Drywall dust

 

When I was a kid, my family remodeled the house.  Completely gutted and redid everything.  Of all the cleanup involved in gutting a house, the one thing that my mother always hated the drywall dust.  The thin layer of white powder that coated everything, requiring twice the cleaning because it managed to hang on despite the copious amounts of soap and water.

Making Wilton buttercream icing reminds me of the drywall dust that would be the bane of my mother's existence.  No matter how careful I am, or whether or not I use the guard on the mixer, the powdered sugar always manages to poof all over my kitchen.  I always have to scrub everything twice, because the powdered sugar is so sticky.  But it's worth it.  That extra sweet buttercream is so tasty!

I made this cake for my friend's mom's surprise birthday party.  Buttercream flowers and gumpaste butterflies.

Birthday Cake for Foster

I was lucky to be able to make my little cousin Foster's first birthday cake.  The theme of his party was farm animals, so I made a chocolate barn cake with a vanilla cake yard.  I covered the chocolate cake with red fondant and make a roof from brownie bites.  My grass and hair tip came in handy for this cake.  I made a little cow, pony and chicken out of marshmallow fondant.  His smash cake was funfetti with a marshmallow fondant sheep on top.

More Cake

I have been the worst blogger here of late.  

I made the February Daring Baker's Challenge, but never photographed them or blogged about them.

I have still been baking, just slow to post.  I hope to rectify that situation.

Here is some more cake I made.  Marshmallow fondant critters.

This little piggy stayed home

My little nephew is 5 months old already!  I can't believe it.  He is so sweet and silly.  He is totally developing a personality!  It cracks me up.  This little piggy cake was made in honor of his 5 month birthday.  Its just a yellow cake with my favorite chocolate frosting.  Piggy is made out of marshmallow fondant and the grass and flowers are royal icing.  It was my first time using my "grass and hair" piping tip, and I must say, it's kind of fun!

Igloo Cake

The weather here is crazy.  We are having "blizzard like conditions."  Seems like a good time to snuggle up with some hot chocolate and igloo cake. 

 

I have had this cake bookmarked for a long time in an old issue of Martha Stewart Living.  The cake is meant to be an ice cream cake, but those I was sharing with don't care for ice cream cake.  I simply baked a box cake mix in a glass bowl.  I made it into three layers, filing the layers with lemon cream aka lemon curd mixed with whipped cream.  I then crumb coated the outside of the cake with American buttercream.  To make the entrance of the igloo, I used mini marshmallows and then piped over them with buttercream when making the "ice blocks."  Martha recommends using a large basketweave tip to pipe the "ice blocks."  I did not have one of those so I used a Wilton 127 tip (a very large rose tip).  The little penguins are just made of fondant.

Birthday Cake Bow

Fun with fondant bow.  I learned that kneading a bit of gum tex into the fondant makes it dry really stiff and the bow will stand up.  I also played around with painting the bow with water and gel food coloring.  Turned out kind of fun.

More Birthday Cake

Three month birthday cake for my nephew James.  White cake, American buttercream frosting, colored fondant rings. 

Honey Pear Cake

 

Recently, I was the lucky recipient of several fresh pears from a co-workers pear tree. These pears were small and their skin was mottled.  Beautiful, they were not.  But when you stuck your nose into the bag and inhaled, the most wonderful pear scent emerged.  I knew I had to bake something with these pears.  Something simple, yet special.  Something that would really showcase their flavor.  Pear cake was the answer.  This cake was found on marthastewart.com and the original recipe is here.

Honey Pear Cake adapted from Martha Stewart

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 milk

1/2 cup peanut oil

1 teaspoon lemon extract

Beat together the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until thick.  Add the oil, honey, milk, and lemon extract and beat until combined.  Add cinnamon, nutmeg, soda, and baking powder.  Beat until combined.  Add the flour and beat until just combined.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 10 inch springform pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool.  If desired, top with caramelized pears.  

Caramelized Pears adapted from Martha Stewart

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup sugar

4-5 small Bartlett pears cut into thin slices

1/4 cup honey

In a skillet, melt butter.  Add sugar and cook until sugar is fully melted.  The sugar will turn brown and caramelize.  Add the pears and cook until very soft.  Add honey and cook for a few more minutes.  Pour on top of cake. 

