Birthday | Trio of Old Friends

Happy birthday to me! And my friends!

During a recent weekend getaway, I was lucky enough to celebrate my 30th birthday with some dear friends, a few of whom are also turning 30 this year, and a couple of whom share July birthdays with me. So, I made each one of us a cake.

I knew I would have very limited time to decorate, so I made a batch of Italian meringue buttercream, and brought some fondant and piping gel along to the getaway in case I was struck with inspiration. The idea of representing the growth of a long friendship over time came to mind during the drive. So here is our trio of cakes to celebrate old friends:

 

The first is a green tea chiffon cake with green tea pastry cream and puff pastry layers, requested after I posted about that flavor combination in a previous birthday cake project.

 

The second is a purple yam chiffon cake with mango Bavarian cream. This one was fluffy and light. Maybe a little too light on flavor in my rush to make it.

 

 

The third is a lemon pound cake with lemon curd pastry cream and fresh strawberries. Perfect for a hot summer day!

 

Office Bytes | Vols-au-Vent Puff Pastry

French for "windblown" (I learn something new every time I use wikipedia in preparation for my blog posts), these hollow puff pastry shells are an amazing vehicle for both sweet and savory fillings. They're made with two discs of puff pastry, with the bottom one docked to minimize rise, and the top one with a hole cut out to create the hollow.

For a recent surprise baby shower at work, I wanted to bring an easy finger food dessert other than cupcakes, as I knew the party organizers had already pre-ordered cupcakes from a bakery shop. I made these vols-au-vent, half filled with lemon curd crème légère, and half filled with vanilla crème légère, each topped with sliced strawberries. And of course, I used the extra puff pastry dough to make my favorite cinnamon twists :)

Baby Shower | Congrats Charlin & George!

My dear friends Charlin and George are expecting a baby girl soon, and I had the honor of catering desserts for their baby shower this past weekend! I'm thankful for the faith that my friends have in me, and also really appreciated the opportunity to practice and experiment :)

For this celebration, I made a two-tiered custard and strawberry cake, chocolate cupcakes, and some puff pastry treats. The cake had layers of lemon chiffon cake, crème légère (pastry cream lightened with whipped cream), and fresh slices of strawberry, with a buttercream frosting.

I then decorated with handmade gumpaste roses and leaves. I originally planned on adding whole, fresh strawberries as well, but I was a little worried about everything staying intact and in place during the drive to the baby shower.

The mini cupcakes were chocolate with a chocolate ganache center. For half the cupcakes, I used a cream cheese frosting and decorated with fondant yellow duckies and bubbles.

For the other half, I used a chocolate ganache frosting and decorated with fondant teddy bears. These were labor-intensive pieces, but it was a satisfying accomplishment for me, as I don't usually tend to make "cutesie" decorations.

Finally, I made some puff pastry dough and created cinnamon sugar twists and quick vols-au-vent filled with lemon pastry cream and strawberry slices. While the cake and cupcakes got the attention, these puff pastry treats were my favorite to eat!

Passion Fruit Cake - New Beginnings

Passion fruit is one of my favorite fruits, and has sentimental meaning to me as well. I made this passion fruit cake to commemorate the closing of one chapter of my life, and to toast new beginnings.

This cake has layers of ricotta pound cake brushed with a passion fruit simple syrup, and a whipped cream / passion fruit curd filling layered with fresh strawberries and kiwi.

I also made a cupcake version using the passion fruit curd as the filling, and the whipped cream / passion fruit curd mix as the topping. If you need to find passion fruit puree or concentrate, your local mercado should carry some.

 As for this following cupcake . . .

This cupcake isn't one of my creations—it's Kara's passion fruit cupcake—but it has special meaning for me. Nearly 4 years ago, a beautiful sparkling ring was given to me on this cupcake. It was a magical, memorable evening, and there have been many magical, memorable moments since.

My dear baking assistant and I now officially part ways after nearly 7 years together, but I have no doubt we'll be sharing laughter and memories in the future, over Milo, cupcakes, and life's many other bonbons.

We began and ended our relationship with a leap of faith, and a deep sense of trust. While I wouldn't wish the heartache we went through upon anyone, I do wish everyone could experience a friendship as meaningful as ours. Love you, always.

