Two Spoonfuls: Wilton II

I'm not going to pass on any great and helpful information this week, I'm just going to tell you some more about my cake decorating odyssey. I just finished Wilton Cake Decorating Course II! Yay! Bring on the fondant! haha

During course II we spent a lot of time making various flowers for our final cake. Remember my last Two Spoonfuls post about Royal Icing? We also learned how to do a basket weave pattern. (I confess, I've learned this before and I prefer the previous method. But hey, whatever works, right?)

Here's how it starts. Lots of marks and toothpicks go into a basket weave. It's actually pretty easy, just very time consuming!

After the basket weave, I added a rope border. The best part about borders is that they cover up the ugly, messy edges of the cake. Nice!

Next comes the fun part. We started by placing the bluebirds and a few of the bigger flowers. From there it's just pure fun. I have a tendency to make my colors very pale. My classmates' cakes were much bolder.


I think I should have made more than one orange flower, but it works.

Here's the final cake in all it's glory. Now we need to eat it! Anyone want to stop by for a little cake & frosting? Maybe we'll use it to celebrate the break in the heat wave we've been having this week. Blech!

Next week I get a break and then I start Course III. We'll be delving into the world of fondant. I'm told that if you make your own, with marshmallows, it actually can taste good. I'll let you know.

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How about a little more cake fun? Here are some links to some great cake related sites:

Wilton (of course)
Layer Cake Shop - Really fun cake decorating supplies on Etsy
Joy of Baking - Recipes
Cake Decorating 101 - A cool Flickr group with lots of photos
How to Eat a Cupcake - A cupcake Blog!!

Let's see if Jenn's got something to serve with my cake...

Two Spoonfuls: Cake Decorating!

Welcome back! I realize I haven't been blogging much lately, and I apologize. I just don't think I've had much to say. I've been super busy trying to get the house in order, making things for my shops and taking a cake decorating class. I've always wanted to learn how to decorate cakes so I'm finally doing it. I've just finished the first course of the Wilton Method at my local JoAnn store. It was a nice, small group and the instructor is great.

So, as you may have guessed already, I'm going to talk about cake this week. I've had to make two cakes for this class and both times I used a cake mix. Yeah, I know, that's just the way it goes. With all the buttercream I've had to make lately, I really don't have time for a cake from scratch. This week I went with a yellow cake mix from Pillsbury. It is delicious, FYI (and only cost $1.25).

If you have a stand mixer, you know about the gunk that gets stuck at the bottom of the bowl. When my sister told me about the Beater Blade she got at Crate & Barrel, I had to get one for myself. I'm hooked! It works. Get one. NOW!!

See that? It scrapes the bowl and gets to the bottom. I love it. Thanks for the tip, Veronica.

I got some nice new cake pans at Williams Sonoma recently too. They work like a dream. I made two layers for my cake and trimmed the top with one of these. It's quite a handy little gadget. Did you know you're supposed to decorate the bottom of the cake? Makes sense, doesn't it?

For class, I had to arrive with a stack of different colored buttercream in several consistancies. I've gone through four pounds of powdered sugar in two weeks. yikes! Here's how my cake looked when I left the house. A little bland.

Here's how it looked when I got home. I had mixed up some aqua buttercream, but it was just too bold to go with the pale pink. I'm pretty happy with the look of my cake. I've now graduated Course One, on to Course Two!

The cake is yummy but I had to send most of it to work with Nick. We just can't be left alone with a whole cake or we'll eat it. haha Next week I start another course. I think it's all about making flowers with royal icing. I can't wait!

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I think Jenn's been baking too, let's see what she's got going.

Two Spoonfuls: Sandwich Cookie Cake

Jenn and I decided that this week we're going to mix things up (no pun intended) and try something new. I told her about this cool cake pan set I'd seen at Williams Sonoma and she suggested we do a little product review. So, I went and picked up my new Sandwich Cookie Cake Pan Set. I decided to go with the recipe on the box for a chocolate cake and quick buttercream frosting (my favorite!).

