Well hi there!

-peek- Oh hi! Phew, it's dusty in here! -brushes off the blog, sneezes- My goodness, it's been a while. Life rather caught up with me, but I've missed you all :)

Let's see, a quick summary. The company I was temping at hired me full time (doubling the hours I was working), boyo and I bought a house, boyo and I got pregnant, boyo and I had twins (!!!), and I quit the full time job to be a stay at home mom. Whew! That's it in a nutshell.

This past year has been all about babies, but my babies have now turned one! To celebrate our success at parenthood ("they survived, we didn't kill them!") we threw a big birthday bash and introduced the girls to the glorious invention called "cake". They were skeptical at first, but after their first bites eschewed all other foods for this amazing sugary concoction. We're corrupting them early, see ;)

The cake is banana with a whipped cream cheese frosting and banana slice layer, covered in marshmallow fondant. It took 3 days to make (because I'm crazy), so plan in advance! The top tier is 10" while the bottom is 12"; for that size I had to 4x the recipe (left as original for you sane people :), but it worked out just about perfectly. Each layer was ~1", and there was enough left over to make little individual cakes for the girls. Tricks and tips at the bottom.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (from about 4 medium bananas)*
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
14 oz. cream cheese, softened slightly
1/3 cup salted butter, softened
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 9-inch round cake pans with aluminum foil, leaving a slight overhang of foil on two sides. Spray foil with cooking spray, then dust evenly with flour and shake off excess.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside. Mash bananas with 1 tsp lemon juice. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, whip together butter, 2 Tbsp vegetable oil, granulated sugar and light brown sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides and bottom of bowl, about 3 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 Tbsp vegetable oil. Blend in eggs one at a time, mixing until combined after each addition. Stir in vanilla and mashed bananas.

With mixer set on low speed, slowly add flour mixture alternating with buttermilk in 3 separate batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing just until combined after each addition. Divide batter evenly among prepared cake pans and spread batter into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven 45 - 50 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely then frost with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting. For best results frost within 30 minutes of serving and store left over cake in refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature about 10 - 20 minutes before enjoying.

For the Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip heavy cream on high speed until stiff peaks form, then transfer whipped cream to a mixing bowl and set aside. Replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment and add cream cheese and butter to stand mixer bowl. Whip together cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy on medium-high speed, about 2 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides and bottom of bowl. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla and whip on medium speed, about 2 minutes longer. Add half of whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and gently fold until combined, then fold in remaining half.

*I tried this with both 1 1/2 cups and 1 3/4 cup mashed bananas and the 1 3/4 cup seemed to make the cake more dense and it didn't really need any of that extra moisture so I'd recommend that you measure the mashed bananas and use 1 1/2 cups.

Fondant recipe was from here (tripled it for this cake).

Tips/Tricks:

• When working with fondant/gumpaste - don't wear dark clothes. White white white clothes. There are little bits of lint that rub off of your clothes, especially blue jeans, and these will show up in your fondant/gumpaste. Ew.
• I used this mat while working with the fondant covering the cake, and it saved the cake. I had tried rolling the fondant up on my rolling pin a couple times, but the cake was just too large and subsequently my sheet of fondant - it kept tearing as I was draping it. Instead I rolled it out on this mat then rolled up the mat with the fondant, then unrolled over the cake. I was able to get a super-thin (1/8") fondant sheet that way without any ripping.
• 1/4-1/3" frosting between layers is plenty. I put more (3/4"ish), which accounts for the slight bulging on the sides that you can see in the picture - the weight of the cake was slowly pushing out the frosting.
• LEVEL YOUR CAKES. I didn't do this, and had to do some tricksy last minute engineering to be able to stack them on the day of the party. Save yourself the sleeplessness.
• Make your gumpaste figures in advance. Way way way in advance. You're not going to eat them, and they don't go bad anyway as long as you don't refrigerate them, and they take a long time to dry. Weeks, it turns out. I made mine 3 days before the party and ended up doing some hi-jinks with a hairdryer to get them to hold together. 
• Marshmallow fondant is much tastier than store bought, even Satin Ice. Easy enough to make too, save yourself the money (store bought is crazy expensive).
• There's some debate on the internet around whether you can refrigerate fondant. I did since my frosting had dairy in it, and I only had marginal problems (get to that in a second). Overall I would say you can - I didn't have any color blending like the 'net threatened. My fondant did start to melt from the inside though, but I think that was due to the type of frosting I used. The whipped cream-cream cheese frosting was absolutely delicious, amazing stuff, but if covering the cake with fondant I would find a sturdier frosting in the future. I believe the whipped cream was marginally too liquid for the fondant to withstand, as it started slowly leaking from underneath starting the day before the party (also causing me to lose sleep). 