Fun with Fondant and more Rainbow Cake

I have a nephew now.  He is just over a month old and absolutely delightful.  Never in a million years did I think this miniature human being would move me and my family like he does.  He, of course, is super cute and an honestly good baby.  He cries when he needs something and just hangs out otherwise.

Colored batters

I come from a family of celebrators.  Any excuse to get together and eat cake, we take it.  So, obviously, we would have a one month birthday party for our newest addition.  I decided to seize the opportunity to practice some fondant critters and make rainbow cake.  I have been seeing rainbow cake everywhere and what would be better for a one month birthday celebration than whimsical rainbow cake.  You can see from my previous post that my first try with the rainbow cake didn't fly so well so I just stuck to the recommendations on the back of the cake mix box.  Consequently the batter was a bit thinner than when I added sour cream and it made the finished cake more tie-dye than rainbow, but that was ok.  It looked awesome anyway.  It now seems to be my sister's favorite way to eat white cake.

batter before the oven

Tie-Dye Rainbow Cake
1 white cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup of oil
1 cup water
red, yellow, green, blue, and violet gel food coloring

Mix cake mix, eggs, oil and water together.  Separate batter into six different bowls (no Indigo for me, poor lonely Indigo).  Using a toothpick, add desired amount of food coloring to batter.  If using gel colors, remember that it takes some time for the color to reach full vibrancy.  I don't have orange food coloring, not even sure Wilton makes it, so I just mixed red and yellow.

Grease and flour a 9*3 round cake pan.  Scoop 1-2 scoops of red batter into the pan.  Next scoop 1-2 scoops orange batter and put it directly on top of the red batter. Then scoop 1-2 scoops yellow batter and put it directly on top of the orange batter.  Lather, rinse, repeat with the remaining colors.  I had to repeat the pattern about 3 times in total.  The batter will spread itself out.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Frost and decorate as desired.  I used the American Buttercream that my family is so fond of.

cake after baking

American Buttercream adapted from Wilton
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
5-7 tablespoons of water

Beat together the butter and shortening until smooth.  Add the vanilla.  Slowly add the powdered sugar.  If the mixture gets too thick and your mixer is having trouble, add some water or milk a one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

I only frosted the outside of this cake.  Double the recipe if filling the cake.

Rainbow Fail

Note to self: If the cake mix already has pudding in it, don't add more pudding and then some sour cream.  Too heavy.  Your mother in law warned you against this pudding on pudding situation and you did not believe her.  Believe now.

Applesauce Cake

Fall is in the air!  The days are getting shorter, the nights crisp, the trees turning fiery.  I  have slow down for farm equipment and the field across the street is now empty, the corn making its way to the grain bins.  This cake tastes like fall.  The cinnamon and nutmeg paired with the tang of the cream cheese frosting.  The way the kitchen smells when this cake is baking is like warm cider.  This is one of my dad's favorite cakes and one of the few that I am confident to make from scratch.

Applesauce Cake
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon all spice
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Cream together the butter and the sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating them completely between each egg.  Add in the rest of the ingredients.  If you choose to use the raisins, you can plump them in a cup of boiling water.  Pour the batter in a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-45 minutes.  Allow to cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting 
(This makes a "double" batch, I split and filled the inside of the cake.  If you are going to only frost the outside you can split this recipe in half.)
1 8 ounce block of cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks butter, room temperature
7 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
6-7 teaspoons water (as needed)

Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Gradually, and I stress gradually, add in the powdered sugar. (Nobody likes a powdered sugar shower).  Add the vanilla.  Add the water as needed by the teaspoonful to reach the desired consistency.

Angel Food Cake

Angel food cake is absolutely, hands down, my favorite cake in the whole world.  Its the cake that I always ask for as my birthday cake.  Growing up, because we had chickens, we actually ate angel food cake fairly frequently.  My mother always said that fresh eggs made the best angel food cake.

This is my second attempt at making angel food cake.  The first time, a few years ago, I did not yet believe in the powers of cake flour and instead used all purpose flour.  Do not do it unless you want an angel food cake that is about 2 inches tall and quite heavy.

