Fall Cup Cakes

Category: Cakes > Butter > Cup Cakes > Fall Cup Cakes

I'm really surprised that this is my first time posting about cupcakes - especially given the current popularity of cup cakes. I like cakes because you are given a bigger canvas to work with but you can do some pretty darn fancy things with cupcakes too.

I'm actually becoming more and more of a cup cake fan these days just because I love the portion control in them. I think health is very important and as someone who loves to bake, you have to be really careful about how many of your sweets you eat. I've been thinking about posting about this topic for some time and I just might. Hehe, but today's post is about cup cakes - Fall Cup Cakes.

Anyways, the real reason I made these up was just as I stated a few posts back. I had left over buttercream icing and fondant I wanted to use up. So I baked up a batch of plain yellow cup cakes.

I had almond flavor red, orange, and brown left over from the Fall Cake so it was a no brainer that these would be Fall themed cup cakes. I even threw in a few Halloween ones.

These are plain star tipped orange, red, and brown cup cakes. The one in the upper corner is a Halloween one. I have a close up of it below.



This is a mixed group. Yes, those are suppose to be pumpkin faces but I wasn't too pleased with them. One has a red leaf on it and the other two are multiple colored star tipped cup cakes.



After I ran out of all the almond flavored red, orange and brown, I pulled out the little bit of remaining mint chocolate icing I had. I also used some new mini fall cut outs to cut out some fondant acorns and leaves.



This is the close up of the Halloween spider web cup cake. I think it turned out pretty cute and I could see myself makes a whole batch of just these for Halloween!



Oh and while I'm thinking about it - tip when using mint extract. Use less of it than you would of other flavors. I used 1 tsp. and it made the icing a bit too minty. 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. would have been much better.

Fall Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > Decorated > Fall Cake

Last week there was a pot luck lunch at church which my grandmother was going to attend. My mom asked me to make a cake for the event. I decided "Fall" was going to be my theme. I sat around for a little while before brainstorming this idea. I was really pleased with how it came out.

Everyone suggested leaves and stuff to decorate the cake but I really didn't want to bust out the gumpaste and do anything that fancy. I just wanted to make a pretty plain old buttercream icing cake. This cake was Triple Chocolate Fudge with chocolate pudding filling. It was covered with almond buttercream icing (pretty much because I already had some made up that I wanted to use ><)

Marble Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > Marble Cake

So, what is a marble cake? A marble cake is a yellow/white cake mixed with a chocolate cake. They are mixed together in a swirling fashion that makes the cake resemble marble. Hence the name.

It is similar to a checkerboard cake in that it is a good choice for people who love both yellow and chocolate cake and can't make up their mind. Plus, it looks really cool with you cut into it.

Baked Marble Cake:





If you purchase a Marble Cake cake mix, you will get a packet of yellow cake mix and a smaller packet of chocolate cocoa. You make the yellow cake up like normal. Then you take a cup of the yellow cake and put it into a smaller bowl and mix the cocoa with it. You pour the yellow cake into your cake pan, spoon the chocolate batter on top of the yellow cake and then use a knife to swirl/cut/mix the two.

If you didn't have a marble cake mix, but are just dieing for a marble cake, you can mix a regular yellow cake up and just mix a cup of the batter with about 1 cup cocoa powder. Basically the same thing!

These are marble cupcakes that I covered with almond buttercream, followed by almond fondant and topped with little royal icing flowers.

Kugalhopf

Category: Cakes > Yeast > Kugalhopf

I do have a picture of my Kugalhopf but it looks a little sad so I'll forgo posting it. >< Kugalhopf is supposed to be made in a Kugalhopf pan which is a little like a bundt pan but taller and smaller in diameter. In lieu of a kugalhopf pan you can use a regular bundt pan, which I did.

I classified Kugalhopf as a cake but it could also be considered a bread.

Kugalhopf uses yeast but my kugalhopf never really rose. Either the yeast was bad or I did something wrong, I don't know which. But, the Kugalhopf still tasted good. It tastes similar to a raisen bread, not very sweet.

It is said Kugalhopf is supposed to be eaten the same day it is made. Well, we couldn't possible eat all that Kugalhopf in one day, but toasting it the next - it still tasted good.

Before I post the recipe I used, I just want to say, that to my knowledge, Kugalhopf has yeast in it. I saw many Kugalhopf recipes with no yeast! I don't think these are true Kugalhopf recipes.