Overall - would I do it again? Absolutely. It was a ton of fun making my vision reality, it was delicious, and sharing it was delightful. Give me a few years to recover first tho ;)

Food for Father part 2

Sorry to leave you in such suspense! Every time I went to post the second half of this post, my picture wouldn't upload, and really, what good is food porn without the pictures? But now, tada! The other half of my Father's Day package, long since consumed by now.

These are a variant on the petit fours I made earlier. I had lots of caramel and almond praline in the refrigerator, and I wanted to dip something in chocolate because I wanted to be sure the cake would stay fresh (but really, who needs an excuse to dip things in chocolate?) Dad loves almond, as a general rule - he eats them by the handful plain - so these are Almond Praline Petit Fours, dipped in chocolate.

In my opinion, the best part of this recipe was the cake. Subtly sweet and very almondy, I could have eaten it alone. Plying it with caramel and praline seemed almost like a waste, until you tasted the final product. The praline turned out to be essential, giving the overall texture a surprising crunch after biting through the stiff chocolate and soft cake. I snuck a few to keep for myself ;)

Almond Praline Petit Fours (makes ~20)
* 1 recipe Almond Sponge Cake (recipe below)
* 1 recipe caramel (recipe below)
* 1 c almond praline
* 12 oz dark chocolate, melted
* 12 oz white chocolate, melted

Almond Sponge Cake (adapted from Our Patisserie)
* 1/4 c milk
* 2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
* 1/2 c sifted cake flour
* 1/4 c sifted almond flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 3/4 c sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 3 large egg yolks
* 1 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 400F. Line bottom of jelly-roll pan with parchment so that the paper overhangs the pan at 2 opposite ends. Make cuts in corners so parchment lies flat.

Heat milk with butter in small saucepan until butter melts. Reduce heat to low, and keep hot, but do not simmer. Sift flours with baking powder twice. Return to sifter and set aside.

In large heatproof bowl, combine sugar, whole eggs, egg yolks and extract. Place the bowl in a pan of simmering water and whisk vigorously for about 1 minute until eggs are warm. Remove from heat, and beat at high speed until mixture has cooled, tripled in volume, and has the consistency of thick whipped cream.

Sift one-third of flour mixture over batter, and fold in gently by hand, using the largest spatula you have. Fold in half of remaining flour; then fold in the remainder. Pour the hot milk and butter into batter and fold well, scraping the bottom each time and bringing the batter up the sides of the bowl until you can no longer see traces of liquid.

Turn batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 10 minutes. The cake will have browned on top, and started to shrink from the sides of the pan. Cool cake in its pan.

Caramel (adapted from David Lebovitz)
* 1 can sweetened condensed milk
* pinch of salt
* 1 1/2 c heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425. Empty condensed milk into a glass pie pan and sprinkle salt over top (I like to use 1 tsp +, as I'm a fan of salted caramel). Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in a roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to halfway up pie pan.

Place roasting pan in oven and bake for 1-1 1/2 hours, until deeply golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool.

Beat heavy cream until medium peaks form (tips droop when lifted). Gently fold whipped cream into cooled dulce de leche and mix until smooth.

