6/29/2011

Carrot Cake w/ Mazapan Cover


Well let me tell yOu I think this is definitly the best cake EVEEEER !!! is sO moist delicious and the cover is to die for I'm alsO very proud of the decoration I made with this cake I really lOved it. 

Carrot Cake 

I knOw there are many recipes out there, but this is really one worth trying it. 

Ingredients:
  • 9 oz of vegetable oil
  • 12 oz of sugat
  • 7 eggs 
  • 14 oz of AP flour
  • 2 tsp of salt
  • .25 oz of baking powder
  • .25 oz of baking soda
  • 10 oz of grated carrot
  • 4 oz of raisins
  • 3 oz of nuts
  • 6 oz of orange juice
  • 1/2 tbsp pd oranhe peel
  • 2 tsp of nutmeg
  • 2tsp pf cinnamon (I actually used a tbsp)

Directions:

  1. Cream oil and peel for 5 min. 
  2. Add  and sugar and yolks
  3. Add dry ingredients(sifted) alterneting with the juice
  4. Incorporate the carrot, raisins and nuts. 
  5. Aside mi beat the whites until peaks form, incorporate to the mix in wrapping way
  6. Put in a greased pan 
  7. Bake in preheated oven  to 360 F for 60_80 minutes
  8. Let it cool 5 minutes and trasnfer from pan to a wire rack. 

Mazapan Cover

  • 1  Can of condensed milk
  • 2 pound of confectioner`s sugar
  • 2 cups of powdered milk 
  • 1/2 oz of melted butter
  • 1 cup of fine ground almonds. 

Directions: 
  1. Mixing milk and 3 cups of confetioner's sugar
  2. Add condensed milk, melted butter and some vanilla flavoring. , mix very w/ a wooden spoon 
  3. Transfer to a table and work w/ the rest of the sugar until it`s smooth and doesn't stick to the table. 
  4. For making the decorations add the leftover of the rolled mazapan and add the almonds. 


6/28/2011

Dr. Pepper Cupcakes

wuhuujauuuua my cupcake craze is back...thank tO a trip to my local pricesmart (it`s a place in guatemala when I can buy some thing imported from the us..) and in this case I saw my favorite soda....dr. pepper...:) and I just knew I had to kick my anOrexiic ass and drink some :D that's I how I came up with the idea..... 






Dr. Pepper Cupcakes 


Ingredients: 



  •  1 1/2 c. Dr Pepper Soda (one can)
  •  1/2 c. vegetable oil
  •  1 stick of salted butter
  • 4 T cocoa powder (she suggest dark cocoa)
  • 2 c. sugar, 2 c. flour
  • 1 t. baking soda
  •  2 eggs
  • 1/2 c. buttermilk
Instructions:
1.  In a pan, combine Dr Pepper, oil, butter, cocoa.  Stir over medium heat.  When it starts to simmer, turn off the stove.  Make sure it is well mixed. 
2.  Add all the dry ingredients, but don't over mix (I took this a LITTLE too seriously and had a few flour flakes left, so....find a middle ground). 
3.  In a separate bowl, beat the buttermilk and eggs, and then add it to the rest of the mix, and blend together. 
4.  Place these in cupcake liners.  *You need to fill the liners almost completely full b/c this does not rise very much!!
5.  Bake at 350 for 13-16 minutes.  Start checking at 13, you don't want to overcook them.  (Add about five minutes if you are making a cake). 





ChOcolate Buttercream 

I decided to them with these for the simple fact that Dr. perpper is not too sweet so I could use these for the cake. 

Ingredients: 
  • 1 cup of butter of margarine or butter softened
  • 1 lb of confectioner´s sugar (4 cups)
  • 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder (or 3oz of unsweetend chocolate squares melted)
  • 1 tsp of clear vanilla
Directions: 
  1. Cream butter. Add cocoa and vanila( medium speed)
  2. Gradually add confectiner´s sugar 1 cup at a time
  3. Start adding milk until  nice and fluffy looking


Assembly 
I actually use a little cups and cherries , with a little straw I ccut myself and put it all together. 


6/25/2011

Prune Cake, Fondant and Gum Paste



Well I made this cake on monday, but with festival thing I haven't had the time to blogg a lot...but when I can Im gOnna shOw every amazaing recipe we've been working on .......sO fOr monday is this awesome cake...


