I am baaackkk

It's been certainly a while since I didn't post anything. I've been very busy, lot's of things happening, extremely tired but now I am back and also the sun.  It seems that finally Spring arrived bringing some much needed energy.

I am still going to my baking classes. I am in LOVE with them - once I managed to arrive and have my hands on the dough - but will spare you all the running around to get there which I don't necessarily love.

So what I have learned in class... many things... I'll post the pictures, sorry for the quality but they were taken with a mobile phone!

I made for my daughter's birthday. She turned 3!!!  I was told not to decorated with any cream.

I made this car cake for my colleague's son. He loved it!

Tartes meringue. Base of pate brise filled with pastry cream and cerises liés and cover with Italian Meringue !

St Honoré- Pate brise as base, with pastry cream, fruits, little choux filled with chantilly and covered in chocolate fondant

Saint Honore- and to cover it with Chantilly and fruit!

Carre a la Creme - 40X60 plaque of Pate brise as base, cut 10 cm width cut in long, cover with pastry cream

Last rectangle - brush a thin layer of abricotage (hot, hot)  and then brush the white fondant -fondant must be at the right temperature!!! and inmediately after do the lines with the chocolate and make with a knife the shapes

Finally, with a serrated knife cut in 3 cm width. Do NOT PRESS the dessert, very gently, no pressure SERRATE it

Huits à la creme- millefeuille with pastry cream

Belgian Waffles

Pain au chocolat (first attempt) this was my final exam of 2nd year!

Moka cake - this will be my final exam of Pastry!!!

Pain campagne

Croutes aux fraises- base pate sablé, filled with mix of pastry cream and chantilly, covered with fresh strawberries and finally brushed with abricotage and chopped pistaches

Caramel-peanut-topped brownie cake

I was doubting whether I should bake this weekend because I am on a diet and I am seeing progress plus it just seemed that lately I kept sabotaging myself. I have been very good and stayed off sweet for 14 days, that is huge for someone that bakes twice a week in my pastry class where the main ingredients are chantilly, pastry cream, melted chocolate and this is without counting the weekends!
Despite all this, I decided to take a day off from my diet. I kept with my workout schedule and today I am back on track ! sometimes you just got to indulge, right? Besides, if you had seen the picture of this cake, you just had to try it!!!!

Going back to this recipe, some months ago, I bought Dorie Greenspan book " Baking from my home to yours". There are zillion recipes, but there are more than a couple that have caught my eye. This one specially, I had never seen around a cake like this. The picture of this cake is so tempting, imagine a moist and rich brownie cover with peanuts an avalanche de caramel dripping out of them... enough to be mouthwatering

The recipe is quite easy to follow. I was so happy I got almost all ingredients, just missing the salted peanuts which hubby was so eager and helpful to go get some after seeing the picture. I'm telling you, the picture is...mmm yum!!!

Ingredients:

For the brownie cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 large eggs

½ cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

3 tbsp. light corn syrup

½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the topping:

2 cups sugar

½ cup water

1½ tbsp. light corn syrup

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup salted peanuts

Making the cake

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F.  Butter an 8-inch springform pan, dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper.  Place the springform pan on a baking sheet.

To make the cake, combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl; whisk together and set aside.  Add the butter and chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are just melted – do not let them get so hot that the butter separates.  Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars until well blended.  Whisk in the corn syrup, followed by the vanilla.  Add in the melted butter and chocolate mixture, and whisk until combined.  Gently whisk in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are just incorporated.  The batter should be thick, smooth and shiny.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and jiggle the pan a bit to even out the batter.

Bake the cake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out almost clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool he cake for 15 minutes, then run a knife between the cake and the pan and remove the sides of the pan. Cool the cake to room temperature.

Making the topping

Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir just to combine the ingredients and then put the pan over medium-high heat. Heat, without stirring , until the caramel turns deep amber, 5-10 minutes.

Lower the heat a bit and, standing back from the saucepan add the cream and butter. When the spatters are less vehement, stir to calm down the caramel and dissolve any lumps. Stir in the peanuts, and pour the caramel and peanuts into a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup or heat-proof bowl.

Spoon the peanuts on top of the cake. Then spoon the caramel on top of those. You’ll have a layer about ¼-inch high. Allow the topping to set to room temperature-about 20 minutes before serving.

