The Best Bread on Earth
12/13/09: Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with St. Joseph's Day Bread
Sorry for the delay in posting! The past month has been a busy one. :)
Meal details: For the main course I stewed store-bought meatballs in our homemade tomato sauce (includes tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. straight from my family's farm). Alongside the meatballs I served fresh St. Joseph's Day Bread.
Defining moments: None for this week. I specifically chose these two dishes just because I knew I would be familiar with them! I didn't want to do anything difficult this time because I knew I would be spending a good amount of time baking in the next couple of weeks.
Recipe sources: The meatballs were really a no-brainer--just tomato sauce and meatballs in a pot. :) The St. Joseph's Day Bread is a recipe I've done before and it actually came from a calendar I received last Christmas. You can find the recipe here.
What I learned: Tried to keep it simple so I believe nothing new was learned this time.
Any modifications? No.
How it tasted? Unbelievably good! ;) The bread was warm, moist and just the perfect side for the flavorful meatballs in our sauce. Thanks big sis for pushing me to do St. Joseph's Day Bread again!
How about a 2nd time? Definitely. These two work very well together.
Ah, warm St. Joseph's Day Bread straight from the oven. He had a little splitting problem but it didn't at all effect the flavor!
Don't ya worry, I'll keep up with the posting!
Sorry for the delay in posting! The past month has been a busy one. :)
Meal details: For the main course I stewed store-bought meatballs in our homemade tomato sauce (includes tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. straight from my family's farm). Alongside the meatballs I served fresh St. Joseph's Day Bread.
Defining moments: None for this week. I specifically chose these two dishes just because I knew I would be familiar with them! I didn't want to do anything difficult this time because I knew I would be spending a good amount of time baking in the next couple of weeks.
Recipe sources: The meatballs were really a no-brainer--just tomato sauce and meatballs in a pot. :) The St. Joseph's Day Bread is a recipe I've done before and it actually came from a calendar I received last Christmas. You can find the recipe here.
What I learned: Tried to keep it simple so I believe nothing new was learned this time.
Any modifications? No.
How it tasted? Unbelievably good! ;) The bread was warm, moist and just the perfect side for the flavorful meatballs in our sauce. Thanks big sis for pushing me to do St. Joseph's Day Bread again!
How about a 2nd time? Definitely. These two work very well together.
Ah, warm St. Joseph's Day Bread straight from the oven. He had a little splitting problem but it didn't at all effect the flavor!
Don't ya worry, I'll keep up with the posting!
A Cake for Mary -- Immaculate Heart Cake
12/08/09: Immaculate Heart Cake in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8)
Dessert Details: I don't often get a chance to bake/cook outside my Sunday time slot, but this week was an exception. December 8 is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and the day just had to have a cake to help celebrate. I made a three layer devils food cake that was frosted with Traditional Chocolate Buttercream, Traditional Buttercream, and a Creamy White Icing was used for the filling.
I also made this cake because Duff Goodman, the host of The Ace of the Cakes on Food Network, was the next chef in line for me. I am a member of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. Learn more about this fun challenge here.
The Creamy White Icing came from the 1950 edition of Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook. Here is the recipe:
Creamy White Icing
Ingredients:
Melt shortening and butter in saucepan. Remove from heat and blend in flour and salt. Stir milk in slowly. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Beat until right consistency to spread. Yield: 1 1/2 cups.
So bring on the cake. . .
There was a lot of carving involved when making this cake. But the scraps didn't go to waste, I placed them all into a 9" square pan and made a "crumb" cake. :) Everyone liked it!
This was my first attempt at making buttercream roses.
Dessert Details: I don't often get a chance to bake/cook outside my Sunday time slot, but this week was an exception. December 8 is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and the day just had to have a cake to help celebrate. I made a three layer devils food cake that was frosted with Traditional Chocolate Buttercream, Traditional Buttercream, and a Creamy White Icing was used for the filling.