Recipe:

• 1-1/2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
  
• 2 tbsp. Warm Water (105–115°F)
  
• 1 cup Milk
  
• 7 tbsp. Unsalted Butter; cut into tablespoon pieces and softened
  
• 6 tbsp. Sugar
  
• 3-3/4 cups Flour
  
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1-1/2 cups Raisins
  
• 1 tsp. Lemon Zest
  
• 20 Whole Blanched Almonds
  
• 1 tbsp. Powdered Sugar
  

Stir together yeast and water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Butter Kugelhopf mold or bundt pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Put 1 almond in each depression in bottom of mold (the almonds are only decorative; you can skip them altogether if your mold has no depressions). I admit, I left the almonds out of my Kugelhopf but we all know how I feel about nuts.

Heat milk with the remaining butter and sugar over low heat, stirring, until mixture is warm (105 to 115°F), butter is melted, and sugar is dissolved.

Sift together flour and salt into bowl of standing mixer with paddle attachment. Make a well in flour and add yeast mixture. Add the warm milk mixture in a slow stream, mixing at low speed. Increase speed to medium and beat in eggs 1 at a time, then beat in raisins and zest. Continue to beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (Dough will be very sticky.)

Scrape spoonfuls of dough evenly into mold. Cover top of mold with oiled plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place until it fills pan, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove towel from Kugelhopf and gently peel off plastic wrap. Bake Kugelhopf in middle of oven 15 minutes, then loosely cover mold with foil and continue to bake until golden and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes more. Cool in pan 2 minutes, then invert cake onto a rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. Dust with confectioners sugar.

Baking Tips:

• "Plump" your raisins before adding them to the mixture by placing them in a bowl with some water added. Cover the bowl and place in microwave for about 45 seconds until raisins are soft and puffy.
  
• If you don't have a warm place to allow your Kugalhopf to rise, you can heat your oven to 200 degrees, turn it off, and let your batter sit in the oven with the door ajar.
  

Halloween Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > Decorated > Halloween Cake

I had left over fondant from the pillow cake that I wanted to use up. I decided to add some orange to the "ivory" to make a nicer orange and use it with the purple for a Halloween Cake.

I used closed cookie cutters for the cut outs on the cake. The reason they are as thick as they are is because if the fondant wasn't that thick the imprint didn't appear.

The cake itself is a devil's food cake with chocolate mint buttercream icing. The cake tastes like a Girl Scout "Thin Mint" cookie.





I still have a little purple fondant left that I'll need to find something to do with. Hmm, I also have left over almond and chocolate mint buttercream icing. Maybe I'll make up a batch of cupcakes to use all the icings up.

Pillow Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > Decorated > Pillow Cake

I received a free copy of the 2010 Wilton's Yearbook because I signed up for their new cake decorating class. One of the cakes pictured was this three tiered pillow cake. It was amazingly cool. I purchased a set of the pillow pans and wanted to try my hand at making the cake. I decided to only make the smallest tier because who needs all that cake.

I have to admit, it was an ambitious cake to set out to make. It wasn't as easy as the instructions led you to believe. The seams wouldn't stay on the cake despite using a ton of toothpicks to hold it in place. The tassels wouldn't form correctly and I had problems getting them to stick as well.

I was disappointed in the shade my "ivory" fondant come out. It was more orange than ivory. I must have used too much food coloring. And the dusting powder they suggested we use to give stuff a golden shine didn't work as well as I thought it would.

Of course, having made this cake once, I learned a bunch of stuff that I should do different to make the cake look better. I also have a better idea of how the dusting powder really works, as this was my first time using it.

So, this is how it turned out. Not great, but not terrible. The fondant is an almond flavor. The buttercream underneath is also an almond flavor. The cake itself is a marble cake.



Some Tips:

• If you purchase the pillow cake pan set, the smallest pan holds half a cake mix.
  
• When you place the fondant on the top half of the pillow, make it so it over laps and covers the seam. That way, when you put your seam on the side of the cake it doesn't matter if it slips down a little bit.
  
• If you mix some gumpaste with your fondant for the seams and tassels, they will hold their shape better.
  

I want to make this cake again but with only buttercream instead. I am curious how it would turn out!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > Pound Cake > Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

My mother found this recipe in a magazine and wanted me to make it for her. It's not quite a true pound cake since a real pound cake is a pound of egg, butter, flour, and sugar. As such, it isn't quite as dense and a little more crumbly. It tastes like a chocolate chip cookie with the texture of a cake.

