CHOCOLATE FROSTING

CHOCOLATE FROSTING:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

BUTTERCREAM ICING

VANILLA FROSTING:

-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used margarine)
-1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
-2 tablespoons milk
-4 drops food coloring, or as needed (optional)


1. Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.

2. Pour in milk and beat for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add food coloring, if using, and beat for thirty seconds until smooth or until desired color is reached.

Tips:
-If you prefer to use just frosting to cover the cake instead of whip cream, add more milk so the frosting is more smooth and easier to spread.

-If you make the frosting more firm (less milk), decorations will also be more firm after it's chilled and less prone to being ruined by touch.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

So here's the chocolate cake recipe.  I'll be putting up the buttercream icing recipe up next.


CHOCOLATE CAKE:

-2 C sugar
-1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
-3/4 C HERSHEY'S Cocoa
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1 1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp salt
-2 eggs
-1 C milk
-1/2 C vegetable oil
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 C boiling water


1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

VANILLA CAKE

Hey guys, it's been a while sine I've last posted.  I've been baking a bit in the last few weeks so I'll be putting up some new recipes, including a new banana bread recipe to replace the one I currently have.

So I'm just posting the recipe for vanilla cake because it's originally on another post, under "DOLL CAKES", but that was one of my first posts on this blog, so I put 4 recipes on one post, which makes it harder for me, and maybe others, in reaching the individual recipes.  The 4 recipes were vanilla and chocolate cake, and buttercream and chocolate frosting.  This is the vanilla cake post, enjoy.  :)



VANILLA CAKE:

-1 1/2 C all purpose flour
-1/2 C butter or margarine (softened)
-1 tbp vanilla extract
-2 eggs
-1 3/4 tsp baking powder
-1/2 C and extra 1/8 C milk (as suggested from others)
-1 C sugar
-food colouring (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the pans with butter or oil and coat with flour

2. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and set aside.

3. Make sure your butter or margarine is room temperature or softened. Cream the butter than add the sugar and cream some more. In small bowl, whisk/beat each egg one at a time and add each egg into the cream and sugar mix separately. Then add in the vanilla extract.

4. Add the dry ingredients mixture into the wet ingredients until all the ingredients are wet, add milk and stir.

5. Next pour the batter into a pan (if you chose to use more than one colour, bake in separate pans for each). Bake for about 20 min to 30 min, or when a toothpick comes out clean after being inserted into the cake. Let it cool.

Tips:
-If your butter is straight from the fridge and is hard, try microwaving it for at least 20 sec.

-If you use colouring, the colour of the cake will come out of the oven slightly lighter than it looked before as a batter.

JULIA CHILD'S BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

A few months ago I challenged myself and took to making a French dish.  I don't usually do "fancy"cooking since baking is more of my passion, but after watching the movie Julie and Julia (based off of a novel by Julie Powell who wrote on how Julia Child's life had changed her's), I was inspired to take a look at Julia Child's cookbook.  The one recipe that stood out in the movie was boeuf bourguignon, so choose that dish to make.  This dish is for intermediate cooks, but for me, who has not cooked that much, it was difficult.  The directions are so easy, but actually cooking was hard.

Anyways, here's the original recipe for boeuf bourguignon:

Boeuf Bourguignon/ Boeuf a la Bourguignonne

[Beef Stew in Red Wine, with Bacon, Onions, and Mushrooms]

As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good boeuf bourguignon.  Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man, and can well be the main course for a buffet dinner.  Fortunately you can prepare it completely ahead, even a day in advance, and it only gains in flavor when reheated.

Vegetable and Wine Suggestions

Boiled potatoes are traditionally served with this dish.  Buttered noodles or steamed rice may be substitued.  If you also wish a green vegetable, buttered peas would be your best choice.  Serve with the beef a fairly full-bodied, young red wine, such as Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux-St. Emilion, or Burgundy.

