Carrot Cake and a Red Balloon

Last week, my good friend Cecilia asked me to paint a mural on her staircase wall. Ever since, I've had five legitimate paid offers to paint people's rooms/nurseries/furniture. I'm FUNemployed as of 10 days ago, so this is sweet, sweet music to my ears. If you hear of a job that involves solar physics, baking, astronomy outreach, mural art, and/or Excel spreadsheets, please do pass it along - I'm your girl. Back to Cecilia's wall...

Project 99 (minus 98) Red

Balloons was launched. The mural is based on the famous Banksy graffiti art of girl with balloon. I gave her long air to look like Cecilia and the cutest little red rain boots.

All the while, I couldn't help but want to rock out to the 80s classic 99 Luftballons (this will now be stuck in your head for the next three days. I'm sorry that I'm not sorry about it).

99 Luftballons

Nena

Hast du etwas Zeit für mich

Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich

Von 99 Luftballons

Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont

Denkst du vielleicht g'rad an 

mich

Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich

Von 99 Luftballons

Und dass so was von so was kommt...

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

We of course then had to take pictures of ourselves with the girl and help her get her balloon back. It was a great afternoon...

Carrots with leafy tops make me almost as giddy as Cecilia was when I completed her project. There's something happy, wholesome, and genuine about carrots that don't come in plastic bag. These were on sale at the market, so I had the perfect excuse to make a carrot cake.

          

This carrot cake is moist, dense, and flavorful. And, you know, it's "healthy" because it has a vegetable in it... Never you mind that the recipe is from Paula Deen, the butter queen... 

I've used this recipe to make cupcakes in the past (these carrot cake basket cupcakes) and will continue to use it in the future. I simply shred the carrots in a food processor instead of using a cheese grater and I add pecans to the frosting instead of the cake, but you could easily add pecans, walnuts, raisins... to the batter. Make it your own. This is the kind of cake that quickly becomes a classic staple in your recipe box. Enjoy.

Carrot Cake
Paula Deen

yields two 8-inch round cakes (I made one very tall 8-inch round cake)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups grated carrots

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour round pans. Line bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add eggs and vegetable oil. Using a hand mixer, blend until combined. Add carrots.

Pour into pans. Bake for approximately 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans, place on waxed paper and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
Add all ingredients, except nuts, into a medium bowl and beat until fluffy using a hand mixer. Stir in the nuts. Spread frosting on top.

Enjoy.
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Chocolate Raspberry Crêpe Cake

I... I can't even... I don't know where to begin, really. I almost didn't share this with you. Chocolate, cream, crêpes, more chocolate, more cream, ganache, raspberry jam, truffles, diabetes, chocolate, obesity, cream. In good conscience I couldn't give you this recipe. Luckily for you, I apparently gave up being a good person for Lent this year.

The cake: A dozen or so crêpes layered with chocolate ganache and raspberry jam, covered in chocolate ganache frosting, topped with chocolate truffles, and dusted with cocoa powder. If you enjoy chocolate, the odds are in ever in your favor (Did you see The Hunger Games this weekend? I did, and my inner tween loved it!) of enjoying this cake. This is easily the most ridiculous dessert I've ever made.

I don't wish to know the calorie count of a slice of this cake. It's unfortunate that I'm going to a beach in Florida in less than a month. I apologize to my fellow sand loungers. It's not going to be pretty. This cake is partially to blame, but it was worth every rich, decadent bite. 

Proceed at your own health risk. You may never breathe the same way again, but you will die happy.

         

Chocolate Raspberry Crêpe Cake
adapted from Sprinkle Bakes

Crêpes
yields about one dozen crêpes

Ingredients:
6 large eggs
1 cup cream
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or a blender and process until well combined.  The mixture will be the consistency of heavy cream.