It's good, but personally, I think I rather just make a real pound cake and add chocolate chips to it =)



Recipe:

• 1-3/4 cups Flour
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 2 Egg Yolks
  
• 1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1-1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 3/4 cup Chocolate Chips
  

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5x3" loaf pan.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 6 minutes). Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time and mix well between each egg. Add vanilla. Mix until about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Slowly add the flour and salt. Mix just until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

August Birthday Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > Decorated

A while back when I was talking about some cakes I made I mentioned making another cake for my father's colleague. The cake I made for my father was the chocolate covered one.

The white cake was made for a neighbor. She came by and asked if I could have a cake ready for her that evening. >< I decided to mirror this design since I didn't really have time to come up with something new at the last minute. I was working the whole day and finished just as she came by to pick the cake up! But it turned out really cute.

Both cakes are dark chocolate fudge with a chocolate mousse filling. It is a really really yummy cake. It is iced with buttercream and the covered with gumpaste flowers. The cakes are exactly the same except the colors are reversed.

Snowballs

Category: Cakes > Butter Cakes > Snowballs

No, these snowballs are not like the pink snowballs you can buy at the gas station but these are kind of similar. These snowballs are cut white cake that are covered with marshmallow frosting and coconut. Even if you don't want to add the frosting and coconut, the cake is very good.



This isn't the best picture but it was the only one I could find that I took of the snowballs.

Recipe:
Cake:

• 1 White Cake Mix
  
• 1 cup (8 oz.) Sour Cream
  
• 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
  
• 3 Eggs
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  

Frosting:

• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 4 tbsp. Water
  
• 4 Egg Whites
  
• 14 oz. Marshmallow Creme
  
• 12 oz. Grated Coconut
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13"x9" pan.

Put the cake mix, sour creme, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat for an additional 2 minutes. The batter will be thick. Pour into greased pan and place in oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes and then remove from pan. Let continue to cool on a wire rack.

Let egg whites get to room temperature. Place sugar, water and egg whites in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, beating on high continuously with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Remove pan from heat and add marshmallow creme. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Cut cake into to equal 1-1/2" squares pieces. Place the cut cake on parchment covered cookie sheets, spaced about 3/4" apartment. Pour the marshmallow icing over the cake squares and then cover them with the coconut.

Place the cookie sheets with the snowballs in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes before serving.

Baking Tips:

• Just a heads up, making theses are a little messy because of the sticky marshmallow icing.
  
• Don't make the marshmallow icing until you are ready to use it. If it harden ups too much, you can warm it up over a double boiler.
  

Jello Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter Cakes > Jello Cake

One of my favorite desserts growing up was the Jello Cake. Not only did I think it was pretty (always a bright pink) but it tasted really good. Also referred to as a poke cake, a Jello Cake is a white or yellow cake that has had jello poured over it and then chilled.

Since it is a chilled dessert, it's a great dessert during the summer. The only draw back to this cake is that it requires time to make and so you need to plan ahead if you want to eat one.





The cake pictured is made with Black Cherry Jello so it is a bit darker than normal for me. I personally prefer plain cherry jello and think it makes the best jello cake.

Recipe:

• 1 White or Yellow Cake Mix
  
• 1 3 oz. Packet of Jello (Any flavor)
  

Bake cake according to instructions on the back of the box. Leave cake in pan and cool completely. Once the cake is cool, start the Jello. Bring one cup of water to boil and then dissolve the Jello in it. Once dissolve, add one cup cold water and stir. Poke large holes into the cake, making sure you poke all the way to the bottom. Using a skewer works well. Once holes are placed, slowly pour the jello over the cake. Allow the Jello to soak into the cake and into the holes. Chill cake for 4 hours and serve.

Baking Tips:

• You want your holes on your cake to be large enough that the Jello will go into them.
  
• Poke your holes in a uniform pattern to make the cake look nicer.
  
• You can cover the cake with whipped cream if you like.
  
• You want to pour the Jello slowly so the cake has time to soak up the Jello. Otherwise the Jello will fall all to the bottom of the pan.
  
• For storage, you will want to keep this cake refrigerated.
  

Watermelon Cake

Category: Cakes > Decorated

A while back, my father saw this cake in a magazine and just had to have it.



I used a red velvet cake so that it would be red when you cut into it. I did a pink crumb coat to add to the redness. I then did a coat of white icing. After that I covered the sides with green and the middles with red. If I made the cake again, I would skip doing a full layer of white because it just added too much icing to the cake. The seeds are with chocolate covered raisins.





