Dozen Flours

Biplane Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:31:00 +0000

I've gotten a bit behind on my blog posts. I hope you can forgive me! I was going through my photos, when I realized that I never posted this charmer. Last year on an extremely warm and sunny Seattle summer day, I had the honor of baking Konrad's first birthday cake, complete with a kitschy banner tolling biplane.

Of course a few lovely cake pops were included too.

And now for Konrad's big moment!

Hmm.... what should I do with it?

Mommy to the rescue!

Hmm....

...now what?

Yum! This tastes good!

I just adore that little smile!

All photos courtesy of Lisa Loop Photography

The Serendipitous Proposal

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Mon, 06 May 2013 05:08:00 +0000

In the spring of 2010, I was visiting San Francisco for the first time. I only had three days in the city and I made the most out of every single second I was there. I have a lot of tremendous memories of that trip, but this particular moment was ranked highest among them. I was walking through a little park on Baker Street, on my way to the Palace of Fine Arts. I was in a bit of a hurry, but I couldn't help but notice a couple sitting in the grass, each painting on canvases.
As I walked passed, I watched her swirl and dapple paint with purpose. She was painting a landscape and looked as though she knew what she was doing. Ever curious, I couldn't help but peek to see what he was painting and walked around them in a wide circle. He was not painting a landscape, no he was painting words. I could see the words "Will" and "you" and the beginning of another word that started with the letter "M". I stopped in my tracks. Could he be...proposing? I looked around to see if any of the other people around me were paying attention to them and I was the only one. I watched waited as more letters started to appear and and the letters "arr" soon followed that capital letter "M". He was going to propose and my heart started to pound in my chest. I grabbed my camera and began snapping photos furiously...

I gave them a few moments and then went up and congratulated them. I explained that I had taken photos of the whole thing and we quickly exchanged information. I was so excited to have been there to not only witness, but to also capture such a special moment for them. Looking back, it's still incredible to me to have been there at the exact right time, to have noticed what was happening with so many other things going on around me. The entire proposal only took only about two, maybe three minutes.

Ben and JoyLynn's were wed a few months later!

(wedding photo by Andrew Hsu, Studio MSV)

I wrote to Ben and JoyLynn a few weeks ago asking for permission to share their wedding proposal here on my blog. It was such a wonderful moment, I wanted to share it with you! JoyLynn gave her blessings and was kind enough to provide a photo from their wedding. She also shared some recent news: she and Ben are expecting a baby boy in July! Yay!

I love this story and that trip.

It was only a brief few moment that our paths crossed, but it's a very special memory I'll always cherish.

Chocolate Glazed Hazelnut Espresso Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:27:00 +0000

I spoiled my coworkers with a choice of six Bundt cakes to help make a mundane meeting taste a little sweeter. Out of the six cakes that I made, this one was devoured the fastest. Folks made a bee-line directly for it. I think the lusciously thick chocolate glaze that graced the top of this cake was just too difficult to ignore. Moreover, the classic combination of chocolate, hazelnut and coffee was just too hard to resist too. This cake is a trifecta of awesomeness.

I don't know about you but when you see the word "hazelnut" in a recipe, I think two things: first, "ooh yum!" and second, "ugh... too time consuming". This is because I always lament having to spend time removing countless thin, papery skins from the nuts. It's a lot of tedious work, but thanks to a tip I read in Dorie Greenspan's Baking with Julia cookbook, it's actual quite simple.

According to Dorie and Alice Medrich (who co-authored the recipe in the book where I learned this trick), the best way to get the bitter skins off hazelnuts is by giving them a luxurious dunk in a hot baking soda bath. They emerge ready to shed their skins in a flash!

Removing Skins from Hazelnuts

3 cups of water
4 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
1 cups of unblanched hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 350F. Bring the water to boil in a medium saucepan, add the baking soda and the nuts and boil for 3 to 5 minutes, until the water turns black -- don't fret, it's normal! To test if the skins have loosened sufficiently, drop a nut into a bowl of cold water and rub lightly against the skin. If the skin just slides off, the nuts are ready to go. If the skins don't come off easily, continue to boil, testing every 30 seconds to a minute. When they are ready, turn the nuts into a colander and run really cold water over them. Simply slip off the skins using your hands or a cloth, toss the nuts onto a towel, pat dry, and transfer to a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.

Place the pan in the oven and toast the nuts, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until evenly browned. The best way to test for total toastiness is to bite into a nut (careful, it will be hot!) -- it should be brown to the center. When the nuts are sufficiently browned, remove the nuts from the oven and cool.

So with this time saving tip, you'll have nothing stopping you from making this delicious treat!

Chocolate Glazed Espresso Hazelnut Cake
Yield: 8-14 slices, depending on how you cut it.
Adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman

2/3 cup full fat sour cream (look at the ingredients and make sure it's all natural, no icky stuff you can't pronounce), at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (don't skimp, no imitation junk)
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and finely chopped
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with flour or spray with Pam for Baking. Be sure to get the center tube portion of the pan. Set aside.

Whisk together the sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a large glass measuring cup. Whisk together the nuts, espresso powder, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream with an electric mier on medium-high speed until really fluffy and pale, about 3-5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and mixer blade as needed.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix a little by hand, and then mix on low speed just until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the sour cream mixture, mix a little by hand, and then mix again on low speed. Repeat steps with remaining flour and sour cream and then remaning flour. Scrape down the bowl and mixer blade as needed. Remember, just mix until the flour disappears and/or the sour cream is fully incorporated.

Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Start the glaze while the cake is cooling.

Chocolate Glaze
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (avoid chips if you can and go for a better quality chocolate if you can. The better the chocolate the better the cake will be)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the chocolate, oil and corn syrup in a stainless steel bowl.

Simmer 1 inch of water in the bottom of a medium saucepan. Put the stainless steel bowl on top of the simmering water, making sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.

Heat, whisking occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in the vanilla. Drizzle over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Let stand until the glaze is set, about 1 hour. Slice and serve.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic -- as if there will be any!

Mikey's Monster 1st Birthday: Vegan Banana Apple Cake & Vegan Buttercream

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 02:11:00 +0000

Monsters have invaded my kitchen but don't worry, they don't bite. Instead you get to bite them! Last year I was asked to make a baby shower cake, cupcakes and cake pops for Mikey's parents, eagerly anticipating Mikey's arrival. Now, a little over a year later , I was asked to help with another big event: Mikey's very first birthday. It's such an honor!

I made a small smash cake, two dozen cupcakes with American buttercream and cookies! Not just any cookies, but *flooded* sugar cookies. I had a really big learning curve with making these because although I had made them before, it was a long time ago and I didn't really do a very good job. This time I wanted to do it right so I bought Bridget Edward's new book (she's from Bake at 350) and devoured all the information. It's a great resource and I did so much better because of it. Bridget was also kind enough to answer several questions that I tweeted to her. Thank you Bridget!

I started out with two cookie designs: this three eyed monster one that uses a cupcake cutter (it's upside down) and another Mikey-esque one from Monster's Inc that used a snow globe cutter. Since the snow globe cutter had a little "foot" on the bottom, I decided it was too risky and scraped it. I could just foresee broken cookie feet all over my kitchen so I decided to keep it simple a stick with the cupcake cutter. It was a challenge to come up with two original designs that would fit inside a cupcake cutter. It was a very good lesson on cookie making and all its limitations. I am quite proud with the results!

I might have got a little carried away making the cookies, but it was a lot of fun playing with the flooded sugar. The best part of learning how to make the cookies was making the 3D eyes. I have so much left over royal icing, I could probably make another thousand pairs. Let me know if you want any! ;)

Making the monsters for the top of the cupcakes was a lot more difficult that I thought. The trick was making the mouth in such a way was too flat. I struggled to come up with original designs that had some dimension; they needed bite! After a lot of sketching and trial and error I was happy with what I came up with. I even named a couple of the little guys. This orange guy below, his name is Hoss. He's my favorite.

...and this guy? I call him Eye-saac (tee-hee )

This little lady's name is Toofy.

The baby's smash cake was vegan, both the actual cake and the frosting. The cake was so delicious! If I didn't know that it was vegan, there's no way I would have suspected it. I even liked it without any frosting. By the way, Mikey's number one cake topper has a name too; his name is Juan... get it?(I crack myself up!)

Vegan Banana Apple Cake
adapted from Food.com

1/2 cup ripe mashed banana
1/4 cup diced REALLY small, fresh apple, cored and seeded
1 1/4 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup Canola oil
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt mixed with water so together they equal 2/3 cup
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake tin with liners or spray a cake pan (the one in the photo is a 4" cake pan).

Mash the banana to the point where it gets liquidy. Ideally, use a blender or submersible hand blender. If you have a hand blender, throw the apple in with the banana and mash them together. Try to get as many big chunks as small as you can. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking power, salt and sugar. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the oil, yogurt mixed with water and vanilla. Gently mix the flour mixture into the wet, but go slow and mix just until combined. The batter will be lumpy and that's exactly what you want. Fill cupcake tins about 2/3 full and bake for 17-22 minutes until you can insert a tooth pick into the center and it comes out clean. The tops will be slightly browned. Let the cupcakes cool for about 3 minutes and remove from the tin and cool on a wire wrack. Try not to eat all the cupcakes while they are still warm... they get better after they sit! :)

Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
Adapted from Chow

This tastes better a day or two after it's made. It still tastes good right after it's freshly made but the margarine taste mellows out with a little time.

1/2 cup shortening (non-hydrogenated is preferred if you can find it)
1/2 cup vegan margarine, at room temperature (I used Earth Balance sticks. Some margarines contain whey and other milk products so read the label)
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy (depending on how sweet you want...up to you)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or any flavor you want)
1 to 3 tablespoons plain soy yogurt

Beat the shortening and margarine together for 3 minutes until super light and fluffy. Add the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar and whip on medium-high speed until smooth. It will be thick. Add the soy yogurt until it's at the consistency you want. You could add food coloring if you want but I found the frosting already had a very yellow color and decided to leave it alone. Keep this in mind if you decide to color as the yellow color will impact the end result. Keep it covered and at room temperature until you decide to use it.

Linkyn's Stacky Ring Cake: Yellow Sour Cream Butter Layer Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 07:21:00 +0000

I've wanted to make this cake for a very long time. One afternoon while I was shopping for for a baby shower gift basket I was putting together, I grabbed a ring stack toy (officially it's called a Rock-A-Stack) and tossed it into my cart. As it sailed through the air and joined the other gifts it occurred to me that this iconic toy's shape and color scheme would make the perfect cake. It was all there, just begging to be "cake-ified", complete with its individual ring layers and bright happy colors.

