Saturday, January 2, 2016

Custard (Creme Anglaise) Cake - Not too pretty, but tastes great

My family's favorite cake is the tasty -- but not very attractive looking -- Custard Cake.



We call the cooked egg & milk mixture "Custard", but it is also known by its fancy-pants name - Creme Anglaise (sorry I couldn't figure out how to put the accent on the Creme).  Now the strange thing is that half the family just LOVE and adore this cake.  Their eyes roll back in their head and their face takes on a dreamy look at the mere mention of the cake.  But the other half of the family (include me) can't stand the nasty looking stuff.  Fluffy cake saturated with sweetened cream and eggs just don't appeal to me --- call me crazy.

So at least twice a year I bite my tongue and make a cake that I won't even taste.  Now if that is not love I don't know what is!!

And to make matters worse, this unappealing cake is very difficult to make!  One false step and the custard will curdle, and curdled custard is not a pretty thing.  Curdled custard still tastes good, but it looks like crap. Sometimes you can save curdled custard, but sometimes you just need to admit defeat and start all over.

The first step in the Custard Cake is baking the cake.  I just use a boxed mix -- French Vanilla -- either Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker, and add an extra teaspoon of almond extract.  I used a silicone fluted pan, but any tube pan will work.

When the cake is cool, cut it in half and brush one side with  1/4 cup of melted jelly.  I like to use seedless raspberry or strawberry, but you can use any flavor. 



Put the bottom half of the jam brushed cake in a large bowl so that it is ready and waiting when the custard is finished cooking.  Ideally you want to pour the hot custard on the cut cake so all the creamy custard gets absorbed into the cake.

After the cake it prepped and waiting, start on the custard.  In my recipe I use 10 egg yolks, but I have found over the years that the proportions are pretty flexible.  You can use more or less eggs, more of less sugar and milk.  More eggs (less milk) and the custard will be thicker; less eggs (more milk) and the mixture will be more fluid.  You can really customize the recipe to suit your taste and needs.  But for this cake I use 10 egg yolks.  And make sure you remove the chalaza.  You don't want white bands of egg tissue floating in your smooth custard - yuck.


Next beat the eggs with about 1/2 cup of granulated white sugar (you can also use Splenda if you want to make it low carb).  IMPORTANT - it is critical that you beat the egg yolks with the sugar until they are creamy.  If the yolks are not beaten enough they will form clumps of scrambled eggs in the milk.

Now the next part I do a little differently than real cooks.  I put the beaten sugar and yolks directly into the pot with the COLD milk, cream, sugar, and extracts.  I don't temper the yolks with small amounts of the heated milk.  I just dump all the cold ingredients into one big pot and slowly start heating.  That is the way my grandmother taught me to make it, and that is how I do it every time.  Maybe one day I'll try the tempering method and see if it makes a difference.

Anyway all the ingredients go into a cold pot.  I stir it very well before I apply any heat.  I stir and stir, and I make sure I get rid of the egg yolk dripping on the side of the pot.  For my pot I either use a heavy Magnetite pot or a stainless steel pot.  Taste-wise I've never noticed a difference.  There are reports that it is healthier to cook in stainless steel, but I've had trouble with food sticking to the stainless steel.  So when cooking the custard I just use whichever pot is closest. 



So everything is in the pot, and I constantly stir as I slowly increase the temperature.  I have an electric glass top stove and the highest I go is 4.5 (just a notch below medium which is 5).

Keep stirring as the liquid warms.  As the eggs start to cook and solidify you will start to feel resistance from the liquid as you stir.  Lift the spoon often and look at how the liquid coats the back of the spoon.  The custard is cooked perfectly when the custard starts to cling to the back of the spoon.

Looks ready to me...



But when cooking custard ALWAYS have an ice bath ready and waiting.  In the photo above I judged the custard ready and snapped a picture, but before I could put the camera down and remove the pot -- the custard STARTED TO BOIL.  NOOOOO...  Boiling custard is not good.  I immediately submerged the hot pot in the ice water bath and stirred vigorously to quickly cool the custard, but the damage was done and the custard started to curdle.  Sniff...


