Big Birthday Cake for my Little Brother

My "little" brother turned 30 this year, and that makes me feel older than my own 30th birthday did! My brother is the general manager of a local bar, so we decided to celebrate his birthday there and let some of his staff and customers in on the celebration. I decided  I'd make two cakes for his birthday, one for our family dinner, and one for the celebration at the bar.

The big cake was a moist chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache with a hint of Chambord, filled with the same ganache and seedless raspberry jam. Yum, yum, yum. I am a big fan of chocolate and raspberry, and this was the best combination yet! I also made a small amount of white chocolate ganache flavored with Chambord to use for decoration. Obviously I need to work on writing on cake...Ganache probably wasn't the easiest to start with! The white chocolate, however messy, was a great contrast to the rest of the cake,

This cake recipe is large..it made 2 full 9x13 layers! I ended up mixing the batter in halves based on the suggestion of Deb at Smitten Kitchen, the blogger I got the recipe from...the full recipe would have been way too much for my mixer to handle.

Chocolate Butter Cake with Bittersweet Chambord Ganache
adapted from  Smitten Kitchen

Cake:
5 1/3 C. cake flour
5 1/3 C. sugar
2 2/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch process)
6 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
5 1/3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 2/3 C. buttermilk
5 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
2 2/3 C. freshly brewed coffee
1 C. seedless raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 9x13 inch pans with baking spray, and line bottom of pans with parchment paper.

Combine dry ingredients in large mixer bowl. Whisk ingredients until combined. Add buttermilk and butter and mix on low until moistened. Increase speed to medium high and mix until batter is light and fluffy, between 2-3 minutes.

Combine eggs and coffee in a medium bowl, and whisk until combined. Add to batter in 3 additions, scraping down the bowl after each addition and mixing until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pans, each pan uses about 5 1/2 cups batter.

Bake at 350 55-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Let cool in pans on wire rack 10-15 minutes, then carefully turn cakes out onto rack to cool completely.

Bittersweet Chambord Ganache

2 lbs bittersweet chocolate chips, I used Ghiridelli
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 C. heavy cream
1/3 C. chambord liqueur

Place chocolate chips in large bowl. Heat cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, removing from heat just before it boils. Pour over chocolate chips, and let sit for one minute. Whisk until smooth, then add butter, continuing to whisk until smooth. Stir in liqueur, and let cool to room temperature.

Assemble cake:

Place one layer on cake board and top with a thin layer of cooled ganache. Let ganache set, then spread 1 cup raspberry jam on top. Top with 2nd layer, and apply thin coat of ganache as a crumb coat to top and sides of cake. Let ganache set, then spread the remaining ganache over top and sides of cake. Top with fresh raspberries.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!!

Wedding Cupcakes!

I posted a few weeks ago about all of the reasons I'd been baking but not blogging. Well, I'm still kinda slacking in the blogging area...I just recently moved, am trying to get organized for a garage sale, and have been working up to 5 twelve+ hour days a week...so pretty please be easy on me!

I wanted to get a new recipe up- and this is a  good place to start. A few weeks ago, I posted pics of the Cupcakes and Grooms Cake I made for my brother Jason and his wife Monica's wedding. These cupcakes were a combination of a few of my favorite recipes. The cupcakes themselves are the Champagne Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling, and the icing is very brightly colored Lemon Buttercream. I figured what better way to celebrate than with Champagne in the cupcake batter as well as the filling- and the bride and groom (and my new nephews!) were easily won over with a test batch I made for them in February. The wedding was held outdoors in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the Raspberry and Lemon were light enough to enjoy...not too heavy to keep anyone from dancing!

The Cupcake recipe is from The Pampered Chef...and it is one of my all time favorite cake recipes! I usually make cakes completely from scratch, but this recipe is easy, yummy, and so tasty...you'd never know it starts with a mix!! Perfect for when you have 100 cupcakes to make, and no time for mistakes!

