Sasha's Kitchen: Garden Party Themed Three Tier Chocolate Cake

Most of the time, I make and decorate cupcakes instead of cakes, because cakes are just - well so big. But making cakes is so much fun for a large gathering of people, especially big and even multi tiered cakes. Last weekend, my in laws had the family over for July 4th and I decided to make a large, three layered chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. I decorated the cake with lovely flowers of all colors on a blue background for a garden party theme. I was really pleased with the results so I thought I would share the cake and recipe here. I used Wilton cake tips to do the petals on the flowers and the leaves, as well as the vines. I got all of the supplies for the decorating at New York Cake, a fabulous baking supply store. Since I had to reuse the petal tip for the different color flowers, I found that using disposable pastry bags for the buttercream was easiest when decorating with the tips. I got the recipe for this delicious chocolate cake from the Alice's Tea Cup Cookbook, and found that their chocolate cake recipe was moist and delicious.

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
2 cups of sugar
1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup hot brewed coffe

Vanilla Buttercream (make two batches, one for the layers and covering the cake and one for decorating)
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 lb confectioner's sugar (about four cups)
2 T whole milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

To prepare the cake, preheat the oven to 350. You will need three eight inch cake pans. Next time I make this, I am going to do a second tier, whip up another batch, and also make three six inch cake plans as well for the smaller tier on top. Prepare the three eight inch cake pans and combine the fry ingredients together in a bowl (flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt). In the basin of your stand mixer, on medium speed, beat the sour cream and eggs (one at a time), milk, oil and vanilla, and add in the dry ingredients, mixing for two minutes. Scape down the bowl and drizzle in the coffee and blend until smooth. It will be a very liquidy mixture, which is fine and appropriate.

Divide the cake batter evenly among the cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans before gently removing from the pans and allowing to cool on a wire rack until room temperature.  If necessary, trim the tops of the cake to level them, but I found that this recipe did not require any leveling.

Make a first batch of buttercream by beating together those ingredients into a smooth buttercream. I added a drop of blue gel food color to get the desired color.

To build the cake, frost the three layers with buttercream and stack. Then frost the sides. I recommend using a large metal spatula to frost and to smooth the cakes so the frosting is nice and even. You can use a little metal device (no idea what its called, sorry) to make some texture on the side of the cake as well (See the photo above). You will want to get the base frosting as smooth as possible before decorating. I used blue as  for the inside as well (baby blue, actually) but you could be more traditional and use plain instead. Also, another tip - I bought a cake turntable for rotating the cake while building and decorating - it makes the entire process much easier. I got mine here in Park Slope at Tarzian West.

Make another batch of buttercream to decorate. I divided this batch into five parts and dyed with the gel food color to make orange, purple, pink, green, and yellow. The I used the Wilton flower tip to do the petals in each color, a star tip to do the yellow centers, a leaf tip for the leaves and a thin circle tip for the vines. It's cake art!

Sasha's Kitchen: Garden Party Themed Three Tier Chocolate Cake

Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie

I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.  Even more than the combination, I absolutely love a nice, light peanut butter frosting. The frosting was my favorite part of my Butterfinger cupcakes, and I suppose I have been on a bit of a peanut butter baking kick with my gluten free peanut butter cookies.

Whoopie pie - a traditional Amish dessert, is also a favorite of mine these days.  I decided it was time to make another flavor of Whoopie Pie, after having done a chocolate raspberry Whoopie Pie.  Really, the possibilities are endless and I plan to experiment with some unusual flavors.  But before I go there, it was time to make a classic chocolate peanut butter Whoopie Pie.  As i get to some of the more creative flavors (next up is Oatmeal/Caramel, I think), I will be writing my own recipes.  But I decided not to reinvent the wheel with with one and go with my "old friend" Martha Stewart.  I did adapt her recipe a bit so I could use canola oil in the cakes rather than butter or shortening, and that worked out perfectly.  I love the look of Whoopie Pies - they kind of remind me a reverse cupcake, and yes, they may not be quite as cute as those Alice in Wonderland cupcakes that I posted last weekend, but they're pretty much one of the best desserts I've ever tasted.  I thought I made a pretty big batch, but after sharing a few with friends and family, the rest disappeared very quickly - a little too quickly.  I want more!  I guess that's why the Amish farmers yelled "Whoopie" when they found these in their lunch bags.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie (adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe)
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch Processed)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 T butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup milk (I used organic skim milk from Stonyfield Farms, not whole milk)
1 tsp vanilla