Chocolate Designs
These look awesome, especially considering how easy they are. Line a pan with parchment or wax paper. Place 1 oz melted chocolate in a ziploc bag and snip off the very tip (you want a tiny hole or the designs won't look as intricate). Pipe designs onto prepared pan, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Assembly
Place cooled cake in freezer and let sit 1/2 hour or until solid. Remove and cut in half; return to freezer until fully chilled.

Spread cooled caramel over one half of cake and sprinkle praline over caramel until thickly covered (reserve some praline for topping). Place other half of cake over caramel, sandwich style, and return to freezer again.

Once cake has been frozen, remove, and with a sharp knife cut into pieces. You may need to use the dip-and-wipe process (dip knife in hot water, wipe clean, cut, repeat). Return pieces to freezer while preparing chocolate.

Melt your chocolate (one at a time) and dip frozen cake squares. Scrape off excess chocolate from the bottom and place on a silicone mat or parchment paper. Before chocolate cools, sprinkle with remaining almond praline and top with a chocolate design.

If you want, you can temper your chocolate for a nicer snap. Tempering chocolate scares me, and while I will attempt it at some point, this was not the project to do so. For me, melted chocolate was fine.

Raspberry-Lime Petit Fours

I've been to tea parties before, but lately I've had a strong craving to host my own. The boyo thinks I'm silly, but I've a tea set that's yet to be used and a desire to bake lots of little edibles. In fact, when I saw Jen's petit four post from Use Real Butter, I couldn't wait any longer. Raspberries were on sale and I had a couple of days off from work -- it was perfect timing. I'm just considering it practice!

Jen's recipe is for higher altitudes, but since I'm at sea level and already having various problems adapting my baking to the climate, I decided to piece together some well-known recipes for my own version.

I was expecting to have ~30 petit fours, but I ended up with over 100. Luckily, the boyo's coworkers were gratifyingly appreciative so there weren't leftovers to worry about, but you should scale the recipe accordingly if you're not feeding a small army.

Raspberry Lime Petit Fours
* 2 recipes Hot Milk Sponge (recipe below)
* 1 recipe Raspberry Jam (recipe below)
* 1 recipe Lime Buttercream (recipe below)
* 1 recipe Lime Syrup (recipe below)
* 2 recipes White Chocolate Fondant (recipe below)
* raspberries for garnish (washed and dried before use)

Hot Milk Sponge (compliments of Our Patisserie)
* 1/4 c milk
* 2 Tbsp butter
* 3/4 c sifted cake flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 3/4 c sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 3 large egg yolks
* 1 Tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400F. Line the bottom of a jelly-roll pan (I just used a cookie sheet with sides) with parchment so that the paper overhangs the pan at 2 opposite ends.

Heat milk with butter in small saucepan until butter melts. Reduce heat to low, and keep hot, but do not simmer. Sift flour with baking powder twice. Return to sifter and set aside.

In large heatproof bowl, combine sugar, whole eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Set the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water and whisk occasionally, until lukewarm to the touch. Now take off heat, and beat at high speed until mixture has cooled, tripled in volume, and has the consistency of thick whipped cream.

Sift one-third of flour mixture over batter, and fold in gently by hand, using the largest spatula you have. Fold in half of remaining flour; then fold in the remainder. Pour the hot milk and butter into batter and fold well, scraping the bottom each time and bringing the batter up the sides of the bowl until you can no longer see traces of liquid.

Turn batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 10 minutes. The cake will have browned on top, and started to shrink from the sides of the pan.

Raspberry Jam (compliments of my grandma!)
4 c raspberry (fresh or frozen)
4 c sugar

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Place the sugar in a oven-safe pan and heat for 15 minutes (heated sugar dissolves more easily.)

In a large saucepan mash the raspberries with a potato masher over high heat. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and strain out seeds.

Return raspberry juice to saucepan and bring back to a boil. Add sugar and boil for 5-7 minutes - remove from heat when thickened.

