A Little Taste of Heaven.....in a Cake

Flip Flops

2010-07-28T08:20:00.004-04:00

My daughter's b'day cake.

Chocolate Domingo cake filled with praline mousseline and frosted with chocolate mousseline. I made the beach towel, the bikini, the straps for the flip flops and the tiny flowers out of gumpaste. The starfish is mousseline. The water is piping gel that I coloured blue. The sand is vanilla cookie crumbs. The rest are candies except the flotie in the water which is a toy.

59th Wedding Anniversary Cake

2010-07-15T08:33:00.004-04:00

My cousin's wife's grand parents recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. I made this cake for them. Chocolate Domingo with dark chocolate ganache.

Father's Day Cake

2010-07-03T12:05:00.004-04:00

Made this for my husband on Father's Day. Chocolate cake, strawberry mousseline and ganache.

Tiffany Box Cake

2010-06-28T10:32:00.003-04:00

This is the cake I made for my sister-in-law's birthday. It was a chocolate cake filled with strawberry mousseline and covered in fondant. All the recipes are from TCB.

I made the bow a week ahead so it would dry well and then dusted it with silver pearl dust.

Chocolate Lattice Band

2010-06-11T21:18:00.003-04:00

I made this cake for one of my husband's friends. It was for his birthday. It was a 6" chocolate cake (from the wedding cake section of The Cake Bible).

Bernachon Palets d'Or Cupcakes

2010-06-05T22:28:00.005-04:00

This is my absolute favourite chocolate cake. It's so moist, chocolatey and can be made in next to no time. Perfect for when my daughters want a chocolate cake NOW :)

I have made this glaze quite a few times. Ever since I first made it for my mother's b'day, everyone wants this glaze. It's so amazing.

Check out the wedding cake Rose made for Marie's daughter's wedding. She's the luckiest girl ever :)

Chocolate Ingots

2010-05-17T16:28:00.010-04:00

I made these last week to satisfy a HUGE chocolate craving. It worked like a charm :) They are very chocolatey. I used the optional caramelized cocoa nibs. At first I was skeptical because I thought they would still be bitter. I gave it a try anyway and I was glad I did. Let me tell you, these caramelized cocoa nibs are addictive. I couldn't stop eating them. It's my new snack now. I'm going to have to make them regularly.

I didn't make the bake-through recipe this week. My daughter had a horrible stomach virus and I had more than enough to deal with. Besides, I didn't have the heart to make the cheesecakes and tell her she couldn't have any.

Gâteau Breton

2010-05-10T12:18:00.008-04:00

When I read Rose's description of this cake, I had to make it. She had me at shortbread. I absolutely love shortbread. It was a very easy cake to make. I made it for my mum for Mother's Day. My brother's first comment when he ate it was "it tastes like shortbread" and I didn't even tell him what it was supposed to taste like. I will definitely make it again. It's worth every calorie.

Coffee Chiffon

2010-04-28T18:38:00.010-04:00

I HAD to make this one for the bake-through because it was coffee flavoured and I love the flavour of coffee. I don't drink coffee but I love it in desserts and cakes. I didn't however make the dulce de leche whipped cream. I made it in a regular angel food cake pan.

Mise en place and reading the recipe a few times is my religion when I bake. This time though it didn't work. First I added all the sugar to the flour instead of saving two teaspoons for the egg whites. Fortunately, my superfine sugar had a few lumps in it and I was able to remove two teaspoons. Then I made the syrup and totally forgot to add the Kahlua. I realized this only after I had syruped the cake. Oh well! The cake tasted out of this world and that's all that mattered in the end. It was light and so soft. I'll definitely make this cake again and again and again :)

Finally, I was able to upload the picture. Food styling courtesy of my two daughters :)

Two Fat Cats Whoopie Pie

2010-04-19T21:29:00.006-04:00

I am not a fan of marshmallows and I had absolutely no intention of making these till this morning. I hadn't baked any of the recipes this month and that's the only reason I decided to make the Whoopie Pies. I was going to fill them with plain whipped cream but then I remembered I had some left over Praline Silk Meringue buttercream. This buttercream is really addictive. Once I remembered I had this in the fridge there was no stopping me. I HAD to make these whoopie pies and fill them with the Praline Silk MBC. Seriously, this buttercream is to die for. The recipe is from The Cake Bible. If I didn't have to watch my figure, I would eat it by the spoonful. I'm not kidding.

