Book & Baking Blog Entry 39

Baking Baking Baking.  I do like it and wish I had more time to do it.  I also loathe that most of my baking now takes place after 9pm.  It's not relaxing.  Well, not as much as it should be.  It's either feast or famine with the baking for me.  This week I'm making a triple batch of sugar cookies (aka cut-out cookies) for Imagina's graduation.

The graduation cookies are  fun.  Hopefully Ruth will want to help me on Tuesday.  It's a lot more work baking with a small child.  You either have to be a martinet or you have to be ready to get really filthy and enjoy a small flour covered finger in your ear (at the very least....)

Nope.  This isn't the stress.  The stress is always the task that you set for yourself.  A birthday cake for a birthday girl who really wants a princess cake.  Of course.  She also said that she wanted Mama  to make it.  This is cool and awesome.  It's also chilling.  What if she doesn't like it.  Is there a cake that a 4-year-old doesn't like?!  What if she cries because it's not right?  I'm paralyzed with more than fear and wearing adult pampers.  I still don't have a perfect butter cream recipe.

So I have her convinced that she wants a princess castle.  And I'm making a castle.  The castle will take 2 cakes and 1 batch of cupcakes.  A mix of yellow cake (do people really need a flavor for this?  butter?)  and chocolate (probably devil's food--hmmm I should probably make sure that I have all the ingredients.)  But, what is my big surprise?  An actual princess cake.  Yep.  Probably make 2 of those as well.  So that's one other cake.  She likes yellow.  Yellow cake with white frosting hopefully colored to match the princess topper that I've bought.  Which princess?  Well, I bought them all.  Yep.  Seriously.  Well, all that I could find.  And I accidentally ended up with 2 Tianas....

There are so many ways for this to go wrong:  1.  She hates both (all three) cakes. 2.  She only hates one. 3.  It's the wrong princess (I am so not making five princess cakes.) 4.  She complains at all about any of  it and I haven't had a drink. 5.  The other kids make fun of her obviously homemade cake.  6.  Did I mention trying to color match a plastic cake topper and create a "skirt" for the princess.  7.  What if I make the wrong princess.  8.  Did I mention my fear of humiliation.

I know I had a bigger list of fears.  Oh, what if the cakes taste horrible?  It could happen.  What if the edible glitter really isn't? 

Well, I think I'll post a place for you to vote which princess that I should make.  It's not going to make a difference because I think that I know who she wants, BUT I'm curious. 

I'll take pictures.  It should be interesting.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 27

Baking season is just getting into swing.  It's shaping up to be an exciting year.

Thanksgiving created an opportunity to test my skills in creativity and artistry as well as timing (can one have skills creativity or is one merely creative--or am I neither...[sigh])  It was fun.  Ruth and I worked together and made two turkey cakes.  For those of you grossed out by the thought of a meat-cake, never fear--they were turkey-shaped cakes.  And not even really turkey shaped.  However, no one complained....

It was relatively simple and given more time I think it could have looked better.  I took a layer cake, cut it in half and put it up on the flat side created by the cut. So, I realized this is how I can make a rainbow cake the next time Ruth  wants one as well.  So, now that I have the turkey 'fan' (for this is what it will be when decorated) I frost the cake in chocolate.  Then I take a cupcake and use the frosting to 'glue' it on as a head (it has to be on the tray, it will NOT stick 1/2 way up (did I NEED to say this, SERIOUSLY?!!!!)

The decorating is what makes it:  Using pasty bags put red, orange, and yellow hershey kiss shaped dots on the top of the crescent.  On the  head portion you need eyes on each side, a yellow beak, and of course, a waddle--red!  Let's be real.  It doesn't look exactly like a turkey, but really turkeys are ugly.  The kids really enjoyed the turkey.  A big thanks to Safeway bakery that inspired this cake.

The fun is really that Thanksgiving and my husband's birthday generally fall during the same week.  I, of course, needed to make a birthday cake for him as well as a fantastic dinner.  Well, do you remember my begging for a great pie crust recipe: I got one.  It was from Tasty Kitchen.  It came recommended from a friend on facebook.  It was great.  Easy to make and easy handle.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/sylviae28099s-perfect-pie-crust/

My husband pointed out that it tasted similar to my mother's recipe (which I like but is often difficult to handle.)   I thought so too.  Let me tell you, I was highly skeptical about anything with vinegar in it.  Don't like the stuff.  But you really couldn't taste it.  Although the recipe did say to freeze it, but I just put it into the 'fridge.  It kept for a number of days.

