use to fill in gaps once you get the big cookies on there. The best part is when you serve the cake and each piece gets an extra treat!

Matcha Sakura Petits Fours

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Fri, 05 May 2017 19:46:00 +0000

The Art.

One of my favorite things about my visit to Japan last fall was all the pastries. When I discovered that the entire ground floor of Daimaru department store was devoted to desserts, I almost refused to come back the US. This spring, I was reminiscing about our trip and thinking about how wonderful it would be to go back during sakura season. I decided to make little Japanese-inspired springtime petits fours to tide me over until I can visit again. Since I ran into matcha flavored EVERYTHING while we were there, I started out with matcha flavored cake and icing. I also discovered this amazing sakura blossom paste that is absolutely to die for, so I used that as the filling in the petits fours. Topping the cakes off with pink blossoms brings together the sakura blossom theme!

The Science.

Matcha is a bright green tea that is made by shading tea plants before they are harvested. This causes the leaves to produce more green chlorophyll, so they can make more energy from the little sunlight they get. This method produces tea with a strong, distinctive flavor. One of the things I noticed while I was testing recipes was the difference in color and flavor between different matcha powders. I researched this a little bit, and came across an amazing thing I didn't know about: there are electronic intelligent instruments called the E-nose and E-tongue that detect odors and flavors! These instruments have "diverse sensors generating different signature phenomena to fully exploit the characteristics of test samples," and are paired with sophisticated computer algorithms to predict what a person would taste and smell from the tea [1]. In plain English, the E-nose and E-tongue can "smell" and "taste" the way humans do. Many food scientists have quantified the compounds that give matcha its distinct flavor by mass spectrometry [2,3], and the E-nose and E-tongue use this information to generate a flavor profile from the tea and give it a grade classification. This technology, in addition to being really cool, is used to eliminate the variation between human tasters and the influence of their taste preferences on the tea's classification. I just can't get over the fact that there are tea-tasting robots! Do they have tea parties?

The Recipe.

Matcha cake:
3 egg whites, divided
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
5 grams matcha powder
1/3 cup salted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk
Sakura paste (filling)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9x13 inch baking pan with baking spray, and line with parchment paper. Beat 2 egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar together on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla, and remaining egg white. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and matcha. Alternately add one third of the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, beating between each addition just until combined. Fold in beaten egg whites with a spatula. Spoon batter into pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake on center rack for 15 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto wire racks to cool completely.

Matcha poured fondant:
4oz Ghirardelli white bar chocolate
5 grams matcha powder
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Heat chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl in 30-second bursts, stirring inbetween, until melted. Add matcha. Stir in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, adding small amounts of water at intervals. Stir in corn syrup. Icing will be very thick. If desired, tint the icing a brighter green with gel icing colors.

Assembly:
To make pretty petits fours, you must be very accurate while cutting your cake. First, level the top of the cake with either a cake leveler or a long serrated blade. Next, get out your ruler and cut your cake straight down the middle to create two 9x7.5 inch pieces. Spread a thin layer of sakura paste on one side and top it with the second cake layer. Get your ruler out again, and cut your cake into one-inch strips. Carefully score the top of your cake strips into one-inch squares with your serrated knife, then very gently cut your petits fours with a slow sawing motion.
To ice the petits fours, balance one cake on a fork over the bowl of poured fondant. Spoon fondant over the cake and then allow to dry on a wire rack. You may want to coat the petits fours once more to give them a nice smooth finish. Before the second layer dries, top with pink gum paste blossoms. Either pipe some icing into the flower center or add edible pearls to complete your cherry blossoms.
Store petits fours in the fridge for up to one week, or freeze if storing longer.

References:

1. Zhi, R et al. "A Framework for the Multi-Level Fusion of Electronic Nose and Electronic Tongue for Tea Quality Assessment." Sensors (Basel). 2017 May 3;17(5). pii: E1007. doi: 10.3390/s17051007.

2. Wang, L.F. et al. "The Compounds Contributing to the Greenness of Green Tea." Journal of Food Science, 69: S301–S305. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.2004.tb09894.x

3. Lee, Lan-Sook et al. "Metabolomic Analysis of the Effect of Shade Treatment on the Nutritional and Sensory Qualities of Green Tea." J. Agric. Food Chem., 2013, 61 (2), pp 332–338

DOI: 10.1021/jf304161y

Chocolate Strawberry Mint Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 23:37:00 +0000

The Art.

One of the first plants I grew as a kid were little strawberries planted outside my bedroom window. My favorite thing about strawberries is how pretty the vines are, so I made a beautiful cake covered in strawberry vines and flowers. This is the first time I've used my gum paste flower set and I would highly recommend it. The small and medium flower cutters are the perfect size for strawberry blooms, and painting them ever so slightly pink with food color gives them dimension. Hiding under the buttercream and mint leaves are two layers of dark chocolate cake separated by more fresh strawberries. I have to admit, I usually I wouldn't combine so many flavors, but in this case they blend together perfectly for a fresh, spring cake!

The Science.

One of the things that surprised me about this cake is that everyone assumed the icing was mint flavored. I had only intended to use the mint leaves as an edible decoration, and it didn't occur to me that they would have so much impact on the flavor. I think the real reason for this is that I accidentally extracted the essential oils of the mint into the icing. Most of you probably remember from high school chemistry that fats and oils are "hydrophobic," or water-hating. And also the rule that "like dissolves like," meaning that if you want to dissolve something hydrophobic, you use another hydrophobic solvent. These principles are what lead to the happy accident that is the faux mint buttercream. The fats in the butter and shortening in the icing dissolved the flavorful oils from the mint leaves, enhancing the flavor of the icing with a fresh, mint flavor. This has inspired me to try to incorporate fresh mint into my icing in the future, hopefully with the same wonderful results!

The Recipe.

The recipes for chocolate cake and buttercream icing can be found here and here. This cake was made using two 6x3-inch pans. Spread buttercream on the bottom cake layer and arrange with fresh strawberries, then top with the second layer.