I also made this cake because Duff Goodman, the host of The Ace of the Cakes on Food Network, was the next chef in line for me. I am a member of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. Learn more about this fun challenge here.
The Creamy White Icing came from the 1950 edition of Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook. Here is the recipe:
Creamy White Icing
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp. shortening
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 6 tbsp. milk
- 2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
- 1/3 tsp. vanilla
Melt shortening and butter in saucepan. Remove from heat and blend in flour and salt. Stir milk in slowly. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Beat until right consistency to spread. Yield: 1 1/2 cups.
So bring on the cake. . .
There was a lot of carving involved when making this cake. But the scraps didn't go to waste, I placed them all into a 9" square pan and made a "crumb" cake. :) Everyone liked it!
This was my first attempt at making buttercream roses.
Time to Enter the Lab - First Kitchen Chemistry Recipe This Week
12/06/09: Chicken a la Polly Kohen over Rice and. . . Guacamole?
Meal details: For the main course I made Chicken a la Polly Kohen which is a dish containing seared-then-baked chicken with chili sauce, pineapples, and raisins. The guacamole was a little side I made for the meal. A very strange addition to the scene, but I needed to make it for my Kitchen Chemistry class.
Defining moments: My first time doing a recipe for Kitchen Chemistry. Yay! In order to make the guacamole I needed avocados, so this was the first time I ever saw or tasted them.
Recipe sources: The chicken recipe was is from Dave Lieberman, the host of the Food Network show: Good Deal with Dave Lieberman. The recipe has such a strange name because Dave named it after his grandmother--Polly Kohen. I chose a recipe from him because I am participating in the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. Learn more about this fun challenge by clicking here. I remember watching Dave's show when it first came out, but I haven't caught it on T.V. lately. Is this show still running? Please leave a comment if you know.
The guacamole recipe came from my Kitchen Chemistry class; here it is:
Guacamole
Ingredients:
Avocados (I used two)
Small onion, finely minced
Lemon juice from a lemon
Salt to taste (about 1 tsp. to 1 tbsp.)
Instructions:
Cut open the avocados, remove the pit, scoop out the flesh and mush them up. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Add the minced onions. Add salt to taste. Add 1 teaspoon at a time and taste after mixing well. Serve with tortilla chips. Other things you can add to the guacamole are hot sauce, tomatoes, salsa, and limes instead of lemons.
What I learned: The chicken was pretty straightforward, I didn't pick up anything new along the way. Oh wait, there is one thing. Papa said he would like the chicken breasts to have an internal temperature of 175F and the drumsticks to have 190F.
The guacamole was another story. I gathered a lot of information about avocados and the reasons why their flesh turns brown, how they ripen, their history, and so on. I learned that you should never place a green avocado in the refrigerator, it will never ripen! Avocados should always be placed at room temperature to ripen, and you know they're ripe by the color of the skin (it should be black), and the way the fruit yields to pressure (if it is a bit 'squishy' you know the fruit has reached its ripe 'perfection'). To help prevent the guacamole from turning brown add lemon juice to the mix and cover the surface with plastic wrap. This method worked for me.Any modifications? Yes. I made some to the chicken recipe; here is what I did. . .
My ingredient list for Chicken a la Polly Kohen x 2; my modifications are in red:
I followed the recipe instructions precisely and I have to say that their times matched mine pretty well. And a quick side note: I used two steamer trays for the chicken.
How it tasted? The chicken was remarkably good, wasn't sure what to expect with raisins, chili sauce, and pineapple! But they all worked well together; I very nice surprise. Now I know the reasons for the rave reviews on the Food Network websites.
The guacamole also tasted good. I never thought I would have this staple dip in a millionaire years!
How about a 2nd time? Yes, I would make both dishes again.
Thanks Dave for the awesome recipe!