Raspberry Filled Champagne Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing adapted from The Pampered Chef and my own imagination


makes 24 standard cupcakes

Champagne Cake:
1 box white cake mix
3 egg whites
3/4 C champagne
1/2 C milk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Raspberry Champagne Filling:
1 1/2 C frozen raspberries
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C water
1 C champagne, divided
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Lemon Buttercream Icing:
2 sticks  unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon
gel food coloring,  if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with wrappers. Place cake mix in large bowl and whisk to break up any large lumps. Add champagne, milk, egg whites and vanilla and stir until combined (2-3 minutes by hand).

I use a Pampered Chef scoop to place batter in liners so my portions are equal and my cupcakes are of similar size. Fill liners 2/3 full. Place pans in oven, and bake 22-26 minutes, or until tops spring back when touched. Remove from oven to cool.

Prepare filling while cupcakes are baking, or ahead of time if making large quantities. Place 1/4 C champagne and 2 Tbsp cornstarch in small bowl, whisk until smooth and set aside.  Combine raspberries, remaining champagne, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Slowly add champagne-cornstarch mixture to pan, whisking constantly. Continue cooking 2-3 minutes to thicken mixture. If you don't want seeds in the filling, pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove. Set filling aside to cool.

When cupcakes and filling are completely cool, prepare icing. Place butter in a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer if you have one...like I FINALLY do!!) and beat on high speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar and lemon juice in small batches, mixing well after each addition. Add more or less lemon juice to achieve desired consistency.

If coloring frosting, add small amounts of gel food coloring to obtain desired color.

To fill cupcakes, cut a divot out of the center of the cupcake, place filling inside, place divot back on top..and frost as desired.

FYI: I had about 33 cupcakes with each color frosting...and because my sister-in-law wanted bright, vibrant tropical colors, each batch of frosting used approximately 1 small container of Wilton Gel Food Coloring.
This is what happens when you use that much frosting:

Gorgeous Teal Frosting...not so gorgeous teal tongues!
Photo courtesy of Dawn V. Gilmore Photography

Just for fun....most photos courtesy of Dawn V. Gilmore Photography

More to come soon...

Celebrate Life: Raspberry Champagne Cream Cupcakes

A few months ago, I happened upon the Frosting for The Cause Website and was excited to volunteer for the project. Frosting for The Cause is a volunteer baker/blogger effort to raise awareness as well as funds for cancer research. Each day of 2011, a new blogger will post about their experience baking goodies for their local hospice as well as where they are choosing to make their financial contribution.

As a Respiratory Therapist working in a medical center, I interact with cancer patients as well as non-cancer patients who are making the decision to seek hospice care. I am often blessed with the opportunity to be involved in the transition from critical care to the comfort care that hospice provides. I have been touched by many patients who eventually sought hospice care, and I am honored to have been a part of their lives, even if for just a brief moment in time.

On a personal level, cancer has affected a few of my family members as well as several of our family friends. Some of these people were lucky enough to win their battle with cancer, some were not. Each of them has taught me something along the way- that no matter what, life is to be celebrated. Life can be long, life can be short- we never know what the future holds for us. This post is dedicated to those family, friends, patients and their families that have fought long and hard fights.

The recipe I decided to use for this project is a celebration cake- Raspberry Champagne Cream Cake. I made the cake itself last week for my family's New Years Day Dinner, again Monday for a friend's birthday party, and decided that I would make the same recipe in cupcake form to take to the Stuart F. Meyer Hospice House here in Palm Coast, Florida.

Photo from Florida Hospital Hospice Care

The SFMHH is a small, 8 bed inpatient facility with a warm homelike atmosphere that provides patients (and their family members) the care and support they need in their last weeks and days. My son and I visited the facility this afternoon to drop off the cupcakes, and it is truly a beautiful facility filled with warm and caring people. I was honored to be able to provide this small gift to the patients, their families, and the staff that works so selflessly to provide comfort at every level. My financial contribution will also be going to Florida Hospital Hospice Care, in honor and memory of the patient's I've handed over to the loving care of the Florida Hospital Hospice Care nurses.

"You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but to live until you die."  Dr. Cicely Saunders (founder of modern hospice care)

Mini Raspberry Champagne Cream Cupcakes adapted from The Pampered Chef
Makes 56 mini cupcakes

Cake:
1 package white cake mix
3 egg whites
3/4 cup pink champagne
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 drops red food coloring gel

Raspberry Champagne Sauce:
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup pink champagne, divided
2 tbsp cornstarch

Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 lb powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup Raspberry Champagne Sauce



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place mini cupcake liners in mini muffin tin and set aside. Place cake mix in large mixing bowl, and whisk to break up lumps. Add the remaining cake ingredient, and whisk 2-3 minutes or until smooth.