When Stacie, Linkyn's mom, asked me if I'd be interested in making her son's first birthday cake, I was super excited. When she told me she wasn't sure what theme she wanted, I couldn't help but suggest this cake. "You know that ring stacky toy thing that every kid has and loves? What about making that as a cake? I've always wanted to make one. I even own the toy..." I went on and on, smiling broadly, dimples blazing. After much deliberation and consideration for a few other themes, I was able to convince her. Hooray!! I was thrilled!

Because of the weight of the ring layers I opted to make the base of the cake out of carved rice cereal treats (I choose Fruity Pebbles because of the fun color). Each of the rings were made out of the most wonderful yellow cake recipe, rich with butter and fattened up with sour cream. Not only does it taste yummy, but it's incredibly stable and although the crumb is very tender, it carves great too.

I carved and split each layer and then filled and frosted them with a very yummy caramel frosting (which I can't seem to find... more on that later). The good news is that I have the recipe for the cake which you'll find below. If you're a cake recipe nerd like me, you'll notice that the steps for making the batter is much different than most cakes. It starts with beating the butter and all the dry ingredients together from the get-go. This makes the flour particles become coated with the butter and helps prevent the creation of tough gluten strands once the liquid is added. This creates a cake that's really something special: a pound cake texture with the mouthfeel of wedding cake but more buttery and exceedingly delicious.

Yellow Sour Cream Butter Layer Cake
adapted from Nancy Baggett's The All American Dessert Book

1 2/3 cups unsifted cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, soften to room temperature
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature (When buying sour cream be sure to read the label and look for a brand that's 100% cream. Avoid brands that have rennet, sodium citrate, salt or ingredients that you can't pronounce. Blech.)
3/4 cup full-fat milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract - the best you can find!

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray two 9" or three 8 1/2" round cake pans with non-stick spray (Pam for baking is my personal favorite). Cut rounds of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the cake pans and spray them too. Set aside.

Sift the flours, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Add the sugar and combine with a mixer on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Beat in the butter a tablespoon or two at a time until all of it is incorporated and the mixture just has the consistency of coarse crumbs; don't over beat.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sour cream together until well blended and smooth. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. Add half the egg mixture to the crumbs and beat on low speed until just blended, about 10 seconds. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes longer.

Beating on low speed, slowly add the remaining egg mixture until all is incorporated. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes longer, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; the mixture may look slightly separated but don't fret.

Divide the thick batter evenly among the pans and spread it to the edges ( a kitchen scale works great for this task. I highly recommend one). Rap the pans on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake for 20-35 minutes (oven temperatures vary). You'll know it's done when you and put a toothpick into the center and it comes out clean and the surface is slightly browned, and the top springs back when pressed.

Transfer the pans to wire racks. Let cool to barely warm, at least 30 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the pan and under the paper all the way round, then rap the pans on the counter to loosen the layers; handle gently. Holding a rack flat against a pan, invert the layers onto the racks. Remove the papers. Let cool completely. The unfrosted layers will keep, stored airtight airtight, at room temperature for 24 hours or frozen for up to a month. Let come to room temperature before frosting. You can make the cake a day or two ahead of time but wrap each layer in plastic wrap and store in the freezer or refrigerator.

Happy 1st Birthday Linkyn!

Those Sound Sweet! Cracker Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:16:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the great people over at Solo Foods to enter their Sweetest 16 Baking Recipe Contest. They sent me a box chock full of almond paste and several of their pastry and pie fillings and asked me to come up with an original recipe. I pondered over this for a while before I began to bake. I wanted to make something different and not the typical macaroon or almond cake. I almost entered my recipe for The King of Cakes: Baumkuchen but decided to think a bit outside of the box.

I decided on two recipes, one being this one and the other being a take on a cinnamon roll but made with cardamom. The cardamom roll recipe was yeast-based and although was good, it was a bit too savory. It just didn't have that cinnabon-eque quality that I hoped it would so I've decided to table that recipe for now and revisit it. I thought of this recipe because a few years ago a neighbor gave me a tin of "cookies" covered in white chocolate. They were Ritz crackers filled with peanut butter and dipped in white chocolate bark and I was immediately smitten! I couldn't believe how good they tasted and have always had them in the back of my mind since then; it was one recipe I really wanted to try for myself.

In the interest of keeping it simple and maximizing on yield, I decided to give it a go but replacing the peanut-butter with the almond paste (that I mixed with a little butter) and adding a skosh of apricot filling for a little something extra. I love the mixture of those flavors in the Baumkuchen so I knew it had to taste good.

I brought in a test batch to my co-workers and although skeptical initially, but everyone loved them. Several of them said it tasted like a fancy Butterfinger and just about everyone couldn't believe I used Ritz crackers to make them.

So if you're looking for a recipe that will yield a lot of cookies without having to spend much money or turn on the oven, these are your new best friend.

Those Sound Sweet! Cracker Cookies
Yields: A boatload of cookies (about 30-45)

2-3 sleeves of Ritz Crackers
1/4 cup (or less) of Solo Almond Paste
2 tablespoons (or less) Solo Apricot Cake and Pastry Filling
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of unsalted butter
Sprinkles (options)

Mix the almond paste and the butter together until well mixed.

Take a cracker, flat side down and spread a very small amount of almond paste on the surface, just enough to fill in the holes on the cracker’s surface. Repeat with all the crackers for a more pronounced almond flavor or skip this step.

Top one of the crackers with a small amount of apricot jam, just so it covers the center (about the size of a dime). Top with a second cracker, flat side up. Continue following these steps until you’ve used all the crackers.

Melt the chocolate chips and the butter together (either in the microwave or over low heat in a sauce pan) and mix until smooth. Using a folk or a small pair of tongs, dip the cracker sandwich into the melted chocolate and cover completely. Shake off the excess chocolate and place onto waxed paper and immediately decorate with sprinkles of your choice or just leave them bare. Let them sit until the chocolate is set. Keep cold or cool.

Note about the yield: One 7 oz can of almond paste is enough to literally make at least a few hundred cookies (seriously!). It all really depends on how much you put on each cracker. I used a very thin layer of both the almond paste and the apricot filling. If you want to make a really big batch of cookies you will need to purchase more crackers, just keep that in mind.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake: Browned Butter Pumpkin Cake with Vanilla Latte Swiss Meringue Buttercream

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:18:00 +0000

Doesn't it seem like pumpkin is everywhere? It's as though the clock strikes midnight on October first and all references to summer suddenly shift to pumpkin. Not only are pumpkins literally outside the door of every grocery store in town, they are downright trendy. There's a pumpkin flavored version of just about everything, including beer, Oreos, and even ravioli!

Even Facebook is not immune to all that is pumpkin. I read many a status update from friends proclaiming their delight in the imminent arrival of their most cherished fall beverage (queue the music!): the Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte. All the excitement was lost on me because up until a week ago, I had never tried this popular coffee drink. When a potential shortage of the pumpkin spice flavored syrup started making headlines, I couldn't understand how a coffee drink could be so popular.

My attitude changed last Thursday as I sat in my boyfriend's truck on a rainy afternoon, enjoying an impromptu, yet romantic twenty-minute mini-date. Waiting for me in the truck's cup-holder was a surprise pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. In that moment, as I sipped my first latte and listened to my boyfriend tell me about his morning, I understood instantly why they are so coveted.

Pumpkin = Love

Yup, it's that easy. You see, my theory is that for many Americans, the sweet, nutmeg-y, cinnamon-y, creamy pumpkiny deliciousness is instantly associated with the taste of pumpkin pie, a comfort food that transcends like none other. Pumpkin pie is served during the holidays which is associated with family, friends, happiness, memories, joy, warmth, snuggles, hugs, kisses, laughter, gifts, and the most important, love. See? Simple arithmetic.

Love in a cup, with a hint of caffeine, is pure genius. This got me thinking about the flavors in the latte and how easy it would be to translate them into a cake. I thought about this idea for a long time, as I like to do, experimenting with different flavor combinations of cake and frosting. Should I include allspice? Should the buttercream be a vehicle for the pumpkin? How pronounced should the coffee flavor be? Soon all my questions had answers and a recipe started to take shape. The cake that I had envisioned was cooling on my kitchen counter. The Swiss meringue buttercream was ready and waiting to be piped.

I was so excited to bring this cake into work for everyone to try and it did not disappoint. The reviews it received were overwhelmingly positive. The buttercream was lauded for its lightness and balanced sweetness. The cake was the true star as just about everyone who had a slice raved about how moist, fragrant, and flavorful it was. The spices I used in the cake, although assertive, complimented the pumpkin perfectly. A holy matrimony of cake, flavor and texture. It is now my new go-to pumpkin cake recipe. Finally, a Pumpkin Spice Latte you can eat wit a fork.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake Recipe adapted from FineCooking.com
Yield: 8-16 servings

1 1/2 cups pure canned pumpkin
3/4 cup (or 6 ounces) unsalted butter; more for the pans
2 cups (or 9 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pans
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

How to make browned butter

Cut up the unsalted butter into big chunks and melt in saucepan over medium heat. Don't increase the heat any higher, otherwise the butter will cook too quickly and burn. Cook, swirling from time to time. You'll soon see a layer of white foam on the surface. The color will change too, going from a yellow to a honey to a golden tan and throughout this process you'll hear it sizzle too, pop and snap. You should also see some dark specs at the bottom of the bowl (that was once the foam and are the super tasty parts). Around this time you'll start to notice a nutty aroma and once you smell that, that is your queue to remove the butter from the heat, swirl, swirl, swirl it around the pan to help cool it down and pour it into a metal bowl and let it sit about 15-30 minutes. (Don't do this step ahead of time as you don't want the butter to get so cool that it starts to congeal.)

Making the cake

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment and butter the parchment. (Please don't skip the parchment. I know it's tempting.)

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, all the spices, and the salt.

In a large bowl on a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and buttermilk together. Add both sugars and mix until everything is combined. Add pumpkin and mix for 2-3 minutes until very well blended.

By hand, stir in the flour mixture, a cup or so at a time, just until combined and you no longer see any pockets of flour. The batter may look lumpy. Gently whisk in half of the the brown butter, by hand, until completely incorporated and repeat with the other half of the butter. The batter will get thicker. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Bake the cakes for 15 minutes and then switch their position around in the oven so ensure even baking. Set your timer for 5 more minutes and check to see how the cakes are doing. If the centers are still giggly, cook for 5 minutes more. Continue checking every 2-3 minutes until the centers are set and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cook time should be between 25-35 minutes, but keep and eye on them.

Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto racks, remove the parchment, and cool completely. Once they are completely cool, cover in plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you're ready to frost them. I'd wait at least an hour or more if you can. The colder they are the easier they will be work with. If you're in a hurry, put the cakes in the freezer until you're ready to frost.

Vanilla Latte Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Adapted from Sweetapolita

Yield: about 5 cups

6 large fresh egg whites - don't use pasteurized egg whites, please
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter. Make sure the butter is slightly soft to the touch but is still cold on the inside.
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, split & scraped OR 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder dissolved into 1 teaspoon boiling water*
Pinch or two of cinnamon (to taste)
Pinch of Kosher salt

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer and the whisk attachment with paper towel dipped in a little lemon juice to remove any trace of food or grease.

By hand, lightly whisk the eggs whites and sugar together over simmering water (not boiling) until a candy thermometer reaches 140F. No candy thermometer? It is ready when the egg white mixture is very hot to the touch and you cannot feel any grains of sugar when you rub some of the egg mixture between your fingers. Note that this can take a solid 3-5 minutes so don't rush this step or get lazy with whisking.

Transfer the mixer bowl to the mixer and whip on medium-high speed for about 6-10 minutes. The mixture will get thick and fluffy. Keep the mixture whisking until the bottom and sides of the mixer bowl is cool to the touch. If it's even a little bit warm, be patient and let the mixture cool all the way. Your mixer enjoys this type of workout. You can't over mix once you get to this step.

Once the bowl is cool to the touch, switch over to your paddle attachment, turn the mixture back up to medium speed and begin adding the butter, a tablespoon at a time. Don't blob it all in the bowl at once. Take your time, adding another pat of butter every few seconds, until it's all incorporated and the mixture gets a silky texture. Buttercream Troubleshooting

Lumpy texture? Your butter may be too cold. Keep mixing. It will eventually even out and come together.
Too runny? Your butter got too warm. Stop mixing and put the buttercream into the fridge or freezer to get cold.
Still too runny? Add a few tablespoons of cold butter

Once you get the texture right, add the scrapped vanilla bean, the vanilla, and the espresso mixture*, salt, cinnamon and mix well.

*This gives the buttercream a very subtle espresso flavor. I did this on purpose because I wanted to emulate the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte as much as I could. If you want a more pronounced coffee flavor, feel free to double the amount of espresso power.

Cake Assembly
Chill the cake layers at least an hour or freeze for half-hour. It's best to let them sit and chill overnight. It also makes the cake easier to frost. It's up to you though -- feel free to frost away without chillin'

The directions I'm about to provide are based on how I decorated this cake. No fear, my friend, if you just want to frost this cake the way you always do, go for it. I promise it will still taste yummy no matter how you ultimately decide to assemble to cake.

Lay a few small pieces of parchment paper along the bottom of a cake board or platter, then put the cake on top. (You'll remove the paper later after you've frosted the cake. This will help keep your cake board or platter tidy). Put the cake on the board or a large plate. Put a generous very generous dollop of buttercream on the top of the cake, pushing out to the edge. Smooth it out as much as you can and put the layer in the freezer to firm up, about 5 minutes.

Take the cake out of the freezer, smooth out the buttercream as much as you can and put the top layer, top side down, on top of the first layer, even it out as much as you can. Take a small amount of buttercream and spread along the sides of the cake, filling in the gap between the layers. Use as little buttercream as you can to gently ice the outside of the cake so that you can still see the cake through it.

Slather a good layer of buttercream on the top of the cake, smoothing it out as best you can. Fill a pastry bag with buttercream that's fitted with an Ateco tip 117. With the thicker side of the tip down on the cake, slowly pipe out ribbons as you work your way around the outside border. Continue this, adding a new concentric circle each time. I made 5 passes around the cake and then added a boarder using a small star tip (sorry, the tip I used doesn't have a number on it). Remove the parchment from the bottom of the cake board.

For the bottom of the cake, I used Ateco tip 99, which to me looks like a little mustache, but technically it's for making swag borders. I rested the tip against the cake board and make little 90 degree arches all the way around the cake.

Beverly Hills Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:06:00 +0000

My neighbor Tracy ordered these fancy schmancy cupcakes for our neighbor Cindy who loves Beverly Hills.She especially adores Tom Ford the designer. The black and gold zipper, the brown purse and the lipstick are all replicas of things he is known for. The rest of the cupcakes are fairly self explanatory except for two: The teal belt above the Happy Birthday cupcake is for the brand Pop Mollywho is known for their belts and purses and the second is the zebra one to the left of the big red heart. Let me explain...

Inside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel lives the Library Bar. It is famous for its one-of-a-kind cocktails made by Matthew Biancaniello. Cindy, the birthday girl, loves visiting this bar when she's in town and it was important that I include it in some way in one of the cupcakes. I wrote to the hotel to get the logo and it turned out that the bar doesn't have one! The hotel representative was so helpful and sent me several photos of cocktails made and of the bar's interior which you'll find below:

(Photo Courtesy of Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel - A Thompson Hotel)

The chairs stood out immediately as something that I could try and make, so I did! I included two books as my attempt at acknowledging the name of the bar: I painted "Library Bar" on the top book and the bottom one, I put the initials "MB" on the spine it in honor of Cindy's favorite mixologist. While not perfect, it was a good attempt. Making a chair that tiny and have it stay standing up isn't an easy thing to do!

It was a fun project and it really challenged me to think a bit outside of the box. I forgot how much fun making 3D images can be. Just in case you're curious about the flavor, the cupcakes were a dark Guinness Stout chocolate (my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe!) and whipped chocolate ganache. Happy Birthday Cindy! I hope you enjoyed them. :)

Easy Peasy Reese's Pieces Blondies

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Several years ago, back when I first started blogging, I came up with a recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondies for one of my coworkers. This little recipe has been one of the my most popular, only second to my Better Than Starbucks Lemon Poundcake, and has a bit of a cult following. There are so many reasons to love this recipe: they take almost no time to make, their taste and texture appeals to the pickiest of palettes, they are inexpensive to make, they smell amazing when they are baking.. I could go on and on! Not only that but you probably have the ingredients for them in your kitchen right now. No pomp or circumstance needed! Just real butter, please but that should go without saying.

I have to admit that this recipe almost never saw the light of day. The first time I made it I was new to experimenting with recipes. I was multitasking like mad and took them out of the oven much too soon. When I flipped them out of the baking pan onto my cooling rack, they were so under-done they practically oozed through the wire rack! After crying out in horror, I very quickly flipped it back into the baking pan with the surface looking like an earthquake had rattled it at its core. I was sure I'd messed them up beyond repair but they recovered beautifully. The cracked blondies repaired themselves while they continued to bake and lo! the Snickerdoodle Blondie was gifted upon the world! Phew!

One of my favorite things about this recipe that I probably should have mentioned first is their versatility. I made a variation of these little guys that involved a pumpkin layer that is really wonderful too or you can jazz it up just by adding your favorite candy treat. With Halloween coming up you may find yourself being invited to parties but not having a lot of time to bake or just having a lot of left over candy and wanting to make something festive. Say hello to your lifesaver! This time around I skipped the cinnamon sugar crust and grabbed a bag of I went with Reese's Pieces, but you could use just about any kind of candy that can melt.

So now it's your turn! Be creative! Make a version of this recipe with your favorite candy and tell me all about it. Get the kids involved! It's a great basic recipe for them to make that they are sure to love and you will too!

Reese's Pieces Blondies

Yield: approximately 30 servings (depending on how you cut the bars)

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (Please don't use margarine)
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup of Reeses Pieces + 1/4 -1/3 cup for embellishing the top (this can be increased to 1 cup. It really depends on how big the pieces of candy are. Use your best judgement).

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Add 3/4 of a cup of Reese's Pieces. Mix gently. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish.). Sprinkle 1/4 - 1/3 of a cup of Reese's Pieces on top, pushing down with your hand to ensure proper "candy to cake batter contact".

Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Say Hi to Vera!

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 00:55:00 +0000

By the way, have you noticed my new logo on the site? I call her Vera and I just adore her! She was conceived and designed by the incredibly talented Jon Stapp of ATOMICvibe. He is one of *the* most amazing art directors and graphic designers in the universe, maybe even the galaxy.
He documented his entire design process and even if you're not into graphic design, it's sincerely worth a gander. It was fascinating to see how much work goes into a little logo. Hmmm, kind of reminds me of something else... :)

On that note, in a week or two I'll be launching a totally redesigned site using Vera as the muse. I can't wait to share it with everyone. One more thing: I also recently created a new Dozen Flours Facebook fan page. Please be sure to stop by and say hello!

Oh, Baby! Oh, Otomi!

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:23:00 +0000

This past Saturday I attended a baby shower for my dear friend Noella. It seems like it was just last month that she went to Kaua'i for vacation and came back married to her best friend John. My how time flies! She's pregnant with her first child, a baby girl and is due in a few short weeks. I've been anticipating making this cake since I found out she was pregnant. I just couldn't wait to celebrate this big event in her life.

On a warm, sunny August morning, Noella and I met for breakfast at the High-Life, one of my favorite restaurants in Ballard. Over sauteed chard and baked eggs, I watched Noella's face light up as she detailed her plans to decorate her daughter's room with bright pink and orange, Mexican doll prints she had recently found and Otomi patterns. Otomi wasn't a word I was familiar with but it was a pattern I adored. Until that day I didn't even know had an official name! Otomi is the Mexican art of embroidery which you've most likely seen, especially if you've ever visited Mexico or been into a Pier 1 Imports store. It's actually rather common as I've seen variations on it on everything to women's clothing to pillows to a lamp shade at the Land of Nod. I was instantly intrigued and loved the idea of translating an Otomi design onto a cake.

I could "see" the design in my head almost instantly but translating it to an actual cake proved to be a bit of a challenge. I knew I wanted to have an Otomi pattern on the cake, but I wasn't sure what the scale should be. Since Otomi patterns are notoriously jam-packed with various sized elements, the overall design can get very busy. Would the busy pattern work on two tiers? Should I keep the colors separate per tier or combine them? I was over thinking things but unfortunately that's part of my creative process. Oh, and let's not forgot my internal struggle to commit to using fondant or not. It wasn't until about a week before the cake was due that I made a decision to use fondant. Honestly, I try to avoid covering cakes in fondant due to how expensive it is, that most people just eat around it and I just get really intimidated. But in order to get the clean palette I needed to apply the pattern to the sides of the cake, I knew it was the right direction to go.