Meal details: For the main course I made Chicken a la Polly Kohen which is a dish containing seared-then-baked chicken with chili sauce, pineapples, and raisins. The guacamole was a little side I made for the meal. A very strange addition to the scene, but I needed to make it for my Kitchen Chemistry class.
Defining moments: My first time doing a recipe for Kitchen Chemistry. Yay! In order to make the guacamole I needed avocados, so this was the first time I ever saw or tasted them.
Recipe sources: The chicken recipe was is from Dave Lieberman, the host of the Food Network show: Good Deal with Dave Lieberman. The recipe has such a strange name because Dave named it after his grandmother--Polly Kohen. I chose a recipe from him because I am participating in the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. Learn more about this fun challenge by clicking here. I remember watching Dave's show when it first came out, but I haven't caught it on T.V. lately. Is this show still running? Please leave a comment if you know.
The guacamole recipe came from my Kitchen Chemistry class; here it is:
Guacamole
Ingredients:
Avocados (I used two)
Small onion, finely minced
Lemon juice from a lemon
Salt to taste (about 1 tsp. to 1 tbsp.)
Instructions:
Cut open the avocados, remove the pit, scoop out the flesh and mush them up. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Add the minced onions. Add salt to taste. Add 1 teaspoon at a time and taste after mixing well. Serve with tortilla chips. Other things you can add to the guacamole are hot sauce, tomatoes, salsa, and limes instead of lemons.
What I learned: The chicken was pretty straightforward, I didn't pick up anything new along the way. Oh wait, there is one thing. Papa said he would like the chicken breasts to have an internal temperature of 175F and the drumsticks to have 190F.
The guacamole was another story. I gathered a lot of information about avocados and the reasons why their flesh turns brown, how they ripen, their history, and so on. I learned that you should never place a green avocado in the refrigerator, it will never ripen! Avocados should always be placed at room temperature to ripen, and you know they're ripe by the color of the skin (it should be black), and the way the fruit yields to pressure (if it is a bit 'squishy' you know the fruit has reached its ripe 'perfection'). To help prevent the guacamole from turning brown add lemon juice to the mix and cover the surface with plastic wrap. This method worked for me.Any modifications? Yes. I made some to the chicken recipe; here is what I did. . .
My ingredient list for Chicken a la Polly Kohen x 2; my modifications are in red:
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 (3 to 4-pound) whole chicken, quartered I used 15 drumsticks and 3 breasts instead
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 small onion, medium diced
- 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 24-ounces chili sauce I used 36 oz. (three jars) of chili sauce, because we love our sauce
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup sherry
- 1/2 cup water I didn't add water, I thought the sauce was too thin. I'm glad I didn't, because the finished consistency was perfect
- 16-ounces canned pineapple chunks with half the juice from the can I used a 20 oz. can
I followed the recipe instructions precisely and I have to say that their times matched mine pretty well. And a quick side note: I used two steamer trays for the chicken.
How it tasted? The chicken was remarkably good, wasn't sure what to expect with raisins, chili sauce, and pineapple! But they all worked well together; I very nice surprise. Now I know the reasons for the rave reviews on the Food Network websites.
The guacamole also tasted good. I never thought I would have this staple dip in a millionaire years!
How about a 2nd time? Yes, I would make both dishes again.
The blue plate used above is actually the prop for my blog's header.
I love this plate!
I love this plate!
Thanks Dave for the awesome recipe!
Guacamole, aka, Yoda dip. ;)
For the Sake of Cake : Cake Decorating Fun
This past month and a half I've been looking into cake decorating because I believe it is something I could do for fun and I so do LOVE cake. :) I'm going to write down here what I've learned and discovered so far and maybe someone who is reading this may pick up a few ideas, too.
