Memorial Day picnic

Today we enjoyed family time with the extended family. I love getting together and visiting with this amazing family I married into. Today I was feeling a little tired so I sat and listened and watched everyone mingle. What I saw was a family full of love and adoration for each other. Many I really do feel blessed. I wish everyone enjoyed their spouses family the way I enjoy mine!

Of course I was thrilled to make the cakes. Ryan's cousin Jimmy will celebrate his Bday tomorrow so I made the big cake for him. He choose chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. Then Ryan asked that I make Yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It was a last minute thing so I used cake mixes and they turned out so wonderful. Cake mixes really are easy and they always do turn out. I did make the vanilla frosting simply because I wanted to frost it good and smooth and you just can't do that with store bought.

I tried a few of the tricks I had recent posted about. I used the spaghetti noodles to test if the cake was done and I wondered why i had never heard of this trick sooner. If the cake is not done you just brake off the part of the noodle you used and try again in a couple of minutes. I also changed the tempurature to 325 instead of 350 and that worked great. My cake was almost level. Much better then having a big huge piece you have to cut off. Since I was in a hurry I didn't even level the cake and it turned out mostly level.

My favorite trick which I will always use is viva paper towels! Life saver!! You crumb coat, let set, then give a nice smooth-as-you-can coat, let it set, then (this is the cool part) you use the paper towel to smooth the frosting. This video shows how I did it. It is kind of a long video but the lady shows it off real well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTRNkGpJMH8
You can skip the first 6 minutes if you just want to see the paper towel technique.

Look how smooth, almost like fondant. I am hoping the more I try it the smoother I can get it.



Then I made a bunch of cupcakes for the kids. Since today is national BBQ day, and we were not eating hamburgers, I decided to bring it into the cupcakes. These are mini nilla wafers with chocolate frosting for the patty and red and yellow writing frosting for ketchup and mustard.
Then my adorable husband came home and suggested adding fries. I was trying to finish up the cake before it was time to go so I told him he was more then welcome to make some. Didn't they turn out good? I told him we should open up a bakery together, then we both laughed.

Chocolate orange vegan cake recipe

Crème-filled Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

This rich, award-winning cupcake took top honors on Cupcake Wars, making vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli the first vegan to claim victory in a Food Network competition.

By Chloe Coscarelli
Makes 12 cupcakes
What you need:
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup orange juice
½ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon orange zest
Orange Buttercream Filling (See Recipe)
Chocolate Ganache (See Recipe)

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together orange juice, canola oil, vanilla, and orange zest. Pour wet ingredients into dry mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners until each cup is 2/3 full. Bake for about 17 to 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
5. Once cupcakes are completely cool, fill each cupcake with Orange Buttercream using a pastry bag with a narrow tip. Spread Chocolate Ganache evenly over each cupcake and top with 2 slices of Candied Orange Peel.



Chocolate Ganache

By Chloe Coscarelli
What you need:
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
3 tablespoons almond milk
1 tablespoon refined coconut oil at room temperature
What you do:
Using a double boiler or microwave, add almond milk and melt chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Whisk in coconut oil until smooth.



Orange Buttercream Filling

By Chloe Coscarelli
What you need:
4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup refined coconut oil at room temperature
1 tablespoon orange zest
¼ cup orange juice
What you do:
In the bowl of a standard mixer, combine powdered sugar, coconut oil, and zest. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. With the mixer running, add 1 tablespoon of orange juice at a time, until the desired buttercream consistency is reached.

Strawberry cake failure- sort of

This cake turned out the texture of spongy foam. During the cooking process it began to rise then fell and kept on falling


I took the failure and turned it into something super yummy. I added strawberry glaze to the indent and then put a touch of coconut frosting on top.
I will be searching further for the perfect vegan strawberry cake. Joshua wants it for his birthday cake that will be three layers. I have a couple weeks to figure it out.

Tips to try

I have been reading cake blogs trying to learn all I can. I guess it's my way of going to school since school for me is not really an option with 6 kids. I joked with my older two the other day that I Graduated from the U, youtube univiersity that is. I love all that the internet has to offer.

Here are some things I want to try.
When baking cupcakes raise the temperature 400 when preheating then lower to 350 when you put the cupcakes in
When baking cakes lower temperature to 315-320 to help lower the dome affect.
If you put chocolate chips into cake, coat with flour first so they won't go straight to the bottom
Smores cupcakes with graham cracker crust and marshmallow frosting
viva paper towels to smooth buttercream frosting
floral wire to add pop
use spaghetti noodles to check doneness of cake
recipe replacer- 1 ounce of chocolate= 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
never frost a frozen cake- always let it come to room temperature first

88 is a number to celebrate

Grandma June loves lemon cake so it only seemed right to make her this lemon coconut cake filled with lemon curd then topped with lemon curd.

I wish this picture turned out better but isn't she just the cutest thing ever. I only hope I look that good at 88!
Happy birthday Grandma.

Comfort Birthday cake.

Ryan's family is mourning the lose of a dear loved one. We were blessed to get together Saturday to comfort one another and also celebrate His Grandma's birthday.

So when I was trying to decide what kind of cake to make I thought rich chocolate mixed with light vanilla. Comfort foods.

I made my favorite chocolate cake but added in a cup of milk chocolate chips. Then I made a white cake ( I am still on a mission to find the best white cake) I put them together with a yummy chocolate frosting mixed with toffee bits. I obviously did not make it Vegan so I did not get to taste it but it got good reviews.


I was so pleased with the checker board effect on the inside. It looks so fancy but it is so easy. I posted how to do this here
Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs (to make it vegan I either use flax seed or powdered eggs)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING (recipe follows)

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
   
   
2. 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 electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
   
   
3. 3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.) Frost with ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings.
   
   
   ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
   6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened I use earth balance to make it vegan
   2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
   1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
   1/3 cup almond milk
   1 teaspoon vanilla extract
   
   Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.
   

Don't knock it till you try it.

Avocado and Cake? Ryan has served us avocado in a milkshake before and it is actually very good. I think that is the only reason I could see past the scariness of this recipe.

I served this to two different groups this week. Here is what I found. The chocolate avocado cake when served with other frosting was well received. No one could tell it had avocado in it. The avocado actually made it very moist and I will use this recipe often.

Now the frosting was a very different story. Jared thought it was the best frosting ever. Most people actually really enjoyed it if they did not know it was avocado making it green. Once some of the kids knew- they were grossed out and wouldn't touch it. The adults seemed to either love it not care for it.

My opinion? I thought it was not as sweet as most frosting's, which I enjoyed. It had a very light taste and I did like that as well. It does not go under the most-favorite-want-to-make-it-everyday category though. But I will make it again.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado

makes 2 8-inch rounds or 2 thinner 9-inch rounds

3 cups all-purpose flour

6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch rounds. Set aside.

Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar. Set that aside too.

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.

Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.

Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting with avocado buttercream.

Avocado Buttercream Frosting

from Alton Brown

8 ounces of avocado meat, about 2 small to medium, very ripe avocados

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peel and pit the soft avocados. It’s important to use the ripest avocados you can get your hands on. If the avocados have brown spots in the meat, avoid those spots when you scoop the meat into the bowl.

Place the avocado meat into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment. Add lemon juice and whisk the avocado on medium speed, until slightly lightened in color and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat. Add vanilla extract until combined. If not using right away, store in the refrigerator. Don’t worry. It won’t turn brown!