I was dreading draping the fondant over the cakes like you wouldn't believe. Thank goodness for my friend Janet who makes the most amazing cakes and has a lot of expertise covering cakes with fondant. She gave me two tips that made all the difference! She said to put my cakes into the freezer to get them really rigid because it makes it easier to cover (so true!) and to makes sure my fondant was at least 1/4 inch thick once I rolled it out. Up until then I was lucky if I was using 1/8 of an inch which would explain why my fondant normally always tears and generally looks horrible. It took me four separate attempts to get the cakes covered without any tears or obvious wrinkles but I did it. While not perfect it was still leaps and bounds better than I had ever done. I finally had a clean palette to Otomi-ize!

As for the design, I found a few images of animals online that I printed out, shrunk, and cut out and used as stencils. As for the rest of it, well, I just made up as I went along. My goal was to create a pattern that was some what traditional and made the pattern symmetrical all the way around the cake. The second layer took on a life of its own and stayed somewhat simple. I could have continued the Otomi design there too but it just seemed like too much. I opted for a bright boarder and used a few small designs to add some interest.

Overall I'm pretty thrilled with the way it came out. Noella loved it when she saw it at the shower and really, that's all that mattered.

Noella, I'm so happy for you and John! I can't wait to meet your little bubblecupcake! She's so lucky to have you as a mom!

A Taste of Summer: Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 23:05:00 +0000

Don't you just love summer? I sure do. Around Seattle, summer only lasts about eight weeks with a few weeks in July (if we're lucky), most August, and a few weeks into September. Although I do love the weather in the Pacific Northwest, the summers are just resplendent. It's almost as if our summer days are more concentrated in smile producing endorphins and sunshine. Or maybe it's just that I'm just that much more grateful for a clear day that's warm and I don't need to wear a few extra layers.
Even before the summer sun is shining high in a perfect blue canvas of a sky, the farmers markets and grocery stores start to fill with the most scrumptious strawberries, bursting with bright tangy flavor. I enjoy adding them to a cold class of sparkling water or a big favorite of my son's, making strawberry lemonade.

One afternoon when I was slicing up some strawberries for a snack, my mind wandered to the idea of making a cheesecake, when the idea of a strawberry lemonade variation popped into my head. Oooh, this could be really good! And just to make it extra special, I experimented with different for the crust: Animal Crackers!

This is a recipe is not for those in a hurry as the strawberry sauce, lemon curd and cake need several hours to chill out in the fridge before they will be ready. You can make this the night before you need it, just keep in mind that a cold cheesecake is a happy one!

I have to confess that normally I'm not very excited at the idea of making a cheesecake. I stress about water from the water bath getting past the foil barricade and making the crust soggy. It was such a gamble! I am a much more confident cheese cake maker now because of my new favorite invention, The Perfect Cheesecake System, that was sent to me by the person who invented it, the amazing, multi-talented chef Alisa McPheron. The key is her patented silicone pan protector that provides a water proof barrier between the cake and the water bath. It's brilliant! Alisa's system provides recipes, a DVD with step by step instructions, and a few extras too. She's really an amazing gal and so nice too! I wish her the greatest success. Please be sure to click on the link I provided to her site and watch her video and see more details about her and her system.

I love this product so much I am giving one away to one of my readers. Lucky you! Simply leave a comment and I'll pick a winner at random on ~~September 19th~~. Sorry, you missed it! Be sure to provide a way to contact you (a link to your profile is fine!).

Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake with Animal Cracker Crust
Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings

Animal Cracker Crumb Crust
5 ounces of Animal Crackers (I found this very small amount for around $1 in the bulk foods bin at my grocery store)
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and kept warm

Cheesecake
3 teaspoons of lemon zest (organic if possible. Be sure to scrub rind before zesting
3 tablespoons of FRESH lemon juice (don't you dare use lemon juice from a bottle or plastic yellow lemon looking thing!!)
1 cup white sugar
4 (8 ounce) packages full fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup full-fat milk, at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Strawberry Sauce
8-12 ounces of fresh or frozen strawberries, NOT the kind that come "sauced"
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Lemon Curd
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Crust
Adjust over rack to lower-middle position. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. Stack 3 large sheets of 18-inch-wide heavy-duty foil on work surface. Place spring-form pan in center. Wrap foil snugly around pan sides. (Note: if using the Perfect Cheesecake System, this step is not needed. Simply place the springform pan into it's silicone sleeve.)

In a food processor, process cookies to fine crumbs, for about 30 seconds. You should have a total of 1 cup of crumbs. Add sugar and pulse for 2 to 3 times so everything mixes together. Add warm melted butter in slow, steady stream while pulsing; pulse until mixture is evenly moistened and results wet sand, about ten 1-2 second pulses. Press the crumbs evenly down into the base and 1-inch up the sides. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.

Strawberry Sauce
Clean and hull fresh strawberries and cut into chunks (doesn't matter what they look like, but it helps if they are uniform in size) and dust with sugar. If you using frozen strawberries, place them in a bowl, rise with water and dust with sugar. Mix well and add water. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. If not much juice is coming out from the strawberries, add another 1/4 cup. Put the strawberries into a blender and blend until smooth and uniform. Strain threw a fine wire mess strainer, pushing the strawberries down, extracting as much juice as you can. Discard strawberry pulp (you can keep this and use it on toast or muffins or in a smoothy or even on the cheesecake is you want to, it's up to you.) Add lemon juice. Add more sugar to taste if desired. Set aside until ready to serve cheesecake.

Cheesecake
In a medium bowl, mix 2 teaspoons of lemon zest and sugar together with your fingers, rubbing the grains of sugar into the lemon, being sure to mix evenly. The sugar should be moist, very fragrant and have a slight yellow hue. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese alone until it's smooth and free from any lumps. (If there are lumps, it may be because it's too cold. Wait 15 minutes and mix again.)

Mix in sour cream and flour until smooth. On slow, gradually add lemon-sugar mixture and beat until creamy,

Blend in milk, and then *slowly* mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate, about 30 seconds (no yolk streaks). Scrape the bowl and mixer blade.

Beat in remaining 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Scrape the bowl and mixer blade and pour into the prepared springform pan

Fill a tea kettle up with water and bring to a boil.

Put a roasting pan that's big enough to hold the springform pan into the oven, place the springform pan into the center and fill the roasting pan with enough boiling water to come half way up the sides of the springform pan (or silicon liner - don't add water to the liner!).

Cover cheesecake pan (not roasting pan) loosely with foil.

Bake 1 hour. Uncover and continue to bake until just set in center when cake pan is gently shaken, about 20 minutes longer. Remove cake from water, place on a small cooling rack and put both directly into refrigerator; chill uncovered overnight.

For curd: Whisk eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Add butter and lemon peel. Stir over medium heat until curd thickens to pudding consistency, about 10 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd. Chill until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be made 3 days ahead.)

Assembly
Cut around cake to loosen. Slowly remove pan sides. Generously top the cake with lemon curd, spreading it around uniformly like it's frosting. Then if desired, drizzle some strawberry sauce on top or table side after it's cut. (Tip: clean knife off after ever cut to ensure a pretty piece that looks professional.)

This was a very light cheesecake that wasn't overly sweet and the crust was a great compliment. Overall a very yummy cake and so much easier with the Perfect Cheesecake System. Thank you Alisa!

Give Away Update

The winner is...

(wait for it)

....

NathasjaT!

Sunshine On A Stick- Cake Pop Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:25:00 +0000

A few months ago, on an unusually stormy and humid afternoon in June, I had a cake order due for a pool party themed birthday party. Samantha was turning ten and she was having a big party to celebrate. Unfortunately, the weather kept the sun at bay but who needs the sun when you have a cake pop cake like this?

Instead of using plain white sugar as the backdrop for the cake pops, I wanted something vibrant and hopefully edible. I was wondering around the grocery store and wandered into the bulk department, looking for inspiration and saw these: Sixlets candies! These were perfect!

I purchased a shallow metal pink tray, lined it with a piece of Styrofoam, and covered it with two layers of tissue paper. Because I knew it would be difficult to get the completed cake pops through the tissue paper, I thought ahead. I used a lollipop stick sharped with a pencil sharpener to poke holes through the paper and the Styrofoam. Then, before placing the cake pops, I put my boyfriend's daughter to work creating a single layer of candies in concentric circles in the bottom of the tray, separated by color. She was a big help!

While she was busy, I got to work making the cake balls. For something a little different and to keep with the bright and colorful beachy theme, I went with a "tie dye" two color pop and used two colors of cake.

I used the "Solly" the sun from Hoobynoo World as my inspiration. Don't you just love him? I just couldn't help but smile every time I looked at his little face! I made him from fondant and placed him on top of five flattened cake pops I placed close together to make a platform.

As you can see, the birthday girl just loved her sunshine cake pop cake. It was a big hit and the sunniest rainy birthday ever.

Monkey Freckles Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:56:00 +0000

Each quarter at work we have a big meeting that we refer to as the "Town Hall". The meetings are informative, entertaining and full of creative videos that keep everyone rapt with attention (and laughing!). Unfortunately the meeting has a reputation for being lengthy, sometimes exceeding ninety minutes in duration. To help ease the pain of sitting that long, I was asked to provide something yummy for the troupes and I gladly accepted. All together, I made six different cakes! I tried to find recipes that would appeal to everyone in attendance and I knew this one was sure to get gobbled up. Overall it was a great success and I especially enjoyed watching everyone come into the big conference room and see the freshly baked goodies waiting for them. Cake makes people smile!

The first recipe I'd like to share is one that I enjoyed making, munching on, and renaming. It's really just banana chocolate chip cake but it's just too yummy for a such a pedestrian name. If you like Starbuck's Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake, then you will absolutely love this recipe. True, my recipe isn't exactly reduced-fat like Starbuck's but considering their cake has 400 calories per serving, I'm not exactly sure it matters. Not to mention, my cake has ingredients you can pronounce and probably have in your kitchen. Startbuck's cake is full of preservatives and odd things like DATEM and oleoresin paprika...*shudder*.

So instead of pitching those brown bananas no one wants to eat into the trash can, whip up a treat everyone will love! Guaranteed smile-maker! :)

Monkey Freckles Cake (aka Banana Chocolate Chip Cake)
adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman
Yield: 10-16 slices, depending on how you slice it

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups VERY ripe bananas (skins are almost black), mashed up. It's about 3 little or 2 big bananas.
2/3 cup full fat sour cream at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup or 1 stick unsalted butter, softened but not melted
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, mini or full sized
1 cup of toasted, chopped walnuts (size of pieces is up to you) (optional)
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 12-cup Bundt cake pan or tube pan and dust with flour or spray with Pam for Baking. Don't forget the center fluted section!