The cake was a breeze to make. Nothing challenging or complicated. I didn't have an ice cream scoop in the size recommended so I used my 2 tablespoon Pourfect spoon.

I gave two of them to my neighbour and kept four for us. The cake was very light and very chocolatey. We all loved it and I'll definitely make it again but only if I have the Praline Silk MBC. See, I told you it was addictive :)

Pistachio Cake

2010-03-13T17:43:00.014-05:00

This week's bake-through cake is the Sicilian Pistachio Cake. I love the flavour of pistachios so I was looking forward to making this cake. I made the buttercream on Friday evening and baked the cake on Saturday. By the way, the buttercream is wonderful! I used golden syrup and you can really taste it in the buttercream. I didn't use the pistachio essence because I didn't have it and it wasn't available at any of the stores in my area. The buttercream is a dream to spread and work with. It felt like a buttercream that would be easy to pipe with too. It's also pretty easy to make. I made the 9" cake because we were going to my cousin's for dinner and I brought the cake for dessert. During the evening I didn't see the cake in the kitchen so I figured he had left it in the dining room. After dinner, he brought out the cake and it had been in the fridge all that time. A butter cake frosted with a buttercream that actually has butter in it eaten straight out of the fridge. What a disaster! I could have cried. Everyone ate the cake and said it was really good but I know it didn't taste the way it should have. I ate a piece but to be honest I didn't really taste any flavour in it. Even the buttercream that tasted heavenly at room temperature was one solid stick of butter in my mouth. About 1/4 of the cake was left. Since I hadn't taken any pictures of the cut cake, I called my cousin's wife the next day and asked if she could take a picture of it for me. There was no cake left! It was left on the counter top overnight and of course it was the perfect temperature. So she and my cousin had eaten it for breakfast because it was so good. I guess I'll have to make it again some time so that I could really taste it.

Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake

2010-03-01T11:17:00.009-05:00

I am seriously late with this bake-through recipe. I baked it on time, just neglected to post it.

This was a pretty easy cake to put together. I reduced the poppyseeds to 40g. The cake was very good but it was the syrup that did it (for me). I also liked the contrast in texture that the poppyseeds added.

My husband loved the cake and so did our neighbours. One of our neighbours said it actually tasted like lemon unlike the lemon poppyseed muffins she buys. She said her first thought was "oh, so this is how it's supposed to taste".

Banana Refrigerator Cake

2010-02-23T18:25:00.007-05:00

This week was "free choice" for the bake-through. I had every intention of making the Designer Chocolate Baby Grands but I had all these over-ripe bananas begging to be baked into a cake. So I made the Banana Refrigerator Cake. I used orange zest instead of the lemon zest. I am not a big fan of the banana /lemon combination. Instead of the white chocolate cream cheese buttercream, I used the Light Whipped Ganache.(recipe is from The Cake Bible)

This is my new favourite banana cake. It was really moist and tender.

Left over buttercream

2010-02-18T13:34:00.005-05:00

Everytime, I make a kids' cake I end up with buttercream in all the colours of the rainbow. I could make cupcakes and frost them with the different coloured buttercream. Knowing my luck I would have just enough pink buttercream for one cupcake and then my daughters would end up fighting over it. To solve that problem, I just mix them all together and yes I end up with buttercream that looks totally unappetizing. Then I add melted chocolate to it and turn it into chocolate buttercream. Now everyone's happy :)

True Orange Genoise

2010-02-09T17:04:00.009-05:00

This cake served three purposes : for the bake-through, the February bake-off and most importantly my husband's b'day cake. His b'day cakes are always decorated by our two kids. I make the cake, fill and crumb coat it, then hand it over to them. I have absolutely NO say in the matter.