Using a small scoop, fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.

Place in oven, and bake for 16-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove pan from oven, and cool on cooling rack for 10-15 minutes. Remove cupcakes to cooling rack and cool until completely cool. Repeat with remaining batter.

While cupcakes are baking, prepare Raspberry Champagne Sauce. Combine 1/4 cup champagne and 2 tbsp cornstarch in small bowl, whisk until combined and set aside. Combine raspberries, sugar, water, and 3/4 cup champagne in small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil.

When mixture comes to a boil, slowly add remaining champagne to pan, whisking constantly. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat, pour sauce into a small bowl through a fine mesh sieve to strain any lumps and seeds out. Let sauce cool for 1 hour.

When cupcakes and sauce are completely cool, prepare frosting. Place butter in a large bowl, and beat with electric mixer on high until smooth. Add powdered sugar in small batches, mixing well  and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. When all powdered sugar has been incorporated, add vanilla and 1/4 cup Raspberry Champagne Sauce, and mix until just combined.

Prepare pastry bag with selected tip, fold over edges and place inside a drinking glass. This stabilizes the bag and gives you two hands to use to fill the bag with frosting!

Pipe frosting on cupcakes, and top with sanding sugar if desired.

Top with sanding sugar, if desired, and enjoy.

Boxed up and ready to go!

 Remember that even the small things in life deserve to be celebrated!

Lemon Triumph Cake

One of the items on my 'To-Bake' list was a Lemon Triumph Cake I spotted over on Willow Bird Baking.  The recipe seemed challenging, as there were several components to make. Making cake and buttercream isn't new to me, but I'd never made a Lemon Curd or Mousse before! I decided I'd put the recipe on my 'To-Bake' list and give it a try when I had a reason to make another cake.

While I was at work last Saturday, I got a text from one of my good friends asking if I was working Sunday. I was, and I asked why...come to find out, she was offering to pay me to bake a cake for a party at her husbands office on Monday. She told me to forget it since I had to work, that she'd make something, but it wouldn't taste as good as something I could make. Awww...Well, as it turned out the cake wasn't needed until Tuesday, so I was able to make it. When I asked what kind of cake her husband wanted, she said vanilla and lemon. Perfect excuse to make the Lemon Triumph Cake!

This is a time-consuming recipe. I am a natural born procrastinator. My argument for my procrastination is that it forces me to come up with something great the first time around! If you're smart, you'll do like Julie on Willow Bird Baking suggests and make this cake in stages. If you're like me, you'll do it in one morning, running errands while each element is cooling or setting up!

I altered the recipe a bit- I prefer white cake with lemon flavored icing or filling, so I used my standby white cake recipe. I did use the Lemon Curd and Mousse recipes straight from WBB. The icing was my own lemon buttercream.

All in all, I think I could have decorated the cake a little better, but from what I hear it tasted fantastic! Can't wait to try it again and have a bite myself.

Lemon Triumph Cake adapted from Willow Bird Baking


Lemon Curd:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks (save the whites for later)
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl for about 2 minutes. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat for about a minute after the last egg is added. Add lemon juice and mix well. The mixture will appear curdled- this will disappear when heated.

Transfer the mixture to a heavy saucepan and cook on low heat until smooth. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and reaches 170 degrees on a candy thermometer. Don't let this mixture boil! Remove from heat, and stir in lemon zest. Transfer to a small bowl, and place a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd- this will prevent a skin from forming. Place in refrigerator- curd will thicken as it cools.

White Cake adapted from Sporkorfoon, who adapted it from Cook's Illustrated

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

1 cup milk (original calls for whole, I used 2%)

3/4 cup egg whites (6 large or 8 medium)

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pans- will make 2 9-inch layers. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl with a wire whisk, and set aside. Pour milk, egg whites and vanilla into a smaller bowl and whisk until combined. Add butter to dry ingredients, and mix with electric mixer on medium speed until mixture resembles crumbs. Add all but 1/4 cup of milk mixture, and beat on high speed with hand mixer (medium if you're a bigshot with a stand mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl, add the remaining milk, and beat for an additional 30 seconds.

