Harry Potter Birthday Party Part 5: The Cake

If you missed our other Harry Potter Birthday Party post, check them out:

• Harry Potter Birthday Party Invitations
• Harry Potter Birthday Party Decorations
• Harry Potter Birthday Party Games and Activities
• Harry Potter Birthday Party - Great Hall and Honeydukes

Such a simple cake but the kids loved it!

It's a simple five layered chocolate and vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.

It's covered with marshmallow fondant. Let me be clear, I dislike regular fondant and try to avoid it like the plague! It tastes awful. When I use it, I make figurines (e.g. on our Plants vs Zombie cake) but would never cover a cake in it. But I had heard rumours that marshmallow fondant is not only easy to work with but also tastes waaaay better. So what the heck, I thought, let's try it.

It doesn't taste like marshmallows but it is sweet and pleasant tasting. More importantly all the kids (and my husband) ate it and liked it - not one peeled it off the cake! That says something!

It was easy to work with. Even though I rolled it a bit too thin, it still adhered to the cake well and it was easy to smooth out.  The ribbons on the bottom of the cake hid a bit of messiness around the edges of the cake!

After it was covered, I added a bit of color gels to pieces of extra fondant. After rolling them out and cutting them into shapes (you can use whatever cookie cutters you have on hand or even cut them free style with a knife), I wrote on them with edible ink. The kids gave me their favorite spells and quotes from the Harry Potter books and movies and I just copied them onto individual fondant pieces. If you rub a tiny bit of water on the cake or the back of the fondant piece it will be easy to adhere it to the cake!

Note: Make sure you make the fondant a day or so in advance - it makes it much easier to work with.

Here are the sites I referred to when making our marshmallow fondant:

Recipe: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

Recipe: http://www.craftsy.com/recipe/marshmallow-fondant

Great Video by My Cupcake Addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaKqSND8sPc

Three Milk Cake - Daring Bakers

The Daring Baker Challenge this month was to bake a pastel de tres leches or three milk cake. It was the first time I had ever made (or tasted) this type of cake. It was delicious!

Inma of la Galletika was our Sept. 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and WOW did she bring us something decadent and delicious! Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, creamy yet airy, super moist but not soggy.. just plain delish!

This recipe is slightly adapted from Fine Cooking. 

For the cake:

• Unsalted butter, softened, for the pan or cooking spray

• 4-1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour

• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup  milk

• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the soaking liquid:

• 1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

• 1 cup evaporated milk

• 1/2 cup whipping cream (heavy cream)

• 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

• Pinch kosher salt

For the topping:

• 2 cups heavy or whipping cream

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

Bake the cake:

1.      Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.      Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch Pyrex or glass baking pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment and lightly butter or spray the parchment.

3.      Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.

4.      Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a medium bowl and the yolks in a large bowl.

5.      Using electric beaters, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar until the mixture is pale yellow in colour (2 minutes).

6.      Add the milk and vanilla and continue to beat until combined.

7.      Clean and dry your beaters (this is important – you don’t want any of the yolks on it or they whites won’t fluff) and then beat the egg whites, gradually increasing the speed to high, until they reach soft peaks. (3 minutes)

8.      Add the other 1/4 cup sugar slowly, continuing to beat on high, until you reach firm but not dry peaks. ( 2 minutes-ish more).

9.      Whisk a third of the dry ingredients into the yolk mixture and thoroughly mix.

10.   Lightly fold in a third of the egg whites with a rubber spatula.

11.   Alternately, fold in the remaining flour and egg whites, in two more batches each, until fully mixed.

12.   Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake is golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.

13.   Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack, remove the parchment, and let cool completely. It will shrink a bit – that’s ok.

14.   Put the cake back into the baking dish  so the cake will soak up more of the liquid.

Soak the cake:

1.      In a large saucepan, mix together the condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, coffee, and salt until it is all well blended. Cook over medium-low heat (don’t burn it!) until it begins to bubble around the edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a large heatproof glass measuring cup so it stops cooking.

2.      Using a toothpick, poke the cake at 1/2-inch intervals. Slowly, pour the soaking liquid over the cake, starting at the edges and waiting to let it soak in before adding more liquid. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 36 hours.

Top the cake:

1.      Beat the whipping cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken

2.      Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until it holds a firm peak.