Angel food is a great summer cake.  Served with some strawberries and Cool Whip makes this dessert absolutely divine.  Served plain, this dessert is low in cholesterol and fat, which is always nice.

Angel Food Cake adapted from Betty Crocker
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
12 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 1/ 2 tablespoons vanilla

Before starting, place your bowl (stainless or copper) and your beaters in the freezer.  Also, remove eggs from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature.  To be honest, I have know idea why you should do this, but my mother swears these are key elements to the success of the angel food cake.

Separate your eggs.  There can be no traces of yolk in your whites.  I find this to be a struggle sometimes.  But then I realized that I was an idiot keeping my bowl of whites under each precarious yolk.  I then learned that each time I plopped an egg white out, put it in another bowl so that on the last egg the yolk does not accidentally slip out and ruin a dozen egg whites.

Once the eggs are separated add the cream of tarter and beat until foamy.  Once the eggs start foaming, then add 3/4 of a cup of the granulated sugar 1 tablespoon at a time.  Continue beating until stiff peaks form.  A stiff peak is one that does not flop over when it is formed.  Take care not to overbeat the eggs.  This is especially possible when using a stand mixture.

what a stiff peak looks like

Sift together the remaining 3/4 and 2 tablespoons of sugar with the cake flour.  Once the egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks, fold the vanilla and the flour mixture into the egg whites with a rubber spatula.  Be sure to use a rubber spatula.  My mother only owns one rubber spatula and it is specifically for folding flour into the egg whites for angel food cake.

Once the flour mixture is folded into the egg whites, spread mixture into an ungreased angel food cake pan (or tube pan if you will).  Make sure the batter is even.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Flip pan with cake in it immediately onto a clean plate.  Allow to cool upside down.  When the cake is completely cool, run a knife around the edges of the outside and inside of the pan.  Flip back onto the plate and allow cake to fall out.

Once the cake has fallen out of the pan, be sure to scrape the pan and eat it.  It is sooo tasty!  Serve cake plain or with sweetened strawberries and Cool Whip.

August Daring Bakers: Baked Alaska

Another ice cream challenge to go wonderfully with the sweltering heat of August.  I have been wanting to make Baked Alaska for a long time and now the Daring Bakers have given me a great excuse to try it.  These mini Baked Alaskas have a delicious caramely cake bottom, homemade strawberry or vanilla ice cream in the middle, covered by ethereal whipped meringue lightly toasted.  I have to confess though, I used my homemade ice cream left over from last months challenge.  I do not have an ice cream maker and I was lazy.

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

Brown Butter Pound Cake-best pound cake ever!

• 19 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3  cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. (The next time I make this, I might use a jelly roll pan to make the cake circles a bit thinner)

 Place the butter in a 10” skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells like caramel. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.   Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.  Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.

Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Meringue 

• 8 large egg whites
• ½ teaspoon (3g) cream of tartar
• ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
• 1 cup (220g) sugar

Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on high speed in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar one tablespoon at a time until stiff peaks form.

Vanilla Ice Cream

• 2 and ½ C  whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ C granulated sugar

Grind the sugar in a food processor. In a mixing bowl, add the cream and sugar and vanilla and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together.
Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

Strawberry Ice Cream

• 5C of whipping cream
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened strawberry puree 

Grind the sugar in a food processor unless you really have caster sugar, which I did not. In a mixing bowl, add the cream, sugar, and strawberry puree and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together.  Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

 Strawberry Puree

•   16 ounce bag frozen strawberries

Thaw out the frozen strawberries in a strainer over a bowl.  Save the juice.  Put the berries in the food processor and process.  Take the saved juice and reduce it to 1/2 of a cup.  Pour into the processed berries.  You can lightly sweeten this with 1/2 cup sugar.  I did not sweeten the puree because I was using it in the ice cream

To make this delicious cake, take a bowl and slice the cake roll into slices.  Line the bowl with plastic wrap and then line the bowl with the pieces of the roll.  Place the bowl in the freezer.  Then layer the vanilla ice cream, freeze for about an hour.  Layer the fudge, freeze for about and hour.  Finally layer the strawberry ice cream and allow to freeze.