I dyed most of the remaining icing light blue using Wilton Icing Colors Teal, and a small amount with Kelly Green. After smoothing the cake with blue icing, use a small round decorating tip to pipe the vines. Adorn the cake with mint leaves, gum paste flowers, and halved strawberries. If your strawberries have nice leaves, you may keep them on. Mine did not, so I improvised and used some of the smaller mint leaves. Refrigerate cake until serving to prevent the mint leaves from wilting. The cake will look its best if served within one day.

Berry Valentine Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:08:00 +0000

The Art.
Happy Valentine's Day! For those of you who have been around for a while, you know how much I love Valentine's Day. If you're new around here, just check out my Valentine Petit Fours, Burnin' Love Sriracha Truffles, Roses are Red Cake, or Gluten Free Corset Cookies and you'll get the idea. This year, I have a beautiful berry cake to share with you. I deviated from the usual chocolate chocolate chocolate motif and made this cake using my angelfood cake recipe and filled it with some silky Bavarian cream. Decorating this cake with fresh berries and miniature roses makes it sweet, romantic, and easy to finish off.

The Science.
For this cake, I wanted to create a whipped icing with true blueberry flavor. I didn't want to use blueberry jam because I wanted a fresh taste without getting it too sweet. I knew this would be tricky, since simply pureeing fresh berries and adding them to the cream would add too much water and make it hard to whip up. So instead I made a blueberry reduction by heating the blueberries in a saucepan and boiling down the strained juices. While I was doing this I learned that it takes a lot more berries than you would think to create a punch of flavor, so don't skimp on the blueberries!

The Recipe.
     Prepare the angelfood cake as for the Roses are Red Cake, and a batch of Bavarian Cream. You will also need fresh berries and miniature roses for decorating.

Blueberry Whipped Icing:
1 pint blueberries
1 cup 40% heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup powdered sugar

    Place a metal bowl and your mixer beaters in the freezer to cool. Wash blueberries and place in a small saucepan on low heat. Stir occasionally and cook approximately 20 minutes, until berries have released all their juices. Remove fruit with a strainer and press down on the strainer with a spoon to reserve the remaining juices in the saucepan. Continue to heat the juices for about 10 minutes until they begin to thicken and reduce down to 1/4 cup. Allow reduction to cool.
    In your cooled bowl, beat the whipping cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken. Add blueberry reduction, cornstarch and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form.

Assembly:
    Place one cake layer on cake stand. Cover with approximately 1/2 cup Bavarian cream. Top with second cake layer. Smooth the whipped icing over the cake with an offset spatula. You will have lots of leftover Bavarian cream and whipped icing, which you can serve alongside the cake. Decorate with fresh berries and miniature roses. Store covered in the fridge until serving. Cake can be made ahead one day.

Gingerbread Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 05:55:00 +0000

The Art.
    This holiday season, I wanted to make beautiful rolled gingerbread cookies with amazing royal icing lacework. In the end it was nothing more than a disappointing case of unrealistic expectations set by Pinterest. However, I did manage to pull through with some cute royal icing designs, and the flavor of the cookies turned out wonderfully. To give these cookies a powerful gingerbread flavor, I used full-flavored dark molasses instead of light. I also introduced more ginger by adding some bubbly ginger ale to the royal icing before piping it onto the cookies. Edible pearls, a sprinkle of pearl dust, and some beautiful tins from the dollar store made for a great way to present these cookies to all my friends!

The Science.
    So, what is the difference between dark molasses and light molasses? Molasses is a byproduct of sugar production, made from the liquid produced when sugar cane juices are boiled to crystallize the sugar. The cane juice is boiled down several times during this process. The liquid from the first boil is light molasses, and contains the most sugar and has the lightest flavor. The second boil produces dark molasses, which is more full-flavored and has less sugar. Blackstrap molasses comes from the third boil...and is absolutely terrible and nobody should ever eat it. Molasses gets its dark color by the Maillard reaction, the process that causes sugars to brown [1]. This is the same reaction that causes caramelization and browning in baked goods. The distinctive flavor of molasses is made up of a variety of compounds (there have been many publications on this topic), but is mostly due to dimethylsulfide that is produced by enzymes when the sugar cane leaves are crushed [2]. By using dark molasses in these cookies, we maximize the robust gingerbread flavor.

The Recipe.

Gingerbread Cookies: (Makes ~36 cookies)
2 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 egg

    Combine flour, spices, and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat together shortening, butter, and sugar until fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg until combined. Stir in the dry ingredients until combined, then form the dough into two 8 inch disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.
    Preheat oven to 350°F. Once chilled, roll one of the disks out between two pieces of waxed paper to approximately 1/8th inch thick. Cut out cookies with your favorite cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake on center rack for 11-13 minutes. Cool cookies on wire racks before decorating. Gather together dough scraps and re-chill while you work with the other disk. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.

Ginger Royal Icing:

1 egg white

3 tablespoons ginger ale

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Beat together egg white and ginger ale. Gradually add powdered sugar until the icing is slightly thicker than toothpaste. For flooding icing, you can add slightly more ginger ale so it's the consistency of ketchup (I know, gross thought). Divide and dye whatever colors you wish. For these colors, I used Wilton Icing Colors Sky Blue and No-Taste Red. If you're making red icing, keep in mind that dyes with Red 40 can impart a bitter flavor.

Decorating:
The great thing about these cookies is you can decorate them any way you wish! Here, I used Wilton #1 and #2 tips. For directions on how to flood cookies, you can reference my Gluten-free Corset Cookies post. Place edible pearls on the cookies before the icing dries, and dust with the Wilton pearl dust using a small brush after they are completely dry. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

References:
1. Steely, J.S. and Zeller, K.R. "Molasses Flavor Investigations with Sulfur Chemiluminescence Detection." Thermally Generated Flavors, ACS Symposium Series, 1993. Vol. 543.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-1994-0543.ch008
2. Clarke, M.A. and Godshall, M.A. Chemistry and Processing of Sugarbeet and Sugarcane. Elsevier, 1987.

