Search Results for: pastel cake

Pastel Vanilla Birthday Cake

May 4, 2015 - 36 Comments

Hello, hello from the land of vanilla cake and sprinkles!

As you probably know by now, I have just released my first cookbook, The Sweetapolita Bakebook: 75 Fanciful Cakes, Cookies & More to Make & Decorate (you can learn more about the book over on the My Book tab of my site), and I have to tell you that this Pastel Vanilla Birthday Cake is one of my favourite recipes from the entire book (and actually in life in general)!

In the book’s introduction, I chat about my first cake memories which stem back to my very early childhood, and how mom would buy me those supermarket white birthday cakes with pink swirls of frosting every year. I believe that is one of the reasons I am so enchanted by cake, and now the very sight of a vanilla birthday cake with frosting swirls brings me back to my childhood, and to those cherished days. Amazing how powerful vanilla cake can be . . .

So needless to say, creating and including the very best vanilla bakery-style birthday cake recipe in my book was extremely important to me, but I also wanted to give it a few little twists. While this cake is classic bakery birthday cake in a way with its fluffy layers and sweet frosting, it has a few little surprises to give it a bit more wow-factor. We fill the moist vanilla cake layers (also known in the Prized Basics section of the book as Super White Cake) with fluffy frosting mixed with sugar cookie dough bits, sprinkles and topped with colourful cupcake pieces before frosting the entire cake in pastel turquoise frosting and finishing it off with party-pink frosting borders. I also used vanilla bean paste in the frosting because it gives such a wonderful and authentic vanilla quality to it (and we love the black vanilla flecks!).

I think one of the reasons I love it so, is because it is one of the desserts that most represents Sweetapolita as a whole. You know? The best homemade white cake around, if you ask me, and I use it as a base for countless cake recipes now!

What’s kind of funny is that, as I mention in the book, I discovered that rainbow jimmies (those classic long rainbow sprinkles I used in this frosting) are much thinner and longer in Canada than the American version–funny, right? I used the American variety for this cake because I find that when decorating a cake with sprinkles right in the frosting, the more blunt the sprinkle edges are the better, as they sort of glide around with the frosting. The sharper, thinner “Canadian” ones are a bit too sharp for frosting as they tend to leave little lines when dragged through the frosting with the spatula. Just a random sprinkle note!

I’m telling you, whether you make the sky-high 4-layer version from the book, or this more classic 3-layer version, this cake recipe is a go-to for any baker. It is a sweet cake and sweet frosting, but the creaminess of the frosting and lightness of it all make it worth it, and it will transport you straight back to childhood. A vanilla birthday cake dream . . .

Pastel Vanilla Birthday Cake

Yield: one 3-layer, 8-inch round cake

Fluffy, moist vanilla cake layers filled with vanilla bakery frosting, sprinkles, sugar cookie dough and colourful cupcakes, and frosted in sprinkle-laden turquoise frosting and finished with party-pink frosting borders. This is the 3-layer version of the 4-layer Pastel Vanilla Birthday Cake in The Sweetapolita Bakebook.

Ingredients

For the Super White Cake layers:

3 1/4 cups (375 g) cake flour, sifted
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups (450 g) superfine sugar
3/4 cup (170 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) milk, room temperature
2 teaspoons Princess Cake & Cookie Bakery Emulsion
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
7 large egg whites, room temperature

For the Vanilla Bakery Frosting:

2 cups (454 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (100 g) high-ratio shortening (see Tip)
Pinch of salt
7 1/2 cups (820 g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract (or almond bakery emulsion)
Few tablespoons water, if needed
AmeriColor gel paste food colors in Soft Pink and Turquoise
1/3 cup (50 g) confetti quins
1 cup (150 g) rainbow jimmies

For the Eggless Sugar Cookie Dough

1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup (70 g) superfine sugar
3/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or Princess Bakery Emulsion
1 tablespoon milk

Tools:

Nonslip squares
Cake-decorating turntable (optional)
8-inch round thin cake board (optional)
Offset palette knife
Pastry bag
Decorating tip #1M

Instructions

For the Super White Cake layers:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease the bottoms of three 8 x 2-inchround cake pans and line with parchment. Line two oven-safe ramekins with cupcake liners.
Into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the sugar. With the mixer running on low speed, add the cold butter one piece at a time. Beat until all of the butter is incorporated, about 3 minutes. The mixture should have a fine crumbly, cornmeal-like texture.
In a medium measuring cup with a spout, combine half the milk, the emulsion and lemon juice. In a separate measuring cup, gently whisk the egg whites and remaining milk.
Increase the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the emulsion mixture and beat for 5 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the egg white mixture. Beat for 2 minutes, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Fold the batter once or twice to ensure everything has been incorporated. Fill each of the prepared ramekins two-thirds full with batter, and tint one bright pink and one bright turquoise. Divide the remaining batter evenly amount the prepared pans.
Baker the first two layers in the center of the oven until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs, 20 to 22 minutes. Repeat with the final layer (bake the ramekins along with this layer for 20 minutes). Remove the cupcakes from the pan immediately and let cool on wire rack. Let the cake layers cool in their pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the sides of the cakes and carefully turn them out onto wire racks. Peel off the paper liners and let cool completely.
The cake layers will keep wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days.

For the Vanilla Bakery Frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and salt on medium speed until very pale and creamy, 8 minutes. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and almond extract.
Reduce the speed to the lowest setting and beat for 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.
The frosting will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring chilled frosting to room temperature and beat on low speed to soften. If necessary, you can warm the frosting in a heatproof container in the microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring after each one, until smooth and spreadable. Add a small amount of water, one tablespoon at a time, if the frosting needs more "glide."

For the Eggless Sugar Cookie Dough:

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until it becomes a pale paste, 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the milk and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Reduce the mixer speed to the lowest setting, and gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
The dough will keep in a plastic zip-top bag in refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Assembly of the Pastel Vanilla Birthday Cake:

Using a serrated knife, trim any golden crust off the top or sides of the cake layers. Put a nonslip square on your turntable (if using), followed by a piece of wax paper, and another small nonslip square (smaller than your cake board). Place a cake board or plate on top. Put one of the cake layers, top-up, on the cake board and brush away any stray crumbs using a dry pastry brush.
Transfer 2 cups of bakery frosting to a medium bowl. Fold in ½ cup confetti quins, ½ cup rainbow jimmies, and half of the cookie dough in pieces (freeze the remaining dough and reserve for another use). Using an offset palette knife, spread about 1 cup of the frosting mixture on top of the first layer. Break about one-third of each the pink and turquoise cupcakes into pieces and press into the frosting. Repeat until you come to the final layer, which you will place top-down. Press the top of the cake down gently with your hand to secure the layers.
Frost the entire cake with a thin layer of the untinted frosting. Chill the cake for 15 minutes. Tint about 1½ cups of the frosting bright pink using Soft Pink gel paste color. Tint the remaining frosting pastel turquoise using a few drops of Turquoise gel paste color. Fold in about ¾ cup rainbow jimmies into the turquoise frosting and frost the entire cake. Fill a pastry bag fitted with decorating tip #1M two-thirds full with the pink frosting and pipe a border around the top and bottom perimeter of the cake: hold the pastry bag above the cake at a 45-degree angle to the right, squeeze until you have a shell, drag just to the right, and release (don’t lift the bag). Repeat all the way around. Try counting the same number of seconds with each squeeze for accuracy. Pipe the same border around the bottom of the cake.
The cake will keep at cool room temperature for up to 3 days.

http://sweetapolita.com/2015/05/pastel-vanilla-birthday-cake/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

For a more classic version of this cake, omit the Eggless Sugar Cookie Dough and cupcake bits.
Note from the book re: the Vanilla Bakery Frosting: You can certainly use all butter, rather than high-ratio shortening, if you prefer. High-ratio shortening is used to add stability and tenderness to white cakes and creaminess and stability to frostings. In a pinch you can also use regular shortening, such as Crisco, but the high-ratio version is designed for frosting and gives a much better mouth-feel. I used this High Ratio Shortening, but there are several brands available.
Note from the book re: the Eggless Sugar Cookie Dough: Coming across chunks of cookie dough in a dessert is always a welcomed surprise, but since our intention is to eat it raw, I’ve modified my favorite Vanilla Sugar Cookie Cutouts dough into an eggless version for popping into anything from frosting to ice cream. Simply store it in the freezer and cut off pieces as needed. Cookie dough addicts rejoice!
As I also mentioned in the book, for an extra-celebratory hit of sprinkles, turn this vanilla cake into a confetti cake by folding 3/4 cup of confetti quins into the prepared batter.
You can find Lorann Oils Princess Cake & Cookie Bakery Emulsion here, as well as from most baking supply shops, as well as the Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste I used in the frosting.
I used CK brand Confetti Pastel Sequins for the filling, and CK Products Mixed Jimmies for the exterior frosting.
If you don’t have a cake-decorating turntable, I certainly recommend one. I use the Ateco 612 Revolving Cake Stand.

Good luck & enjoy! And before I go, just a note that I have recently updated my Videos section of the blog–you’ll find my latest television segments as well as the How to Cover a Cake in Fondant video!

Facebook friends! Enter an exclusive giveaway on the Sweetapolita Facebook Page to win a signed copy of The Sweetapolita Bakebook!

See you soon with more, yep, cake!

Pastel Swirl Cake {Video Tutorial}

June 12, 2012 - 240 Comments

It seems that I’m on a layer-cake-making frenzy lately, and you know, it kind of feels like home. So here’s what else: I’m excited to share my first cake tutorial video, as I mentioned I was working on in my “hello” video yesterday. Just a note that it’s not fancy, and it turns out I’m no cinematographer, but it was kind of fun talking to you for a change.

Back in September, I shared this cake to celebrate my blog’s 1st anniversary, and since then I’ve received several requests to explain how to achieve this sort of watercolour, pastel swirly effect, so here we are!

I came across this technique a few years ago from Serious Cakes, and it remains one of my favourite ways to whip up a super-pretty cake, and quickly. I’ve added my own twist, and what I love most about this effect is that no two cakes are the same, making it even more artful.

As I mention in the video, it really doesn’t need sprinkles, but I like to add some metallic and shimmer bits on top when I make this cake. The pastel swirling feels beachy to me, and these little decorations somehow fit (in my mind, anyway). Even sans sprinkles, the way the colours blend and change before your eyes while frosting is reason enough to give this a try. I tinted three small bowls of frosting for this version, but you can add as many colours as you wish–you honestly can’t go wrong.

This time I opted for dark chocolate cake, because I love the contrast of the pastel whipped vanilla frosting and the dark cake, but vanilla, or any flavour you can dream up, would likely be a delight. Taking cues from the cake layers for colour choices, or the other way around, works well too–a strawberry layer cake would be charming with blended shades of pink, white, red and even a hint of mint green. I personally love when a cake’s design, colours and flavours all make sense. You know?

When I look at this cake I suddenly feel an unrelenting need for a beach house, cotton candy, saltwater taffy and possibly a canvas and paint brush. Oh, and a slice of dreamy swirly pastel cake.

So, here’s the how-to video (a tad longer than the others will be) on how I frost this style cake, or how my hands do–I kept it zoomed in so you could really see what I was doing. Hopefully it helps you along!

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

For my 8″ round cake in the video, I used 1.5 times this chocolate cake recipe and baked in 2 pans.
I used 1 batch of this Whipped Vanilla Frosting
For the deeper blue I used a couple of drops of Americolor Sky Blue
For the pale seafoam colour, I used one drop of Americolor Sky Blue
For the lavender, I used a few drops of Americolor Violet followed by a ~2 drops of Americolor Electric Purple
For the decorations, I used Silver Dragées (large), Silver Dragées (small) and something very similar to this Blue Sparkling Sugar
If you’re looking for some colour-combination inspiration, dive into Design Seeds–endless.

Good luck & enjoy!

Glam Rock Layer Cake

April 11, 2016 - 65 Comments

Oh, hi!

I’m here! And I come bearing twinkly black cake–Glam Rock Layer Cake, to be exact. A sweet celebration of contrast and colour!

As you probably remember, I spend most of my days now in the shop packing orders and making sprinkle medleys, which means that my day is literally filled with every colour in the universe. This is about as much fun as you would think, but it always has me wondering what baked goods would best bring these colour combinations to life, since that is why we love and collect sprinkles, right? They are pretty charming on their own, all candy-like and pretty, but their lives aren’t really complete until they find their spot to shine. And working in a “sprinkle factory,” I probably forget this more than anyone! I just think the world is a better place by the mere existence of them ;).

I named these sprinkles Glam Rock (Twinkle Sprinkle Medley) because they really do bring me back to my “glam rock-ish” teenage life (and yep, all of the components are not only edible, but sweet and tasty). As a teen in the late 80s/early 90s, I was as devoted to rainbows, showy rock stars and glam metal bands as one frosty-haired girl should be. And I don’t see one good reason why there shouldn’t be a sprinkle mix to celebrate it. ;) But no matter what we call it, bright colours = happy, and that’s what works. This colour combination could represent so many things, and truth-be-told, I’ve been dying to make a jet-black frosting cake!

So let’s talk about the frosting. Tinting frosting black (including fondant, although I prefer to purchase black fondant) can be tricky. Ideally, you are starting with chocolate frosting–when you can start with chocolate frosting (I’m not sure there is really any other way) you’re halfway there! True black is likely the most difficult colour to achieve; sure, we could use oodles and oodles of black food colouring, but as anyone who has tried to tint frosting an intense red or black (and sometimes other dark colours), even using a concentrated gel paste, has likely discovered that it is possible but at the cost of a very off-putting after (sometimes not-so-after) taste. Oh, man.

Colouring black frosting is surprisingly simple, but I think the secret is the black cocoa powder. Remember we used the black cocoa powder a few times in the last few months? Well, first in the Midnight Cookies & Cream Layer Cake layers, and then most recently in the Dark & Dreamy Fudge Layer Cake–both in the cake layers and the frosting. Well that intensity with dark and decadent cocoa is what gives us such a head start. I started with a variation on this super dark and glossy fudge frosting (a slightly sweeter version) from my Dark & Dreamy Double Fudge Cupcakes.

I think what makes this frosting so stunning is the gloss–matte black is beautiful too, but I think it’s paramount that the frosting on a cake (or any dessert) look truly appealing and luscious. I’d hate to put so much love into something just to have no one actually want to eat it. Eeeek! So to our swirls of glossy dark fudge frosting, we add a small amount of a very concentrated black gel paste–since I only used one (AmeriColor Super Black), I can’t really comment on how other brands would do (although, I might avoid Wilton brand colours). Anyway, I started with 1/2 teaspoon of the gel paste, but in the end I think I used a total of about 1 teaspoon. Depending on the chocolate you use in your frosting, and some other mysterious factors, you might need more, which is okay. Just make sure that you don’t add too much that your frosting tastes off.

But, wait! Before you keep adding and adding more colour, let what you’ve started with “process.” Seriously, this part is key! The goal here is to use as little as possible so the taste is undetectable (and I’m pretty certain the less colour paste we ingest in life, the better). Now all colours intensify after they sit for a while, so this applies to anytime you are colouring frosting, but since we really want to maximize the small amount of black paste we’re adding, I say wait about 15 minutes if you can. I’m pretty sure the frosting on my cake is still getting blacker as we speak (literally).

Now that all said, this is a very rich frosting to start with, and a pretty large batch, so don’t fret if it takes more black paste than you hoped. Particularly if you can’t find “black” cocoa powder–this stuff literally is black in colour, which is what we need. Dark cocoa powder is better than nothing, but it will just require more paste.

Because the frosting is so, so glossy, I was tempted to leave the top bare (as above), but I opted to cover it in the end, because the sides of the cake were mostly exposed, which gives us a chance to admire the glorious sheen.