Ivoire Royale - White Chocolate Mousse & Berry Cake

According to Extraordinary Desserts' website:

"Ivoire Royale -- An exquisite torte made of fine layers of vanilla bean soaked pound cakes and creamy white chocolate mousse. Bursting with fresh raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, this delicate mousse torte is hidden by white chocolate shaving dusted with powdered sugar."

This is a 10" cake, with sour cream pound cake layers, brushed with vanilla simple syrup. In between the layers are white chocolate sour cream mousse, fresh whipped cream, and berries. I only used strawberries and blackberries in my cake, but I think any combination would work. The decoration is white chocolate shavings and curls.

I'm not sure the recipe for mousse in the cookbook quite worked. For a better mousse consistency, I suggest the following:

White Chocolate Sour Cream Mousse

• 4 egg yolks
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup sour cream (room temperature)
• 6.5 oz (1 ¼ cup) white chocolate
• 2 cup heavy cream
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Heat ¾ cup of the heavy cream in a saucepan until it boils/simmers. Pour over white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let sit for a couple minutes before stirring with a spatula until the white chocolate is melted and smooth.
2. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a stand mixer until pale yellow and fluffy.
3. Add melted chocolate to the whipped egg yolks.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the remaining heavy cream and powdered sugar together until peaks form.
5. Gently fold in the whipped cream and sour cream into the white chocolate-egg yolk mousse base.

I played with this while in-process, so the measurements may not be exact, particularly with respect to the whipped cream addition. I think that part can be made to-taste and to-texture, depending on what consistency and level of sweetness you are aiming for. The important addition here to the cookbook is the whipped egg yolk base, which gives the mousse a sturdier structure that won't run.

I had previously attempted this in cupcake form, but because this cake relies on being soaked in vanilla simple syrup, and having almost as much (or perhaps more) mousse and whipped cream than cake, I don't think the cupcake form delivers the same texture and flavor. Not to mention, I also dropped my entire batch of cupcakes before delivering them to a potluck event, so it is not quite a happy memory. One day, I will post a collage of all my disasters (usually in transit), when it doesn't pain me so much to think about it!

Yellow roses for my SYZters:

Strawberry Cupcakes - Is It Springtime Yet?

I have a sweet tooth, no doubt about that. But don't worry mom, I do eat food categories other than "dessert". When I say I love desserts, it's not so much about eating desserts, as it is about appreciating that intersection of culinary science and art. So it's probably no surprise that I love Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego and would go work with Karen Krasne in a heartbeat if I were to ever attend pastry school. She never fails to deliver art and beauty (and incredible flavor) in her creations.

This Toutes Fraises (translation: all strawberries) from her cookbook is a sour cream cupcake containing freshly diced strawberries in the batter. The cake is filled with a strawberry jelly, and topped with a strawberry cream cheese frosting. Extraordinary Desserts is known for decorating desserts with fresh flowers and petals. Here, I decided to work on my gum paste skills and came up with these gum paste rosebuds for decoration. Tedious, but very satisfying to make. I definitely eyed some flower bouquets at Safeway in case my efforts failed, but fortunately these were presentable enough (although a bit on the "toxic pink" side in color).

I'd venture to say that the 250 degree oven setting may have been a typo in the recipe, as 350 is typical for cakes, and 250 definitely did not get the job done. The cupcake was yummy, but perhaps next time starting at 350 degrees or closer to 350 will avoid temperature adjustments and give me better control over the cake's texture.

Can't wait to try more of my favorites from the cookbook!

A Box of Chocolates (Strawberry, and Champagne) - Happy Valentine's Day

Milo's Bonbons three-ways for Valentine's Day! Now if I could just get that to arrive in my next Birchbox . . .

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Meringue Buttercream: An oldie but a goodie.

Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream: Another repeat, this time with Martini & Rossi Asti to really deliver the sweet champagne flavor. I think the Swiss meringue buttercream had a stronger champagne flavor and a sturdier texture as I reconstituted the meringue powder with the sparkling wine directly, instead of using water.

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Frangelico: These chocolate cupcakes have a Frangelico-infused chocolate ganache filling and frosting. Frangelico is a hazelnut liqueur, and the folks at BevMo! tell me that you should chase a sugar-coated lemon slice with equal parts Frangelico and vodka. Apparently this "Chocolate Cake" shot is a real winner. While that remains to be tested, I can say that Frangelico does magically evoke chocolate, and is a great addition to dark chocolate ganache.

