Spring Flowers!!!

So sorry for not posting a lot these days. I haven't baked in the past 2 months :O 
Mostly because we're trying to eat healthier and the weather has been so nice so I like to spend a lot of time in the sun while I can. In honour of the 20 and plus degrees we're having this week here are some cupcakes that I decorated as flowers for my brother's wedding last year!

I got this idea from this great book and all you need are small marshmallows and coloured sugars.

I coloured the sugars myself by shacking food colouring and sugar in a mason jar.

Then you cut the marshmallows diagonally and you toss them in the sugar. Only the sticky part (the part you cut) will have sugar glued to it and it will look like small petals. Once you iced the cupcake, you just place the petals on he icing and they will stick there perfectly. It takes 22 marshmallows for a regular sized cupcake.

4 Tier Chocolate Cake with Fleur de Sel Caramel Filling

This is the perfect cake for special occasion. I made this cake for my brother's birthday. I've also been seeing a lot of the caramel-fleur de sel combination a lot these days different desserts: from cookies to cupcakes. It's the new baking trend for 2012 apparently. 

If you want to try out this cake just remember that the caramel filling and the chocolate ganache must be made a day before the cake because it must chill in the fridge overnight so plan ahead!!

Ingredients:

Caramel Filling

1 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Large pinch of fine fleur de sel* plus additional for assembly

Chocolate Ganache

• 1 1/2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 
  

Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee
• 1 1/4 cups almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped
• 
  

Preparation:

CARAMEL FILLING

• Stir sugar, 1/4 cup water, and corn syrup in deep medium saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium; Bring to boil without stirring until syrup is deep amber, occasionally brushing down pan sides with wet pastry brush, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Whisk in butter, then crème fraîche or sour cream, lemon juice, and pinch of fleur de sel. Cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.
  
  

CHOCOLATE GANACHE 

• Place chocolate in large bowl. Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate; let soften 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate is smooth. Cool, then cover and chill overnight. DO AHEAD Ganache can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled. Bring to room temperature before using.
  
  

BAKE CAKE

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. 
• Sift sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Add milk, eggs, and melted butter. Using electric mixer, beat at low speed for about 2 min. 
  Stir 1 cup hot water and espresso powder in small bowl to dissolve. Add to batter; beat until blended (batter will be thin). Divide batter between pans.
• Bake cakes about 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 10 minutes. Cut around cakes; turn out onto racks and cool completely.
  
  
  ASSEMBLE CAKE
  
  
• Using long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. 
  Place 1 layer on platter; spread with 1/2 cup room-temperature ganache. Spoon 3/4 cup ganache into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch plain round tip. Pipe ring of ganache around edge of layer. Spread 1/4 cup room-temperature caramel filling evenly inside ring. Sprinkle caramel with large pinch of fleur de sel, then 1 tablespoon almonds. 
  Top with second cake layer, ganache, ganache ring, caramel filling, fleur de sel, and almonds. 
  Repeat with third cake layer. 
  Top with fourth cake layer, cut side down. Spread remaining ganache over top and sides of cake. Press remaining almonds onto sides. 
  Cover with cake dome and chill. Let cake stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

Holiday Baking (Part 3)

The final part of my Holiday Baking trilogy!


Christmas Yule Log with Meringue Mushrooms!
Serves 20


The Meringue Mushrooms were made from this swiss meringue recipe:

Ingredients:


4 egg whites
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp of cocoa powder
3 oz melted semi-sweet chocolate
1 oz melted white chocolate (optional)

Fill saucepan with 2 inches of water; bring to a simmer. Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Combine, using a hand-held wire whisk. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water; continue to whisk.

Whisk constantly until all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture feels hot to the touch. Add Vanilla and transfer the bowl to mixer and whip, using the whisk attachment, on high speed until whites are glossy and stand in stiff peaks when the whisk is lifted, about 3 minutes. Then add the cocoa powder and fold in with a spatula.

Then just pipe the meringue into the mushroom stems and the mushroom tops. Like this: 

Bake for 2 hours on a preheated oven 225 degrees F.

Let the mushrooms cool and spread the melted chocolate on the bottoms of the tops. Use that to glue the stem and tops together. Chill the mushrooms so the chocolate hardens and you're done!

Red Velvet Cake:

Ingredients:

 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

6 tbsp cocoa powder

½ tsp baking soda

8 eggs

4 egg yolks

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

¼ cup canola oil

50 ml red food colorring

4 tsp white vinagre

Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and butter.

In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and egg yolks and sugar with electric mixer until the mixture whitens and triples in volume or (10 to 15 minutes). While mixing at medium speed, add oil, red dye and vinegar.

Sift dry ingredients over egg mixture gently and incorporating. Spread on cookie cheets and spread evenly. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Invert cakes onto a parchment paper. Cover with a clean cloth and cool completely. 

To assemble the log, place the cakes on parchment paper next to one another and fill each with Caramel Cream (Recipe Below). Then roll the cakes as if its one long sheet. Then wrap the log in a clean dish towel and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. 

Once the log has chilled, cut it diagonally to create branches.