So, let’s talk about sprinkling the sides of a cake! So many of you have reached out to me about your issues getting the sprinkles to adhere to your cakes, so I want to chat about that for a minute too. In my experience, there are 2 main factors at play when we sprinkle the sides of a cake: the frosting consistency/temperature and the frosting texture. In terms of consistency, I find that, typically, as long as your frosting is sticky but not “wet” feeling, the sprinkles should stick just fine. In other words, if your frosting is very soft and spreadable, and you’ve just applied the frosting to the cake, you will want to chill it for a few moments until that initial gooey-ness has gone away. This can take as little as 5 minutes in the fridge, depending on the frosting.

See, if the frosting is too gooey, the sprinkles will stick beautifully, but you will end up with frosting on your hands, ultimately smearing it onto the sprinkles you apply over and over.

That all said, the actual frosting you use has a lot to do with the “sprinkle stickability” as well. I have had great success with chocolate frostings of all kinds, meringue buttercreams of all kinds, and some vanilla frostings. Just a note that sprinkles don’t like “crusting buttercream.” While I don’t really use crusting buttercream, I know from some seeing very sugary vanilla frostings that tend to almost crust when cold (that sort of rough, dry finish from all of the confectioners’ sugar and often shortening), that sprinkles just won’t want to stick. Although, if you were to do the sprinkling immediately after you frosted the cake, I imagine that would work in most cases. Essentially, no matter what the frosting, tacky is the ticket!

I find what works best for applying the sprinkles is to, first off, always build your cake on a thin-but-sturdy cake board, so you can hold the cake from the bottom. I hold the cake in my left hand over a tray, and then with my right hand (dominant), I grab sprinkles from a big bowl and then gently press them onto the bottom of the cake, letting the excess fall to the tray. Once I have gone all the way around, I pour the excess sprinkles from the tray back into the bowl/bottle. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll want to sprinkle every cake in the universe

For the top of a cake with a piped border of any kind, you’ll want to chill the cake until the border is firm to the touch (about 30 minutes, usually). Since we don’t need the top of the cake to be super sticky (thank you gravity), we can just add the sprinkles to the surface–once the cake comes to room temperature for serving, those sprinkles will magically stick. You can also gently press down on them with your hand to ensure they stick before slicing the cake (although the tinker-patter-kaplink of falling sprinkles whilst slicing a layer cake has a charm of its own).

I should mention that for anything super tiny or light, such as nonpareils and edible stars/squares, etc. You’ll want to go in after and “throw” them where you want them. You can also add more of the larger sprinkles where you want them, if there are some empty spots or if you feel the artistic need to really finish the job the way you see fit. It’s kind of amazing how much visual power the right sprinkles have–imagine this cake all black, and then minutes later bursting with colour, contrast and texture. It’s so simple but so effective.

And, oh yes! There *is* an inside to the cake :). To carry our “glam rock” theme throughout, these dark chocolate butter cake layers are black as night with no added colour–yay! Thanks again to our new friend, black cocoa powder. I used the a variation on the chocolate butter cake in my book, because it’s unthinkably tender and flavourful–particularly with the dark cocoa powder. Intensely chocolate.

While the chocolate butter cake recipe can be baked in 3 x 8-inch round pans, I opted to bake them in 4 x 7-inch round pans for added height and a slight smaller diameter. You could definitely go the 3 x 8-inch round pans though, if you don’t have the 7s.

For the inside frosting I just went with a sweet vanilla frosting which I tinted a vibrant purple (much like when we made the Galaxy Layer Cake). I love this purple! You can boost it or go a little easier on the colouring for a more pastel effect (as in the photo above), but I love the tone of it. I use equal parts AmeriColor Regal Purple and Electric Purple, and it creates a really pleasant shade.

I’d say this cake is all about contrast, and I just love the striking look of the purple stripes against the black cake and of course the black frosting and sprinkles. It’s my kind of party.

Sprinkles!

So let’s make this Glam Rock Layer Cake!

November 8, 2016 NOTE: I have modified the recipe for the black frosting slightly, as some folks were having issues with the frosting being too soft. Happy baking!

Glam Rock Layer Cake

Yield: One 4-layer, 7-inch round cake

Super dark, moist and buttery chocolate cake layers filled with colourful vanilla frosting and covered in a decadent jet-black glossy fudge frosting. And let's not forget the sprinkles!

Ingredients

For the "Black" Dark Chocolate Butter Cake layers:

2 1/3 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus one tablespoon (100 g) best-quality black cocoa powder
1 1 /2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 cup (120 ml) hot coffee OR very hot water
1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups (560 g) packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup (60 g) mayonnaise, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

For the (purple frosting) Vanilla Frosting:

1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups (375 g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 cup (60 ml) whipping cream (heavy cream) or milk
2 tablespoons water (plus more if needed)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Few drops each AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Color in Electric Purple and Regal Purple

For the Glossy Black Fudge Frosting:

2 cups (454 g) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups (500 g) confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup (90 g) premium dark (preferably black) cocoa powder (I used Guittard Noir)
1/2 cup (120 ml) hot water
1/2 cup (120 ml) sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I used Nielsen-Massey)
Generous pinch of salt
8 ounces (240 g) premium dark (but not extra dark) chocolate, chopped or chips, melted (I used Callebaut Callets)
Soft gel paste color, in Super Black (or other concentrated black gel color of your choice, but this one is the only I can promise works for black coloring)
Sprinkles of your choice (1-2 cups, depending on size of the sprinkles)
You will also need:
1 large pastry bag, disposable or reusable
Large plain round pastry tip (I use Ateco #809)
Sprinkles of your choice (1-2 cups, depending on size of the sprinkles--see Sweetapolita's Notes)

Instructions

For the "Black" Dark Chocolate Butter Cake layers:

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Spray two 7"x2" round cake pans (to be used twice for 4 layers) with baking spray (such as Pam for Baking), or grease the bottoms and add parchment rounds to each.
In a large bowl or atop a large piece of parchment paper, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a large measuring glass with a spout, mix together the buttermilk and coffee/water. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about 8 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well (about 30 seconds) and scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition.
Lower the speed to the lowest setting and add one third of the dry mixture until just combined, and add half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat with the remaining flour and buttermilk mixtures. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and whisk in the mayonnaise.
In a small bowl combine the baking soda and vinegar, and quickly add to the batter. Whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds. Divide one-quarter of the batter into each pan (this should weigh about 430 grams if you are using a digital scale).
Bake the first two layers in the center of the oven until a wooden pick comes out with a few crumbs, 24-27 minutes. Let the cake layers cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then gently invert onto the wire rack. Wipe the pans clean and repeat with the final layers. Let all of the layers cool completely. The cake layers will keep wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days.

For the (purple filling) Vanilla Frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until very pale and creamy, about 8 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, and gradually add the confectioners' sugar, heavy cream, vanilla and salt. Beat for 1 minute.
Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Add a few drops of each AmeriColor Regal Purple and Electric Purple until desired shade is achieved. Frosting with keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring chilled frosting to room temperature and beat on low speed to soften. If necessary, you can warm the frosting in a heatproof container in the microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring after each one, until smooth and spreadable.

For the Glossy Black Fudge Frosting:

If you have a food processor:

Add all of the ingredients, except the melted chocolate and black food color, into the food processor, and pulse until everything is incorporated. Add the melted chocolate and pulse until smooth. Add a small amount of the black color (about 1/2 teaspoon). Pulse until combined. Let sit for about 15 minutes (the color will take awhile to process--it's best to let it sit rather than adding more and more right away). Add more color if necessary, until desired black tint is achieved.

If you are using a stand mixer or handheld mixer:

In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or with a handheld mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder. Reduce to speed to low, and add the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, water, sour cream, vanilla, and salt and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes. Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add a small amount of the black color (about 1 teaspoon). Pulse until combined. Let sit for about 15 minutes (the color will take awhile to process--it's best to let it sit rather than adding more and more right away). Add more color if necessary, until desired black tint is achieved--remember that it continues to darken over time.

Assembly of the Glam Rock Layer Cake:

Put your first cake layer top-up on an 7" round cake board or 9" plate, and spread one-third of the purple frosting on top. Repeat with all of the layers, placing the final cake layer top-down. Make sure that your layers are straight and lined up with the ones below. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and chill for at least 15 minutes.
Remove the cake from the fridge and, using a turntable, if possible, frost entire outside of cake with a thin layer of the black frosting to seal in the crumbs. Chill until the frosting begins to firm-up, about 30 minutes.
Remove the cake from the fridge and return it to the turntable. Cover the cake with a thick, even and smooth layer of the black frosting using an offset spatula, reserving about 1 1/2 cups of frosting for the piped top border. Return the cake to the fridge and chill for another 20-30 minutes.
You will want the frosting for the buttercream "poof" border to be very soft, in order to achieve the appealing peaks. Warm frosting in a small heatproof bowl for about 8-10 seconds, and stir. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip with the softened frosting and pipe some buttercream "poofs" around the top perimeter of the cake.
Pour your sprinkles into a medium bowl and gently press sprinkles onto the bottom third of the cake, all the way around, letting the excess fall back into the bowl. You can also put the cake on a cookie sheet and let the excess sprinkles fall onto the sheet. Return the cake to the fridge until the buttercream poofs are very firm, about 30 minutes. Pour more sprinkles atop the flat exposed surface of the top of the cake. Cake will keep covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Serve at room temperature.

http://sweetapolita.com/2016/04/glam-rock-layer-cake/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

As I mentioned above, for the black cocoa powder used in both the cake layers and the black frosting for this cake, I used Guittard Cocoa Noir (Black) – 5 lbs (a big tub because I go through it quickly), but you can also find Black Cocoa Powder on Amazon. You might recall I usually use a very dark (but not black) cocoa powder (Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder Extra Brute) for all of my chocolate baked goods, which also works very well, tastes amazing, and is quite dark in itself, with a rich red hue. The black cocoa powder just adds more of a midnight black effect, which I love. And, of course, the taste is also incredibly deep, dark and wonderful. Just know that it’s very intense! This is a great time to pair things like sugary frostings and candy sprinkles :).
For the dark chocolate in the frosting, I use Callebaut Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate in callet form (fancy word for chips)–they taste incredible and are easy to measure & melt.
I use Fat Daddio’s Anodized Aluminum Round Cake Pans for all of my cake layers. For this cake I used the 7-inch x 2-inch round cake pans, because I wanted to cake layers to be a little taller, yielding a taller cake. You can bake this cake in three 8-inch round pans, if you prefer.
For the poofs on top of the cake, remember that the key is very soft frosting and an extra large round plain tip (I used Ateco #809). And, as always, if you make a mistake or aren’t happy with your poofs, you can simply remove it and do it again. I’ve been known to do this several times! Haha.
I always use a Silver Embossed Round Thin Board for my cakes–it’s perfect for moving the cake to and fro while decorating, and of course transporting.
I tend to use AmeriColor soft gels paste colours for the most part, and I find their Super Black Americolor Soft Gel Paste does the trick (I also use this in black velvet cake). You can certainly use another brand if you feel it offers a deep black hue with no taste. For the purple frosting, I used equal parts of the Regal Purple and Electric Purple (like we did back with the Galaxy Cake).
For the sprinkles, I used Sweetapolita Glam Rock Twinkle Sprinkle Medley, but of course you can use any sprinkles you like! I just love this mix because of the serious colours and metallic bits. Certainly a show-stopper!
If you prefer to use your own mix, you can always add just Edible Silver Stars for a dose of magic.
The cake stand used in these photos is a Pink Milk Glass Cake Stand by Mosser. I have this in several colours, and I love them!

Happy caking, friends!

See you soon!

Dark & Dreamy Double Fudge Cupcakes

February 15, 2016 - 34 Comments

Hello, hello!

Well, it’s been a chocolatey weekend, with Valentine’s Day and all, and my cakelets and I were just spending it at home with a warm fire (it’s was -8°F/-22°C), iPads, music, and all sorts of other around-the-house comforts. It seemed like a good day to make something super-simple and comforting, so I made a batch of these “Dark & Dreamy Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes,” which are essentially the darkest of moist, one-bowl chocolate cupcakes and topped with the glossy fudge frosting we all love to the moon and back.

Besides the gloriously intense chocolate flavour and and mind-blowing texture these simple cakes have, they are also one of my favourites because they are the perfect way to show off sprinkles. The contrast of those lustrous swirls of midnight chocolate frosting and pastel sprinkles is, quite frankly, what dreams are made of :).

You might remember that I recently made this Dark & Dreamy Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake, and these cupcakes are essentially the cupcake version of that cake. While that cake is very quick and simple to make, sometimes cupcakes–for many a reason–are the answer. You know?

And one of those reasons is cakelets! They love cupcakes. They just do. Dessert trends–macarons, cake pops, meringues and more–alway entice, but I’m convinced cakelets around the globe will always love cupcakes–it’s just the way life is. To make it a little more interesting, I baked these cupcakes in a jumbo muffin/cupcake pan, which is exactly the size of two standard cupcakes (and, incidentally, what I also refer to as a “cakelet”), so it yields a perfect 6.

In other news, cakelet Reese is almost 9! How is that possible? She was 3 1/2 when I started this blog . . .

As always, you can even let your cakelets loose to decorate these on their own, or you can fancy them up for parties and even weddings (think sparkly twinkles on these little towers of glistening yumminess–perfection!). I love this frosting because it is so wonderfully spreadable. While I do enjoy the intensity of a good ganache (that melted madness of pure heavy cream and chocolate), I find it looses its lustre and is just too heavy. Of course it just depends, but the velvety-ness of this frosting with the generous dollop of sour cream in there (as I’ve said before–you don’t taste it specifically, but rather relish in the mysterious glide and creaminess it offers) is like no other.

The addition of dark cocoa powder along with melted chocolate gives it a double boost of the good stuff, and together the whole darn situation is magical.

See what I mean? For the true chocolate lover, this as it is could be considered perfection, but of course it’s just screaming for sprinkles too. I left one special cupcake unsprinkled for my *gasp* anti-sprinkle cakelet who can’t eat anything with sprinkles (but we love her anyway). It’s a texture thing, which I totally get (I liken this to my raisin-in-muffins issue). The good news is she also refuses to eat candy of any kind, so I got lucky there. :)

I think the key is just adding a few sprinkles–enough to embellish, but not so many that you loose the visual of the notable gloss and splendid swirls. This, I might add, is not my strong suit!

Come on! Look at the inside of the sucker. And to think that cupcake takes less than 5 minutes to prepare, and 20 to bake. Now that is magic.

I really do. You guys are amazing, and I want to say thanks again for all of your kind emails and messages about my personal life–that means more than you know!

Here’s the recipe for these towers of dreaminess:

Dark & Dreamy Double Fudge Cupcakes

Yield: 6 jumbo cupcakes *OR* 12 standard cupcakes

Super-moist, homemade dark-as--night chocolate cupcakes, frosted with swirls of glossy, creamy and super-dark fudge frosting and topped with pastel sprinkles.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

3/4 cup (95 g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (170 g) superfine sugar (or regular granulated sugar, see Sweetapolita's Notes)
1/2 cup (60 g) extra dark OR dark Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
1/3 cup (80 ml) hot coffee OR boiling water
3 tablespoons (45 ml) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg, room temperature

For the frosting:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (255 g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (125 g) confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup (40 g) premium dark cocoa powder (I used Guittard Noir)
1/4 cup (60 ml) hot water
1/4 cup (60 ml) sour cream OR plain Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used Nielsen-Massey)
Generous pinch of salt
5 ounces (150 g) premium dark (but not extra dark) chocolate, chopped or chips, melted (I used Callebaut Callets)
Your favourite sprinkles (I used the Jersey Shore Sprinkle Medley from my shop)
You will also need:
1 large pastry bag, disposable or reusable
Large plain round pastry tip (I use Ateco #809)

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 360°F (183°C). Line a jumbo muffin tin with the appropriate liners, or a standard cupcake pan with your favourite cupcake liners.
In the large bowl, sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, coffee, oil, egg and vanilla.
Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide batter among the liners (about 1/2 full for jumbo and 2/3 full for standard).
Bake until a wooden pick inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out with a only a few crumbs, about 23 minutes for jumbo and 18-20 minutes for standard size. Try not to over-bake. Let cupcakes cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then turn onto rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

If you have a food processor:

Add all of the ingredients, except the melted chocolate, into the food processor, and pulse until everything is incorporated. Add the melted chocolate and pulse until smooth.