To serve, run a blunt knife between the caramel and the pan and simply remove the sides of the springform. If this isn’t the case, hit the sides with some hot air from a hairdryer or wrap the sides in a towel moistened with hot water.

Serve either with whipped cream (chantilly) or ice cream!!!

Deliciousssssss!!! worth braking my diet for one day!

 

Fondant cakes: Love bed cake, T-shirt cake and little dots cake

 After my first fondant cake, I just wanted to explore and discover all the possibilities ... it's endless.  I decided to practice, rolling the fondant, placing it, details...
I did three different designs. I started with a very easy one, just a plain cake covered with white fondant and then added little rounds of three difference sizes.
This time around, I was very very patient and took my time to place the fondant, the result... it turned out GREAT!!!!! Very happy about that! and it didn't round , the sides were straight... tatannnnn

Then, I wanted something else... a-tshirt.  I didn't have many fondant colors to play endlessly ..just 4 basic colors. The result was not bad, the neck is a bit tricky... I went on by the feeling without any template, just what I thought, correcting, cutting, correcting till I found the shape similar to a t-shirt neck, not bad for a first time... then I added a few little details.

And finally, I did a bed and though I know Valentine's day is passed, I thought why no!?
This was really fun... Next time I do this, I will make two rectangular cookies and cover them with fondant to use as headboard and footboard, to make it more real!!!

 

I can't wait to decorate more cakes with fondant! SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

Buttercream and Royal icing Decoration

One of the most difficult parts of the second year in pastry is to decorate a cake, piping, writing, etc, etc...
So I did two small duchesse cakes and decided to practice a little bit. 

The biscuit duchesse
6 eggs
200 gr sugar
200 gr flour

Beat the eggs with the sugar until it doubles its volume in and out of the gas, it should never pass 38 degrees, so warm to the touch. Keep beating till you can make a ribbon and stays for a little while.
Then,  add the flour slowly with a spatula.
Finally baked in a 200 C pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes or till it springs back when touched.

I used a 16 cm round form and an even smaller  form of 10 cm.

When the cakes were cool, I cut them in half and brush a syrup made with sugar, water and a bit of run. I fill them in with Vanilla French buttercream, the one made by heating a sugar syrup until it reaches soft ball stage and then whipping it into beaten egg yolks and soft butter.

Finally, the decoration, I did American buttercream and for that I whipped soft unsalted butter and sugar S° and a couple of spoons of milk till I obtained the consistency I wanted.
I crumb coated them and then let it sit till firm. I tried to put into practice what I learned in class two weeks ago.
I decorated the 16cm cake with black buttercream and on top piped roses. I didn't have much buttercream left to do the bottoms so I used the royal icing.

For the smallest cake, I used royal icing to pipe some forms. I tried to create some hearts and then add little dots..

Still lots to practice. I am considering buying dummies, because I can't continue making this amount of cake for two persons only, plus I am sabotaging my diet...

Margarita Cake

Remember what was going to be my project? 

Well it changed a bit.

I went to the store with the good intention of buying the torch for my next project, but in between got a Daisy Marguerite Cutter Plunger , and since I didn't find the torch... might as well delay my project just a tiny bit.

 So with this new excuse, what to do? what to do? I decided to decorate a cake with fondant. My first time alone. The first time I decorated one I was 15 and I was helping my mom.

 

For a 16 cm  round cake, I used a recipe that I loved, not sure where I found it now.

 - 250 ml full fat yogurt - I used greek yogurt
- 325 gr flour
- 150 gr sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- juice of 2 oranges
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 160 ml oil

Preparation
Mix all wet ingredients in a bowl : egg, yogurt, oil, sugar and orange juice
Then, in another bowl mix flower, baking soda, baking powder, salt, orange zest.
Finally add the wet ingredients to the dry by batches. Mix until they are combined. Do not overbeat!
Bake till done at 175 C,  it will take from 45 minutes to an hour.

When the cake was cool, I sliced it in two and brushed a sirop which I made with water and sugar to moist the cake. I added then a layer of dulce de leche and put the cake back together.

I then did a simple vanilla buttercream, the American type - which I used to even out the entire cake and as a glue for the fondant.
 