Brush a 9 or 10 inch skillet with melted butter and place over medium heat until butter just starts to smoke. Pour scant 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet. Swirl the batter with the pan lifted over the stove eye until the bottom is coated with a thin layer of batter.  Place pan on the stove eye and cook until the surface of the crêpe loses most of its glossiness and the top is set. Flip crepe and leave on the stove for another 20 seconds. Slide the crêpe out of the skillet and onto a plate.

Repeat process until all crêpe batter is used. Allow the crêpes to cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache
**half this portion of the recipe if you do not intend on making truffles**

Ingredients:
18 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Roughly chop the chocolate and place it in a medium heatproof bowl.

In a saucepan, heat the heavy cream and vanilla over medium-high heat until just boiling.

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Allow to cool slightly before using.

Assembly

Center a crêpe on a serving plate.  Using a pastry brush, very lightly coat the crêpe with chocolate ganache while it is still thin (if ganache begins to set, you can gently heat it in the microwave at 20 second intervals). Thinly spread a little raspberry jam over the ganache and top with another crêpe. Continue brushing, spreading and stacking, ending with a crêpe on top.  Place in the cake thus far in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.

Refrigerate the chocolate ganache. When remaining chocolate ganache is of spreading consistency, use to frost the cake.  Let stand at room temperature until set.  

The remaining amount of chocolate ganache can be chilled and rolled into truffles.  Roll truffles in cocoa powder and garnish top of cake. Dust cocoa powder over the entire cake.

Die happy.

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Chocolate Malbec Cake

This was the birthday cake for my friend Kristen here in Tucson. Kristen is a great cook (the woman makes homemade pasta and a mean meatball), a wine lover, and, as any lady, a whore for chocolate. I had no other choice but to make this chocolate cake with red wine, cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and strawberries.

The egg whites make this cake airy, while the sour cream keep this cake moist. The butter just makes it fattening and delicious. Cinnamon, red wine, and strawberries all pair so well with chocolate that I thought I'd give this master combo a go, and the result was good -- I mean, really good (though I could be biased because 1. I made it, and 2. I had a few glasses of wine before I tried it...). And you can't beat fresh berries!

So to recap: Chocolate and wine. In a cake. You'll be glad you came. Happy Birthday, Kristen!

Chocolate Malbec Cake
adapted from Cooking with Wine

yields 2 8-inch cake rounds

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups red wine (I used a Malbec, if you couldn't tell...)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter the cake pans, line each pan with a round of parchment paper, and brush again with butter.

Sift flour with the cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

Cream the butter in an electric mixer, beat in the sugar, and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg whites, one by one, and then the sour cream and vanilla, and continue beating 1 to 2 minutes. Sift a third of the flour over the butter mixture and fold them together, using a spoon. Fold in a third of the wine. Add the remaining flour and wine alternately in two batches.

Spread batter in the prepared pans. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted in the center should come out clean. Let the cakes cool 10 minutes in the pans, then turn them out on a rack to cool completely.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (same recipe as the Owl Cupcakes)

Ingredients:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons milk

Directions:
Beat butter and cream cheese. Add sugar, cinnamon and milk and beat for 2 minutes. Spread on anything.
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Blackberry Pear Upside-Down Cake

Apparently, there is a second blackberry season that nobody ever told me about, because they are practically giving away blackberries for free at the grocery stores around here. This is good news for you and me - more blackberry recipes!

My mom often makes this cake with raspberries, so I thought I'd give it a go with blackberries and pears. The result is winning. I left this pretty little thing out on the counter and my roommates ate almost all of it within 24 hours. This cake can be made with any fruit, but this combination won't let you (upside) down. Bon Appétit! 

          

Blackberry Pear Upside-Down Cake

adapted from Gourmet

yields one 8 inch cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries

3 pears, sliced lengthwise

1/2 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line bottom of a buttered 8- by 2-inch round cake pan with 2 rounds of parchment paper, then butter parchment. Dust pan with some flour, knocking out excess.