If you are using a stand mixer or handheld mixer:

In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or with a handheld mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder. Reduce to speed to low, and add the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, water, sour cream, vanilla, and salt and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes.
Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.

Decorate the cupcakes:

Fit a large (I use 18") pastry bag with a a plain large round tip. Fill the bag with the frosting, push out any excess air, and twist and secure the top of the bag. Do a test dollop of the frosting back into the bowl to check for consistency--if the frosting is too loose, pop the bag into the fridge for a few minutes (not more than a few, or it will firm up too much). Once the frosting has firmed up just slightly, pipe a generous swirl of frosting atop each cupcake and top with your favourite sprinkles.
Keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

http://sweetapolita.com/2016/02/dark-dreamy-double-fudge-cupcakes/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

As I’ve mentioned before, for the extra dark cocoa powder, I use Guittard Noir Cocoa Powder (I have this big tub because I go through it so fast), but you can also find Black Cocoa Powder on Amazon. You probably remember that I usually use a very dark (but not black) cocoa powder (Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder Extra Brute) for all of my chocolate baked goods, which also works very well, tastes amazing, and is quite dark in itself. The black cocoa powder just adds more of a midnight black effect, which I love. And, of course, the taste is also incredibly deep, dark and wonderful. And really, sometimes change is fun! :)
I always use superfine sugar for baking–this just means that it is a finer granule of sugar, which distributes evenly and creates a consistent, small crumb. That all said, regular sugar certainly does the trick! You can purchase it superfine, but I buy regular granulated sugar and process it in the food processor for about 1 minute before putting the sugar in my canister for baking.
I use this Jumbo Muffin Pan (again, it takes the equivalent of a 12-standard cupcake recipe batter).
For this recipe, I used these Jumbo Brown Cupcake Liners.
For the swirls atop of the cupcakes, remember again that the key is very soft frosting and an extra large round plain tip (I used Ateco #809). And, as always, if you make a mistake or aren’t totally pleased (never ;)) with your swirls , you can simply (but carefully) remove and try it again.
The sprinkles I used on these cupcake are the Jersey Shore Sprinkle Medley from my shop, but as always–all sprinkles are wonderful!
The “I LOVE YOUR MORE THAN SPRINKLES” toppers we made just for fun (my cakelets are obsessed with rolling and cutting fondant) with a simple heart cutter, rolled fondant tinted with a bit of AmeriColor Turquoise and this pretty awesome letter embossing tool.
Oh, and for those who were asking via Instagram, Reese’s “Make Today Amazing” sweater in the photo above was from Target, but sadly they don’t have it anymore (I think we got that in Watertown back in early fall 2015).

Happy Baking! See you soon!

Galaxy Layer Cake

October 4, 2015 - 41 Comments

Hello, hello from a land far, far away! I bring cake . . .

So lately I’ve been a tad sprinkle-obsessed, and I can honestly say that when I close my eyes I see sprinkles. It’s been an exciting 3 months since launching my sprinkle shop, but with all of the excitement and packaging it’s been a lot less cakey around here, which is a bit ironic, no?

So I decided to have some fun with cake, colour and, well, sprinkles! Inspired by one of my favourite sprinkle medleys in the shop, the Galaxy Twinkle Sprinkle Medley, this Galaxy Cake is enchanting, it’s twinkly, and it makes me happy, happy.

So what is the Galaxy Cake, aside from a cake boasting a whole lotta Galaxy sprinkles? Well to start, it’s three super-moist layers of Black Velvet Cake, which is a variation of my Red Velvet Cake from The Sweetapolita Bakebook (I absolutely adore this recipe, and it bakes up like a charm every time). Essentially this black version is red velvet but with the addition of some super black gel color (not a ton, since it’s so concentrated). There’s something about black cake that just wows me, particularly when it’s paired with vibrant colors.

I filled the layers with the Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting, also from my book, topped with a bunch of fresh blackberries, and then the entire cake frosted in a violet-hued Vanilla Bean Bakery Frosting (again, from the book) and topped with the sparkly sprinkles and ever-appealing buttercream poofs.

I went for the cream cheese frosting in between the layers because we all know that velvet anything needs even a bit of cream cheese something or other, and I am really proud of the cream cheese frosting recipe in my book–it’s rich, tangy, super-creamy and fluffy (not dense and none of those pesky butter or cream cheese lumps). It was perfect for this cake both for the visual and the taste and texture. Since I love berries and velvet cake, I knew I had to squeeze some in there, and blackberries were the key, and the plump juicy bursts of deep purple and their not-so-sweet taste worked beautifully.

And since too much cream cheese frosting can be, well, too much, I went for sweet and fluffy vanilla bean frosting in this ever-awesome purple shade. As I mentioned on Instagram, there’s something about purple frosting that is truly magical (and how cute-ilicious is this pink spatula?), and I wanted something pale enough that it would showcase the dark and twinkly sprinkles in the best way possible.

So this is the packaged Galaxy Twinkle Sprinkle Medley, and it comes in 3 sizes: medium (8 oz), jumbo (16 oz) and bulk (32 oz), and adds instant wow factor to pretty much anything (as do all sprinkles, but there’s something special about this one).

Love those twinkles! And purples and blues together give me goosebumps–truly stunning, right?

I did these big buttercream poofs because they look so cute and fluffy sitting all happy atop the cake. To get the best poofs possible, I always make sure the frosting VERY soft before piping them (pop the frosting in the microwave for a few seconds and stir until super soft), and I use an extra large round decorating tip–the Ateco #809 pastry tip, which is 11/16″ compared to the smaller Wilton #1A pastry tip, which is closer to 1/2″. I also love using this grandé tip for piping cupcakes.

What I love about this style of cake is that it’s truly a joy to make–nothing complicated, crazy, or seriously time-consuming. Just good old-fashioned baking.

Oh fluffy, moist, creamy, crunchy, punchy Galaxy Cake . . . I just can’t quit you.

And if you have a color-love for lavender, you might like these previous purple delights:

This Purple Velvet Cake has a seriously purple inside with the help of the obscure yam powder, which gives it a real earthiness that is both unique and decadent.

This Pastel Swirl Cake is still one of my favourites! I love turquoise and purple together, and this buttercream technique is gorgeous yet surprisingly easy to do (and you can find a video tutorial in the blog post!).

And if you have a thing for purple sprinkles, you might love these medleys:

Icy Dreams Twinkle Sprinkle Medley

Cotton Candy Sprinkle Medley

Princess Rainbow Twinkle Sprinkle Medley

Now let’s sprinkle our way to this Galaxy Cake!

And, Instagram friends! Follow me and tag #sweetapolita when you post my recipes–I’d love to see your creations!

Galaxy Layer Cake

Yield: One 3-layer, 8-inch round cake

Serving Size: 10-12

Moist layers of flavourful black velvet cake filled with fluffy cream cheese filling and fresh blackberries, frosted in gloriously purple vanilla bean frosting and finished with Sweetapolita Galaxy Twinkle Sprinkle Medley and buttercream poofs.

Ingredients

For the Black Velvet Cake layers (Red Velvet Cake variation from The Sweetapolita Bakebook:

3 cups (345 g) cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Dutch-process dark cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (410 g) superfine sugar (see Notes)
1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion (see Notes)
2 teaspoons AmeriColor Soft Paste Gel Color in Super Black
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

For the Cream Cheese Filling (Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting from The Sweetapolita Bakebook):

1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (190 g) confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 (8oz/250 g) package cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
2 cups (about 1 pint) fresh blackberries, washed and dried

For the Vanilla Bean Bakery Frosting (adapted from The Sweetapolita Bakebook):

1 1/2 cups (345 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
Pinch of salt
(615 g) confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream (whipping cream)
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste OR pure vanilla extract
Few drops of each AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Color in Electric Purple and Regal Purple
1 8oz bottle (1 cup) [Sweetapolita Galaxy Twinkle Sprinkle Medley OR sprinkles of your choice

You will also need:

1 large pastry bag, disposable or reusable
Large plain round pastry tip (I use Ateco #809)

Instructions

For the Black Velvet Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease the bottom of three 8 x 2-inch round cake pans and line with parchment.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, oil, emulsion and black color on medium speed until very light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 20 seconds and scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add one-third of the flour mixture until just combined. Repeat until all of the flour mixture and buttermilk have been added. Gently whisk the mixture until smooth.
In a small bowl, combine the baking soda and vinegar, and quickly whisk it into the batter. Divide the batter even among the prepared pans. (If using a scale, each pan should contain about 450 g of batter).
Bake two pans in the center of the oven until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs, 20 to 25 minutes. Repeat with the final layer. Let the cake layers cool in their pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the sides of the cakes and carefully turn them out onto wire racks. Peel off the papers and let cool completely. The cake layers will keep wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days.

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 5 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and salt; decrease the speed to low and beat for 1 minute.
Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low, add the cream cheese and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. (Try not to over-beat at this stage, as the cream cheese will cause the frosting to become very thin.) The frosting will keep covered at room temperature for up to 6 hours, and then refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Bring chilled frosting to room temperature and beat on low speed to soften.

For the Vanilla Bean Bakery Frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and salt on medium speed until very pale and creamy, 8 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, and gradually add the confectioners' sugar, heavy cream and vanilla bean paste. Beat for 1 minute.
Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Add a few drops of each AmeriColor Regal Purple and Electric Purple until desired shade is achieved. Frosting with keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring chilled frosting to room temperature and beat on low speed to soften. If necessary, you can warm the frosting in a heatproof container in the microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring after each one, until smooth and spreadable.

Assembly of the Galaxy Layer Cake:

Put your first cake layer top-up on an 8" round cake board or 10" plate, and spread half of the Cream Cheese filling evenly across the layer. Place one half of the blackberries atop the filling and gently press down to secure. Put the second cake layer (top-up) on top and repeat with another layer of filling and berries. Put the final cake layer top-down. Make sure that your layers are straight and lined up with the ones below. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and chill for at least 15 minutes.
Remove the cake from the fridge and, using a turntable, if possible, frost entire outside of cake with a thin layer of the purple frosting to seal in the crumbs. Chill until the frosting begins to firm-up, about 30 minutes.
Remove the cake from the fridge and return it to the turntable. Cover the cake with a thick, even and smooth layer of the frosting using an offset spatula, reserving about 1 1/2 cups of frosting for the piped top border. Return the cake to the fridge and chill for another 20-30 minutes.
You will want the frosting for the buttercream "poof" border to be very soft, in order to achieve the appealing peaks. Warm frosting in a small heatproof bowl for about 8-10 seconds, and stir. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip with the softened frosting and pipe some buttercream "poofs" around the top perimeter of the cake.
Pour your sprinkles into a medium bowl and gently press sprinkles onto the bottom third of the cake, all the way around, letting the excess fall back into the bowl. Return the cake to the fridge until the buttercream poofs are very firm, about 30 minutes. Pour more sprinkles atop the flat exposed surface of the top of the cake. Cake will keep covered at room temperature for up to 1 day, or chilled for up to 3 days. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

1. Superfine sugar is finer granule regular sugar: You can purchase it superfine or you can simply pulse regular granulated sugar in your food processor for a minute. Superfine sugar lends to a finer crumb and tender cake. That said, you can also use regular sugar--the cake will still be wonderful!

2. Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion: This product from Lorann Oils adds a gorgeous deep red hue and subtle citrus flavour that make this cake unique and tasty. But don't worry if you can't get your hands on any--this cake recipe is still dynamite the old-fashioned way: add 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract plus 3 tablespoons red liquid food colouring in place of the emulsion.

http://sweetapolita.com/2015/10/galaxy-layer-cake/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

I’m excited to say that you can now purchase signed copies of The Sweetapolita Bakebook in my shop!
For those who love cake stands and wonder about the purple beauty in this post–it doesn’t seem to be available online anymore, but you can find this very similar version made by the same company.
Remember that frosting consistency is key! For the buttercream poofs, be sure your frosting is super soft. My trick is warming the frosting in the microwave for a few seconds before piping the poofs so that it is soft enough to achieve those cute little peaks.
For those who currently use my sprinkles, please feel free to share your creations on my Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter, so I can see the magic! xo

See you soon, friends!

Watercolor Buttercream Party Cake

June 8, 2015 - 41 Comments

Hello, hello, my cake-loving friends!

Since we all love to explore our artistic side, it’s been on my mind to create a party cake that plays on the lovely painted/watercolor cake trend, but using all buttercream and not a fondant icing surface. I love fondant, I do (and the way it tastes, although I know it’s not for everyone), but the truth-be-told fondant cakes are a bit of an endeavour time-wise, and of course you need just the right supplies, etc. The idea behind this cake is that it is quick and simple to do, but artistic with wow-factor. Active time, this cake is literally a 30 minute job, or less.

We use only a quick super-fluffy one-bowl whipped vanilla bean frosting (like vanilla bean clouds, really) and the ever-moist, dark chocolate one-bowl cake layers, and then create a pretty painted effect with the spreading of the frosting, top it with buttercream “poofs” and a little medley of sprinkles. Voilà! I even added a few bits of edible gold leaf for drama, which I highly recommend.

You might remember the Pastel Swirl Cake I made awhile back, and that cake stays close to my heart. Aside from the swirls of beachy, ever-pleasing pastel frosting, what I love about is how it’s really a simple technique that anyone can do, and each time we make a cake like that it, it becomes a little piece of art. These are the cakes you want to crawl right in and live inside for the rest of eternity . . . or maybe that’s just me. :)

The inspiration for the colours on this cake–the pink and gold–comes from my new CHEERS acrylic cake topper I found from Creative Bag. They have so many adorable cake toppers, baking supplies, packaging and more. (Check out their blog too for endless and inspiring packaging ideas!). Of course you can go with any cake flavour and frosting colour combination you wish, and I can imagine so many lovely options for this style cake.

So rather than the gorgeous meringue tops I love, I opted to pipe these poofs in the buttercream, for simplicity and yumminess purposes. Plus there are few things as delightful as sprinkle covered mountains of vanilla bean buttercream poofs. You know? I created a little pink and gold sprinkle medley to tie the colours together (stay tuned for more on my soon-coming sprinkle shop on Etsy, where you will find these sprinkle medleys and more!). You can simply mix your favourite sprinkles and such in a little bowl and make a customized medley depending on the colour scheme of your cake. Sprinkles forever!

The cake topper certainly makes the cake party-ready! It’s amazing what a cute topper can add to a cake, and truth-be-told a fun topper on a plain cake works beautifully too. They can add an instant hit of personality to any cake!

I opted for chocolate cake, as I tend to do with artsy frosted cakes–I think the contrast is stunning, and a moist, dark chocolate cake paired with vanilla bean frosting never disappoints.

And because I couldn’t resist, how about some Vanilla Bean Milk Minis? Mini vanilla bean milk bottles adorned with our pink and gold sprinkles– this is such a sweet and simple way to use up left over frosting and sprinkles, particularly for kids’ parties or, well, grown up parties and even a rainy Tuesday. I simply pressed the rims of the bottles into some remaining frosting, and then into my sprinkle medley. Then I stirred some vanilla bean paste (that we used in our frosting) into 2% milk (about 1/2 teaspoon for every 240 ml cup) and poured it in the prepared bottles. So easy!

If you have my book, you may have noticed I use similar mini milk bottles for the Birthday Cake Milkshakes. I had to source the ones I used in the book from Asia and have them shipped, but I was so excited to see that my friends at Creative Bag now sell these! My cakelets LOVE these little bottles.

Don’t forget to check out my friends at Creative bag and their baking-themed promo & giveaway today (you may even win a copy of my book, along with other adorable baking-related goodies), as well as their week-long promo and giveaway party going on until Friday.

So let’s make this cake, shall we?