Braeburn Apple Pie

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 02:59:00 +0000

The Art.

One of the perks of living in New York is that the apple picking is phenomenal. The first time we went to a Hudson Valley orchard I was astounded by the variety of apples. This is thanks to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Cornell, where they have developed countless strains of fruits. I had the choice of picking hybrid pommes I had never heard of like Macoun and Mutsu. My family has always maintained that Granny Smiths the only apple suited for apple pies, but I found some beautiful Braeburns that were just tart enough. In my opinion, pies should be baked with apples with firm texture (not mealy like Delicious varieties) and with a tart flavor. For this pie, I use only half of the sugar and cinnamon that most recipes use, and add in some ground cardamom so that it has a bright, true apple flavor. The combination of cardamom and the fresh-picked apples gives this pie a light, aromatic taste.

The Science.

While the perfect filling is important, we all know it's the crust that makes or breaks a pie. I always use my aunt's pie crust because it is the best I've ever had and it never fails. The secret is two ingredients: enough shortening to give an elephant cardiac arrest, and vinegar. Many pie crust recipes use butter, but I think it makes the crust too heavy and oily with all the saturated milkfat. Shortening, on the other hand, is made up of hydgrogenated vegetable fats that easily incorporate into the flour.

The reason pie crust is flaky is because the shortening is worked into the flour, creating small beads of fat that are coated with flour. As the fat melts into the flour in the heat of the oven, it leaves behind small air pockets and creates "flakes." How tender these flakes are depends on how developed the gluten in the flour is. This is where the vinegar comes in. By making the crust acidic, the vinegar prevents the gluten protein from aggregating, or binding itself tightly. Less gluten aggregation means a more tender, flaky, delicious crust.

The Recipe.

Pie crust:

4 cups flour

1 3/4 cups shortening

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 egg
2/3 cup water (as needed)

Combine flour, shortening, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Work the shortening into the flour with fingertips or a pastry cutter until crumbly. Fold in egg and vinegar, and just enough water until dough has a soft, elastic consistency. Refrigerate for one hour.

Apple filling:

6 cups fresh Braeburn apples (about 4 apples), peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons tapioca

2 tablespoons water

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and let stand for at least 15 minutes.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 350°F and place rack in center position. Press 1/3 of the dough into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan. Pour filling into pan. Roll out the remaining dough into an 1/8th-inch thick round between two pieces of waxed paper (this way you don't have to flour surfaces). You can cover the pie with this round, or you can cut it into strips for a lattice crust. For instructions on how make a lattice I refer you to a thorough post from thekitchn. Keep in mind that you will need to cut some vents in the top for steam to escape if you don't do a lattice. Trim excess dough off the sides and crimp the edges with a fork. (Side note: leftover crust also makes amazing savory empanadas!)

For an extra touch, you can lightly brush the crust with beaten egg and sprinkle raw sugar on top. This will give you a beautiful shiny, golden sparkly pie. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour. If you notice the edges getting brown too quickly, you can cover them with foil and leave the center exposed to brown up some more.

Cool pie on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before serving. Pie is best served fresh and warm, but can be stored covered at room temperature for two days and moved to the refrigerator thereafter. To reheat, I like to bake individual slices in the toaster oven at 350°F for 2-5 minutes, as microwaving can make the crust soggy.

Blueberry Scones

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 19:12:00 +0000

The Art.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I hosted a tea party for all my dearest friends, brewing up six pots of tea and baking all kinds of goodies. Among them were these delicious blueberry scones-- I based the recipe off of the Lemon Scones I posted previously. Of course, if one is a high tea hostess, one must dress the part! I made certain my uniform was starched and pressed, including my vintage yellow tea apron. I loved how it matched my china so much I got someone to take a picture of them together. The only thing that pleases me more than pretty china and tea aprons is sharing delicious scones with friends.

The Science.

If some of you have looked at this recipe and turned your nose up at the dried blueberries, you are snobs...that take after my own heart. I usually advocate for using fresh fruit whenever possible, but I made an exception here. Fresh blueberries have a high water content, like most fruit, and they also have a high amount of pigment. If you bake them in cookies or cakes or scones, the water and pigment bleed out into the dough and give everything a greenish-blue tinge that I find unattractive. And we can't have unattractive scones, can we? So, the simple solution is to bake with dried blueberries. They keep your dough the right color and add a nice, concentrated punch of blueberry flavor.

The Recipe.

(Makes 16 scones)

4 cups cake flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) salted butter, cut into pieces

2 eggs

3/4 cup lowfat milk

4 oz (one bag) dried blueberries

1 cup powdered sugar

Juice from one lemon

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then drop in the pieces of butter. If you have a mixer with a pastry attachment, you can blend the butter in on low speed. Alternatively, you can crumble it in with your fingertips or a pastry blender. Continue blending until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and the milk. Gradually stir the egg mixture into the dry mixture on low speed. Once combined, fold in dried blueberries.

Roll dough out onto a floured surface into a square that is 1 inch thick. Cut scones by cutting the dough into 16 trianges. Bake on a cookie sheet on center rack for 17-20 minutes, or until tops are light golden. While the scones cool, make the lemon glaze by stirring together the lemon juice and powdered sugar. Drizzle glaze over scones and serve!

Apricot Upside-down Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Mon, 18 May 2015 23:31:00 +0000

The Art.
I am happy to bring you another post from the Birthday Tea Party! This apricot upside-down cake combines sweet apricots with my tried-and-true yellow cake to make a delicious tarte tatin. The apricots caramelize with the butter and brown sugar on the bottom of the pan, making a delectable syrup that had me licking my fingers in a most un-ladylike manner.