Filling:
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 375.  Mix the dry ingredients for the cookies (which should be more accurately referred to as mini-cakes in my opinion).  Beat the butter, canola oil and sugars until creamy in your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, for about three minutes.   Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another two minutes, before slowly beating in the dry ingredients.

Drop tablespoons onto baking sheets for the cookies, separating a couple inches apart.  Make sure to spray the baking sheets with Pam first.  Bake each sheet one at a time (I made 23 or 24 cookies total) for 12 to 14 minutes.  Then allow to cool fully.

Beat the peanut butter, confectioners sugar and butter to make the frosting and sandwich between pairs of the cookies.  Enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie

Sasha's Kitchen: Pink Vanilla Macarons With Kiwi Buttercream Filling

When several friends and family members suggested that I experiment making colorful Macarons for this blog, I confused their suggestion with Macaroons, the heavy coconut cookies that I ate at Passover this year.  How silly of me.  Now, that I have just started making French Macarons (almond meringue cookies), I am amazed at how they can be made in nearly every color and flavor imaginable.  I plan on making batches and batches of Macarons, but today, I would like to introduce my readers to the Macaron, and how I made my very first (of many) batch of Macarons.  I am so excited to have entered the world of Macaron making.  Other than cupcakes, Macarons are probably considered the cutest little pastries in the world of baking.  They are sweet, crispy almond flavored cookies in a variety of colors with a domelike shape and a distinctive foot.  Two Macaron cookies form an almond meringue pastry with a buttercream, ganache, lemon curd or other colorful filling in the middle.

My introduction to the art of Macaron making involved carefully following the book I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita.  Another great resource on Macaron making, as I get more advanced in my experiments, is the blog Not So Humble Pie.  Without further ado, here is how I made my first batch of pretty pink macarons with fresh kiwi buttercream:

Pink Vanilla Macarons (derived from I Love Macaroons book recipes)

85 grams ground almonds (use Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour)
150 grams confectioners sugar / powdered sugar
3 large egg whites (at room temperature)
65 grams (5 T) granulated sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 drop gel pink food coloring

Sasha's Kiwi Buttercream Filling
1/2 stick of butter
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 egg
3 kiwi
1/2 package of cream cheese
1 drop gel green food coloring

You will notice that all the measurements above are in grams.  Macaron making is very precise business and you need to invest in a digital kitchen scale to make sure you get your measurements precisely.  Don't blame me for this one, if you don't, you are likely to wind up with a mixture that is a little off and a sticky mess (just like I did the first time I tried to make Macarons).

Here are the steps I followed:

1. Cover a paper with parchment paper and use an icing tip bottom end to trace 1 inch papers on the parchment paper, spacing them an inch or two apart.

2.  Measure the almond meal and the confectioner's sugar with the digital scale and blend in a food processor.

3.  Beat the egg whites (I used a stand mixer, not a hand mixer, but you could use either) until foamy and continue beating at high speed while gradually adding the granulated sugar.  Keep beating at high speed until you have a meringue.  Add the vanilla to the meringue and stir lightly.  Add a drop of gel based food coloring (I used pink).  Keep beating until you have a glossy meringue that is stiff and firm in texture.  Once you are there, stop beating!

4.  Mix in the almond flour/sugar mixture to the meringue with a spatula.

5.  The next step is called "Macaronage" and is very important to getting the Macarons to have the right texture.  In other words, don't skip this step!   To perform this step, spread the Macaron mixture along the sides of the bowl, turning it on its sides, by scooping the batter from the bottom.  Then scoop it back into the center of the bowl.  Repeat this Macaronage step 15 to 20 times, and don't be tempted to cut this step short.  This is required to properly mix the flour and the meringue to get the proper glossy texture to the Macarons.

