Angel Food Cake

Made this yummy angel food cake for a cookout at my brother and sister-in-law's house last weekend.  Yes, I did make it from scratch and NO, it's NOT difficult!  You can do this easily, so long as you are patient (but vigilant) as your eggs are being beaten.

The first problem I ran into when preparing to make this was not having the right pan.  Yes, you do need an angel food cake pan.  My internet research tells me that you should not use a non-stick pan, and you should use a flat bottomed angel food cake pan.  (Problem: I was planning to use my non-stick bunt pan with a fancy bottom.)  Luckily we have some great neighbors who let me borrow a pan!  Now that I know how easy it is to make angel food cake I need my own pan!

After recipe searching online, I decided to go with the recipe from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.  I figured when it's such a classic recipe, an old-fashioned cookbook should have it right!  They have helpful pictures of of "soft peaks" and "stiff peaks" - which is important if  you're not already able to recognize the difference.  

If your pan does not have prongs for when it is cooling upside down, use a funnel to prevent the pan from being against your counter.  Our homemade funnels are the cut off tops of 2 liter bottles - works just as good!

The only thing that I did different was to add 1/2 tsp. of almond extract, as suggested by browneyedbaker.  I really like almond flavoring!  Recipe is as follows...

Angel Food Cake

• 1 1/2 cups egg whites (use 10-12 large eggs)

• 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

• 1 cup sifted cake flour or sifted all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

• 1 tsp. vanilla

• 1 cup granulated sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Have ungreased 10-in tube pan ready.

2.  Separate egg whites into a very large mixing bowl and allow them to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, sift powdered sugar and flour together three times; set aside.

3. Add cream of tartar and vanilla to egg whites.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form (Tips will curl if spatula is inserted and lifted.  See images here).

Gradually add granulated sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form (Tips stand straight.  See images here)

4. Sift one-fourth of the powdered sugar mixture over beaten egg whites.  Fold in gently with a spatula.  Repeat powdered sugar mixture by fourths.  Pour into ungreased 10-inch tube pan.  Gently cut through batter to remove air pockets.  (Use a knife or icing spatula).

5. Bake on the lowest rack in a 350° oven for 40-45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched.  Immediately invert cake;  cool thoroughly in pan (about 2 hours).  Loosen cake from pan by sliding a metal spatula or table knife between the cake and pan, pressing the spatula against the pan, so you don't cut the edges of the cake.

Sources: Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 12th edition

Browneyedbaker.com

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Cake

I made this cake for both my sister's and my mom's birthdays this year.  It's very moist and very chocolatey.  When my Mom said chocolate cake, I used this recipe again because I remembered how awesome it is.  And these pictures just make me want more!

Here is a link to the recipe on Hershey's website.  Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

The frosting on this cake is the Hershey's recipe; the other one is a different recipe.

Strawberries go so well with this cake... especially with the icing! 

This is the same Hershey's cake with a different icing recipe.

Looking forward to making my nephew's birthday cake next week!

Spiderweb Pumpkin and Ginger Cupcakes

My favorite time to bake is when I have a Saturday when we don't have to do anything.  It's especially nice for when I am doing something with icing.  When I have to wait for something to cool, mix colors, decorate, etc. I just like to have a lot of time.  These weren't too bad time wise.  The cupcakes were easy to make and so was the icing. The recipe said it would make 12 cupcakes - I made 15 and they were the perfect size.  I love how festive they are for Fall/Halloween!  They're from a book that my brother and sister-in-law got me for my birthday (Thanks again, guys!)

Spiderweb Pumpkin and Ginger Cupcakes

makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 3/4 tsp. baking powder

• 3/4 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp. ground ginger

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

• 3 large eggs

• 1/4 cup (about 1 1/4 oz.) crystallized ginger cut into 1/8-1/4 inch pieces

Icing:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 3 cups powdered sugar

• 1/2 to 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 to 2 tsp. whole milk

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger into a medium bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low-medium speed, beat the melted butter, sugar, and pumpkin until smoothly blended.  Mix in the eggs and crystallized ginger.  On low speed, mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated.  The batter will be thick.

Fill each paper liner with a generous 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/2 inch below the top of the liner.  Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.

Carefully place the wire rack on top of the cupcakes in their pan.  Invert the pan and rack to release the cupcakes onto the rack.  Turn the cupcakes right side up to cool completely.  

Icing:

In a large bowl attached to an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla on low speed until smooth and thoroughly blended, about 1 minute.  Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth, about 1 minute, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute to lighten the frosting further. 