To Assemble the ice cream:

• Remove ice cream from freezer and allow to soften
• Line tea cup with plastic wrap
• Scoop softened ice cream into tea cup
• Wrap well and refreeze

To assemble the Baked Alaska:

• Cut the cake into circles the same size as the teacups full of ice cream (the 9x9 cake made very thick cake circles, so I cut mine in half to make enough for the people I wanted to serve)
• Unwrap the ice cream and place on top of the cake rounds (if you have difficulty removing the ice cream from the tea cup, run the cup under hot water)
• Spread a liberal amount of meringue on the cake and ice cream (or pipe)
• Freeze for a few minutes or up to 1 day
• With a kitchen torch, brown the outside of the meringue, alternatively  put the cakes under the broiler for a minute.  Be careful, I have known people who have caught meringue on fire.

Cake Pops

When I was  a little girl, going to spend the night at Grandma's was always the biggest treat.  My dad had 5 siblings and everyone lived locally so there was always an aunt or uncle around to play with my sister and me.  We play countless games of freeze tag, go "fishing" for tadpoles and toads in the creek, and zoom around the property on the go kart.

Inevitably we would grow hot and hungry and come in the house for an afternoon snack.  We would race to the freezer and choose our favorite Little Debbie snack cake.  I think my sister preferred the Ding Dongs, but I loved the Zebra Snack cakes.  These were always a special treat because my mother did not buy things like that. 

There has been a recent craze for cake pops.  When I finally tried making them, the taste reminded me of those little Zebra snack cakes at my grandma's.  They are simple to make and hugely popular.  I am still always stunned how many people love these little balls of cake and frosting coated in chocolate.

The master of these cake pops is, of course, Bakerella.  She started the cake pop movement if you will, and takes them to a whole new level with extremely cute pops.

I have only made them a few times.  Typically, I use whatever leftover cake and icing that I have on hand from baking cupcakes or whatever.  A whole cake makes a ton of cake pops.

Cake Pops adapted from Bakerella

• 1 cake mix of your choice
• about 2 cups of the frosting of your choice (Bakerella recommends using frosting from a can, but I have not had the best luck with that.  For me, homemade buttercream holds up a bit better during dipping)
• 2 bags of Wilton Candy Melts in the color/flavor of your choice

Bake the cake according to the directions on the box.  Allow to cool completely. 

Tear the cake into small chunks and put in a bowl.  Add the frosting to the bowl with the cake bits.  Stir together.

Take about 1 teaspoon worth of mixture and roll into a balls.  Place on a cookie sheet covered in wax or parchment paper.  Stick a lollipop stick into each ball.

Place in the freezer for 1/2 hour or until cake balls are very firm.  Melt candy melts according to directions.  Dip each frozen cake pop into the melted chocolate and place back onto cookie sheet.  Allow to dry. (You can also use a Styrofoam block to dry the cake pops.  That way you will not have a flat side)

July Daring Bakers: Its the Bombe!

Things that are extremely challenging for me for no good reason

• using an electric pencil sharpener
• knowing right from left
• rolling cake

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

cake roll disaster

This challenge was well, extremely challenging.  For a time I considered just skipping this challenge.  I don't have an ice cream maker so making the ice cream was going to be a hassle and I have never had good luck making a cake roll.  They crack, they rip apart, its just an unholy disaster.  But that is what Daring Bakers is about isn't it?  It would be silly to skip a challenge that was well challenging!  And so I plodded on.

I have no ice cream maker, so the ice creams were made by hand.  I haven't made ice cream by hand since high school agriculture class when we tossed the cream around the room to get it to set up.  This time there was no tossing, I just used Sunita's method of stirring every so often.

Swiss Cake Roll

• 6 medium sized eggs
• 1 C sugar + extra for rolling
• 6 tblsp all purpose (plain) flour + 
• 5 tblsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together with the flour
• 2 tblsp boiling water
• a little oil for brushing the pans

Beat together the sugar and the eggs until the mixture is very very thick.  Add the sifted flour and cocoa powder and fold together.  Add the boiling water to activate the cocoa powder.

