The Big Wedding Cake Tasting

The big day had come, yes that's right, I did it! I had my very first cake tasting! How lucky was I to be asked to make my girlfriend Abby's wedding cake!? Absolutely honored and privileged to say the least! She requested a sample of vanilla cake with vanilla and strawberry buttercreams, and fresh strawberries. Triple tiered and with an amazing color scheme including hot pink and gold, this is gonna be a fabulous cake I just know it!

I prepared 2 separate layers of white butter cake, one frosted with a thick layer of vanilla buttercream and covered in white fondant. The second layer frosted with strawberry buttercream and decorated with fresh cut strawberries. This was my first time using fondant, and I gotta say, it was way too easy! And the bride-to-be loved it. Since it's a summer wedding on the beach, fondant would be the best cake frosting to work with. Buttercream may run the risk of glossing up and melting away, and this may lead to a sagging cake.

The final tiered cake will of course be many times more splendid than these sample cakes, and will involve all these flavors with Abby's hot hot pink theme. I can't wait till then! I'll keep you posted on the "Projet de gâteau '09!"

So Light, Mexican Chocolate Cake

Believe me, I try hard to mix it up and bake non-chocolate goodies, but I always return to my default when I get a hankering for something sumptuous and sweet. So here is yet another chocolate recipe courtesy of mom, a Mexican Chocolate Cake for your delicate senses. This is the perfect dessert to follow a meal featuring hot and spicy flavors. So light, soft, cinnamony, and not at all too sweet. You won't hate yourself if you decide to have this for breakfast instead of your usual morning bowl of oat-barley-multigrain-tofu muesli. Just don't make a habit of it.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, August 2004

1 cup (plus additional 2 teaspoons for dusting) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg and 3 large eggs whites

1 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fat-free milk

1 ounce Mexican chocolate (such as Abuelitas or Ibarra, coarsely chopped)*

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat an 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray; line bottom of pan with 8-inch round parchment paper. Coat paper with spray; dust pan with 2 teaspoons flour. Set aside.

2. Sift 1 cup flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). With mixer on low, add eggs slowly; beat until well blended. Add yogurt and vanilla; beat until well blended. Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well combined. Pour batter into pan; tap pan against counter to release excess air bubbles. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool for 10 minutes in pan. Place a plate upside down on top of the cake; invert cake onto plate. Peel off parchment paper.

3. Combine milk and chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds or until chocolate melts when stirred. Cool slightly before drizzling over cake. Allow glaze to set before sprinkling powdered sugar atop.

*NOTES

For a sweeter glaze, chop and melt 3 ounces mexican chocolate with 3 teaspoons milk. Add 3 ounces powdered sugar and mix well.

Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecakes

What sparked my need to make an impromptu batch of mini cheesecakes? Who cares, cause they're gone now. This recipe is fit for the impatient baker. With about 15 minutes of prep time and a total of 20 minutes bake time, you can prepare a batch of delicate little cheesecakes in less than an hour for that last minute party favor. Or you can do what I did, share half the batch with your friends and greedily gorge on the rest before the night is through. I'm beginning to recognize a trend in my eating habits... 
It's not like I enjoy sticking coffee mugs in my muffin pans or anything *hmmp. I was just following the directions of the recipe and used a cup to smash down the cookie crumbs and form the crust of what will be the "black-bottom" of my cheesecakes. Oh, and I didn't have chocolate shortbread cookies on hand, as the recipe calls for using, so I blended oreo cookies and graham crackers instead. I'm a #1 class act, ain't I??

Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecakes

Adapted from Food & Wine Online, Recipe by Grace Parisi

24 plain chocolate wafer cookies* 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup fromage blanc** 

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves, warmed*** 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with foil baking cups and spray the cups with vegetable oil spray. In a food processor, crush chocolate cookies. Add butter and process until fine crumbs form. Spoon the chocolate cookie crumbs into the prepared baking cups and press with the bottom of a glass to compact. Bake for 5 minutes, or until almost set.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed till smooth. Beat in the fromage blanc, then add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

3. Pour cheesecake batter into baking cups, filling them three-quarters full.

4. Bake cheesecakes for 15 minutes, or until slightly jiggly in the center. Remove from oven and spread 1 teaspoon of warmed raspberry preserves on top of each cheesecake. Transfer muffin pan to freezer and chill cheesecakes until set, about 15 minutes.

5. Remove cheesecakes from pan and gently peel off foil baking cups. Keeps refrigerated for up to 4 days.

NOTES

*I used a mixture of graham crackers and oreo cookies 

**I used Créme fraîche, you can also use goat cheese, lebneh or quark

***I strained the preserves of its seeds after warming

Strawberry Ganache Tart

It's been a doozy of a month! I've been so so fortunate to be working side by side with private Chef, Will Matthieu, catering some seriously "fabulous" LA events. I even ordered some proper business cards since I've been hammered by enough people asking me for my biz info. But enough about myself, let's get talking about this fresh strawberry tart! Summer is upon us in the northern hemisphere and it's the season to think berries berries berries! I've had this awesome square tart pan for some time and had to christen it. David Lebovitz, whose fantastic Parisian baking adventures I envy, posted a unique pastry recipe on his blog. Perhaps distinctly French, the recipe calls for heating the butter, sugar, and oil in the oven before adding the flour. I found it quite easy to work with the dough warmed this way, but the potential for singeing one's skin was high on the "hazardous" meter with a glass bowl heated to a whopping 410 degrees F. Just check yourself before you wreck yourself. *snork

So got my tart pan and pastry recipe down, thinking and thinking more, I came to the conclusion that I didn't want just a chocolate ganache filling or just a pastry cream filling. Thus, a double layered filling of ganache and vanilla pastry cream, topped with fresh strawberries and chocolate shavings. It's actually all gone now. I made it this morning, and it was gone in 12 hours. Possibly less. Yeah, definitely less. Friday's are my chowhound days!