What Type of Cake Should I Make? : At the beginning I needed to decide on what I should learn first, so I asked my siblings what they thought was the prettiest and most appetizing cake they have seen. They all agreed that simple piping was theirs. I wanted to make sure I added appetizing as an adjective because I didn't want to scare away my eaters! A lot of the cakes I see featured on The Ace of Cakes (Food Network) and The Cake Boss (TLC) are nice to look at, but I have a hard time picturing myself eating one. Sorry Duff and Buddy! I like the look of simple piping and both dainty and elaborate flowers, so I decided to learn these two techniques first.
Decorating Supplies : Before this past November there was really no cake decorating supplies in the house. Not one single pastry bag to be found! So my parents bought me some supplies (isn't that so nice of them?) from BakersNook.com. Here are the supplies I selected and my thoughts on each:
3 pastry bags, Ateco brand - a 10" polyurethane version, a 12" plastic coated canvas one, and a 16" 'Flex.' The 10" bag is kind of slippery when piping but it is the easiest one to clean. The 12" bag is a lot easier to pipe with and it fits in my hand nicely; isn't easy to clean because the canvas is stiff. I haven't tried out the 'Flex' bag but I'm thinking it will be the easiest to use and clean, just by the looks of it. It also has a handy loop for hanging.
7 different piping tips, Wilton brand - Basketweave 47, Drop Flower 1B, Open Star 18, Petal 104, Round 12, Round 3, and Round 6. I tried all of these out except for the Drop Flower. All of them are easy to use and you can place them in the dishwasher. Very nice! I don't think I would change my tip set except to add a larger Open Star. The Petal 104 is my favorite tip because it allows me to make flower petals; can't live without it.
Coupler with Rings, CK brand - A coupler is a plastic object that has threads (like a screw) that you insert in the pastry bag before adding the frosting. You then place your piping tip on top of the coupler from the outside of the bag, and screw it in place using a coupler ring. This allows me to interchange piping tips without emptying the bag's contents.
13" Offset Spatula, Ateco brand - I selected this item to help me spread the frosting on the cake and to load the pastry bag. It is heavy-duty and well made.
Clear Imitation Butter Flavoring, 4 oz, CK brand - This butter flavoring comes in use when I make a buttercream entirely out of shortening. I would use 100% shortening when I make a frosting that is pure white. I just recently used this product in my buttercream and it tastes just like butter!
Liquid Glucose, 16 oz., CK brand - Used in making ready to roll fondant. Haven't used this yet.
Glycerin, Wilton brand - Used in making fondant.
Meringue Powder, 4 oz., Baker's Nook product - Commonly used in royal icing but I also found it to be a great addition to buttercream. It stabilizes the frosting.
Tylose Gum Paste Powder, CK brand - Used in making gum paste. Haven't used this yet.
Flower Nail No. 7, Wilton brand - A handy tool when making buttercream roses and other flowers. Here is a picture of the flower nail sitting next to the tip that makes rose petals:
I really can't just take a look at a cake recipe and know then and there what it will be like. But I am doing a course in kitchen chemistry for school so maybe I will have that skill soon. I am definitely looking forward to that! :)
Finding the Right Frosting Recipe : I knew from the start that I wanted to make all my frosting and other cake 'mediums' (i.e. fondant, gum paste, etc.), from scratch so I began searching for the perfect recipes. Here is what I found:
Traditional Buttercream (TB) from DesignMeACake.com - I came across this recipe by searching on YouTube. The cake decorator, Edna, is very talented and I enjoy her videos a lot. I've made this buttercream two times so far and it has been the silkiest buttercream I've tasted, even after 2 days in the refrigerator. It doesn't crust up as fast as some other buttercreams I've tried; that is always nice when spending a long time piping.
Made any modifications to this recipe? No, I followed it exactly. But I did notice a typo in the ingredient section (merengue should be meringue) and the recipe author forgot to mention the meringue powder in the instructions. You should add the meringue to the powdered sugar.
Storing time: Can be stored up to 2 weeks in fridge.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMB) from DyannBakes.com - This is a cooked buttercream that uses egg whites. It is not as sweet as the TB and my family likes it that way. I also found this recipe on YouTube and it is very easy to make. It uses a lot more butter than the recipe above, but it uses less sugar.
