Girls Love Pink, Hearts and Sparkles.

Happy (almost) Hearts Day! My valentine this year is a little black dog name Zeuggie. I'm pretty sure he is going to get me something small and sparkly tomorrow. Rule for all boys, men and doggies out there - you can never go wrong with small and sparkly for your valentine.  Wait I take that back, I'd rather have a new flash for my camera or a new pair of ski boots.
 
Since most girls love pink, hearts, sparkles and bubbles, I hosted group yesterday for a little crafting and champagne. Ribbons, stamps, fun papers and glitter provided the activity and was an outlet for everyone to express there one "Tarte and Parcel-esque" creativity.

The menu was equally whimsical. Based on the theme: "Love is sweet and a little savory" snacks included:

* My Heart "Beets" for You Hummus
* Shot of Love Shrimp
* Apple of My Eye Ravioli 
* Be(ef) Tender to my Loins Bruchetta
* Making Whoopie Pies
* Cupid Cakes 

My favorite of the bunch was the"Shot of Love Shrimp" inspired from a Bloody Mary. Here are the instructions! 


Shot of Love Shrimp

* Ingredients * 
1 lb cooked prawns
1/2 lb cherry tomatoes 
1 14 oz can of tomato sauce 
1 cup Absolut Pepper Vodka 
3 tablespoons Tabasco 
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Pepperoncinis
Celery 
Coronichons (I love mini pickles!) 

* Instructions *  
1. Marinate shrimp and cherry tomatoes in next 5 ingredients overnight. 
2. Alternate shrimp and tomatoes on skewers with celery, pepperoncinis and coronichons.


As an aside, the marathon is at long last finally a commitment. I am running the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon in June. To help with the training I have joined, Team in In Training and raising money for cancer research. If you have a need for dessert or apps for your next shower, luncheon, dinner or party I would be happy to exchange any culinary skills  for a donation. Fight cancer and eat well... I'd say it's a double win. :) 

A Mistake and a Cake

I've started taking professional cooking classes on Monday nights. I asked the chef leading the class if she'd ever have a student that was so bad of a cook that she wanted to kick them out of her kitchen. I think I was looking for story Gordon Ramsay style, but instead she said no. She continued, "The great thing about cooking is there is no mistake you can't fix. Worse comes to worse, you just start over." Such as great metaphor for life. 

Now, as most T+P fans know (i.e, those of you have already liked me on "the book"), I make a mean birthday cake and love the opportunity to do a little catering to make someone's BIG day special. 

Recently, I was asked to make a cheesecake birthday. In all my baking, I have never made a cheesecake. They scare me a little bit... So, since this was a completely new to me, I start with a recipe from the masters - Bon Appétit. 

My creation was a Toffee Crunch Carmel Cheesecake with a Gingersnap Crust. The cake is still getting rave reviews, but like most of the successes in my life, I had to make a couple of "mistakes" to get it right. The first one got thrown out, much to the delight of Zeuggie, who licked up the remnants in the sink. 

Don't do this.

The secret to baking a great cheesecake is this: after baking the crust, wrap the pan in heavy duty foil. Place the cake with the batter in a roasting pan and fill the roasting pan until it is 2-3 inches deep with water. This keeps the temperature even and the oven moist. If you fail to do this, the cheesecake cracks and looks like it was baked by someone who was afraid of baking cheesecakes. 

V-Day... The Baking Recap

Well if you don’t have pink paper around to do fancy gift boxes that get ripped open, you still have an option to bake in wash of pink.

I did two projects this year for Valentine’s. The first (and perhaps a bit of an after thought) was pink and red cupcakes for people at my office. Unfortunately, they flew off the plate. Next time, I might need to create some sort of ticketing system based on sugar need. LOL.

A fun add-on to cupcakes is paper shapes glued to toothpicks. Of course, for this batch - it had to be hearts.

Next up on the baking “to do” list was a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting for my first Valentine’s day dinner. (I get 2 this year. As I explained to my favorite valet this morning, my Valentine’s Day is gonna be spread out.).

I was on a bit of a time crunch this year so I adapted the cake recipe from this one on Allrecipes. My suggestion, add a full cup of the strawberry puree. A half a cup doesn’t add enough flavor or texture.

My big effort in this cake was the candy hearts. These were made by melting Wilton Candy disks and then piping them into the desired shape. Since they don’t offer pink… or at least the store was out, I melted red and white together in the microwave to get the color combo that I was looking for.  

Alright, I am going out to watch a baskeball game or run around in combat boots or something. All this pink talk has me feeling entirely too girlie, princess.

A Birthday Cake àlà Beer?

The genesis of this cake starts with a boy. Very sweetly, he has been talking up my cake baking skills to his friends and offered that I make a birthday cake for his friend visiting Seattle this weekend. (It’s pretty nice to be talked up. I like to brag about the boy’s much-improved towel hanging ability, but that is another story. Seriously, he is kind of amazing dishwasher among other things.)

I don’t claim to have professional baking skills. I classify myself as a more of an amateur experimenter who just kind of loves to bake. My mom advised this might not be the best time to try something new so of course I wanted to… sorry, Mom.  I  scoured the web for comments on what others said made good cakes for someone from out of town, that you have never met, that apparently is the nicest person in the world, that really deservers something special for their birthday. No pressure… Whew. Thank God for Al Gore inventing the Internet.

I read a great article about a stout chocolate cake from the Barrington Brewery in Massachusetts. I used this recipe as a basis for the cake, then added my “Seattle touch” with a filling based on Starbucks Italian Roast.

* Ingredients *
For the cake...
2 cups butter
2 cups stout beer
1 1/2 cups Dutch process cocoa powder
4 cups sugar
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/3 cup sour cream
4 eggs

For the filling...