3.      Spread on the cake.

Swimming Pool Party and Pool Cake

Birthday Pool Party!

My daughter decided to have a swimming party at UBC pool to celebrate her 9th birthday. So we made that the theme of the party.

If you are in Vancouver, I recommend UBC pool as a place for a kid's party. The cost was just under $100 for 10 kids, a party room, and a pool leader. The leader joined them in the pool for an hour as they played games and jumped off the diving boards.

Decorations

The kids spent most of their time in the pool so we kept decorations to a minimum. I found an "under the sea" roll of bulletin board paper at Michael's that we placed on a wall. I also found these pool party cut-outs on Etsy. I printed them on card stock and taped them to wood dowels. The kids LOVED them. We took pictures in front of the poster of all the kids. We also had balloons and blow up beach balls.

We served cake and a few snacks. I put the snacks in beach pails and the kids served themselves using little shovels! I also had a few shell shaped plates for other snacks. We made a balloon bouquet by simply throwing a bunch of balloons on a stick in a bucket! We also had a container of "pool water" as a drink (raspberry Kool-Aid).

Loot Bag

For the "loot bag", I found a great deal on a beach towel that turns into a backpack - normally $22 but on sale for less than $6 at Michael's! I even kept one for myself!

I made cookies for the kids to take home. One was a wave. It's a simple sugar cookie with a design I found on Glorious Treats (see her step by step tutorial) and the other one was going to be a life preserver but I couldn't get the red right so I made them "inner tubes" lol. I cut them out with a doughnut cutter I found at a dollar store.

Cake

The cake was pretty easy compared to my son's Plants vs Zombie cake! After looking on the internet for ideas, I combined my faves for this swimming pool cake!

The figures and slide are made out of fondant. The slide is held up with two straws. The cake itself is  three Texas sheet cakes - vanilla, chocolate, and "strawberry" (ok - vanilla with pink colouring!). My plan was to make a strawberry white chocolate ganache as the filling but sadly it didn't set properly (too thin). It did however, taste amazing! I didn't want to waste it so I "painted" the ganache between the cake layers and then used a vanilla buttercream as the filling on top of the ganache. The strawberry flavour really came through and made this cake a winner. I plan on perfecting the ganache and posting the recipe as soon as I can!

I "fenced" off the cake with Kit Kats!

To work off some of the sugar, we put on the kids' favorite music and let them dance until they went home.

My daughter said it was her best party ever!

Here is the sugar cookie recipe - it's my grandmother's recipe. It has shortening in it which helps the cookies keep their shape as they bake.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2.5 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt

Instrutions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In bowl; whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to combine. Set aside.
• In another large bowl beat butter and shortening
• Beat in sugars until light and fairly fluffy
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• Mix in flour mixture.
• Divide dough in half; flatten each slightly.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
• On lightly floured surface, roll out dough, 1 piece at a time, to 1/4-inch (5 mm) thickness
• Using 3-inch (8 cm) cookie cutters, cut out shapes.
• Press scraps together to reroll.
• Bake in centre of oven for about 12-14 minutes or until light golden on bottom and edges.
• Let cool for 1 minute on baking sheets.
• Transfer to racks; let cool completely.
• Decorate as you like.

Purple Yam Swiss Roll

I've seen purple yams/sweet potatoes used in many Filipino desserts here in Vancouver but I had never tried one myself. A vegetable as a dessert? Hmmm not sure about that ;) 

The thing that stands out the most is obviously the colour! I've never seen such a beautiful purple from a natural source before! Once steamed it is very sweet - more so than a traditional yam/sweet potato, I think - so it really does work well in desserts. The texture was certainly different than what I am used to in a dessert and at room temperature it wasn't my favorite BUT once refrigerated for a couple of hours it was great AND after our first night I froze the left overs and the next day it was heaven! It was very much like an ice cream cake! YUM.

Love the colour!

Roll the cake from the short end and leave half an inch of no filling at the
far side so it doesn't squish out.

Cut off the ends if you want a cleaner presentation.

I brushed some purple food gel onto my silpat
thinking it would  blend into the batter - it didn't!
But I  still like it!

So pretty!

I liked the texture best when frozen for a few hours.