Let cool before using.

Lime Buttercream (compliments of Use Real Butter)
* 8 oz egg whites
* 15 oz sugar
* 1 lb butter, room temperature
* 1 Tbsp lime zest
* 4 Tbsp lime juice

Combine egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer. Whisk constantly over a bain marie until 140F is reached. Place on mixer witha whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch -- this will take a while, should be cooler than your hand.

Change to a paddle and gradually add soft butter by tablespoons. Mix to emulsify. Once desired consistency has been reached, add lime juice and zest.

Lime Syrup (compliments of Use Real Butter)
* 1 c sugar
* 1 c water
* 2/3 c lime juice

Heat water and sugar in a pot until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and turn off heat. Let cool, then mix in lime juice.

White Chocolate Fondant
* 4 c powdered sugar
* 1/2 c water
* 1/4 c light corn syrup
* 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 1/4 tsp almond extract
* 5 Tbsp butter
* 1/3 c heavy cream
* 12 oz white chocolate
* food coloring (optional)

Combine the sugar, water, corn syrup and flavorings in a double boiler over medium heat. Stir until smooth, then add the cream, butter, and white chocolate. Stir until incorporated, watching that it doesn't burn. Add coloring to preference.

Assembly
Make the sponge and cool completely. Slice into quarters and freeze, placing wax paper liners between sections. When frozen thoroughly, using a long serrated knife (a bread knife is ideal) slice each quarter horizontally. Return to the freezer until jam, buttercream and syrup are finished.

Heat jam until liquid (I did this in small batches). Using one quarter of the sponge, brush the bottom half with the lime syrup then spread the jam over the syrup. Spread the buttercream on the bottom of the top half of the sponge, and place over the jam (sandwich style). Brush the top of the sponge quarter with the syrup again, and refreeze. Repeat with the rest of the sponge.

Once the sponge sections have been sandwiched and completely refrozen, slice into 1"x1" squares (you may need to clean your knife several times during this process). Return to the freezer while you make the fondant.

Place a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet and arrange the cake cubes about 1 inch apart from each other. The following process works best if the fondant is very warm and liquid. Using a ladle, pour the fondant over each cube, using a toothpick to smooth out any gaps. Garnish with raspberries before fondant cools.

Allow petit fours to sit for a few minutes and fondant to harden. Using a sharp paring knife, free the base of the petit four from the rack and place into a cupcake liner. The leftover fondant from the cookie sheet/rack can be reheated and reused - just make sure it's free of cake crumbs. Keep finished petit fours refrigerated until ready to serve.

Mozart Cake

This is a Mozart (cake) - I have to add the cake in there because it seems too snobby to call it by a title. The original recipe is here; my adaptation is below. Regarding the flavor: the component parts were good, but nothing requiring the choir of angels that sang when other reviewers tried it. There are two major changes I would make if I try the recipe again:

1) Roll out the dough to wafer thin before baking - you roll it out on parchment paper so you don't need to worry about ripping it in the transfer.

2) When assembling the pieces, brush two of the pastry rounds with apple jelly before covering them with mousse. The apple flavor in this cake is very subtle; adding a little more does not hurt.

By the way -- did I mention the need for fire in this recipe? Fire is fun, but very very scary. A few notes about fire and alcohol:

1) Fire hurts. Skin and fire don't play well together.

2) Alcohol catches fire most easily when heated -- I found this out after several attempts at lighting room temperature alcohol.

3) When actually lighting the alcohol, keep your hands and face as far away as possible. Best method I found was to light a match, tilt the pan with the heated alcohol away from yourself, and quickly, lightly brush the match head against the top of the liquid. It may appear to have failed to light for a moment; don't put your face close to check. If you don't see a blue flame, strike another match and try it again. The only truly difficult part of this step is using matches; if you have a butane lighter (long and thin) there's much less of a concern about getting close.

Now that the book of notes is done, prepare for the book o' recipe!