The Science.
It is worth noting that adding fruit to a cake recipe can have a significant effect on texture. Now, since I was in a hurry, I used canned apricots, which have quite a bit of moisture. This made the cake incredibly moist, and also had the effect of making it very dense. This is a desirable quality in an upside-down cake, because it makes it easier to get out of the pan and slice. However, this is something that should be considered whenever you are adding fruit, especially canned fruits, to a cake. Another thing to consider when making a fruity cake is the structure of the fruit you are adding. My sister made a variation of this recipe with fresh mango, which sounded delicious in theory, but unfortunately the delicate texture of the mango didn't do well as a tarte tatin.

The Recipe.
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 15oz. cans apricot halves

1 1/3 cups cake flour
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 10-inch round pan. (An 8- or 9-inch round pan can be used, but you might have some extra batter.) Combine melted butter and brown sugar and press into bottom of pan. Lay apricots cut side down in a single layer in the pan. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in large bowl on medium-high until fluffy, then gradually beat in sugar. Beat eggs in, one at a time. Stir vanilla into buttermilk. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter/sugar/egg mixture while beating on low speed. Beat an additional 30 seconds. Pour batter over apricots. Lift and drop on the counter a couple times to eliminate bubbles in the batter. Bake on center rack for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely, then carefully run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Gently invert onto a cake plate or stand and serve. Cake can be baked ahead one day and left in the pan overnight.

Curried Deviled Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Mon, 04 May 2015 17:55:00 +0000

The Art.

I recently hosted an afternoon tea, and in addition to scones, cake, and cucumber sandwiches, I made some deviled eggs to nosh on. I was trying to keep the flavors of all of the foods light and fresh so that my guests could enjoy the tea and not saturate their palettes. To this end, I decided to exclude mustard and pickle relish from my deviled eggs and instead mixed in a little curry powder and garnished with fresh cilantro. If the rate at which they disappeared is any indication, I'd say they were a big hit!

The Science.

Although it may sound like an easy task, making a perfect boiled egg can be tricky. The goal is to produce a soft, pale egg yolk without overshooting it and making a green, stinky, sulfurous mess. A while back I became frustrated with my boiled eggs and sought some answers to boil the perfect egg. And, of course, Julia Child was the answer. Ever since I have followed her method from The Way to Cook, I've made perfect boiled eggs every time. Not only does her method make eggs the perfect doneness, it also makes peeling them a breeze. The secret is to fully chill the eggs to make them contract away from the shell, then stick them back in the hot water to expand the shell further away from the egg right before peeling. The only alteration I've made to Mrs. Child's recipe is to let the eggs cool longer before peeling, which I think makes the whites more sturdy so you can produce a smooth, pretty deviled egg.

The Recipe.
12 eggs
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon minced cilantro

Place eggs in a large kettle and fill with enough water to cover eggs by one inch. Place over high heat just until the water begins to boil, then remove from heat. Allow eggs to sit in the hot water for 17 minutes. No more, no less. While the eggs are cooking, prepare a large bowl of ice water. When the 17 minutes are up, transfer the eggs to the ice water with a slotted spoon and let them cool completely for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the hot water back to a boil. Once the eggs are cool, lower each egg into the hot water for 10 seconds right before peeling it to expand the egg shell. Very gently crack the eggshell all over on the countertop, and begin peeling the shell away in small pieces. I find this works best if you also peel away the thin membrane beneath the eggshell as well, because it pulls the shell long with it in a more cohesive manner.

Once your eggs are all peeled, cut them in half and gently scoop the yolks into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise and curry powder to the yolks and mash with a fork until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, or if you are feeling fancy, pipe it in with a 1M tip as I did in the photos. Garnish with the cilantro and serve. Deviled eggs can be made a day in advance and refrigerated in a covered dish.

Pink Princess Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 17:07:00 +0000

The Art.

I made some birthday cupcakes for a friend recently, and I made her princess cupcakes because every girl is a princess on her birthday. (In the spirit of equality, boys can be princesses too, if they want.) The real magic is imparted by lightly spraying the cupcakes with a touch of shimmery silver Wilton Color Mist, as well as adding edible pearl accents. While I usually hate it when people use foil baking cups--I think they look industrial and shoddy--I have to say, this is one of those times where I think the foil offsets the cupcake decorations in an attractive way. These cupcakes feature a rosewater buttercream icing and delicately flavored almond white cake.

The Science.

As usual, the science portion of this post is was inspired by an unexpected problem I ran into while baking. Since I ran out of cupcake liners, half the cupcakes were baked in paper and the other half in foil. When I pulled them out of the oven I could see a striking difference between the size and doneness of the cupcakes, depending on which liner they were in. The foil cupcakes we smaller and more brown, because they received the reflected heat from the foil and cooked up faster. Thus, it is important to shorten your bake time by a couple of minutes if you are baking with foil liners.

The Recipe.

Almond white cake:

6 egg whites, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup salted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F and line two cupcake tins with liners. In a medium bowl, beat three egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Set aside. Sift together flour and baking powder in another bowl. In a large bowl, beat together remaining cup sugar, butter, remaining egg whites, and vanilla. Alternately add one third of the flour mixture and buttermilk, beating between each addition just until combined. Fold in beaten egg whites with a spatula. Fill cupcake tins using 1/4 cup measure, and bake on center rack for 20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Rose buttercream:

1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
5-7 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon rosewater

gel icing colors

In large bowl, beat together butter and shortening on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add sugar until icing makes stiff, jagged peaks. Beat in rosewater. If icing tastes too sugary or grainy, add a couple tablespoons of milk. Tint 3/4 of the icing pink (I used Wilton Icing Colors "rose").

Decorating:

Using a 1M tip, pipe a swirl of pink icing onto each cupcake. For a tutorial, visit this post. Then, pipe stars of white icing with a #17 star tip, following the contours of the swirl. Very lightly spray with the silver color mist, and place edible pearls on the tips of the stars.

