Pretty-in-Pink Purse Cake

Pretty-in-Pink Purse Cake

From Purse Cake

I made this cake for a friend's birthday. She has more handbags than anyone I know!

It's really simple to make. Bake your favorite 8 or 9 inch 2-layer cake and mix up a batch of your favorite icing. Cut off a couple of inches of one end of both cakes so that you can stand up the cakes. Spread a layer of icing between the cakes and stand them up. Icing the outside of the cakes and smooth.

If you are using fondant, colour as desired. Roll out fondant and cut one inch strips to cover cake as in picture. Also roll out bag trimming. Cut another piece for the handle. I also cut out, with small cookie cutters, a few fondant pieces to decorate the purse.

Hope you like it, as much as I do!

From Purse Cake

From Purse Cake

From Purse Cake

Pine Nut Gateau Breton

From gateau breton

Have you ever craved something moist, buttery, not too sweet, something with a distinct texture and something that feels good to bite into? Then you have come to the right place. This Gateau Breton is the answer to your craving. This version uses toasted pine nuts which adds another rich discernable layer of flavour to this dessert. It pairs perfectly with a coffee at the end of a meal. PS it is also makes a great breakfast :) This recipe is adapted from Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum. (This book should be in your kitchen.)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 cup berry sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 large egg yolks
1.5 tbsp rum
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups + 3 tbsp flour sifted before measuring
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Grease and flour a 9 inch spring form pan (mine was 3 inch high but Rose says you can also use a tart pan or 9 x 2 cake pan)
3. |In food processer, pulse the pine nuts, salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar until nuts are finely chopped.
4. Beat the remaining sugar and butter in stand mixer for 1 minute.
5. Add the yolks one at a time. Mix each for 20-30 seconds.
6. Add the nut mixture, rum, vanilla and beat until smooth.
7. Add the flour in 4 additions. Beat until just incorporated at each addition (15 seconds or so).
8. Make sure the all the flour is incorporated (including the bits that get stuck at the bottom of the bowl).
9. Transfer batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
10. Brush top of cake with beaten egg.
11. Using fork or tip of knife draw cross hatchlines across cake.
12. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a deep golden brown.
13. Cool for 10 minutes before removing sides of pan or inverting.
14. Cool completely.

From gateau breton

Spring Coconut Cake

From coconut cake

This is one of my Mom's many amazing loaf recipes. I love eating a slice of this when it's still warm and with a little butter spread on it. mmmm, I'm hungry already!

Traditionally, my mom serves this plain or with butter. In this version, I have added a bit of "spring" to it by dividing the batter into 4 equal bowls and mixed each with a different colour food colouring. I then put the 2 coloured batters on two layers as in the picture. Enjoy!

From coconut cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1.5 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fine ground unsweetened coconut

 What to do:

 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time until well mixed.
4. Add milk and vanilla.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
6. Add coconut.
7. Add dry to the wet ingredients and stir until just blended.
8. Put batter into loaf pan.
9. Bake 60 -70 minutes until it passes the toothpick test.
10. Cool 10 minutes.
11. Remove from pan and let cooling finish on cake rack.

 

Toy Box Baby Shower Cake

From shower cake

About seven or so years ago, I completed Wilton’s cake decorating courses. I have to confess that I didn’t put the lessons to very good use. In fact, it wasn’t until I had kids that I found a desire to make beautifully decorated cakes.

My first attempt was not very good. However, by the time my daughter turned four and wanted a “Barbie” princess cake, I was more proficient. Last year was a princess castle and my son was happy with his jungle themed cake.

I’m still not perfect and have to say I use my Wilton lessons as a stepping stone to try new things but don’t use their exact ways. And I certainly don’t think I could make a decent rose to save my life.

Anyways, a couple of weekends ago I made a baby shower cake for a friend who recently had a beautiful baby boy. It was a Wilton inspired cake called a Tot Toy Box. Of course, I put my own personality into it. For example, I used butter cream vs. covering it in fondant (I don’t like the taste of fondant). The cakes were Rose Levy Barenbaum’s recipes. I had a hard time figuring out a recipe for a 12 inch square pan, In the end I used a recipe for a 13 inch round pan – it worked beautifully.

The icings were also Rose’s – chocolate sour cream ganache and neoclassical butter cream. I did make the toy box and baby out of fondant…it was a bit labour intensive but so much fun to see the end product.

The letters on the toy box are made out of melted chocolate. The decorative baby bottles and bears are sugar candies that were purchased from a local cake-decorating store. The instructions for Wilton’s cake can be found here.

It doesn’t say on Wilton’s site, but I would make the toy box a week ahead of time if possible. For the baby, if you are making it out of fondant here’s what I did:

• Colour 1 cup of ready-made fondant (I used copper tone).
• Roll fondant out to about ¼ of an inch in thickness.
• Cut two circles out of rolled fondant – I used the open side of a drinking glass to cutout the circles.
• Roll two pieces about three inches long each and form into arms.
• With a small ball of leftovers, color fondant black or other hair colour and thinly roll a piece of hair, and eyes (I used blue but again use whatever you like).
• Colour another small piece pink or rose for cheeks.
• Attach the pieces with a bit of water.
• Sprinkle some cornstarch on a pan and place “baby” on top to dry.

Also, instead of attaching the baby to a wall of the toy box, I cut an extra long side of the toy box and then used it as an extra prop to ensure the toy box lid stayed in place and I leaned the baby on it.

From shower cake

From shower cake

From shower cake

From shower cake

From shower cake

From shower cake

From shower cake

From shower cake