Mozart
Prep Time: 3 1/2 hours
Serving Size: 10

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Pastry
* 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
* 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon finely ground blanched almonds (no skins)
* 3 hard-boiled large egg yolks, cooled to room temperature and pressed through a fine sieve
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon dark rum
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Mousse
* 1 large Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 2 tablespoons dark rum
* 1/3 cup heavy cream
* 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
* 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
* 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
Garnishes
* 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, at room temperature, shaved with a vegetable peeler
* 1/4 Granny Smith apple
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons apple or quince jelly
* 2 cinnamon sticks

Directions:

Notes: While assembling the pastry and mousse, I wished I had doubled or at least halved-again the mousse recipe. It's also better if you leave the mozart in the refrigerator overnight before serving as it allows the pastry to mellow out and soak up some of the moussey goodness.

1. Make the cinnamon pastry: Cream the butter in a food processor. Add the confectioners' sugar, ground almonds, egg yolks, cinnamon and salt and process until smooth. Add the rum and pulse to blend. Add the flour and baking powder and pulse to blend. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and gather into a ball. Cut the dough into thirds; roll out on parchment paper into a 11-inch round. Using the bottom of a springform pan as a guide, cut out a 10-inch round (do not cut through parchment paper). Carefully move parchment paper onto cookie sheet; put in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes each.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°. Prick the rounds all over with a fork, then bake them one at a time for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer the pastry to a rack and let cool completely.

3. Make the mousse: In a bowl, combine the apple with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and the cinnamon. In a large heavy skillet, melt the butter over moderately high heat. Add the apple and cook over high heat, stirring, until lightly crusted and tender but not mushy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the rum, carefully ignite it and stir the apple to coat. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature.

4. In a small saucepan, heat the cream with the cinnamon sticks until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from the heat. Strain the hot cream over the chocolate; discard the cinnamon sticks. Gently stir until smooth and let cool until tepid.

5. In a bowl, beat the egg whites until very foamy. Gradually add the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar, beating until stiff glossy peaks form. Using a large rubber spatula, fold one-quarter of the beaten whites into the chocolate. Fold in the remaining whites, then fold in the apple.

6. Set 1 cinnamon pastry round in the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and brush the top with 1/8 cup of the jelly. Spread half of the chocolate mousse on top. Cover with a second pastry round, pressing gently until the mousse is within a quarter-inch from the edge of the pastry. Repeat for the second layer and cover with the last pastry round. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours.

7. Garnish the cake: Remove the side of the pan and pat a thin layer of chocolate shavings against the side of the cake. Cut 5 thin slices from the apple and rub with the lemon juice. Fan the apple slices on the cake. In a small saucepan, melt the apple jelly over moderately high heat and brush a thin layer over the apples. Garnish with the cinnamon sticks and serve.

Christmas Cakes!

I'm not going to bother reiterating the recipes here; I'm just going to direct you to the genius who first came up with these recipes: Zinnur of Our Patisserie. Unfortunately I don't have cross-sections for you -- we're bringing these to a party and I'd feel a bit weird whipping out the camera. "Ok! Everyone freeze, I'm taking pictures for my blog! You in the Santa sweatshirt, hold that bite just a little closer to the plate. Closer.... Clooooooooser.... " Yeah. No. Luckily, Zinnur has some beautiful cross-section shots of her own, and I'm just going to assume mine look the same :)

Links:
Yule Log
A Romantic Cake with Raspberries

Strawberry Lemon-Curd Trifle

Happy Memorial Day! The boyo and I got invited to a bbq, and I was put in charge of dessert! Since the boyo loves fruit and strawberries were on sale, I went searching for a light, strawberry-ey dessert that was easily portable. Compliments of JoyofBaking.com, this is a Strawberry Lemon-Curd Trifle. I was slightly pressed for time, since dessert wasn't all I was responsible for, but next time I would add ~1/4 cup more sugar to the pound cake, use vanilla beans in the whipped cream instead of extract, add 1-2 tsps of balsamic vinegar to the strawberry puree to bring out the full flavor, and double the lemon curd recipe. I'm still very pleased with it though, although I've only tasted the individual parts. Overall taste to be determined this afternoon!

