Sticky Ginger Cake with Caramelized White Chocolate Buttercream~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

New Year - New Cake Cookbook!

Bundt de Noël ~ #BundtBakers

It seemed like a good idea at the time.  

Mardi Gras Macarons ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

#CreativeCookieExchange is celebrating Mardi Gras! this month. Instead of handing out beads we are handing out cookies.

The traditional dessert for Mardi Gras is King Cake, which is made from a cinnamon-filled dough. It is glazed and then sprinkled with three colored sugars - purple (representing justice), green (representing faith) and gold (representing power). I decided to take these colors and use them to make macarons.

This was my first attempt at macarons and they turned out to be a little easier than I expected, although I will say that you need to have a few bowls handy.  Having a macaron silicone mat made the shaping a lot easier but I still found that they stuck slightly - I didn't think anything stuck to these mats.  I managed to pry them loose by using an offset spatula to gently lift them. The filling was a vanilla buttercream, which was a bit too sweet for my liking, but it did suit the theme.  The recipe makes way more buttercream than you need for the macarons, so you could either halve it or keep it to be used on another cookie.

If you would like to know more about #CreativeCookieExchange and see what the other bakers made for the Mardi Gras! theme please scroll down below the recipe. Thanks to Laura from The Spiced Life, who is our host & fearless leader, and Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories who did the links for us this month.

Mardi Gras Macarons

Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

Macaron shells ~

• 95g almond flour
• 100g powdered sugar
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• 100g extra-fine sugar
• violet and green gel food coloring

Buttercream Filling ~

• 225g butter 
• 360g powdered sugar 
• 5ml vanilla extract 
• gold sanding sugar 

Preparation

Macaron shells ~

1. Preheat oven to 190℃.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
3. Sift almond flour and powdered sugar together 2-3 times, and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk egg  whites until foamy.
5. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
6. Reduce speed and gradually add extra-fine sugar, then increase speed and beat until stiff peaks form.
7. Sift flour mixture over whites with a fine sieve.
8. Fold mixture together with a rubber spatula until just combined, note that the batter will be very stiff. 
9. Divide batter into two bowls and place a small amount of green food coloring in one bowl and violet in the other.
10. Fold each batter until it loosens considerably (when batter is ready, it should fall from the spatula in a thick ribbon).
11. Transfer each color of the mixture to a piping bag.
12. Pipe 2.5cm to 3cm rounds on the parchment-lined baking sheets.
13. Let piped macarons stand uncovered for 15 minutes to form a crust.
14. Decrease temperature to 160℃ just before placing the baking sheet in the oven.
15. Bake pans one at a time for 10 minutes, turning halfway through (after the first batch has baked, the oven temperature should be increased to 190℃ then decreased to 160℃ just before the second baking sheet goes in).

Buttercream Filling ~

1. Cream butter and powdered sugar together in a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
2. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. If mixture is stiff, use 1 or 2 tablespoons of cream to loosen.
3. Add vanilla. Beat until flavor is thoroughly incorporated.
4. Transfer icing to a piping bag and pipe onto the green macaron shells; sandwich with the purple shells.
5. Place the gold sanding sugar in a small bowl and roll the edges of the sandwich cookies in the sugar.
6. This recipe make 15 sandwich cookies, keep macarons refrigerated in an airtight container.

Recipe from HGTV

For US measurements please click here

Are you ready for Fat Tuesday? The theme this month for the Creative Cookie Exchange group is Mardi Gras! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links. You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). We all post on the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made ~

• King Cake Cookie Bars from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• King Cake Spritz Cookies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Mardi Gras Macarons" from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs

The Cake Slice Bakers June 2013 - Black and White Cake

I am extremely late with last month's cake.  I just seemed to lose my baking mojo, and each time I thought about getting ready to bake this cake something else seemed to need my time and energy.

The cake that was chosen by the Cake Slice Baker's for June was the Black and White Cake which is described in Vintage Cakes as "the reverse of the classic white cake with chocolate frosting: two thick layers of the darkest chocolate cake, slathered with bittersweet ganache and then covered with vanilla bean buttercream". Sounds pretty decadent doesn't it?

Although there are a lot of components to the cake, breaking it up over a couple of days makes the task seem less daunting.  I ended up baking the cake and making the ganache and buttercream, and assembling part of the cake one day and then completing the frosting and adding a ganache topping the following day.  Really, it is not a difficult cake to make at all, you just need to work out the timing.