Better-Than-Hostess Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 18:21:00 +0000

The Art.
It wasn't until after I had made these cupcakes that I realized they resembled Hostess cakes-- except for the fact that these are actually worth eating. Instead of dense cake that is far too sweet, I used my moist dark chocolate cake recipe. Then, I filled them with rich, custardy Bavarian cream. Finally, I covered the cupcakes with bittersweet ganache, which is really a far cry from the sugary disaster Hostess calls frosting. And of course I topped it off with crispy bacon crumbles. (Yes, I know, I have a bacon problem.) If you don't want bacon, and would rather complete the Hostess knockoff look, you can pipe some royal icing in curliques on top of your cupcakes. I confess, I can't get enough of the leftover Bavarian cream and ganache together. I eventually had to take the leftovers in to work for my labmates to prevent myself from getting gout.

The Science.
While I'm at it, I might as well make another confession: sometimes I over-science myself in the kitchen. A long time back, I made a Bavarian Cream post where I went a little crazy, using five different conditions for making the custard by the time it was all said and done. I really thought I had developed the perfect custard recipe, but the terrible truth is that I think my thermometer wasn't very accurate. I've repeated that recipe a couple of times since then, and half the time the custard didn't set up. It's very disheartening to wake up in the morning thinking you're going to blend a wonderful silky custard and some freshly whipped cream, and find that your custard didn't set up during the night. So, I have decided to step back and make everything a little more simple. Instead of using temperature to gauge when the custard is done cooking, I looked at the consistency as I was stirring it. Also, I harkened back to the days when my mom and aunt were teaching me how to make custard. Instead of using a double boiler, they placed all the custard ingredients in a saucepan over low heat and stirred constantly - with a spatula. The flat edge of the spatula scrapes the bottom of the pan more efficiently than a spoon, so you don't end up with lumps of overcooked egg yolk in your custard. As far as my previous statements about eggs "breaking" if they're cooked above 175°F, I completely disregard that now. I cooked this particular batch of custard until it began to bubble a little bit and it still had a wonderful texture.

The Recipe.

Make one batch of Bavarian Cream. (Be sure to save the egg whites for the Princess Cupcakes I'll post later.)

Bake one batch of chocolate cupcakes, recipe here.

Chocolate Ganache:

4oz bittersweet bar chocolate

1/4 cup 40% heavy cream

Place chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Gently heat in the microwave for two 30 second intervals, stirring inbetween. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate, or it will seize and you will have to start over. Once the chocolate beings to melt, stir constantly until the cream is completely combined.

Assembly:
Once the cupcakes are cool, fill them with the Bavarian cream using a bismark tip. I like my cupcakes to be filled a lot, so I squeezed the piping bag until the top of the cupcake began to crack.

Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the warm ganache, spooning extra over the top if needed. Top with crumbled bacon, if desired.

I placed these cupcakes into a second, decorative wrapper after I was done, so that the wrapper would stay pretty and the pattern would still be visible. These cupcakes should be enjoyed within two days. Leftover Bavarian cream and ganache will last up to 4 days...if you don't each them first.

Cake Donuts

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 17:41:00 +0000

The Art.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to have an Awesome Roommate, who gave awesome gifts. One such gift that she bestowed upon me was a donut pan to make baked donuts. I was so excited to try it out, but somehow with defending my Ph.D. thesis and selling my house I didn't get around to making any donuts...until now. Don't worry, I made sure to invite Awesome Roommate to make/eat them. Since we're both impatient people, we decided to make cake donuts instead of raised ones. Because who has time to let dough rise when you could be that much closer to eating something tasty? Definitely not us. The maple bacon ones were my personal favorite, but you also can't go wrong with dark chocolate glaze.

The Science.

The main difference between cake donuts and raised donuts is the leavening. These cake donuts have baking powder in them, and when combined with the acidity of the yogurt and the heat of the oven the batter makes bubbles of carbon dioxide and steam. These bubbles make the dough light as it bakes up and give the donuts their cakey texture. Raised donuts, on the other hand, are made with yeast. Yeast cells are little powerhouses of metabolic energy, and we use this to our advantage in baking. As the yeast munch on the sugars we give them in the dough, they respirate and create carbon dioxide. It takes a little while for their metabolic processes to activate, but when they do, there are tons of bubbles. This is why you have to knead raised donuts to develop the gluten, so that the batter has the strength to hold those crazy strong bubbles inside and rise sky-high. Like I said, we were feeling a little impatient that day, so we opted for the delicate texture of these tender cake donuts.

The Recipe.
Donuts:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a donut pan (or muffin tin). Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the butter and crumble with your fingertips, or mix on low speed with your standing mixer, until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Combine the milk, yogurt, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl and whisk until the egg is beaten. Add the milk mixture to the dry mixture, and stir until just combined. Spoon into the pan until the molds are 2/3 full, and place on center rack of oven. Bake for 14-17min, until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Dark Chocolate Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons dutch cocoa

4 tablespoons milk

pinch salt

Maple Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon milk

pinch salt

Combine glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Dip slightly cooled donuts into glaze, adding a second coat after the first has dried. Top with sprinkles, bacon, coconut, nuts, or whatever you desire. You can also roll some of them in granulated sugar for a simply pretty treat.

Lemon Scones

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 20:26:00 +0000

The Art.
I know you may find this hard to believe, but I have never made scones until recently. I'm not really sure how this happened, considering I drink approximately two gallons of Earl Gray a day and enjoy 4pm teatime, but here we are. I was having my Dear Friend Ben over for tea one afternoon, and decided to take a stab at some scones. This was a last minute baking adventure, so I didn't have much to work with for flavoring. I had a lemon in my fruit bowl, so I grated some zest into the dough and I was quite pleased with the result. I served the scones right out of the oven with honey butter and raspberry jam (yes, lemon and raspberry together again!) and they were delicious. I couldn't believe how easy it was, and they were the prefect treat for afternoon tea.