Please note: it is very important, especially for the cake, that the ingredients be room temperature. They don't blend together correctly otherwise.

Pound Cake:
* 1 3/4 cups (230 grams) cake flour, sifted
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (226 grams) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 cup (200 grams) superfine or castor sugar
* 4 large eggs, room temperature
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* Zest of a lemon or orange (optional)

Strawberry Puree:
* 1 - 20 ounce bag (570 grams) of frozen unsweetened strawberries or 20 ounces of fresh strawberries
* 1/4 - 1/3 cup (50 - 65 grams) granulated white sugar, or to taste
* Freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional

Lemon Curd:
* 3 large eggs
* 1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
* 1 tablespoon (4 grams) finely shredded lemon zest
* 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
* 4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces

Also:
* 1/2 pound (225 grams) fresh strawberries, sliced
* 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) heavy whipping cream
* 2 - 3 tablespoons (25 - 35 grams) granulated white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 4 crushed Amaretti Cookies or ginger cookies (home made or store bought)

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter or spray with a pan spray, a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter or spray the paper. Set aside while you prepare the batter.

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

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy and smooth. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (this will take about 5 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. After about five minutes the batter should be light in color and fluffy in texture. Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. You will notice that the batter will look curdled. Don't worry as the batter will come together again after you add the flour mixture. Add the vanilla and lemon zest, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature. Will keep several days well wrapped or it can be frozen for a month.

Makes one 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

For the Puree:
Place the unsweetened frozen strawberries in a large bowl and thaw. This may take a few hours. Once thawed, put the strawberries and their juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process the berries until they are pureed. Pour the puree into a 2 cup (480 ml) measuring cup. You should have about 1 1/4 cups of puree. Add 1/4 cup (50 grams) of the sugar to start and stir until the sugar dissolves. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Can also add a little lemon juice to taste.

Store covered in the refrigerator for one week. The sauce can also be frozen.

Makes approximately 1 1/4 cups (300 ml).

For the Curd:
In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

Makes 1 1/2 cups (360 ml).

For the Trifle:
Have ready the pound cake, the strawberry sauce, sliced strawberries, lemon curd, and whipping cream.

To make the whipping cream: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream, sugar, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

To start: In the bottom of your trifle bowl place thick slices (about 1/3 inch thick) of the home made or store bought pound cake. Fill in any gaps with pieces of the cake. Pour half of the strawberry sauce over the pound cake. Top the strawberry sauce with half of the sliced strawberries. Then pour half of the lemon curd over the strawberries. Top with half of the whipped cream. Repeat the layers. Cover and refrigerate for 8 and up to 24 hours to allow the flavors to mingle. Just before serving sprinkle the top of the trifle with the crushed Amaretti cookies.

Serves 10 - 12 people

Banana Cake with Mango Curd and Pineapple Buttercream

I know, I know, it's very boring looking. It won't be, ultimately, but this is how the customer wanted it -- a blank canvas for her own decoration. It's mango curd and pineapple buttercream layered between two banana cakes and covered over with white fondant. The fondant was a new thing for me, and it turned out to be a lot of fun, if a lot of work.