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Set aside.

Mix the eggs, bananas, sour cream, and vanilla together just until combined. Set aside.

Don't rush this step! In a bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until it gets fluffy and almost white in color. Do this for 3 minutes with a stand mixer and 5 minutes with a handheld. Stop a time or two to scrape down the bowl and attachment(s).

Pour all of the sour cream mixture from step 1 into the bowl and mix with a spoon a little to combine the ingredients. Then turn on your mixer on low speed, slowly working up to medium to mix the ingredients together until well mixed. Scrape down the bowl and mixer attachment(s) once. Mix until everything looks consistent and no chunks of sour cream or butter remain. About 2-3 minutes.

Slowly add the flour to the mixture, a little at a time, on low speed. Tip: I like to mix a little in manually before turning on the mixer to avoid the flour popping out of the bowl. Scrape down the bowl and attachment(s) and give it one last good mix at medium high for 10-15 seconds.

Bundt Pan: Mix the chocolate chips with a teaspoon or two of flour. Coat evenly. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts (if you plan to use them) to the batter. Give one final mix on medium-high speed to incorporate them into the batter. Tube Pan: Reserve 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. Mix remaining chips with a teaspoon or two of flour. Coat evenly. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts (if you plan to use them) to the batter. Give one final mix on medium-high speed to incorporate them into the batter.

Bundt Pan: Pour batter into the prepared pan. Tube Pan: Pour batter into the prepared pan and scatter the reserved chocolate chips on the top, pushing down on them with the back of a spoon to set

Put the cake into the center of the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. About 40-45 minutes. Set your time for 35 minutes just to see where the cake is. You may not need the full 40-45 minutes.

Let the cake cool down in the pan for at least 10 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over the top if you wish and enjoy.

Note: For a denser texture, wait at several hours for it to cool off, even over night.

Would I Make This Again? Heck yeah! My sixteen year old son said, "Mom, that's DELICIOUS!" when he had a slice and he hardly ever gives me any real feedback.

The Cake That Crossed The Atlantic (Well, almost): Chocolate Espresso Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 07:25:00 +0000

One seemingly normal February day, I received a friendly email and a cake order inquiry from Val, a fellow baker. While this does happen from time to time, this one was rather peculiar because Val was from England! A full 4800+ miles from me! Val explained that her son lived in Seattle and she wanted a surprise birthday cake for her daughter-in-law Abi. I was so excited, I couldn't write Val back fast enough to get more details. After a few emails back and forth, her cake order was finalized and I had my very first transatlantic order!

Val requested that the cake be chocolate and liked my idea to fill it with berries. Being that it was March when I made the cake, I opted for frozen cherries which worked just fine. I also felt compelled to include a thick, luscious layer of chocolate ganache made from Felchlin's Grand Cru Maracaibo 65%, the most amazing chocolate I've tasted. After stacking the filled cake I frosted it with Swiss Buttercream.

As for the decorations, Val gave me creative freedom but asked that I find a way to celebrate Abi's love of all things crafting. It took me a little while to get inspired but I eventually settled upon a patchwork flower, button and bow theme. Girly but yet not too over the top.

And just for a little something special I made a little envelope with an Airmail theme to show where the cake really came from: Val's heart. :)

Chocolate Espresso Cake
Yield: 3 9-inch cakes or 5 6-inch cakes
adapted from Elisa Strauss

2 2/3 cups (12 ounces) All-purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, best quality you can find (I prefer Droste)
2 cups (14 ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup full fat sour cream, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
10 ounces espresso coffee, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the bottoms and sides of the pans with melted butter and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, coco powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitter with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until smooth.

Set the mixer to low speed and add the eggs, one at a time, scraping thoroughly between each addition.

Alternately add the flour and sour cream mixtures to the butter mixture in two batches, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl after each addition.

Gradually pour in the coffee. Scrape down the bowl and beat until thoroughly
combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. For 9-inch cake pans, bake 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean; for half-sheet pans, bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean; for cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until they spring back after being touched. For this specific cake, I used the entire recipe to make several 5-inch layers of cake in a 6" pan and baked it for about 15-18 minutes. There should be some crumbs that stick to a toothpick but just bearly.

Allow the cakes to cool for 20 minutes. Once the cake is cool, release it from its pan by running a metal spatula or knife along the sides of the pan. Flip the cake over onto another pan or cake board and peel away the layer of parchment.

Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces really good quality chocolate, chopped. Make sure all the pieces are about the same size and thickness
1 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate into a large stainless steel bowl and set aside.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking often. Just when the cream starts to come to a boil, pour it over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for 3 minutes.

Whisk it until it is smooth and no lumps appear. You can also whip it with a hand or stand mixer for a fluffier texture.

I was so nervous making this cake that I made an second one just to have a backup. Since I didn't need it, thankfully, I put it to good use. I made a "You can do it!"/ "You're almost done!" encouragement cake to help my coworker's very pregnant wife make it through her last week of pregnancy. :)

Inspiration In The Thread Count: Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Cream Cheese Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:21:00 +0000

Shortly after I completed the Happy Bee Day cake, my client Shauna was so delighted with her order she asked me if I would be interested in helping her with another baby shower. I was immediately interested because baby shower cakes usually offer the most creative challenges and have thus become my favorite type of party cake to make. However when Shauna told me that she wanted something with "...flowers and butterflies in soft pinks and lavenders..." I was a little deflated. So much so that I actually tried to talk her out of it.
I asked for the mom-to-be's name so that I could take a peek at her registry to see if there was anything in there that could offer me inspiration. Shauna dealt with my artistic neurosis happily and sent me a link a few minutes after I asked. True to Shauna's word, Erin's, the mom-to-be, registry was brimming with pink and purple butterflies and flowers. Surprisingly the only things that she registered for was for various parts of the Gabrielle Nursery Bedding Collection. Could I translate the bedding into a cupcake design? A few weeks before the cake order was due I decided to make a pilgrimage to my local Pottery Barn Kids store so I could see the bedding up close. The sheets captured my attention first with their heart shaped leaves and arched branches in a mottled palette of browns, pinks, and lavenders. The large, echoing flowers in various sizes looked as though they had been traced from a cookie cutter. I started to "see" the finished cupcakes as I waited in line with a new muse: a pillowcase in the Gabrielle pattern. I just couldn't help myself.
You see, anyone that knows me knows how much I love bedding! I rarely ever buy a matched set and take pride in piecing together patterns and solids to create looks that I can call my own. I have created entire ensembles from sheets I bought from clearance bins, duvets from estate sales, and pillow cases from thrift stores. Some of my favorite patterns are from the late 1960s that have been washed so many times you would think they were 400 thread-count Egyptian cotton but...I digress. :) So where were we? Cupcakes! So along with some photos of the crib bumper I was able to create a entire cupcake theme using the pattern in the sheets. I decided early on that I'd try to create unique patterns for all the larger cupcake, keep the mini cupcakes simple, and focus on reinforcing the color palette into the cake pops. For a little something extra I hand-painted the new parent's initials on to the anchor cuppies. These two cupcakes held the banner that I hand-painted with the phrase "Cailín leanbh nua". It means "welcome baby girl" in Gaelic and was chosen by Shauna because the new parent's were, as Shauna said it, "300% Irish." And in keeping with the Irish theme, I made my go-to Guiness Chocolate Stout cupcakes and and topped them with Bailey's Irish Cream Cream Cheese frosting. I didn't want to use alcohol in the frosting and ended up using favored non-dairy creamer which to my surprise worked nicely.

Bailey's Irish Cream Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield: Enough to frost 24+ cupcakes

1/2 cup Irish cream flavored coffee creamer ( or actual Bailey's Irish Cream)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tarter
1 box (16 oz.) confectioners sugar (maybe more, maybe less)

Combine butter, cream cheese, salt, cream of tarter. Beat until light and fluffy and little to no clumps of butter are visible. Scrape down blade and bowl.

Add half of the confectioners' sugar slowly, beating on low speed. Scrape down blade and bowl.Beat in irish cream coffee creamer one tablespoon at a time until desired consistancy is reached. Add more powdered sugar until you get to your desired consistency and taste.

Would I Make This Again? Although using non-dairy creamer probably wouldn't be my go-to when making a frosting, it's nice to know there is a solid alternative to flavoring frosting when alcohol isn't an option.

R2D2 Much Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:51:00 +0000

Sometimes all you really need is a little pomp and circumstance to make a cake great. I made this little R2D2 for my friend's son, Luke's fifth birthday party. He might only be five but he's a huge Star Wars fanatic and really wanted an R2D2 cake for his party. I couldn't say no, could I? When Luke saw the finished product, oh how I wish I had had a camera! He was SO excited!

I made Mr. R2D2 entirely out of fondant but only because I didn't have enough gum paste on hand. I started out with a basic shape and slowly filled it up using layers of other colors and shapes. For a brief moment I considered putting a few tiny LEDs inside R2's top "eye" but just ran out of time. Maybe next time. :)

Happy Bee Day: Vanilla Malt-Ball Cake & Homemade Dulce de Leche

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:32:00 +0000

Hi everyone! It's been a long, long time since I've make a cake like this one (or blogged in general...my apologies for that). So long, in fact, that I had to read up on some of my techniques for working with fondant. Thank goodness Elisa Strauss wrote a cookbook!

A few months ago a college from work referred her friend Shauna to me to make a cake for a baby shower she was hosting. Her theme was classic Winnie the Pooh and wanted something with warm yellows, sagey greens, and snuggley browns. She sent me a photo of a cake that she liked but gave me artistic freedom to make changes as I saw fit. I tried to stick to her original muse as much as I could. I made the colors a little softer, made the bees cuter, and "Julia-fied" the overall look. :) In addition to the beehive cake I also made 30 cupcakes and 24 cake pops. The beehive cake was made entirely out of my tried and true Chocolate Stout Cake. It's perfect for carving as its dense texture really holds its shape well. I made it two days early so it could sit in the fridge and chill. This allows the chocolate flavors to really blossom and develop. I filled it with chocolate ganache and chocolate cream cheese frosting and did two layers of Italian meringue buttercream on the outside to seal and stabilize the cake further. This also provides an excellent canvas for the fondant.

