Small Batch Baking - Mini Strawberry Cake

Happy Valentines Week, Sweets!

As Thursday quickly approaches, I wanted to share a treat for two that I tried out this weekend.  Mini-cake recipes are hard to come by, but perfect for Valentines Day when you and your sweetie want to share a little post-dinner bite.

This cake is completely from scratch and gets it's amazing strawberry flavor from a fresh strawberry puree.  It's frosted with a cream cheese meringue frosting which is an amazing pair.  The finished cake does take a little time; I made mine over two days and that worked out well.  The pink/strawberry theme makes it perfect for Valentines Day, but this cake would also be an excellent choice in the summer when strawberries are nice and fresh and in season.

Tastie!  Strawberry cake, strawberry cream filling, cream cheese meringue frosting...yup, this combo works!

I adapted this recipe from one I spotted on Pinterest, from Oven Love Blog.  That recipe makes a whole big cake, and mine makes a mini.  I had some serious trouble with the icing and getting it to come together, but the end result tasted great even though it didn't spread/set as nicely as I would have liked.

If you make one of these mini-cakes this week, tell me about it in the comments below!

Mini Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Meringue Buttercream

Need:

• 12 - 14 very ripe strawberries
• 1/8 cup milk (I used almond milk) at room temperature 
• 3 large egg whites at room temperature 
• 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract 
• 1 1/8 cup flour
• 3/4 cup plus 1/8 cup sugar 
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter (1½ sticks), softened (not melted) 
• Red food coloring (optional) 

Do:

1.  Trim all the strawberries, slice and toss with a teaspoon of sugar, cover and let them sit at room temperature for an hour or two. 
2. Place strawberries in a food processor and puree.
3. Put a little bit more than 1/3 cup of the strawberry puree aside; this will flavor the cake.  The rest can be used for filling or another project.   
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8' x 8' square pyrex dish with cooking spray.
5. In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix well until blended. 
6. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Don't forget the sugar!  I did, and didn't realize it until I was just about to pour the batter into the dish!
7. Keep beating at slow speed and add the butter.  Mix until combined and the batter resembles crumbs. 
8. Now, pour in the liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until fully blended.
9. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, give the bottom a good scoop, and if you'd like, add a few drops of food coloring to get a pretty red or pink color.  
10. Pour the batter into the pyrex dish and even out the top.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Keep an eye on it, I checked it after 25 minutes, and I *think* I gave it another 10...but you should just watch it after 30 to be safe.  
11. Let the cake cool completely in the dish.  
12. Once cool, cut your cake into 4 equal parts.  
13. Gently remove one part from the pan, top with a little filling (I mixed two heaping spoonfuls of frosting with my leftover strawberry puree) and stack up your other square pieces in the same way.  For my mini cake, I used three layers, and kept the 4th square as a giant tastie :)
14. Once you have your layers filled and stacked, take out a bread knife and channel your inner cake boss.  Gently cut out a triangle from one of the corners to create a heart shape, like so (picture below).
15. Frost and enjoy!

Square cake cut into 4's

Three stacked layers with triangle cut out to form a heart shape

For the frosting, grab the recipe from Oven Love Blog; I followed it exactly to have some leftover frosting.  As I mentioned, I had some trouble getting this to come together the way I think it was supposed to, but the taste with the cake is fabulous and very much worth it!

Reunion Sheet Cake!

Well folks this cake wraps it up; wraps up the Cake for Every Pan challenge, that is.  Last week I worked on this three-layer half-sheet cake for my parents.  They had a reunion with about 25 of their buddies from the "good ol' days" (read: the '70's!) when they all worked together at Moe Black's hardware store in Waltham, MA.  

Mom gave very little direction on the cake flavors, she wanted it to taste good and for me to do "whatever's easiest."  Dad said he wanted the filling to have a "wow factor."  Easy yet wowwing.... I opted to go with three layers of french vanilla cake, filled with strawberry cream and frosted with almond buttercream.  Apparently a few people wanted the recipe for the strawberry cream filling, sorry guys, that one is a BostonSweetie secret!

The cake decoration was a bit more important to my mom.  She really wanted the store's logo on the cake, and all she had for me to go off of was a small, faded picture, scanned into Facebook and then printed on an old ink jet printer since I couldn't see the picture from my account.  I was having mini panic attacks about that part, as my artistry can sometimes be questionable, but it all worked out in the end.