As usual I had a few ideas to change the cake just a little - however, I did stay true to the basic recipe, which is the point in baking from this book and along with the group.  I decided that I wanted to lightly brush the layers with a mixture of coffee and Kahlua to add a little moistness and a flavor kick to the cake, and I ended up making a little extra ganache to pour over the top of the cake. Also, contrary to what the actual directions state I trimmed the tops of my cakes just a little and placed the top side down on the serving plate because I find that the bottom of the cake absorbs moisture better when brushing the cakes, and I did this with the second layer too. Oh, and I added a few drops of black food coloring to my ganache.  Call me crazy but I just do not like my ganache looking so red in my photos, and I am still learning about photography and editing photos, so I don't know how to fix this later.

This cake got rave reviews from all who tried it.  It had something for everyone - a deep, dark chocolate flavor for the chocoholics, and a lovely sweet vanilla flavor for the vanilla lovers. Also, it really does develop a great flavor if left for a couple of days in the refrigerator, but make sure you allow it to come to room temperature before serving.

































Please visit The Cake Slice Bakers blogroll page for links to all of my fellow baker's cakes.  I am about to head over there myself since I make it a rule not to peek at the other cakes before I get mine up on my blog.  I can't wait to see all of their delicious creations. Oh, and don't forget that we have a Facebook page too and would love for you to visit - there you will see not only our monthly group baking project, but also all of the other goodies we bake and some great tips.


Black and White Cake
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients ~ Cake

• ¾ cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
• ⅔ cup hot coffee 
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1¼ cups dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 egg yolks, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons hot coffee (optional)
• 2 tablespoons Kahlua (optional)

Ingredients ~ Ganache

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips

Ingredients ~ Buttercream

• 6 egg whites
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 cups unsalted butter (1 pound), room temperature and cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Preparation ~ Cake

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350℉. 
2. Line two 8-inch round baking pans with parchment paper. Grease each pan with cooking spray. 
3. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and hot coffee, add the sour cream and vanilla and stir until well mixed. 
4. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine. 
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter  and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, adding the next one just as the previous one has been incorporated.
6. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the chocolate mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go to fully incorporate the ingredients.
7. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Smooth the tops and tap each pan on the counter a few times to allow air bubbles to escape. 
8. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 minutes - cakes are ready when the center spring back lightly when touched.
9. Cool the cakes in the pan for 30 minutes before inverting them and placing them top side up on a cooling rack to cool completely before assembling. 
10. Combine the hot coffee and Kahlua.
11. To assemble the cake, lay one of the cakes, top side up, on a serving plate (see my note above for my variation).  Using a pastry brush, gently brush the cake with the combined coffee-Kahlua mixture. Using a metal spatula frost the top with about ½ cup of ganache, spreading it just a little inside the edge of the cake. Refrigerate for about 5 minutes to allow the ganache to firm up. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and spread about 1 cup of the buttercream, covering the ganache, and taking it all the way to the edge of the cake. Align the second cake on top of the buttercream, top side up (see note above), gently brush the cake with the combined coffee-Kahlua mixture, and frost it with another ½ cup cup of ganache and chill it in the fridge for another 5 minutes. Once chilled, spread a thin layer of buttercream all around the cake, creating a crumb coat. Place in the fridge for about 10 minutes to firm up the thin layer of frosting. Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream. Decorate the top of cake with the remaining ganache in desired. 

Preparation ~ Ganache

1. Place the chocolate into a medium heat-proof bowl. 
2. Heat cream in a medium saucepan set over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until the cream starts to simmer. 
3. Remove the cream from heat and pour over chocolate. Swirl the bowl to ensure all the chocolate is coated. 
4. Cover the bowl with a lid and let the cream and chocolate sit together for 5 minutes. 
5. Remove the lid and stir the cream and chocolate together. First start with small circles in the center and gradually increase until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Allow to sit up to a couple hours to become creamy. 

