30 June 2008

Cake Pops

As far as I can tell, Cupcake Pops originated with Bakerella, and are adorable and somewhat trying and require much more patience than I have available. However, I decided to make a variation of them that I've seen in multiple spots on the blogosphere, which are a simplified version. Basically, they are Cake Pops, just balls of cake and frosting on a lollipop stick that have been dipped in melting chocolate. It sounds like a sugar overload, but eating just one is quite delicious. As some of my friends found out, eating three very quickly can make you very sick(ly).

They are so cute and colorful


The recipe is, by far, one of the most basic I've ever seen. On top of that, the flavor combinations are endless. You can pair any cake flavor with any icing flavor with any color for the outside. I decided to make two different choices: White cake with strawberry frosting and pink melting discs and brownies with milk chocolate frosting and regular semisweet melting chocolate. Both were equally delicious, although I found that the flavor really fully saturated and tasted better after about a day in the refrigerator.

Yum yum, sugar


The only issues I had with these occurred with the white cake mix. The original posts and recipes I read on Cupcake pops and such recommended mixing the cake and frosting while the cake was still warm. I waited until mine was mostly cooled and I still had a very hard time trying to get it to stick together when I rolled it into a ball. I figured out eventually that if I wiped my hands completely and kept them a little damp after each ball I formed, the next ball would not stick as much.

I had cake all over my hands


The dipping was also a little trying, as I almost ran out of the pink melting discs; I had fewer pops than I orinally started out with too because my brother had found them in the outside refrigerator and decided to help himself. So I guess I would suggest...buying an extra bag? Or just leaving a few lightly-dipped. The brownies were much easier to coat because I just added chocolate chips to my melting chocolate to produce more to dip.

Zooom


Because I wasn't able to take homemade cupcakes into the bowling alley for my birthday party, I made these and packed them in goody bags to hand out when everyone left. Each person received two brownie pops and two strawberry pops. gb's sister liked them so much that she offered to pay me to make a whole other batch for her. I think I will probably take her up on it.

All packed up in their goody bags and ready to go


Cake Pops
Makes 30 to 45 cake pops, depending on size

1 (18.25 ounce) package cake or brownie mix
Eggs, water, and oil called for on cake mix box
16 ounces of store-bought or homemade frosting
1 (1 pound) package of melting chocolate or colored vanilla melts

Combine cake ingredients according to directions on box. Bake the cake in a 13x9-inch pan at the temperature and time noted on box. NOTE: A homemade sheet cake can also be used, if you'd like. Remove the cake from the oven when cooked and cool for about half an hour.

Scrape the entirety of the cake out of the pan and into a very large bowl. Then, add the frosting and stir vigorously until all the cake is in fine crumbs and the mixture is completely stuck together. Roll the mixture into one- to two-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. If using lollipop sticks, poke them into the balls. Refrigerate for at least three hours, preferably overnight.

At this point, the cake balls should be quite stiff. Heat the melting chocolate/vanilla/whatever in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly so as not to burn any of it (like I did). Turn the burner off and begin to dip the cake balls, making sure to cover each one completely and thoroughly in the melted substance. Place the pops back on the baking sheet and, after all of them are dipped, back in the refrigerator for at least two to three more hours.

Birthday Cake: Strawberry

I'm kind of cursed when it comes to basic layer cakes. Although they always taste delectable, I can never manage to make them look edible, let alone pretty. They're either crooked or falling apart or just plain ugly; plus, I've never ever been able to pop a layer out of a nine-inch pan completely intact. It's just something that had never happened for me until this cake.

The glory


My birthday cake was a strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting that I found at some point on Recipezaar. I have actually been wanting a strawberry cake since I realized I had never eaten one back in February; I waited until my birthday to make one so that the strawberries would be ripe and in season and I was extremely satisfied with the results.

The batter will turn a lovely pink shade


While looking for a recipe that suited my tastes, I kept in mind that, above all, I wanted lots of fresh strawberries to be used and I wanted the cake to be pink. This recipe was convenient because I love cream cheese frosting.

