Elvis S'mores Cake {#PasstheCookBookClub}

This week has been filled with cakes here on the blog and it's time for another round of Pass the Cook Book Club with yet another summer inspired cake. I know I shouldn't pick favorites but this month is by far my favorite in this club! Kita, our lovely leader, was very kind in choosing The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman the author behind the blog Smitten Kitchen. I've been a reader of her blog for over two years; well before I knew what 'blogging' was and her cookbook has been on my to-buy list for a long time (see my cookbook pinterest board).

All the recipes in this month's selection are very tempting; thus why I am buying the book! From the Cheddar Breakfast Swirl Breakfast Buns, to the Tomato Scallion Shortcakes with Whipped Goat Cheese and this S'mores Layer Cake. I intend to make all the above soon but of course I was naturally drawn to the layer cake. I just love making layer cakes and I couldn't resist.

Since I've made traditional s'more recipes recently (s'more cookie bar and s'mores macarons), I wanted to switch the cake up a little bit. As always, I asked Mr J what he thinks would be a great variation and of course he said peanut butter. I swear this man is addicted to peanut butter and needs some therapy (just saying; PB anonymous?). But since he eats a majority of what I make, I indulged him. A few Google searches lead to the decision of peanut butter banana s'mores cake aka Elvis S'mores.

I made the graham cracker cake as the recipe suggested but I smothered it with a creamy milk chocolate peanut butter ganache instead and added some fresh sliced bananas. Finally the cake is topped with marshmallow frosting! The frosting is pretty thin and not my usual 'cake' frosting so it was very hard to work with and beautify.

It is not the prettiest cake I've made (probably the ugliest, still debating) but for now it wins the award for the best cake ever according to the hubby. The graham cracker cake is moist and fluffy (just the way I like my cakes) and the peanut butter ganache running in the middle is perfectly sweet and is not overpowering that you lose the graham cracker and subtle banana flavors. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty peanut butter flavor here but it is well balanced. It's the first time I've ever seen Mr J. lick his plate clean (Instagram picture). Apparently it was that good. Feel free to add more bananas as several labmates suggested they would have liked more of the banana in there. 

Elvis S’mores Layer Cake
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus a bit more for greasing pan
2 cups flour
2 cups honey graham crackers (not cinnamon graham crackers), finely processed into a powder
2 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well shaken
Filling:
½ lbs milk chocolate Reese's peanut butter cups, finely chopped
¾ cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
1-2 bananas, sliced
Frosting:
4 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
To make the cake: preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9” round cake pans, line them with parchment paper, and butter that.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add a third of the dry ingredients, then half of the buttermilk, and repeat mixing after each addition until combined. Scrape down the bowl and mix again if needed.
Divide the batter between the cake pans, smoothing tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes, then run a knife between the cake edges and pan before inverting each layer on a rack. Discard the parchment paper and flip the cakes back upright on the rack. Let cool completely. (a process you could speed up by placing cakes in the fridge).
To make the filling: Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Combine the heavy cream and salt in a small saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Set bowl over another bowl filled with ice water and stir until it firms up to a spreadable consistency.
Make the frosting: Place egg whites, granulated sugar, and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, about 3 minutes. Transfer the bowl to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting low and gradually increasing to high, until stiff glossy peaks form, 4 to 7 minutes. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Use immediately.
Assembly: Use a long serrated knife to level the top of the cakes; gently taking off the domed part. Place one cake layer face up and spread peanut butter ganache thickly over the bottom layer. Scatter the banana slices over the ganache. Place top layer over the bottom. Chill the cake for 10-15 minutes. Frost the cake by spreading a thin layer over the top and sides, covering for crumbs. Transfer to fridge for 5 to 10 minutes, and let sit. Then generously coat top and sides with additional frosting. Put the remaining frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Create big marshmallow dollops decoratively over the top of the cake. Dipping your finger in water between each dollop to push down the top of each where you pulled the piping bag away. With a kitchen torch on low, lightly brown the dollops, creating the toasted marshmallow effect.

Below is what everyone else in the club made!

Peach Blueberry Bourbon Cake

 Goodbyes

They stink.