Watercolor Buttercream Party Cake

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups (285 g) all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups (450 g) superfine sugar
1 cup (120 g) dark unsweetened cocoa powder (see Notes)
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) hot coffee (if you can't use coffee, substitute with very hot water)
3/4 cup (180 ml) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature

For the frosting:

1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (see Notes)
Pinch of salt
5 cups (620 g) confectioners' sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) heavy cream
1 tablespoon warm water
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (see Notes)
Bright pink food colouring (see Notes)
Edible gold leaf, optional (see Notes)
Pink sprinkles, optional

Instructions

For the cake layers:

Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C). Spray the bottom of three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line bottoms with parchment rounds. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla, and then mix in eggs.
Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide batter equally among the three cake pans or weigh for accuracy--each pan should weigh about 580 grams.
Bake the first two layers until a wooden pick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out with a only a few crumbs, about 23 minutes. Try not to over-bake. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then turn onto rack to cool completely. Repeat with the final cake layer. When ready to assemble the cake, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.

For the frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and salt on medium speed until very pale and creamy, 8 minutes.
Reduce the speed to the lowest setting and gradually add the confectioners' sugar, heavy cream, vanilla bean paste and water. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.
The frosting will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring chilled frosting to room temperature and beat on low speed to soften. If necessary, you can warm the frosting in a heatproof container in the microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring after each one, until smooth and spreadable. Add a small amount of water, one tablespoon at a time, if the frosting needs more "glide."

Assembly of the Watercolor Buttercream Party Cake:

Transfer about 3 cups of the frosting to another bowl and tint medium pink--this will be for your cake filling and the pink on the outside of the cake. Put a smudge of frosting in the center of an 8-inch round cake board (or cake plate) or 10-inch scalloped cake board.
Put your first cake layer top-up on the cake board or plate, and spread about 1 1/4 cups of the pink frosting evenly across layer. Put the second cake layer on top and repeat with another layer of frosting. Put the final cake layer top-down. Make sure that your layers are straight and lined up with the ones below.
Using a turntable, if possible, frost entire outside of cake with a thin layer of the untinted frosting to seal in the crumbs. Chill until the frosting begins to firm-up, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, tint the remaining pink frosting (there should be about 1/2 cup) a very bright pink.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator and return it to the turntable. Using a medium straight palette knife (metal spatula), spread small patches of the bright pink frosting around the cake (a few inches here and there). Cover the rest of the cake with the untinted frosting as usual. Using your palette knife again, smooth the frosting around the cake, which will blend the bright pink just enough to create a "watercolor" effect. To reveal more pink, gently go over those areas again until you achieve the desired look.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip with the remaining frosting and pipe some buttercream "poofs" on the top. Sprinkle the top of the cake with a handful of pink and gold sprinkles. If adding gold leaf onto the cake, return the cake to the fridge to set, about 30 minutes before gently pressing random patches of the gold onto the cake. Cake will keep covered at room temperature for up to 1 day, or chilled for up to 3 days. Serve at room temperature.

http://sweetapolita.com/2015/06/watercolor-buttercream-party-cake/

If you’d like a visual of a similar technique, you can watch my How to Make a Pastel Swirl Cake video. For the Watercolor Buttercream Cake you would do this technique but rather than using 3 frosting colours, you would use mostly untinted with random patches of the hot pink.

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

For the vegetable shortening in the frosting, I use high-ratio shortening (learn why in the Sweetapolita’s Notes section here), but you can also use standard Crisco shortening since it is a small amount. Typically I find Crisco-style shortening leaves an unpleasant mouth-feel in a frosting, but due to the generous amount of heavy cream and the touch of warm water added, the result is super fluffy with no lasting film feeling on the tongue and no confectioners’ sugar grit. I used this High Ratio Shortening, but there are several brands available.
I swear by vanilla bean paste, as you it’s so much more convenient and affordable than buying the vanilla pods on their own. There are several quality brands out there, but I like LorAnn Oils Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste.
To achieve a very bright, deep pink frosting, I use a combination of Americolor Soft Pink Gel Paste and a hot pink food coloring powder, such as this Hot Pink Petal Dust or this Hot Pink Petal Dust/Food Coloring.
For the gold leaf, I used this 23 Carat Edible Gold Leaf. Of course it’s a luxury, but you use just a touch here and there on cakes, cookies, cupcakes, macarons and so much more, and it lasts for quite some time.
You can find the adorable CHEERS cake topper in the photo and small milk bottles (and tons of other fun stuff!) on creativebag.com.

See you soon with more cake and sprinkles!

Midnight Cookies & Cream Cake

May 9, 2015 - 56 Comments

Hi friends!

First off, to all of the mamas out there, Happiest Mother’s Day to you! You deserve 6-layer cake and so much more.

This week I made this rather decadent cake, and let me tell you it’s a crowd-pleaser . . .

How have I never made an Oreo dessert for the blog before? It was long overdue, I would say. So I went for it–hard. See, I’ve been craving all things Oreo, and I’ve been dying to use the black cocoa powder I bought while in Vancouver promoting my book, but I was waiting for the right cake. And then it hit me that it belongs in an Oreo-inspired sky-scraping cake!

As much as I love an over-the-top chocolate-on-chocolate looking cake, I thought it would be more interesting to add a bright pop of pink sprinkle-laden frosting before pouring some shiny chocolate glaze over top. Instant party cake! The intensely chocolate–midnight chocolate–cake layers are incredibly moist and super-dark with and balance out the sweet-as-sweet but cream and rich cookies and cream filling with vanilla bean and biggish chunks of Oreos throughout. We add a hit of cream cheese to the frosting to create an even creamier, more balanced sweet frosting.

The pink sprinkle frosting is the from the same batch of filling, but we leave out the Oreos and add rainbow jimmies and a dose of fuschia gel color. A generous pouring of the glaze, more Oreos (now I’m wishing I used Double-Stuffed!), pink frosting dollops and cookie crumbs add the fun finishing touches. It’s rather amazing how quickly the addition of chocolate glaze changes the whole personality of a cake, right? Instant drama and beyond. And it doesn’t have to be chocolate–a super fun bright candy-coloured glaze is always a good idea as well (remember this 6-Layer Neapolitan Macaron Delight Cake?).

So let’s talk more about the Black Cocoa Powder. I have to admit I’ve never used it before, mostly because I haven’t come across it locally before, and the cocoa powder I use for most of my chocolate desserts is very dark as it is (Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder Extra Brute) lending to a gorgeous super-dark shade of brown. I was rather enchanted with the black as night version and when I came across it while in Vancouver recently (you can read about that trip here), I had to buy it. I’ve been saving it for the right cake, and this worked out exactly as I hoped it would.

The black chocolate cake is reminiscent of that impossibly dark “Oreo chocolate,” and the intense chocolate flavour really balances out the sweetness of the frosting (and the black cocoa powder would be ideal for making our own Oreos!). And just when the pink frosting might add a bit too much sweetness for cake with 5 layers of sweet filling, the chocolate glaze adds another hit of intensity to make everything right with the cake-loving world again.

My family went crazy for this cake, and while you might assume they love most things I bake, the truth is they are all very, um, particular, we’ll say? Each and every one of them loved this cake–it’s truly a crowd-pleaser for all ages.

And, as a side-note, I also want to thank everyone who has purchased The Sweetapolita Bakebook–it means so much to me! If you ever have any questions about the recipes or designs in the book, be sure to reach out and contact me!

Now let’s make this Midnight Cookies & Cream Cake, shall we?

6-layer Midnight Cookies & Cream Cake

Yield: One 6-layer, 8-inch round cake

6 layers of deep, dark, midnight black chocolate cake filled with Oreo buttercream, frosted in pink birthday cake frosting and sprinkles, covered with dark chocolate glaze and more Oreos.

Ingredients

For the Midnight Cake Layers:

2 1/4 cups (285 g) all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups (450 g) superfine sugar
1 cup (120 g) "black" unsweetened cocoa powder (see Notes)
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) hot coffee
3/4 cup (180 ml) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature

For the Cookies & Cream Filling/Pink Frosting:

2 3/4 cups (625 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 g) high-ratio shortening (see Notes)
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 cups (1 kg plus 250 g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 1/3 cups (320 ml) heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
1/4 cup (60 g) cream cheese, room temperature
Gel food color in fuschia (see Notes)
16 oreos, semi-crushed for the filling, plus more whole oreos for decorating (at least 8)
1/3 cup (50 g) rainbow jimmies

For the Shiny Chocolate Glaze:

5 ounces (150 g) semi-sweet best-quality chocolate, chopped or chips
3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 tablespoon corn syrup
Pinch of salt

Instructions

For the Midnight Cake Layers:

Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C). Spray the bottom of three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line bottoms with parchment rounds. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, sugar, black cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla, and then mix in eggs.
Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide batter equally among the three cake pans or weigh for accuracy--each pan should weigh about 630 grams.
Bake the first two layers until a wooden pick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out with a only a few crumbs, about 23 minutes. Try not to over-bake. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then turn onto rack to cool completely. Repeat with the final cake layer. When ready to assemble the cake, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.

For the Cookies & Cream Filling/Pink Frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and salt on medium speed until very pale and creamy, 8 minutes.
Reduce the speed to the lowest setting and gradually add the confectioners' sugar, heavy cream, vanilla bean paste and water. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Beat in the cream cheese until combined, about 30 seconds.
Transfer about 5 cups of the frosting to a medium bowl and tint it pink using soft gel paste color. Set aside. Add the semi-crushed Oreos (reserve about 1/4 cup of the crumbs to press into the bottom border of cake, if desired) to the remaining frosting and beat on medium speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
The frosting will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring chilled frosting to room temperature and beat on low speed to soften. If necessary, you can warm the frosting in a heatproof container in the microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring after each one, until smooth and spreadable. Add a small amount of water, one tablespoon at a time, if the frosting needs more "glide."

For the Shiny Chocolate Glaze:

In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate, butter, corn syrup and salt in the microwave, about 50 seconds, and stir until smooth. (You can also melt in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.) Let cool until it thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Store for up to 1 week in an airtight container in refrigerator, and warm in microwave when ready to use.

Assembly of the Midnight Cookies & Cream Cake:

Cut each of your 3 cake layers each once horizontally with a long, serrated knife, so you have a total of 6 thin layers. Put a nonslip square on a turntable (if using), followed by a large piece of wax paper, topped with another nonslip square smaller than your cake. Place a thin 8-inch round cake board or larger cake plate on the turntable and place the first chocolate cake layer on top. Spread about 1 cup of the cookies and cream frosting on top. Repeat until you come to the final cake layer, which you will place face down. Cover the cake in a thin "coat" of pink frosting, and chill the cake for 30 minutes.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip (I used #869) about one-third full with the pink frosting and set aside (this is for the top of the cake).
Stir the rainbow jimmies into the remaining pink frosting. Remove the cake from the fridge and cover in another thick, smooth layer of pink sprinkled frosting. Chill the cake for about 15 minutes.
When the chocolate glaze in no longer warm, pour on top of the cake and gently spread with a small offset palette knife, pushing some over the sides. Return the cake to the refrigerator until the glaze sets, about 10 minutes.
Use a sharp knife to cut 8 Oreos in half. Pipe 16 "stars" evenly spaced around the perimeter of the cake top and place an Oreo half on each star. Press remaining cookie crumbs around the bottom of the cake, if desired.
Hooray! You did it!
Cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

http://sweetapolita.com/2015/05/midnight-cookies-cream-cake/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

As I mentioned above, for the black cocoa powder, I used Cote D’Azur Black Cocoa Powder that I found while in Vancouver, at the Gourmet Warehouse, but you can also find Black Cocoa Powder on Amazon. I typically use a very dark cocoa powder (Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder Extra Brute) for all of my chocolate baked goods, which also works very well, tastes amazing, and is quite dark. The black cocoa powder just adds more of a midnight black effect, which I love for this Oreo cake. Definite wow factor.
I use Fat Daddio’s Anodized Aluminum Round Cake Pans for all of my cake layers, most often the 8-inch x 2-inch round pans.
The frosting in this recipe is an adaptation of my Vanilla Bakery Frosting from The Sweetapolita Bakebook, and as I mention in the book and my recent Pastel Vanilla Birthday Cake post, re: the Vanilla Bakery Frosting, you can certainly use all butter, rather than high-ratio shortening, if you prefer. High-ratio shortening is used to add stability and tenderness to white cakes and creaminess and stability to frostings. In a pinch you can also use regular shortening, such as Crisco, but the high-ratio version is designed for frosting and gives a much better mouth-feel. I used this High Ratio Shortening, but there are several brands available.
I used Americolor Soft Gel Paste in Fuchsia for the sprinkle frosting on this cake, but you can use any pink that you love.
For the rainbow jimmies, I used CK Products Rainbow Jimmies.
For the piping on the top of the cake, I used Ateco #869 Large French Star Decorating Tip, but you can use any large star tip.

Meringue Dream Cake

February 20, 2015 - 81 Comments

Happy Friday!

Hello from the land of -25°C and random blizzards! But that’s okay. It just makes being inside baking that much more inviting and cozy . . .

And when it doubt, make cake. Especially a pastel wintery wonderland cake. It just makes good sense, right?

This Meringue Dream Cake is a deep, dark moist chocolate layer cake is filled with a snow white, billowy meringue frosting and colourful crushed baked meringue, and then frosted with more meringue frosting and topped with dark chocolate glaze and more pastel baked meringue and sprinkles.

And while I adore pastel and sprinkles more than one girl should, this cake really just comes from my love for the irresistible combination of the chocolaty-chocolate cake and the fluffiest of marshmallowy meringue frosting. I mean, there’s just nothing like it.

As you probably know, I have a thing for both cake and meringue, and this cake is a simple celebration of those things. And it’s amazing how you can bring such classic cake elements to life by adding some super fun splashes of colour and texture. I can’t resist the pink, turquoise, snow white and dark chocolate colour combination! Makes the little girl in me giddy.

If you make this cake, I definitely recommend having fun with the shapes, sizes, and colours of the baked meringues, since that really is what makes the visual. My inspiration when it came to creating a more elaborate statement with a meringue medley atop the cake comes from some of the over-the-top colourful cakes I have come across lately by fellow caker, Katherine Sabbath. And this cake was so fun to make!

While tempted to tint that beautiful white meringue frosting pastel, it’s not often we get to flaunt pure white frosting, you know? There are a few options for white-as-white frosting including Seven Minute Frosting, Marshmallow Frosting, etc. which are all variations of meringue, but usually have corn syrup and what not. This is just a straight Swiss meringue (like when we make Swiss meringue buttercream, minus the butter), so just a delightful fluffing of egg whites, sugar, and vanilla. Heaven.

Swiss meringue is thick, glossy, and very stable, so it makes for a lovely frosting, but just keep in mind that it’s best to make it right before you frost the cake and best enjoyed on day 1 or 2 (the meringue will become slightly airy and spongy–think meringue on lemon pie). I found that it frosted beautifully, but, again, looks and holds up best on day 1.

My heart belongs to pastel meringues. It just does. Crispy, airy, melt-in-your-mouth, chewy . . . and did I mention downright beautiful to look at? I use powder food colouring with meringues because I find it keeps the texture nice and dry, as with gel paste colour sometimes the meringues get a little sticky and shiny. I love the matte finish and stunning colours you can get with the powder variation.

I added some edible glitter to the white meringues before baking, which is hard to capture in the photo, but oh my goodness it looks so twinkly in person! This cake is all about having fun and getting creative. :)

Super moist, fluffy, crispy, billowy, chocolaty, pastel goodness. (Oh, and for those of you who are incredibly observant, this slice was from the first cake I made before re-doing it with a much thicker top coat of the meringue frosting–it had to be done!).

Meringues are way too photogenic! You can see a bit more of the glittery twinkle on the white ones in this photo. So wintery and wonderful.

Broken up and sprinkled, the meringues make a really delightful addition to the filling, both visually and texturally. Melt-in-your-mouth amazingness.