The cake pan set is basically two identical round pans that are shaped like those chocolate sandwich cookies in the blue wrapper that we all know about, but it says "cookie" instead of something else. Get it? They're really nice pans, as fun shaped pans from Williams Sonoma usually are. Remember, I've got this one and a really nice mini bundt pan too. I love fun cake pans!

The instructions say to use a pastry brush to grease the pans with shortening or softened butter, then dust thoroughly with cocoa powder. Well, I don't have a pastry brush, so I used a paintbrush. I also went with Alton Brown's magic flour and shortening mix to grease my pan. I figure it's the same as greasing and dusting (and that's what Alton says). I should have still dusted the pans with cocoa, I forgot that step. oops



So, the cake recipe is pretty straight forward, though the batter was REALLY thick. That seems weird when you're supposed to pour it into a pan with all sorts of little crevices and such. You can see how thick it was in the photo, look at the peaks! I'll admit, I forgot to tap the pans on the counter to release some of the air bubbles. I don't think it would have made a huge difference because of the thick batter. oops, again

I put each layer in it's own oven (my new house has a double oven...a very small double oven, but double none-the-less). While the cakes were baking, I made the quick buttercream. It was, in fact, quick, and also incredibly good. I could have eaten the whole batch. Sooo good. That recipe's a keeper for sure.

I already know from only a few uses that my oven tends to run a little hotter than it says, so I set it 5 degrees cooler. I still totally burned the cake in the lower oven. Did I mention what a rubbish baker I am? I always check things about 5 minutes early, but for some reason I didn't do that this time. I should know better when using an oven that I haven't developed a relationship with yet. Anyway, both cakes were overdone, but this one was really bad.

Neither one came out nice as far as the pattern from the pan either. They both had a lot of air bubbles, I think this was from the major thickness of the batter, rather than operator error. I tossed the crispy layer and still frosted one. It was pretty much a brownie with buttercream. Okay, but not great. So, I decided to give it another shot.


Plan B: Betty Crocker to the Rescue!

I was curious about how a store bought cake mix would fit in these pans, so I gave it a shot. I know using a cake mix isn't as cool as handmade, but hey, this cake took me about 10 minutes to make. 3 ingredients!!

I baked them on one level in the same oven this time. I watched the thermometer and it fluctuated up & down throughout the process by about 20 degrees in either direction. Not good. (I can't wait for my new convection oven to arrive).

This one, like the other, had the most issues in the "cookie" area, but otherwise came out pretty clean. I went with cooking spray this time too, just to try another greasing method.

Luckily, that buttercream recipe makes about a ton of the stuff, so there was plenty for the second cake.

This cake was lighter in color, but that's because I chose to use a milk chocolate cake mix. A devil's food or dark chocolate cake would likely mimic the look of the sandwich chookie a little better. The cake mix method seemed to fill the pans just fine, but I did end up trimming off a bit to flatten out the layers. Anyway, it's delicious! Anyone want to come over and help us eat it?

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Note to Self:

1. Remember to tap the pan to release air bubbles when using funny shaped pans.
2. Betty Crocker is awesome!
3. Get a pastry brush that's not silicone so it'll work on those little crvices.
4. Always test the cake early, especially in a bad oven that you aren't familiar with.


5. More buttercream! Slather it on, don't be shy.

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Hey Jenn, what's cookin' at your house? Any leftovers?

Two Spoonfuls: The Egg Foam Method

We're back! I've pretty much unpacked what I can in my new kitchen so it's time to get back to cooking. This week I'm back with Alton, tackling the Egg Foam Method. I won't try to explain this one to you because I just don't understand it, too much scientific mumo-jumbo for me. It's all about bubbles, that much I know.

This section of I'm Just Her for More Food is full of recipes for things we wouldn't eat in my house, so I decided to go with the Spiced Angel Food Cake. (Nick doesn't really care for Angel Food Cake, but I knew he'd eat it if there was any cake around).