Made any modifications to this recipe? Yes. The creator of this recipe said to cook the egg whites and sugar until they reach 140 F or until the sugar has dissolved. I've learned from different sources that the egg whites are not cooked until the temperature of 160 F. I decided to do 160 degrees to play it safe.
Storing time: It can stored in the fridge for up to one week.
I found other recipes for fondant, gum paste, and royal icing and will post about them as soon as I try them out.
Baking the Cake - What is the Best Way to Grease My Cake Pan? : For a couple years now I've always greased my cake pans using a butter flavored vegetable spray. Why? Because I grease everything else this way (bread bowls, muffin pans. . . You name it, I sprayed it), and it is the easiest way I can think of. The cake comes out easily sometimes but those other times can prove to be very frustrating. Annemarie told me that the traditional butter and flour method works the best. So the last time I made a cake--which required three layers of a devil's food--I tried three different methods. One, butter and flour; two, butter and coco powder; and three, parchment paper on the bottom with butter and flour on the sides. And the conclusion was. . . the parchment paper cake slid right out like it was no one's business! :) Next in the performance line was the butter and flour, it came out cleanly but only after some beating. Unfortunately, the butter and coco died a miserable death. Live and learn.
Baking the Cake - Removing the Cake from the Oven : As soon as the cake is ready (a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake), I take it out of the oven and transfer it to a wire rack. A wire rack allows air underneath the cake pan so the pans cools down faster. I let the cake sit in its pan for ten minutes before I remove it from the pan. I take a knife, run it along the cake's perimeter, place another wire rack on top of the cake, invert the cake while still holding the rack, give the pan's bottom a few taps with the knife handle, and if I played my cards right, the cake usually slips right out. I let the cake sit on the rack for another ten minutes then I invert it to its upright position. This is to help prevent the cake from splitting because the bottom of the cake is sturdier than the top.
Storing the Cake Before it is Decorated : After the cake is cool to the touch, I wrap it up in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. What really works well for me is baking the cake the evening before the day of decorating, this gives me a lot more time and a nice chilled cake.
Getting Ready to Decorate : I like to move my chilled cake to a cake board and then move it to my cake plate, and frost it there. After the cake is frosted I move the cake off the plate, clean the plate from my frosting "oopsy" moments, then transfer the cake back onto the plate by slipping a long spatula under the cake to lift it off the cake board.
So what is a cake board, and what is it made of? It is usually made of cardboard with a wax coating. Instead of purchasing one I made my own using two rounds of medium weight cardboard covered with non-stick aluminum foil. It works very well and best of all: it's free!
Decorating the Cake : The first time I piped with buttercream I noticed that it was getting runny and my piping was getting very sloppy. I learned that the frosting was melting because of the heat of my hands so I placed the bag in the refrigerator for a couple minutes. That is why it is so helpful to alternate between two piping bags, one can be kept in the fridge while the other is in use.
When filling a pastry bag with frosting sometimes the frosting ends up on the outside. You can prevent this by folding over the edge about two inches, picking up a bit of frosting on the end of a spatula, and inserting the frosting as near to the piping tip as possible. And when you are piping, you should always give the bag a quick twist to stop the frosting from coming up to the top of the bag.
There are so many other things to talk about when it comes to cake! I hope to write up another post on the oh-so-yummy topic soon!
What Type of Cake Should I Make? : At the beginning I needed to decide on what I should learn first, so I asked my siblings what they thought was the prettiest and most appetizing cake they have seen. They all agreed that simple piping was theirs. I wanted to make sure I added appetizing as an adjective because I didn't want to scare away my eaters! A lot of the cakes I see featured on The Ace of Cakes (Food Network) and The Cake Boss (TLC) are nice to look at, but I have a hard time picturing myself eating one. Sorry Duff and Buddy! I like the look of simple piping and both dainty and elaborate flowers, so I decided to learn these two techniques first.