So here is the recipe, friends! xo

Meringue Party Cake

Yield: One 4-layer, 8-inch round cake

Deep, dark, moist chocolate cake filled with billowy meringue frosting, crushed baked meringues, and frosted with more meringue frosting and topped with dark chocolate glaze and colourful baked meringues.

Ingredients

For the Baked Meringues:

3 egg whites, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 g) superfine sugar
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Powdered food colour (petal dust) in turquoise and pink (or other desired shades)
Edible glitter in white, optional

For the Chocolate Cake Layers:

2 1/4 cups (285 g) all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups (450 g) sugar
1 1/3 cups (160 g) dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) hot coffee
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150 ml) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature

For the Swiss Meringue Frosting:

10 egg whites
2 1/2 cups (500 g) sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of fine salt

For the Chocolate Glaze:

5 ounces (150 g) best-quality dark chocolate, chopped or callets
3/4 cup (90 g) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
Sprinkles, for decorating

Instructions

For the Baked Meringues (French meringue):

Preheat the oven to 200°F (90°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Wipe a stainless stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment with lemon juice to eliminate any grease. Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl and whisk on low speed for 30 seconds, and increase the speed to medium. Beat until the egg whites have soft peaks, about 1 minute. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and add the sugar 1 spoonful at a time. One all of sugar has been added, increase the speed to high and beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy, about 3 minutes. Turn off the mixer, add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Divide the meringue into thirds and tint one third turquoise and another pink. Pipe one baking tray of medium-sized meringues and one tray of smaller meringues using different decorating tips of your choice (I used large plain round for smooth meringues, large open star for the textured pink meringues, and a small open star for the small textured white meringues). Sprinkle the white meringues with some white edible glitter, if desired.
Baked both trays at the same time until crisp but not browned or discolored, about 1 hour for the smaller meringues, and 1 1/2 hours for the larger ones. You should be able to gently pull the meringue away from the parchment with no sticking. Store in plastic zip top bags at room temperature for up to 1 week. I made two batches of these meringues to experiment different shapes and sizes, and the leftovers make perfect little treats or gifts.

For the Chocolate Cake Layers:

Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C). Spray four 8-inch round cake pans (or however many you have--you will just have to wash and re-use for the remaining layers) with cooking spray and line bottoms with parchment rounds. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla, and then mix in eggs.
Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide batter equally among the four cake pans or weigh for accuracy--each pan should weigh about 420 grams.
Bake two layers at a time until a wooden pick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out with a only a few crumbs, about 20 minutes. Try not to over-bake. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then turn onto rack to cool completely. When ready to assemble the cake, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.

For the Swiss Meringue Frosting:

Wipe the bowl and whisk attachment of an electric mixer with paper towel and lemon juice, to remove any trace of grease. Add egg whites and sugar, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches about 140°F, or if you don't have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
Return the bowl to the stand mixer and beat on medium speed until meringue starts to thicken, about 1 minute, and then increase to high speed. Beat until thick, glossy, and cool (or neutral in temperature). Add vanilla and salt and beat to combine. Best used right away.

For the Chocolate Glaze:

In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate, butter, corn syrup and salt in the microwave, about 50 seconds, and stir until smooth. (You can also melt in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.) Let cool until it thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Store for up to 1 week in an airtight container in refrigerator, and warm in microwave when ready to use.

Assemble the Meringue Dream Cake:

Put a nonslip square on a turntable (if using), followed by a large piece of wax paper, topped with another nonslip square smaller than your cake. Place a thin 8-inch round cake board or larger cake plate on the turntable and place the first chocolate cake layer on top. Spread about 1 cup of meringue frosting on top and sprinkle with a generous layer of crushed baked meringues (save the prettiest ones for the top of the cake). Repeat until you come to the final cake layer, which you will place face down. Cover the cake in a "coat" of meringue frosting and chill the cake for 30 minutes.
Remove the cake from the fridge and cover in another thick, smooth layer of meringue frosting. Chill the cake for about 15 minutes.
When the chocolate glaze in no longer warm, pour on top of the cake and gently spread with a small offset palette knife, pushing some over the sides. Gently place a variety of the baked meringues on top of the cake, as well as some crushed meringue and sprinkles, if desired.
Cake will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, but best enjoyed day 1 (due to the meringue frosting).

http://sweetapolita.com/2015/02/meringue-dream-cake/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

For the powdered food colours, I used Powder Colour in Turquoise and Hot Pink, and for the white edible glitter I used Rainbow Disco Dust.
To pipe the meringues, I used decorating tip Wilton 1A (for the smooth meringues), Wilton 6B (for the large textured pink meringues) Wilton 4B (for the small textured white meringues).
For chocolate glaze, I used Callebaut Dark Callets 53.8 % which are deep and dark but not over-powering.
To frost the cake, I use the Ateco Cake Stand, small Offset Spatula for the top of the cake (and spreading the glaze), and Medium Sized Straight Spatula for the sides.
For the sprinkles, I used a mixture of White Nonpareils , Sugar Pearls in pink, and Hot Pink Sugar Candy Beads.

See you soon with another dose of sugar!

Purple Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

December 31, 2014 - 51 Comments

So . . . are you officially pepperminted? Me too. But it was lovely and delicious.

And, wow, the last day of the year? Eek! Maybe. Hooray! I’m not sure. I do know that 2015 will be a much different one for me, and I think it will be bigger and better for all of us. Some years just come bearing more than other years, which seem to come and go with minimal change or impact. But one thing I do know for certain, is that we will still all be baking ourselves happy. It’s just what we do.

And, of course this past month I’ve been baking even more than usual, which may have something to do with recently receiving my copy of Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito’s latest book, Baked Occasions: Desserts for Leisure Activities, Holidays, and Informal Celebrations. You probably know by now that I am a big fan of the “Baked” boys, and for good reason–they rock. And while I cherish their first three books (Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, and Baked Elements: The Importance of Being Baked in 10 Favorite Ingredients), I have to say that this one is my favourite.

First off, I love that the book is organized by occasions and holidays (and not just the predictable ones–think Julia Child’s Birthday, Gay Pride, Dolly Parton’s Birthday, and more). It’s kind of brilliant. Secondly, I feel as though the boys have kicked the whole game up a notch. Sure, this book is quintessential “Baked” with its decadence and approachability, but I feel the recipes are even more inventive and irresistible. Heavy hits of sprinkles, colour, and creativity don’t hurt either. This book has it all.

So I decided to dive in and bake their “Gonzo” cake, which is Purple Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting created in honor of Hunter S. Thompson’s Birthday. I can’t help but think of an old high school writer boyfriend who was rather enchanted by the antics of one crazed Hunter S. Thompson and his “Gonzo” style journalism. Who knew that memory would come back upon opening a fabulous baking book? See, you just never know what can be when you bake. ;)

Anyway, when it comes to cake, I’m a sucker for anything “velvet,” and, well, you know how I feel about colour and sprinkles. I decided to celebrate the “purple” with a medley of my favourite purple-and-such sprinkles, which is fun hint of what’s to come when the cake is sliced and served (and in my house where there is purple, there is turquoise–Frozen much? #cakelets #frozenfever).

And don’t let the purple cake and sprinkles fool you–this cake is so much more than just a dose of dazzling dye. While the purple is enhanced by a few drops of soft gel paste (or you could use regular food colouring), the main source of the rich purple hue is the purple yam powder–a unique ingredient that lends to a moist cake with, as the boys says, a wine-like taste and texture similar to red velvet cake. The dominant flavour of the cake is not “yam-ish” but rather a sweet (but not too sweet) earthy taste that is hard to describe.

The flavour and texture of the purple yam cake and lends beautifully to the classic, tangy cream cheese frosting although, much like red velvet, I think it would also pair well with a classic sweet cake frosting. What I love that is colour and flavour of the cake are so unexpected and distinct, and that after the first bite I wanted to keep tasting more so that I could, aside from eat more cake, solve the mystery that is purple yam powder. Odd and delightful all at once.

Hooray for purple cake and sprinkles! And for Baked Occasions, of course.

And the awesomeness doesn’t end with the Gonzo Cake. I have a long to-bake list from this book, and I almost don’t know where to start. Some of the recipes calling my name are the Rainbow Icebox Cake with Homemade Chocolate Cookies, Tricolor Cake (Italian Christmas Cookie Cake), Orange Buttermilk Picnic Cake with Chocolate Chips, and I could go on and on . . .

So before we embark upon those, or all of the other awesomeness in the book, let’s bake the Gonzo Cake!

Purple Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting {Gonzo Cake} from Baked Occasions

Serving Size: One 3-layer, 8-inch round cake

Gonzo Cake from the book Baked Occasions. Moist purple velvet cake filled and frosted with classic cream cheese frosting and topped with a medley of sprinkles.

Ingredients

For the Purple Velvet Cake:

1 (4-ounce/115 g) package purple yam powder (about 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons; see Note)
1/4 cup (60 ml) canola oil or other vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups (285 g) cake flour
3/4 cup (90 g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces (1 stick/115 g) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pans
1/4 cup (50 g) vegetable shortening, at room temperature
2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Blue and red food dyes or gels
4 large egg whites, at room temperature

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

3 cups (340 g) confectioners' sugar
8 ounces (2 sticks/225 g) unsalted butter, softened
2 (8-ounce/226-g) packages cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Make the Purple Velvet Cake:

Preheat the oven to 325˚F (165˚C). Butter three 8-inch (20-cm) cake pans, line them with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Dust with flour and knock out the excess.
In a small saucepan over very low heat, stir together 2 cups (480 ml) of water with the purple yam powder and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is rehydrated, between 5 and 20 minute depending on the heat. Once the mixture looks and feels like mashed potatoes (or mashed yams) remove it from the heat and whisk in the canola oil.
In a large bowl, sift both flours, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed until cream, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture in three equal parts, alternating with the purple yam mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and then mix on low speed for a few more seconds.
Mix equal drops of red and blue food dyes in a small bowl to make purple, then scrape it into the cake batter and mix until a pale purple color is achieved.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites by hand or in your standing mixer until soft peaks form, do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Divide the batter equally among all three pans. Use your spatula to spread the batter evenly. Bake the cakes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the rack, remove the pans, and let them cool completely. Remove the parchment.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting:

Sift the confectioners' sugar into a large bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is completely smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.
Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, if using, and salt and beat just until smooth; do not overbeat or the frosting will lose structure. Chill the frosting in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes. (The frosting can be made up to 24 hours ahead; cover the bowl tightly, refrigerate, and let the filling soften at room temperature before using.)

Assemble the Gonzo Cake:

Place one cake layer on a serving platter. Trim the top to create a flat surface and even spread about 1 1/4 cups (330 g) of the frosting on top. Add the next layer, trim and frost it, then add the third layer. Trim the top layer. Spread a very thin layer of frosting over the sides and top of the cake (a crumb coat, which helps to keep loose cake crumbs under control when you frost the outside of the cake) and place it in the refrigerator to firm up, about 15 minutes.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Frost the sides and top with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the outer edge of the top of the cake with the sprinkles, if you like. Chill the cake in the refrigerator to set the frosting, about 15 minutes. Slice and serve.

How to Store:

This cake can be covered in a cake saver in a cool room for up to 3 days. If you refrigerate it, make sure to cover it tightly and bring it back to room temperature before serving.

http://sweetapolita.com/2014/12/purple-velvet-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

A Note from the Baked Boys about Substituting Sweet Potatoes for Yam Powder:

When you swap out just one ingredient–obscure purple yam powder for standard mashed sweet potatoes–something amazing happens. Essentially you get a whole new cake: entirely different, but entirely delicious on its own. The main difference is the texture. While the texture of the Purple Velvet cake is akin to a red velvet, this potato version has more in common with an apple cake.

Here’s how to do it:
1. Swap the yam powder in the recipe for 2 cups (420 g) roasted, peeled, and mashed sweet potatoes. Ideally use fresh sweet potatoes, though canned puree without any other ingredients should be okay.
2. Bake the mashed sweet potato cake layers slightly longer than the yam powder layers, 5 to 7 more minutes.
Omit the purple food dye. The mashed sweet potato cake is a pretty sherbet-orange color, and the purple dye will just ruin it.

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

For the yam powder I ordered and used this Powdered Purple Yam.
For the purple gel paste, I used Americolor Regal Purple.
For the purple sprinkle medley, I used a combination of Purple Sixlets (large candy-coated chocolate “sprinkles), Candy Beads in Lavender, Lavender Jimmies, turquoise jimmies + pastel pink jimmies (these were homemade sprinkles I made, but you could use any in these colours for the same effect), and a few Edible Gold Stars. Add equal parts of all of the sprinkles into a plastic zip-top bag and shake to mix. Simply add the sprinkle medley around the other edge of the cake and voila! Purple sprinkles galore!

Wishing you a safe New Year’s Eve filled with utter love and sparkle, friends! xo

Happy Happy Cupcake Cookies

November 17, 2014 - 27 Comments

Hello from the land of happy, happy cupcake cookies! Dare you not to smile.

Yes, it’s cookie o’clock around my house right now. I think, of course, it has something to do with the season, and with two little cakelets (who are suddenly not so little!) who love to decorate and gift such tasty and colourful things.

We’re about to dive into more traditionally seasonal gingerbread cookies and such, but before we get too into holiday-baking, we made a batch of these little guys to make us, and those around us, smile. And they really do the trick–smiles aplenty.

Inspired by a package of candy eyeballs that have been staring at me every time I open my sprinkle cupboard, I thought it would be fun to create little pastel confection friends to share. Starting with a half-batch of The Perfect Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies, which I have to admit get better every time I taste them while keeping their shape like a dream, we added some pastel Royal Icing in a cakey colour scheme and topped them with the obligatory (for good reason) sprinkles and then quirky and lovable faces. Then we gobbled them up with no shame. Oops.

Sometimes decorating with royal icing is rather intimidating if you’ve not done it before, or often, but when you go slowly and thoughtfully, I find it rather therapeutic. For many “patterns” or shapes it’s helpful to draw directly onto the cookie with a food marker (as the first cookie above shows) and then pipe your icing directly over the lines. This really helps!

This type of cookie decorating is also one of those things that makes you feel incredibly proud when you see how lovely the finished product is–the porcelain finish of royal icing gives cookies such a fancy feel, even though it’s simple to do. It can also be used for simple embellishments, as we did with the Jumbo Gingerbread Folk. It adds just enough sweetness to balance an otherwise intense cookie, such as gingerbread or these dark chocolate sugar cookies.

I was just thinking how adding these happy little faces to pretty much any decorated cookie would bring an instant hit of cute. Happy pie cookies, happy ice cream cone cookies, happy cookie cookies . . .

I love designs like this because it’s impossible to not smile when you look at them–perfect for giving to kids and grown ups alike. I can promise you that if you make a batch of these happy little folk, you will feel the love.

Happy Cupcake Cookies

Yield: Makes about 20 medium cupcake cookies

Dark and decadent chocolate sugar cookies frosted with pastel royal icing, sprinkles, and cute-as-can-be faces. Happy, happy!

Ingredients

1/2 recipe The Perfect Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookie

For the Royal Icing:

4 cups (500 g) confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup (40 g) meringue powder
1/4 cup (60 ml) cup water, plus more for thinning
1 teaspoon lemon juice, plus more for bowl
1/2 teaspoon extract of your choice (nothing oil-based, and if you want pure white icing, you will want to use clear extract)
AmeriColor gel paste color in Turquoise and Soft Pink

For Decorating:

Sprinkles (small confetti quin sprinkles and white nonpareils)
Large heart sprinkles
Candy eyes (about 40 total)
Food Marker in black

You will also need:

2 medium pastry bags
2 standard couplers
2 small plain round pastry tips (I use #3)
Toothpicks

Instructions

Bake the cookies:

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats (I like Silpat) or parchment paper. Roll out the dark chocolate cookie dough according to the recipe here. Cut out the cupcake cookies using a medium-sized cupcake cutter and transfer to the baking sheets. Freeze the cookies on the baking sheets for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and bake the cookies until edges are just crisp, about 17 minutes.

