Tuesday, May 19, 2009

(Frozen) Cake Truffle... Dumpling... Ball... Things...

Not even worth photographing, seriously. But I'm documenting it because it involves frozen cake and what not to do with cake truffles.

After much trial and error, and not much success, I created Butter Cake Truffles. (Or cake dumplings, which one of my co-workers suggested and I like calling them, but they're really not dumplings. Original idea from Bakerella's Cake Truffles. This bakery in Texas calls them cake balls, and they look fabulous!) They were supposed to be Lemon-Berry, but the lemon glaze didn't set up, and all the berry jams I used in the cake didn't affect the taste much at all, one way or the other.

Little buggers just did not work nearly as easily as the chocolate cake dumplings. First, I used way too much buttercream, so it had an unpleasant mushy texture. Eventually I called in cake re-inforcements (the experimental frozen cake) to try and negate the mushiness. It didn't work. Then, the glaze didn't set up, and I tried several different glaze ingredient combinations along with freezing the naked cake balls for days. Finally, it all came together, into something close enough to edible, but I did resort to covering them with melted chocolate. It wasn't pretty. Poor, poor co-workers. They did say they liked the chocolate covering, though.

Details of the cake:
One batch All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake from The Cake Bible, 9" x 13" and about 1.5" tall.

Syruped with 1/4+ cup vanilla liqueur and vanilla extract.

Started with the one batch of cake, but used too much buttercream, so I dug out the other 1/2 batch from the cryogenic experiments in the freezer:

Half batch All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake from The Cake Bible, one 9" round layer, about 1.5" tall, but only used about 3/4 of the cake.

(Attempted tweaking the full recipe for the round cake, and all I got was over-leavened cake, which fell in the center, and was therefore only good for cake scraps. The other 9" round from the batch was used in Aimee's Birthday Trifle. Tweaking consisted of using 5 egg yolks and 1 egg instead of 6 egg yolks. As noted previously about this batch, I've learned my lesson.)

Syruped with 1/2+ cup vanilla liqueur, vanilla extract, and Buttershots.

Used Magi-Cake strips (the Wilton knock-off ones).

Used 1/2 batch of Peggy Weaver's (American) Buttercream I recipe, and added a lot of lingonberry jam, cranberry jelly, and raspberry jam. I had small amounts left of the last two, but I went through at least 3/4 cup of the lingonberry. Also added a few drops of red food coloring to compensate for the cake color. Still didn't taste at all like berries, but looked a bit like red velvet almost.

Neither first nor second lemon glaze attempts solidified. Switched back to semi-sweet chocolate.

Full cake batch made several weeks before serving. Syruped when cool, prior to storage. Stored on the counter.
Half cake batch made at least a month before serving. Syruped when cool, prior to storage. Stored in the freezer.
Final assembly with chocolate coating made about 1 week before serving.

Bottom line:

What a flippin' mess.

Good thing I hadn't planned to use the frozen yellow cake on its own. Texture was ok, but the taste had a weird sharpness, as if the vanilla extract had intensified, but in a bad way. I had wrapped the cake in Press & Seal, and then put it in a ziplock bag before freezing it. Still, there were bits of freezer burn on the top.When used int he cake truffles, the sharpness mellowed, or was masked by the jam, or something.

Since this freezing thing didn't go well, but a different batch did sit out on the counter for a couple of weeks without any problems, maybe I'll just go the latter route for the actual wedding cake.

Cake truffles stayed way too mushy, even with additional cake. Possibly due to it being a butter cake? Covering choices seem to be melted chocolate or those wretched candy melts. BJ's generic brand of semi-sweet chocolate chips worked surprisingly well, even though they're not useful in cookies or other recipes.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Faux Book 2


And this is the book from which comes forth the great and wonderful Siren's Chocolate Cake recipe. All hail the magnificent Cakes book!

Tania needed the book back because she's making a wedding cake for her daughter. Mari and Jonathan are getting married on May 23, on George's Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands. How's that for a unique location? Scenic too. And you can run around in all the old army bunkers and underground tunnels all day, or get guided tours. Beware the Lady in Black, though! I highly recommend taking a ferry out there for a tour, if you're in the area and have an afternoon free.