For 6 people

Ingredients:

A 6-ounce chunk of bacon

A 9- to 10-inch fireproof casserole 3 inches deep

1 Tb olive oil or cooking oil

A slotted spoon

3 lbs. lean stewing beef cut into 2-inch cubes (see preceding list of cuts)

1 sliced carrot

1 sliced onion

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tb flour

3 cups of a full-bodied, young red wine such as one of those suggested for serving, or a Chianti

2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon

1 Tb tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

1/2 tsp thyme

A crumbled bay leaf

The blanched bacon rind

18 to 24 small white onions, brown-braised in stock

1 lb. quartered fresh mushrooms sauteed in butter

Parsley sprigs

                                                      

Remove rind, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 11/2 inches long).  Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 11/2 quarts of water.  Drain and dry.

                                                     

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

                                                     

Saute the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly.  Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.  Set casserole aside.  Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you saute the beef.

                                                     

Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp.  Saute it, a fwe pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides.  Add it to the bacon.

                                                     

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables.  Pour out the sauteing fat.

                                                     

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper.  Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour.  Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.  Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more.  (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.)  Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

                                                     

Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered.  Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind.  Bring to simmer on top of the stove.  Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven.  Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  The meat is down when a fork pierces it easily.

                                                      

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.  Set them aside until needed.

                                                      

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.  Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it.  Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

                                                      

Skin fat off the sauce.  Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises.  You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.  If too thin, boil it down rapidly.  If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon.  Taste carefully for seasoning.  Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.

(*) Recipe may be complete in advance to this point.

                                                       

FOR IMMEDIATE SERVING: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.  Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.

                                                       

FOR LATER SERVING: When cold, cover and refrigerate.  About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

BABY'S CHRISTENING CAKE

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post.  March I think.  Since then, I haven't been able to bake too much, or I'm baking the same things.  But recently, I was asked to bake cakes for a baby's christening.  Now, I'm not a Christian, so I don't really know how they work.  But I figured it'd be similar to a baptism (no, I'm not Catholic or whatever religion that uses baptism).  So in other words, the cakes should be fancy.  At least, to the best of my abilities.

That's why I started looking up on how to make roses out of icing.  Well actually, I've been studying rose-making videos for a long time now, but this was the first time I really needed it.  And let me tell you, during the time I practised for this cake, I discovered I have absolutely no talents in the decorating dept.  It's like I was starting baking from scratch, from level 1.  Anyway, I was finally able to make decent roses, but it's not that great.

Here's some photos of the cake (I only took photos of one of them because they both have the same design):

I baked 8 CAKES in total and put them together to make two huge cakes.

GINGERSNAP LOGS

So here's the recipe for the gingersnap logs I made yesterday.  This recipe was found from the CHRISTMAS COOKIES edition of Better Homes and Gardens Special Interests magazine.

*See photo gallery for more photos* http://slice-of-cake.blogspot.ca/p/photo-gallery.html

Gingersnap Logs:
11/4 C crushed gingersnaps
1/2 C powdered sugar
1/3 C sweetened condensed milk
1 tbp molasses, or 11/2 tsp rum or coffee liqueur
11/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 oz white chocolate baking squares with coca butter, chopped
1 C canned vanilla frosting
Red decorative sugar


Prep. 45 minutes
Stand: 30 minutes
Chill: 1 hour


1. In a food processor combine 1 cup of the crushed gingersnaps, the powdered sugar, sweetened condensed milk, molasses, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Cover and process until well combined.  Transfer to a bowl; stir in remaining crushed gingersnaps.  Cover and chill for 1 hour or until the dough is easy to handle.

2. Line an extra-large baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside.  Shape a rounded teaspoonful of dough into a 1X1/2-inch log.  Place on prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining dough.

3. In a small saucepan cook and stir white chocolate over low heat until chocolate melts.  Add frosting; heat and stir until mixture is smooth.  Using a fork, dip logs, one at a time, into white chocolate mixture, allowing excess to drip off.  Return logs to waxed paper.  Sprinkle logs with red decorative sugar.  Let stand for about 30 minutes or until set.  Makes about 36 cookies.




TIPS: 
-Make sure you use exactly 1 cup or less crushed gingersnaps.  More will make it extremely hard for the dough to mix properly.

-I found the dough extremely hard to work with, even after chilled.  To make rolling easier, damp your hands with water and then roll.  But doing this makes the dough "melt" a little faster, and the friction from the rolling makes your hands raw.