For the Royal Icing:

Use a paper towel to wipe the bowl of an electric mixer and a rubber spatula with a few drops of lemon juice. Add all of the ingredients into the bowl and fit the mixer with the paddle attachment.
Mix ingredients on low-speed for 12 minutes.
Stir in small increments (1 teaspoon at a time) of water until you reach a "10-second" consistency (thank you Marian at Sweetopia for this!), which means when you run the tip of a knife through the icing, the line disappears in 10-seconds. This will result in an ideal consistency for outlining and filling the cookies.
Keep royal icing covered with plastic wrap at all times. Store with a damp cloth and plate (same diameter as top of bowl) on top in bowl in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Tint about one-third of the icing turquoise using a tiny dab of gel paste colour. Fit a pastry bag with a coupler and pastry tip and fill the bag two-thirds full with the turquoise icing and secure the bag with a rubber band. Keep the tip tucked into a damp cloth when not in use. Repeat with the remaining icing, this time tinting it pastel pink.

Decorate the cookies:

Using the turquoise icing, outline and outline and fill the "cupcake liner" portion of the cookies. Gently shake the cookie from side to side to even out the icing and use a toothpick to gently connect icing over any missing spots. Let dry for at least an hour.
Using the black food pen, draw the outlines for the frosting swirls (see photo) as a guide. Using the pink icing, pipe along these black lines on all of the cookies. Go back to the first cookie piped and fill in these lines and sprinkle with confetti quin and nonpareil sprinkles. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
Carefully adhere the candy eyes and cheeks (larger quin sprinkles) using a tiny tab of royal icing Draw the mouths on with the black food marker. Once the pink portion of the cookies are dry, finish by adhering a heart sprinkle to the top of each cookie.
Let dry for at least 12 hours before packaging. Keep dry decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

http://sweetapolita.com/2014/11/happy-happy-cupcake-cookies/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

For the cupcake cookie cutter I used this style, but you can use any one you wish! You could add this face to pretty much anything and it would instantly create a cute-as-can-be cookie.
For the dark chocolate cookies I used Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder, Extra Brute (this link is where I have found the best price to be–one of my favourite shops).
I used these small Confetti Pastel Sequins for the top portion of the cookie, and these Pastel Edible Confetti sprinkles for the cheeks.
I used these Jumbo Hearts Sprinkles for the heart detail.
I used these Candy Eyeballs (you could also just pipe white dots with a smaller black dot of icing if you can’t find the eyeballs–they just make life easier).
I used the AmeriColor Black Food Writer for the drawing the mouth and for outlining the frosting swirls prior to icing.

See you soon with another sugary recipe! ♥

Birthday Medley Layer Cake

September 29, 2014 - 56 Comments

Hi!

So maybe I have a thing for turquoise layer cakes, but they’re just so pleasing. And while a vintagey looking turquoise cake with sprinkles seem to shout “vanilla birthday cake!” I thought we could mix things up a little with this recipe. You know that I’m a sucker for a cake that has an ahhh-factor upon cutting it open–especially when it’s so simple on the outside–and this cake celebrates just that.

Best part about a 5-layer party cake that boasts 4 different flavoured layers? Only making 2 batter recipes. This cake is super simple and, dare I say, “quick” to make, especially considering it has serious wow-factor going for it. So what exactly is a “Birthday Medley Layer Cake?” Well, it’s a chocolate chip, chocolate butter, cherry chip, confetti layer cake filled and frosted with a quintessential old-fashioned recipe: vanilla cooked flour frosting. We tint the frosting pastel turquoise for a lovely visual and sprinkle on some confetti sprinkles because, well, that’s what we do.

With one vanilla cake batter recipe, we can easily create 3 of the 5 layers by simply incorporating different additions–chocolate chips, confetti quins, and chopped Maraschino cherries. The chocolate butter cake is a partial batch divided into 2 pans, giving us a total of 5 layers. The chocolate cake adds some richness and of course visual appeal. These flavours are a celebration of some of the most beloved birthday cakes, so how can we go wrong?

So let’s talk more about “cooked flour frosting.” This was something I hadn’t tried in years, and I really couldn’t remember much about the outcome. I kept seeing it pop up in different recipes online, and I’d be meaning to make it again out of pure curiosity. I figured this cake was a perfect time to make a batch and run with the whole “old-fashioned” flavours thing. If you’re not familiar with this type of frosting, I would liken it more to a meringue-based buttercream (such as Swiss Meringue Buttercream), than a sweet bakery frosting–it has a silkiness to it that isn’t necessary possible with confectioners’ sugar frosting, as well as a butteriness that might not be for some. Much like meringue-based buttercream it isn’t particularly sweet. It also lends nicely to frosting a cake, piping cupcakes or even cake borders and decorations. I used a version of this recipe from Leelabean Bakes (she also offers a lot of variation ideas).

We start by cooking flour and milk into a super thick consistency, and then we add more milk and sugar until the mixture boils. Once cooled, this concoction is added to whipped butter, blended together and flavoured with vanilla, or even chocolate, peanut butter, etc. As far as ease goes, I’d say it is simple, although the wait time for the mixture to cool can be several hours. I made it the night before and then finished the frosting in the morning, but if you were in a rush this might not be the best frosting option.

I couldn’t decide if I should try a chocolate-frosted version first or this vanilla option, so if you happen to make this cake with a chocolate frosting, I’d love to hear about it!

And since I am sitting here eating this cake and drinking some incredible Pig Iron coffee, I feel compelled to tell you about Parachute Coffee, which is how I was lucky enough to discover it. This Canadian company is comprised of 2 “caffeinated Canucks,” and they are taking artisan coffee to a whole new level. Mike and Jake are devoted to finding the best local hand-crafted, fresh-roasted coffee and delivering a different one to your doorstep each month. Because there is only one thing I love to consume more than cake, and that’s good coffee. I think their concept is brilliant!

And before I move onto sharing the recipe, here are a few bits of news from the land of Sugartown since my last post:

I moved! It was kind of spontaneous, but we did it and while we aren’t far from our old house, I am so much happier here. It was definitely time for a change. We’re pretty much unpacked, but it seemed to take me the longest time to get into the groove in the new kitchen. The truth is, I kind of felt displaced, which was weird because I love the new environment. I’ve got most of my baking gear organized, and I’m feeling like I’m myself again. Phew. Now I just need to really figure out where the best spot will be for photographing my cakes . . .

The cover of The Sweetapolita Bakebook is ready to go! I’ve shared it over here on the “My Book” section of my site. Now it really feels, well, real.

So now let’s make this cake!

Birthday Medley Layer Cake

Ingredients

For the vanilla-based layers (chocolate chip, confetti, and cherry chip):

3 cups (345 g) cake flour
2 1/4 cups (450 g) superfine sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into about 15 pieces
1 1/3 cups (320 ml) whole milk, room temperature
6 egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 cup (150 g) mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup (115 g) confetti quin sprinkles
1/4 cup Maraschino cherries, chopped (about 12 cherries)
1 tablespoon Maraschino cherry juice
Drop pink gel-paste food color

For the chocolate layers:

1 stick (115 g) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup (165 g) packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (100 g) superfine sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (155 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (60 g) dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, room temperature

For the Vanilla Cooked Flour Frosting

2 cups (480 ml) whole milk
1/3 cup (45 g) all-purpose flour
2 cups (400 g) sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups (454 g) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Few drops turquoise gel-paste food color
Confetti quin sprinkles, for decorating

Instructions

For the vanilla-based layers:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and line the bottoms of 3 round 8-inch pans with parchment. I use Parchment Paper Circles for ease.
In a medium-sized measuring cup, combine and stir 1/3 cup of the milk, egg whites, vanilla, and almond extract. Set aside.
Sift cake flour twice. Into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together, and mix on low-speed (I use the “stir” setting on my mixer) for 30 seconds.
Add the butter, one piece at a time, and continue mixing until the mixture is a fine, crumbly texture, about 5 minutes. Add the 1 cup of milk and and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Scrape the sides of the bowl, decrease the speed to medium-low, and gradually add the egg/milk/extract mixture. Once the milk mixture has all been added, continue to mix for 30 seconds.
Pour one-third of the batter (~2 1/2 cups)(500 grams) into one of the prepared pans, another third into another of the prepared pans, and keep the remaining batter in the bowl. Gently stir the chocolate chips into one of the pans of batter and spread the batter evenly with a small offset palette knife. Repeat with the sprinkles in the other pan of batter. Bake the 2 cake layers in the center of oven and 2" apart until a cake tester comes clean when inserted into the center, about 22 minutes. Be so careful to not over-bake. Check cake at 20 minutes, but not before, and once you feel it’s almost ready, set the timer for 2 minute intervals. While the cakes are baking, add a drop of pink gel paste into the remaining batter, along with the chopped cherries. Turn the batter into the third prepared cake pan. Bake once the first 2 layers are out of the oven. Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small metal spatula, and invert onto greased wire racks. Gently turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.
Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. Best enjoyed day 1 or 2.

For the chocolate cake layers:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and line the bottoms of 2 round 8-inch pans with parchment.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, superfine sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until lighter in color and slightly increased in volume, about 7 minutes. Lower the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each is fully incorporated before adding the next, about 30 seconds.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk into creamed mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated, or finish by hand gently.
Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans. Smooth the batter with a small offset palette knife, and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 25 minutes. rotating once after 20 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick or skewer comes barely clean.
Let pans cool on wire rack for 20 minutes, then invert cakes onto racks, gently, peeling away parchment rounds. Let cool completely.

For the frosting:

In a medium saucepan over medium-heat, whisk together 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the milk and the flour until combined. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens and reaches the consistency of brownie batter, 6-8 minutes. Add the remaining milk, sugar, and salt and whisk constantly until the mixture comes to a boil, about 10 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and pour through a sieve and into a medium bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the mixture and place in the refrigerator until cool (this can be done the night before to save time).
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl if using a hand mixer), beat the butter until very fluffy, about 7 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap from the cool milk/flour/sugar mixture and stir until smooth (it will be a slightly gelatinous consistency). With the mixer running on medium speed, gradually add all of the milk mixture to the whipped butter. Beat until smooth well-incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. To remove some of the air bubbles, beat on low speed for a few minutes.

Assemble the cake:

Put a dollop of frosting on an 8-inch round cake board (or cake plate) or 9-inch scalloped cake board.
Put your confetti cake layer top-up on the cake board or plate, and spread about 3/4 cup of frosting evenly across layer. Put a chocolate layer on top and repeat with another layer of frosting. Add the cherry chip layer on top, more frosting, followed by the second chocolate layer. Now place the final layer (chocolate chip) top-down. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and wiggle the layers into place. Refrigerate the cake for about 20 minutes. Add a few drops of turquoise gel paste to the remaining frosting and beat to combine.
Using a turntable, if possible, frost entire outside of cake with a thin layer of turquoise frosting to seal in the crumbs. Chill until the frosting begins to firm-up, about 15 minutes. Repeat with another thin layer of frosting, this time working to achieve a smooth finish. Chill for another 15 minutes.
Apply a third coat of frosting to the cake. Holding a small offset spatula in your dominant hand, press it gently against the side of the cake, starting at the very bottom, and keep it steady. Use the other hand to slowly rotate the turntable until you have gone all the way around the cake, raising the spatula just slightly at every full rotation, so you are working your way up the cake. Clean the spatula and then use the same technique on the top of the cake, starting from the outside working in. This time you will hold the spatula flat against the top of the cake. Sprinkle confetti quins around the perimeter of the cake.
The cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

http://sweetapolita.com/2014/09/birthday-medley-layer-cake/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

For the chocolate cake, I always use Cacao Barry Extra Brute cocoa powder–it’s super dark and rich.
I bought my vintage ballerina cake toppers here.
One of my favourite and most-used gel paste colors (and the one I used on this cake) is Americolor Turquoise. A little goes a long way!
When making confetti cake, I like to use Edible Confetti Sprinkles because they don’t tend to bleed color as much as some other variations.
If you’re not sure about “cooked flour frosting,” or you want a more traditionally sweet party cake frosting, try this recipe (and oh yes, more ballerinas dancing atop a cake!).

Birthday Party Ice Cream Cake + Tales of July

August 2, 2014 - 72 Comments

Hello my friends!

I’m happy to report that I lived to tell the story of July 2014.

Here are a few of the adventures that have been going on in my world during the past month:

1. I shot the cover of my book! This was a lot of pressure, in a way, but I think it’s super-fun and I hope you love it. Speaking of the book, let me tell you that this crazy book o’ sugary delights is officially called The Sweetapolita Bakebook. Hooray! And while I will be sharing many more detailed posts about the book, I can tell you that, even though it is still several months from release (April 7th, 2015), it is already available for pre-order in many online shops! You can find it for an amazing price on Amazon.com in the US: The Sweetapolita Bakebook, or if you are here in Canada with me, you can pre-order on Amazon.ca or Indigo.

For my international friends, there are already many options for online pre-ordering, such as amazon.co.uk (UK), amazon.es (Spain), and many more! You’ll notice that the cover has not yet been “revealed,” on these listings, but that is soon to come. I will also be sharing that here with a whole bunch of fun details about the book itself.

2. I turned 40. Oh right, that. But I’m okay! And because I’m all cake-backwards in life, I eat it all year long and get excited to eat some other form of dessert on my birthday. Last year was lemon meringue pie from Betty’s in Niagara Falls (and no, I didn’t buy a slice, I bought the entire pie). This year was the most decadent of apple caramel crumbles with vanilla bean ice cream. Now I’m back to cake. But you know, 40 isn’t so bad. Since the girls are a bit bigger now, I’m finding that I have more time to do the little things that being busy and in your thirties with babies doesn’t necessarily allow for–things like painting my nails (often), shopping (and not in the kids’ section at Target), organizing my life and closets, doing what I love to do in the kitchen, and more. I think it’s going to be a decade of strength, change, adventure and, well, more cake. Oh, and possibly more of these.

3. I had a super-fun photo shoot done for my author photo and such (above), by the talented Wendy & Michael Lewicki from Wendy Alana Photography near Toronto (you might also know Michael from his incredible blog, Verses from my Kitchen). I fell in love with Wendy’s style, and couldn’t wait to shoot with them. Just as I suspected, they are amazing people in “real life”–warm, talented, kind, and just the kind of people you want to be around. Even with dark skies, severe heat and humidity in the kitchen during shoot, and the impending storm outside during the shoot, they pulled off some serious magic. I can’t wait to work with them again!

4. My sister-in-law got married! And my cakelets were (the world’s cutest) flower girls. And I was a bridesmaid (are you still allowed to be called a “bridesmaid” when you’re 40?). Oh, and I made a trio of three-tiered vintage-inspired pastel ruffle wedding cakes for the occasion. It was a big, happy, stunningly beautiful, pastel-blue-and-green day! Congratulations, Mary & Ted! ♥ [Read more…]

{My Favourite} Chocolate Party Cupcakes with Vanilla Swirl Frosting

May 6, 2014 - 89 Comments

While these cupcakes aren’t anything super-frilly or fancy, they are my best-loved and most-baked treat, so it seemed only natural to share them with you. This past weekend we celebrated my sweet cakelet Reese’s 7th birthday (how is this possible–didn’t she just turn 4 and decorate this Rainbow Doodle Cake?), and we had almost 20 little girls are her party. I made a really neat rainbow vanilla cake for the girls, but because Reese loves chocolate cake and cupcakes best, I made a few dozen of these rich, dark chocolaty cupcakes and topped them with fluffy, creamy swirls of blue-ish frosting and colourful quin sprinkles.

Aside from being perfectly party-pretty, the cupcakes are incredibly moist and not overly sweet, and the frosting is whipped to an airy consistency ideal for piping higher swirls (a denser sugary frosting with these generous swirls could be buttercream-overkill).

Reese and I thought it would be pretty to create a bit of pastel swirly effect with a mix of white, turquoise and a pastel shade of sky blue (kind of reminiscent of the Pastel Swirl Cake). To keep it easy, I simply divided the frosting into 3 parts, tinted 2 and left one the creamy white colour, and then scooped a bit of each colour into a large piping bag fitted with Ateco swirly decorating tip #887 for billowy swirls. Really quick and easy, and even kid-friendly.