Anyhoo, I wanted to thank Tania for letting me borrow her books and for giving me some of her trusty recipes. (Russian down the spine says "Thank you, Tanya!" Even though Tania is different from Tanya, but I wasn't sure how to spell Tania.)

Ok, so the cover isn't exactly the same. The angle of the cake slice is a bit off, I don't have the silver serving piece, and I don't have all the text at the top. Get over it. I also ran out of time for a few other things that you can't see because Paul photographed this from a bunch of different angles, which is always a fine plan.

I actually did leave myself enough time to assemble and decorate this cake because I planned to bring it over on Sunday, which happened to be Mother's Day, because Tania and Valeri were visiting their son's family on Saturday. But plans changed, the son's family came up on Saturday evening, so I intended to drop off the books (and book cake) Saturday afternoon before they arrived. So I compressed decorating into about 3 hours, when I originally had all day and all night (if need be) scheduled. Good practice. I'm sure something like that will happen for the wedding cake final exam, although I'd prefer it doesn't.

Note: Post not available until May 28 because I didn't get the pics until May 21. Thanks, Hon! Great angles, hide those flaws!

Details of the cake:

One batch Siren's Chocolate Cake, one 9" x 13" layer, about 1.6" tall.
Used 4.7 oz. of Lindt 70%, instead of the 4 oz in the recipe, my new standard.

Syruped with 1/4 cup Kahlua.

Used Magi-Cake strips (the Wilton knock-off ones) and rose nail.

Torted into 2 layers.

Total height: about 2.5".

Used 1 batch of Creamy Milk Chocolate Frosting from Baking Illustrated, with 3.5 oz Lindt 70% and the other 6.5 oz Nestle Semi-sweet chips, instead of milk chocolate. Still odd, still true.

Fondant dyed with Wilton's gel colors.

Thin ABS plastic sheet under the entire cover to add stability. (ABS plastic between tiers is much thicker.)

Roses made from apricots, a recipe also in the Cakes book. Painted melted chocolate onto the cover, dusted with cocoa powder (for "inside" of the cake), and sprinkled with slightly crushed, sliced almonds. The actual recipe for the cake on the cover calls for crushed pecans, which I didn't have. Oh well. Not like I actually made the cake on the cover, just the roses.

Fondant made several days before decorating.
Cake made 4 days before serving. Syruped when cool, prior to storage. Wrapped and stored on the kitchen counter.
Cake layers torted and assembled day of serving.
Cake decorated day of serving.

Bottom line:
Remember to paint the pages onto the book!

ABS plastic sheet under the whole cover worked well. Only problem was the fondant tore on the corners a bit, so I bolstered them with more fondant. Infortunately, this made all four corners look weird and puffy. Gotta fix that somehow. Maybe cut down the sides slightly and sand the corners a bit?

Same deal as any other ABS sheet: use lots of filling under the plastic (ganache-ish frosting in this case). When the plastic is lifted off, make sure there's still some kind of filling or frosting on the cake.

Metal bench scraper for making the lines still worked well, but I was in such a rush that the lines look a little sad.

Painting fondant is my friend. Far less time consuming than kneading color into a block, and I don't waste extra fondant in a color I can only use once. (Orange, anyone... anyone?)

Still have to practice cakes that sit vertically: carving and fondant. And gold lustre dust for lettering and details. Crap. So much still to do...

Monday, May 11, 2009

Just Like Bakerella

Except not really, because Bakerella's Cake Truffles look awesome and mine... well mine look edible anyway. I suppose it didn't help that I was lazy and didn't bother to pipe the darker chocolate. But Paul's mom, Carol, thinks they tasted fine, and that's what's important, right? Especially considering that these were part of her Mother's Day present. Don't worry, I gave her other stuff too. She's a fantastic mom-in-law, and certainly deserves a lot more goodies!

Also foisted them on the co-workers, who seemed pleased. Jeff T called them "cake dumplings," which I like better than cake truffles 'cause it's funnier and less hoity-toity.