But if your custard curdles a just little all is not lost.  You can use an immersion blender to break down the lumps, or you can just strain out the lumps.  Pour about half the custard on top of the cut cake and let the liquid sink into the holes and crevices of the cake.



Let the bottom sit in the custard for about 5 minutes, and then position the top half of the cake on the saturated bottom half.  Pour the rest of the custard over the top.  If you want the top half to absorb the custard you can just a long wooden skewer to poke holes in the cake, and then carefully spoon the over the top and into the holes.



At this point the cake will float and bob in its bath of custard.  To force the cake deep into the custard, and allow the cake to absorb more of the custard, I cover the cake with plastic wrap and weigh down the cake with something heavy.  I use the inverted cover of  a large pot.  The round handle fits nicely into the hole of the cake and I can put additional weigh onto the cover if the cake is still floating.


Put the cake in the refrigerator for a few hours.  Remove the lid and the plastic wrap and carefully spoon the custard on top of the cake.  At this point the custard is getting firmer, but it is still fluid enough to spoon over the cake.




Cover with plastic wrap again it store in the refrigerator overnight.


The longer you leave the cake the better it gets.  Or so my relatives say -- honestly I have never tasted the stuff.  (Give me a big slice of chocolate cake any day.)  To serve slice the cake, spoon some extra custard on top, and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream.

Now doesn't that look yummy (or maybe not)....










Happy Baking,

Carol






Custard Cake

Ingredients

  • French Vanilla box cake mix - prepared according to instructions and baked in a tube or Bundt pan
  • 1 teaspoon pure Almond Extract added to cake mix
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup melted fruit jelly 
  • 10 egg yolks
  • 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups granulated white sugar, divided
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 3 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4-5 teaspoons pure Almond Extract 
  • Ice bath 
  • Garnish with whipped cream

Instructions

  1. Prepare the cake according to instructions on the box, adding 1 teaspoon of almond extract if desired.
  2. When cake is baked and cooled cut in half.
  3. Melt fruit jelly in microwave and brush the liquid onto the cut surface of the cake.   Use more or less jelly as desired.
  4. Place bottom half of cake in large bowl and set it near the ice bath.
  5. Prepare an ice bath.  Stopper the sink and fill will 2 inches of cold water.  Have a container of ice ready and dump the ice into the water just before you place the hot pot into the water.
  6. Next start on the custard.  Whisk egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth and creamy.  
  7. In a large pot combine milk, cream, salt, remaining sugar, and almond extract.  You can add more or less sugar and almond extract to suit your taste.
  8. Add the whisked, egg yolk mixture to the milk mixture, and stir vigorously until combined.
  9. Place the pot on the stove and turn the heat to simmer.  Stir constantly as you slowly increase the temperature under the pot to medium. 
  10. Stir the mixture constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a wooden spoon. About 6-8 minutes. DO NOT ALLOW THE MIXTURE TO BOIL.
  11. When the custard if finished cooking place the hot pot into the prepared ice bath.  The cold water will rapidly cool the pot and stop the custard from cooking further. 
  12. Ladle about about half the custard over the bottom half of the cake.  If you want, you can pass the custard through a strainer to remove any lumps.
  13. Let the bottom half of the cake sit in the warm custard for five minutes.  This will allow the cake to absorb the custard.
  14. Place the top of the cake on the bottom and ladle the rest of the custard over the cake.
  15. If desired poke holes into the cake with a wooden skewer and then spoon more custard into the holes.
  16. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and weigh down the cake with a heavy plate or the lid of a pot.  Forcing the cake to stay submerged in the custard will help the cake absorb the liquid.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
  17. After 1-2 hours remove the lid/plate and plastic wrap.  Spoon more custard over the top of the cake.
  18. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Note try not to touch the top of the cake with the plastic wrap.
  19. When serving spoon the custard over a cut slice of cake and garnish with whipped cream.



Saturday, November 28, 2015

Engagement Cookie Overload

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While everyone else in the good old US of A was preparing for their Thanksgiving feast, I was hunkered down assembling and decorating a hundred engagement cookies!!  Why oh why did the bride-to-be schedule her party on the Saturday after Thanksgiving?