Pour into pans or prepared muffin tins, filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake cakes at 350 for 23-25 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool in pans on wire rack for 15-20 minutes. Put pans in freezer for 15 minutes, then turn cakes out of pans and wrap each layer in 3 layers of plastic wrap to help lock in moisture. Place back in freezer until ready to use.

Lemon Mousse:
1 recipe lemon curd (above)
2.5 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3 large egg whites
3/8 cup sugar
3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

Place water in small saucepan and sprinkle gelatin evenly over the surface. Let sit until gelatin softens. Place 7/8 cup of the curd into a large bowl and set aside. In another small saucepan, heat the remaining curd over medium-low heat until very warm.

Turn the burner for the gelatin mixture to medium-low, and stir until gelatin dissolves and liquid is clear, being careful not to let it boil. Whisk warm gelatin into the warm curd, then whisk the warm curd into the bowl of cold curd that has been waiting oh-so-patiently.

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, continuing to beat until egg whites are thick and glossy. Gently fold this mixture into the curd in 3 additions. Using the same beaters, beat the cream until peaks form. Gently fold this into the curd as well, making sure mixture is smooth. Place mousse into refrigerator until slightly, but not completely, set.

This recipe made twice as much mousse as I needed for my cake...but it's just as great on its own as it is in a cake! I also used it as a cupcake filling a few days later, with the same cake and buttercream because I wanted a taste of this cake for myself! Yum!!

According to my mom, they're my best cupcakes yet!

Back to the cake...Remove one frozen cake layer from the freezer, unwrap, and place on a cake board. Top with a generous layer of mousse, spreading to the edges of the cake. Place this layer back in the fridge until mousse is set, then top with second cake layer.

Lemon Buttercream
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened

6 cups powdered sugar

3-4 teaspoons lemon extract

Milk or heavy cream to thin

2 drops yellow gel food coloring

Cream butter in bowl using electric mixer. Add sugar in small batches, adding milk or cream a tablespoon at a time to achieve desired consistency. Add food coloring if desired, and lemon extract.

Use a small amount of icing to crumb coat your cake, and place back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes until icing is set. Frost with remaining icing. I reserved a bit to decorate with, and added a drop or two of yellow food coloring to get a darker frosting for some contrast. Use your imagination! I also topped with fresh raspberries, but you could use any fruit, or none at all.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Happy Birthday Miles Away

I made these cupcakes today, just because. I have a 3 1/2 year old literally bouncing off the walls..the floor..the ceiling and everything in between. Baking is calming to me, so I decided to see what I could make with what I had in my kitchen to get my mind of the disaster area that is my living room.

I had leftover Raspberry puree from one of the cakes I made for my friends' wedding reception a few weeks ago, (Kaytie and Arni's cake) so I decided to make vanilla cupcakes with raspberry filling and raspberry buttercream. Yum! They turned out great!

Someone very close to me (but who happens to be very far away right now) is celebrating their birthday this Friday. Unfortunately, they'll be celebrating alone...If I could get these cupcakes there and have them taste good, I'd do it in a heartbeat. So Happy Birthday..I'll be thinking of you, and enjoying your cupcakes!!

On another note, I found out about a cool Betty Crocker giveaway over at  one of my new favorite blogs, Family Fresh Cooking. She's giving away a goodie bag full of Betty Crocker baking utensils, as well as a cookbook. Who wouldn't like that? Check it out!

Vanilla Cupcakes adapted from The Novice Chef Blog

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 12 cupcake liners in a muffin tin. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes.) Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Add vanilla and mix well.

In another bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches, alternating with milk, beating well on low speed after each addition. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter, and bake for 17 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Remove from oven, and cool completely before filling and frosting.

Raspberry filling: ( this will make enough to fill a 3 layer cake, and then some. I froze the leftovers and used for both the filling and frosting for these cupcakes)
  
10 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen 
1/4 c. sugar 
1 tbsp cornstarch 
  
Rinse or defrost raspberries, and combine in blender with sugar and cornstarch. Blend until smooth. If seedless filling is desired, press through mesh strainer to remove seeds.