This cake was my final cake for the 1st Wilton's cake decorating class. It was a spice cake filled with apple pie filling. I prepped all the icing a day or two before class and unfortunately, the black/chocolate icing started to clump a little. So, I wasn't quite as happy with the decorations on this cake as I was hoping for. Seems my cakes always turn out better when I decorate them at home, in my own environment.



This was one of my earlier cakes and the first I tried writing on. As you can see, I needed to use a bigger tip for the writing. I used a 1 when I think a 3 would have been better. For the life of me, I can't remember what type of cake it was.

Decorated Cakes

Category: Cakes > Butter Cakes > Decorated

These are some of the first cakes I decorated. You can tell they are not very good but practice makes perfect and you get better the more you do stuff like this.



I called this my monster cake because I experimented with a bunch of different things with this cake. First, it is a yellow cake which I added 1 tbsp. raspberry extract to, to try and make it a raspberry flavored cake. I didn't think it tasted very raspberry. It had just a faint hint. Some people loved it, other didn't really taste the raspberry at all. If I was to do this again, I would add more raspberry extract to the batter.

I also added 1 tbsp. meringue powder to the batter. People claim it makes the cake fluffier and moister. I didn't notice any difference so I don't think I'll be adding any more meringue powder to my cakes.

It was layered with chocolate mousse, which I also added raspberry extract too. I love the chocolate and raspberry combination. However, I think I added too much raspberry extract to the chocolate mousse. Next time I'll only add 1/2 tsp. raspberry extract.



This cake was the tastiest of the bunch. It was a dark chocolate fudge cake with chocolate mousse layers. It was divine. I plan on making this combination again later this month. My father requested a birthday cake for one of his colleagues, who just happens to love chocolate. So this should be right up her alley.



This was the simplest cake of the bunch. It was an orange cake which I ended up giving to the neighbors. I like orange so I was excited about baking an orange flavored cake. It was good but not quite as tasty as I had hoped. I probably won't be making many more orange cakes unless requested.

German Chocolate Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > German Chocolate Cake

Cake mixes today make very good cakes so most of the time I suggest just using a cake mix rather than making a cake from scratch. It tends to be faster, easier, and cheaper.

So for my German Chocolate Cake, I used a German Chocolate Cake mix and then made the icing. Traditionally, a German Chocolate Cake is iced with a Coconut-Pecan icing.



Recipe:

• 1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
  
• 1 cup Pecans
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 3 Large Egg Yolks, lightly beaten
  
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces
  
• 1/8 tsp. Salt
  
• 1-1/2 cups Sweetened Grated Coconut
  

For Cake, bake based on instructions on box. Let cake cool completely before you frost.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven, let cool, and then coarsely chop.

You can bake a few extra pecans if you want to use them to decorate the cake.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, egg yolks, butter, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, and when the mixture begins to boil and thicken, remove from heat. Stir in the chopped pecans, coconut, and vanilla extract. Let cool until spreadable. You can place in refrigerator to cool faster.

Baking Tips:

• If you are going to have more than one layer of icing in the cake, you might want to double the icing recipe.
  
• Dark Chocolate Icing is often used for a border on German Chocolate Cakes.
  

Pound Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter Cakes > Pound Cake

I like pound cake. It is a heavy and dense cake with a rich taste. Plus, it's a lot easier to make than a foam cake. The pound cake got its' names because it contains one pound each of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. Now-a-days pound cakes can include different flavorings and additives like nuts or chocolate chips.

This is a Cream Cheese pound cake I made. It's pretty close to a traditional pound cake except it substitutes some cream cheese for some butter and has vanilla added.



Recipe:

• 2 cups Butter, softened
  
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese
  
• 3 cups Sugar
  
• 2-1/2 cups + 2 tbsp. Flour
  
• 6 Eggs
  
• 2 tbsp. Vanilla
  

Grease and flour a 10" bundt pan. Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Whip butter and cream cheese together in large mixing bowl. Gradually add sugar and beat until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well mixed. Add vanilla. Blend in flour gradually. Pour batter into the pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool 15 minutes then remove from pan.

Baking Tips:

• Make sure you take extra time and grease and flour your bundt pan well so you get a nice shape when you remove the cake.
  
• If the top of the cake is getting too brown but the cake isn't finished baking, cover the top with aluminum foil while it finishes.
  