Final verdict: I really think I have a good thing going here! Not to pat myself on the back, but I'm going to anyways, I really really loved this tart. But of course one can omit either the ganache or the pastry cream to lessen the sugary blow. Whatever suits your tiny taste buds!

Strawberry Ganache Tart

Makes 9 inch square/round tart shell

French Pastry Dough

adaptation found via David Lebovitz, original recipe by Paule Caillat

3 ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

5 ounces all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In medium-sized ovenproof glass bowl, combine butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt. Place bowl in oven for 15 minutes, until butter bubbles and browns around the edges. Remove bowl from oven and quickly but gently pour flour into bowl, stirring until dough comes together to form a ball that pulls from the sides of the bowl.

2. Transfer dough to a 9-inch (23 cm) tart mold with a removable bottom and spread it a bit with a spatula. Once the dough cools enough to handle, pat it into shell and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold. Don't make the tart bottom too thin as light cracking does occur.

3. Prick dough all over with a fork about ten times. Bake tart shell for 15 minutes, or until dough is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let shell cool before filling.

Ganache layer

4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

4 ounces heavy whipping cream

4. Heat cream in saucepan on low until small bubbles form along the edge, just before boiling. In a separate bowl with chocolate chips, add hot cream and allow cream to warm chips for about 1 minute. Using a small whisk, blend cream and chocolate till well incorporated and a smooth consistency is achieved.

5. Add ganache to tart shell, spreading an even layer with a spatula. Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes, or until ganache is firm.

Vanilla Pastry Cream layer

250 grams milk

37.5 grams butter

two parts - 25 grams sugar

22.5 grams cornstarch

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

6. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together 25 grams sugar, corn starch, and egg yolks till a ribbon consistency is achieved. That is, whip it like heck for a few minutes, scoop up some batter and whip your whisk back and forth to see if your batter looks like a long piece of ribbon. If not, keep whippin'! Once done, set bowl aside.

7. In a small saucepan, heat milk, butter, and 25 grams sugar on low heat, constantly stirring with a heatproof spatula until milk begins to steam. Remove from heat and slowly pour milk into bowl with yolk batter, whisking while pouring milk mixture to prevent eggs from cooking. Whisk mixture for 1 minute and transfer back to saucepan.

8. On medium-low heat, whisk pastry cream mixture for 2 minutes or until thickened. Quickly remove from heat and pour pastry cream into a strainer over a bowl. Once strained of clumps, whisk in vanilla and immediately line top of pastry cream with saran wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

9. Add chilled pastry cream layer over ganache layer.

10. Wash and cut 2 cartons of strawberries length wise and decorate in a pattern you fancy! Garnish with chocolate shavings. Keep refrigerated.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes & Coconut Pineapple Cupcakes

I was lucky enough to be offered my very first gig catering the dessert course for an industry party here in Hollywood! LA's premier Private Chef, Will Matthieu was such a blast to work with and I truly hope to work with him much much more. Great partnerships are hard to establish, but I see this one building itself.

Will stressed it was my debut, so I had to make it a good one. Sheesh. No pressure, huh?! It was requested that I prepare miniature cupcakes, and a minimum of 200. Cue jaw drop.

I decided on two flavors: chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream, garnished with fresh raspberries and mint, and coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, garnished with shredded coconut and dried pineapple flowers/fresh pineapple slices.

The immense praise at the event was well worth the 5 hours of laboriousness. It's funny how pulling out a pastry bag creates an instant crowd of dessert table loiterers. I went to bed that night with a swollen head from all the enthusiastic ravings. You better believe I'm making mini cupcakes again!

I gave myself a budget of $50 for the ingredients, and I managed to pull it off for just a few bucks over that.

Chocolate Cupcakes*

makes 16 regular & 46-50 mini

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cupcake pan with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa in large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

2. Reduce speed to low. Mix in vanilla. Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with dry. Fill cupcake liners to 2/3 full.

3. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into center come out clean, about 10 minutes for mini cupcakes and 15 minutes for regular size cupcakes. Let cool on rack. Keeps for 3 days in covered container.

Coconut Cupcakes*

makes 21 regular & 50-54 mini

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut

6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 eggs plus 2 large egg whites

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cupcake pan with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and coconut in large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

2. Reduce speed to low. Mix vanilla and coconut milk. Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry. Fill cupcake liners to 2/3 full.

3. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into center come out clean, about 10 minutes for mini cupcakes and 20 minutes for regular size cupcakes. Let cool on rack. Keeps for 3 days in covered container.

Dried Pineapple Flowers*

makes about 2 dozen

2 large or 4 small pineapples

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats) or parchment paper.

2. Peel pineapples. Using a small melon baller, remove and discard "eyes." Slice pineapple very thinly; place slices on baking sheets. Cook until tops look dried, about 30 minutes. Flip slices; cook until completely dried, 25 to 30 minutes more. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days.

*Recipes adapted:

Chocolate Cupcakes from All Recipes

Coconut Cupcakes from Martha Stewart

Cream Cheese Frosting & Chocolate Buttercream from Big Sugar Bakeshop (similar recipes can be found at Martha Stewart and Cooks.com )

Pineapple Flowers from Martha Stewart