I had planned ahead and baked, partially decorated, and froze the cookies a few weeks prior, but on the day before Thanksgiving I was madly making fondant flowers and embellishing my mini masterpieces.

I experimented and made a few cookies using 4 different plaque/frame cutters.  One frame cutter by Ann Clark had a long, narrow shape that was perfect for writing out a message.


The other plaque cutters came in a set of three that were also very cute.  BTW, the bride's color is blush.



I had some cookies in the "Stick Couple" design...






















And some in the "Save the Date Design"...  Oops sorry I didn't take a picture of that one.

I had some Snuggling Doves...





And some Mini Wedding Cakes.  Actually a lot of mini cakes.  When I was planning the cookies I thought these were the cutest design, but my finished minis didn't turn out as precious-looking as I had hoped. 




I guess in the end my favorite turned out to be a simple round cookie decorated with a bouquet of flowers.  



Simple and elegant.  Not too busy and not over the top.  If I every have to make another batch of engagement cookies, I just going to make these.




Happy Decorating,

Carol







Easy Fondant Ribbon Roses

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
 
A simple way to make elegant, decorated sugar cookies is with the Fondant Ribbon Rose.  These ribbon roses are so much quicker and easier than buttercream version, and best of all there is no mess!




To begin simply roll out the fondant as thin as you can.  I'm using Via Roma Bakery Fondant on this cookie, but any kind will work.  The only advantage of the Via Roma is that you can roll it extremely thin, and it stays soft for a long time.

After you roll out the fondant, cut off the ragged edges using an x-acto knife, and then slice into strips.  The size and length of the strips will vary depending on how large you want the finished rose to be.  I cut my strips short and narrow because these roses were going on small, round cookies.  And don't worry about getting the strips even and uniform.  Remember - there are no straight lines in nature.

To start the rose, just start rolling up the strip of fondant...


Keep rolling, but as you move away from the tight center of the rose start adding little crimps or folds at the bottom of the strip/base of the rose.  Also gently squeeze the base as you roll.  All the crimping and squeezing will give the rose petals some life and keep the finished rose from looking too compact.  The crimping will also help to open up the top edge of the rose and give it a more flared and natural look.




When the strip of fondant runs out, just fold the trailing edge down toward the base of the rose.  



All that rolling and crimping will give the rose a large, bulky base, so just cut it off with a scissors. But be careful that you don't distort the shape of the rose as you cut.  If my fondant rose is too soft to handle I will set it aside for a few minutes and allow it to firm up before I attempt to cut it.

After the cut...

And that is all there is to making a fondant ribbon rose.  In a few minutes you will have enough to decorate dozens of cookies.




Happy Decorating,

Carol













Saturday, November 14, 2015

Snuggling Lovebirds - Engagement Party Cookies

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I needed to make some cookies for a friend's engagement party, and I saw these precious little snuggling Lovebird cookies.  They didn't look too complicated, so I decided to give them a try.

Now I'm not an experienced cookie decorator, so it was a painstaking and time-consuming task for me...






I used Toba Garrett's Glace Icing (Royal Icing with equal parts milk and corn syrup) as described in her book Creative Cookies, and I used Wilton Icing Gel for the teal color, and AmeriColor gel for the bright white and black.


 In this closeup you can see that the teal blue flooding glaze is a little splotchy.  I actually made these ahead of time and froze them.  The freezing worked great except for the splotchy-ness of the blue.  I don't know if the problem was the type of glaze used (corn syrup), the thin, flooding consistency of the glaze, or the type of color (Wilton).  I will have to do some experimenting to find out what is causing the problem.

But the splotchy blue was not that noticeable so I kept decorating.  Pink cheeks, brown branch, orange nose and tiny orange toes.  All of these were colored using Wilton gels. 


And after a few grueling hours ;-) I managed to churn out eight cookies.  But they still looked a little plain. 


So I took some little fondant flower I had made for some other cookies and gave the bride dove a little bouquet.  Now that looks better.

I just hope the bride-to-be likes them.  But hey, what's not to like about snuggling lovebirds?