Frost with Italian Meringue (Recipe also Below).












Add the Mushrooms and you have a fabulous Buche de Noel!

Caramel Cream:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pinch of coarse salt

Prepare an ice-water bath. Heat sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture boils and sugar dissolves, washing down sides of pan often with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until sugar turns dark amber, 5 to 7 minutes more. Immediately remove from heat, and carefully whisk in 1 cup cream. Return to medium heat, and cook until sugar melts completely and mixture boils.

Remove from heat, and pour into a bowl set in ice-water bath. Let caramel cool, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Stir in creme fraiche (or sour cream), vanilla, and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 5 days.

Just before using, beat remaining 1 cup cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into caramel sauce, using a rubber spatula, until incorporated. Whisk to thicken, about 1 minute.

Italian Meringue:

Ingredients:

¼ cup water

1 ½ cup cugar

½ cup light corn syrup

6 egg whites

In a bowl, whisk the egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form.  Set aside.

In a saucepan, bring water, sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Boil until a candy thermometer reads 235 ° F Remove from heat.

Gradually add boiling syrup to egg whites, whisking. (The whites will swell and a little steam will emerge when you add the hot sugar). Continue to whisk for 10 to 15 minutes, until stiff peaks form.

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Holiday Baking! (Part 2)

Better late than never, here are some baked goods that a made as a Christmas present.


Chocolate Drizzled Florentines (Recipe below):

These have a sugar cookie first layer that is baked first. 

I had to weigh down the dough so it doesn't shrink too much. I did this with beans but there are "baking beads" that you can buy that are reusable.

Then I filled the baked cookie dough with an almond candy filling that I cooked until golden brown.

Then I baked the whole pan until the candy hardened and the cookie has browned. 

Once the pan cools I popped the whole dough out and  scored it then cut through the cookie dough.
Then I cut through the candy layer in straight lines. I did this so the cookie wouldn't crack.

Now it just needs chocolate!!

 

TADA!!!!!!

Sugar Cookie Dough:


Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened 
1-1/2 tsp. finely chopped lemon zest 
3/4 cup granulated sugar 
1/2 tsp. table salt 
1 large egg 
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 
1 lb. 5 oz. (4-2/3 cups) all-purpose flour 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the softened butter, zest, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat with the paddle until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat it in well. In three additions, stir in the flour until blended. Spread the dough out, about an inch thick, on a sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until firm. You can refrigerate the dough, wrapped well, for up to a week.

Almond Florentines:

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 tbsp light corn syrup

3/4 cup water

14 tbsp unsalted butter

3/4 cup honey

1 cup heavy cream

2 tsp freshly grated orange zest

4 cups sliced almonds

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate

Lightly grease a half sheet pan (a sided pan that measures 11-1/2 x 16-1/2-inches). Line the pan with parchment.

Roll the chilled sugar cookie dough between two pieces of parchment into a rectangle until it's between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Remove the top piece of parchment and flip the dough into the prepared half sheet pan so that it fits along the bottom and up the sides completely. If the dough cracks a bit, just press it back together. Press it into the sides of the pan; don't leave any gaps. Cut off any excess dough by running a rolling pin along the edges of the pan. Chill until firm.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the dough with foil or parchment and weight it with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until the edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the weights and the foil or parchment and continue to bake until completely set, about another 10 minutes. Let cool before filling.

In a large heavy-based saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water and bring to a boil. Cook until the mixture becomes amber in color (approximately 350 degrees F to 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer). Immediately remove from the heat. Carefully add the butter and honey, return to the heat, and stir until dissolved. Bring the mixture back to a boil and carefully add the heavy cream and zest (the mixture will bubble up and may splatter). Boil the mixture until it reaches 250 degrees F on the candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the almonds (and candied citrus peel, if using). Quickly pour the mixture into the baked sugar cookie shell before the caramel cools. Spread the nut mixture evenly with a lightly greased spatula.

Bake until the topping begins to bubble, 18 to 20 minutes. Put the pan on a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut along the edge of the pan to loosen the edges. Turn the Florentines out, upside down, onto a clean cutting surface. Line two clean baking sheets with parchment.

With a serrated bread knife, score the ragged edges of the cookie crust, cutting through the crust but not the filling. With a large chef's knife, cut through the filling to trim off the ragged edges completely. Next, using the serrated knife, score 1-1/4-inch-wide horizontal bands top to bottom (again deeply, through the crust but not through the filling). To make the diamonds, score 1-1/4-inch strips starting at the top left corner and dividing that corner into two 45 degree angles. Continue scoring at this width and this angle until all the cookies are scored.

Follow the scoring lines with the chef's knife, using steady force to cut through the thick nut filling.

Turn each Florentine over and set on the clean sheet pans. Fill a pastry bag with a tiny tip (or a heavy plastic bag with a corner cut off, or a paper cone) with the melted chocolate (or use a fork dipped in the chocolate) and drizzle it on the diamonds. The cookies are best at room temperature but can be refrigerated if the kitchen is too warm for the chocolate to set.

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