I figured out a great method to get this done and make it look good!  Lucky for me, the font in the logo was almost identical to the font "Impact."  I typed out the logo in a size that would be appropriate for the cake, and then printed it out on regular old computer paper.  Next, I rolled out some white fondant, placed the printed sheet on top of the fondant, and traced around the letters with a ballpoint pen.  I had to be careful to not pierce the paper and yet still press hard enough to leave an impression on the fondant.  Once the tracing was done, I used edible Wilton markers to color the logo yellow and black.  These things are pretty cool, I bought a pack of bold-tip primary colors.  These are easy to use and very helpful for people like me who's drawing ability doesn't go past the crayons and markers of elementary school! Note...the result of these do look a lot like those crayons/markers of your youth.  You can see "lines," so color evenly!!  I bought mine at Michael's, but you can buy them online at Wilton.com too.

So cake and filling, check.  Logo, check.  I added a textured top to the cake, some yellow buttercream piping and a few 70's inspired fondant flowers, and bam, the end result was pretty great!  Mom and dad loved the cake, and the party was a hit.  Sheet cake?  Great success!

* NOTE:  Wilton did NOT ask me to write about their edible markers; I tried them out for this project and liked how they worked so have decided to include them on my blog on my own accord.  I purchased these for myself and recommend them for anyone looking to achieve that "colored" look.

Bakery Review: Vicki Lee's

Do you like cake?

Me too.... see?

I was so excited to eat this cake that I forgot to take a picture of the slice first.  And being out of blogging practice, I didn't even get any good pics of the bakery or other pastries in the shop.  Bad blogger!

So while I can't show you picture of the other delicious treats at Vicki Lee's, I CAN tell you that it is a bakery that you must make a point to visit if you're around the Belmont/Waltham area.

There's lots of seating and the bakery is bright, airy, white, clean and modern.  The case isn't overwhelming- there are a few (GORGEOUS) cakes, cookies, little individual pastries, pies, gallettes, etc.  Everything looks perfect and appetizing, and the service was great.  We had no complaints at all and will definitely be going back.

The cake that I chose is a simple white cake with vanilla buttery buttercream, and filled with fresh strawberries and a thin, thin layer of something tangy, I believe it's a light lemon curd.  I thought this cake was one of the best I've eaten- the cake was so light, spongy, and had a very delicate crumb.  The buttercream was silky smooth, not too sweet, and super complimentary to the fruit and the cake.  Hubs tried it and said it was awesome, not the best he's ever had (obviously, because I didn't make it, haha!) but a "really, really good wedding cake."  I guess it did seem kind of wedding-y, which makes it even more awesome.

Whoever does the cake decorating at Vicki Lee's is ah-maze-ing.  I'm talking meticulous, error-free piping.  It was unreal, super impressive, tv-style cake decorating.

In addition to the sweets, Vicki Lee's also sells breakfast, sandwiches, soups, salads, coffees, etc.  Our trip was quick, so we didn't try any of those items but they looked fresh and yummy.

Vicki Lee's is a must-go, and gets an A+ in our book!

Bridal Shower Cake - Stephanie and Rich

This past weekend I had the honor of making another bridal shower cake! This one is for a close family friend, Stephanie, who is marrying her sweetie this year!  Stephanie's wedding colors are so chic; navy blue and bright orange.  I LOVE that combo!  I think pairing a neutral with a bright is classy, fun, unique annnnd just overall the best.

I had a great deal of creative license with this cake- the only requests were no fondant and marble cake.  Easy enough!  I baked up a 2-tier chocolate and vanilla swirl cake (10" and 6") and then had fun with the filling and frosting.

 

For the filling, I made a bittersweet chocolate ganache, using Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate and heavy cream.  Who knew ganache was so easy?  Instead of leaving it a thick, fudgy ganache, I whipped it into more of a mousse consistency.  I could have eaten the whole bowl of just plain whipped ganache.  It was THAT good.

      

Whipped ganache as a filling!

For the frosting, I made up a medium batch of Maxine's Decorating icing, but flavored it with vanilla and heavy cream.  This was hands down the most delicious version of Maxine's Decorating icing that I've done.  It is SO worth using the heavy cream.