Makes about 1 ½ cups

Preparation ~ Vanilla Buttercream

1. Using a hand whisk, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. 
2. Place the bowl over (not touching the water) a saucepan of simmering water. The mixture will be thick at first but will become more fluid-like as it heats. 
3. Continue to gently whisk the mixture until very hot to the touch (130℉ on a candy thermometer).
4. Move the bowl to the stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip the whites and sugar mixture together on medium-high speed until it has tripped in volume and it is is thick and glossy, and holds stiff peaks, about 4 minutes. 
5. Turn the mixer down to medium-low speed until the bowl is cool to touch. 
6. Turn the speed back up and add the butter, one cube at a time, adding the next just as the previous one has been incorporated. During the mixing the frosting will, at one stage, look as though it has curdled, but it will come back together.
7. Once all the butter has been added, and the frosting is fluffy and creamy, add the vanilla and salt until combined.

Makes about 5 cups. This buttercream, covered with plastic wrap will last for 2 days at room temperature or 7 days in the refrigerator.  If refrigerated it needs to come to room temperature before use.  Also the buttercream will need to be re-whipped before use.

Slightly adapted from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson.

The Cake Slice Bakers May 2013 - The Pink Cake

This year is certainly zipping along, and it is already time once again for the Cake Slice Baker's latest cake. It is hard to believe that this will be the seventh cake we have baked from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson.  The votes were tallied and the cake with the most votes this month was The Pink Cake, which according to the author, is the most popular cake at her bakery, Baker & Spice.

Each and every cake we have baked has been a lot of fun, and this one was no exception. However, have you ever felt jinxed when baking a cake?  This cake definitely had me feeling like there was some sort of curse on it.  Before even getting the cakes in the oven I had taken the skin off the top of my hand getting ingredients out of the cupboard, managed to spill flour all over the floor, and whilst separating the eggs I got some of the yolk in the whites, meaning that they could no longer be used for the buttercream. The bad luck continued when I discovered that my cake tins were actually 9-inch, rather than the 8-inch listed in the recipe, so the layers were too thin and I had to make another batch of cakes.  The final straw was when I was taking photos of the cake and my background fell on the cake destroying the top of it.

But baker's are a hardy bunch and they certainly do not give up.  So, despite all of the bad luck with the cake, it actually came out tasting pretty good, and it looked fine once I had repaired my evil backboards damage.  As I mentioned above I ended up with 6 layers because I baked two batches of 9-inch cakes, and it would have been fun to use them all and make a really tall cake, but I was worried that I would not have enough frosting, so I decided to go with four layers. The author mentions in the book that at her bakery they use a sugar syrup to coat the layers.  I decided that since the raspberries were quite expensive I would try and make use of the seeds.  Following the authors suggestion I made a simple syrup, but then went out on my own and added some creme de cacao and the raspberry seeds, and left it overnight to steep.  The next day I simply strained out the seeds leaving a delicious chocolate-raspberry syrup to brush over each of my layers.

This cake has a rich chocolate flavor that I really like and a subtle raspberry taste in the frosting. I loved the chocolate-raspberry taste, and the little bit of moistness that the syrup added to the cake. You can see from my pictures that I did not place too much frosting in-between the layers as I find that the sweetness of the buttercream can overwhelm the cake.  I realize that looking at the preparation list may seem a little intimidating, but this cake is not hard to make.  Sure, there are a few steps, but if you divide them up over a couple of days it will seems like a breeze, and just think how super impressed everyone will be with this cake when you say "I made it myself".

I am including a link here to the blogs of my fellow Cake Slice Baker's so that you can check out all of their beautiful creations.  I am betting that their luck may have been a little better than mine whilst baking this particular cake.  Also, we have launched a Facebook page that features not only our cake's each month, but all sorts of other goodies made by the group.

The Pink Cake

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

Cake ~

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• ¼ cup lightly packed premium unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa
• ¾ cup boiling water
• ¾ cup full-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup canola oil
• 3 egg yolks, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature

Raspberry Buttercream ~

• 6 egg whites
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small cubes
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 4 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen berries, measure them before thawing) 

Creme de Cacao-Raspberry Simple Syrup ~

• ½ cup boiling water
• ½ sugar
• 1 tablespoon creme de cacao
• raspberry seeds leftover from the buttercream

Preparation

Cake ~

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350℉.
2. Put the unsweetened chocolate and the cocoa into a small bowl. 
3. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and allow it to steep for 1 minute, then whisk the mixture together. 
4. Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla and set aside.
5. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then whisk the mixture by hand to ensure that the ingredients are well mixed.
6. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes, stopping the mixer frequently to scrape the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 
7. On low speed, drizzle the oil into the mixture until blended, then turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the batter is fluffy, about 3 more minutes. 
8. Blend in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the batter. 
9. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the chocolate mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and scrape the bowl. Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure you do not overbeat the batter.
10. Divide the thick batter equally among the prepared pans (there will be approximately 1 pound 2 ounces per pan). 
11. Smooth the tops and tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter and eliminate any large air bubbles. Bake in the middle of the oven until the centers spring back when lightly touched, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Flip the cakes out of the pans, leaving on the parchment paper until you assemble the cake. Let them continue to cool on the rack, top sides up, until they reach room temperature.