Decorating Supplies : Before this past November there was really no cake decorating supplies in the house. Not one single pastry bag to be found! So my parents bought me some supplies (isn't that so nice of them?) from BakersNook.com. Here are the supplies I selected and my thoughts on each:
3 pastry bags, Ateco brand - a 10" polyurethane version, a 12" plastic coated canvas one, and a 16" 'Flex.' The 10" bag is kind of slippery when piping but it is the easiest one to clean. The 12" bag is a lot easier to pipe with and it fits in my hand nicely; isn't easy to clean because the canvas is stiff. I haven't tried out the 'Flex' bag but I'm thinking it will be the easiest to use and clean, just by the looks of it. It also has a handy loop for hanging.
7 different piping tips, Wilton brand - Basketweave 47, Drop Flower 1B, Open Star 18, Petal 104, Round 12, Round 3, and Round 6. I tried all of these out except for the Drop Flower. All of them are easy to use and you can place them in the dishwasher. Very nice! I don't think I would change my tip set except to add a larger Open Star. The Petal 104 is my favorite tip because it allows me to make flower petals; can't live without it.
Coupler with Rings, CK brand - A coupler is a plastic object that has threads (like a screw) that you insert in the pastry bag before adding the frosting. You then place your piping tip on top of the coupler from the outside of the bag, and screw it in place using a coupler ring. This allows me to interchange piping tips without emptying the bag's contents.
13" Offset Spatula, Ateco brand - I selected this item to help me spread the frosting on the cake and to load the pastry bag. It is heavy-duty and well made.
Clear Imitation Butter Flavoring, 4 oz, CK brand - This butter flavoring comes in use when I make a buttercream entirely out of shortening. I would use 100% shortening when I make a frosting that is pure white. I just recently used this product in my buttercream and it tastes just like butter!
Liquid Glucose, 16 oz., CK brand - Used in making ready to roll fondant. Haven't used this yet.
Glycerin, Wilton brand - Used in making fondant.
Meringue Powder, 4 oz., Baker's Nook product - Commonly used in royal icing but I also found it to be a great addition to buttercream. It stabilizes the frosting.
Tylose Gum Paste Powder, CK brand - Used in making gum paste. Haven't used this yet.
Flower Nail No. 7, Wilton brand - A handy tool when making buttercream roses and other flowers. Here is a picture of the flower nail sitting next to the tip that makes rose petals:
Here is my review of Baker's Nook:
- Selection? Baker's Nook has a very large selection of supplies for not just cake decorating but also for candy making, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and lots of other yummy confections.
- Prices? Before deciding on purchasing from Baker's Nook, I wanted to compare their prices with some other cake supply websites. I couldn't find any other website that offered such prices and selection as Baker's Nook does--and believe me, I looked! ;)
- Customer Service? I emailed Baker's Nook once about a product's country of origin and they replied in less than a day and gave me the necessary info. Their website also includes a very handy chat feature which I used a lot before ordering.
- Ordering experience? My parents ordered for me. Had a bit of a hassle checking out (the first attempt failed). Would only give them 2 stars for ordering experience this first time.
I really can't just take a look at a cake recipe and know then and there what it will be like. But I am doing a course in kitchen chemistry for school so maybe I will have that skill soon. I am definitely looking forward to that! :)
Finding the Right Frosting Recipe : I knew from the start that I wanted to make all my frosting and other cake 'mediums' (i.e. fondant, gum paste, etc.), from scratch so I began searching for the perfect recipes. Here is what I found:
Traditional Buttercream (TB) from DesignMeACake.com - I came across this recipe by searching on YouTube. The cake decorator, Edna, is very talented and I enjoy her videos a lot. I've made this buttercream two times so far and it has been the silkiest buttercream I've tasted, even after 2 days in the refrigerator. It doesn't crust up as fast as some other buttercreams I've tried; that is always nice when spending a long time piping.
