Oh Suga Suga...

RIP Pastillage box :( (It got dropped in the hallway)

Gum Paste Flowers

On Friday, October 22nd, 2010, I wrapped up my last day in Confections and Specialty Cakes class at The Culinary Institute of America. The class was three weeks long and my baking group and I learned SO MUCH in that short amount of time. We tampered with pastillage, chocolate, sugar, royal icing, fondant, buttercream, and gum paste. My favorite part of the class was making individual cakes using buttercream and sponge cake; my cake was shaped like a PB&J and it tasted OUT OF THIS WORLD!! Check out the photos and tell me what you think :)

Breakfast Bricks

SUPER DENSE... too much flour (whoopsie daisy)

This is pretty brave of me... but I would like to share one of my failed products with you. I decided to try and create a breakfast cookie by combining a couple of recipes together and adding a few of my own touches. The result could have been GREAT, but there were a few reasons why it was a bust:

1) Instead of using volume measurements (like cups) I just assumed that all the ingredients weighed 8 oz for each cup... but in reality that is wrong. Flour weighs less than sugar if you compare a cup of flour to a cup of sugar. So I used WAY too much of some ingredients like flour, and not enough of other ingredients.

2) I think I tried to change the recipe too much at once. I wanted to make something healthy so I used peanut butter instead of butter and agave nectar instead of sugar (this makes creaming impossible; creaming butter and sugar in a regular cookie recipe adds air to the cookie dough which gives it a lighter crumb structure). I also used egg whites and made a meringue with the agave nectar which I folded into a blended pumpkin and peanut butter mixture to give it air since I hadn't used the creaming method. In the future, I think I will start with one good cookie recipe and change one ingredient at a time.

3) DON'T PUT PUMPKIN SEED IN COOKIES! They are tough and poke the inside of your mouth! hahhaha

Making this flop of a recipe taught me that I need to be very aware of ingredients differences in volume and weight and that creating a new recipe takes time and should be done in steps to avoid wasting expensive and good quality ingredients. Research and development is a field that I am really interested in as far as the food industry goes, so I will continue to try and create new recipes.

Roasted Applesauce

I cannot believe it has taken me so long to post a new blog!! My sister Christina has been on me like white on rice to put up a new post, so here I go!

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I went to Rose Hill Farms north of Hyde Park, NY and picked a bunch of juicy Honey Crisp apples. It was my very first time apple-picking and I LOVED IT!!! Tasting as you pick was the best part :P Anyway... We ended up bringing home almost 30 apples so I decided to make applesauce. One of my fellow bloggers (Closet Cooking) had posted a recipe for roasted applesauce and it sounded really yummy so I gave it a try and it turned out marvelous! From the smell of spices to the rich taste of freshly picked roasted apples, this recipe is one I will definitely hold on to.

Ingredients:
4 apples (peeled, cored and chopped)
1/4 cup apple cider (I used cranberry apple cider and it added some tang!)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:
1. Toss everything in a bowl.
2. Bake in a preheated 400F oven until the apples are very soft, about 30-50 minutes.
3. Mash the apples.

...then EAT!

Eating My Way Through California

The most FANTASTIC food exists in California... more specifically in Santa Monica, California where I visited last weekend for my sister's wedding. Not only did the excitement of the wedding make it a great vacation, but also the charm of the area as well as the vast variety of great cafes, bakeries, restaurants, and wineries.

My mom and sister and I went to California early so that we could check out the area and visit local hotspots. Unfortunately because I'm still under 21, I wasn't even allowed to enter the winery my sister and mom were so excited to go to so none of us went :( That day improved drastically though when we went out for lunch at The Lobster (a local seafood restaurant right next to the water. I ordered fish over butternut squash and sauteed spinach. The picture is all I need to put in this blog to tell you how delicious it was; I've never experienced a meal so light and so rich in flavor at the same time.

After lunch, we walked through an outdoor mall (The first time I've ever seen one!) and that led us to a gelato/sorbet cafe that serves over 100 flavors!!! I got banana-peanut butter gelato and it was worth every penny :) From their we decided it would be a good idea to visit a bakery my mom had seen near the wine-tasting place we had planned on visiting; The Vanilla Bake Shop was its name and it provided us with 6 delicious mini-cupcakes for that evening.

The last stop of the day was C&O Restaurant, an Italian food restaurant that serves individual and family style. I got the gnocchi and my mom and sister (appropriately) ordered a seafood pasta dish to share. Oh! And I cannot forget to mention the killer garlic rolls they served fresh all through dinner (hot and fresh from the oven). For dessert we all split a piece of tiramisu and then headed back to the hotel to eat our cupcakes :P and watch The Killers with Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher.