This weekend, I had the endearing task of saying goodbye. One of my dearest girlfriends is moving to San Diego with my (her) baby! She graduated with her PhD two weeks ago and landed a dream job on that side of the country. However, we’ve seen each other almost every day for the past few years and I don’t even know what I am going to do without her. To say I will miss her is an understatement. But I am extremely happy for her and can't wait to visit already.  

On the bright side, while we were cleaning out her apartment this week, I inherited the contents of her liqueur cabinet. Her quality bourbon had to be put into good use before she left. And because I was floating in fresh peaches and blueberries, this cake happened. I don't know if this is a cake or an open pie or even a cobbler. It resembles all the above.

But what I do know is that it is very good. A buttery pastry dough is filled with fresh peaches and blueberries macerated with lemon juice and bourbon. It's baked in a unique way and that's what drew me to the recipe in the first place. The pastry dough is made in a food processor and pressed in a springform pan which is then filled with the fruit filling. The outside tastes like cake and the inside is gooey like a pie. It's bursting with summer freshness so make this before the summer berries and fruits go away.

Peach Blueberry Cake

Barely adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients

For crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cold and cut into cubes 

2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For filling:

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

5 peaches, cut into 8 pieces each

2 cups blueberries

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1-2 tablespoons bourbon (to taste)

Directions

To make the crust: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the dry ingredients by pulsing for a minute. Add in butter cubes slowly and pulse until the mixture is coarse, forming small pea-sized bits. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Pulse until dough comes together into a bowl. Form dough into a ball and transfer to a 9-inch springform pan. Spread dough evenly up the sides of the pan and the bottom. Press down with your fingers or a flat bottomed cup. Chill in fridge for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling. 

For filling: In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour and tapioca. Add in the peaches, blueberries, lemon juice and bourbon. Gently mix to combine and coat the fruit. Pour the filling into the prepared dough, making sure it is evenly spread out. Be careful not to add extra liquid into the dough. 

Cover the springform pan loosely with foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake until filling is bubbling and crust is golden, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for at least 20 minutes before carefully removing the sides of the pan.  Let cool until warm before cutting. It's best served warm and with ice cream!

Notes:

- The filling was a little runny after baking so I would suggest letting the filling sit for 10-15 minutes before pouring into pastry dough. The tapioca will have time to work its magic.

Strawberry Lavender Cake

Happy Monday!

It's my birthday today and I made myself a birthday cake! A Strawberry Lavender Cake to be precise.

Apparently you are not supposed to make yourself a birthday cake but I wanted to and there was no stopping me. Who makes these rules anyway? Here was an opportunity to make myself whatever I want without worrying whether people will like it because it's my cake. Like this strawberry lavender cake; a great flavor combination.

This cake is straight up from my cake crush; Sweetapolita and I've had it at the back of my mind for months. Honestly, all her cakes are on my to-bake list. Like this chocolate marshmallow cake. But I digress. This strawberry lavender cake starts with a wonderfully moist vanilla buttermilk cake that is filled with a whipped vanilla mascarpone filling & strawberry and lavender compote and then topped with whipped lavender frosting. It's a mouthful, I know but it's just as amazing as it sounds!! Let me break it down for you.

First, there is a light, airy yet very moist cake. Rosie (Sweetapolita) uses an interesting mixing technique in making this cake. She adds cold butter to the dry ingredients and mixes to create a cornmeal consistency before mixing in the wet ingredients and this makes a light and fluffier buttermilk cake. The cake is filled with vanilla whipped cream, which is a perfect match for strawberries. I added mascarpone cheese to this for more richness and a little tartness. In addition to the whipped cream, the cake is also filled with a fresh strawberry, lemon and lavender compote that is sweet and full of summer flavors. Finally, a perfectly sweet whipped vanilla lavender frosting tops it all. Lavender is a beautiful flavor and if you haven't tried it yet, I suggest you do soon. It's my first time baking with it and I don't know why it took me this long.

I am not a big fan of birthdays to be honest. I hate being the center of attention and despite my love of presents, I don't throw birthday parties! My wedding took lots and lots of effort to walk out and be stared down...yikes! Anyway, I let my husband host two dinner parties for me this weekend and I resisted the urge to be involved in any of the planning except making this cake and some cupcakes I'll share later. Thanks to the great presents, I survived both parties! Oh I got a camera fund started by my friends. I am almost ready to shop for a DSLR!! I can't wait.