The other useful point about these is that they are a great way to use up cake scraps and frosting, and don't require a lot of accessories like a trifle (whipped cream, maybe pudding, and usually something of the fruit persuasion). Now to experiment with yellow cake and a non-chocolate covering...

Note: Post not available until May 21 because that's when I got the photos of the truffles. Thanks, Hon! But posted later than that because I don't want to overload everyone with zillions of posts at once.

Details of the cake:
One batch Siren's Chocolate Cake, one 9" x 13" layer, about 1.6" tall. (Used half the batch to make the Dessert Crew sample portions.)
Used 4.7 oz. of Lindt 70%, instead of the 4 oz in the recipe, which worked exceedingly well.

Syruped with 1/4 cup Kahlua.

Used Magi-Cake strips (the Wilton knock-off ones) and rose nail.

Used 1 batch of Creamy Milk Chocolate Frosting from Baking Illustrated, with 3.5 oz Lindt 70% and the other 6.5 oz Nestle Semi-sweet chips. Odd, but true.

Crumbled the cake and mushed it with the frosting. Used cookie scoop to form little cake balls.

Covered cake balls in melted chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Drizzled with semi-sweet chocolate.
Also covered other cake balls in melted chocolate and caramel chips. (Not pictured because they really did look crappy.) Drizzled with caramel, mainly so I could tell the difference between the 2 types.

Cake made about 3 weeks before serving. Syruped when cool, prior to storage. Stored on counter at room temperature. (I was experimenting. It worked, I think.)
Cake truffles assembled 3 days before serving.

Bottom line:
Syrup level on cake was good. I followed my own advice about how to judge the correct amount to syrup. I'm definitely using less now that the weather is warmer and more humid.

The cake was so moist, that I decided to keep it at room temperature (sealed in plastic wrap) until I was ready to use it. This is actually the other half of the cake I made for the Dessert Crew to sample, as noted under "Details." The corners had dried out, but the rest was still almost ok to use on its own. Mixing in the frosting made it edible. Covered in melted whatever made it much better.

So maybe I can make cakes up to 2 weeks in advance, make sure they're moist enough, and then just leave them on the counter? Wow, that would simplify things tremendously. I won't have to worry about freezer or 'fridge space, which I can devote to the buttercream and ganache. Excellent. This might just work.

Don't try and melt the Lindt 70% for long periods in the microwave. Stick to increments of 15 or 20 seconds. Burnt chocolate smells just as badly as burnt anything else.

Don't add anything to try melting caramel squares more smoothly because the caramel has a much tougher time re-solidifying, so it remains sticky. This is bad for storing, transporting, and eating.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Trifle: the Return. Again.

So that makes it the re-return? Or is that like a double negative, it cancels out itself, and I get just plain turn? Right. And now back to our regularly scheduled cake stuff...

Aimee's birthday required a trifle. She also got a nifty cake from her co-worker Jeanette, who somehow ended up organizing a small celebration in honor of Aimee being five months older than me. Um, I mean in honor of her not getting any younger. The point is that there was honoring, a couple of very large sushi platters (whoo-hoo!), cake (which I was happy not to make), and trifle.

Thanks to Sue for being my fine Sue-chef (ok, really, how could I pass up that opportunity?), or sous-chef. I had no idea anyone else would actually want to spend a Friday night preparing a trifle, cookies, and flan. (It was a busy weekend.)

Note: Post not available until May 19 because that's when I got the first photo of this cake. Thanks, Ben! Great pic!

Note 2: And a couple of hours after I got the pic from Ben, I got Aaron's pics. And then I had to decide which one to use...

Details of the trifle:
Half batch All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake from The Cake Bible, one 9" round layer, about 1.5" tall.

Attempted tweaking the full recipe and all I got was over-leavened cake, which fell in the center, and was therefore only good for cake scraps. (The other 9" round from the batch is currently undergoing cryogenic experiments.) Tweaking consisted of using 5 egg yolks and 1 egg instead of 6 egg yolks. Well, I've learned my lesson.