My sister's food at her wedding was another highlight of the trip, not to mention getting to meet the chef that prepared it all. He made these mini-burger-like things with duck and appleslaw that blew me away.

I'm so happy because I know my sister is happy now and to top it off, her wedding gave me the chance to experience California, a place where everyone should go at least once...

A Rope to Lasso a Groom's Cake

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE weddings! The music, the way everyone rises when the bride shows up at the back of the church, the way the couple looks at each other as they say their vows, and most of all the playfulness of the bride and groom as they share their first bite of cake as a married couple!

This past weekend I went to a friends wedding in Austin and was fortunate enough to get to work on a real wedding cake. The bride's mother asked if I would make a fondant rope to go around three tiers on the grooms cake. I was ecstatic and slightly nervous because this was a big deal. After surfing the web to find a credible fondant recipe I ran across a recipe from whatscookingamerica.com:

Marshmallow Fondant

16 oz white mini-marshmallows (choose a good quality brand)

2-5 tbsp water

2 pounds icing sugar (preferably C&H brand Cane Powdered Sugar)

1/2 cup of Crisco Shortening

*For chocolate, add 1 oz of melted (high quality) chocolate to the melted marshmallow mixture and add 1 tbsp of cocoa powder to the icing sugar.

Method:

Using a double boiler, melt the marshmallows and 2 tbsp of water in a large bowl. Once the mixture is all melted, add 3/4 of the powdered sugar to the bowl and mix gently. Grease a large area of your counter or butcher block with Crisco (be generous). Then, grease all over your hands GENEROUSLY and take the bowl of marshmallow mix and powdered sugar and scoop that mixture onto the counter. Knead everything together and add the rest of the powdered sugar in stages until the fondant is no longer so sticky, but it shouldn't be cracking too much. If you feel like it is too dry just add a 1/2 tbsp of water and knead again. Repeat that process until it is the right consistency. (Don't be scared about messing it up because you can always add more icing sugar if it becomes to sticky again)

The fondant can be colored using gel food coloring and it can be stored in a plastic bag (remove as much air as possible) in the fridge for several weeks. I really like this fondant because it actually tastes good compared to store-bought fondants.

Let me share with you one thing I did wrong when I made the rope: I twisted the top and middle tiers rope the same way, however, I twisted the bottom tiers rope the wrong way and it didn't match the other two. Luckily, the cake designer, Hope, was able to place the groom's chocolate-dipped strawberries over the bottom tiers fondant rope so that no one even knew there was a mistake. What a weekend!

Cheesecake... Cupcake Style

A few days ago I was surfing the net for sweet cupcake recipes and I ran across a good sounding recipe on Martha Stewart's website. The recipe is called Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes. I LOVE graham crackers and I LOVE chocolate, so I knew that this was a winner before I even began baking. Here is the recipe, however I used chocolate soy milk instead of whole milk which in my opinion may have made the cupcakes have a richer flavor.

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes (Martha Stewart's recipe... with a twist)

(Makes 2 dozen)

2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup chocolate soy milk or whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.

Sift 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir to combine; set cake batter aside.

Place graham cracker crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined.

Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass or your finger tips to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture for topping.

Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with remaining graham cracker mixture. Return to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely before frosting.

*To finish my cupcakes, I made a basic cream cheese frosting from cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. I had so many great comments about these cupcakes, and in my own opinion they are the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever eaten. Light as air and tasty!

Fresh Fig and Pistachio Bread

I have been doing more experimenting with fig recipes thanks to the giant fig tree behind my parents house. I swear that thing is out of control, which is perfect because I used 8 figs to make a super moist fig and pistachio bread last week.

After searching the net for a healthy banana bread recipe, I ran across the perfect one on Banana-Bread.biz. The recipe is called Oatmeal Banana-Nut Bread and I added my own personal touches (like using figs instead of bananas) make it my own:

Fig and Pistachio Bread

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup bread flour
• 1/2 cup oats (I just used one pack of instant oats from the box of individual portions)
• 1/2 cup Agave Nectar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup apple sauce (I used sugar-free)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 small figs (peeled)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg (DONT LEAVE OUT! ...It adds so much to this bread)
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted, unsalted pistachios

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease your bread pan. Mash the figs and mix with the egg, yogurt, agave nectar, applesauce, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, oats, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine until just mixed. Last, Fold in the nuts and transfer batter into loaf pan. The bread will bake for about one hour. Check for doneness ahead of time by inserting a knife or toothpick into the bread. If it comes out clean the bread is done.