Buttercream ~

1. Mash and strain 4 cups of raspberries through a fine mesh sieve to catch the seeds.
2. Discard the seeds and set aside.             
3. Using a hand whisk, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the clean bowl of a stand mixer. 
4. Place the bowl over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water. The egg white mixture will be gloppy and thick, but as the mixture begins to warm up, it will become more fluid. Continue to gently whisk the mixture until it is very hot to the touch (130°F on a candy thermometer).
5. Move the bowl to the stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip the whites on medium-high speed until they have tripled in volume and are thick and glossy and hold stiff peaks (like meringue), 3 to 4 minutes. 
6. Turn the mixer down to medium-low speed until the mixing bowl is just cool to the touch, 1 to 2 minutes. 
7. Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and add the butter one piece at a time, adding the next piece just as the previous one has been incorporated, stopping the mixer every so often to scrape down the escaping buttercream from the sides of the bowl. At some point, the buttercream will take on a curdled appearance; don't worry, this is normal. Just keep on mixing until it comes together. Once all the butter is incorporated and the frosting is fluffy and creamy, blend in the raspberry puree, vanilla and salt until fully combined.
8. Covered with plastic wrap, buttercream will last 2 days at room temperature or 7 days in the refrigerator. If refrigerated, the buttercream must be brought to room temperature before you use it. Either way, the buttercream must be rewhipped—either by hand if kept at room temperature or with a mixer if refrigerated—before you frost a cake with it.

Creme de Cacao-Raspberry Simple Syrup ~

1. Mix all ingredients in a container, cool, and leave in refrigerator overnight.
2. Strain seeds from mix, and discard.

Assemble the cake ~

1. Lay one of the cakes top side up on a cake plate. 
2. Brush with creme de cacao-raspberry simple syrup.
3. Using a metal spatula, frost the top with 3/4 cup of buttercream, spreading it out to the edge of the cake (the filling will be about 1/4 inch thick). 
4. Stack the second cake top side up on top of the frosted cake, brush with syrup, and spread another 3/4 cup of buttercream on top of it. 
5. Stack the last layer of cake top side up on top and brush with the simple syrup. Look for any frosting that may have oozed out beween the layers and spread it along the sides of the cake. Apply a thin layer of frosting all over the cake to create a "crumb coat." 
6. Place the cake in the refrigerator until the frosting is firm, about 10 minutes. 
7. Take it out and frost the cake with the remaining buttercream, using your spatula to make decorative swirls.
8. Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 
3 days.             

Recipe by Julie Richardson - Vintage Cakes

Streaking Vanilla Cupcakes

Ok, so these cupcakes are not naked and running down the street. I totally drew a blank when naming them - I mean vanilla cupcakes with blue-streaked buttercream isn't the most enticing name is it? My daughter suggested the name and thought it was really funny, so I decided to go with it.

My daughter couldn't play basketball this year so she is the team manager for both the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams. A few days ago was Senior Night and she wanted to bring something to help the team celebrate. She decided that cupcakes would be popular with the team, and that we could easily incorporate the team colors - white and blue.

I love this recipe that I found on Martha Stewart's site.  All I had to do was swap out the strawberry for vanilla extract in both the cupcakes and the frosting.  This cupcake recipe produces a really nice soft crumb and a moist cake.  After mixing up the batter I separated about one cup and dyed it blue.  To produce a tie-dye effect I filled the cupcake liners with some vanilla batter, then blue batter, topping them off with a little more vanilla batter and then swirled it with a toothpick.






To top the cupcakes I decided to try and put blue streaks around the side of the piping bag so that I would get a swirl effect.  It probably would have worked out better had I used a small paintbrush, rather than a toothpick, but I had to go with what I had in the house.  In the end I used the toothpick to swirl the blue color straight into the buttercream, and then spooned it into a ziploc bag to pipe it.

