happy birthday buddy!

today my favourite little boy turned 5! we got him the tower of doom! and had his party at the local gymnastics club...
everyone had a great time! a big thank you to everyone that came out!
the cake is made from a williams-sonoma "easter octopus" cake mold. i didn't know octopus was a traditional shape at easter... lol... i made dorie's perfect party cake and used orange juice and zest instead of the lemon 'cause that's what i had. i coloured half of the batter blue and put that in first so when we cut the cake the octopus was blue and the sand was white. since i didn't need much buttercream, i just made a very simple american buttercream. after all, most 5 year olds don't appreciate the texture and effort put into a swiss meringue buttercream- they just want the sugar!
i'm still getting used to our new camera- our older trusty olympus point and shoot (yes, all the other pics were taken with a cheap point and shoot!) died a terrible and sudden death (soon i'll post the last pics it took), and unfortunately this new one (nikon coolpix) doesn't have as good of a macro :( but that's okay since hopefully soonish we'll be gettin' one of them fancy shmancy digital SLRs...

black and white

i've been pretty busy these days, and i made these little pound cakes quite some time ago and never got around to posting them. they are very tasty, and very simple to make. i thought with the election coming up tomorrow, i'd post it now. since i'm a dual citizen (canada-us) i can vote in both countries, and did... i sent in my absentee ballot over 2 weeks ago! go democracy! i'll be glued to CNN tomorrow.
and in two weeks... another vote- this time for mayor of vancouver!

Ingredients

Marble Cake (martha stewart baking handbook)

Makes one 9-by-5-inch loaf

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1 3/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan; set aside. Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour. Set aside 1/3 of the batter.
3. In a bowl, mix cocoa and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water with a rubber spatula until smooth. Add the cocoa mixture to the reserved cake batter; stir until well combined.
4. Spoon batters into the prepared pan in 2 layers, alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate to simulate a checkerboard. To create marbling, run a table knife (or wooden skewer) through the batters in a swirling motion.
5. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn out cake from pan and cool completely on the rack. Cake can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

kumbaya

i made this campfire cake for my friend's daughter. she was hosting a sleep-out-in-refrigerator-boxes party and thought a campfire theme would be great. after some research on the good ole interweb i found two possible ways to make the cake: make a "normal" cake and have pretzels and candy on top creating the campfire; or make the cake the actual campfire. the latter is what i decided upon.

on some magasine's site (i can't remember which one) i had found the idea and they used 2 store bought pound cakes with the corners trimmed off. that just wasn't going to cut it. then i remembered the buche de noel. that would be perfect. i did take their idea of melting life savers for the fire. i couldn't find any doughnut holes so i grabbed some bridge mixture and tossed them with some icing sugar for the coals. sponge sheet cake

adapted from williams-sonoma CAKES

2/3 cup cake flour

pinch of salt

4 large eggs, separated, plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F. in a 10x15x1" jelly roll pan butter, parchment and butter again. dust with flour and tap out the excess. sift the flour and salt together in to a small bowl. set aside.

in a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 5 egg yolks and 1/3 cup of the sugar. beat on med-high speed until the batter is thickened and pale yellow and falls back on itself like a ribbon when the beaters are lifted, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. transfer the yolk mixture to a large bowl; clean and dry the mixer bowl thoroughly.

beat the egg whites in the clean bowl of your mixer, now fitted with the whip attachment, on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. increase the speed to med-high and continue beating until the whites are holding soft peaks when the whisk is lifted, about 2-3 minutes. turn the mixer to medium and add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar 2 tbsp at a time. after all the sugar has been incorporated, beat for 1 minute more to have stiff peaks.

using a rubber spatula, pile 1/3 of the egg whites on top of the yolk mixture and begin folding. the first addition will lighten the batter. add the remaining egg whites on top of the mixture and fold them in. still using the spatula, fold in the flour mixture in 4 additions. the batter will be light and foamy.

pour the batter int the prepared pan. bake undisturbed for 12 minutes. if the cake looks set and the surface is lightly browned, tough the top gently. if it feels firm, insert a toothpick in the centre. if it comes out dry, the cake is done. if it comes out wet or with crumbs clinging to it, bake for another 2 minutes.

using pot holders, carefully transfer the sheet cake to a wire rack. let the cake cool int he pan until cool to the tough, about 25 minutes. the cake will shrink slightly as it cools. run a thin knife along the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cake, keeping the knife pressed against the side. invert a wire rack on top of the cake and invert together. lift off the pan and discard the parchment. using both hands, carefully the turn the cake top side up. the cake is now ready to be filled and rolled.

chocolate american buttercream

1 cup butter, room temperature

4-6 cups confectioner`s sugar (depends on how sweet you want it)

1é4 cup cocoa powder

1é4 cup milk (or more if you added more sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

beat all ingredients in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy. scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.

mama's li'l baby

it's that time of year again... strawberry season! yumm! there's nothing better than strawberries on, well, on just about anything. i don't know anyone that doesn't like these tasty little ground berries. today i bought 2 extra pints of beautiful organic red berries. we already had one at home and i was thinking, "strawberry shortcake". so that's what i made. so simple and so easy. i have a recipe that i've had since the days of no printer, so i don't remember the source. i think it's from allrecipies.com, but don't quote me on that!strawberry shortcake