Frost the cupcakes.  Transfer 1/4 cup of the frosting to a small bowl and stir in enough cinnamon to make it a light brown color and enough milk to make a thick but pourable frosting.  Set aside to use for the spiderwebs.  Use a small spatula to put a second layer of frosting on each cupcake.  Be generous with the icing - a scant 1/4 cup on each.  Make a smooth even layer on top.

Spoon the reserved cinnamon frosting into a small self-sealing freezer bag and seal it.  Cut a tiny hole in one corner of the bag, about 1 1/6 inch long.  Hold the bag about 1/2 inch above a cupcake and slowly pipe two circles, one inside the other, with a dot in the center.  Using a toothpick and beginning at the center on the dot, slowly drag the toothpick to the outside of the outer circle.  Alternate the direction of the toothpick as you continue making lines to form the web pattern, making the next line from the outside of the cup cake to the inside.  Finish the rest of the cupcakes the same way.

Halloween cupcake liners

Love these spiderweb cupcakes!

Happy Halloween!

German Chocolate Cake

This cake was for my Dad's birthday.  I found it on Annie's Eats - another Annie who made it for her Dad's birthday!  Sounds perfect!  I am not a big fan of coconut, so I omitted it and added extra nuts instead.  So it was really nutty, but very good!  I used my food processor to chop the recommended amount of nuts with an extra half of a cup instead of the coconut.

Annie from Annie's Eats also recommended using less rum syrup, so I followed her recipe changes and still had extra syrup.

There's a really nice printable version of the recipe on Annie's Eats... you can check it out there!

Source: Annie's Eats, David Lebovitz

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

This is really and truly an awesome dessert.  I think both Nick and my mouth's were watering from the time I started making this on Saturday until we tasted it a day later.  It is so rich, and it seems so fancy that I can't believe I made it.  Definitely the fanciest thing I've ever made.  And a strawberry was a perfect companion.  This recipe is from Annie's Eats and can be found here (taken from Cooks Illustrated).  Annie also has a nice printer friendly version on her site.

Honestly?  It is not that difficult.  Don't let the recipe freak you out because it is so long.  It is time consuming, and it is expensive to make, depending on what chocolate you use in each layer.  We cheated a little bit to make it a little less expensive to make.  But anybody with access to a spring form pan, a mixer, and a stove could make this.

This recipe calls for 14 oz. of bittersweet chocolate.  I ended up only using 4 oz. and did the rest with semi-sweet chocolate.  If you're not afraid to spend lots of money on a chocolate dessert, then by all means, use all bittersweet!  I'm cheap and I didn't think it could make TOO much of a difference.

**Update - Shopping for another chocolate dessert I found bittersweet chocolate in small morsels instead of bars at a much cheaper price.  I guess it just depends on the store.**

Also, I cannot take credit for the beautiful chocolate curls.  I do not think that I have the patience to do something like that.  Nick is the artist in this house... he took care of the chocolate curls for me.  Thanks to the Pioneer Woman's chocolate curl how-to he knew exactly what to do and was successful!

How about one more yummy picture before the recipe?

White chocolate.

Chocolate mousse.

Chocolate cake.

Yum.

Triple Chocolate Mousse cake:

Ingredients:

Bottom layer: 

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

3 oz. semi-sweet baker's chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 tsp. instant espresso powder

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 large eggs, separated

pinch of salt

1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

Middle layer:

2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

5 tbsp. hot water

7 oz. semi-sweet baker's chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

pinch of salt

Top layer:

3/4 tsp. powdered gelatin

1 tbsp. water

6 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Garnish:

Chocolate curls, cocoa powder, or fruit.

Directions:

Bottom layer:

Prepare pan by either buttering sides and bottom or covering bottom with parchment paper.  Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325°.  Combine the butter, chocolate, and espresso powder in a double boiler.  Stir occasionally until the mixture is smooth.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the vanilla and egg yolks.  Set aside.

Beat the egg whites and salt on medium speed until foamy, about 30 seconds.  Crumble half of the brown sugar into the mixing bowl with your fingers (to remove any lumps).  Beat until incorporated, about 15 seconds.  Add the remaining brown sugar and continue to beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about a minute more.  If you haven't done this before, be careful not to over beat them.  Using a whisk, mix one-third of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Fold in the rest with a rubber spatula until no streaks remain.  Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake until cake has risen, is firm around the edges, and the center has just set but is still soft, about 14-18 minutes.  The center should spring back when touched lightly with a finger.  Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.  Let sit at least 1 hour.  Do not remove the cake from the pan.  (If not making the second layer right away, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to proceed).