Sponge Cake

Category: Cakes > Foam Cake > Sponge Cake

Okay, I gotta admit that foam cakes are trickier than butter cakes. My first attempt at a sponge cake failed. It was only about 1" high, a little too done on the sides, and, although it tasted okay, was a bit too eggy for my tastes.

I have no clue what went wrong. There are a million different sponge cake recipes out there and they all vary greatly so it is hard for me to pin point where in the process I went wrong. I noted that the large eggs I used seemed a bit larger than normal with a lot of egg white. I might have ended up with too much egg. I might have messed up with combining all the final ingredients and "killed" too much of the air.

But, just like with the Angel Food cake, I was determined to succeed. The next night I tried again after a bunch of research on the net and armed with a different recipe. Victory was mine in the end.



Recipe:

• 4 Eggs, separated
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 4 tbsp. Cold Water-
  
• 1 cup Cake Flour
  
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla or flavoring of choice
  

Separate your eggs and let them get to room temperature. Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Grease the bottom of your baking pan but not the sides. Place parchment paper on bottom of baking pan. Beat Egg Yolks until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar. Sift Cake Flour and Baking Powder together. On low speed, mix in flour mixture alternately with water and vanilla. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Pour the batter into baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

Baking Tips:

• Make sure you don't have any grease that will touch your cake in your baking pan.
  
• Make sure you don't have any grease in the bowl your egg whites will be in.
  
• Fold in a figure 8 pattern.
  
• Place baking strips around your pan for a more evenly cooked cake. The outside of cakes cook faster than the middle. This also causes domed cakes. Baking strips will help prevent this.
  
• If you want, you can add 1 tsp. lemon zest for a lemony flavoring.
  
• Don't use a tester or toothpick to test if cake is done. Poking a hole in the cake, especially if it is not done, will cause it to dry out. Instead lightly press on cake. If it is springy and springs back it is done.
  

The Devil with Angel Food Cake

Category: Cakes > Foam Cakes > Angel Food Cake

I don't really like Angel Food cake. I didn't have it much growing up and prefer richer desserts. The only Angel Food cake I ever had is from the grocery store bakery section so you know it's not the best. My mom and brother tried to bake one once. It didn't come out too well, the top burned somehow and that was the end of Angel Food cake.

However, in my pursuit of learning the culinary arts, I decided it was time to tackle this cake. Two nights ago was my first attempt. When I took it out of the oven it looked okay but after it cooled and I flipped it out I learned it wasn't. It was flat, eggy and just not right. After some research, I figured I put too many egg whites in the cake. What I learned was, when trying a new dish, look at multiple recipes before settling on one.



The next night I was determined to conquer this cake. Luckily for me, my second attempt turned out well. It tasted good but I'm still not a personal fan of Angel Food cake. It is definitely one of those cakes that takes a while to master. Remember kiddies, practice makes perfect. If at first you don't succeed, try again and you will be rewarded with something yummy.





Recipe:

• 1 cup Cake Flour
  
• 3/4 cup Sugar
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 1-1/2 cup Egg Whites (9 to 13 whites)
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 1-1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  
• 1/2 tsp. Almond Extract
  

Let egg whites get to room temperature. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Sift together the cake flour and 3/4 cup sugar five times. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl add the egg whites and salt. Beat on high until foamy (about 30 seconds). Add the cream of tartar. Continue beating on high until you get medium peaks. Do not over beat until dry.

Quickly sprinkle in the 1 cup sugar while beating. Scape bowl sides gently towards beaters with rubber spatula. Turn to low and add the vanilla and almond extract.

Quickly sprinkle the sifted flour mixture in evenly. Beat only enough to blend, scraping bowl gently towards beater with a folding motion.

Gently spoon batter into an ungreased 10" tube pan. Cut through batter with spatula going around in widening circles six times without lifting spatula to make sure you don't have any air bubbles. Bake about 30 minutes. Turn pan upside down to cool for at least 1 hour. Loosen sides with spatula and remove.

Baking Tips:

• Use your whip attachment for the mixer.
  
• If you don't have a whip attachment - Instead of using the mixer to fold in your flour mixture, fold in by hand adding 1/4 cup at a time.
  
• Your goal is to have your final batter light and fluffy.
  
• Don't bang the uncooked batter. Be gentle until the cake has had some time to bake and set in the oven. Otherwise your cake could flatten.
  
• You can substitute different flavoring for the vanilla and almond extracts. For example, you can use 1 tsp. orange extract instead.
  
• Making sure your tube pan and all tools are grease free.