6.  The next step is called "Macaronner" and requires dripping the batter with your spatula until it drips slowly when scooped out.

7.  Next, use a 0.4 inch pastry tip and pastry bag to drop the Macaron batter into the circles on the prepared parchment paper sheets.  Another tip from my book was to double stack your baking sheets, which helps make the heat even when you bake the Macarons.  Make small circles not much bugger than the parchment paper circles since the batter tends to spread out when it is squeezed.  I really wanted to get them even the first time, but it is a bit tricky, and I would be remiss if I didn't thank my husband for helping me out with this step!

8.  Rap the baking sheets firmly against the counter to help the Macarons form a rounded shape.  This will also help the foot form when they are baked.  Allow them to dry for about 15 minutes, while the oven preheats to 375.  This drying time may vary (15 minutes worked for me), but when the batter circles do not stick to your fingers when you touch them, then they are done drying.  However, don't let them dry out too long or the Macarons won't be able to form a foot. If you don't dry them, they will crack during baking.

9.  Bake 15 to 18 minutes until slightly crispy and a cracked foot forms.  Rotate the trays halfway through to make sure they all bake evenly.  Allow to cool and then remove carefully from the parchment paper.


10.  Beat the filling in the mixer until it has the consistency of cupcake icing.  I flavored this one with Kiwi.  I plan to do some further experimentation with different consistencies (and flavors) of buttercreams but this one was pretty and tasty for a first try.  The buttercreams in the book are a bit of a  different in consistency from mine (which looked and tasted great, too) and I may try some of those in future Macaron experiments.

Next up in Macaroon Making from me over the next few weeks: 1) Raspberry Macarons with chocolate ganache filling; 2) Matcha green tea Macarons with mango buttercream and 3) Key Lime Macarons with Key Lime Curd.  I can't wait to make more Macarons, I'm almost giddy about it.  I love making them for much the same reason I love making cupcakes - because they are little and cute, colorful and fun!

Macarons

Sasha's Kitchen: Pink Vanilla Macarons With Kiwi Buttercream Filling

Sasha's Kitchen: Rose's Heavenly Coconut Meringue Buttercream Cake (Cookbook Recipe Testing)

Yesterday, I decided to delve into my newest cookbook, Rose's Heavenly Cakes, from the famous cake-goddess, Rose Levy Beranbaum.  This cookbook has amazing and simply beautiful recipes for every kind of cake one could possibly imagine, and I am looking forward to testing some of those. This book, is just about the closest thing to a cake baker's bible, if there is such a thing - from, like I said above, the goddess of cakes herself.

I decided to start off grand, and prepare a two layer coconut meringue buttercream cake from her cookbook.  The recipe for the cake (which I won't re-post in its entirety here) can be found in her cookbook, Rose's Heavenly Cakes, which is hot off the press, having just been published in September, 2009.  She is also the author of The Cake Bible, the legendary 1988 cookbook that has certainly lived up to its name.

The recipe that I tried, is called the Southern (Manhattan) Coconut Cake With Silk Meringue Buttercream, found on pages 23-27 of her cookbook.  A few warnings before you proceed - this is not a cookbook for beginning bakers.  The recipes in the cookbook are wonderful (I've tried two so far, and certainly plan to try and test many more) but you should experiment with simpler recipes before delving into her multi-stage recipes.  In addition, I generally recommend that aspiring bakers begin with cupcakes before graduating to cakes because the scale is smaller and little mistakes can be a bit more forgiving.  Finally, although the recipes in this cookbook are amazing and extremely well put together and conceived, the instructions can be a bit complicated and intimidating for beginning bakers.  However, at this point, I am advanced enough to give a try, and the results did not disappoint, though perhaps I still have a few things to learn when it comes to cakes.  However, the result of this one was some true cake eye candy.