The team was thrilled with the cupcakes and even better, they won the game.

I could have swirled this one a little better

Streaking Vanilla Cupcakes  
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients
Cupcakes

• 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• blue gel paste as needed

Buttercream

• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ¾ pound (3 sticks) butter, softened, cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• blue gel paste as needed

Preparation
Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350℉. 
2. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. 
3. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
4. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Reduce speed to low. 
5. Mix remaining wet ingredients in a bowl. 
6. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry, scraping the sides of bowl between each addition.
7. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each full (or tie-dye as suggested above).
8. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes.
9. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

Buttercream

1. Place whites and sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Remove from heat, and attach bowl to a mixer. 
3. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes.
4. Reduce speed to medium, and add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking well after each addition. 
5. Add vanilla and whisk to combine.
6. Use immediately, or cover, and refrigerate. 
7. If using gel paste either dye buttercream or use a small paintbrush to line a piping bag before decorating cupcakes.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.  Makes approximately 30 cupcakes.

The Cake Slice Bakers January 2013 - Banana Cake with Coffee Walnut Buttercream

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by.  It seems like only yesterday that December's cake was being voted upon and baked.  Here we are in a new year and we actually had a tie in the voting between The Classic and Banana Cake with Coffee Walnut Buttercream so we were able to chose which one we wanted to bake.  Since I am a huge fan of banana cake it was an easy choice for me, although I will probably bake The Classic at a later time.

We always seems to have an abundance of bananas in our house, so it was easy to grab a few extra-ripe ones for my cake.  I decided to bake the cake on one day and refrigerated the layers overnight, and then make the buttercream and assemble the cake next day, which worked out really well.

Since my girls aren't huge fans of walnuts I decided to change the frosting a little bit. I saw that Vintage Cakes also had a recipe for Coffee Buttercream (1 tablespoon instant espresso and 2 teaspoons of water to make a paste and add to basic buttercream) so I went with that and also added ⅓ cup of melted dark chocolate so I ended up with a Mocha Buttercream.  I also decorated the top of the cake with chocolate covered coffee beans, well I decorated the top with what I had left because I seriously can't stop eating them once I start.  I used the basic buttercream recipe from the book which is slightly different to the coffee walnut buttercream.

At first I found it difficult to find a saucepan that I could put the metal bowl of my mixer into without it touching the water.  My solution was to get out my pasta pot that has a metal insert to drain the pasta.  I filled it just until the water reached the insert, I turned the insert handles in towards each other, and then I balanced my mixer bowl on the top of the insert handles, slightly tilting the bowl.  By doing this the water could simmer away without the bowl touching the water.

This type of buttercream is known as a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and I was looking forward to trying it since I had only made a regular buttercream previously.  It is funny when you shy away from attempting something because you think it sounds too difficult, and then when you try it you wonder what all of the fuss was about.  That is what happened to me with this buttercream.  I am such a baking nerd that I was even excited when it curdled (just as the author said it would) and then came back together again.  The end result was a deliciously fluffy mocha-flavored buttercream.

As I was assembling the cake I realized that I should have trimmed it a little as the layers had baked up a little uneven, but I had already topped it with the last layer so I pressed on.  In the end the cake was a little lopsided but I think it gave it character.  Well, that is what I told myself and I knew that it wasn't going to affect the taste of the cake.  And a few chocolate-covered coffee beans on top sealed the deal.

This cake was definitely a winner.  The cake had a deep banana flavor and the mocha buttercream was a nice accompaniment to it.  It is the sort of cake that you could top with so many different flavors and it would still be great.

Click here to check out the blogs of my fellow Cake Slice Baker's to see which cake they chose to bake - was it The Classic or the Banana Cake with Coffee Buttercream?