Gone Fig Crazy!

For those of you who don't know me personally, a couple of years ago my mom planted a fig tree in the back of our house and it has really begun to produce. Right now is the peak of their season and our tree is producing so many figs that we cannot eat them fast enough before they have gotten spoiled. So, I thought it would be a great idea to start using them to bake with :) Here is my first recipe to use (a success!):

Fig Pizza

1-Pillsbury pre-made thin crust pizza dough

1-5 oz. container of Gorgonzola cheese

1-3 oz. package of Prosciutto

6- small FRESH figs

2-Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1-Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

to taste- Salt and pepper

Method

First, pre-heat the oven using the directions on the dough label. Next, open the dough and stretch and mold it into a large round pizza pan that has been sprayed with Pam and lightly dusted with flour. Then, bake the crust for approximately 5 minutes until 1/2 - 3/4 cooked. Pull it out of the oven and spread all of the gorgonzola cheese around the pizza evenly. PLace the pizza back in the oven and slice figs like you would pepperonis (into small circles). Place them in a bowl and soak in 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar. By this time the cheese should be melted and the crust should be done. Remove pizza from oven and lay out prosciutto pieces to cover the cheese. Then, place fig slices all over the pizza and return the pizza back to the oven to heat the ham and figs (about 1 minute). Lastly, toss about two cups of arugula with salt, pepper, 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Once the pizza is fully heated, remove it from the oven and place the tossed greens on top. Then, EAT UP!

My dad was very impressed with this recipe and actually told me it made his mouth happy. Thank you Food and Wine magazine for an issue from last year that featured a slight variation of this recipe.

Beer and Bread UNITE!

A couple months ago I ran across a recipe for beer bread and I have now had 2 successful baking experiences with this recipe. I grew up on beer bread and my mom has used the same recipe for years. Now that I am older and pursuing my baking career, I thought it was time to challenge her bread. This is the recipe I used: (I tweeked one I found online)

Beer Bread

(Yield: 1 loaf)

3 cups flour (1 part cake, 1 part bread, 1 part whole wheat or use only all purpose)

1/3 cup of sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp salt

12 oz beer (1 beer)

*¼ cup melted butter (make sure it is completely melted so it can soak into the breads crust and doesn't just float on top)

Method

-Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Add beer and mix until homogenous.

-Pour into parchment lined or sprayed loaf pan and bake.

-Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes, then pour *melted butter over loaf and bake ten more minutes.

Variations

-Add roasted walnuts

-Use different types of beer

I made this bread with the intention to pair it with Jambalaya, but my family ended up eating steak and grilled veggies that night. It still proved to be a great side and people seemed to be pretty impressed with the obvious beer flavor :)

P.S. My bread puts my mom's to shame, but let's keep that on the DL.

Coconut Charlotte Russe

So I know I wrote that I was going to make a hazelnut Charlotte Russe, but I started to think about the flavor vs. the time of year and decided that making a coconut Charlotte Russe would be more appropriate for summer (plus the added fact of it being a new challenge).

I made the Charlotte Russe using a recipe for a sponge cake and instead of using vanilla extract I used imitation coconut extract. For the cake's filling, I made a coconut creme anglaise by adding toasted coconut to my milk and cream mixture as it heated over the stove. The toasted coconut created such a deep and delicious coconut flavor! It was fantastic! That creme anglaise got mixed with bloomed and melted gelatin and then I quickly folded in soft-whipped heavy cream. Combining gelatin with cold ingredients is always risky so it is important to temper it into the creme anglaise (add some of creme anglaise to melted gelatin, then add that back to creme anglaise). If you get lumps in this mixture, just put it over a double boiler. If you have added the whipped cream already you cannot fix the bavarian and should just restart.

My finished product had two layers of sponge cake soaked in a dark rum simple syrup and two layers of coconut bavarian cream. And like a traditional Charlotte Russe it was surrounded by ladyfingers. Lastly, I topped it with a mixture of half toasted coconut and half un-toasted coconut (toasted sweetened coconut is scrumptious because the coconut sort of caramelizes on its surface... talk about a party in your mouth :P).

A Charlotte Russe can be any combination of flavors. I advise anyone who likes this type of cake to be adventurous and use your favorite flavor combination and see how it turns out.