Chocolate Genoise with White Chocolate Tangerine-Pomegranate Mousse

Whew, that title is a mouthful. But yay! My first attempt at mousse and it turns out perfectly -- look at those clean corners! The recipe (compliments of Epicurious.com) called for straight tangerine juice, but all I could find at the store was pomegranate-tangerine, and I was too lazy to squeeze my own. Next time I won't trim the cake as the recipe calls for, but will just put cake+mousse in a larger pan. Trimming the cake is kind of a waste in my opinion... although I'll admit it made a good midnight snack!
Cake
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
* 9 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 5 large eggs
* 1/2 cup ground toasted hazelnuts
Mousse
* 3 cups strained fresh tangerine or orange juice (or pomegranate- tangerine)
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
* 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 14 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Callebaut or Lindt), chopped
* 6 tablespoons sour cream
* 2 cups chilled whipping cream

* 9 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Callebaut or Lindt)
* Unsweetened cocoa powder
* Fresh raspberries
* Fresh mint sprigs

For Cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom with parchment. Butter parchment. Dust pan with flour. Melt butter and chocolate in heavy large saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs and ground nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with very moist crumbs attached, about 45 minutes. Cool completely on rack (cake will fall and crack).

Release cake pan sides. Turn out cake onto work surface. Peel off parchment. Cut off outer 1/2-inch edge of cake. Clean cake pan. Reattach cake pan sides; brush sides of pan with vegetable oil. Set cake in center of pan (there will be space around cake that will be filled in with mousse). Refrigerate cake.

For Mousse:
Boil tangerine juice and sugar in heavy large saucepan until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over lemon juice in small bowl. Let stand 10 minutes to soften.

Add gelatin mixture to tangerine juice mixture and stir to dissolve. Add 14 ounces white chocolate and whisk over low heat just until melted. Whisk in sour cream. If using pomegranate-tangerine juice, add a few drops of red coloring to the mousse now. Pour into large bowl. Chill mixture until cool and thickened but not set, whisking occasionally, about 1 hour 45 minutes.

Beat chilled whipping cream to stiff peaks. Fold into white chocolate mixture. Pour mousse over cake in pan, covering top and sides completely. Refrigerate cake overnight.

Using vegetable peeler, shave 9 ounces white chocolate into thin curls (if white chocolate is too hard to shave, place briefly in warm place to soften slightly). Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Release pan sides. Place cake on platter. Sprinkle chocolate curls over top of cake. Press more chocolate curls around sides of cake, covering completely. Place cocoa powder in fine sieve. Dust cocoa very lightly over chocolate curls. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Garnish cake with raspberries and mint sprigs. Serve cold.

Serves 12.

Orange-Blueberry Cake

There's a cake under there, I swear! Problem is, I had to disguise the fact that the frosting was melting off the cake. The recipe below is adjusted, but it originally called for way too little powdered sugar in the frosting -- it was more of a glaze. Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize this until late at night when I didn't want to go running to the store for more sugar. Still, it looks neat (I hope it hopes up til tomorrow!) Thank goodness oranges are in season, and blueberries were on sale!
Cake
* 2 1/2 cups cake flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 3 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
* 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 4 large eggs
* 1 cup whole milk
Filling
* 2 1/2-pint baskets blueberries
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Frosting
* 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 4+ cups powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
* 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 2 1/2-pint baskets blueberries

For cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides; line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until blended. Beat in concentrate, peel, and vanilla. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with milk in 3 additions. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans on rack.

For filling: Combine berries, sugar, and lemon juice in heavy small saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil until mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup, stirring occasionally and mashing berries coarsely with fork, about 8 minutes. Chill filling uncovered until cold, about 30 minutes.

For frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter in bowl to blend. Beat in powdered sugar in 4 additions, then orange concentrate, peel, and vanilla. Chill until firm but spreadable, about 30 minutes.

Cut around cakes to loosen. Turn cakes out. Peel off parchment. Place 1 layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread filling to within 1/2 inch of edges. Chill 5 minutes. Top with second layer, flat side down. Spread 1/2 cup frosting thinly all over cake to seal. Spread remaining frosting over cake. Mound remaining blueberries on top. (Can be made 1 day ahead; chill. Serve at room temperature.)