Ready to bake


However, I should probably address some of the issues I had with the frosting; I'm guessing that during the "thorough draining" of the mashed strawberries, some not-so-thorough work went on. All I really had on hand that I could think of using was a sieved spoon, so I picked up small amounts of the mashed berried and mashed them a little more while they were in the spoon, thinking this would lead to getting rid of all of the juices. Obviously, it didn't, which made the frosting a little apprehensive to set; I had to leave the cake in the refrigerator for a little under two days, so I pulled it out every four hours or so to swirl the frosting back up the cake because it had already dripped down into a puddle. I noticed around the last few hours before we ate it that I didn't need to push it up as much, so I guess the frosting finally decided to give up the battle and just stay put.

Closeup of the frosting


Anyway, this didn't take away from the taste at all; it was delicious and the coconut and pecan, which I originally thought were fairly out of place in the recipe, ended up adding a nice crunch and texture to the finished product. Of all of the people that ate the cake, my mom was the only one who disliked it and then it was only due to the coconut and pecan. I will probably make this again sometime sans crunchy stuff.

It looks like the cake was too hot, but it was completely cooled


Also, I had a lot of the frosting left over, and I don't know if that was due to the fact that it never thickened up or if it was just because the recipe was specifically for three nine-inch pans and I only used two. Either way, if I hadn't let it sit in the refrigerator for a week and a half, I would have been able to make cupcakes with it and they would have been delicious.

Tub of frosting


I didn't do the best job with taking pictures of all of the steps included in this recipe, as I was really set on making it actually look good. This is unfortunate because it is probably one of the prettiest cakes I have ever made.

19 years old, not seven


Strawberry Cake
Makes one 9-inch (2 or 3) layer cake, about 18 servings

Vegetable shortening, for greasing the pans
Flour, for dusting the pans
1 (18.25 ounce) package plain white cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry gelatin
1 cup mashed fresh strawberries, with juice (1 1/2 cups whole berries)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk (I used 1% and it worked fine)
4 large eggs
1/2 cup grated sweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Strawberries, sliced, for garnish
1 batch Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two or three 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pans aside.

Place the cake mix, strawberry gelatin, mashed strawberries and juice, oil, milk and eggs in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The strawberries should be well blended into the batter. Fold in the coconut and pecans. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and place them in the oven; if you are using two pans, simply place them on the middle rack; if you are using three and your oven is not large enough, place two pans on the center rack and place the third pan in the center of the highest rack.

Bake the cakes until they are light brown and just start to pull away from the sides of the pan, 28 to 30 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the layer on the highest oven rack. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow them to cool completely, 30 minutes more. (Okay, I didn't do the multiple inversions; I placed them on little hotpads in front of a fan that was on high for about 30 to 45 minutes until they were mostly cool.

To assemble, place one cake layer on a serving platter. Spread the top with frosting. (At this point, I used a thin layer of frosting on top of the first layer; then I added thinly sliced strawberries and added another thin layer of frosting on top of the slices.) Add another cake layer, right side up, and frost the top. Repeat this process with the third layer and frost the top. Use the remaining frosting to frost the sides, working with clean, smooth strokes. Decorate the top layer with sliced strawberries, if desired. Serve at once or chill the cake for later serving. (I recommend chilling it - it really helps bring out the strawberry flavor.)

Place this cake uncovered, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes (or 2 days, if you're me: that's how long it took to start to set). Cover the cake with waxed paper and store, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving. This cake is best served cold.


Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes a ton of frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted (I probably used about 5 cups, just trying to get the frosting to thicken up)
3/4 cup fresh ripe strawberries, rinsed, capped and mashed to make 1/2 cup, then drained well
1/3 cup grated sweetened coconut
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on low speed for about a minutes. Stop the machine and add the powdered sugar and drained strawberries (IMPORTANT: If the strawberries are not completely drained, the frosting will not set). Blend the frosting on low until the sugar is completely incorporated; then, raise the speed to medium and mix the frosting for another few minutes until the frosting lightens and is well combined. Fold in the coconut and pecans.