Swiss Roll Cake (based on a recipe by Rose Levy Beranbaum)

1/4 cup (33 grams) whole wheat pastry flour
2-1/2 tbsp cornstarch
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar + 1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Using a half-sheet pan (17-1/4 x 12-1/4) coat with non stick spray then place a silpat or nonstick liner on the pan. Spray the silpat with baking spray the contains flour.
3. Separate 2 eggs, and place the yolks in a mixer stand bowl and the whites in another bowl and set aside.
4. To the yolks add the two whole eggs, 1/2 c sugar and one more egg yolk. Beat this at high speed for 5 minutes. Add vanilla and mix in at medium speed. 
5. You need the mixing bowl again so place the yolk mixture into another bowl. Clean the original mixer bowl really well as any fat left in the bowl will affect the beating of the egg whites.
6. In a small bowl, whisk the flour and the cornstarch.
7. Sift half the flour mixture over the egg yolk mixture. Fold it in very gently. Repeat with the remaining half of the flour.
8. In the large, cleaned stand mixer bowl add the egg whites. Using the whisk attachment beat the whites on medium speed until they are foamy. Add the cream of tartar. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until the whites form soft peaks. Add 1 tbsp sugar and beat until stiff peaks form when whisk attachment is lifted. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture. 
9. Pour the batter onto the baking sheet and smooth with an offset spatula. 
10. Bake for 7-8 minutes until golden brown.
11. Immediately loosen the sides of the cake from the sides of the pan. Gently slide the liner and cake out of the pan and on to a work surface. Sift the icing sugar over the cake. While hot, roll the cake from the short end making sure you include the liner as you roll. 
12. Set the cake on a wire rack to cool for 45 minutes.

Purple Yam Mixture

1-1/2 cups purple sweet potatoes, peeled cut and steamed (they need to be hot)
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp cream cheese
1/2 c whipping cream

Instructions

Using food processor with the steel blade attached, add all the ingredients. Process until smooth. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Putting it all together

Unroll the cake and carefully detach the cake form the liner and them lay it back on the liner again. 

Spread the potato mixture evenly over the cake leaving 1/2 inch of no icing on one short end. Starting at the other end, tightly and firmly roll the cake. Place on a serving plate with seam side down. Refrigerate or freeze for at least an hour before serving.

Daring Baker's Challenge Part I - Armenian Nutmeg Cake

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

Until this challenge, I had never heard of Armenian Nutmeg Cake. Little did I know my life was poorer for it. First off, this cake tastes amazing. The spices make something that your tastes buds will recognize as comfort food even if, like me, you have never bit into this peace of heaven before. Second, even though kids will love it, the flavours are quite sophisticated and filled with depth. Third, this cake is super easy to make!

This dessert is perfect for a tea party, a dinner party or a pity party! Try it. You're gonna like it!

Armenian Nutmeg Cake


Makes one 9”/23cm cake which yields 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3/4 cup (1½ sticks) butter, preferably unsalted, cubed
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces or pumpkin seeds, may need a little more
• 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg (try to grate it fresh yourself)
• 4 pods of green cardamom, seeds removed and crushed (discard pods) or ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 1 large egg



What to do
(using food processor, and a 9-inch spring form pan)

1. Preheat your oven to moderate 350°F

2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder) into the milk. Set aside.

3. Put the flour, baking powder, and the brown sugar into your food processor. Pulse until uniformly mixed.

4. Toss in the cubed butter. Pulse until uniformly mixed into tan-colored small crumbs.

5. Pour HALF of the crumbs into your spring form (9”/23cm) pan. Press out a crust using your fingers and knuckles.

6. Crack the egg into the food processor with the rest of the crumbs still in it.

7. Toss nutmeg and cardamom into the food processor, too. Pulse until well-incorporated.

8. Pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until a slightly lumpy tan batter is formed.

9. Pour the batter over the crust in the spring form pan.

10. Gently sprinkle the walnut or pumpkin pieces over the batter.

11. Bake in a preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. It's ready when the top is golden brown, and when it passes the toothpick test (comes out clean).

12. Cool the cake in the pan, and then dig in. Yum yum!

Freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: Armenian nutmeg cake will keep (covered) at room temperature for 2-3 days. Taste better still warm from the oven.

Allow to cool completely before attempting to freeze. Armenian Nutmeg Cake will freeze fairly well if completely sealed. Can be frozen for up to 3 months.

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