Chocolate Mint Scroll Cake

This is an adaptation of my Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake. When it came time to decorate I'd originally intended to put 6 or 8 large rosettes of chocolate around the rim then lean the Pirouette cookies on them... but I turned out not to have enough chocolate. So I settled for mass-o-cookies with a little white chocolate shaved on top. I think it looks nice, although I would have preferred powdered sugar instead of white chocolate. Meh. I'll find out how it tastes tomorrow :)

The cake itself consists of one chocolate genoise (a moist egg cake) that has been sliced in half. Each half is brushed with a syrup to make it moist (in my case, I made a syrup from water, sugar, and creme de menthe), then ganache is spread between the layers and over top. Finally, over all of it a chocolate-cream glaze is poured that hardens slightly and helps keep the cake's shape. It's really rich, almost like eating fudge. Yum.

Blueberry-Lemon Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Yummy! Granted, I didn't actually get to taste - this slice was cut for your benefit then dutifully placed back in the cake. I did get to taste the frosting though: wow. I didn't use fresh blueberries - not in season - but frozen blueberries worked fine.
Ingredients:
* 3 1/3 cups cake flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 2 cups sugar
* 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon (packed) grated lemon peel
* 4 large eggs
* 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
* 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Frosting:
* 11 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker’s), finely chopped
* 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 3+ cups powdered sugar
Additional blueberries (optional)
Lemon slices (optional)

For cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides; line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in lemon juice and peel, then eggs 1 at a time. Continue to beat until well blended. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions. Fold in berries. Transfer batter to pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks.

For frosting: Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler set over barely simmering water until almost melted. Remove from over water and stir until smooth. Cool to lukewarm. Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until blended. Beat in lemon juice, then cooled white chocolate. Add powdered sugar until frosting is smooth and moderately stiff.

Turn cakes out onto work surface. Peel off parchment. Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Garnish with additional blueberries and lemon slices, if desired. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Bakewell and Linzer Tarts

Now I understand the term "food porn." Lately I've been flipping through the Flickr photo sets for desserts and pastry while watching tv: BAD idea. Thousands upon thousands of gorgeous food pics, but very very few recipes to accompany them. The agony! Many don't even have titles, so I don't know what sinful concoction is before me. The few who do post recipes however, normally link the picture to their blogs, which are chock full of brand-spankin' new recipes for me to try. I've added a few of the best to my favorites.

Anyway, from my porn surfing, I found these two tarts: the Bakewell Tart (pictured above) and the Linzer Tart. The Linzer I didn't get a picture of before it was whisked off to the hungry boyos; just assume mine looked as good as the one in the recipe. The Bakewell is a shortbread crust, with strawberry jam smeared on it, then covered with an almond cake. It overflowed while baking so I got to taste the leavings: the almond cake absolutely melts in your mouth. The Linzer Tart is an almond shortbread crust, with a raspberry jam layer, then chocolate ganache poured on top. I didn't get to taste but the bowl for this one, but I did make one adjustment to the recipe: I added ~1 tablespoon of cinnamon to the ganache, to spice it up a little bit.

The last recipe I'll post today is my birthday cake. Mine didn't photograph well at all; in fact it collapsed mid-picture under the weight of the mint sauce. It was a definite chocolate bomb though. I made one addition to the recipe: mid-bake time, I stuck a chocolate ganache truffle in the center of each. The idea was, melted chocolate truffle center! However, I stuck it too far down then over-cooked the cakes: the truffle was melted at the bottom, causing it to collapse faster once I took it out of the pan, and there was no molten center. They were still excellent though; just mini souffles.

Lemonade Cake

I know, I know, I've been making a lot of fruit desserts lately. But, how could I resist Lemonade Cake! It looks rather plain so next time I'll probably candy some lemon rinds and sprinkle them across the top. I didn't have a chance this time around, unfortunately.
Ingredients:
* 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
* 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick/3 oz/85g) butter, softened
* 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
* 3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs
* 2 large egg whites
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
* Cooking spray
Frosting:
* 2 tablespoons butter, softened
* 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
* 2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 8 ounces cream cheese
* 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (180 C). Place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.
Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake in preheated 350°F (180 C) oven for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
Place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.
Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.