Syruped with 1/2+ cup vanilla liqueur, vanilla extract, and Buttershots.

Used Magi-Cake strips (the Wilton knock-off ones).

For trifle, cut cake into manageable sections, torted, and inserted a blueberry jam layer. Cut cake into small wedges, about 1 1/2" from tip to back edge, and about 1" wide along back edge.

Used 2 batches Stabilized Whipped Cream from The Cake Bible. One batch mixed with a tablespoon or two of lemon curd, one batch mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.

One quart fresh strawberries, sliced and macerated with a tablespoon or two of sugar.

Garnishes: two sliced strawberries, crushed whole almonds, and pansies (edible, no worries).

Cake made about 2 weeks before serving. Syruped when cool, prior to storage. Stored in 'fridge.
Trifle assembled night before serving, including cake layers torted and assembled.
Trifle garnished immediately before serving.

Bottom line:
Crumbly, crumbly, crumbly! I am so tired of this cake being crumbly! I shall have to research this. Maybe I should switch to a different recipe, even though I like the taste and delicate texture of this one so much. But it just isn't easy to work with.

Cake was grainy in the trifle, but I'm not sure if that was from too much booze, refrigeration for 2 weeks, or my tweaking the recipe. I tend to think the last item. Don't tweak the recipe without thorough research and/or guidance.

Still too much booze. Next time: only syrup on the bottom of the cake, and check outer texture to figure out when the cake is properly saturated. The syrup should take a few more seconds to sink in, and the outer texture should be a little spongy, I think.

I love making trifles, and almost everyone loves eating them. Did I ever mention that when I was a little kid, I asked my mom to make this for me instead of a cake? Yup, for at least 2 or 3 years in a row too.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Long Live the Dessert Crew!

Pssst... hey you! Yeah, you, over there, wondering what the heck fondant is anyway... Want to know how you can score samples of all the fine dessert menu items that will be at Lee & Marsha's wedding? (I mean before the actual wedding, and without being one of my co-workers.) Well, it's simple: sign up for the Dessert Crew!

So that's what the dessert menu goodies all look like, waiting for the wonderful Dessert Crew volunteers to dig in during a meeting of the aforementioned Crew at Lee & Marsha's place.
L to R: Siren's Chocolate Cake with Creamy Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting (cut into little sample portions and decorated), Lemon Sorbet in Lemons, Heath Bar Cookies, and Brownie Cookies. I'll serve a Yellow Cake too, but I didn't make samples of that this time.

Long live the Dessert Crew! And there was much rejoicing.
Thanks to Carrie, Kathleen, Kimberly, Jill, and Vanessa for being reliable, detail-oriented, courageous people! Together, we're going to present a truly marvelous dessert spread. And there was even more rejoicing.

Details of the cake:
One batch Siren's Chocolate Cake, one 9" x 13" layer, about 1.6" tall.
Used 4.7 oz. of Lindt 70%, instead of the 4 oz in the recipe, which worked exceedingly well.

Syruped with 1/4 cup Kahlua.

Used Magi-Cake strips (the Wilton knock-off ones) and rose nail.

Torted into 2 layers.

Total height: about 2".

Used 1 batch of Creamy Milk Chocolate Frosting from Baking Illustrated, with 3.5 oz Lindt 70% and the other 6.5 oz Nestle Semi-sweet chips. Odd, but true.

Fondant dyed with Wilton's gel colors.

Fondant made a few weeks before decorating. (Used up a pre-mixed color.)
Cake made 4 days before serving. Syruped when cool, prior to storage. Stored in 'fridge.
Cake layers torted and assembled 2 days before serving.
Cake decorated earlier the day it was served.

Bottom line:
Good thing the Lindt outlet is having a sale on their 70% bars. I sure stocked up when I saw how lovely it made the cake and frosting. All chocolate cake people seemed pleased, especially the bride and dessert crew. The cake stayed so moist that it sort of melted the fondant in subsequent days.
Note about the purple fondant color: it bleeds out to blue within 24 hours! Be careful!
The Dessert Crew people are fantastic, and I'm so excited to work with all of them!