I should have taken more notice of the bad mojo when I first decided to go with this recipe. First of all, I couldn't find my angel food cake pan. Once I did, I discovered it was kind of gross and needed to be replaced. I got this new one for 50% off at Michael's. It's all clean & new. Check!

I read through my ingredients list to make sure I had what I needed. Check! Then I went to make the cake and found that I didn't have what I needed after all...run to the store and get Cream of Tartar...and more eggs (you need 12!). Check!

Once I got started with the process, I then discovered that I'd donated the wrong whisk attachments for the hand mixer I kept....run to the store for new hand mixer. (Alton says to beat the egg whites with a hand mixer so you don't miss anything at the bottom of the bowl). Check!

Next, I whipped my eggs to a foam, added my cream of tartar and then whipped the heck out of those eggs till I got "medium" peaks. I added the sugar...the cake flour & spices...folded it in. Check!

Next I poured my batter into the pan to bake. Here's where it went really wrong. Batter goes in, batter comes out. I had the lovliest pool of goo on my counter at this point. Obviously I didn't whip the eggs enough, or I bought a bad pan, or I'm just not capable of baking an agel food cake from scratch (this is the likely answer).

Here's where the whole thing went into the sink and down the drain. What a comedy of errors this cake was. Why didn't I read the signs and just make something else?!?!

Thank goodness for the grocery store taste test cake that I had in the fridge. At least we didn't have to go without cake after this DISASTER!

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Help for next time:
Baking 911 - Tips for baking an Angel Food Cake
The Prepared Pantry - How to Bake an Angel Food Cake from a Recipe
Recipe - Espresso Chocolate-Chip Angel Food Cake

maybe next time

I guarantee Jenn had better luck than I did, let's go see.

Two Spoonfuls: Cincinnati Chili

This week I went for something that will last. Nick and I are less than a week away from moving so cooking is the last thing on my mind. I caught a few minutes of Cook's Country on TV last weekend & saw them make this recipe. It looked easy, tasty and also like it might last for a few meals. Perfect! Also, I've never made chili without browning the meat first so it was a new thing to try.

"What's is Cincinnati Chili?", you ask. Well, I did a little research and found that it's just a regional version of chili that usually doesn't have beans and includes a different blend of spices than the chili we're used to. The first big difference is cinnamon. Yes, cinnamon, and you can really taste it. This recipe has a very bold, and different, flavor to it. Here, you try it...




Cincinnati Chili
(according to Cook's Country TV)

1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2 Onions, chopped fine (leave out a little to sprinkle on top)
1 Clove of Garlic, minced
2 Tbs tomato Paste
2 Tbs Chili Powder
1 Tbs Dried Oregano (I already packed mine, so I used cilantro)
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
Salt
3/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Allspice
2 Cups Low-Sodium Chicken Broth (yes, chicken broth)
2 Cups Tomato Sauce
2 Tbs Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Dark Brown Sugar
1 1/2 pounds 85% Lean Ground Beef

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook onions until soft and browned around edges, about 8-10 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, oregano, cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, pepper and allspice and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Stir in chicken broth, tomato sauce, vinegar and sugar.


My actual Dutch Oven is already in a box somewhere, but a big stockpot works fine too. Some people even say it's the same thing.

2. Add beef and stir to break up meat. (On the TV show they broke up the meat with a potato masher, this worked really well. I used the kind with slots rather than a big open wire one.) Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chili is deep brown and slightly thickened, 15-20 minutes.


That's it! Easy, no? It is a very fragrant chili, that's for sure. The taste is totally different from our usual chili, but it's good. If I make it again though, I think I'll use a bit less cinnamon. It was a little too much for me. Otherwise it's great!


Traditionally, Cincinnati Chili is served over pasta. Apparently the locals order it like you'd order your Starbucks. We had Four-Way chili, served over pasta and topped with cheese and onions. To have Five-Way chili, add beans on top too. Yummy!