The Science.
These scones are based off of a recipe that is a copycat of a duplicate of the scones served at the Dorchester Hotel in London. As such, they are more light and cakey than American scones and inherently more classy. Most scones from our side of the pond use all-purpose flour, while these call for cake flour. Cake flour is made from soft wheat, which has more starch and less gluten than hard wheat, resulting in a finer crumb [1]. British scones also have more butter, which acts as a shortening agent. This means that the butter interacts with the hydrophobic domains of the gluten protein and prevents them from forming long chains, further contributing to the tender texture [2]. Finally, an increased amount of baking powder causes these scones to be airy and delicate compared to the ones you may be used to.

The Recipe.
(Makes 8 scones)
2 cups cake flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons salted butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
6 tablespoons lowfat milk
Zest from one lemon

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then drop in the pieces of butter. If you have a mixer with a pastry attachment, you can blend the butter in on low speed. Alternatively, you can crumble it in with your fingertips or a pastry blender. Continue blending until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and the milk. Gradually stir the egg mixture into the dry mixture on low speed. Once combined, fold in lemon zest.

Drop the dough onto a lightly floured baking sheet, approximately 1/3 cup for each scone, at least 3 inches apart. Bake on center rack for 17-20 minutes, or until tops are light golden. Scones are best served warm, but can also be kept at room temperature for two to three days.

1. Pasha, I et al. "Grain hardness: a major determinant of wheat quality." Food Science and Technology International, 2010. Vol. 16(6): pp. 511-22.
2. American Baking Essentials Course 201. "Butter, Shortening, and Oils: The Fats We Bake With." The Prepared Pantry, 2005.

Raspberry Lemon Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 19:31:00 +0000

The Art.

Once again, it was Labmate George's birthday. And once again, he had an awesome baking idea. His birthday cake request this year was to combine raspberry and lemon flavors, which probably has something to do with this "Eating Seasonally" thing he does. As for myself, I always know when raspberries are in season because I have an unyielding bond with nature (and because they are $1 a carton at the store). I wanted to highlight the fruit flavors in the cake, so I made a lemon zest glaze and piled the raw raspberries on top. To save time, I used raspberry jam for the filling, but cut it with some salted butter to prevent it from being too sweet. Leaving the cake un-iced allows the pretty yellow cake layers and pink filling to show.

The Science.

To add lemon flavor to desserts, lemon zest and lemon juice can both be used. But, how do you know when to use zest and when to use juice? My rule of thumb is to use lemon zest in the baked component (i.e. the cake), and lemon juice in the glazes, icings, etc. This is for two reasons. First, the acidity of the lemon juice significantly affects the texture of baked goods. It increases the activity of baking soda and baking powder, as well as interfering with the formation of gluten. This can be beneficial up to a point, making the cake have a finer crumb and delicate texture. However, too much lemon juice can make the structure too flimsy [1]. The second reason to use lemon zest in cake batter is because it has a much higher concentration of limonene, the essential oil that we associate with lemon flavor. While limonene makes up only 8% of the aromatic compounds in lemon juice, the lemon peel can have up to 70% limonene in its essential oils [2,3]. Adding lemon juice to cake batter does not contribute significantly to the flavor, but lemon zest can give the bright punch of citrusy flavor you are looking for, without affecting the texture of the cake.

The Recipe.

Lemon Cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup salted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

Zest from two large lemons

Preheat oven to 350^oF. Coat a 9x13 metal pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, comine flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in large bowl on medium-high until fluffy, then gradually beat in sugar. Beat eggs in, one at a time. Stir vanilla into buttermilk. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter/sugar/egg mixture while beating on low speed. Fold in lemon zest. Pour into prepared pan and bake on center rack for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. If the cake is crowned in the center, press it flat as shown in this post. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cake board to cool completely.

Raspberry filling:

3/4 cup raspberry jam

3 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

Combine jam and butter in a small bowl, set aside until cake is cooled. Note: I prefer Full Circle Select Raspberry Jam. It has seeds, which some people don't like, however I think is made from better quality fruit and thus doesn't have as much added sugar. The flavor and texture of this jam is definitely superior to Smucker's, for example.

Lemon glaze:

Juice from one large lemon

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 cups powdered sugar

Combine lemon juice and zest in medium bowl. Gradually stir in powdered sugar.

Assembly:

Trim the edges of the cooled cake with a sharp, serrated knife. (This produced a cake that was 11.5 inches long and 8 inches wide for me). Cut the cake into equal thirds, making three pieces that are approximately 8 inches wide and 3.75 inches long. I actually used my tape measure and scored the cuts into the top of the cake before I cut all the way through. Measuring accurately and making clean cuts will ensure that your cake layers are even and level when you stack them.

Spread half of the raspberry filling over one of the cake layers, then place the second cake layer (brown side up) on top. Cover with the remaining raspberry filling, then place the third cake layer (brown side down) on it. Drizzle glaze on top of the cake, then cover with raspberries.

Cake can be stored in the refrigerator for one week.

1. Galvin, Lori et al. Test Kitchen Favorites. Brookline, MA: America's Test Kitchen, 2006.

2. Tounsi, Moufida et al. "Juice components and antioxidant capacity of four Tunisian Citrus varieties." Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2011. Vol. 91(1): pp142-51.
3. Bourgou, Soumaya et al. "Changes of Peel Essential Oil Composition of Four Tunisian Citrus during Fruit Maturation." Scientific World Journal, 2012: 528593.

Sunflower Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 00:52:00 +0000

The Art.

I've always loved crafts and baking, even when I was a little kid. Fortunately, my mom was really good at coming up with easy projects for me to work on. One year for my birthday, she helped me make these cute sunflower cupcakes to give to my classmates, along with little sunflower seedlings we had started in dixie cups. This made me the most popular 4th grader in school for at least a few days and life was good. I had forgotten all about my elementary school fame until this summer, when I started some sunflower seeds on my back porch. I thought I would share the recipe with you, since we all can use something quick and easy in the summertime.

I also want to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to plant sunflowers, not only because they're pretty, but also because I've discovered that wild canaries love to eat the seeds! I had no idea we had such brightly colored birds here, and now I get to watch them while I eat my breakfast.