The first step in this recipe, was to create two layers of an light coconut cake.  The recipe, on page 23 of Rose's cookbook was fairly simple to execute.  It involved using a combination of coconut milk (the real deal - lots of calories - not lowfat coconut milk) and coconut extract to achieve a coconut flavor.  The cake used cake flour, as well as superfine sugar, a lighter sugar, that melts faster and allows the cake to have a lighter, more airy texture.

My mistake, and one I will not make again, was to use two (older) metal cake pans, by different manufacturers - which resulted in the layers of the cake being a bit uneven.  Both were fine on their own, but I had some difficulty stacking them into a two layer cake.  Thus, I instead made two delicious single cakes (because I really need to eat two entire cakes, and have a 4000-calorie a day diet - once again, I may have prepared too much food, and need to share!)  Next time, I will use two uniform silicon cake molds, which I think will get the job done and allow me to make a layer cake.

It's a bit tricky also to determine when the cakes are done baking.  You want to make sure they don't become crispy around the edges, but are cooked through.  It's an art and requires testing the inside of one of the cakes with a candy thermometer and with a toothpick.

Rose's recipe for the frosting for the cake(s) - depending on whether you are doing a two layer monster, or two separate cakes, is for a silk meringue buttercream.  Preparing this frosting is an art in and of itself, that requires multiple stages that are not for the novice baker.  As the name implies, the frosting requires preparing an Italian Meringue, and also a Creme Anglaise.  It also requires an eye-popping amount of butter.  (Really, as a baker, it is incredible to see the amount of butter and sugar that go into so many delicious baked goods - mind boggling, so consume in small portions).

First, I prepared the creme anglaise, which is a type of custard.  This was relatively easy and involved mixing and heating sugar, egg yolks, coconut milk, vanilla extract and coconut extract until you have a coconut flavored custard.  Then, this was set aside while I prepared the meringue.

Meringue has been the one aspect of baking that has always intimidated me.  Until yesterday, quite honestly, my meringues were always failures and I always avoided meringue recipes like the plague.  But finally Rose presented a sure-fire formula that I was able to figure out and prepare a winning meringue.  So, I suppose those meringue desserts need no longer scare me off.  In fact, I enjoyed preparing the meringue and it was almost as easy as preparing whipped egg whites for a souffle, just with a sugary-twist.

To prepare the meringue, which I will discuss in detail, I used the following ingredients:

2 large egg whites (separated from the yolks) at room temperature

1/3 cup plus 2 T superfine sugar

2 T of water

1/4 tsp cream of tarter

I beat the egg whites, as instructed by Rose's recipe, in my artisan mixer (fitted with the whisk attachment) until foamy.  I heated the 1/3 a cup of sugar and water in a saucepan to form what was like a simple syrup.  Next, I added the cream of tarter to the egg whites and beat until soft peaks formed, and then gradually beat in the other 2 T of sugar until it formed stuff peaks.  Then, I heated the sugar-water to about 248 F using a candy thermometer and then beat the egg whites gradually adding the sugar water.  Low and behold a meringue formed!! The consistency was perfect and the meringue tasted - well meringue-like.  So, I am eternally grateful to Rose for those perfect directions that helped me figure this one out.  Meringue, you no longer scare me!

The final step here was to combine the butter (her recipe called for four sticks of butter (yes, four, you are reading that correctly) with the other frosting components.  I don't care for such a buttery frosting, so I used 2 and a half and it was just fine and still plenty light and airy for me.  I beat in the Italian meringue, coconut shavings and creme anglaise into the delicious frosting.  

Sasha's Kitchen: Rose's Heavenly Coconut Meringue Buttercream Cake (Cookbook Recipe Testing)

Sasha's Kitchen: Carrot Papaya Coconut Cupcakes

Carrots, a perfect winter-themed vegetable are one of the December ingredients on this site that our writers are working on incorporating into their recipes. I wanted to include carrots in my next cupcake recipe, while mixing up some tropical flavors. So, I decided to create a recipe for carrot papaya cupcakes, and wound up throwing in some coconut, which mixed nicely with the other flavors.