By the way, if anyone was wondering, I have not yet made the Coconut Cream Pie for my grandpa because we are waiting until he gets out of the hospital on July 14th to surprise him with it. But I still need to post about Cake Pops, and that's worth waiting around for!

22 June 2008

The Truth About Coffee Cake

Today I'm going to talk about coffee cake. My boyfriend (gb) pointed out that I hadn't really posted anything about original recipes and suggested that I do so; this was really the only recipe I could think of that was mostly me, so I think it might have been something of a scam for him to get a coffee cake.

My loving poopsyscmoo


gb doesn't like cake much, but this is the exception - he could probably eat an entire one in two or three days. Luckily for him, I really enjoy making it because it's super-easy and I usually have all of the ingredients on hand. Plus, it only takes me about seven or eight minutes to throw it together and it always comes out perfect.

Note the disposable aluminum pan


One specific thing to keep in mind with this recipe is your pan. I have always made these on those flimsy aluminum disposable 13x9's and they are always perfectly moist and crunchy after 38 minutes. The only time I have ever had problems with this recipe occurred when I used a plain metal baking pan - the cook time was off. Also, do not increase the amount of cinnamon too much, or it bakes into the cake and the crunch of the cinnamon-sugar is lost.

A fancy close-up


AwesomePossum Coffee Cake
Makes one 13x9-inch cake, about 24 servings

1 (18.25-oz.) box yellow cake mix
1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix (sorry, I don't know the exact ounce-age on this one)
4 large eggs
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 to 1 cup nuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt or 13x9-inch pan (I've never actually made it with a bundt pan; I usually don't have much luck with them).

First, make the filling/topping: stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and nuts in a small bowl until completely combined (I usually use a fork instead of a spoon - it helps the cinnamon-sugar combine easier). In a large mixing bowl, sift together cake and pudding mix. Whisk in eggs, water, oil, vanilla, and cinnamon until mixture is completely smooth. Pour a little more than half of the batter into pan.

Sprinkle more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mix over the batter, making sure to cover most of it evenly. Then, top with the remaining batter; try to cover the entire first layer. Sprinkle more of the cinnamon-sugar over the top layer, saving a small amount. Take two butter knives and move them in opposite directions through the pan, marbelizing the cake until the cinnamon-sugar is spread evenly throughout. Then top with the remaining cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 38 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you're lucky, a thin but crunchy crust will rise up on top of the cake.


Stay tuned later on for my birthday cake and a really easy coconut cream pie I'm making for my grandpa this week.

20 June 2008

Muffins #2: Raspberry-Orange

As promised, I'm going to expound on the adventure that was the creation of my Raspberry-Orange muffins. I came across the recipe at Pittsburgh Needs Eated, but it originated in Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours. I saw it weeks ago and have been salivating over her pictures of the muffins ever since, so you can imagine my excitement when my mom told me that she had bought my berries for me when she went to the store last night. Unfortunately, my writing is somewhat illegible and she had actually bought me raspberries and blackberries, as opposed to the raspberries and blueberries I had scribbled onto the list.

Anyway, I made do with what I had and decided to just make the muffins with orange and raspberry and do something different with the blackberries later on (see yesterday's post).

Group shot


The recipe was easy enough to follow along with, however I felt that it was fairly messy; at least, my kitchen was a mess by the time I was done. As stated in the original post on Pittsburgh Needs Eated, she misread and added 1 scant cup each of both types of berries. I had 6 ounces of raspberries and used all of them, although I'm sure that I could have added a little more if available.

Cross-section including Promise


Instead of buttermilk, I used 3/4 cup 1% milk mixed with 3/4 tablespoon vinegar, and my honey had to be heated in the microwave to help it lose the characteristics of a solid object. Then, in the oven, they didn't rise as much as I expected them to, and they started to burn a little on the edges after 13 minutes or so; after I noticed, I turned my oven down to 300 degrees F for about 3 more minutes and then I pulled them out.

The edges are  a little more done than I like them to be.