Banana Cake with Coffee Walnut Buttercream
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients
Cake

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
• ¾ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, at room temperature

Coffee Walnut Buttercream

• 1 cup toasted chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup corn syrup
• ¼ cup bourbon
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• 5 egg whites
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt

Preparation
Cake

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350℉.
2. Grease three 8 by 2-inch round cake pans, and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper circles.
3. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, then whisk the ingredients with a hand whisk.
4. In a small bowl combine the banana with the buttermilk.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together on high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer frequently to scrape the sides and the paddle with a rubber spatula.
6. Blend in the eggs one at a time.
7. With the mixer on low add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the banana mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the four.   After each addition scrape the bowl well.  Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula.
8. Divide the thick batter equally among the prepared pans, and tap the pans on the counter to settle.
9. Bake until the centers spring back when lightly touched, 28 - 30 minutes.
10. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes.  Flip them out and let them continue to cool on the rack, top side up, until they reach room temperature.  Leave the parchment paper on until you assemble the cake.
11. To assemble the cake lay one of the cakes top side up on a cake plate.  Using a metal spatula frost the top with ¾ cup of buttercream out to the edge of the cake (filling will be about ¼ inch thick).  Stack the second cake top side up on top of the frosted cake and spread another ¾ cup of buttercream on top of it.  Stack the last layer of cake top side up on top.  Look for any frosting that may have oozed out the sides and spread it along the sides of the cake.  Apply a thin layer of frosting all over the cake to create a "crumb coat".  Place the cake in the refrigerator until the frosting is firm, about 10 minutes.  Take it out and frost the cake with the remaining buttercream, using your spatula to make decorative swirls.

Buttercream
Walnut-Espresso paste

1. Puree toasted, chopped walnuts in a food processor until they just begin to form a paste. 
2. Add corn syrup, bourbon, and espresso powder and blend until combined.  Set aside.

Basic buttercream:

1. Using a hand whisk, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Place the bowl over (not in - do not let the bowl touch the water) a saucepan of simmering water.  The egg mixture will be gloppy and thick, but as the mixture begins to warm, it will become more fluid.
3. Continue to gently whisk the mixture until it is very hot to touch (130℉ on a candy thermometer).
4. Move the bowl to the stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip the whites on medium-high speed until they have tripled in volume and are thick and glossy and hold stiff peaks (like meringue).  Turn the mixture down to medium-low speed until the mixing bowl is just cool to touch, 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Kick the mixer back up to medium-high speed and and add the butter one piece at a time, adding the next piece just as the previous one has been incorporated.Stop the mixer every every now and again to scrape down the sides. At some point the buttercream will appear curdled, but this is normal, so keep mixing until it all comes together again.
6. Once all of the butter has been incorporated and the frosting is fluffy and creamy, add the vanilla and salt and mix until fully combined.
7. Covered with plastic wrap this frosting will last 2 days at room temperature or 7 days in the refrigerator.  If refrigerated, the frosting will need to come to room temperature before use, and will need to be re-whipped (by hand if at room temperature, or machine if refrigerated), before frosting a cake.

Cake from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson, adaptations by All That's Left Are The Crumbs.

Pot O'Gold Cupcakes

Tomorrow is St Patrick's Day and we will have our traditional corned beef, potatoes, and something green - I love cabbage but the rest of the family does not.  Somehow bok choy seems a little strange for an Irish dinner, but I just go with the flow.

Recently there have been some wonderful recipes for  cupcakes with a St. Patick's Day theme -  Irish Coffee Cupcakes by 52 Kitchen Adventures, St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes by Susi's Kochen Und Backen Adventures, and Guinness Cupcakes by My Baking Addiction, to name a few.  All sound so good, and I have bookmarked them so that I can try them soon.  I couldn't decide on one, so I took a little something from all of them and came up with Pot O'Gold Cupcakes.

As much as I love chocolate cupcakes I wanted to make a basic yellow cupcake, so I used a tried and true recipe from Martha Stewart. A good friend of mine brought back a jar of Ladurée Caramel au beurre salé for me when she went to Paris last year, and I have been saving it for a special occasion.  I am always torn when I get gifts like this because on the one hand want to use it, but I also want to save it because I can't replace it.  I decided that this was a good time to break that seal and enjoy the contents.  The caramel is so thick and delicious, so after I made the cupcakes I cut a small portion from the top and filled them with the caramel.  A buttercream frosting seemed to be the perfect topping, so I went with it, and added Bailey's® Irish Cream in a caramel flavor as a little something extra. I may have gone a little overboard with the Bailey's®, so I adjusted it in the recipe below.  

Well, I think that I may have just found the Pot O'Gold at the end of the rainbow. Happy St. Patrick's Day!  And remember, many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers. 

