Strawberries-and-Cream Cake

I love baking cakes but do not know how to decorate them at all. As a matter of fact I am quite terrible at doing things by hand, it's a combination of lack of skill and patience that really gets my projects to turn out quite ugly. Where I am getting at is I was helping to plan this baby shower for a very dear friend and she had requested a strawberries-and-cream cake, a Brazilian version of Strawberry Shortcake. I knew how to bake the cake, but not how to decorate it. So we came up with an idea: wrap the cake in foil and place the individual cakes inside a beautifully decorate box ( made by another friend, not by me obviously). It's not a novel idea, this used to be quite common in Brazil back when we were kids, as it makes it very easy to serve. 

The cake turned out well, but next time I must cut smaller slices and give it some thought before-hand on how to neatly wrap them in the foil, as my wrapping technique ( or lack thereof I should say) did not turn out so well, the pieces were quite chunky and made for a terrible presentation. I bought the foil already pre-cut, but I think next time I will custom-cut them to get to the right size. 

For this event I baked 3 cakes, used 5lbs. of strawberries and almost 2 quarts of heavy cream. Each cake yielded 12 very generous pieces.

Ingredients for the cake: 

- 2 cups of flour

- 2 cups of sugar

- 1 cup of milk, boiling ( I microwaved it on high for 2 minutes)

- 1 tablespoon baking powder

- 4 eggs

Directions:

-Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 9x13  pan.

-In a mixer, beat the egg whites with the wire whip until they are stiff. Switch to a flat beater, add the sugar and then the yolks, beating constantly on medium speed.

-Next add the flour and baking soda, on low speed. Remove the bowl from the mixer, add the boiling milk and gently stir it by hand. 

Ingredients for the filling: 

- 1 1/2 lbs. of strawberries

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 bottle of cream-soda

-  1/2 cup of rum

- 2 cups heavy cream

- another 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions: 

- Mix the cream soda and the rum, set aside.

- Clean strawberries, removing stem and leaves, dice them in small bite-size pieces, place them in a bowl with 1/2 cup of sugar and let it marinate in the fridge for several hours.

- For the whipped cream, beat heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until very stiff.

Assembling the cake: 

Carefully cut the cake in half with a bread knife. Remove the top half of the cake. Poke holes in the bottom half of the cake with a knife and drizzle cream-soda/rum mix on it. Next place a generous layer of strawberries, and add the fresh whipped-cream on top, using an angled spatula to spread it. Carefully place the top half of the cake on top. To cut, grease your bread knife with cooking spray, it really makes life much easier.

Five lbs. of strawberries, diced and marinated in sugar.

The egg whites still not ready, still too runny.

Now the eggs whites are stiff and ready.

Adding the sugar.

Adding the yolks.

Adding the flour, slowly, spoonful by spoonful.

Gently adding the steaming milk.

Carefully stirring by hand after adding the milk.

Cutting the cake in half.

With the strawberries on.

Topped with fresh whipped cream.

With the top half on.

Cake cut, ready to be wrapped and served.

Almond Joy Cake

I have a ladie's game night to go tomorrow, and it's a potluck so I decided to bring one of my favorite cakes, Almond Joy. I had actually never made it, but I always eat it when my co-worker Robin brings it to school. Actually, I got the recipe and ingredients from Robin at our last game night ( different group)! But I knid of wish I hadn't found out what's on the cake, because now that I know I will have to eat less of it LOL...no wonder it's so tasty, it's horrible for you! But I guess it's OK as an every-once-in-awhile treat. 

- 1 box of chocolate cake mix with pudding. Mix and bake on a 17 1/2 X 11 1/2 pan( I know it's HUGE!) according to package directions

Filling ( or 1st layer if you will)

- 1 c. evaporated ( not condensed) milk

- 1 c. sugar

- 24 large marshmallows

- 14oz. bag shredded, sweetened coconut

In a pan, combine milk and sugar. Add marshmallows and heat until melted. Add coconut and pour over the hot cake, spreading to cover the entire surface of the cake. 

Topping ( or 2nd layer)

- 1 1/2 c. of sugar

- 1/2 cup evaporated milk ( the rest of the can)

- 1 stick of  butter

 - 6 oz. bag of chocolate chips ( 1 1/2 cup)

- 1 small bag of sliced almonds

In a pan, combine sugar, milk and margarine, bring it to a boil. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Add almonds or save for top of cake ( I saved mine). Pour over warm cake and spread. Store in the refrigerator. Robin tells me it freezes well!

 The final product, I hope my Brazilian friends like this very American cake!

 Evaporated milk, sugar and marshmallows ready to be melted together.

                        It gets so light and fluffy, a lot of fun to stir!

I did not realize how much space melted marshmallow take, it almost went out of the pan. I had to remove it to another container in order to be able to add the coconut. Next time I will use my biggest pasta pot!

                                   With the first layer on.

Bolo Formiga ( Coconut/Chocolate Cake)

I haven't posted anything in a while, I have been on vacation and doing a whole bunch of nothing. One would think that with more time in my hands I would post more, but it turns out the less you do the less you want to do! Anyways, yesterday some Brazilians friends and I had a small get together and I brought one my favorite cakes from my childhood, bolo formiga ( which translates into Ant Cake because the sprinkles on top look like ants are crawling on it). I decided to bake it on a bundt pan to look pretty, and it was, but it was also too heavy for that pan. Next time I will stick to a regular 9x13.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of flour

1 cup of milk

1 cup shredded coconut

3/4 cup chocolate sprinkles

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup butter

Ingredients for the Frosting:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 can milk ( I use the condensed milk can for measuring)

1/2 chocolate powder ( I use Nesquik)

1/4 cup butter

Directions for  the cake:

Beat eggs and sugar until creamy. Add flour and milk alternating them, starting and ending with the flour. Beat well. Then stir in coconut, chocolate sprinkles, and baking powder. Bake at 350F on a greased and floured pan for about 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove cake from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Directions for frosting:

In Brazil this frosting is called brigadeiro, and is something that everybody grows up learning how to make, as it is a staple dessert made very often. It can be eaten alone, as frostings, fillings, flavored with fruit....the possibilities are endless. It actually deserves its own posting, I will work on that.