It's the first time I made orange curd with Seville oranges. Actually it's the first time I ever made orange curd. Somehow, I always end up making lemon curd. All I can say is, the Seville orange curd is excellent. The flavour is very intense. I used only two oranges. Everything went pretty well with all the components except the cake itself. The height was only 1 1/2" as opposed to the 2" it was supposed to be. I would have started over again but didn't have the time to do so. 1 1/2" it is!

The cake was out of this world! Need I say more??????

More Catching Up.....

2010-01-26T10:46:00.005-05:00

Whipped Cream Cake
This cake was one of the easiest cakes to make. You don't even have to worry about bringing the ingredients to room temperature. Well, maybe the eggs, but if you place them in a bowl of really hot tap water for a few minutes, they come to room temperature in no time. I loved the flavour of this cake. It was so moist and tender too (like all of Rose's recipes). I used vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract.

Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake

We loved this cake too, specially the chocolate part with a hint of cinnamon. Perfect balance.

Catching Up

2010-01-16T21:25:00.008-05:00

First I want to say a BIG thank you to Marie for letting me off the hook for the bake-through. My computer crashed back in November and believe it or not it took almost a month to get it fixed. When I got my computer back it was the week before Christmas and I was in the middle of a baking marathon (17 dozen cookies, 6 Yule Logs and a Christmas Cake). Then came Christmas, New Year and a virus. Thankfully if wasn't a computer virus. I don't think I would have been able to handle that. My daughter was quite sick with a horrible, horrible virus. She didn't go to school for 1 1/2 weeks. Amidst all the chaos I managed to bake some of the bake-through recipes. Here are the pictures.

This is the English Gingerbread Cake. It is so moist and flavourful and only gets better with age.

This is the Carrot Cake. I made cupcakes instead of the 9" rounds. I was able to get 25 cupcakes. I cheated and didn't weigh the batter so the cupcakes were not uniform in size. It was THE BEST carrot cake I have ever tasted.

Thank you Marie for being so patient and understanding. Thank you also to all my baking buddies who were so concerned about my sudden disappearance from cyberspace. You are all wonderful.

Catalan Salt Pinch Cake

2009-11-23T09:39:00.005-05:00

Everytime I looked at the title of this cake I couldn't help but feel it would be salty and it never appealed to me. A salty cake.........no thanks. Of course there is no salt in this cake at all. The word salt refers to the city Salt. I would never have made this cake had I not signed up for Marie's bake-through.

I read a few of the other bakers' reviews and wasn't too keen to make it. However, I went ahead with it. Kind of like doing a home assignment that you really don't like doing. I just went through with it. I admit I didn't put my heart and soul into it. It wasn't a difficult cake to make. One positive thing was that I didn't really have to go through the mis-en-place stage. There's plenty of time to do it as you go along because of the lengthy whipping time. I didn't even prepare the pan before I started. I even had time to make a quick snack for my daughter.

What I did different: I made a 6" cake and I didn't use the lemon zest. I used 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 1/4 tsp of almond extract.

I put the cake in the oven and kept my fingers crossed hoping it would by some miracle turn out better than what I was expecting. It baked in 35 minutes. When I took it out I realized that the recipe called for a springform pan and I had baked it in a regular cake pan. Obviously I couldn't release the sides of the pan. What to do????? I just unmolded it like a regular cake and inverted it. See, I told you I didn't put my heart and soul into baking this one. I then took some pictures even though it didn't look great. Then the moment of truth. I tasted it and it wasn't bad. It was light and very moist. I think the almond extract made it more flavourful. It was not easy to cut it so we used forks to break off pieces of it.

Verdict: I don't think I'll make this again. Not only because of the cake itself but because of how I felt. I felt like an evil step-mother. This cake didn't get the love and attention I usually give my other cakes :(

Pumpkin Cake sans Silk Meringue Burnt Orange Buttercream

2009-10-31T14:38:00.009-04:00

I was looking forward to making this cake simply because I had never made the Silk Meringue buttercream. This was the perfect opportunity to make it. Besides, my kids were invited to a Halloween party. Guess who had to bring the cake? All my plans went awry when my three year old daughter decided to make contact with a cold virus. Now, if you have kids you know what it's like with a sick kid in the house. Everything comes to a screeching halt. No matter how old they are, they need /want very high doses of "Mommy". Mommy medicine is the only cure. This meant I had no time to make the buttercream :( Mousseline it was. I had a batch in the freezer, coloured it orange and used it.