Recipe: From Sweetapolita
- The only change I made was adding mascarpone cheese (1/3 cup) to the vanilla whipped cream filling at the end.

Here is a look at the aftermath of this beauty.

Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze

July is National Blueberry Month and to celebrate of course I had to make a cake! I didn't want to make a traditional cake and after seeing this bundt cake in the current issue of Food Network Magazine, I knew it was time for me to cross off bundt cake on my baking bucket list. So I bought a bundt pan (shhh: I felt like a big girl!) and grabbed some fresh blueberries and gave it a try this weekend. 

The process of making a bundt cake is much like making a cake, except you have to be super careful not to over-mix the batter. If you are successful, you get a light and airy cake, which is exactly what this blueberry buttermilk bundt cake is. It is extremely moist and I think the addition of vegetable oil helped with this. I loved the texture of the blueberries in the cake too, they stayed very juicy. I was scared the blueberries might sink to the bottom, but I tossed them in flour before adding them to the batter and they remained floating in the cake as you can see. The cake itself is not too sweet so the lemon glaze is a perfectly sweet way to top it off!

I brought this cake to lab yesterday and it was quickly devoured by my lab mates. When I asked them what they liked about it, two things stood out: moist cake and delicious glaze! And that's exactly how I would sum up this cake. I can't wait to make more bundt cakes and thanks to my lab mates, I already have some special requests for more summer flavored bundt cakes.

For you blueberry lovers, Tracey at Tracey's Culinary Adventures is having a blueberry week (super awesome right??) starting off with this delicious blueberry-lime cream cheese pound cake (another thing on my baking bucket list: pound cake). Check it out!

On another note, I’m taking part in a great bake sale (Muffins for Muffin Online Bake Sale) that is happening tomorrow Wednesday July 17^th at 8am on Kita’s blog Pass the Sushi. Kita is hosting the bake sale to help raise some awareness about animal abuse and also raise funds for a puppy (Muffin) that was found neglected, abused and with terrible chemical burns. Miss Muffin has a long road ahead and this bake sale will help with her medical expenses. I’m donating my brown butter salted caramel chocolate chip cookies to the sale. Please head over there and take a look at all the other amazing treats and on Wednesday bid/donate to help Muffin. Click here for more details.

Recipe:

Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze

Adapted from Food Network Magazine July/August 2013

Ingredients:

3     cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2½ teaspoons baking powder

1¼ teaspoons salt

1     cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1¾ cups sugar

¼   cup vegetable oil

4    large eggs, room temperature

1    teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¾  cup buttermilk, room temperature

2    cups blueberries (about 1 pint)

For Lemon Glaze

2½ cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 to 4 tablespoons milk

  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a nonstick 12-cup Bundt pan (mine is 10-inch and worked great). In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 cups of flours, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the sugar, oil and butter on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beating until combined. Beat in vanilla extract.

Add in a third of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk. Mix until just combined. Then add another third of flour and the rest of the buttermilk. Mix again until just combined. Scrape down the side of the bowl as needed. Add the rest of the flour and mix for 30 seconds. Finish incorporating the flour into the batter by hand with a rubber spatula to avoid over mixing.

In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining two tablespoons of flour. Pour or spoon a third of the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle half of the blueberries on top of the batter then top with another third of the batter. Scatter the rest of the blueberries on top of the batter and then top with the last third of the batter. Smooth the top.

Bake until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes to an hour. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow cake to cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using a small sharp knife, run it around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake and then invert the cake onto a cooling rack (lined with parchment paper) to cool completely.

For the glaze: Whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl. If the glaze is too thick, whisk in a tablespoon of milk, a little at a time.

Just before serving, pour the glaze over the cake and allowing it to drip down the sides.  Enjoy!

Red, White and Blue Cake

Happy Monday!! I am recovering from a very long and fun weekend. But I'll share with you details of the bridal shower later in the week. For now, here is one of my stress-baking cakes from last week. Did I tell you that I am a stress baker? Whenever, I get overwhelmed with things, I pull up a recipe I have not made before or attempt an idea in my head and just go to town in the kitchen. Always helps calm my nerves.

