Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Tri2Cook]

Curls, Deensie bat, Kim, PanaCan...and going back...it all looks so good.

I'm going to go for the corn popsicles next, probably with blueberries because a) I have no blackberries and b) neither blueberries nor blackberries are intense so I hope that one is somewhat interchangeable with the other.

Blueberries work great with corn. I did a dessert for the local blueberry festival last year that was simply a crisp made with local wild blueberries served with sweet corn ice cream that went faster than I could keep up with. I've also done mini tarts with a sweet corn custard topped with blueberries. If I remember correctly, Michael Laiskonis does a sweet corn panna cotta that he serves with blueberries. You won't be disappointed by the substitution.

[Genkinaonna]

I got hit up to make a birthday cake for an 80's themed birthday party...here's what I came up with. The only request that she had was that the body of the cake was black, and the cake itself was vanilla with vanilla frosting, in her words," like a wedding cake-type flavor."

I thought it turned out really well, especially since the fondant I used was a different brand than the one I'm used to and it was super soft although it covered well. The Rubik's Cube was a rice krispy treat covered with fondant and painted w/food coloring. You can't see them from the picture, but there's also a pac man and ms. pac man as well as the other ghosts around the edge of the cake.

[Darienne]

Beautifully executed, Genkinaonna

[Genkinaonna]

Thanks! And the person I made it for bakes too, so she appreciated the work that went into it, which is nice...

[RWood]

Work stuff. I made 4 apple galettes with frangipane for an event, and a basic chocolate cake for the golf course cafe.

[Genkinaonna]

Rwood-Those galettes are lovely! My crust always ends up not holding it's shape...care to share your recipe?

[RWood]

Rwood-Those galettes are lovely! My crust always ends up not holding it's shape...care to share your recipe?

Thanks! It's actually not my recipe, but David Lebovitz's . I've been really happy with this dough. I've tried several, and this one works very well. I've made lots of galette's lately and never had any trouble with it

Here is a link to the recipe on Fine Cooking's site.

[Kim Shook]

Curls – I like the look of your chocolate frosting! Did you just dip them upside down into the frosting and give them a little swirl or is there a trick?

Genkinaonna – Love the 80’s themed cake! Your fondant work is gorgeous – such crisp, neat edges! Excellent.

Rwood – I really covet the ‘ruffle’ edge on your chocolate cake. How is that done?

Apparently coconut was the theme ingredient this week! A cake I made for a co-worker’s birthday on Monday:

My standard chocolate cake (made with melted dark chocolate), coconut icing, coconut flakes and chocolate chips.

[Darienne]

Ditto what Kim says.

Kim, you never quit. You never sleep. You just bake cupcakes and cakes for others 24/7. I know it. Lovely cake.

[Emily_R]

Kim -- Coconut icing on chocolate cake sounds like heaven. How did you make the icing? Did you use coconut extract in it?

[Kim Shook]

Kim -- Coconut icing on chocolate cake sounds like heaven. How did you make the icing? Did you use coconut extract in it?

OK - blush, blush, blush...that's actually canned frosting with a little marshmallow Fluff and coconut extract added. I was planning on 7 minute frosting, but time got away from me on the weekend (not to mention the beginnings of a flu that still has me out of work this week - not to worry, I always cook in gloves and was VERY careful not to contaminate anything).

[curls]

Curls – I like the look of your chocolate frosting! Did you just dip them upside down into the frosting and give them a little swirl or is there a trick?

Kim, thank you very much! Yes, that was the technique, dip and twirl the cupcakes. Some were prettier than others but they were all tasty.

[RWood]

Rwood – I really covet the ‘ruffle’ edge on your chocolate cake. How is that done?

That is done with a St. Honore tip. It has a "V" cut into the side of it (or an upside down "V"), so it makes that tall design.

Edited September 15, 2011 by RWood (log)

[dhardy123]

S'mores on a stick!

Homemade Caramel Marshmallow toasted, chocolate ganache and a homemade graham cracker as a base.

Next time I won't make the marshmallow or ganache layer as thick so I can dip the whole thing in chocolate.