Happy Decorating,

Carol








Sunday, October 25, 2015

Low Carb Vanilla Bean Ice Cream


 If you are on a Low Carb diet you know that your dessert options are few and far between, but one luscious treat you can eat is ICE CREAM!

Here is my first attempt at ice cream making -- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream...

My adventure into ice cream making began when I was given some Gourmet Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans.  If I wasn't on a Low Carb diet there would be hundred of things I could use them in, but since I was deep into induction my choices were limited.  I had just made mini cheesecakes, so I decided to give ice cream a try.

The ice cream begins with a custard base.  I just used my regular custard recipe and swapped out the granulated sugar for granulated Splenda, and used all heavy whipping cream instead of a half cream / half  whole milk ratio.  

In the first step I add 3/4 cups of Splenda, cream, a pinch of salt, the seeds from the vanilla beans, and the beans themselves to a saucepan.  Heat the mixture till it scalds and then cover and allow to steep for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks in a 1/4 cup of Splenda.   



You want the mixture to be smooth and creamy with no lumps.




















Transfer the mixture to another pot and set aside.


Remove the vanilla beans and while whisking constantly, slowly pour the still warm milk mixture into the egg yolks.

Over medium heat, stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and starts to coat the spoon.  Do not allow the mixture to boil or it will curdle.  


When the custard base is cooked pour it through a fine-mesh sieve to remove all the bits debris from the vanilla beans.

You will end up with a smooth, creamy ice cream base / custard that is good enough to eat just as it is...


But no, into the ice cream maker it goes.  I use a Cuisinart ICE-21R Ice Cream Maker, and in about 15 minutes I have ICE CREAM.   Yummy, delicious, lovely, ICE CREAM.  Who said you can't have dessert on a Low Carb.



Open wide, here comes a spoon full....






Low Carb Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Ingredients

  • 4 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup granulated Splenda, divided
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 vanilla beans, split in half lengthwise and seeds scraped
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Over medium heat warm the cream, 3/4 cups of Splenda, and salt in a medium saucepan.
  2. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla beans into the cream/Splenda mixture.  Add the bean skins to the mixture.
  3. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and allow it to steep for 30 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks and 1/4 cup Splenda until smooth and creamy.  Transfer the egg mixture to a second sauce pan.
  5. Remove the vanilla bean skins from the cream/sugar mixture.  While whisking constantly, slowly pour the still warm cream mixture into the saucepan containing the egg yolk mixture.  Make sure you constant whisk the yolks as you pour the warm milk into it.  You will end up with scrambled eggs if you don't whisk the egg yolks as the warm cream is introduced.
  6. Place the saucepan on medium heat and stir the mixture constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a wooden spoon. About 8 minutes. DO NOT ALLOW THE MIXTURE TO BOIL.
  7. When the ice cream base is cooked to the appropriate consistency, pour the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve to remove any lumps and bits of vanilla bean bark.
  8. Stir in the vanilla extract and leave bowl on the counter until it cools.
  9. Once the mixture is cool, cover and refrigerate until completely chilled.  At least 8 hours or overnight.
  10. When the ice cream base is chilled, churn the ice cream according to the ice cream makers instructions.
Yield: 1 quart










Monday, August 31, 2015

Neymar Jr Jersey Cake

It has been awhile since I decorated a cake.  The last one was exactly one year ago when I decorated a One Direction cake for my niece.  Well this year she has gotten over Niall Horan and is now in love with Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, a Brazilian soccer player.  So this year she is getting a Neymar jersey cake. Ta Da...




















I'm not a great cake decorator, but she was pleased with my efforts.  And the inside of the cake was Cake Man Raven's Red Velvet (recipe at bottom) so she was really, really happy about that.  Here are all the ingredients that go into the cake.  Note that I use powdered buttermilk instead of the fresh, liquid stuff.  I've made hundreds of Red Velvet cakes using both fresh and powdered buttermilk, and honestly I can't tell the difference.



















Below is the cake being mixed.  The original Cake Man Raven recipe called for mixing with an electric mixer, but for me the combination of red food color and an electric mixer never turned out well so now I just use a whisk.  For this cake I baked a double batch, so I ended up with 4, 10" square cakes.  But a word of warning: make sure you line your pans with parchment paper.  This cake will stick to the bottom of the pan if you don't take precautions.  After baking I iced the layers with a crusting cream cheese frosting. (recipe at bottom).