The Science.

One of the difficulties of cake decorating in the summer is that the heat can make icing decorations melt. In the past I've solved this by putting my cakes in the freezer before I took them anywhere, but it can be difficult to time things just right so you're not stuck trying to cut a frozen cake. More recently, I decided to alter my buttercream icing recipe so that it would tolerate higher temperatures. My standard buttercream recipe has equal parts of butter and shortening. While butter has a wonderful flavor, it has a very small working temperature range. At cool temperatures it is too hard to pipe, and it becomes drippy and greasy when it's warm. Shortening, on the other hand, has a much broader temperature range in which is it workable, and has a much higher melting point than butter [1,2]. To make my summertime buttercream, I simply increased the shortening:butter ratio in my icing from 1:1 to 3:1. This way, my icing will still have a buttery flavor, but it will withstand the summer heat.

The Recipe.

Make one batch of chocolate cupcakes, recipe here.

Summertime Buttercream Icing:

1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
5-7 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

In large bowl, beat together butter and shortening on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add sugar until icing makes stiff, jagged peaks. Beat in vanilla. If icing tastes too sugary or grainy, add a couple tablespoons of milk. Use immediately or store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Makes enough icing for one 9" round cake or 24 cupcakes.

Decorating:

Dye one third of the icing green, and the remaining icing yellow. I used Wilton Icing Colors golden yellow and a little bit of orange to make my icing a sunflower yellow. Place each batch of icing in its own zippered sandwich bag, and seal the top. Snip one of the bottom corners off of the bags to create a piping bag. (Be careful not to snip off too much! A hole approximately 1/2in. is about right.) Cover each cupcake with a thin smear of green icing. Then, use your piping bag to pipe leaves onto the cupcakes. You can vary the size and number of the leaves to make it interesting.

Using the yellow icing, begin piping petals in a ring around the edge of the cupcake. For these cupcakes, I piped a second ring of smaller petals inside the first set of petals to add dimension. Another fun idea you may want to try is striping your piping bag with orange dye, so your petals have pretty orange streaks.

Finally, fill the center of the cupcake with mini chocolate chips to look like sunflower seeds. To display these cupcakes, I took an idea from one of my favorite decorating books, What's New, Cupcake?, and used green Twizzlers Rainbow liquorice to make stems for the sunflowers.

Cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for a couple days, or placed in the fridge or freezer for longer storage.

1. American Baking Essentials Course 201. "Butter, Shortening, and Oils: The Fats We Bake With." The Prepared Pantry, 2005.
2. O Chef, "Turning the Heat up on Crisco (and Lard)." http://www.ochef.com/1157.htm

Elderflower Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Tue, 20 May 2014 20:09:00 +0000

The Art.

I love baking in the springtime, because I get to try out all my ideas for making light, flowery desserts. I recently discovered Fleur Elderflower Liqueur, and I immediately knew I had to put it in some cupcakes. It has a beautiful floral flavor that is slightly sweet, with a hint of citrus. Further inspiration came to me when I saw this pattern for doily cupcake wrappers. So, I topped light-as-air angelfood cupcakes with elderflower meringue icing and candied violets, then adorned them with the wrappers. We enjoyed these on Easter with champagne and they were heavenly!

The Science.

The cake and the icing in these cupcakes are impossibly airy because of one thing: beaten egg whites. Angelfood cake has no leavening agents, and depends solely upon the air bubbles trapped inside the beaten egg whites to provide volume. The meringue icing produces a large volume of fluffy white peaks using only a single egg white. So, what is so special about beating egg whites that makes our dessert so fluffy? The answer is, the hydrophobic domains in the egg albumin protein. When egg whites are beaten at high speed, the "water-fearing" parts of the protein are exposed, and begin to aggregate together because they don't like touching the water. This creates a film that traps the air bubbles as they're beaten in. Angelfood and meringue are fat-free, because any fat in the mixture would bind the hydrophobic domains of the egg albumin and prevent the protein aggregation. This is why it is very important to make sure that your bowls and beater blades are immaculately clean. Furthermore, the meringue is heated over a double boiler to help "fix" the proteins in their aggregated conformation, and cream of tartar also helps stabilize the peaks.

The Recipe.

Angelfood cupcakes:

1/3 cup cake flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 300^oF. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners. Sift flour twice, then sift together with 1/4 cup sugar. Sifting several times aerates the flour so the cake will be lighter. In a large bowl, beat egg whites on medium-high speed until frothy. Add salt and cream of tartar and beat until peaks barely form. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, mixing until soft peaks form. Gently fold in a third of the flour/sugar at a time, stirring until incorporated after each addition. Fill cupcake tin to the top with batter. Lift and drop the pans onto the counter a couple times to release air bubbles. Bake on center rack until tops are springy and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack until room temperature. Can be stored in an air-tight container in the freezer for two weeks. Yields 12 cupcakes.

Elderflower Icing:

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 large egg white
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons Fleur liqueur

Bring one inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Combine all ingredients in a large metal bowl, then set over saucepan to create a makeshift double-boiler. Blend on high speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Wear an oven mitt on your hand that is stabilizing the bowl, to protect it from the steam. Remove from heat, and beat until icing is cool and billowy with stiff peaks, about 2 minutes.

Assembly:

Place a #1A tip in a piping bag and fill with icing. Pipe a swirl onto each cupcake, starting from the outside and working toward the center. Top with candied violet petals, or your favorite decorations. Place cupcakes in doily wrappers and enjoy!

Art Deco Cake

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 22:00:00 +0000

The Art.
    Each year, one of my classiest friends hosts a Repeal of Prohibition Party. We all dress in 30's-inspired garb, make some Sidecars, and get slightly "swacked," as they would say. I'm not what you would call a master mixologist, so I mixed something up in my kitchen instead. I was inspired by the art deco architecture of the 1930's, and came up with this tiered Art Deco Cake. I discovered that tiered cakes can be fun, as long as you put a little planning into it. Taking extra time to ensure that all your edges are squared away really pays off here. Covering the cake with purchased fondant gives it smooth, clean lines, and I attached a feather half hackle on top for extra fancy.