2 ounces unsweetened bakers chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
6 tablespoons whole milk
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 packet Starbucks VIA instant espresso powder

For the frosting...
2 cups heavy whipping cream
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla 
Dark chocolate shavings for a topping.

* Instructions *
For the cake...
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 10 inch cake pans.
2.  Bring butter and stout beer to a simmer in a large saucepan. Whisk in cocoa and stir until well-combined.
3.  Sift sugar, flour, salt and baking soda.
4.  In an electric mixer, beat sour cream and eggs together. Pour in cocoa mixture. Slowly mix in flour mixture.
5.  Divide batter between 3 pans evenly. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then turn out on wire racks until completely cool.

For the filling…
1.  Combine butter, chocolate and milk in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter and chocolate are melted, stirring constantly.
2.  In large bowl, beat powdered sugar, espresso and chocolate mixture with an electric mixer until smooth.
3.  Spread evenly between layers of cake. Refrigerate overnight. (Thanks to my sister for the tip!)

For the frosting…
1. Chill metal bowl and whisk attachments for an electric mixer in the freezer for 30 minutes.
2. Remove bowl from freezer. Combine all ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
3. Frost cake and top with chocolate shavings.

Signature Cake?

Thanks to everyone for the kind words on my blog. The feedback has been great. I hear you guys on fashion tips. Not sure I have any so far, except guys don’t peg your jeans if you want to hit on me. C’mon, really?

I’m also getting a lot of pressure to cook with booze, so here we go. A Kir Royale is my all-time favorite drink. I don’t have them too frequently so I have wonderful memories attached to the flavors - from New Years to escargot. I had my first Kir Royale in a small bistro in Le Marais and fell in love. You might say now this is my signature cocktail – something EVERY girl should have.

Most important thing to remember – a Kir Royale is made with Crème de Cassis. It is not made with Chambord. If anyone is in LA, please remind the bartender at Koi of this.

When thinking up this cake recipe, I had three things that I wanted to incorporate – the bubbliness of the champagne, the blackcurrant flavor and zest of lemon used as a garnish on the traditional drink. A chiffon immediately came to mind. From that starting place, I developed the recipe below. Please try it out… I hope you have as many wonderful times enjoying this cake as I have with the drink.  

Kir Royale Cake

Chiffon Infused with Champagne, Black Currant Filling and Lemon and Champange Whipped Frosting

*Ingredients*

For the cake…

2 ¼ cups cake flour (not self-rising)

1 ½ cups sugar

1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder

½  teaspoon salt

½  cup vegetable oil

7 large egg yolks

¾ cup chilled champagne  

2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons vanilla

9 large egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the filling…

½ cup currant jelly

4 tablespoons crème to cassis

1 cup confectioners sugar

For the icing…

2 cups heavy whipping cream

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons champagne or sparkling wine at room temperature

              

Zest of 3 lemons for the topping

* Instructions *

For the cake…

1.   Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2.   Sift together flour, ¾ cup of sugar, baking powder and salt.

3.   Whisk together oil, egg yolks, champagne and lemon zest.

4.   With an electric mixer, beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Beat until soft peaks form. Add in remaining ¾ cup  sugar.

5.   Grease and flour 2 8-inch cake pans.

6.   Bake for 45 min or until the middle springs back to touch.  

For the filling…

1.   Heat jelly and crème de cassis over low heat until bubbly in small sauce pan.

2.   Remove from heat.

3.   Stir in confectioners’ sugar and stir until smooth.

4.   Spread between layers.

For the icing…

1.   Beat whipping cream in chilled bowl with an electric mixer with 1 tablespoon sugar.  

2.   Fold in champagne.

3.   Frost cake and garnish with lemon zest.  

Favorite Breakfast… As a Cake.

Alright, I’ve been on a little of a baking kick… per request of course. ;)

Tonight, I am headed to Drew and Emily’s and asked to bring dessert. I am often inspired by other meals and how I can turn the flavors into a dessert. (I did some peanut butter and banana cupcakes once… inspired by fourth grade lunch. Awesome.)

My creation of the night is play on my favorite breakfast – the specialty waffle. My favorite waffles ever in Seattle were from a restaurant now closed – Mini’s. It featured a decadent sweet syrup, batter spiced with nutmeg and a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar.  From these memories, I created Cinnamon Nutmeg Cake with Banana Topping.

I eliminated the whip cream found on most waffles. I leave it up to you whether you incorporate that back into your own recipe.

P.S. No comments about again going with a cake mix. I’m a working girl. After 30+ hours of meetings per week, some shortcuts are certainly allowed.

* Ingredients *

For the cake…

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons nutmeg

For the topping… 

1 tablespoons cinnamon

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoons butter

For the bananas and syrup…

3 large bananas, cut into ½ inch slices

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

Other materials needed…

1 – 9 inch springform pan

Pastry Brush

* Instructions *

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan.

2.   Beat together cake mix, eggs and sour cream using a paddle attachment on an electric stand mixer on medium-low speed until well combined. Add vanilla and nutmeg.

3.   Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 minutes until tester comes out clean.

4.   Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turnover on plate and cool for another 15-20 minutes.  

5.   Mix together granulated sugar and cinnamon.

6.   Melt butter in small frying pan.  

7.   Using a pastry brush, brush melted butter over cake. Moving a section at a time, sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over cake.

8.   Reserve remaining butter. Add the additional 4 tablespoons of butter and brown sugar to saucepan. Melt until bubbly, stirring constantly.

9.   Add banana slices to pan. Cook 2 minutes per side until nicely browned. Transfer to plate and cool for 5 minutes. Top cake.

10. Drizzle remaining sugar and butter mixture over cake.