You can certainly use any array of colours you wish, but just note that because the frosting is doing a lot of blending during the piping process, you might want to stick with different shades and tones of the same hue for the most part, and maybe incorporate one other colour at the most (I love purple or bright pink with these colours).

Because the cupcakes are a one-bowl situation, they couldn’t be simpler. And to really get that enchanting dark-as-night chocolate colour, be sure to use a quality dark cocoa powder. I’ve also modified this recipe to include a very generous dose of the cocoa powder, ensuring an ultimate chocolate cupcake. For the frosting, well, it’s a version of the sweet frosting I’ve used many times here on the blog, but the secrets are using the best pure vanilla extract you can find, and the extensive whipping. You’ll get some air bubbles, but it’s worth it for the fluffy, dreamy texture. Simply use a rubber spatula to beat the frosting back-and-forth a bit to knock out of the bubbles, and it will be ready for piping swirls aplenty.

I think every baker needs a go-to chocolate cupcake and party frosting, and I don’t think I could live without this combination. My non cake-eating husband can’t even resist these, and neither can I (believe it or not, I’m actually really particular with the cake and cupcakes I’ll eat). So easy, so beloved. The recipe is for 12 cupcakes, but this recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled–you’ll thank me!

Cakelets and cupcakes. ♥

Chocolate Party Cupcakes with Vanilla Swirl Frosting

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 grams) superfine sugar
1/2 cup (60 grams) dark Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
1/3 cup (80 ml) coffee, hot
3 tablespoons (45 ml) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg, room temperature

For the frosting:

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups (375 grams) confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons (45 ml) milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Few drops AmeriColor gel paste food colour in Turquoise and Sky Blue
Sprinkles

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 360° F. Line a standard cupcake pan with your favourite cupcake liners.
In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, coffee, oil, egg and vanilla.
Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide batter among the liners (about 3/4 full).
Bake until a wooden pick inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out with a only a few crumbs, about 18-20 minutes. Try not to over-bake. Let cupcakes cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then turn onto rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.
Add confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt, and beat on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until very light and fluffy once again, about 6 more minutes.

Decorate the cupcakes:

Divide the frosting into 3 parts. Tint one part of the frosting bright turquoise using Turquoise, one part pastel blue using Sky Blue, and leave the remaining part white.
Into a medium or large pastry bag fitted with a large closed star tip (or swirl tip, such as #887), add a spatula-full of each frosting colour. Twist the top of the bag and pipe a generous swirl on each cupcake, working in a circular motion from the outside in. Top with sprinkles.
The cupcakes will keep at room temperature in a container with some airflow for up to 3 days.

http://sweetapolita.com/2014/05/my-favourite-chocolate-party-cupcakes-with-vanilla-swirl-frosting/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

For my chocolate cakes and cupcakes, I use Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder – Extra Brute. It’s just amazing–so dark, so intensely chocolate.
For the cupcake liners I used these pretty Purple Baking Cups.
To tint the frosting, I used AmeriColor gel paste colours in Turquoise and Sky Blue (2 of my most frequently used shades).
For the swirly frosting, I used Ateco Swirl Decorating Tip #887.

Good luck & enjoy!

Orange Party Cake with Whipped Orange Frosting

May 16, 2013 - 117 Comments

Hello from the land of orange cake! I’m finally getting a chance to share this happy-happy orange cake with you guys. Let’s just say since my last post, where lavender & strawberry made a summery debut, it’s been all about orange (and a whole lot of book recipe testing!). I made orange layer cake exactly 5 times in one week, and this was the one I was truly pleased with. Why did it take me 5 tries, you ask? Well, it was one-part cake fail, one-part inferior butter (we’ll talk more about that), one-part aesthetic let-down, one-part perfectionism, and two-parts me being completely Willy Wonky at (most) times.

But alas, I really love this cake! It’s a moist yellow cake infused with fresh orange juice and zest, filled with an orange vanilla whipped cream, and frosted with an orange frosting tinted in a few sherbet shades using one of my favourite decorating techniques, the super-simple but strangely rewarding Pastel Swirl style. It’s a really neat (and quick) way to tell a story of the flavours inside the cake (much like the Vanilla Blackberry-Mascarpone Cake I shared recently), or simply to add an artistic flair to any layer cake. Just remember that, although the colour combinations are virtually endless, I find this works best when the colours really blend together (but not over-blended or they’ll become one colour), so I’ve discovered that sticking to three (or so) colours that actually look nice when combined is ideal, not just colours that look nice beside each other. So in this case, since orange and pink make coral, I was able to blend them together to achieve a pretty new colour. I added some un-tinted frosting in there too, so that it would create pastel versions of the same colour scheme.

I made a little batch of sugar flowers (which would be super cute on the cupcake version of this cake, which I will likely do with the extra flowers from this post!), and ended up using a single little blossom and some pink and white sanding sugar to give the cake a little bit of a tropical feel. Real flowers would be so lovely on this style as well, and I can see a tropical shower cake, birthday cake, or even wedding cake a few tiers high becoming a total showstopper.

So I’m lucky enough to have you as a regular reader, you’ll likely notice that the filling and frosting recipes are variations on those found in many of my cake recipes. See, I don’t think you always have to start from “scratch,” but rather can make a few modifications on your favourite existing recipes to make a whole new cake. In this case, I simply added orange zest/juice to my favourite vanilla recipes, and it completely changes the experience. I absolutely love working with oranges in dessert, as I think they offer so much flavour and instantly make most desserts so much more interesting. And they literally fragrance the entire house one you start zesting away. It’s truly a lovely baking experience.

I typically use Valencia oranges when baking/juicing, because they’re so, well, juicy! I also find them even more fragrant than Navel oranges, offering even more orangey-ness to recipes. I did experiment with Pure Orange Extract while making this, but in the end I took it out of the recipe–it just gave it a medicinal quality that wasn’t so happy-happy. One option would be to experiment with Orange Blossom Water to the frosting, as that would give it a unique orange flavour as well (as with these cookies I made last Easter), but I find the juice and zest of the Valencia oranges worked well.

So, remember way up there when I mentioned that I had an inferior butter experience? Well, I’m actually glad I did, even though it meant 3 layers of cake in the garbage. And this feels important enough to make a separate post about butter in itself, but for now let me touch on what happened. So, as you know, I’m working on my first book (hooray!), which means I’m currently living in a sea of bags of sugar and flour that weigh more than my children, and have had to forgo buying groceries so I can make room in our fridge for the endless pounds of butter (kidding . . . sort of), I decided that maybe I need to experiment with the less pricey butter variety, to see if it really makes a difference, or if it’s at least good enough for everyday baking. I decided that I’d buy my favourite butter, Lactancia My Country Unsalted Butter, for frostings and buttercreams, and try the Great Value butter for the actual cakes, etc. I made the cake back-to-back using each butter, while keeping every single step and ingredient the same, but the Great Value version was so dense and greasy. I tried it, and it tasted like cornbread–it was honestly, inedible, in my opinion. When I made it right then again with the Lactancia, it was just as it should be: light, tender and orange-y. I can assume that the Lactancia has a higher fat content, but it’s hard to know . . .

I can see this is a topic that likely requires extensive research, because aside from experimenting with every brand of butter out there in the same cake recipe, it would be impossible to know from simply looking at the butter packages at the store. The nutritional info on the packages are typically all the same, but that doesn’t mean that butter is made up of the same fat/water ratios. I would love to spend more time really figuring this out, because this is the first time in my life I’ve tasted a cake that tasted like cornbread, yet in this previous post from the Fluffy Vanilla Cake, some people have mentioned that they thought it tasted that way. I was perplexed! Especially since out of over 450 reader comments on that post, hundreds of people seem to share my love for how fluffy and light that cake is. Very mysterious . . .

Now I’m also wondering about those who have had separation issues with their Swiss Meringue Buttercream–again, something that’s never happened to me, and not because I don’t have epic baking fails, but maybe because I’ve only used higher-priced butter. It does kind of all make sense . . .

So that being said, it seems that in some cases, you might “get what you pay for” when it comes to butter for baking cakes and making meringue buttercream. I can’t say that every fancy brand is perfect for baking, and every inexpensive brand is terrible, but between these two brands for my cakes it was night and day. Something to think about! And if you have any experience with this, feel free to share your story in in the comments. Let’s get to the bottom of this.

In the meantime, here’s the recipe for this happy-happy orange party cake:

Orange Party Cake with Whipped Orange Frosting

Ingredients

For the Orange Cake:

4 whole eggs, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk, at room temperature
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, strained (I like Valencia oranges)
3 cups (345 g) cake flour, sifted
2 cups (400 g) sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (19 g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (4 g) salt
3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small even pieces
Zest from 2 medium oranges

For the Orange-Vanilla Whipped Cream Filling:

2 tablespoons (30 ml) cold water
2 teaspoons (10 ml) unflavoured gelatin (such as Knox brand)
2 cups (500 ml) whipping cream (35-37% fat), cold
1/4 cup (30 g) icing/confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
Zest from 1 medium orange
Pinch of salt

For the Whipped Orange Frosting:

1 cups (227 g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
4-1/2 cups (565 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/4 cup (59 ml) whipping cream (35% heavy cream)
1/4 cup (59 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice, strained
Pinch of salt

Instructions

For the Orange Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment round and dust sides with flour.
In a medium measuring cup with a spout, lightly break up the eggs and yolks. In a separate measuring cup, combine the orange juice and milk.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With the mixer set to low speed, add the cold butter one piece at a time, about 10 seconds apart. (You can keep half in the fridge while you add the first half of butter.) Continue mixing on low speed until all of the butter has been blended and there are no clumps. Mixture should have a fine crumbly, cornmeal-like texture.
Gradually add the milk/orange juice mixture to these dry ingredients, and mix on medium speed for 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all of the ingredients are well incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the egg mixture; once the mixture has been added, increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute, but no more. Gently fold in the zest.
Divide batter evenly among the 3 prepared pans (use a kitchen scale to ensure 3 even layers--cakes should weight ~460 g each). Place two of the cake pans on a baking sheet and bake until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs but no batter, about 23 minutes. Repeat with the final layer. Let the layers cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then loosen sides with thin metal spatula or knife, and carefully turn out onto wire racks, peel of the paper liners, and let cool completely.

For the Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream Filling:

In a small stainless steel bowl, place the cold water and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring 1/3 cup of the cream just to a simmer, then stir into the gelatin mixture until the gelatin has dissolved. Refrigerate, stirring frequently, until cool but not set, about 8 minutes. (Be careful to keep your eye on it, or you'll end up with Panna Cotta!)
In a chilled stainless steel mixer bowl with a chilled whisk attachment, beat the remaining whipping cream, icing/confectioners' sugar, vanillla and salt until it thickens just slightly and soft peaks begin to form, about 1 minute. Very gradually add the gelatin mixture and continue beating until medium-firm peaks form (should be thick enough to spread). Fold in zest. Keep covered and chilled until ready to use.

For the Whipped Orange Frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (I use “4″ on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy.
Add icing sugar, whipping cream, orange juice and salt, and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy and fluffy.

Assembly of the Orange Party Cake:

Trim any dark edges or crust from cake layers with a very sharp serrated knife. Place your first cake layer, face-up, onto a cake stand, plate or 8-inch round foil cake board. Fill your pastry bag with about 1-1/2 cups of the Whipped Orange Frosting and pipe a dam around the perimeter of the cake layer (this will keep our Orange-Vanilla Whipped Cream Filling in place). Place about 1 cup of the cream filling on top of the cake layer, inside of the dam. Gently spread the filling using a small offset spatula.
Repeat until you come to your final cake layer, which you will place face-down. If you find the cake too soft and unstable, put in refrigerator for a few moments to firm it up, then resume. Use your clean offset spatula to carefully smooth the frosting so it's flat against the cake.
Cover the entire cake gently with plastic wrap (I like Press n' Seal), and then, once covered, use your hands to carefully ensure the cake is lined up straight and flattening any lumps or bumps of frosting. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Once cake is stable and chilled, apply an even layer of frosting to the entire cake, to seal in crumbs. Chill again until frosting is firm, about 30 minutes.
Place cake plate/board with cake onto a turntable, if possible. Be sure your remaining frosting is smooth and fluffy, working it with a rubber spatula for a few moments. You can even warm in microwave for a few seconds to soften it up.
Divide frosting into 4 separate small bowls. Tint 3 of them: 1 orange, 1 bright pink, 1 bright coral (pink + orange). Leave the remaining frosting un-tinted. Place cake on a turntable, if possible.
Using a small offset spatula, spread the orange frosting on the top of the cake, letting it extend about 1/2" over the edge. Using a straight medium spatula, spread a thick layer of bright pink frosting along the bottom third of the entire cake, followed by the un-tinted frosting on the middle of the cake, and the coral on the upper third of the cake. Clean your medium straight spatula and then smooth the sides of cake, slowly turning the cake turntable while holding the spatula steady. Use your small offset spatula to smooth top of cake. Top with sanding sugar and sugar blossom, if desired.
Keep cake refrigerated for up to 2 days, but serve at room temperature.

http://sweetapolita.com/2013/05/orange-party-cake-with-whipped-orange-frosting/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

Here’s my video tutorial on this frosting technique.
For this sherbet colour scheme, I used the following gel colours: Electric Pink for the bright pink, Electric Yellow + Red Red for the orange, and combined the two colours for the coral. Just a note that you’ll want to get your pink super bright, as it will fade a bit after applying to the cake. The reason I use “electric” colours when tinting frosting with an ivory tone (so pretty much anything with butter), is because I feel that the electric colours cut through the yellow better than regular colours. You just have to be careful that you don’t end up with neon frosting (however, that might not be a bad thing in some cases!).
For all of my cake decorating, I use a cake turntable–it’s definitely a must-have. I have a homemade version, but have recently started using the Ateco Revolving Cake Stand, and I love it.
I always use a Small Offset Spatula and Medium Straight Spatula when frosting a cake.
For the blossoms, I used 5-Petal Flower Cutter set, and simply cut them from thinly-rolled Gum Paste , shaping them by letting them dry in a egg carton (or you can always buy flower formers, but I have a designated egg carton for this kind of thing). Once dry I brushed on a little pink petal dust into the centre, and attached sugar pearls in the centre using a tiny dab of Clear Piping Gel.

Good luck & enjoy!

Cheesecake Party Pops

April 6, 2013 - 39 Comments

So far this “spring” seems to be party-filled in our family — cakelet birthdays, little-cousin birthdays, a baby shower and more. And it seems that, for some reason, I’ve been feeling the need to add cheesecake pops to the mix for every party I attend. I love making them because no two batches of cheesecake pops look the same — you can flavour the cheesecake any way you like (I did these chocolate banana pops for a recent sock-monkey-themed party — so fun!) and pair it with any colour scheme and decorative flags for some festive flair. Essentially you can tailor-make every batch to any event, and, just like their cute-as-can-be cousin, the original cake pop, they seem to be a crowd-pleaser wherever they go. Who doesn’t love a pretty little cakey treat on a stick?

For this batch (which was a trial run of what I’ll bring to my cakelet’s upcoming Princess birthday party), I went with a classic cheesecake flavoured with Princess Cake & Cookie Bakery Emulsion and coated them in Wilton’s Pastel Colorburst Candy Melts (here’s a progress shot). The emulsion gives the cheesecake an elevated vanilla taste with a hint of citrus, and the cheesecake base is more rich than sweet, so the super-sweet candy coating is like a blanket of happy wrapped around the creamy cheesecake. Plus, they just look so darn cute!

Speaking of so darn cute, Neve was more concerned with putting them in their own paper candy liners than eating them, which is probably a good thing. Before inserting the lollipop sticks in the cheesecake pops, I made the little pink polka dotted flags by simply wrapping a piece of washi tape (paper crafting tape) around the tops, sticking the two sides together and snipping a little decorative “v” from each one. It’s definitely a quick and easy way to instantly turn any pop into a party.