Prune Cake


Ingredients:

  • 16 oz of butter or margarine
  • 1 cup pf prune macerated and processed with 3/4 of a cup of wine
  • 12 oz of sugar
  • 10 oz of milk 
  • 7 medium eggs
  • .5 oz of baking powder
  • 4 cups of AP flour
  • 1 tsp of vanila
  • .24 oz of salt 

Directions:
  1. Cream butter and sugar
  2. Add yolks one by one (don't stop mixing)
  3. Add dry ingredients(sifted) alterneting with the milk 
  4. Incorporate the processed prunes
  5. Aside mi beat the whites until sof peaks form(like snow), incorporate to the mix in wrapping way
  6. Put in a greased pan 
  7. Bake in preheated oven  to 350 F for 60_80 minutes
  8. Let it cool 5 minutes and trasnfer from pan to a wire rack. 

I bake the cake on sunday's afternoon in order to be coompletly cool for monday at midday. 

Filling: 
  • You can use any jam , but I used a prune and raisins.                    

Resanate a Cake: 
This is pretty simple it's just mixing cakem, muffins, cookie crumbs with some dulce de leche, jam or buttercream with a few drops of water and applying to any imperfections a cake could have with a decorators spatula. 
Fondant Cover: 

Ingredients

  • 1 (.25 ounce) package unflavored gelatin
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 1/2 cup glucose syrup
  • 1 tablespoon glycerin
  • 2 tablespoons shortening
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

  1. Combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick. Place gelatin mixture in top of double boiler and heat until dissolved.
  2. Add glucose and glycerin, mix well. Stir in shortening and just before completely melted, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Mixture should cool until lukewarm.
  3. Place 4 cups confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and using a wooden spoon, stir in the lukewarm gelatin mixture. Mix in sugar and add more a little at a time, until stickiness disappears. Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time). Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container in fridge. When ready to use, bring to room temperature and knead again until soft. (here you can use any color you wish)
  4. Roll the fondant, and use a special rolling pin w/ patterns. 
  5. Apply on resanated cake (Instructions above)


Gum Paste: 

We use this for the ruffles , we combined them with 1 part of cgum paste by 2 parts of fondant. 
And we roll it really thin and use a rend to make the patter. 

Recipe: 

  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tbsp of C.M.C
  • 8 cups of sifted's confectioner`s sugar
  • 1 tbsp of shortening

  1. Foam the egg white
  2. Ad sugar and mix
  3. In the second sugar addition and the c.m.c
  4. Use a little bit of shortening in your hands and work the dough until's is smooth and elastic and doesn't stick in the table or hands
  5. Add more sugar until you make a paste




6/18/2011

Schiatta

Well, If I haven't been blogging lately it's because I'm going to Guatemala's gastonomic festival sO I've been trying recipes like crazy and one of the was Schiatta .....an amazing bread is just like a focaccia, but sweet.



Schiaciattas.


Ingredients

BIGA

  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) lukewarm water
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/16 teaspoon instant yeast (pinch)
  • heaping 3/4 cup (3 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Blend the biga ingredients till well combined. Cover the bowl, and let the biga rest, at cool room temperature, overnight. It will grow and become bubbly.

DOUGH

  • all of the biga (above)
  • 1 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) lukewarm water
  • 2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons (1 3/8 ounces) sugar
  • 3 3/4 cups (15 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt or 1 1/4 teaspoons table salt

TOPPING

  • olive oil
  • .5 pounds of raisin 
  • .5 pounds of dried prunes
  • 4 tbsp of sugar 
  • 1 tbsp of cinnamon 
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup (2 3/4 to 4 ounces) Sambuca liqueur (optional, but traditional and good)

  1. Mix all of the dough ingredients, then knead for 3 to 4 minutes, using an electric mixer or bread machine. Or knead with your hands for about 5 minutes. Since this dough is going to ferment for quite awhile, you don’t want to knead it fully; the gluten will continue to develop as the dough rises. Place the dough in a bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise for about 3 hours. Once an hour, pick up the dough, gently deflate it, and return it to the bowl upside-down from how it was when you picked it up. This is called a turn; it helps distribute the yeast and yeast food.
  2. Preheat your oven to 450°F, using a baking stone if you have one. Divide the dough into three pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough to a 1/8-inch thick, 12-inch circle. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces. Ed. note: Jen says she rolls the dough on a floured work surface to about 8 inches in diameter, then picks it up, drapes it over her hands, and stretches it over the backs of her hands to about 12 inches–the way you would when making strudel. 
  3. Place the dough rounds on cornmeal-dusted parchment, or onto a cornmeal dusted baking sheet. Allow them to rise, covered, for about 20 minutes. 
  4. Working with one piece of dough at a time, brush its entire surface with olive oil, then spread fruits over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. U Sprinkle the fruits with 2 to 3 tablespoons Sambuca, brush the exposed edge of dough with additional olive oil and cinnamon sugar , and place the bread in the oven (preferably onto a baking stone, leaving it on the parchment if you’re using a stone). Bake for 8 minutes, then remove the parchment, if the schiacciata is on a stone. Bake for an additional 3 minutes, until the schiaciatta is golden brown. While the first bread is baking, prepare the second one. When the schiacciata is done, remove it from the oven, and place it on a rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining schiacciatas. Yield: three 12-inch schiaciattas.