This is an easy Red, White and Blue cake for the upcoming July 4th weekend celebrations. It's not too early to start planning. I got the idea for this cake when I saw the sprinkles at the check out counter of my grocery store. They always place the most mundane items along the check out, don't they? I had to sneak it into the cart before Mr J could see otherwise I would have received his favorite remark "you have a million other sprinkles you don't even use". Just like the speeches I get when I fall in love with yet another pair of shoes! Oh well, he saw them when we were unpacking the groceries and it was too late. Did I mention I have a shopping problem too?? Hmmmm, this is becoming a confessional so let's focus on the cake. 

I baked the cake just so I could decorate it with the sprinkles so I went with a simple vanilla butter cake with whipped vanilla bean frosting. It's a great recipe for a moist fluffy cake and I loved how it complemented the creamy vanilla bean frosting. I also made a batch of blue vanilla macarons to top the cake for a little extra touch and I wasn't sure how they would look on top of a cake. But I love how they add some character to this simple cake. 

For an upcoming July 4th weekend event, I would probably bake a more summer-y cake flavor like this lemon cake or strawberry lemonade cake though and keep the decorations the same. I love these sprinkles...can you see the cute little stars? My favorite.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

 

Dark chocolate strawberry cake. That is summer-y right? I promised you I will eventually get into summer after starting off the season with macarons. Strawberries are my favorite berries... right in front of raspberries :) So when they are in season, I always have at least a pound of fresh strawberries around to add to anything from salads to frosting.

This cake starts with a very moist "one-bowl" chocolate cake that's then topped with my favorite vanilla swiss meringue buttercream with fresh strawberry puree. You can find the cake recipe here on Sweetapolita. I used two 8-inch round pans instead of three 6-inch pans that she suggests. Other than that, I followed her recipe closely. I used semi-sweet chocolate for the glaze and just drizzled it randomly on top of the cake. I wanted the chocolate cake to be the star so I went easy on the glaze ( by all means, go crazy!). 

This is a great cake for chocolate lovers because the dark chocolate cake is (for lack of a better word) oh-so chocolate-y and the light, fluffy strawberry buttercream spruces up an already decadent chocolate cake. I made it memorial day weekend for a special out-of-town chocolate lover who was very happy with it.

I hope you will try it. It would make for a great birthday cake as well. It may not be as summer-y as the next cupcakes I just made to share with you next week, but I think having fresh strawberries in the frosting definitely puts this chocolate cake in the season.

What are some of your favorite summer desserts?? 

Six-Layer Chocolate Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Filling and Malted Chocolate Frosting

Celebrations always call for chocolate. I made this cake last weekend for a dear friend who just landed her dream job!!!... in San Diego :(. And there is no better way to say "I am so happy for you" and "I'm going to terribly miss you" than a super moist chocolate cake.

Did I mention this friend of mine was the one who introduced me to baking?? Yeah, I made my first cake in her kitchen using her Kitchenaid and baking supplies. She was so kind and laughed gently as I sprayed the cake pan and splattered PAM all over my face and her counter :). I am very grateful!!

I first saw this cake on Sweetapolita's recipe index a year ago and recently Brown Eyed Baker recreated it for her birthday. I knew I had to try it and this occasion was the perfect time.  I needed a WOW cake and this cake delivered!

Let's discuss the cake. It's six-layers of very rich chocolate cake enriched with hot coffee which makes for a moist cake. Then, the cake is filled with a toasted marshmallow frosting made with crunchy toasted marshmallows, butter and marshmallow cream. Such goodness!!  The malted flavor in the chocolate frosting was achieved by adding Ovaltine (who knew???) and it complimented the chocolate so well.

This is the best cake I have made so far!!!

And I am glad it was for this occasion. I am so happy for my friend and so proud of her great achievement. I will undoubtedly miss her and her baby so much but on the bright side...I now have San Diego on my vacation list and can't wait to visit!

Fun with Fondant

I just completed Course 3 (Gum Paste and Fondant) of the Wilton cake decorating series and here is my final cake project. It was inspired by my niece, Madison, and her love for bright neon colors.