Pour the batter into two jelly roll pans that have been oiled and parchment papered.  (FYI: oil the parchment paper too.  I did not do that and it was an ugly situation to get the parchment off of the cake)

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch.  Plop out onto a kitchen towel that had been sugared.  Roll the hot cakes up in the towel in a roll.  Allow to cool.  Unroll and then spread with the whipping cream mixture and roll back up.  Put in the refrigerator to cool.

Filling

• 2C whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 tablespoons sugar

Put the whipping cream and sugar together in a bowl.  Whip the whipping cream into soft peaks.  Put in the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.

Vanilla Ice Cream

• 2 and ½ C  whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ C granulated sugar

Grind the sugar in a food processor. In a mixing bowl, add the cream and sugar and vanilla and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together.
Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

Fudge Sauce

• 1 C caster sugar
• 3 tblsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tblsp cornstarch
• 1 and ½ C  water
• 1 tblsp  butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and water in a small saucepan.  Stir until thickened (about 2-3 minutes).  Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.  Set aside to cool.

Strawberry Ice Cream

• 5C of whipping cream
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened strawberry puree 

Grind the sugar in a food processor unless you really have caster sugar, which I did not. In a mixing bowl, add the cream, sugar, and strawberry puree and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together.
Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

 Strawberry Puree

•   16 ounce bag frozen strawberries

Thaw out the frozen strawberries in a strainer over a bowl.  Save the juice.  Put the berries in the food processor and process.  Take the saved juice and reduce it to 1/2 of a cup.  Pour into the processed berries.  You can lightly sweeten this with 1/2 cup sugar.  I did not sweeten the puree because I was using it in the ice cream

To make this delicious cake, take a bowl and slice the cake roll into slices.  Line the bowl with plastic wrap and then line the bowl with the pieces of the roll.  Place the bowl in the freezer.  Then layer the vanilla ice cream, freeze for about an hour.  Layer the fudge, freeze for about and hour.  Finally layer the strawberry ice cream and allow to freeze. 

Baby Shower

Final shower cake

Its a strange feeling for me that my little sister is going to be a mama in a few short weeks.  I am pretty excited to meet the little guy though.  Now every time I am at the store, I wander through the baby section to see if there is anything that looks cute.  I think about my aunts and how involved they were and still are in my life and how I am looking forward to being part of his life.

Just getting started

Speaking of aunts, my aunt and I threw a baby shower for my sis this past weekend.  I made the cake for the event using bold colors because Em dislikes pastels and airplanes because that is how she is decorating her baby room.  This was my first tiered cake and my first time working with fondant.  I do not know what possess me to try new things with cake when I have twenty people coming over to see it , but I do.  I had originally planned to make a fondant bow on top of the cake, but that was not meant to be.  It collapsed on me overnight so I had to pull it off and do some quick repairs.

Pretty  bow that wasn't meant to be

Overall it worked out all right.  In the future I think that I need to make the cake from scratch to better support the top tier.  I used Funfetti box mix because that is my sister's favorite, but it was a little weak.  I used the recommendation from Rose Levy Beranbaum to use straws instead of dowels.  This system worked great.  The straws were easy to cut to length and supported the cake just fine.  Also, I already had them in my cabinet which is even better!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This coffee cake is hands down my husband's favorite dessert.  His mother makes it each year for Christmas and her mother makes it each time we come to visit.  I make it for my husband for his birthday because he is awesome and this cake is truly delicious.

This is also hands down the easiest coffee cake in the whole world to make, provided you actually understand the directions.  You see, a long time ago, when I was just a girlfriend, I decided I wanted to make my now husband a birthday cake.  I asked him what his favorite was, hoping for a nice simple chocolate or something.  No.  Of course not.  His favorite was his mother's sour cream coffee cake.  Well, how, as just the girlfriend, are you supposed to compete with Mom's coffee cake?  But me, being me, thought I could give it a shot.  I called up his mother and asked for the recipe which she willingly gave me and explained all of the directions.  The recipe called for baking it in a tube pan.  I had no idea what a tube pan was, but rather than ask, I figured my mother would know.  Turns out, she did not know what one was either.  Its an angel food cake pan, but my mother and I never thought of that and instead turned to a tube shaped bread pan she had. Needless to say, the cake exploded out of both ends of the "tube" pan and I was left with a cinnamon cakey mess in the oven.