Father's Day Cupcakes ...miss uu abueliitO (grandpa)

Well, let me tell you, I was raised by my grandma and grandpa, and of course my mommy, but my dad has never been present,......sO whem my abuelitO past away I forgot totally about that day, but in Guatemala yesterday we celebrated all father's ...sO for the few I know I made these cutiies...:D






Chocolate Cupcake w/ Nut



Directions:
  1. Line muffin tins
  2. Mix butter and eggs for about 30 seconds on low speed
  3. Start alternating cake mix and milk
  4. Beat on low for 20 seconds 
  5. Beat 2 minutes 
  6. Incorporate nuts 
  7. Por into greased pan 
  8.  bake for 20 min aprox  in a prehetad oven at 350F.
  9. Remove from pan
  10. Let it cool


Peanut Butter Frosting 

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  •  3 tbsp of milk 
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  1. Beat butter and peanut butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer.
  2. Gradually add powdered sugar
  3. Add cream one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick.
  4. Beat for at least 3 minutes until nice and fluff
  5. Pipe it as desired.
  6. Topped with a ball, a teddy or abything the daddy of yOur house likes. 
In memory of my abueliitO ...

6/17/2011

Chocolate Poppyseed cake

Well these is simply amazing, I made it yesterday and it was a huge hit, not even the cheff could tell it had come from a cake mix.


Poppyseed cake 
Ingredients:



Directions:
  1. Mix butter and eggs for about 30 seconds on low speed
  2. Start alternating cake mix and milk(flavored w/vanilla)
  3. Beat on low for 20 min.
  4. Incorporate seeds
  5. Por into greased pan 
  6.  bake for 48 min aprox  in a prehetad oven at 350F.
  7. Remove from pan
  8. Let it cool
  9. Level it 
  10. Fill with ganache (Recipe below)
  11. Cover w/ ganache 
  12. Let ganache hardened a little in order to pipe it with and 18 or 16 tip. 
  13. Make a spider web w/dulce de leche and pipe your desired decoration. 

Ganache
12 oz of usweetened chocolate
2-5 tbsp of heavy whipping cream

Amazing Poppyseed cake 2 ways...........

Well I've been really away from my blogg....:( .............but I was In finals, asi I will shOw yOu in my nxt post, but first Im in lOve with these crazy recipe I came up with....It was actually an emergency because the recipe the cheff gave fail.... sO when something gOes wrOng....I have a superheroe....


Poppyseed cake 
Ingredients:



Directions:
  1. Mix butter and eggs for about 30 seconds on low speed
  2. Start alternating cake mix and milk(flavored w/vanilla)
  3. Beat on low for 20 min.
  4. Incorporate seeds
  5. Por into greased pan 
  6.  bake for 48 min aprox  in a prehetad oven at 350F.
  7. Remove from pan

Now you will have one 18 size cake....wich I will show 2  different ways that are equally deliscious. 

Level cake and fill w/ dulce de leche for the fondant cake and w/ganache for the chocolate torte.

Resaneted Cake
Dulce de Leche
Cake crumbs
water drops

When decorating a cake it's important to cover all hole and these can be achieved by mixing ingridients above until a paste consistence and applying to cake. 


White Fondant cake 

Recipe for fondant :

Ingredients

  • 1 (.25 ounce) package unflavored gelatin
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 1/2 cup glucose syrup
  • 1 tablespoon glycerin
  • 2 tablespoons shortening
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

  1. Combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick. Place gelatin mixture in top of double boiler and heat until dissolved.
  2. Add glucose and glycerin, mix well. Stir in shortening and just before completely melted, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Mixture should cool until lukewarm.
  3. Place 4 cups confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and using a wooden spoon, stir in the lukewarm gelatin mixture. Mix in sugar and add more a little at a time, until stickiness disappears. Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time). Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container in fridge. When ready to use, bring to room temperature and knead again until soft.
  4. Roll the fondant, and use a special rolling pin w/ patterns. 
  5. Apply on resanated cake (Instructions above)
  6. Make balls or laces to decorate
  7. Apply some pearl dust
  8. Decoration is endless, but these is a little pretty cake.