So I used the pie crust to make empanadas.  Shrimp, spinach, goat cheese, tomatoes, and pine nuts.  Soooooo wonderful and now, easy to make with my new crust.

The cake was a  whole different matter.  Having decorated two cakes and made empanadas and mashed sweet potato I really needed a simple cake solution.  Luckily my husband doesn't mind experiments.  Better Homes & Gardens cookbook had a great pound cake recipe.  It called for lemon yogurt which I didn't have and lemon zest.  I used vanilla yogurt and added chocolate chips. It was moist and tastey!  Hurray!!!!

Next stop:  gingerbread houses....six of them.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 7

Birthday Cake: another year another bear



Birthday Cake is the best. While my reading lately has not been inspired, well except for the latest Alex Delaware novel by Kellerman, my baking has truly been over the top.



My daughter turned 3 on Thursday and we invited 20-some kids and their parents to a little get together. Bouncehouse, goody bags, the works. And cake. The cake, to me, is important. It is important that I make the cake myself. It's a vanity and I hardly had the time for it this week BUT I was not to be denied.



For the sake of background let it be known that I live in an area where bakery cakes are the norm. Grocery store cakes are generally not used, but real bakery cakes.



I took a cake decorating class earlier this year, but I wasn't good and there wasn't a lot that it could help me with making my teddy bear cake. The teddy bear cake is easy. I found the idea online (or course) and modified it to my own desires (of course.)



So, the fun. I had to bake the cakes at night because at work, where it's usually pretty low-key, this week, ONLY this week out of the entire year, I have to work longer hours. Yep. The week that I need to bake 2 cakes and throw 2 parties. Did I mention 2 parties? Yeah, one for family after the bachanal for toddlers.



For those interested I baked 2 cakes. 1 yellow cake-8"round, 2 layers (Better Homes & Gardens) and 1 devil's food cake-9" round 2 layers (same book.) those who bake regularly will see the flaw in the cake, especially if you read the recipe. Yep. The yellow cake recipe actually makes more in volume. If I had been thinking I would have made it the 9". Oh well. There is a drastic chin on my bear. Luckily, children don't care and adults are too polite to notice.



Ears and paws are made of cupcakes. For those keeping track, I've now baked 3 batches of cake. I cheat on the frosting. I used canned. Yes, I know for purists it's like I spat on the cake, but I've really never made frosting any better than the can. Send your recipe I'll give it a try.



I'm at work right now (it's Saturday and I'm installing software), and tonight I go home to make another batch of cupcakes (count is up to 4) and get ready to prepare 1 more bear for eating.



The last bear was a pink panda. My daughter likes pink. While not original, I don't care. It's what she likes. Maybe I'll just do a brown bear for this one...



AND just so that you know, it was yummy. The kids loved the cake and thought it was spectacular. The adults pretended that they wished they were so talented. It's very nice of them.

Maybe, just maybe next year I won't manipulate my daughter into asking for a teddy bear cake...or not.

Book & Baking Blog Entry 4

It was not my plan to blog constantly but I heard the best baking story ever. I have a friend who was not a baker but wanted to make a cake for her mother. We chatted about it. I offered some hints. She told me she was making a layer cake. Did she have to refridgerate it? What about other options?

I saw her today and she told me the cake was a disaster. She said (with humor) that I could have told her that you can make an 8 layer cake. Yes. She baked 8 full-sized layers (not sliced to make layers but FULL-SIZED) and tried to stack them! Physics tells us this probably will NOT work. I have to say that having been to the leaning tower of Pisa, I found this funny.

I had my own disaster last year the morning of my daughter's 2nd birthday because the Betty Crocker cookbook didn't list water as an ingredient in the cake. As many cakes as I've baked you'd think that I could have READ the entire recipe.

So, two pieces of advice: Do not try to pile a whole bunch of layers like they do in the movies (think Sleeping Beauty) AND read the entire recipe...

Good baking.