After frosting and stacking the cakes, I placed them in the freezer for about 30 minutes.  This gets the cakes firm enough to cut and shape.  After cutting and shaping comes a thin crumb coat, and then back in the freezer for another 30 minutes.  Chilling the crumb coat keeps it from sticking to the fondant as you tug, push, and smooth everything into place.



Next comes the fondant.  I'm all about making things easy so I used my latest discovery Via Roma Bakery Fondant.  This stuff is great.  It is soft right out of the box so it doesn't need any kneading or microwaving.  It takes color pretty well, but I did noticed a tiny bit of marbling when I tried to make darker colors.  No matter how long or how vigorously I kneaded the dark blue fondant it still had faint streaks of lighter blue.  My Wilton food colors were also old and a little hard, so I ended up with hard flecks of dried food coloring in the final fondant.  I tried to pick them out, but I didn't get them all.  I think I'm going to switch to the AmeriColor brand, I'm hoping they don't dry out as much.  But regardless of which coloring I use, next time I make a fondant cake I'm going to buy boxes of the pre-colored stuff.  No more kneading for me.

I also like the Via Roma Fondant because it rolls so easily.  You can even get it down to a paper-thin thickness of 1/24" inch.  I don't even bother using guides on the rolling pin.  I just roll and roll till the fondant doesn't stretch any more.  I also roll using Sweet Wise's The Mat.  This is another great time saving tool.  With The Mat it is so easy to transfer the fondant to the cake.  No creases, folds, tear or tears.


Onto the cake the fondant goes...


Next some red fondant cut into strips for the jersey decorations.  I used a Wilton fondant cutter and embosser.  It works okay, but it is a little difficult keeping it straight and steady.  


Red and yellow stripes on the cake.  It is starting to come together.


Next all the lettering.  I used the Wilton fondant cutouts for the letters, but in that kit all the letters are capitals.  Capital letters are okay for Neymar's name, but the other text (like unicef and beko) should have been in lower case letters.  And I didn't know this till later, but apparently unicef, beko, and LFP are the team's sponsors.  Nike and Qatar Airlines are also sponsors, but their logos are on the front of the jersey.  I should have made a jersey that stood on end and showed both sides.


And finally the finishing touches of thin ribbons of fondant scored to look like stitching.  Another Wilton tool: the fondant wheel cutter/embosser.  Wilton has a tool for everything. 



So my niece was pleased with her birthday present: the Nike Neymar Barcelona Home Jersey 15/16...


And she was also pleased with a cake that kind-of, sort-of, looked like a Neymar Jr jersey...


And all that work --- gone in 60 seconds.


But it sure did taste good.

Happy Baking (and Decorating),


Carol






Red Velvet Cake Recipe 

( from Cakeman Raven & Southern Red Velvet)

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups Cake Flour
1-1/2 cups Granulated White Sugar 
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon fine salt ( I use popcorn salt )
1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder

1-1/2 cups Vegetable Oil
1 cup Buttermilk (or the powdered stuff with water)
2 large Eggs
2 Tablespoons Red Food Coloring
1 teaspoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Directions:

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2 - Grease and line with parchment paper 3 - 9" round pans. (Note: I like thicker cakes so I usually bake in 2 - 8" pans.)
3 - Sift together all dry ingredients
4 - Combine all wet ingredients 
5 - Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, whisk until smooth
6 - Bake 20-30 minutes till a tooth pick comes out moistly clean.  These cakes are super moist so don't over bake.








Crusting Cream Cheese Icing 

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 lb (2-8oz bars) cream cheese, softened
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt ( I use popcorn salt )
3-1/2 lbs (14 cups) sifted Confectioners' Sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt 


Directions:

1 - In a small cup dissolve salt in extract
2 - Cream butter, shortening, cream cheese, and extract mixture
3 - Gradually add confectioner's sugar 

This recipe will produce a frosting with a thick consistency.  For a thinner consistency use less sugar.  This frosting will crust when it dries.

Yield: 4-5 cups