My First Cake Wreck

Oy vey.

Okay, so we're going to my cousin's for Easter. We usually go every year and everyone brings something.  They didn't ask me to bring anything, but being in a baking mood, I offered to bake a cake.  They agreed, so it was decided.

Adventures in Cake Pops

I love to bake. I love to bake new things. I love cake. I love baking cake. I do not really like making cake pops, but they are -delicious-.

I bought a package of Wilton's orange candy melts with intent to make pumpkin cake pops to give to the kids around the neighbourhood that I know.  Sadly, I melted the candy at too high a temperature, and had no more orange chocolate.  Sadness.

So, Halloween came and Halloween went and in my freezer sat 50-some lonely, naked, freezing cake pops just begging to be dipped in delicious warm chocolate. What better way to end quickly?

I had a spare package of light cocoa candy melts in my drawer so I decided I'd give it a go again today.

This time, I used the stovetop instead of the microwave.  I heated it slowly, gradually. The chocolate was never too hot to touch.  When it was melted, I still found it too thick, so I added a bit of vegetable oil, a bit at a time, until it was the right consistency -- dippable.

Then, so began the dipping. We had a few casualties of war:

Poor bastards. I'll give them a good home, later.

But all in all, I finished a good solid, (but seriously fugly), chocolate cakepops.

They don't look like much, but they certainly are tasty.


Oh, and for those who are curious as to what I might've done with my ruined melted orange chocolate?

Chocolate flowers.  Hey, the Behemoth loves them.


Cake pops: let it be known! With time, I shall conquor you!

Mexico and Fondue!

Okay, maybe not literally... but kind of.

First, the fondue.  No pictures, as I was too busy wanting to eat it to take a photograph... but I got a fondue set for my husband for our anniversary.  It made sense:  four years is appliances, fruit, and flowers.  SO, instead of a normal fondue, I made a milk chocolate fondue and a caramel fondue.

Everyone preferred the caramel, even though the chocolate had booze in it. Good to know.  Next time I'll make a citrus fondue.

Caramel fondue recipe here.

Next on the agenda:  Margarita Lime Cupcakes, credit to Recipegirl

I've made these before but last time they were half burnt. Boo. My oven is a bit hotter than it should be.

These ones turned out a bit better, I think... plus I did a pretty decent piping job on them.  They look just plain yummy.

Here is the link to the recipe

And here are a couple pictures

Angel Food Cake

Made a nice, light, evening snack.

The recipe

Turns out my oven is 25-ish degrees hotter than it says it is, so I actually baked this at what my oven thought was 325 and for 40 minutes.   I must admit, I was a little apprehensive about the egg whites, as I hear this can be a tricky cake, but it actually turned out beautifully and was delicious, sweet, and light.

I think I'll get some fresh berries or peaches or something tomorrow and enjoy it with that.

Spanish Bar Cake

When I was a kid, my grandmother would always stop at A&P and pick up a Spanish bar cake to snack on.  It wasn't homemade, but it was spicy and savoury and a little bit sweet from the icing. It has always been my favourite.

That cookie just had sex with my mouth

Seriously.

Chocolate chip cookies have been the bane of my existence.   I have been trying to find a recipe that works for years, now.  No matter how I'd experiment and try, they'd generally turn out flat and hard. The taste was there, but not the consistency.

I was trolling AllRecipes and found one with well over 6000 votes and a 4.5 star rating, so I figured that I might as well give it a go. Worst case scenario is another botched batch and the search continues.

Well, needless to say, I don't need to look for a new recipe.

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I used the recipe as is, for the most part. I calculated half portions for it because I didn't want to be baking all day (it yielded 4.5 dozen cookies even though I set it to yield 3 dozen) and I doubled the  vanilla the recipe called for and I used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.  It doesn't taste like pudding, it doesn't taste like vanilla. It tastes like AWESOME.

Seriously, I've never had a better tasting cookie.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Fondant is hard!

No, not physically. The marshmallow fondant I made the other day turned out quite pliable and nice... but I'm thinking that I rolled it too thin because lifting it from the counter proved to be problematic.

Still, I stuck with it and I have the first two thirds or so of my son's birthday cake finished.

I am very glad I baked the cakes last week. White cake with lemon! And I made the buttercream today. Just plain vanilla buttercream. I've discovered that lemon icing with lemon cake = too much lemon! Lemon is good and all, but this proves to be a lemon sensory overhaul!

So, anyway, I brought the cakes to the dining room table and held my breath as I carved it.   Little pieces, bit by bit, until it looked just right.

Then, to the kitchen.

Three hours later and I have something to show for my efforts, but it's by no means finished just yet.

Here are the progress pictures so far!

Just as a note: this is supposed to be the Lightning McQueen at the  very very end of the movie when he shows up with his racing mixed with Radiator Springs paint job. It's probably an easier design than his standard paint job but not too basic. I'm sure the kids will know who the cake is supposed to be :P

Happy Birthday to Me!

As a sort of warm up for my son's third birthday in June I decided to make myself a birthday cake. Today is my birthday,  so I sort of cut it close.

Now, just for the record, I'm something of a novice cake maker. I'm by no means professional, as anyone could tell by my gawd-awful piping, but I had fun with gum paste and some leftover icing from the last cake I made.

My husband gave me a hand in the kitchen last night in baking the cakes as I've had a sore back due to pregnancy, and together, with my neighbour's Kitchenaid stand up mixer, we got the job done quickly, efficiently, and with little to no problems.

I decided that since I had mostly blue icing I'd make an underwater/ocean cake.  The decals are gum paste and the rest is just plain buttercream icing.

The actual cake is yellow with lemon. Yum! Two nine inch cakes stacked on top of each other with buttercream in the middle.

We'll taste it tonight but I think it'll be yummy enough.

And now... Pictures!

Swag!

And so begins the real posting in the food blog.

There are birthdays coming up! My birthday is next week, my two year old is turning three in June, and our very good friend across the street has a birthday mid June.

Now, for the record, I am just about eight months pregnant. I don't really want to spend a ton of time baking and cooking, but I might just get on a roll. I might just park my arse at the kitchen table and do some neat stuff.

At the very least, I'm going to be making a Lightning McQueen cake for my son. I found some web tutorials and have purchased all the stuff I'll need. I also picked up something I wish I bought a year ago when I made his Thomas cake. I smartened up this time and just got it:  Wilton's Gum Paste Tools. Hell yes.

Just, swag in general. I could make everything I need, but really, who has the time? Though, I decided to veto my original plan on buying rolled fondant. Really? $30 for a tiny tub? I don't bloody think so. $15 makes more than that little tub. I say, DO EET.

 So, Michael's had a sale on cake items. Everything in the cake department was "Buy 2, get 1 free". I cashed in and took advantage. What baker wouldn't?

Here's some swag.

So, when I bake some rectangular cakes for Nick's party, I might bake a few round cakes for me. I've never made myself a cake and it might be good practice to figure out flowers and such. Maybe have a couple neighbours over for cake. We'll see.