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A Little About the Dutch Oven:

"A Dutch oven is a thick-walled iron (usually cast iron) cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid." - Wikipedia

-In France, and at Le Creuset, they call it a "French Oven", of course.

That's the one I have, in the middle photo (thanks Amanda!). You can use it on the cooktop and then put it in the oven. I made a roast for Christmas in mine. It's a very handy pot.

Dutch ovens have been around for a long time, the American colonists loved them. The camping version often has a wire handle and little feet to keep it off the coals. Lodge Cast Iron has been going strong since 1896.

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For this recipe, technically, I didn't use a Dutch oven and I think it worked out fine. If you'd like to see more from Cook's Country TV, pop over and see the website. You need to register to download recipes, but it's free.

Now, I want to see what Jenn's doing. I think she may be using a Dutch oven this week too.

Two Spoonfuls: Oreos

Okay, so you all know by now that I'm packing up my house to move to Washington (in 3 weeks!), so I'm gonna cheat a little this week. I should be working on "The Straight Dough Method" according to our friend Alton Brown. I just couldn't find the time to not only read through the 54 page chapter, but to bake bread as well. Sorry. Instead, I'm going to summon up my previously learned Alton Brown skills and make homemade Oreos, hooray!!

I found this recipe on a blog I like to read called The Cupcake Project. The writer of The Cupcake Project got the recipe from Laurie of Heaven is Chocolate, Cheese, and Carbs. Laurie got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who got the recipe from the book Retro Desserts by Wayne Brachman, and you're getting it from me! Now that's passing it on, eh?


Homemade Oreo Cookies

The Chocolate Wafers

• 1 1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup sugar
• 1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
• 1 large egg

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar.
2. Beat in the butter and the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough into circles, or use a cookie cutter to shape.
   
4. Bake for 9 minutes at 375 F. Set on a rack to cool.

I used a fluted cutter for my cookies, but when they were done the shape had all but disappeared. Plain old circles would be better for me next time.


The Filling

• 1/4 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar (I tossed mine in the food processor instead of sifting
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.

2. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

3. To make a cookie, pipe teaspoon-sized blobs of cream into the center of a cookie using a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch round tip. (I just used a spoonful)
4. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie, being careful not to break the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

These cookies were really yummy and super fun to make. I took a few of them with me on a trip to Seattle and our real estate agent gave them 2 thumbs up.

If you'd still like to know about Alton Brown's Straight Dough Method (that I didn't tell you about today), you can watch a great episode of Good Eats here:
Part 1
Part 2
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Fun Stuff


~ Interested in some more retro recipes? Check out this book, it's on my Wish List.

~The history of the Oreo Cookie

~ How to Properly Dunk an Oreo Cookie

~ Oreo Recipes from NabiscoWorld.com

~ A pattern to make your own felt Oreo

~ Want to tease the kids? How about some Oreo soap?

I'm pretty hungry now, let's see what Jenn's cooking....

Two Spoonfuls: The Creaming Method

Hey there, I'm back this week with Alton Brown to tell you about The Creaming Method (you'll remember that I've been working my way through "I'm Just Here for More Food"). This method refers to that wonderfully vague phrase you see in tons of recipes, "cream until light and fluffy". This is one of those phrases that always gets me a little nervous. What exactly does that mean, "light and fluffy"? hmmm? Well, Alton is here to help us out. In a nutshell, here's how it goes:

• Measure all ingredients. Fats should be "pliable but solid". You want soft butter, no signs of melting.
• Combine dry ingredients (except sugar) and give them a whirl in the food processor.
• Beat eggs together along with any extracts.
• Using your stand mixer on medium with the paddle attachment, mix the fats a bit to spread them around the bowl. Then, slowly add the sugar and beat until the mixture lightens in color and increases slightly in volume.
• Reduce speed to stir and add the egg mixture, slowly. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed.
• Add dry ingredients in 3 installments, alternating with liquids. Ending with the liquid will give you a smoother batter.
• stir in any chocolate chips or nuts etc.
• Bake

So, that's the basic method. I learned quite a few little tidbits in this chapter. First, Alton went through some great ways to prepare your pan for baking.