Overall, they were just too tart for me, but they sure do look pretty. I'm sure my mom will like them, but I think they're much too strong to eat in the morning, when you just want something to tide you over until lunch. However, if like tart things, and especially if you like raspberries, these are the muffins for you. My slightly modified version of the recipe is as follows.

Supertart Berry-Orange Muffins
Makes about 16 regular-sized muffins

1 orange, grated zest and juice of
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup berries of your choice, fresh or still frozen (I used raspberries)
(PNE recommended powdered sugar for decoration, which probably will help to counteract the tartness, if you're only using raspberries)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and spray 12 regular-size muffin cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet. (I didn't read that part - maybe that's why mine cooked so quickly on the edges.)

Juice the orange into a large glass measuring cup; pour in enough buttermilk so that the mixture equals 1 cup. Whisk the eggs, honey, and melted butter thoroughly.

Next, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips in a large bowl; the sugar needs to be completely moise. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the sugar and zest. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and use a whisk or rubber spatula to stir, gently and quickly. The batter will be lumpy and bubbly. Stir in the berries.

Pour batter evenly into muffin cups, about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until muffins are golden, springy, and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean (Mine only needed about 15 without the baking pan). If you are using the powdered sugar, add it to the muffins after ten minutes of baking. Cool for at least 5 minutes before moving the muffins to a rack to cool completely.

Muffins #1: Blackberry

After I got out of class today, I really had a hankering to make some muffins. Luckily, I didn't have work or anything, so lo an behold today was a muffin day. I'm posting about the blackberry muffins I made today and I'll post about the orange-raspberry ones tomorrow.

These muffins were from a recipe I found on Simply Recipes, although hers were a little prettier than mine. I halved it because I only had six ounces of blackberries and it made 11 good-sized muffins. Also, I used light sour cream, 1% milk, and quartered most of the blackberries because mine were so big.

I am cutting blackberries.


The end result was pretty good. They weren't very sweet, but I don't know if I would actually add any more sugar to it - it was probably due to the berries not being completely ripe or something variable like that. They were soft and tasted delicious with a smear of butter, right out of the oven. (Okay, I really used Promise margarine, but I'm sure they'd be good with butter, too.)

Cross-section sans Promise


They smelled like blueberry pancakes both in their dough form and while they were baking, which is strange, considering there were no blueberries involved.

This is picture number 666


Blackberry Muffins
Makes about 12 regular-sized muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon milk
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces fresh blackberries, cut in half

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease 12 regular-sized muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together; then in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream, milk, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir as little as possbile, just until the entire mixture is moistened. Mix in the berries, careful not to overmix. (The original recipe recommends defrosting the berries if they are frozen, draining them, and coating them lightly in flour.) The batter will be very thick, almost like a runny cookie dough.

Pour batter into muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for at least 5 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

18 June 2008

Copycat Twice Over

A little while ago, I snagged a recipe for something to the effect of Levain copycats from Cookie Madness. They looked delicious, and I do prefer big and chewy when it comes to cookies, so I gave it a try. The first batch I made needed a little more flavor, so on the second and third batches, I used a little more salt than called for and added vanilla and cinnamon.
They use bread flour instead of all-purpose, so they're much thicker and remain about the same size before and after being cooked; they also end up having imperfect but scrumptious shapes.

These are actually from another batch I made with chocolate chips and coconut.


For my version, I doubled the recipe (to make it a medium-small batch) and tweaked the flavor a little bit. I've also made different combinations of chips and nuts.
These cookies are now officially my throwdown recipe for when I need a small amount of chocolate chippers fast.



Big and Fluffy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 6 to 8 giant cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar (I haven't tried light yet, but I'm sure it's fine)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups bread flour (The original recommends weighing out 6 1/2 ounces)
1/4 plus 1/8 teaspoon salt (I always just eye it)
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup coarsely chopped, untoasted walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the butter, sugars, and vanilla together just until incorporated; add the egg and beat shortly. Make sure not to over-beat!

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients; add to batter and stir just until blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts. This will result in a semi-dry dough.

Form the dough into rough-looking mounds and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 20 minutes. Be sure to let them cool for at least 10 minutes before trying to move them.