If you find your cheesecake pops looking a little lumpy and bumpy after you coat them with the candy melts, you can dunk them a second time once they set (which happens super-fast), just as you did the first round. This gives them a smoother finish, but a thicker layer of the coating, so it’s personal preference. I did two “coats” on this batch, but I probably could’ve done with just the one. There’s just something about a bowl of melted confetti-filled vanilla candy coating that makes me want to dip everything in sight. I figured it was probably my safest approach to stick with the pops. (“Honey . . . have you seen the kids?” Whoops!)

Cheesecake Party Pops are rather addicting to make and eat — I usually make them ahead of time and keep them in the freezer (not airtight, as they tend to crack that way) until needed — they keep exceptionally well, and this way it leaves me time right before a party to make the cake (and they come in handy when you need to sneak a little sugar fix from the freezer). Wrapping them up as little party favours, or even sending with your cakelets to school for class parties, is a fun way to go!

Here’s the recipe:

Cheesecake Party Pops

Yield: Approximately 3 dozen pops

Rich, creamy cheesecake rolled into individual servings on sticks and coated with vanilla candy melts.

Ingredients

For the Cheesecake:

3 250-gram bars cream cheese, softened
1 cup (200 g) sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (240 ml) sour cream
2 teaspoons (10 ml) *Princess Cake & Cookie Bakery Emulsion
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (45 g) all-purpose flour

For the Coating:

3 283-gram bags of Wilton Colorburst Pastel Candy Melts

You will also need:

Waxed paper
36 lollipop sticks (6-inch)
Washi tape (sticky paper tape aka crafting tape) of your choice for flags, optional

Instructions

Bake the Cheesecake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of an 8 or 9-inch round springform pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add eggs gradually, beating well after each addition. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl, when necessary.
Turn the mixer back on and add the sour cream, followed by the flavouring and salt. Sprinkle in the flour and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Use a rubber spatula to ensure the mixture is well combined, including the very bottom of the bowl.
Pour the batter into prepared cake pan and bake on top of a baking sheet until the centre of cake is set (not jiggly) and top just begins to brown, about 40-45 minutes. Top of cake will crack.
Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack, then chill covered loosely with plastic wrap, for at least 5 hours, or overnight if possible.

Make the Pops:

If making the flags for the pops, cut a piece of washi tape approximately 3-inches long and wrap around the top of the stick, making sure the edges line up before you press it down and adhere the two sides together. Use a sharp pair of scissors to snip a "v" shape from the end. Repeat with all of the sticks.
Remove cheesecake from refrigerator and release outer ring of springform pan. Trim any top or edge crust off using a small, sharp knife. (Ideally there are no brown pieces anywhere on the cake.) Using a tablespoon or small stainless steel cookie scoop (35 mm/1 tablespoon capacity), spoon out 1 ball at a time from the cheesecake, rolling with your hands to create a uniform ball (you will likely have to wipe your hands with a clean, damp cloth after every few) like you would a meatball, and place on waxed-paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat until your baking sheet is full and continue with a second baking sheet until you have used up all of the cheesecake.
Place 1/4 cup of the candy melts in a small microwave-safe bowl or ramekin and microwave until just melted (do not let them burn), about 20 seconds. Stir until smooth. Dip the end of each lollipop stick into the melted chocolate (about 1/2-inch) and insert straight down into the cheesecake ball about 2/3 of the way down. Repeat until you have a stick in every ball. Chill trays for at least 3 hours, or freeze for about 2 hours (but no longer -- you don't want them frozen).
Once the cheesecake pops have been well-chilled and are firm to the touch, fill a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup (I use a 1-cup glass measuring cup) with candy melts and heat in microwave until melted. Begin with microwaving for 1 minute, stir, then pop back in microwave for 20 second intervals, stirring after each one. Be careful not to burn them.
Remove one tray of the pops from the fridge/freezer and start dipping one at a time, dunking straight down then lifting straight up and out carefully. Holding the pop over the bowl, let excess coating drip back in. Place coated pop stick side up on a fresh piece of wax paper to set. Repeat until you have coated each one.

Notes

*If you can't get Princess Cake & Cookie Bakery Emulsion you can substitute it with 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice.

http://sweetapolita.com/2013/04/cheesecake-party-pops/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

I love using Princess Cake & Cookie Bakery Emulsion in place of vanilla for cheesecake (and oodles of other recipes! For my banana chocolate version I used the same cheesecake recipe, but replaced with Princess Bakery Emulsion with Banana Bakery Emulsion, coated the pops in dark chocolate melts and made little banana flags for the sticks.
You can also substitute the emulsion for pure vanilla extract and a tablespoon (15 ml) of lemon juice.
I use this 9-inch Springform Pan for the cheesecake.
You could use store-bought cheesecake, but just be sure to avoid the graham crust when rolling the balls.
I use this small Stainless Steel Scoop for making the actual cheesecake “balls.”
I used Wilton Colorburst Candy Melts for these Cheesecake Party Pops and 6-inch Lollipop Sticks.
You can make the cheesecake up to two days in advance (keep refrigerated) and the cheesecake pops up to 2 weeks in advance and keep frozen. I recommend keeping them in large plastic resealable bags closed with the exception of a small opening (so they’re not airtight). Simply pull from freezer and pop into fridge until ready to use. You could also make up to 2 days ahead if you want to simply leave them in refrigerator.
For the party flags, I used pink polka dot washi tape folded over the top of each stick and snipped a “v” out of each one. I bought mine at Michael’s, but I have also seen this pink dotted pattern of tape on Etsy. So quick and easy!

Good luck & enjoy!

Vanilla Blackberry-Mascarpone Cake for Two

February 15, 2013 - 129 Comments

So, are you still feeling the love from yesterday? Are you all stocked up on chocolate-ness? After much frolicking with the recent Vanilla Cream-Filled Double Chocolate Cake for Two (which actually became for one), I was feeling a serious need for vanilla and pastel. That, and Grant is a vanilla-man, through and through, so I thought I might make something for us to share to celebrate Valentine’s Day — something super vanilla, but made with a bit more love, a bit more going on and a whole lot of colour. This time, the colours took cue from the flavours, which I knew had to include blackberry compote and fresh blackberries. I’ve been craving this for so long, and I don’t know why I waited this long.

So colourful swirls aside, what’s going in inside this cake? It’s 4 layers of a moist and fluffy vanilla cake, filled with a vanilla mascarpone whipped cream filling and a homemade blackberry compote, fresh blackberries and frosted in a whipped vanilla frosting (on the sweeter side). I recently started using this fabulous Princess Bakery Flavor, which I use in place of vanilla extract. It imparts the most nostalgic vanilla-almond, hard-t0-describe flavour and doesn’t look flavour while baking (remember my passion for the Red Velvet emulsion from this Red Velvet & Raspberry Supreme Cake?). Now I’m finding I use it in cookies, french toast, pancakes and pretty much anything I can manage to add it to. And with all of this vanilla-ness happening in this cake, I feel that the blackberries and mascarpone whipped cream create a balance, making it a glorious eclipse of childhood nostalgia and a grown-up palate.

Sure, I do call this a “cake for two” with its bitty 5-inch diameter, but it could definitely work for three or four (if you’re into that sort of thing). I just love a dessert that you can dig right into with someone .

Kind of like this. This was the iPhone snap of the test-run of this cake I made last week — there’s just something awesome about digging right in (and here’s another 6-second looped video of me doing just that). The first time I made it I added more compote and blackberries (which is reflected in the recipe below), and that was the way to go. Bursts of blackberries and clouds of mascarpone meringue in every bite — a must.

You might notice that the whipped cream filling that I used here (minus the mascarpone) is the same recipe from the past 2 cakes I’ve posted, and some of you have written me with issues of your cream falling apart when you add the gelatin mixture. Just a note that, although it’s a fairly straight-forward recipe, it’s crucial that you add the gelatin mixture very gradually while the cream in the mixer has just reached a soft peak. If you whip the cream past this point and then add the gelatin mixture, and/or if you add the mixture too quickly, it will flop (I did this). Once you get used to it, you’ll find that this filling is an amazing cream base that can be modified and flavoured in so many ways. I love that it’s not sweet, and that it’s so cloud-like.

For the swirly colour technique (previously shared in this early post with a similar cake, Pastel Swirl Cake {Video Tutorial}), I chose to work in a dark blackberry colour, and then tied it into a pastel version of the same colour and then some minty turquoise for interest. You can certainly work with any colours you like, but I felt that this was a neat way to hint at what flavours are ready to burst inside.

I’ve included the previous video tutorial, which you might find helpful if you’re making this cake. The good news is that you really can’t go wrong, as long as you choose colours that work nicely together. If you aren’t sure what colours to work well together, you can pull ideas and inspiration from almost anything around you. Pinterest is, of course, a great place to start.

So there we go! As you can probably imagine, the colour combinations are endless for this technique, which is one of the reasons it makes me so happy — no two cakes are ever the same.

Vanilla Blackberry Mascarpone Cake via Sweetapolita

Vanilla Blackberry-Mascarpone Cake for Two

Yield: One 4-layer, 5-inch round cake

Four layers of light, moist and fluffy vanilla cake filled with blackberry compote, fresh blackberries, whipped vanilla mascarpone filling and covered in a sweet, creamy vanilla frosting.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk, at room temperature
2 egg whites (65 g), at room temperature
1 whole egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons (10 ml) *Princess Cake & Bakery Emulsion OR pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 3 tablespoons (142 g) cake flour, sifted twice
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1-1/4 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (4 g) salt
1/4 cup (57 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (28 g) vegetable shortening

For the Blackberry Compote:

2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, divided
1/2 cup (100 g) superfine sugar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) orange juice
Pinch of salt

For the Whipped Mascarpone Filling:

2 tablespoons (30 ml) cold water
2 teaspoons (10 ml) unflavoured gelatin (such as Knox brand)
1-3/4 cups (420 ml) whipping cream (35-37% fat), cold, divided
1/4 cup (30 g) icing sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese

For the Whipped Vanilla Frosting:

3 sticks + 2 tablespoons (375 g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
3.5 cups (400 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons (45 ml) milk
1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15 ml) water
Pinch of salt

You Will Also Need:

Medium or Large Pastry Bag fitted with plain round tip (a resealable Ziploc bag will do in a pinch)
Soft Gel Paste Colours of your choice
Small Offset Spatula

Instructions

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease, line with parchment, butter and flour two round 5-inch pans.
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the egg whites, egg, 2 tablespoons of the milk and emulsion (or vanilla). Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients, including the sugar, together on low speed (I use the “stir” setting on my mixer) for 30 seconds.
Add the butter and shortening, and blend on low speed for about 30 seconds, then add remaining milk, and mix on low speed until just moistened. Increase to medium speed and mix for 1-1/2 minutes.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg/milk mixture in 3 separate batches; beat on medium for 20 seconds after each addition.
Divide the batter in two, spreading it evenly with a small offset palette knife. If you have a kitchen scale, weigh the batter in the pans to ensure 2 even layers (they should each weigh about 270 g).
Bake 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes clean when inserted into the center. Be so careful to not over-bake. Check cake at 20 minutes, but not before, and once you feel it’s almost ready, set the timer for 2 minute intervals.
Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small metal spatula, and invert onto greased wire racks. Gently turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.

For the Blackberry Compote:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1-1/2 cups of the blackberries, sugar, orange juice and salt until the berries start to break down, stirring often, about 10 minutes.
Lower the heat and simmer until compote coats a spoon, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool down slightly. Using an immersion blender (carefully) or counter-top blender, pulse until smooth. Push compote through a fine mesh sieve into a clean glass bowl and discard the seeded pulp from the sieve. Stir in remaining fresh blackberries. Keep covered and chilled for up to 3 days.

For the Whipped Vanilla Mascarpone Filling:

In a small bowl, place the cold water and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring 1/3 cup of the cream just to a simmer, then stir into the gelatin mixture. Refrigerate, stirring frequently, until cool but not set, about 8 minutes.
In a chilled stainless steel bowl with a chilled whisk attachment (for stand mixer), beat the remaining whipping cream, icing sugar, vanillla and salt until it thickens just slightly and soft peaks begin to form, about 1 minute. Very gradually add the gelatin mixture and continue beating until medium-firm peaks form (should be thick enough to spread). In a large bowl, soften mascarpone and gently fold in whipped cream mixture. Keep covered and chilled until ready to use.

For the Whipped Vanilla Frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium (I use “4″ on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy.
Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy and fluffy. Separate into 3 bowls and tint with your favourite gel paste colours. Best used right away (for ideal spreading consistency).

Assembly of the Vanilla Blackberry & Mascarpone Cake for Two:

Cut your 2 cake layers each once horizontally with a long, serrated knife, so you have a total of 4 layers. Place your first cake layer, face-up, onto a small plate or cake stand (or 5-inch round foil cake board).Fill your pastry bag with about a cup of the Whipped Vanilla Frosting (un-tinted) and pipe a dam around the perimeter of the cake layer (this will keep our compote and Whipped Mascarpone Filling in place). Spoon a few tablespoons of the compote and berries inside of the dam, along with a few tablespoons of the whipped filling. Gently spread the filling using a small offset spatula.
Repeat until you come to your final cake layer, which you will place face-down. If you find the cake too soft and unstable, put in refrigerator for a few moments to firm it up, then resume. If you see any spots where the compote is peeking through or starting to ooze out (ahh!), use your piping bag to squeeze more frosting over it, between the layers. Use your clean offset spatula to carefully smooth the frosting so it's flat against the cake.
Cover the entire cake gently with plastic wrap (I like Press n' Seal), and then, once covered, use your hands to carefully ensure the cake is lined up straight and flattening any lumps or bumps of frosting. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Once cake is stable and chilled, apply an even layer of frosting to the entire cake, to seal in crumbs. Chill again until frosting is firm, about 30 minutes (at least). While the cake is chilling, you can divide remaining frosting into 4 small bowls, and tint 3 of them with your soft gel paste. Keep one bowl of frosting un-tinted.
Place cake plate/board with cake onto a turntable, if possible. Be sure your frosting is smooth and fluffy, working it with a rubber spatula for a few moments. You can even warm in microwave for a few seconds to soften it up. Apply a thick layer of your darkest colour to the bottom third of your cake, then another above it over the middle of the cake, and finally your final colour of frosting all over the top and upper third of cake. Add the un-tinted frosting in a few areas, to add interest. Using a metal spatula blend the colours together by smoothing frosting all over cake, as you would a typical one-colour cake. Be careful to not overblend. For textured effect (as in photos) you can use a small metal spatula, holding it with one hand on an angle starting at bottom of cake, keeping it fairly still, move the turntable with the other hand, slowly letting the spatula move up slightly with every turn.

Notes

*You can make the compote up to 2 days ahead. **Keep cake chilled for up to 2 days, but serve at room temperature. [blackberry compote recipe adapted from Globe & Mail]

http://sweetapolita.com/2013/02/vanilla-blackberry-mascarpone-cake-for-two/

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

I used this Princess Bakery Flavor for the vanilla cake, which is an amazing emulsion that gives the cake a vanilla-almond sort of flavour and doesn’t lose taste when baked. You can simply use vanilla if you can’t find this.
I use this MAC Knife for all of my cake layering. It’s super sharp and makes clean cake layers, ideal for building not-so-crumby layer cakes.
To achieve the colours on this cake, I started with the darkest purple, using a mix of Regal Purple, Super Red, Violet and Electric Purple. You will have to play around for a few moments, adding more and more colour — if it’s getting too drab, add quite a bit of electric purple. If it’s too blue violet, add more red. You’ll find eventually you’ll end up with this deep dark blackberry colour. Then I took about a teaspoon of the mixture and added it to one of the bowls of un-tinted frosting, creating a pastel version of the same colour. Finally, I added a drop or two of Sky Blue for the pastel minty turquoise colour.
You’ll want to keep this cake in the fridge between servings for up to two days, but it’s best served at room temperature and day 1.

Good luck & enjoy!