I whipped up a batch of AB's Kustom Kitchen Lube before I got started on my Chocolate Pound Cake. It's just a blend of flour and shortening that can be used to grease baking pans. No more grease and flour for me. Yay! Thanks, Alton.

Alton suggests mixing the eggs together first when baking, "so that the water in the egg whites can hook up with the emulsifiers in the yolks". They'll absorb faster into the batter.

I'm a slave to the food processor now, I love to use it in place of sifting. I don't miss that kitchen gadget one bit. All of my dry ingredients went for a spin together.

I followed Alton's recipe for Chocolate Pound Cake. Nick gave it two thumbs up, for me it was just okay. I think I expected it to be a little sweeter (3 cups of sugar!) and a little more chocolatey. I'm not a great baker though, I probably did something wrong. Anyway, it's good and there's a ton of it. Ayone want to come over for a sample?
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Want to try a pound cake recipe?

• Chocolate Pound Cake from Food Network
  
• Deep Fried Chocolate Pound Cake
• Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake with Maple-Espresso Glaze!!

What is a pound cake?
Check out what Wikipedia has to say about it.

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Something tells me that Jenn is making something that might not go with my cake, let's see what she's up to.

Two Spoonfuls: Marshmallows

Have you ever thought of making your own marshmallows? (Add them to the list of things that intimidate me, but now I know how easy it is!) Jenn and I decided that this week we're going to make the same food using different recipes.

My recipe came from a cookbook called: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. It's full of very decadent recipes for all sorts of desserts. The marshmallows were my second recipe attempt from this book.

Homemade marshmallows are mainly made of sugar & corn syrup, but you also need a little water, some gelatin, vanilla and salt. The candy thermometer is a must! I've had it on my shopping list for a long time but finally got one for my marshmallow experience. (I got mine at Target for about $10.)

All you do is add water to the gelatin and let it set.
Heat some water, sugar, corn syrup and salt until the sugar dissloves, then let it slowly boil until it reaches 240 degrees F. Pretty easy, no?


Next you add the hot liquid sugars to your mixer bowl with the gelatin in the bottom. Turn it on and let it go for 15 minutes. It's amazing how much it changes. It sort of smells at first, but soon turns white and fluffy. Really fluffy...and really sticky. I tried very hard not to mess with it too much once it was done. Boy is that stuff sticky.

Scoop it into a pan, spread it out, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar & let it sit. I've found all sorts of recipes online and they all say different things about how long to let your marshmallows set. My recipe said 8-12 hours, I waited about 10. I followed Jenn's tip and cut them with a smooth knife, not serrated. It worked fine, and a longer blade was best. I rolled them in powdered sugar and that was it.

This recipe was super easy, and very tasty too. They are surprisingly light and not as sticky as I expected. I made an extra effort to coat all sides with powdered sugar when I cut them, I think that helped.

They look great in a cup of cocoa, don't you think? I get my cocoa at Trader Joe's, it's Fair Trade and good too.

Wasn't it lucky that Nick and I had a Seattle trip planned? Jenn and I were able to conduct a very scientific taste comparison test. haha (They tasted the same.)

Next time I want to try adding some flavor, or maybe make them pink!

Now, let's drop in at Jenn's kitchen & see how her sticky experience went.

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If you'd like to try making your own homemade marshmallows, check out some of these cool recipes:

• Alton Brown's Marshmallow Recipe
• Corn Syrup-Free Marshmallows
• Spicy Hot Cinnamon Marshmallows
• Homemade Flavored Marshmallows (with photos)
  
• A Kid-friendly recipe using flavored Jell-O instead of gelatin

Enjoy!