The Science.
    This was my first tiered cake, and I wanted to make sure that I had nice, flat cake layers to stack up. As I've discussed before, some cakes tend to "crown" in the center, giving them a domed shape that is difficult to layer with. Crowning happens when the edges of the cake heat up faster than the center, so the water evaporates before the steam can help the edges rise. This can be alleviated by using light-colored cake pans, which absorb less heat in the oven. Some bakers swear by wrapping the sides of the cake pan with strips of cloth to insulate it, but that's a little too intense for me. I decided to try another tool at my disposal: the convection setting on my oven. This setting activates a fan within the oven that circulates the hot air, so the surface of the cake is exposed to more even temperatures. I tried convection baking this cake, and I was very pleased with the results. My cakes were nice and flat, and I didn't have uneven baking on the side of the cake that was near the oven wall. I guess you could say I'm a Convection Convert. (Ah! I'm hilarious!) Remember, if you find your cake layers have crowned despite your best efforts, you can always press them down as I show in the Fall Spice Cake post.

The Recipe.

Chocolate Cake:
    Preheat oven to 350°F. For the chocolate cake, make a double batch of the cake recipe from the Chocolate Turtle Cake post. Coat two 9x13 pans with baking spray and line with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the cake pans and bake on center rack for 30 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cakes on wire racks.
    To cut out the tiers, make three square stencils with cardstock. I made mine 6.5in, 4.5in, and 3in square. Use the stencils to cut three squares out of the cake layers with a sharp, serrated knife.

Make a batch of vanilla buttercream icing, and use it to layer your cake tiers, as shown below. Place the largest tier on a cake board and cover it with icing. Following the instuctions from the Valentine Cake post, cover the bottom tier with rolled fondant. Repeat with the other two tiers, and carefully lay them on top, smoothing the fondant afterward.

To make the black accents, I tinted the remaining fondant with Wilton Icing Colors Black by kneading it into the fondant. (I highly recommend wearing gloves for this, black fingernails are never becoming.) Then, roll the fondant out and cut strips for the cake, affixing them with buttercream. This is a good time for careful measuring, as well as artfully disguising any unsightly wrinkles or tears in the white fondant. You can get creative with any other accents you want to add. I chose to add a geometric fan shape to the bottom tier. Finally, I attached the feather accent (from Hobby Lobby) by cutting slits into the fondant on the top tier and inserting the half hackle into it.

The cake was a great success at the party, and I was pleased with the way it turned out. Getting all of the edges straight proved to be more challenging here than with the rounded Valentine Cake I made previously, but nobody seemed to notice the uneven parts. Remember, you are your harshest critic and even if you don't think it looks perfect, everyone else will be impressed.

Mardi Gras Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (M. A. P.) — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 19:53:00 +0000

The Art.

Happy Mardi Gras, everyone! I have a special treat for you today, in the spirit of fun and extravagance. When I was shopping for gold sprinkles for these cupcakes, I came across these amazing Wilton Colorburst Batter Bits. So, in keeping with the revelry of the Mardi Gras parade, I decided to put confetti in my cupcakes. I bought green, orange, and purple, then baked them into my yellow cake batter, to show off the colors. I really love how it turned out, especially after adorning my cake stand with coordinating beads.

The Science.

Today, many people will be indulging themselves in all the foods they're giving up for Lent tomorrow (unless you're Greek Orthodox, in which case your fast started on Monday). Thus, the goal of these cupcakes is to be the last hurrah for all those pious souls who want to binge on their favorite sweets before Ash Wednesday. My decorating technique is exactly what is needed, apparently, as people are more likely to consume a higher number of sweets if there is a visual variety [1]. I guess they just have to taste them all to make sure they're equally good. Furthermore, making your foods look prettier makes them more appetizing to consumers, who clearly favor sensory appeal over other considerations, like price and nutrition [2]. Certainly, the entire experience of eating delicious foods--sight, smell, texture, taste--is alluring to everyone. Some research groups go as far to say that there is such a thing as "food addiction," saying that overindulging in naughty foods causes a brain response similar to drug addiction [3]. Of course, this is difficult to prove since we all need to eat. But, there is no denying that the experience of indulging in foods has a hold on all of us, which is why the greatest sacrifice we make for Lent is denying ourselves tasty cupcakes.

The Recipe.

To make these cupcakes, click these links for the yellow cake cupcakes and vanilla buttercream icing recipes. Remember to fold the batter bits into your cake batter before pouring it into your cupcake pans.

To decorate these cupcakes, I took a similar approach as I did for the Quick Birthday Cupcakes, dying my icing three different colors and using different tips and patterns to create unique designs. I used Wilton Icing Colors Violet, Kelley Green, and Golden Yellow to tint my icing.

I then piped the purple and green with 1M star tips, and the yellow with an 18 star tip. You can experiment with different colors and tips as you choose, to give your cupcakes your own flair. Of course, what Mardi Gras cupcakes would be complete without gold sugar sprinkles!

These cupcakes are fancy inside and out, with festive frosting on top and colorful confetti on the inside. In case you're not giving up sweets for Lent, you can store these cupcakes at room temperature for a few days, or put them in the freezer until Lent is over.

1. Rolls, Barbara et al. "How sensory properties of foods affect feeding behavior." Physiology and Behavior, 1982. Vol. 29(3): pp 409-417.
2. Jauregui-Lobera, I and Bolano Rios, P. "What motivates consumer's food choice?" Nutrición Hospitalaria, 2011. Vol. 26(6): pp 1313-1321.
3. Pandit, R et al. "Dietary Factors Affect Food Reward and Motivation to Eat." Obesity Facts, 2012. Vol. 20(2): pp 221-242.