Arrange pears, and then blackberries in 1 layer in cake pan. Sprinkle berries with 11/2 tablespoons sugar.

Whisk together 1 cup flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Beat together butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix at low speed until just incorporated. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk in 3 batches, mixing at low speed until just incorporated.

Spoon batter evenly over berries, smoothing top, and bake in middle of oven until top is golden and a tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

Run a thin knife around edge of pan, then invert a large plate over pan and, using pot holders to hold plate and pan together tightly, flip cake onto plate. Peel off parchment and serve cake. 

Enjoy.

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Double Rainbow Cakes

Double Rainbow! WHAT DOES IT MEAN!? My friend Dave had his last day at work today. His enthusiasm, happy demeanor, candor, and larger(and louder)-than-life laugh will no longer roam the halls of LPL. He's off to new beginnings: new job, new home, and, most importantly, new daughter (the adorable Miss Hannah). So, this cake just means: all the best and we'll miss you!

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Harry Potter Birthday Cake {Part 2}

Emily's Harry Potter Birthday Cake: a gingerbread Hogwarts with royal icing decor and candy glass windows, on a chocolate sheet cake (see recipe below), with marzipan characters. It stands solid and lights up!

When I last left off in the previous post (Harry Potter Birthday Cake {Part 1}), Jenny and I had completed making the gingerbread parts with candy windows and the marzipan characters. The time to assemble had arrived. Jenny mapped out on cardboard cake boards where the building would sit and cut holes in the center with an exacto knife where the lights would sit.

We stuck lights through the holes and taped the rest to the back.

We taped another board over the bottom so that the lights weren't lying in cake and flipped it. Voila!

Then came laying the foundations. A common problem with gingerbread houses is collapse. If you use enough royal icing and make sure the sides are standing, set, and dry before you add the rooftops, all should be well, in theory... luckily in this case, also in practice.

So we waited about 45 minutes for the sides to set, and did a light check while waiting - CHECK!

Then we piped icing along the sides and added the roofs and ice cream cone towers.

Finally, it was time for the castle to come to life! The cakeboard was moved on top of the chocolate sheet cake (recipe below). We watered down some of the royal icing and brushed it on the cake board. While wet, we dusted cocoa and sugar on for the ground. Using an Ateco pastry tip #133, I piped green royal icing into grass and shrubs. The landscape was complete with marzipan trees.

Our heros arrived...

Professor Dumbledore and the Sorting Hat were there to greet Ron, Harry and Hermione...

Hedwig was standing by to deliver birthday cards...

We even made a hut for Hagrid!

Another birthday cake was made with scraps from the Hogwarts cake (just in case the dog got to it)...

Emily, who had been in the dark until this point, was in for a surprise... I think she liked the end result :)

Thanks for sharing in this journey. It took Jenny and I the better part of two days to complete, so this cake was definitely a labor of love, but I was glad I could share it with Jenny and her family. It was a bold project to take on and I don't think we expected it to work. We were surprised that nothing catastrophic happened along the way. We were expecting to burn gingerbread, burn ourselves with sugar, collapse roofs, knock down buildings, or drop the cake, but somehow, every step went smoothly. So, bring on the next challenge. I smell a Lord of the Rings cake in my future... Hey, anything is possible. Just ask Ginny Weasley.

"You sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."
- Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Texas Brownies or Texas Sheetcake

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup strong coffee
1/4 cup dark, unsweetened cocoa
1/2 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 cup buttermilk
2  eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Butter a 17 x 11 inch jelly roll pan (or baking tray with sides).  Combine four, sugar, and soda in large bowl.  In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, shortening, coffee, cocoa, and chocolate.  Stir and heat to boiling.  Pour boiling mixture over dry ingredients in bowl.  Add  buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix well, using a spoon or electric mixer.  Pour into jelly roll pan.  Bake for 20 minutes or until brownies test done in center (toothpick inserted in center comes out dry). Cool completely before serving.

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