-I didn't have molasses or rum or coffee liqueur.  Came out fine.

-I experimented on a baking sheet vs. a wired rack (to help with the access chocolate-frosting mix).  The baking sheet came out so much better.  Using the wired rack makes the logs sink into the wires.

-I found it hard to actually dip the log with a fork lodged into it.  Instead, I just dumped the logs two at a time into the mix (I had a small saucepan), and used the fork to wrap the logs into the mixture, then simply picked up the logs (not forked them).

-It really does take around 30 minutes to for it set.

-In my opinion, the recipe was horrible.  The mixture has doughy texture, cooled or not, and the chocolate-frosting mix was overly sweet and gross.  :P

OATMEAL COOKIES

I'm on a complete baking spree this week.  Why?  MARCH BREAK!  Since I have no life other than baking and drawing, that is what I shall do to pass my time.  Earlier today I made ginger snap log cookies.  I'll be posting that up too.  Now I'm making oatmeal cookies.  Surprisingly, I believe this is my first time making them.  I love oatmeal cookies, but I don't think I've ever made them.  :P

OATMEAL COOKIES: 

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats

nuts and/or raisins (optional)

Ingredient Tips:

Many reviewers said to cut the sugar by half.

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

TIPS:

-Again, I cut the sugar by half and it came out fine.  It's plenty sweet even cut half.

-Many people said that you don't need to flatten the cookies with sugar.  Just keeping them in a ball form is fine, and will come out with fatter and chewier cookies.  Came out so nice.

Links:

Soft Oatmeal Cookies: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/soft-oatmeal-cookies/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=oatmeal%20cookies&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

MY TRIP TO NIAGARA FALLS DEC. 2011

Yea I know this is really late, but here are some of the photos from my trip 2 months ago.  My dad comes over to Ontario once a year from Vancouver, during winter break.  Why?  Because my dad works there (no, my parents are not divorced).  Anyways, we saw some cool stuff there. :)

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CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

I'm making Triple Layer Chocolate Mousse cake, which uses the chocolate cake posted on this blog.  The only difference is the mousse, which I'm posting.  :)

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE:

-1 tsp unflavoured gelatin
-2 tbp cold water
-1/4 C boiling water
-1 C sugar
-1/2 C HERSHEY'S cocoa (doesn't have to be Hershey)
-2 C chilled whipping cream
-2 tsp vanilla extract


1.  In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let it stand 1 min. to soften.
2.  Add boiling water; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved and mixture is clear.  Cool slightly.
3.  In a large cold mixer bowl, stir together sugar and cocoa; add whipping cream and vanilla.
4.  Beat at medium speed, scraping bottom of bowl occasionally, until stiff peaks form.
5.  Pour in gelatin mixutre and beat until well blended.  Refrigerate about 30 min. before serving.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Here's the recipe for the ganache I used for my mother's cake.  It's really simple quick to make, unlike the common complaint on how its really hard.  :)

*View photo gallery here>>>http://sweet-patissiere.blogspot.com/p/photo-gallery.html*

GANACHE:

• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon dark rum (optional)
• 
  

1. Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Stir in the rum if desired.
2. Allow the ganache to cool before pouring over a cake. Start at the center of the cake and work outward. For a fluffy frosting or chocolate filling, allow it to cool until thick, then whip with a whisk until light and fluffy.

TIPS:

-Make sure to COMPLETELY COOL the ganache.  You know it's ready to use if it's kind of thick and doesn't immediately come back together when you push a spoon through it.

LINKS:

Chocolate Ganache: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-ganache/detail.aspx

New York Cheesecake

I made a cheesecake for my mother's birthday last December.  Never got a chance to post this, along with my other couple of recipes (I will put them up, count on it).  It was my first time making a cheesecake, but with all the reviews, it came out GREAT.  And I also made ganache for the first time too.  It didn't come out too well at first.  I'll also put up that recipe as well.

I could probably say this is the best thing I've ever baked in my life. :)

Cheesecake:

Adapted from Chantal's New York Cheesecake

(Make sure ingredients are room temperature for the best results!)

• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Crust:

• 1 1/2 C graham crackers, crushed 
• 1/4 C melted butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 C sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the ingredients for the crust. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.  Do not overbeat.
4. Leave a water bath (pan or bowl of warm/hot water) on the rack below the cheesecake.  Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 4 to 5 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator overnight or a few hours before serving.

• 
  

TIPS:

• Both the instructions and ingredient list are slightly different than the original directions because of recipe improvements.
• This cheesecake recipe usually come out very rich and dense.  Perfect for cheesecake-lovers, but not so for light eaters.

MY BIRTHDAY

 So yesterday was my 17th birthday. It was great and I went around all day.

Here are some of the pictures of what happened:

We went to the buffet restaurant "WASABI" for lunch.  Now, I thought I was smiling here.   Guess not. :P

Buffet food.  Yum :)

WASABI is known for their green tea ice cream.

Where I bought my birthday cake.

MY BIRTHDAY CAKKEEEEE. <3

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Hey guys!
So I want to surprise my friend by baking her a cake for her birthday tomorrow!  Oddly enough, her birthday is 3 days before mine.  But what's really odd is my bff in Montreal, whose birthday is exactly one month before mine.  Her's is Dec. 28, while mine is Jan. 28.  Even though we're only one month apart, we're one whole grade apart.  And according to the lunar calendar, we're born in the same year.  So unfair. :P

So anyway, I'm not allowed to bake anything big for a few months because of an incident....
So I just stuck to a simple chocolate cake (recipe here>>>) topped with buttercream frosting.  Simple.  But I kind of got off topic on Youtube.  I started off with "how to make icing flowers" to a ton of other baking stuff.
So anyways, here it is!

FROSTING:
2 cups shortening
8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract (real vanilla makes the frosting so much better)
6 fluid ounces heavy cream


Ingredient Tips:
-1 1/2C shortening & 1/2C butter
-6oz of cream for thick frosting
-2-3oz more of cream for fluffier frosting

1. Cream shortening (and/or butter if used) until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream if necessary (up to 2 ounces). Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

Links:

Special Buttercream Frosting: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/special-buttercream-frosting/Detail.aspx 

CINNABONS

Hey guys!  It's been awhile!
Well, I'm making cinnabons today and I realized I never put the recipe up before.
The first time I made this was w/ a friend for a bake sale.  We tried the recipe out before we used it for the bake sale, and it was DELICIOUS.  The original recipe is called "Clone of a Cinnabon".  Not exactly and cinnamon roll, not exactly a cinnabon.
And I'm going to try to put up all the recipes I tried out for Christmas last month.  It takes a lot of time to time them all up, so I've kind of been avoiding it...

*View photo gallery here>>>http://sweet-patissiere.blogspot.com/p/photo-gallery.html*

CINNABON:

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
•  
• FILLING:
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
•  
• FROSTING:
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BREAD MACHINE:
1. First put your oven to 200F (unless you have some other area that's warm.  When ready, turn off the oven (this is need to make the dough rise).
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl (you can add the some or all of the sugar if you want) and wait to see if foaming. 
3. Mix in the sugar (however you prepared it), margarine, salt, and eggs. Add flour (you may need to add more if you're using all-purpose flour) and mix well. 
4. Knead the dough (around 12 times) into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. 
5. Put in a bowl and cover it with a wet paper towel.  Place the bowl into the warm oven/warm area (that's turned off) and let rise about 1 hour until doubled in size.
3. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
4. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise in the warm oven/warm area again until nearly doubled, about 20-30 minutes. 
5. After, take out the rolls and preheat oven to 350F.
6. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

TIPS:

-Make sure to read all my notes in "(...)" in the instructions

-I like to put the unbaked rolls on parchment/wax paper rather than directly on the pan.  It's easier to take out that way and the rolls won't get stuck.

-After the rolls were baked, it's good to flip them over to another pan so the cinnamon syrup can drip back onto the top of the rolls

LINKS:

Clone of a Cinnabon: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/clone-of-a-cinnabon/detail.aspx