Owl Cake

Friday, April 3, 2009

I love cake and everything about it!  "Cake just makes people happy!"  It sure does me!

This cake is the first cake I made in cake decorating class. I made an owl cake because owls and cake are a few of my favorite things! The cake is a yellow cake with all butter, butter cream frosting...Some bakeries sell frosting shots ...I can see why!

Butter Cream Frosting

1 ½ Cups Salted Butter at room temperature
2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
6 Cups Sifted Confectioners’ sugar
2-8 Tablespoons milk, depending on desired consistency

Cream butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerate in an airtight container. Re-whip before using. Store frosted cake in refrigerator. Remove cake from refrigerator an hour or more before serving or until cake is close to room temperature.

February Daring Bakers' Challenge: Flourless Chocolate Valentino Cake

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan

This is a Flourless Chocolate Valentino for my Valentine.  I made it gluten-free and dairy-free by replacing the butter with Earth Balance Soy-free Margarine. I used Callebaut (54% cocoa) semisweet chocolate. I dusted the top with powdered sugar using a doily I had of my grandmother's to make a design. Thanks Grammie! And thanks Mom for the pretty plate for Valentine's day.

To go with the cake, I made a Vegan Vanilla Bean Ice Cream from Vegan Ice Cream Paradise (this blog is GREAT).  It was awesome and went really well with the rich, fudgy cake. 

Chocolate Valentino

Preparation Time: 20 minutes


NOTES:


* Use your favorite chocolate – 


* A higher cocoa percentage increases the bitterness of the chocolate.


* Equipment - it is optional to use a heart shaped pan. For a real Valentino, bake it in a heart shaped pan or cut it out into a heart shape. You may use any shape pan that gives you an area of 50” - 6x8 or 7x7. An 8” spring form pan works with great results as do smaller pans or ramekins.


* An instant read thermometer highly recommended.

* This is a very decadent cake that will sink a little as it cools but will still hold its shape. A very dense and fudgy cake that tastes divine. The top forms a light crust kind of like a brownie


RECIPE:

- 16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped - I used Callebaut (54% cocoa) semisweet chocolate.

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter. To make it dairy-free, I replaced the butter with Earth Balance Soy Margarine

- 5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C

9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Vegan Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

(From A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise)

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
2 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1 vanilla bean
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside. Mix the soy creamer and soy milk together in a saucepan. Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape the seeds into the milk. Drop the bean shell into the milk too. Bring to a slight boil, then lower the temperature and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean shell. Stir in the sugar, and bring to a boil again. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools). Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.