Pot O'Gold Cupcakes
(Printer Friendly Version)

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs

Frosting:

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons Bailey's® Irish Cream (I used the caramel flavor) 
• 1 tablespoon cream
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
 

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Line the cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
4. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla; set aside. 
5. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
7. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix. 
8. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. 
9. Place tin on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in tin, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting.

Frosting:

1. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat unsalted butter, confectioners' sugar, cream, Bailey's, and vanilla extract until smooth.
2. Mix in up to 1/2 cup more sugar or a few more teaspoons of milk as necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency. 
3. Makes enough for 12 cupcakes. 

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

To Try Tuesday - Nutella Buttercream Chocolate Cake

I might have to think about abbreviating the title of To Try Tuesday to Triple T, or just TTT.  That is a lot of typing just in one title.  However, this cake is worth it.

Once again Tuesday rolled around and I wasn't quite ready for it.  My youngest headed back to school today and I think I was a little more focused on that, when I realized I had better start thinking about baking something or the day would be gone.  This is when I realized that it would be a perfect time to try out something with Nutella.

I had recently read about Dessert Wars which which was created by Reeni from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice and Christine from The Cupcake Bandits.  Dessert Wars is a progressive blogger competition with a winner each month.  The winner from each month will reach the finals at the end of December to decide the "Ultimate Dessert Warrior".  Sounds like fun!  I am sure we are going to see some fantastic desserts, and I can't wait to see the entries each month.  I am going to post this for Dessert Wars but I am not quite in that league.

The prizes available are:

-Whisk and cupcake necklace from Moon & Star Designs

-The Smartshopper Electronic Grocery List Organizer

-Beanilla Sampler Pack of Vanilla Beans

-Lenox Personalized Musical Cupcake

-1,000 ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies & Cakes

-Endless Vanilla and Cinnamon Extract

-Unlimited Layers: A Recipe for Turning Your Passion into Profits

-A $50 gift certificate to  Theme Kitchen's online store

-Organic Valley & Organic Prairie have each donated a $50 ($100 total) coupon to redeem products from each company to the winner of January's challenge!

You can read more about all of these wonderful January prizes on the Dessert Wars Prize Page.

When I found out the this month's theme for Dessert Wars was Nutella, I thought that it was perfect timing as I had a recipe that I was eager to try.  As I mentioned in a previous post I purchased a holiday magazine called Popular Plates Holiday Baking. I already tried one recipe, a flan, that I really enjoyed. There was also a picture for a cake by Rose Levy Beranbaum from her book Rose's Heavenly Cakes. The recipe for this cake is not in the magazine, but I do own this cookbook.  I was surprised to find that this cake is a Chocolate Tomato Cake with Mystery Ganache.


I didn't really have the time for the whole cake so I decided to stick with the design, but take an easier route and use (gasp) a box mix.  I checked my options in the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor and decided to dress it up a bit with some sour cream, melted chocolate, cocoa powder, and of course Nutella.  I then looked around for a good buttercream recipe.  I liked the one that I found for a Rich Nutella Buttercream.  I just wish that I had the dark cocoa powder, but we can't get that here.  I think the cake would have looked a little better if it had been darker.

I used a knife to cut the wafer cookies in half before adhering them with buttercream to the side of the cake.  One last tip - maybe think twice about decorating with finely grated white chocolate on the top of the cake.  I thought this would be a nice touch but I think it ended up looking like shredded cheese. 

Nutella Buttercream Chocolate Cake

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients - Cake
1 package (18.25oz) devil's food cake mix with pudding
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup Nutella

Ingredients - Frosting

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 small jar Nutella

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

1/4 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
About 60 4-inch Pirouette Wafer Cookies, preferably Pepperidge Farm brand (2 cans, optional)

Preparation - Cake 

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside. 
2. Place the cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, eggs, Nutella, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
3. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined. 
4. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side. 
5. Bake the cakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 28 to 32 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. 
6. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. 
7. Allow to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

Preparation - Frosting

1. Place the chocolate chips in the microwave on high for about 90 seconds, stopping to stir every 20-30 seconds.  Stir until completely melted and smooth.  Set aside.
2. Beat the butter and Nutella on medium-high speed until creamy.  Beat in the melted chocolate chips. 
3. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time.   
4. Beat in the cocoa, milk, and vanilla until smooth. 
5. Once the cakes are cool frost cake and decorate with Pirouette Wafer Cookies.

Recipe adapted from the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook and Rice and Beans and Other Fine Things.