Photo credit: Mr J aka the hubby

During this 4-week course, in addition to covering a cake with fondant, making bows and working with fun cut-outs, we learned how to make different flowers with gum paste and fondant. It was my first exposure to both and I must say I love working with gum paste, especially to make flowers. We had a go at daisies, roses, calla lilies, mums and carnations (which were my favorite). I will share these flowers later as I practice. I'm not sure if I am a fan of covering a cake completely with fondant yet even though I like how smooth it looks.

I would definitely recommend the Wilton cake decorating series for any beginner who would like to learn the basics of cake decorating from a professional.

Have a great weekend!!

Rose Cake {Ombre}

I came home this Friday to dinner on the table, a bottle of my favorite wine and flowers. It was our six months wedding anniversary and the hubby was celebrating. He is just too good!! Obviously, the date totally escaped me and I was not prepared as he was. I can't believe 6 months just went by this quick.

So, I decided to bake him a cake the next day in return. The roses he brought home inspired this last minute cake. I've seen the idea bounce around Pinterest for a while now and I figured I should give it a try. See my two favorites here and here. I figured it would only help improve my piping techniques or it could be a total disaster. Either way, Mr J will have a cake to enjoy.

Valentine's Day {Baking Anniversary}

Love is in the air and it is all about hearts. Chocolate cookie hearts, red velvet hearts, red and pink hearts!! Cupid's symbol all over.

Here at Blahnik Baker, it is also my 'baking' anniversary. I baked my first cake ever a year ago in my friend Chrissa's kitchen, seen here. It was a small step at the time that now looks like a giant leap!

In honor of Valentine's day and this anniversary, I decided to recreate this cake again. The cake inspired this blog and I think it deserves a comeback. And because just baking a cake doesn't seem like a challenge anymore, I decided to make some cookies and decorate them!!

The red velvet cake is a recipe from Sprinkle Bakes. 

I used heart shaped pans this time and the heart came out looking like a heart lol! I decided not to do the crumb coat, just for something different.

For the cookies, I used this chocolate roll out cookie recipe from Glorious Treats since chocolate and Valentine's day seem to be synonymous.

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

This weekend was a busy one. One of my best friend's sister was in town and it was her birthday. She loves strawberries and even though it's the middle of winter, I decided to make her a strawberry vanilla birthday cake. But with only two hours to bake in between lunch dates and shopping with the hubby, I whipped this cake up.

The cake was inspired by Martha Stewart's strawberry cupcakes. I used the roses I made in my Wilton class this previous week. I used my favorite buttercream, Swiss Meringue buttercream! The Whisk Kid has a great step-by-step tutorial on how to make swiss meringue buttercream. It is daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is a versatile frosting to work with. It pipes great on cupcakes and very easy to ice a cake with.

In the end, I was not very pleased with the rushed job, it could have looked prettier but the birthday girl was very happy and loved it!

End Of Year Reflections and New Year Cake

It is that time of the year to reflect on the past 365 days that have gone by. This year was a year of milestones for me. A year of firsts, a year of reunions, a year of dreams come true and an end to an era. It was a blessed year and I am beyond grateful for all that I received and experienced!

There was a first baking experience in February and the launch of a baking addiction. There was a wedding to plan, a dress to be bought and a dream shoe that showed up at my door step in July for the occasion. Friends from afar and near planned a wonderful bridal shower in May and reunions with college buddies! The biggest reunion of all was to see my sister, mom and my high school bestie . And of course there was a groundbreaking event, that ended the era of the single gyal...the wedding to the man beyond my dreams in September! I pray 2013 is filled with as many experiences!

For the new year eve celebrations, I attempted to bake a cake for the evening. I started with no decoration vision (first bad mistake) and didn't start looking until after the cake and layers turned out so good. A frosted cake and some frantic Pinterest searches lead to this mess.

I almost didn't share this picture but since this is my memoir of baking adventures, the failures need to be acknowledged. Second mistake was messing up the writing on cake and attempting to scrape it off (you see the patches on top?). But hey...that's what adventures are for. To learn from the mistakes.

The cake was cherry vanilla from Annie's Eats and I followed her recipe to the dot. It tasted great too!

Happy new year!!! I hope 2013 brings us all more happiness and love!!! I look forward to growing as a baker in this new year :))