From the reviews I heard, the shower was a great success and everyone loved the cake!  Happy Wedding, Stephanie.  We love ya!

Bridal Shower Cake - Stephanie & Dennis

Today I had the honor of putting together a three tier bridal shower cake!  It has been a while since I decorated a cake, so I was beyond excited to take on this project when one of my girlfriends asked me for the favor.

The most important thing about any fancy cake is making sure that it tastes good!  My friend gave me full creative license with flavors, so I went with a springy combo of pink champagne cake, strawberry filling, and almond icing.

Putting together a nice tiered cake takes a little leg work but it's well worth it.  I learned all my tricks from the Wilton Cake Decorating courses I took at Michael's.  My instructor, Maxine, was amazing, and a little fireball.  Her recipe for flawless decorator's icing listed at the end of this post is my go-to recipe for cakes that need to last a couple days and have decorations that hold up.

Are you thinking of trying out a tiered cake?  Here's a few tips as you work through it.  First, you want to make sure all of your cakes are level.  Wilton sells a leveling tool, but I just eyeball it and use a bread knife.

Once they're leveled, pipe a border of icing around the edge of the cake, called a "dam."  This will prevent your filling from oozing out the edges.  Let the dam set for a few minutes (put it in the fridge to speed this part up if you'd like), and then add your filling.  

Once your bottom layer is filled, gently place on the top layer.  Make sure the flattest side is up.

Next, you want to "crumb coat" all of your tiers.  This means putting a thin layer of your buttercream on to trap any crumbs that may come off into the icing.  All of your cakes should be on cake boards the same size as the cake.  You can buy pre-cut ones at most craft stores, or cut your own out of old cardboard boxes and cover them with foil to make them look nice.  Make sure your crumb coat is nice and smooth, and let this set for at least 30 minutes.  I like to let mine set in the fridge, as it's much easier to work with cold, stiff cakes than warm, soft ones.

While you're waiting, I highly recommend trying a tastie- we ate cake scraps topped with filling and icing to make sure everything paired well.   After 3 or 4 tasties each, hubs and I agreed that this cake was going to be a hit.

After your crumb coat has set, it's time to create some support in your cakes.  Depending on how big and heavy your cake is, you can use different types of support.  I used plastic smoothie straws.  Stick a straw in the cake (put it in a place that will definitely be covered by the next tier!) and pull it out.  Trim your support and use that first one to measure others for your layers.  I used 4 on the bottom layer and 2 for the middle layer.  You want to measure and trim your supports, FULLY FROST your cake, and then put your supports in last.

Decorator's tip - see the pretty design on my cake?  I achieved that look by gently pressing a paper towel onto the top!  This is a nice touch when frosting with buttercream instead of fondant.  Some people use a small foam roller to smooth out their icing.   You can buy these for less than a dollar at any hardware store.

So now your cakes are frosted and supported, it's time to stack them!  Very gently, place your middle tier ontop of the bottom, and then place the top tier on the middle.  Depending on the size of your cake, tie all three layers together by putting a sharp support straight down through the middle.  This cake was rather small and compact so I didn't include that here.  Now's the fun part, decorating time!!

I used white and yellow buttercream and a spool of ribbon to decorate this cake.  Pressing the ribbon into the icing while it is just barely still tacky will make it stick yet still be easy to remove without pulling off all the icing.

 

And, voila!  Three tiered wedding cake!  Best wishes to Stephanie and Dennis as your wedding approaches - enjoy every minute! 

Maxine's Decorating Icing:


Note - S= small batch,  M= medium batch, L= Large batch


Need: 


Shortening - S, 1 cup.  M, 2 cups.  L, 4 cups.
Milk - S, 1/4 cup.  M, 1/2 cup.  L, 1 cup.
Confectioner's Sugar - S, 1 pound (4 c).  M, 2 pounds (8 c).  L, 4 pounds (16 c.)
Flavoring - S, 1tsp.  M, 1 1/2 tsp.  L, 2 tsp.

*I made a medium batch for this cake and had some leftover.

Do:
- Soften shortening by stirring it in the mixing bowl for about 2 min.
-Add confectioner's sugar in 3 - 4 batches.  After each batch, add part of your milk, and part of your flavoring
-Continue whipping until desired consistency and flavor.  Add more sugar to stiffen, more milk/flavoring to soften.