My helper insisted in decorating some cupcakes herself. 

Finally, I rolled the white fondant and covered the cake. This was more difficult that I thought. My pin roll was too small and was leaving several marks in the fondant. Another step that I found rather difficult was trying the cake not to bulge and of course the elephant skin!
I didn't let the results discourage me, being a perfectionist I can become rather negative ... so I continued and tried to save the cake and finished decorating with the flowers I had done previously.


 

 And of course, we couldn't miss the "feliz cumpleaños" part. No, it was not her birthday, but she loves the singing and blowing the candle.

et voilà! after all that work... I think I deserve a delicious piece of cake!

Sugar cookies

Last week, I received from a lovely friend Valentine cookies decorated with fondant. Since my last chocolate cake, I thought I could have fun this time with my restless assistant and make some cookies with her.

For the recipe, I used Martha Stewart's sugar cookies but I replaced the vanille with orange and lemon juice and added the zest of one orange.

Then, when completely cool, time to let your inner child out! I had basic colors of fondant which I rolled and cut with the same cookie cutters, and make some dots to give some texture ..

I think I got carried away more than her... endless possibilities!!!
We started with basic shapes, such butterflies and flowers, then I went to look for the food coloring and I just wanted to paint, draw, mmmm the outcome was not that bad considering I did all of it with a toothpick, didn't have a brush for this. ;)

Fun little project and the most important part,  my pioja loved doing this!

My next project, it involves italian meringue, lemon curd and a torche ...


 

Sweet and Salty Chocolate Cake

 I am back!!!! No, I didn't stop baking. I was on holidays and it's been 3 weeks that I am back in town. It's been crazy, trying to catch up with work, daughter starting kindergarten, in and out sick hurray school and virus!, and of course finals of my first years of Pastry class. .. which I passed. Now, I am in second year, classess are great, having lots of fun, busy bee!

What did I do lately? I've done a swan made with pâte à choux and filled with pastry cream and chantilly!
Yuuuuummmy!

 

And today, I wanted to make a sweet and salty cake from Baked New Frontiers in Baking. I thought it'd be perfect for St Valentin's Day. It is like love, sweet and salty... 

It was challenging to finish it having my soon to be 3 year-old daughter wanting to do everything mami was doing. I mean everything... and on top, I had to rush before she could insert her candle. She loves singing Happy Birthday and blowing the candle. I didn't succeed.  

 

Not very proud of how it looks, my piping is awful, you can see I am rushing, but ok, all things consider, I am actually surprised I could finish it at all having my daughter as assistant! Taste wise, it is a rich chocolate and moist cake. I'll post the recipe later :)

So here comes the recipe

For the classic Chocolate cake layers
3/4 dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups of hot water
2/3 cups of sour cream
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Preparation
preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Dust with flour and knock out the excess flour.
In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa powder, hot water, and sour cream and set aside to cool.
Sift the flour, baking powder , baking soda, and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed until ribbonlike, about 5 minutes. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and mix again for 30 seconds.
Add the flour mixture, alternating with the cocoa mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Divide the batter among the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes approx.

Whipped Caramel Ganache Frosting
 1 pound dark chocolate chopped.
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
2 cups unsalted butter, soft but cool cut into pieces.

Preparation
Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over very low heat.
Meanwhile, keeping a close eye on the cream so it doesn't burn, in a medium saucepan combine 1/4 cup of water, the sugar , and corn syrup, stirring them together carefully so you don't splash the sides of the pan. Cook over high heat until an instant -read thermometer reads 350 degrees F. , 6 to 8 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let the caramel cool for 1 minute.
Add the cream to the caramel and stir to combine. Stir slowly for 2 minutes, then pour the caramel over the chocolate. Let the caramel and the chocolate sit for 1 minute, then, slowly stir the chocolate and caramel mixture in a cicle until chocoalte is completely melted. Let the mixture cool, then transfer it to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Mix on low speed until the bow feels cool to the touch. Increase the speed to medium high and gradually add the butter , beating until throughly incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and beat on high speed until the mixutre is fluffy.

The original recipe calls for caramel to be place in between layers and then add the ganache frosting and salt. My version doesn't have the salt nor the caramel. It is filled only with the ganache and it is super rich!