Back to the directions: put all the ingredients on a pot over medium-high heat and stir it non-stop for about 30 minutes, until it resembles pudding consistency and feels "spreadable"

Pour the frosting on top of the cake, top generously with chocolate sprinkles and enjoy!

Lemon Cake

I had a girl's get together last night, it is always so much fun to eat and talk thru the evening. I am only sorry I work, otherwise I could do it every day! Imagine the possibilities! Back to reality, yesterday's gathering was particularly special, as we were planning for the upcoming baby shower of a dear friend. Stay tuned for the goodies that we will  be making for that occasion.
I baked a new lemon cake recipe, and as Dear Husband put it " It's a keeper!" Sooooo moist and bursting with delicious lemon flavor.

Lemon Cake ( Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients for the cake

1 cup butter ( no substitutes), softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
5 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sour cream

Ingredients for the Icing:

1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in lemon juice, peel and extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternatively with sour cream. Beat just until combined.

Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350F. for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

For icing, in a small mixing bowl, beat the sour cream and butter, until blended. Gradually add confectioner's sugar. Beat in lemon juice and peel. Drizzle over the cake. Store in refrigerator.

 The final product. I didn't have time to let the cake cool completely before icing it, therefore it melted and feel on the pan.

                     My fancy lemon squeezer LOL.

                           Zesting the lemon.

Pumpkin Cake

Tonight I decided to use some of that pumpkin I pureed over the weekend, and found a recipe I had saved a long time ago but had never gotten around to making it. It is from Cooking Light. I made a couple of modifications and it came out terrific! The house smelled incredible, and Dear Husband couldn't wait to eat it, he nearly burnt his tongue. 

Ingredients

• 3 1/4  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1  tablespoon  baking powder
• 2 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1 1/2  cups  fresh or canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2  cup  applesauce ( I didn't have any, used vegetable oil instead)
• 1 1/2  cups  granulated sugar
• 1/2  cup  stick margarine, softened
• 3  large egg whites (only had 2 eggs, so used both of them whole)
• 2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
• Cooking spray
• 3  tablespoons  dark or light brown sugar
• 1  tablespoon  dark rum
• 1  teaspoon  skim milk
• 3  tablespoons  powdered sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine first 6 ingredients; set flour mixture aside. Combine pumpkin and applesauce; set aside.
Beat granulated sugar and margarine in a large bowl at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg whites and vanilla, beating well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with pumpkin mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into a 12-cup Bundt pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan.
Combine brown sugar, rum, and milk in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until brown sugar dissolves. Remove sugar mixture from heat, and add powdered sugar, stirring with a whisk. Spoon glaze over warm cake.

Chocolate Cake- Ugly but Oh So Tasty!

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and we will have a small celebration at school, so I naturally decided to bake a cake to celebrate the occasion. The cake itself is chocolate, from a recipe I have had forever, made from scratch. I did cheat on the filling, as I was tired after working, having a book study meeting after-school, running to the grocery store and making dinner. Short story long, I simply mixed cool-whip and blackberry jam. It came out mousse-like, very tasty in a tart kind of way. 

I made buttercream to ice the cake with, and that's where my problems started. The cream itself was fine, but when I started to add color ( I wanted navy blue) I soon realized it was going to be a disaster..I added the entire tube of blue gel coloring but it still came out baby-bluish. I need to take an art class to learn how to mix colors!

I then proceeded to assemble the cake and realized it was looking very much like the tower of Pisa. Hum, what's a girl to do? I tried to even it out by cutting, but it came out way less than perfect. The final disaster came when I was icing, I just could not get it to have that professional smooth look. Good thing I have signed up for 4 cake decoring classes! Obviously I need them. So I made myself feel better by thinking of this as a "before" cake, so I can look back and see how far I've come! Let's hope I have not just jinxed myself and  that it actually happens. 

Here is the cake recipe: 

- 4 eggs

- 2 cups of sugar, sifted

- 2 cups of flour, sifted

- 1 cup of boiling milk

- 5 tablespoons of cocoa powder

- 1 tablespoon of baking powder

Beat the egg whites until it reaches a stiff consistency. Add the yolks and the sugar and beat well. Add the flour and the cocoa powder, mix well and add the hot, boiling milk over it and keep on mixing it. Add the baking powder and mix it lightly onto the batter. Bake for 30 minutes on a pre-heated 350 oven ( I usually pre-heat mine for about 20 minutes).  You can bake it on a 13x9 pan or two small round ones, don't forget to divide the batter evenly in this case. 

The frosting was buttercream.

This is what your egg whites need to look like before you start adding the other ingredients onto the batter. By the way, if you don't have one, go ahead and purchase a Kitchen Aid mixer. Best tool ever! Totally worth the cost.

To check and see if the cake is done, insert a skewer into it, if it comes out clean it's done.

               The cake filling, before the second cake was added on top.

                            The final product, my poor little ugly cake.