Middle layer:

Whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water in a small bowl; set aside.  Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth.  Once melted, remove from the heat and let it cool slightly, 2-5 minutes.

In a clean bowl whip the cream, sugar and salt on medium speed until mixture begins to thicken, about 30 seconds.  Increase the speed to high and whip 30-60 seconds longer, until soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted.  Whisk in the cocoa powder mixture until smooth.  Using a whisk, mix one-third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream mixture until no streaks remain.  Pour mousse over the cooled bottom layer and smooth the top.  Tap the cake on the counter 3 times to remove air bubbles and wipe the inside of the pan to remove any smears from this layer.  Refrigerate until set, at least 15 minutes.

Top layer:

Put water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin overtop.  Let it stand at least 5 minutes to soften.  Put white chocolate in a medium bowl.  Bring 1/2 cup of heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan.  Remove the pan from the heat and add gelatin.  Stir until dissolved.  Pour the hot cream mixture over the white chocolate and let stand about 1 minute.  Whisk until the mixture is smooth.  I had to put mine in the microwave for a few seconds to finish melting the chocolate.  Cool to room temperature, about 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Whip the remaining 1 cup of cream at medium speed until it begins to thicken.  Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted, about 30-60 seconds.  Using a whisk, mix one-third of the cream  into the white chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Fold in the remaining whipped cream gently with a rubber spatula until no streaks remain.  Spoon the white chocolate mousse into the pan over the middle layer.  Smooth the top with an offset spatula.  Return the cake to the refrigerator and chill until set, at least 2 1/2 hours.  

Nick and I added chocolate curls somewhere between 15 -30 minutes after beginning to chill, so that they would set in to the top of the cake.

Serve your cake very cool!

Source: Annie's eats, originally from Cook's Illustrated (November/December 2009)

Chocolate cake - round 2

Okay, this chocolate cake was really good.  I'm having trouble comparing it with the other chocolate cake I made for my mom's birthday though.  They're SO similar and both SO good.  I do know that Nick and I liked the mocha icing with it better than with plain white icing that we had this time.  Anyway, the cake is pretty similar to the last one I made.  Also from foodnetwork.com.  The only differences are the amounts of baking soda and baking powder, and using 1 cup of coffee instead of 1 cup boiling water.  Oh, and this one wants buttermilk instead of milk.  As usual, I add a tad of vinegar instead of buying buttermilk.

What I learned about vanilla icing:  When you're adding flavor, add half vanilla and half almond extract.  The almond extract tastes so good!!!

Side note: the recipe on the food network website says to use "good" cocoa powder.  I think this is really funny.  I remember my Grandma telling my Mom to buy her "good buns" from the store.  What kind of buns are "good buns"?  In this case, at least my mom probably knew what she liked.  What is "good cocoa powder"?  Is mine not good enough?  Oh well!  I took this out of my version of the recipe.  I'm sure whatever cocoa powder you have is good enough.

Chocolate cake recipe:
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.*  Makes 6 cups of batter.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer.  Mix on low speed until combined.  In another bowl combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing on low speed until combined.  Add the coffee and stir just to combine.  Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack and cool completely.  Do not ice until it is completely cool!


*As I noted in my last cake post, I am now measuring how much batter each cake recipe makes.  My round cake pan collection currently includes two 9x1 1/2 inch cake pans, one 9x2 inch cake pan, and one 6x2 inch cake pan.  I like the 9x2 cakes, so I wanted to know how much batter each recipe makes so I know how much extra I'll have if I make a 9x2.  This made approx.  6 cups of batter... which I made into 2 cakes... about 4 cups went into my 9x2 and about 2 cups went into my 6x2.  Phew!  That's way too many number is one paragraph.

Here's some pictures of my and Mom's final cakes!

This is Mom's!

Check out the basket weave!

This is mine.  

More basket weave

This is the little guy I made with the rest of my batter and my leftover icing.

Source:  Food network, Ina Garten, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beattys-chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html

Chocolate cake with Mocha Icing

I definitely recommend BOTH of these recipes.  The mocha icing with the chocolate cake is SO GOOD. Luckily for us I still have some cupcakes that I made with the extra batter and icing...which may or may not have been my breakfast this morning.

This was the finished decorated cake. 

There's also little flowers around the outside.

These pictures were my inspiration. I knew I wanted chocolate on chocolate so I google-imaged cakes with chocolate icing and went from there.  So many cute ideas out there!  Anyway, these are my wanna-be-like-those cupcakes.