The cupcakes were a combination of the same chocolate flavor and one of my favorites, Vanilla Malt. It's a great alternative to just plain vanilla but really benefits from a dominantly flavored frosting like milk chocolate. However, since I needed to dye the cupcake frosting green and yellow, it had to have a white base so chocolate was out of the question. So I added a layer of homemade dulche de leche between the cupcake and the frosting for just a little extra flavor. No matter how cute it looks, it still has to taste good! I had so much fun making this cake! It's nice to know that I haven't forgotten everything I've learned over the years. And the best part, it got me to post again and for that I'm beeyond happy. :)

PS: If anyone knows where I can find these little fluted cupcake liners, I would be very appreciative. I ordered them a few years ago and can't remember where I found them online. They are rigid and don't need to bake in a cupcake pan. I love them!

Malt-Ball Cake

Yield: 1 9x9 cake (enough to make about 25 cake pops) and 18 cupcakes

adapted from Brooklyn's Baked Bakery

2 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup malted-milk powder (I like Carnation brand)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (Best quality you can get. It has a big influence on the flavor!)
2 cups ice water
4 large fresh egg whites, at room temperature (avoid egg whites in the carton)

Cake
Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter and flour three 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper or line a a cupcake tin. In a large bowl, whisk the flours with the malt powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter with the shortening until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 batches at low speed, alternating with the ice water, occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl.
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Divide the batter between the pans, spreading it evenly, and bake the cakes for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert them onto a rack and let cool completely. Peel off the parchment.

To make cupcakes, bake for approximately 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven the moment that the cake is solid on the surface and when you put a toothpick in the center of one of the cakes it comes out clean. Let them sit on a cooling rack in the pan for about 5 minutes. The cupcakes will continue to bake while they cool off and they get more stable too so don't be tempted to pick them up or they will crack.

Home made Dulce de Leche
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
pinch of salt

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425F.

Pour condensed milk into pie plate and stir in a generous pinch of salt. Cover pie plate with foil and crimp foil tightly around rim. Put in a roasting pan, then add enough boiling-hot water to reach halfway up side of pie plate, making sure that foil is above water. Bake, refilling pan to halfway with water about every 30 minutes, until milk is thick and a deep golden caramel color, about 1 1/4 to 2 hours. Remove pie plate from water bath and transfer toffee to a bowl, then chill toffee, uncovered, until it is cold, about 1 hour.

Juanita's Space-Time ContinuYum Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake & Classic Chocolate Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 07:00:00 +0000

It has been months since I made this cake but it was a recipe that I really wanted to blog about. For one, it tastes fan-freaking-tastic and I don't even like chocolate cake. But, more importantly, making this cake reminded me of the all the reasons why I enjoy baking, most specifically, the ability to trigger a taste-memory or feeling of nostalgia for the recipient.

On a crisp, chilly Sunday morning, while eating breakfast with my boyfriend's mom and dad, I learned that his dad had a birthday fast approaching. For my gift to him I offered to make him any dessert he wanted. At first he politely declined but in almost the same breath he changed his tune. "You know," he said, his eyes grew wide, "there is actually this one cake my mother used to make. I haven't had it in decades, but I remember it was chocolate and it was made with..." and he paused, "...it was made with MAYONNAISE!" Without missing a beat (or even a hint of a wince), I flashed him a dimpled smile and said, "I can make that! What flavor frosting?" He looked almost childlike and practically blurted, "Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting! That's just how she made it." In that moment, I was so excited to make it I think I actually clapped and bounced up and down a little in the booth.

On the day of his birthday, my boyfriend treated him to lunch and since I couldn't go, he broght the cake with him. Later that evening I got the sweetest text message from his dad. Unfortunately I don't have it verbaitum but it was something along the lines of, "...Your cake created a bit of a space time continuum! For a few minutes today I felt like a little boy sitting at my mom's kitchen table. It was wonderful! Thank you so much!..."

My heart swelled a little in that moment. Mission accomplished.

Juanita's Space-Time ContinuYum Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
Yield: 6-8 pieces.

Cake
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped (try using block chocolate and not chips if you can. I used chocolate from Trader Joe's)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Droste is my preferred brand)
1 3/4 cups boiling water
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour (unbleached is fine)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar or light brown sugar + 1 tablespoon of molasses
1 1/3 cups full-fat mayonnaise like Hellman's or Best Food's brand (do NOT use reduced-fat, fat-free, olive oil based mayo or Miracle Whip)
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Prepare Cake:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Combine chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in medium metal bowl. Add 1 3/4 cups boiling water and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Set aside.

Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into another medium bowl. Set aside.

Using electric mixer, beat both sugars and mayonnaise in large bowl until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition - about a minute each. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with chocolate mixture in 3 additions, beating until blended after each addition and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl and the beater. Divide batter among prepared cake pans (about 2 1/3 cups for each).

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes. Run small knife around sides of cakes to loosen. Carefully invert cakes onto racks and let cool completely. Wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until the cake is totally chilled. I would strongly encourage you to store it at least 24 hours though. This helps the flavor to become more developed and makes the cake easier to frost.

Classic Chocolate Frosting
Yield: Enough to frost a three layer 8" cake

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped (try using block chocolate and not chips if you can. I used chocolate from Trader Joe's)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter , room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place chopped chocolate in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (NOT boiling!) and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Carefully remove bowl from over water and let melted chocolate cool until lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth and creamy. Sift powdered sugar over butter and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add melted chocolate and beat until well blended and smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl and the beater.

Assembling Cake
Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread 3/4 cup frosting over top of cake layer to edges. Top with second cake layer; spread 3/4 cup frosting over. Top with third cake layer. Spread remaining frosting decoratively over top and sides of cake. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature at least an hour before serving.

I'm still here

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:06:00 +0000

Hi. I bet you've been wondering where I've been since October. I'm still here, lurking about.

On November 4th I lost my dad, without warning, a month and a day shy of his 76th birthday. He died at his kitchen table early in the morning. It was exactly how he wanted to go (on his terms) and I'm grateful for that. He was my biggest fan and I have never adored anyone more than him. To say that I miss him doesn't seem to convey the emotion of what I'm feeling properly. But I do; I miss my Dad terribly and I think about him every single day.
I'm doing my best to get life back on track while still taking time to be patient with myself. I'm slowly getting there and I appreciate you all being patient with me. Grief is a peculiar journey but I'll be back soon, I promise.

Sam & Tyler's Cherries Jubilee Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 23:13:00 +0000

First let me take a moment to express my deepest, most sincere thanks to everyone for sending me their heartfelt comments and emails. They have meant a great deal to me and I cannot thank you all enough for taking the time to send them. I honestly had no idea that my little blog could mean so much to so many people. So here’s to leaving the past behind me and focusing on what’s to come. So far life has been pretty good!

Over the next several posts I'll share with you what I was been busy making over the last, er, year or so, but today, I want to tell you about a very special cake I made a few weeks ago for some unbelievably sweet and thoughtful little kids who just adore their mom and dad.

I was at my friend’s house one day when some kids from the neighborhood were outside playing. They know that I love to bake and had the opportunity to sample a few of my confections. One of the little girls, Sam and her little brother Tyler, ran up to talk to me. A little out of breath from playing (I love seeing little kids playing – so rare these days!), Sam sat down on a stool and looked very serious. “Julia? We were wondering. Would you make us a cupcake?” Her little brother Tyler was silent, stared at me intensely, and had a huge smile from ear to ear.
“Only one cupcake? Why?” I replied. I couldn’t help but notice how serious Sam was taking this conversation. She was all business.

“The reason I’m asking is because, well....it’s our parents anniversary in a few weeks and we want to give them a cupcake. And since we’re not allowed to use the stove we can’t bake them anything so we thought maybe you could do it. We’re gonna get up early, at like SIX o’clock when my mom and dad are still asleep. We’re gonna make them breakfast in bed. Yeah...cereal for my mom and toast for my dad. I’m allowed to use the toaster.” Tyler never took his eyes off of me, still smiling from ear to ear.

Okay, first of all this kid had me at “cupcake” but now I was drowning in a pool of cuteness. I kept my calm and business-like demeanor. I thought I should make this official so I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started to take their order. “Instead of just one cupcake I think that it would be more fun for everyone to get a piece a cake, don’t you think? Would it be okay if I made a big cake?”

“Definitely!” Sam was practically glowing with delight. Tyler was shaking his head in agreement an exaggerated fashion, still smiling widely.

“So what kind of cake would you like?”

“Um, a round one. Yeah, a round would be good.” (Priceless!)

“And what flavor?”

After much discussion and collaboration, we decided on a flavor both parents would enjoy. “My mom and dad love chocolate covered cherries! Oh boy do they!” Sam and Tyler giggled with delight, obviously recalling some memory where their parents were enjoying the confection.

I drew a little cake design so they could picture what it would look like and got their approval. I wrote down all the details, especially noting the fact that the cake had to have a cherry on top as this was Tyler's only request. It was official.

The plan was to deliver the cake the night before, leave it at my friend’s house and then Sam would come and get it very early the next morning to retrieve it. Part of their order was for me to write “We love you mom and dad” on the top but I decided to let the kids do this by writing on a little banner I made out of gum paste. The night I delivered it, they came over, Sam having just gotten out of the tub. They loved the cake and the banner idea. I handed each of them a food-coloring based marker and let them write what they wanted. This is what they wrote:Everything went according to plan. The kids were ecstatic and Mom and Dad loved the cake. Overall it was a smashing success. Everyone was happy, especially me. What amazingly thoughtful kids! This will be a precious little baking memory I won’t soon forget.
Oh, and if you’re curious if I got paid, I did! Sam, along with a few other girls from the neighborhood, gave me a manicure and pedicure, put my hair in a pony tail, and did a full makeup courtesy of Barbie’s makeup line. I was exceedingly sparkley and oh so shiny. Tyler even got in on the fun. He brought me a cup of water and gave me an orange-flavored Pixie Stick. :)

Cherries Jubilee Cake
Yield: 8 to 16 servings, depending on how you cut the cake

I strongly recommend making this cake the day before you need it. The flavors really develop the longer it can sit. Note that you don't need to make the filling - you can skip this step entirely if you want.

Cake Assembly Instructions:
1. Make the filling. Cover.
2. Make the cake. Let the cake cool completely. Cover.
3. Let them both sit in the fridge over night.
4. Slice the cake in half, horizontally.
5. Spread the filling on the bottom layer of the cake and top with the top layer of cake. Put the cake in the fridge to firm up (about 1/2 hour or several hours).
6. If you want cherries as garnish on your cake, drain 8 maraschino cherries on paper towels. Try to remove as much moisture that you can. Set aside. Get any sprinkles you want to use ready -- a few teaspoonfuls is all you'll need.
7. Remove your cake from the fridge. Set aside.
8. Make the glaze and pour it over the cake. Quickly decorate with sprinkles and maraschino cherries, if desired.
9. Let the cake sit for at least a half hour or until you're ready to eat it.
10. Enjoy!!