3 pints fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter (or shortening)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup whole milk
2 cups whipping cream

wash and slice the strawberries and toss with the 1/2 cup of sugar. preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. butter an 8" cake pan, add a parchment circle and butter again. dust with flour.

in a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 2 tbsp of sugar. cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until it resembles small peas. make a well in the centre and add the egg and milk. stir until just combined.

spread the batter into your prepared cake pan. bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. let cool partially on a wire rack. slice it while the shortbread is still warm, making 2 layers. place half the strawberries on the bottom layer, top with whipped cream, replace top half and cover with remaining berries and whipped cream.

happy birthday papa!

friday was my dad's 71st birthday! on one of my many trips to the gourmet warehouse i saw these:my mom had asked us to get him some corn holders around christmas time, but i never got around to it until i found those. i also picked up a "butter girl". she was also at the gourmet warehouse, but i found them online here.

i can always remember growing up knowing that black forest cherry cake was my dad's favourite- but only the version from his mother's german cookbook. i made it last year for his birthday and so i made it again this year. it's fairly simple, using the beaten eggs for volume. one thing though... make sure your flour and cocoa is fully combined before folding it into the batter as it will deflate the eggs and you'll end up with a much denser cake. still tasty though. also, if you don't want to spend the dollars on the kirsch, just use the juice from the jar of cherries- i bet no one will even notice!

black forest cherry cake
chocolate curls:8oz semisweet bar chocolate
to make chocolate curls to garnish the cake, the bar or chunks of chocolate should be at room temperature but not soft. hold the chocolate over wax paper or foil and shave the bar or square into thin curls with a sharp narrow-bladed vegetable peeler. draw the peeler along the wide surface of the chocolate for large curls, and along the narrow side for small ones. handle the chocolate as little as possible. refridgerate or freeze the curls until you are ready to use them.

cake:

1tbsp butter, softened

6tbsp flour

10 tablespoons sweet butter

6 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1/2 sifted flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. with a pastry brush or paper towel, lightly coat the bottoms and side of three 7-inch round cake pans with soft butter, using about 1 tablespoon of butter in all. sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour into each pan, tip them from side to side to spread the flour evenly, then invert the pans and rap them sharply on a table to remove any excess flour. set the pans aside.clarify 10 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan by melting it slowly over low heat without letting it brown. let it rest for a minute off the heat, then skim off the foam. spoon the clear butter into a bowl and set aside. discard the milky solids at the bottom of the pan.

in an electric mixer, beat the eggs, vanilla and 1 cup of sugar together at high speed for at least 10 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and fluffy. combine the 1/2 cup sifted flour and unsweentened cocoa in a sifter. a little at a time sift the mixture over the eggs, folding it in gently with a rubber spatula. finally, add the clarified butter 2 tablespoons at a time. do not overmix. gently pour the batter into the prepared cake pans dividing it evenly among the three of them.bake in the middle of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until a cake tester insterted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for about 5 minutes. then run a sharp knife around the edge of each cake and turn them out on racks to cool completely.

syrup:

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup cold water

1/2 cup kirsch (or just brandy, or juice from jar o'cherries)

meanwhile, prepare the kirsch syrup in the following fashion: combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1 cup of cold water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. boil briskly, uncovered, for 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and when the syrup has cooed to lukewarm stir in the kirsch.transfter the cakes to a long strip of wax paper and prick each layer ligtly in several places with the tines of a long fork. sprinkle the layers evenly with the syrup and let them rest for at least 5 minutes.

filling and topping:

3 cups chilled heavy cream

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup kirsch (or brandy or juice)

1 cup poached pitted fresh red cherries, or 1 cup drained and rinsed canner sour red cherriesfresh sweet red cherries with stems, or substitue maraschino cherries with stems, drained and rinsed

if you are using fresh cherries for the filling, poach them in the following fashion: remove their stems and pits, then combine them with 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup of sugar in a small saucepan. bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, simmer for 5 minutes, or until the cherries are tender. drain them in a colander, discarding the syrup, and pat the cerries completely dry with paper towels.

in a large chilled bowl, beat the cream with a whisk or a rotarty or electric beater until it thickens lightly. then sift 1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar over the cream and continue beating until the cream forms firm peaks on the beater when it is lifted out of the bowl. pour in the 1/4 cup kirsch in a thin stream, and beat only until the kirsch is absorbed.to assemble the cake, place one of the three layers in the centre of a serving plate. with a spatula, spread the top with a 1/2 inch of whipped cream and strew the cup of fresh or canned cherries over it leaving about 1/2 inch of cream free of cherries around the perimeter. gently set a second layer on top of the cherries and spread it with 1/2 inch of chipped cream. then seth the third layer in place. spread the top and sides of the cake with the reamaining cream.with your fingers, gently press the chocolate curls into the cream on the sides fo the cake and arrange a few chocolate curls and fresh or maraschino cherries attractively on top.

my sister made mini pineapple upside-down cakes! yummy!