Raspberry Buttercream



1 stick butter, softened
2  cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons raspberry filling


In a large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup sugar, and beat on low until smooth. Add raspberry filling and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until smooth. Add more sugar if you desire thicker frosting, or if you feel it needs to be thinned add a teaspoon of heavy cream or milk.

Happy Birthday!! 

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Awesome cakes for awesome friends! Part One..

These are my awesome friends, Kaytie and Arni. Kaytie and Arni got married in Iceland (Arni's home country) a few weeks ago. Aren't they gorgeous?? Seriously, i think they moonlight as models!

While the wedding and reception were in Iceland, obviously not everyone could make the trip with them- so they held another reception last night, complete with the wedding dress and suit..like I said, absolutely gorgeous!

The food was great, pulled pork and ribs provided by Kaytie's dad..The man knows how to cook! Instead of having another wedding cake, a bunch of friends and family pitched in and provided a dessert buffet. This is where my cakes come in! I love to bake, I love my friends, I love to bake for my friends..so it was a no-brainer! I'd made an awesome (if i do say so myself) chocolate cake for Kaytie's birthday a while ago, so I offered to make it again (with some improvements and additions) along with another cake as well.

I made a Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling, Chocolate Ganache and Chocolate Buttercream topped with White Chocolate shavings, as well as a White Cake with  Chocolate Ganache Filling and Tiramisu Buttercream. I'll post one recipe today, and be back later with the other recipe as well as directions for assembling the cakes.

My contributions to the dessert buffet

Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling, Chocolate Ganache and Chocolate Buttercream



Cake and Raspberry filling
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil :

I made three (3) 8-inch layers, which provided about 18 servings.

3 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk (or mix 1 1/2 cups milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar and let curdle)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
 
Preheat oven to 300 degrees, and prepare your pans. I use Bakers Joy spray, and line the bottom of my pans with circles of parchment paper to ease in removing the cakes from the pans.
 
Pour the hot coffee over the chopped chocolate, and stir until chocolate is melted. I love this part, and I don't drink coffee!
 
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with wire whisk to assure they're combined.
 
In a second large bowl, beat eggs with mixer until they're thickened a bit, and have a nice light yellow color. Add the buttermilk, chocolate-coffee mixture, oil and vanilla slowly and beat until combined. Slowly add dry ingredients while beating on medium speed. Continue to beat until combined.
 
Divide the batter between your prepared pans- if using 8 inch pans, they'll be about half full.
 
Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven, and place pans on cooling rack. Once cool, turn cakes out of pans onto cooling racks, remove parchment paper and cool completely. Attempting to turn them out too soon results in a broken layer..Another lesson learned the hard way!!
 
Raspberry filling:
 
10 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
 
Rinse or defrost raspberries, and combine in blender with sugar and cornstarch. Blend until smooth. If seedless filling is desired, press through mesh strainer to remove seeds. I leave the seeds in my filling.
I made a boo-boo and forgot to heat my filling, so it wasn't thick..but it still tasted great and worked well in the cake. If you're good at reading directions, like I very obviously am not, then go ahead and heat your filling over medium heat until it boils. Stir constantly. This, you direction followers, thickens the filling!!
 
 
Chocolate Ganache
From Savory Sweet Life
 
12 oz semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
 
Heat cream over medium high heat until it begins to boil. Immediately pour over chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Let sit for a minute or two, then stir until smooth. For a spreadable consistency, refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes, removing from fridge occasionally to stir and check consistency.
 
Chocolate Buttercream
Adapted from Savory Sweet Life
 
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp vanilla
4 tbsp heavy cream
1/8 cup cocoa powder
 
Beat butter with mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time (again to avoid the massive white sugar cloud in the kitchen..no contact highs for my little guy..Sorry Ben!) until combined. Add vanilla, cream, cocoa powder and salt, and beat on medium speed until frosting is nice and fluffy. If you want a thicker consistency, add more powdered sugar. If you prefer thinner frosting, add more cream.
 
Enjoy, and let me know what you think!!
 
Beth