The cake was not difficult to make. I didn't have any walnut oil so I used all safflower oil.

The cake tasted amazing. The spices were just the right amount and not too over-powering. The next time I make it, I will definitely use the walnut oil because I am curious to know what it should really taste like.

I used fondant to make the leaves, stem and tendrils. The little pumpkins are candies.

Apple Upside-Down Cake

2009-10-19T14:11:00.015-04:00

This week's recipe for the bake-through was the Apple Upside-Down Cake. I made the full recipe but divided it to make two 6" cakes. I gave one cake to my brother and sister-in-law.

I am not a fan of apple cake but my husband is and he literally ate half the cake. I did taste it. How could I possibly make a cake and not taste it? It was really good. The crumb was tender and melt-in-your-mouth.

The cake was pretty easy and straight forward except for the apple-peeling part. I am NOT fond of peeling apples. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get as much caramel as the picture in the book. The next time I make it maybe I should make a little extra caramel.

I also baked the Barcelona Brownies. Why? So that I would have dessert and also because I am a cerified chocoholic. These little gems were just perfect for me. I didn't do the ganache plugs though. I have baked this many, many times with the ganache plugs but in a 9" tart pan. This time I used my mini muffin pan instead.

Excited, Happy, Elated, Delirious, Overjoyed......

2009-10-07T11:22:00.005-04:00

Ok, I'm running out of adjectives to describe my state of mind right now. Why am I in this state you ask?????? I got my autographed copy of Rose's Heavenly Cakes. When the door bell rang and I saw the UPS truck outside my house I couldn't contain myself. I ran down the stairs like the house was on fire and almost tripped. I was grinning from ear to ear. I'm sure the delivery guy must have thought I was nuts. But who cares????? Not me. I got my very own autographed copy. Did I already say that? When Marie said "autopgraphed copy" I assumed Rose would just autopgraph all the books but guess what she personalized them. Oh I am so happy. Thank you Rose, Marie and Wiley.

Hungarian Jancsi Torta

2009-10-05T10:36:00.005-04:00

My very first cake from the bake-through. It was simple to put together - just 5 ingredients. It doesn't get any simpler than this. It does have a few steps that you have to get done, like toasting the nuts, grinding them etc. But all in all, it's very easy to make. Thank you Marie for picking this to be the first cake.

My pan was only 2 1/2" high so I wrapped the inside with parchment paper as suggested by Rose. It baked up nice and high but on cooling it sunk a little in the middle. Normally I would have panicked and obssessed over what on earth I did wrong. Not with Rose's recipes, because she tells you exactly what to expect. So there are no surprises.......only good ones. I served it with raspberry puree as I didn't have any sour cherry preserves on hand.

I only had one problem with this cake. I COULD NOT STOP eating it. I could have eaten the whole cake. I have no willpower. Don't pass judgement on me. Make this cake and you'll see what I'm talking about. The texture was light and airy. It was like eating little bits of a cloud.

My husband and kids loved it too. They had more than one piece each and that says a lot.They are my biggest fans and also my biggest critics. We shared this cake with one of our neighbours who is allergic to wheat and so this was the perfect cake. Everyone commented on the contrast in textures.

I'm looking forward to the next one :)

I am doing Cartwheels!!!

2009-10-02T11:31:00.008-04:00

I am so excited! Well, that's an understatement. I signed up on Marie's blog for the Heavenly Cakes Bake-Through. I have been an ardent fan of Rose Levy Beranbaum for quite some time now and when her new book, Rose's Heavenly Cakes was released, I HAD to have it. I could not put the book down (and I still suffer from separation anxiety when I have to part from it). It's one of the most amazing books I have ever owned. And what better way to enjoy this book and appreciate Rose's hard work than to participate in this bake-through. Here's the icing on the cake though (no pun intended)..............I get my very own autographed copy. Now, if that is not a reason to do cartwheels, I don't know what is.