Fondant: Friend or Foe?

Until recently, I haven't done much with fondant, but I did some researching online and bought some of Wilton's pre-made white rolling fondant. I wanted to use it to decorate the sides of a baby shower cake that I made last week. Coloring the fondant was simple.

I divided the fondant into 6 pieces (for six different colors) and used gel food coloring so that the added color wouldn't make it too sticky to work with and I just kneaded each piece until it matched the color I was aiming for. While searching the internet to teach myself about fondant, I found out several tips:

-NEVER cover a cake with fondant and put it in the fridge because once it goes back to room temperature, condensation develops and can cause unfixable spotting on the fondant's surface. *If the cake covered in fondant has already been placed in the fridge for a while, take it out and place it under a cardboard box while it comes to room temperature to allow the fondant to breath and prevent condensation from developing on it.

-Fondant can be colored, double-wrapped and stored in the fridge far in advance. (this allows colors to ripen)

-Fondant stays somewhat soft and does not become hard like gum paste.

-Adding too much food coloring to achieve something like a dark brown or black causes it to taste bitter.

-Fondant can be adhered to other pieces of fondant just by using water.

-It is easiest to adhere fondant decoration to a cake covered in buttercream once the final coat has set-up. Then, fresh buttercream can be used as glue to bond the sugar molecules in the fondant and buttercream which creates one surface.

-Fondant holds moisture in cakes for 3-5 days.... I think five days is pushing it though...

I just bought some new fondant toys which was a really exciting purchase for me! I got a fondant cutter that is a rolling wheel and it also came with attachments that roll designs into the fondant to make it look like ribbon which is EXACTLY what I needed for this baby shower cake I made. I also bought circular cutters to cut polka dots for the top tier and I bought a fondant roller that has different sized rings on each end to roll the fondant to a desired width. And the best part was... It cost me less than 15 bucks because my mom sent me to the store with a coupon (she's the best :P).

As far as cutting the length and height of each fondant ribbon I made as well as the large brown fondant ribbon I placed around the bottom and top tier, I used floss to measure around the tiers and a ruler to figure the size that the ribbon should be based on the height of the bottom tier once the brown fondant ribbon had been applied. The fondant ribbon got placed on first (seam in back) and then the stripes and polka dots were added. It was so much fun doing the decoration! My sister and niece were in awe of it all. The fondant really allowed the cake to come together and added an air of elegance.

I almost forgot to discuss the flavors of the two tiers and the filling. Obviously the outside of the cake got frosted with vanilla buttercream, but I actually filled the layers of both tiers with a mousseline - a mixture of equal volumes of buttercream and pastry cream. The top tier was four layers of chocolate sponge cake with chocolate chips that were filled with an orange mousseline and the bottom tier was four layers of vanilla sponge cake with sprinkles that were filled with a strawberry mousseline. I have to give out the recipe for the fruit pastry cream because it was the easiest pastry cream I have ever made and it actually tasted rich and fruity (no cornstarch necessary):

Fruit Pastry Cream

5 egg yolks

5 whole eggs

2 sticks of butter, melted (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup sugar

4-6 oz fruit puree (depending on strength of flavor...)

*if you use fruit juice, like orange juice use 4-5 oz

METHOD: put all ingredients in one bowl and whisk together over a double boiler until thickened. BE CAREFUL not to over cook this because the eggs will coagulate... gross.

To top off the cake, I used a edible duck that my mom bought after Easter (don't worry it hadn't been removed from it's box yet so it was still safe to eat :P). Then, cupcakes (chocolate with chocolate chips and filled with the leftover orange pastry cream) were the last addition for two reasons:

1. I needed to feed 30 people and got nervous that the cake was too small.

2. They were the perfect medium to spell "Lil Azevedo" which is going to be the baby's name when she is born.

After making this cake and becoming better acquainted with fondant, I would definitely recommend using it for decoration but due to its terrible flavor, I wouldn't recommend covering whole tiers with it. However, there are recipes out there for homemade fondant. I actually ran across one that used marshmallows as the main ingredient and sounded like it might actually taste decent so I'll have to make an attempt at homemade fondant sometime soon.

My Next Project: I'm making beer bread and a hazelnut Charlotte Russe for a dinner get-together tomorrow night, my family calls them "Pachangas." It should be fun and very delicious!

My First Entry

I'm really excited to kick off this blog and be able to start sharing my baking successes and failures with everyone. From them, I'm hoping that this blog will become a learning tool for both myself and others. It's time to bake!