[Darienne]

Looks good enough to eat. I've never even had a S'more, but yours I would try!

[Kim Shook]

RWood - thanks - I just ordered one of those tips!

dhardy - gorgeous 'smores!

[RWood]

Strawberry Cream Cake ordered for a birthday.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Cinnamon buns. I'm very pleased at the substitution of 1 C of golden pea flour (sweet) into the brioche dough recipe, and the praline stuff that I spatched out of the pan when I turned them out and goonked onto the center bun, hardened into a very tasty crispy top, so much so that I'll be making extra next time and probably putting pecans on top of the buns as well.

[janeer]

Cinnamon buns. I'm very pleased at the substitution of 1 C of golden pea flour (sweet) into the brioche dough recipe, and the praline stuff that I spatched out of the pan when I turned them out and goonked onto the center bun, hardened into a very tasty crispy top, so much so that I'll be making extra next time and probably putting pecans on top of the buns as well.

As they say, OMG! Excellent rise. Your recipe, an adaptation?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Adaptation/amalgam/pastiche/homage. I took the praline base recipe from a handwritten one for white-flour unenriched-dough cinnamon buns that was given to me by a friend, then used a 2-egg brioche recipe from another friend for the dough, and subbed in the pea flour when I ran out of white. The stuffing was a riff on the usual stuff too - I decided that I'd try blendering 2 oz of walnuts with 2 oz of bittersweet chocolate and a bit of panela (raw sugar) and cinnamon, and used that in place of the usual brown-sugar/cinnamon filling.

All in all, it was quite successful; I'd probably make the dough a bit less slack in the future.

[Mette]

A little something to take to work to celebrate my birthday - simple coconut cake and royal icing. You get to guess my age, but here is a hint: I have all the answers

[Genkinaonna]

Mette- Love it! I'll definitely be doing a hitchhiker's guide theme when my 42nd rolls around!

[janeer]

Adaptation/amalgam/pastiche/homage. I took the praline base recipe from a handwritten one for white-flour unenriched-dough cinnamon buns that was given to me by a friend, then used a 2-egg brioche recipe from another friend for the dough, and subbed in the pea flour when I ran out of white. The stuffing was a riff on the usual stuff too - I decided that I'd try blendering 2 oz of walnuts with 2 oz of bittersweet chocolate and a bit of panela (raw sugar) and cinnamon, and used that in place of the usual brown-sugar/cinnamon filling.

All in all, it was quite successful; I'd probably make the dough a bit less slack in the future.

Like the idea of combining the ground nuts and choc with the cinn/sugar. It looks really good.

[Shelby]

So, for some reason, I have a plethora of box cake mixes in the cupboard....it seems I have an obsession for them when they go on sale 10/$10.

Anyway, the older I get, the less I like the taste of the mixes. So, I googled and found a few ways to make them taste less "boxed". Such as replacing the water with milk, oil with butter and separating the egg whites and beating them before folding them in. Oh, and adding vanilla.

By the time I did all of this, I could have made these from scratch.

Cupcakes made with yellow mix and dollop of peanut butter in the middle. Topped with chopped up Mr. Goodbars from the Halloween candy bowl.

[Kim Shook]

So, for some reason, I have a plethora of box cake mixes in the cupboard....it seems I have an obsession for them when they go on sale 10/$10.

Anyway, the older I get, the less I like the taste of the mixes. So, I googled and found a few ways to make them taste less "boxed". Such as replacing the water with milk, oil with butter and separating the egg whites and beating them before folding them in. Oh, and adding vanilla.

By the time I did all of this, I could have made these from scratch.

Cupcakes made with yellow mix and dollop of peanut butter in the middle. Topped with chopped up Mr. Goodbars from the Halloween candy bowl.

Those look really good, Shelby. I actually use cake mixes fairly often for yellow and white cakes (I haven't yet found a dependable 'go-to' recipe for those yet) - and when I get a surprise "We need a cake" request. While I prefer the taste of a scratch cake, I really love the texture of mixes. It looks like you got a nice crown on those. My cupcakes (even mixes) tend to flatten on me.