Made any modifications to this recipe? No, I followed it exactly. But I did notice a typo in the ingredient section (merengue should be meringue) and the recipe author forgot to mention the meringue powder in the instructions. You should add the meringue to the powdered sugar.
Storing time: Can be stored up to 2 weeks in fridge.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMB) from DyannBakes.com - This is a cooked buttercream that uses egg whites. It is not as sweet as the TB and my family likes it that way. I also found this recipe on YouTube and it is very easy to make. It uses a lot more butter than the recipe above, but it uses less sugar.
Made any modifications to this recipe? Yes. The creator of this recipe said to cook the egg whites and sugar until they reach 140 F or until the sugar has dissolved. I've learned from different sources that the egg whites are not cooked until the temperature of 160 F. I decided to do 160 degrees to play it safe.
Storing time: It can stored in the fridge for up to one week.
I found other recipes for fondant, gum paste, and royal icing and will post about them as soon as I try them out.
Baking the Cake - What is the Best Way to Grease My Cake Pan? : For a couple years now I've always greased my cake pans using a butter flavored vegetable spray. Why? Because I grease everything else this way (bread bowls, muffin pans. . . You name it, I sprayed it), and it is the easiest way I can think of. The cake comes out easily sometimes but those other times can prove to be very frustrating. Annemarie told me that the traditional butter and flour method works the best. So the last time I made a cake--which required three layers of a devil's food--I tried three different methods. One, butter and flour; two, butter and coco powder; and three, parchment paper on the bottom with butter and flour on the sides. And the conclusion was. . . the parchment paper cake slid right out like it was no one's business! :) Next in the performance line was the butter and flour, it came out cleanly but only after some beating. Unfortunately, the butter and coco died a miserable death. Live and learn.
Baking the Cake - Removing the Cake from the Oven : As soon as the cake is ready (a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake), I take it out of the oven and transfer it to a wire rack. A wire rack allows air underneath the cake pan so the pans cools down faster. I let the cake sit in its pan for ten minutes before I remove it from the pan. I take a knife, run it along the cake's perimeter, place another wire rack on top of the cake, invert the cake while still holding the rack, give the pan's bottom a few taps with the knife handle, and if I played my cards right, the cake usually slips right out. I let the cake sit on the rack for another ten minutes then I invert it to its upright position. This is to help prevent the cake from splitting because the bottom of the cake is sturdier than the top.
Storing the Cake Before it is Decorated : After the cake is cool to the touch, I wrap it up in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. What really works well for me is baking the cake the evening before the day of decorating, this gives me a lot more time and a nice chilled cake.
Getting Ready to Decorate : I like to move my chilled cake to a cake board and then move it to my cake plate, and frost it there. After the cake is frosted I move the cake off the plate, clean the plate from my frosting "oopsy" moments, then transfer the cake back onto the plate by slipping a long spatula under the cake to lift it off the cake board.
So what is a cake board, and what is it made of? It is usually made of cardboard with a wax coating. Instead of purchasing one I made my own using two rounds of medium weight cardboard covered with non-stick aluminum foil. It works very well and best of all: it's free!
Decorating the Cake : The first time I piped with buttercream I noticed that it was getting runny and my piping was getting very sloppy. I learned that the frosting was melting because of the heat of my hands so I placed the bag in the refrigerator for a couple minutes. That is why it is so helpful to alternate between two piping bags, one can be kept in the fridge while the other is in use.
When filling a pastry bag with frosting sometimes the frosting ends up on the outside. You can prevent this by folding over the edge about two inches, picking up a bit of frosting on the end of a spatula, and inserting the frosting as near to the piping tip as possible. And when you are piping, you should always give the bag a quick twist to stop the frosting from coming up to the top of the bag.
There are so many other things to talk about when it comes to cake! I hope to write up another post on the oh-so-yummy topic soon!
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