I eventually called his mother back and she explained to me what a tube pan was.  Ok.  Let's try this again.  This time I thought I had everything under control, the cake looked beautiful when I pulled it out of the oven.  With angel food cake, you immediately flip the cake over and since I was baking this cake in an angel food cake pan I figured you flip this cake intermediately over.  No.  It is a significantly heavier cake than angel food and it immediately came crashing out of the pan and I was left with a cinnamon cakey mess all over the counter.

At this point my dad comes through the kitchen and eats a piece of the warm mess off the counter and tells me that I can keep messing up this cake because it is really good.  And keep messing up I did.  I gradually got better and better though and now I make a pretty close version to my mother-in-law.  But really, if you are not trying to make this cake just like your husband's mother had been making it for the last 25 years, its easy and tasty.  Also, if you don't know what and angel food cake/tube pan is, you can look here.  Although, my husband's grandmother always makes it in a spring-form pan, so there are options.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
1 Yellow Cake Mix (do not get a cake mix with pudding in the mix, I don't know why, but it messes things up)
1 small box instant vanilla pudding and pie filling
8 ounces sour cream (1 cup)
2 sticks butter or margarine melted (I use margarine in this instance because you can not tell a difference flavor wise and it is cheaper)
4 large eggs

Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon (to me this seemed like a lot of cinnamon, but it works)
chopped walnuts (optional.  I never put these in because my husband doesn't like it that way)
Mix these together in a small bowl. I usually make a double batch of this topping because I like a lot of cinnamon.  I typically use more than one batch but slightly less than a double.  It's good on toast though.

Mix ingredients for the cake batter together.  The batter with be very thick.  Take 1/2 the batter and spread it in the bottom of a greased and floured tube/angel food cake pan.  (Flouring after you grease a cake pan is very important because it gives the cake something to grab as it climbs the sides of the pan).  Next sprinkle a healthy portion of the topping mixture over the cake batter in the pan.  Then spread the remaining batter on top of the cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Sprinkle more cinnamon/sugar on top of that last round of batter.  Finally, you marbleize the batter so that there are swirls of delicious cinnamon and sugar in the final cake.  I usually make s shaped swirls, but you can marbleize how ever you desire.

Bake the cake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.  Make sure a cake tester or toothpick come out clean, but you do not want to over bake.  Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Happy Birthday Em!

Happy Birthday to my baby sister.  She is more than I ever could have asked for.


I was not especially fond of this seven pound squirming squealing bundle of joy when she first came home but over the years she became my playmate, confidant, and best friend.  I am lucky to have her.  I made her this completely stereotypical birthday cake because that is what she loves: Funfetti cake with crusting buttercream frosting and lots of roses.

Happy Birthday Lucy

Today it is my sister's dog Lucy's birthday.  I have been totally smitten with her ever since she was a puppy.  She went through kind of a hard time because she broke her leg when she was only about three months old.  Everyone in my family became super attached to her.

My sister threw her a little birthday party and she asked me to make a cake for the people.  It was a Funfetti cake with lemon curd filling and fluffy white buttercream frosting.  I was having difficulties with my cake baking this weekend, so I was lucky that I was able to get anything that even closely resembled a cake to the party.  Even then, the lemon curd filling make the top layer slide off the bottom once the cake was cut.  I use the Martha Stewart recipe for lemon curd, however, I am concerned that it does not set up properly for me and perhaps I should try a different recipe.  I have made that particular recipe several times and not had a lot of success with it.

Basket Cake

This is the cake from my Wilton Cakes II class. This class was interesting because we learned how to make royal icing flowers. I had never really worked with royal icing before, but it was totally crazy because royal icing dries hard and then you can keep it for a long time. All of the flowers on this cake were prepared during the previous four weeks of class. We made apple blossoms and daisies, pansies and daffodils. The culmination of the class was to make a cake that looked like a flower basket. The basket weave was also an interesting task. It kind of looks complicated but in reality, it's quite easy. However, it is terribly time consuming. That tiny cake above took almost 45 minutes to basket weave. When I got home from class, I told my husband that I would have to really love someone to make them a basket weave cake.