Cherries Jubilee Cake
adapted by Anne Byrn

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix (one without pudding in the mix!)
2 cups premium brand melted ice cream - I used Kroger brand (Premium Selection) Cherries Jubilee but Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia is also an excellent choice
3 large eggs, at room temperature

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside. (Or just use Pam with Flour - I love this stuff!)

Place the cake mix, melted ice cream, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 38 to 42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a small rack, then invert it again onto a second rack so that the cake is right side up to complete cooling, 30 minutes more.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake Filling

1 pound bag of powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup Cherries Jubilee Ice cream
8-10 chocolate covered cherries
8 maraschino cherries, stems removed
2-3 tablespoons of the juice the maraschino cherries came in

Using the whisk attachment on your electric mixer, mix the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and milk at low speed until smooth. Add butter, one slice at a time, until incorporated add shortening and whip at highest speed 10-12 minutes, until volume increases by at least 50%.

Add 1/4 cup of the melted ice cream, all the chocolate covered cherries, and the maraschino cherries. Mix on medium speed until well blended. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of ice cream and the juice. Blend again and set aside.

Chocolate Glaze
adapted by Anne Byrn

Don't make this until you've assembled your cake. Have your sprinkles and whole maraschinos ready because your glaze is going to set up quickly and you'll want to get your sprinkles and cherries on the cake before it sets.

1/2 cup of sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons of whole milk
3 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (or use chips)

In a small saucepan add the sugar, butter, and milk together and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Continue to mix until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Let it sit for 2 minutes or until the chocolate chips are melted. Whisk everything together until it's well blended and smooth. Slowly pour the glaze over the cake, going around the top of the cake so that the glaze can run down the sides. You may not use all your glaze, but it's really your choice how much you want to use.

Would I Make This Again? I love making cakes using melted ice cream cakes. You have the option of keeping it super simple and just having the cake, splitting the cake and filling it, topping it with glaze, or go all out like I did and do all three. It never fails to impress!

Blissful Berry Buckle

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:19:00 +0000

Many of you are probably wondering why my blog posts have become so infrequent. For months now I’ve been struggling with what to do with the blog as it has become a bit of a love-hate relationship. It’s perplexing because it has been such an important part of my life. And although I can honestly say it still is, it’s evolved into something very different. Much of this has to do with where I am in my life now; there have been a lot of changes.
Last year, my marriage unraveled, fell apart, and ultimately ended. I managed to pick of the pieces and move on, but the blog took the biggest blow as my attention span was forced to widen to a world outside of my kitchen.

It didn’t occur to me until a few months ago why my blog, something I loved and cherished so much for so many years, had become something I avoided. For years I was in the type of marriage where everything seemed fine but deep down, we were in trouble and I felt terribly alone. Looking back now I knew then that things were not good but I refused to admit to myself what was happening and that’s right around the time that I started blogging. I guess you could say I stuck my head into the proverbial batter.

Through baking and blogging I received lots of attention, praise, adoration, and encouragement (thank you all so much for that!). It was the perfect distraction. Without really realizing it, I found a proxy to give me everything I was lacking emotionally in my marriage and somehow it bridged the gap. The more I baked and posted the more feedback I’d receive and the happier and less alone I felt. But during those late nights while I stayed up to finish a cake, I couldn’t help but to think about how my marriage was eroding and how hopeless I felt, how unhappy I really was. But eventually I had to face reality and in what seems like a blink now, it was all over. I was a single mom with a mortgage and baking seemed like the last thing on earth I wanted to do.

I took the time to tell my friends and family about my failed marriage, but it occurred to me that I’ve never taken the time to tell you. It wasn't until this very moment that I felt like the time was right to share this news with you.

Today, I am a much happier and confident that I’m where I am supposed to be. I feel really hopeful about my future and although I do have my days, life is good. As for the blog, well, I’m not really sure what will become of it. Maybe the blog will evolve to become more than just about baking. After all, there’s more to me than just the sweets I whip up in my kitchen; perhaps it’s time the blog follow suit.

For now, though I leave you with a very special Berry Buckle I made back on a Valentines Day. The combination of lemon and buttermilk gives this buckle a zesty edge but the berries soften it just enough to keep it from being overwhelming. It was so delectable I barely had time to take pictures before it was fully consumed.

Blissful Berry Buckle
Yield: It really depends on how you cut it, but plan on 6 to 8 servings.
adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
zest of 1 medium normal-sized lemon (avoid zesting any green rind)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed

Cake
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
zest of 1 medium (normal) sized lemon (avoid zesting any green rind)
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup of buttermilk, at room temperature
2 cups of fresh strawberries, raspberries, and/or blueberries (you can use frozen fruit too)

Lemon Syrup
1/3 cup sugar
juice of 2 medium sized lemons (avoid the giant lemons)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously butter (you'll need an additional tablespoon of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature) a 9" square baking pan and set aside.

To make the crumb topping, mix the flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest together in a bowl. Add the butter and use a fork, your fingers, or pastry cutter to cut the butter until it is the size of peas and looks crumby. Evenly spread the crumb topping onto a plate and place it in the freezer.

To make the cake, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl and beaters at least once, until it turns white and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for 30 seconds each, scraping the bowl and the beaters in between eggs. Stir in the flour in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Gently fold in half of the berries (1 cup). Pour the batter into your prepared pan, smooth out the surface, and evenly distribute the remaining berries over the surface of the batter.Sprinkle the chilled crumb topping evenly over the berries and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until it's lightly golden brown and the top is firm to the touch.

About 15 minutes before the cake is done, start the lemon syrup: Combine the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and whisk until blended. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until syrupy but still a little runny. The glaze will bubble while cooking, so you may need to remove it from the heat to check that it is thick enough.

Pour the glaze over the cake as soon as it is removed from the oven. (If the syrup becomes too thick, you may need to reheat briefly.)

This is great right out of the pan, but gets even better the next day. It is wonderful served warm with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Would I Make This Again? Yes, it's not overly sweet and it's light but satisfying. It's perfect for a late night snack or for breakfast. Use the fruit you have in the house, frozen or fresh, it will work. I made this with a container of mixed fresh fruit that I just happened to have picked up at the grocery store the day before. It's just yummy.

I absolutely loved this dessert. It was the first thing I baked after a long dry spell of not wanting to bake anything. As I measured out the ingredients, listened to the mixer's cadence, and breathed in the glorious bouquet of lemon and baked berries, I felt my love for baking slowly return to gently warm my heart again. It was in that moment that I knew that I was going to be just fine. :)

Pretty Flower Cupcake Tower: Southern Red Velvet Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Tue, 18 May 2010 04:19:00 +0000

This year is flying by, hasn't it? It seems like February was just a week ago and here it is almost June. Well in spite of the fact that I seem to be living in a time warp, I have been one busy bee! As you can see, I've been making cupcakes... lots and lots of them, one-hundred and sixy of them to be exact! And not just any cupcakes, but wedding cupcakes. My favorite kind!

The days that let up to Mother's Day weekend were very busy around my house. Not because it was Mother's Day, but because I had to be ready for Chuck and Leslie's big day! They got married in a gazebo, in the charming little town of Poulsbo, Washington surrounded by their family and friends. Their reception was hosted just a few yards away at a roof top restaurant called The Loft. It was a gorgeous venue that not only had incredible views of Liberty Bay, but had some of the best food I've ever had at a wedding.I made a total of 160 cupcakes, in two different sizes, and four different varieties: Chocolate Stout with Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting, Southern Red Velvet with Sweet Cream Cheese Frosting, mini Luscious Lemon with Lemonilla Buttercream, and my personal favorite, mini Homemade Caramel with Caramel Browned Butter Frosting. I even made a little cupcake menu and displayed it near the cupcakes so the guests knew what they were eating.The trickiest part of this order wasn't its sheer size, but it was the logistics of getting the cuppies there and setup intact. Poulsbo is a few hour journey from my house, so I decided that instead of stressing out the day of the wedding and rushing, I'd pack everything up that I'd need, stay at a hotel near the venue the night before, and assemble everything there. This was no small task but proved to be the right choice. I got up early Saturday morning, started with the whipped chocolate ganache (I had to whip it there in my hotel room with my stand mixer!) and worked my way through through the menu. I wished I had more time to decorate each cupcake a bit more thoughtfully, but overall the end product looked very close to what I had envisioned.I had to use a drawer to hold some of the cupcakes because I ran out of counter space in the hotel room!I made all the flowers and leaves that you see in the photos out of gum paste (about 300 all together.) I started working on them on and off about two week before the wedding and right up until a few days before the wedding! Some were very elaborate, like the roses, which took me about an hour to make each one. Eventually I got it down to about 10 minutes per blossom. In addition to the roses, I also made about seven different varieties of other flowers, including daisies, buttercups, and hydrangeas. And for variety I also hand-painted the bride and groom's initials onto white and dark chocolate wafers using gold luster dust. asion.
I was lucky enough to be a guest at the wedding and had a great time meeting Leslie and Chuck's family and friends. It was a little strange for me to be at the event and actually watch my work be consumed (I usually like to cut and run), but it was a joy to see. It was such a glorious, wonderful event and I was so beyond thrilled to be a part of it. Congratulations Leslie and Chuck! I'm already looking forward to making your 1-year anniversary cake!

Southern Red Velvet Cake

Yield: About 30 cupcakes
adapted from Elisa Strauss

3 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup unsweetened of the best quality cocoa you can find like Scharffen Berger (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) liquid red food coloring that's used for airbrushing
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup full fat buttermilk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons baking soda (make sure it's fresh!)
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Whisk the cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

Place the oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. It will look thick and yellowy. Slowly beat in eggs and mix for one minute at a time. After the last egg is added, mix on medium speed for 30 seconds and clean off your blade. Add the vanilla.
Take a minute and make sure you have nothing blocking your way between you and your mixer. Make sure your mixer blade is secured and the bowl is locked in tight. Seriously, what you are about to do can turn you and your kitchen a dull shade of pink in a blink! With machine on the lowest setting, slowly, I mean very slowly, add red food coloring. Adding just a squirt here and there and take your time to let it mix at least 10 seconds in between each addition of color. Do not add a bunch at once. Remember to keep the speed to a minimum to avoid splashing. When all the food coloring is added, carefully scrape down the blade, the bowl, and let the mixer run for a good solid minute.

Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. When you add the flour, use a small spoon to premix the flour into the red batter a little. This will help avoid the flour from escaping in a cloud in your face. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Note: if you mix together the vinegar and baking soda and you get just a little fizz, go to the store and buy new baking soda! This is what will make your cupcakes rise so don't cut corners here. Beat for 10 seconds. Don't fret, the batter will be runny.

Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 of the way full. If you're neurotic like me, I like to fill mine about so they weight 1.8 ounces each (yes, I weigh each one I pour to ensure that they bake evenly. Crazy? No. A little OCD, maybe.)

Let them bake for about 15-18 minutes. After 15 minutes, check to see how they are doing using a toothpick to test. You know they are done when a few little bits of cake stick to the toothpick.

Remove the pan from the oven and let rest on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and let cool completely.

Personally, I like to freeze these cupcakes for at least a day but no more than five days. I think that it helps the flavors to mature and also adds a bit of moisture to the crumb. You can certainly eat them as soon as you want, but waiting pays off if you can stand it. :)

Would I Make This Again? Honestly, I don't like red velvet cake and I grew up in the south! However, out of all the red velvet cake I've ever had, this was the best. Moist, light, just the right amount of chocolate. Pretty darn good!

The King of Cakes: Baumkuchen

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:29:00 +0000

Several years ago, back before I started this blog, I used to work at a small software company in Seattle. When I first started there it was a definitely a startup environment: we worked a lot of long hours and didn't have a lot of money to spend on morale events. However, that changed when I volunteered to make a surprise cake for one of my coworkers on their birthday. Everyone liked it so much, I found myself volunteering to bake every time I had the opportunity.

As the company grew, I baked more and more, sometimes baking as many as three desserts an evening. There was one dessert in particular though that I made that made me think that I might have a knack for baking: Baumkuchen (translated as "tree cake"). This cake was requested by my friend Sean who had just moved back to Seattle after many years of living in Japan. He explained how popular a treat they are there and how much he loved it. Traditionally, the Japanese version is baked on a spit so that then the cake is cut, it resembles the rings that are found on the inside of a tree. I did a bit of research and found a traditional German version of the cake, which is baked in a traditional cake pan and under a broiler.From start to finish, this cake takes several hours to prepare and make. I think the first time I made it I literally used very bowl I had in the house! But when it was done, it was really something to be proud of. Although it wasn't the Japanese treat that he had come to love, he enjoyed the German version too. So much so that three years later when I asked him what I could bring to his annual holiday party, he asked that I make it again.

Baumkuchen
Yield: Because the cake is so rich, this cake can feed a lot of people. Between the two cakes, you can easily feed 12-16 people.

2/3 cup of dry roasted almonds
30oz of apricot preserves (not jelly or jam)
13oz almond paste (not marzipan!)
1/3 cup half and half, cream, or milk at room temperature
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sifted cake flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
10 egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
10 egg whites, at room temperature
dash salt
1/2 cup sugar

Chocolate Glaze

1/3 cup unsalted butter
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons dark rum
Edible Glitter in your choice of color, optional

Grease and flour two 8x2 or 9x2-inch pans; set aside. Finely grind almonds using a food processor and set aside. Pour all the preserves into a saucepan and slowly warm the preserves on low heat. You'll know it's ready when the preserves loosen an stir easily. Remove from the heat and pour the preserves through a sieve, discarding any pulp. Remove 3/4 cup of the preserves into a small bowl and set both bowls aside.

Combine the cake flour and cornstarch and sift twice. Set aside.

Crumble the almond paste into bowl of a stand mixer and run the mixer with the paddle attachment for about a minute to warm it. Gradually add cream or milk, beating at low speed with electric mixer till smooth - about a minute. Transfer the almond paste mixture to a large mixing bowl and set aside.

In same small bowl you used to mix the almond paste, beat the butter for two minutes on medium speed until fluffy. Add the rum, lemon zest, and vanilla and mix for another 30 seconds being sure to scrape the bowl at least once.

Remove the bowl from the base of the stand mixture and very gently stir in the flour and cornstarch mixture just until combined.

Stir the butter/flour mixture into the almond paste mixture until it's well combined.

Using the same bowl, beat the egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar on medium speed for 6 to 8 minutes or until it becomes thick and light yellow colored. Fold the eggs into almond paste mixture.

In a large, clean mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites and a dash of salt on the highest speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating to peaks are stiff. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into almond paste mixture until no large clumps of egg white or almond paste exist.

Adjust oven rack so that the bottom of the pans will be about 5 to 6 inches from broiler. Carefully spread about 1/2 cup of the batter in a very thin layer over the bottom of the prepared pan. To make this easier, use the bottom of a small metal ladle, pushing from the center of the cake pan to the edge, being sure to cover the entire surface of the pan with the batter.Before you start baking, bring a pen or pencil and something to write on and place it near the oven. Then, bring a kitchen chair into the kitchen and set it up so it's directly in front of the oven. You're going to be spending a bit of time here and having a seat makes life a lot easier, believe me!

Turn the broiler on and when it's fully heated, set a timer for 2:05 -- you should only need to bake the first several layers for 2 minutes each but the 5 seconds gives you a little count-down to putting the cakes into the oven, ensuring they get their every second of their two minutes.

Slide the cake pan into the oven, keeping the door open. Broil for about 2 minutes or till deep golden brown and batter is set. Do not walk away from the oven or take your eyes off the cake. Seriously, don't be tempted to multi-task! Watch the cake carefully and turn it half way after about a minute or so ensure each layer is baked evenly. When it's nice and golden, remove the pan from the oven. Spread another 1/2 cup batter and repeat the process. Don't close the oven in between layers because it gets too hot and will effect your cook time. Make one mark on your paper to represent one layer. Make a mark on the paper after each layer to help you keep track of where you are in the process.

After every two layers of cake, generously pour 2 tablespoons of warmed apricot preserves from the larger bowl on top of the broiled batter to about 1/2 inch from edge. Sprinkle the preserves with about 1 tablespoon of the ground almonds. Then carefully spread another 1/2 cup batter evenly over nut layer, pushing the batter all the way to the sides of the pan. Broil until golden brown, top with another 1/2 cup of batter and repeat process until you reach the top of the pan. Try to end with at least one batter layer. Note: Keep in mind that the crepes will cook faster the more you add to the pan because they are that much closer to the heat.

When you get to the top of the pan, turn off the broiler, and cool the cakes completely in the pans on wire rack. When cooled, loosen and remove sides of pan using a knife. Repeat the process with the second cake pan.

Remove the cake and place on a cake board or small plate and continue to cool on a cooling rack. Place the cooling rack over the sink or over a pan.

In small saucepan bring remaining glaze to boiling boil gently for 3 to 5 minutes or till reduced by about one-third. Spread Apricot Glaze over top of tortes, allowing it to drizzle down sides of the cake. Make sure every part of the cake is covered with the preserves. Chill for at least an hour.When the cake has 10 minutes left to chill, prepare the chocolate glaze: In small heavy saucepan over low heat, melt together butter and chocolate, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in corn syrup and rum till smooth. Add a little edible glitter to the mixture (I use a toothpick to flick a few blobs of glitter into the chocolate. Be careful not to add too much glitter. Let the mixture thicken slightly for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and set it on top of a cooling rack over the sink or over a roasting pan. Slowly pour the chocolate over the cake, being sure to cover the sides of chilled torte. Try to avoid touching the glaze in any way.

If desired, tortes may be prepared ahead and chilled; let stand at room temperature about 1 hour before slicing thinly to serve. Cut with a very sharp knife and be sure to wipe the knife after each slice.

(not the best photo of the inside of the cake, sorry!)

Would I Make This Again? This was my second time making it. I would make this again, although it's so special (and time consuming!) I think it may be a few years before I make it again.

Big Birthday Brownie

noreply@blogger.com (Julia from Dozen Flours) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:56:00 +0000

I made this asymmetrical-on-purpose brownie birthday treat to celebrate little Aliana's 5th birthday. To help me get calibrated to the way she made her hearts, Aliana drew me several hearts just to help me get inspired. Big colorful, curvy, bubbly, slanted hearts filled several pages of paper and some even had smiley faces on them! Kristina, Aliana's proud mom, told me that sometimes Aliana liked to add a little bumpy border to the outside of hearts too.

I came up with a simple plan of creating one big brownie for the kids to devour at Aliana's birthday party - no forks required! Along with the brownie, Kristina asked that we have a few cake pops too which I made using the left over brownie that I carved to create the cake. My original plan was to insert the brownie pops into the bumpy cereal treat border, but unfortunately they were much too soft to keep hold of them. At the last minute I used the outside edge of the brownie to secure the pops and it did a pretty good job of holding onto them, although several drooped a bit.
Speaking of cereal treats, I used Trix cereal instead of Rice Krispies as something different. I wanted something that would look pretty from the get go; I didn't want to worry about covering the cereal treas with fondant and Trix is perfectly colorful. It was so successful, that Kristina swears that for now on, all cereal treats in her family will be made out of Trix. I bet Fruity Pebbles would have been a good choice too.I now have a new found respect for anyone that's good at writing words with frosting. I suppose this gets easier with more and more practice but it was a lot harder than I expected. I ended up going back over the letters with a dampened paintbrush to clean them up a bit. It was a lot of fun to make this cake and I'm just thrilled with the way it came out. It just makes me happy looking at it!

Big Birthday Brownie
adapted by Martha Stewart

1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped*
12 ounces of good quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped*
3 cups sugar
8 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 14-inch round baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on 2 sides. Set aside.

Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water; stir frequently until chocolate and butter are melted, about 7-15minutes. Be careful not to let any moisture collect in the bowl as it will keep the chocolate from melting as it should. Remove bowl from heat; let cool to room temperature, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt.

Pour batter into prepared pan, shake the pan to ensure that the batter is in the pan evenly and smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake for 25 minutes, remove it from the oven and wap it again the counter hard! You *want* it to fall and open up any hot spots that may have been trapped. Continue baking another 10-20 minutes, until the brownie tester inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool .

Run a knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Using parchment, lift brownies out of pan and onto the rack. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into the desired shape. Brownies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

* Try to avoid brands like Hersheys, Nestle's, or Baker's. These brands have a lot of sugars, water, binders, and frankly just don't taste that great. Trader Joe's makes an excellent bittersweet and dark chocolate at a around $5 a pound. I also really love Guitard and Scharffen Berger but they can be pretty pricey. Also, avoid using chocolate chips if you can as they have binders in the chips and make it a little harder to melt them.

Yield: Enough brownie to make a very large heart and 26 brownie pops. Enough to feed about 24 kids and their parents!
Would I Make This Again? Yes! This recipe was really good and a great one when you are feeding little kids and you don't want to blow the kids away with an overly intense chocolate flavor.