I enjoyed decorating these cupcakes as well. This time, I made a pretty matching buttercream, dyed to the perfect shade of peachy orange. I created miniature carrots out of marzipan to decorate each cupcake and used an unused watercolor brush (I like to do a lot of painting - acrylic, watercolor and oil)to paint the carrots using water-based food coloring. More complex marzipan (and fondant) painting projects, which I plan to do in the future, will require investing in some professional food colorings, which I plan to purchase at my local store that sells cooking and baking equipment when I go out tomorrow. This will be perfect for upcoming projects including fondant-marshmallow Santa peeps and dreidel/Christmas tree cookies with Royal icing.

At any rate, these cupcakes really are not difficult to make, so don't be intimidated by the photos. It is worth giving a try at home, even if you have never worked with marzipan before.

If you cannot find fresh papaya to make your puree, (it's not exactly in season but you should still be able to get it, since it's not like papayas are ever grown in New York anyhow) you can substitute mango or pineapple.

Sasha's Carrot Papaya Coconut Cupcakes

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup papaya chunks, pureed in a mini-prep or food processor
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
2/3 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup canola oil

I discovered that I only had organic baby carrots, which are quite difficult to grate with a peeler, unsurprisingly. To make the mix, combine the flour, coconut, baking powder and salt in one bowl. In a second bowl, combine the carrots, papaya puree, milk, sugar and melted butter. Combine all ingredients and fill your cupcake trays 2/4 to the top. I suggest using silicon cupcake trays with paper liners. This recipe should make about a dozen cupcakes.



I baked the cupcakes at an oven preheated to 350 F for about 28 minutes (took a little longer than I thought it would). You should test them with a toothpick or fork to make sure they are done on the inside.

While the cupcakes were baking, I molded little carrots with a top out of marzipan. I used a 50-50 mix of several drops of food coloring with several drops of water (slightly diluted) to create orange and green colors. I painted the carrots with a watercolor brush (one that had never been used in painting with watercolors!) I plan on experimenting in the future with more professional grade food colorings, but for this project, the grocery store standard food coloring did the trick.

After taking the cupcakes out of the oven they should be allowed to cool for at least 30 minutes. If you frost too soon, the frosting will melt on the cupcakes.
For my frosting, I decided to do a plain buttercream, which is the most common type of cupcake frosting. It is also exactly what the name implies - butter and sugar, and lots of both. So let's not confuse these cupcakes with anything too healthy just because I made them with fresh fruits and veggies. They are quite tasty and a great treat to serve at a party.

Simple Buttercream

2 sticks of butter
3 cups of confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
several drops of food coloring

First, beat the butter in an artisan stand mixer. You really cannot make buttercream without a stand mixer. Some people can do this using a hand mixer, but I never could because 1) I could not beat the butter to the right consistency and 2) food flies everywhere and it makes a colossal mess in the kitchen (literally - butter on the walls). You should beat the butter well on a high speed. Then add the three cups of confectioners sugar, which is loose powdered sugar. Don't press it in the cups, but keep it light and airy when measuring. Beat the two together until they form a frosting and keep beating beyond that for a minute or two at a high speed. It will take a couple minutes for the two to mix properly, as in the beginning it just looks like you added too much sugar. Then beat in the vanilla and add a few drops of food coloring. I chose to add three drops of yellow and 1 drop of red to make an orange colored buttercream.

To decorate the cupcakes, frost with a frosting bag fitted with either a plain or fluted tip, which will allow the cupcakes to have a really professional look to them. It's actually very easy to do and the frosting bags are inexpensive and surprisingly painless to clean when you are done.

Top with the marzipan carrot and enjoy! Next up: apple sorbet with poached quince shortcakes, so stay tuned.

Akitcheninbrooklyn.com is doing a roundtable on carrots for the month of December. For additional carrot recipes, click here for Amasea's carroty latkes or here for Amasea's sweet gingery carrots.

Sasha's Kitchen: Carrot Papaya Coconut Cupcakes