Maple-Bacon Cinnamon Cupcakes

These cupcakes are inspired by Hollis Wilder from Cupcake Wars. I love her ideas, and love that she brings her culinary experience to the pastry world. The cake is a cinnamon swirl sour cream cake, that is moist and fluffy, and much like a coffee cake. The key to the pop of cinnamon flavor is to fold in a brown sugar-cinnamon mixture, without fully blending. See swirls below.

The frosting is a strawberry cream cheese with maple butter, and the topping is maple-glazed turkey bacon, with maple sugar sprinkled on top. Maple butter and maple sugar are pretty amazing (but pricey)—check your local health food store to find those items!

Cinnamon Cupcakes
Makes 16 cupcakes (or 40 minis)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (no need to use cake flour for this one)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 1 T. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (loosely packed)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a mixer bowl, with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then add the vanilla and one egg at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and sour cream, alternating between the two, beginning and ending with the flour.
4. Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together in a small bowl and fold by hand into the batter. Do not fully mix into the batter, it should be swirled in.
5. Fill regular sized cupcakes, bake for 26-28 minutes or until golden and baked through.
6. Once cooled, top with cream cheese frosting (mix 1 pound cream cheese, 4 tablespoons maple butter, 1/4 cup strawberry jelly and 1/4 cup fresh strawberries, hulled, and finely diced), turkey bacon (cook as usual until crisp, then lightly coat with maple syrup and continue cooking over low heat until slightly caramelized), and maple sugar.

Spaghetti Cupcakes - Trick or Treat!

The idea for these spaghetti cupcakes comes from the book Hello, Cupcake!, and I was inspired after seeing my sister-in-law make them for April Fool's Day. Instead of using canned frosting, I decided to better complement the strawberry jam (the marinara sauce) with white chocolate flavoring.

This white cake is filled with strawberry meringue buttercream, and topped with a thin layer of white chocolate whipped ganache, and then covered with white chocolate buttercream noodles. White chocolate and butter both have a pale yellow color, so that no food coloring needs to be added to mimic cooked noodles.

A Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolate serves as the meatball, tossed in low sugar strawberry preserves (the low sugar variety has a more realistic red shade than regular preserves). Finally, grated white chocolate serves as the parmesan cheese. By the way, I love Ferrero Rocher chocolates. I'm going to have to try a cupcake version of them one day.

These "trick" cupcakes were complemented by my pumpkin cupcakes as the "treat." Happy Halloween everyone!

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes - Summer is Here!

My brother and his wife's garden overfloweth with fresh fruit, so we took a load of lemons off their hands. Most of them went toward fresh lemonade (with many packets of Truvia and Splenda), but of course a few had to be saved for cupcakes.

These lemon cupcakes are topped with fresh strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream to welcome summer! Last year, summer decided to not show up in San Diego, so I am celebrating the warm sunny days we are finally getting this year. The cupcakes are made especially lemony with the addition of limoncello and lemon oil. The straws are made with rolled fondant painted with gold dusting powder.

Note to self: Do not cover overnight or the straws will wilt . . .

Strawberry Cupcakes - A Birthday Surprise

As far as fruit cupcakes go, this is hands-down my favorite: white cupcakes with freshly diced strawberry bits, topped with Swiss meringue buttercream flavored with strawberry puree. With strawberries doing most of the sweetening, this cupcake tastes particularly light, natural and fresh (and perhaps just a tiny bit healthier *wishful thinking*).

Okay, so it wasn't exactly a surprise, given that I asked my hubby to go buy strawberries for his own birthday cupcakes (although it was a surprise in that I didn't tell him until the last minute to do so . . .). In my defense, I was pulling an all-nighter to try to finish as much unexpectedly-assigned work as possible, so that I wouldn't ruin his birthday.

I knew he loved strawberries, as that tends to be his go-to flavor in the dessert department, so we went for a midnight jog to Vons to buy up the last couple of boxes of strawberry left. After he went to sleep, I decided to pipe some chocolate toppings to try to add back some element of surprise.

He loved the cupcakes and I hear his co-workers did as well. I didn't get much sleep, but it was worth it!