Showing posts with label chocolate buttercream. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate buttercream. Show all posts

Thursday, September 08, 2016

First Day of School Party



It's a strange feeling when all of the sudden you have a kid in school. My little 'baby' now picks out his own clothes when we're out shopping, loves to eat 'fancy' cheese and smoked salmon, makes up his own jokes (they never make sense), and watches family game night shows. It's been a joy to have him home with me for the past five years, and to see him grow up to be this funny, little person with a heart of gold.

Needless to say, there were some watery eyes on first day of school. Mommy's eyes, that is. Thankfully, I kept myself busy by putting together a First Day of School Party for the kids and parents from the playground. The kids got to play and have fun, while we parents celebrated that we survived the first day!




I made two cakes, one vanilla cake with a chocolate buttercream and fresh strawberry filling, covered with a vanilla buttercream and chocolate ganache. The second was the traditional Swedish gooey chocolate cake, topped with a chocolate buttercream and an Italian meringue, that I garnished with white raspberries.






This was such a fun party, I think it needs to become a tradition! That is, until it's not "cool" any more...

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Golden Chocolate Rose Cake



One of my guilty pleasures is to stroll down the baking isle in grocery stores (I know, shocker!), even when there's nothing I need. Usually there isn't much of interest besides baking ingredients, but sometimes they'll carry something a little more fun, like, say, edible gold spray.

I made a chocolate birthday cake for a friend this past weekend, and decided to give the gold spray a try. I love how easy it was to use. You just shake, spray, and voilá! You have yourself a fancy dessert. The brand I used is called Duff Cake Graffiti and was bought at Giant.

Just a tip for when you want to turn things up a notch!






And if you're looking for a great chocolate cake recipe, check out this one I posted a couple of weeks back. I have used the same for this rose cake, and it never disappoints!

Happy baking!


Saturday, October 31, 2015

Monster Cake!



Happy Halloween everyone! We're taking our boys trick or treating with some friends this afternoon, so I made this silly monster cake to share.

This orange creature, which our kids for some reason named "Bobby," is a chocolate cake, filled with raspberry mousse and chocolate buttercream. To get that hairy effect, I piped orange colored buttercream with a Wilton tip #233. You start from the bottom of the cake and move on up to make sure the "hair" overlaps downwards. It's a pretty messy job! The eyes are cake pops made from leftover vanilla cake crumbs mixed with cream cheese, that I covered in fondant. The mouth is also made from fondant.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go figure out how to get some giant bunny ears to stay on my son's head!









Saturday, October 24, 2015

Baby Shower Cake



This weekend I made my first baby shower cake for a friend. It was so much fun! The colors they had chosen were navy and mint, and I got free reign when it came to the design of the cake.

I loved the idea of a pair of baby chucks, because seriously, is there anything cuter? And thanks to Pinterest I found a great tutorial on how to make them from fondant




Since the mommy to be is a chocolate lover, I made a four layered chocolate cake with a raspberry mousse and a chocolate buttercream filling. I love that the recipe uses ground espresso, both in the cake batter and the buttercream. It adds another dimension to the chocolate, without being overpowering. Just make sure you use a good brand such as Illy, you'll be able to taste the difference!

Also, can we talk about how easy it is to make a great raspberry mousse? There are only four ingredients and it takes about five minutes to whip together. You can use either fresh or frozen berries (but always remember to boil frozen ones, to make sure they're free from any viruses). I used fresh raspberries and strained the seeds before adding to the whipped cream. Pure deliciousness!




I wanted to keep the design pretty clean, so I kept the base white and added some bunting and made some details by piping with royal icing. This was my first try with royal icing, and it was really fun to work with. I can't wait to try it with cookies!





The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever
from addapinch

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water



Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.
  2. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.
  3. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
  4. Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
  5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.


Chocolate Buttercream


1½ cups butter (3 sticks), softened
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
5 cups confectioner’s sugar
½ cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon espresso powder


Instructions:
  1. Add cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove any lumps.
  2. Cream together butter and cocoa powder until well-combined.
  3. Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoon of milk. After each addition has been combined, turn mixer onto a high speed for about a minute. Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added.
  4. Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.
  5. If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. If it appears to wet and does not hold its form, add more confectioner’s sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.


Raspberry Mousse

225g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
45 g sugar
2 tsp gelatin
300 ml heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

  1. Put raspberries and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Strain the raspberries.
  2. Pour the gelatin into the warm raspberry sauce and let cool in the fridge.
  3. Whip the heavy whipping cream and fold into the cooled raspberry sauce.
  4. Let set in the fridge for two hours, or pour into a cake ring to use as a cake filling.