ANYWAY - the recipes! 

Chocolate cake from the foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

• 2 cups sugar

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. salt

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup milk

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 1 tsp. vanilla

• 1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350°.  Prepare two 9 inch cake pans* by brushing on crisco, sprinkling with flour, then tapping out extra.  In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  In a small bowl combine eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.  Beat well.  Slowly add boiling water and continue to mix.  Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and mix until smooth.  Pour batter into prepared pan(s).  Bake for:

9 x 1 1/2 in pans 30-35 minutes

9 x 2 in pans 40-45 minutes

*I decided after completing this recipe that every cake that I make from now on I am going to measure how much batter it makes and use this chart to help me figure stuff out.  I find it annoying that every recipe makes a different amount of batter, and I never know how much extra I'm going to have.  And prepare two 9 inch cake pans?  Do you mean two  9 x 1/2 inch?  Or two 9 x 2 inch?  Generally they mean 9 x 1/2 inch, but recently I've been into the 9 x 2 inch.  For this recipe, I used a 9 x 2 inch cake pan and made an additional 12 cupcakes.  

Wilton's Buttercream Mocha Icing

(I used the recipe we used in class but added chocolate and coffee as suggested on this site)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup solid white vegetable shortening

• 1 tsp. vanilla

• 8-9 tsp milk/coffee (split half and half, or add milk/coffee to taste)

• 1 lb. 10x sugar

• 1 Tbsp. Wilton Meringue Powder

• three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted (OR 3/4 cup cocoa)

Cream shortening, vanilla, and milk/coffee.  Add chocolate and continue to mix.  Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until thoroughly mixed.  Blend until creamy.  

One recipe of icing was enough for me to do everything you see in the pictures.  (Ice the cake, make a top and bottom border, ice some of my cupcakes, and practice my borders a little)

IMPORTANT!

This makes 2 1/2 cups STIFF icing. 

To make a border, make a design on your cupcakes, etc. with your icing you should make MEDIUM consistency icing by adding 1 tsp. of milk or coffee for each cup of STIFF icing that you are converting.

To ice your cake (or write on it) you should have THIN consistency icing.  Add 2 tsp. of water for every cup of STIFF consistency icing (that would be 5 tsp. for the full recipe)

Classic White Cake

This is a food network recipe... I will just link to it because I didn't change anything.

I'm not as willing to take baking risks yet, so I generally just follow instructions.

Here it is.  Classic white cake.

This is the cake that I made for cake class this past Monday that was decorated as the birthday cake.  It got good reviews from everybody at small group.... and it turned out to be close to 3 people's birthdays!  Yay!  Happy birthday guys!  

So, this was my first time filling a cake the way that is supposed to be the "correct" way - with icing around the outside to hold in the filling.  I always just used frosting in the middle.  I used to love to make double layer funfetti cakes.  Well this is similar...but better.  It seems way fancier with a different kind of filling!  Here is a picture of how I did it.

Pretty simple.  I filled a pastry bag with the icing I was using to ice the cake and put one of the bigger tips on to pipe a circle of icing around the edge.  Then I put in some strawberry jam (That Nick's mom made for us!! Thanks!)  I didn't use too much... just kind of enough to cover it with a thin layer.  Once we ate the cake we decided it could have had a little more filling.  I also have some strawberries that I bought frozen to put in smoothies.  I defrosted those and just put them in the filling like this to make the strawberry a little more substantial.  If I have strawberries next time I fill a strawberry cake I'd probably do that again.  

You can see the pictures of the decorated cake in my post Last week of Cake Class 1!

But here's the yummy cake - we only had 2 pieces left over!

I definitely recommend this white cake recipe!

I have a few more weeks of cake class...any recipes I should try?  :)

Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

I would recommend these cupcakes if only because they are so easy to make.  None of this creaming butter and sugar, adding eggs, blah blah, do it in this order... you just dump everything in the bowl and mix.  Oh, and they taste good.

For cake decorating class this week we were filling cupcakes... so I made these with a cream filling.  I think I need to practice filling them, because all of the pictures on this website seem to have much more filling inside than mine do.  Here's the recipe I used, once again from allrecipes.com: Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes.

We practiced making the "shaggy mum" this week...which is the hilarious looking giant yellow blobs.  Don't remember what the other blue ones are called.  Oops.  And the other yellow one was me forgetting to change my tip before I started, then just "going with it".  Oops again.

I can't take credit for all of these.  Mom did some...but I don't know which of us did which.