Chocolate Covered Blueberry Cake

This weekend we went to a friend's place for a small dinner party of sorts. I volunteered to make dessert because, that's what I do.

And then, on Thursday night I panicked because I had no idea what to bake. I didn't want to make cookies (I made enough of those in December) and *gasp* I didn't feel like making cupcakes. What in the heck was I going to do?

My husband suggested I make a cake. Being the chocolate lover that I am, I responded with "a chocolate one, obviously." Then I proceeded to mull over filling options out loud.

"What about blueberry," asked my husband. Hmm, chocolate and blueberries? I wasn't sure about that combination. But, then I remembered that when we visited Ghirardelli in CA we ate some delicious chocolate covered blueberries.

So, on Saturday I put together a chocolate layer cake using my go-to chocolate recipe (Martha's 1-bowl chocolate cake). Because I'm not a huge fan of fruit jam layers in my cake (personal preference), I decided to make a fresh blueberry whipped cream for the filling.

I don't really use a recipe anymore when I make whipped cream, I kind of wing it. For this particular whipped cream, I put two containers of fresh blueberries (approx 2 cups-ish) into my food processor and pureed them. Then I put the puree into my kitchenaid with a pint of heavy cream, a tablespoon of sugar, and about a teaspoon of vanilla and using the whisk attachment beat the mixture on high until peaks formed.

To top it all off, I used a dark chocolate frosting recipe, which I think is too rich/sweet to not be a ganache (though, technically, it isn't as it does not use cream at all). This is another recipe from Martha. I halved the recipe though, because it makes 5 cups which is just about always way too much.

I would recommend refrigerating cake until serving, and storing any left overs in the fridge as well.

Enjoy!

Reece's Cup Cake

No, not cupcakes- a Reece's Cup cake.

Sunday was my husband's birthday and I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. He said "surprise me." That is...kind of dangerous because it allows me to do whatever I want, meaning not necessarily what he would want.

However, it being his birthday I went with one of his favorite things: peanut butter. And who doesn't immediately think of chocolate when peanut butter desserts are on the table?

I started with a yellow cake recipe from my Sur La Table baking book (another recipe towards my resolution!). I read their whole primer on cakes, even though I've been baking cakes (and cupcakes) for quite some time now. I didn't learn a whole lot of new information, except that pre-beating your eggs (just enough to mix the whites and yolks) can help keep your cake light and fluffy. The other stuff was mostly information about bringing cold ingredients up to room temperature before adding and the importance of sifting.

The yellow cake recipe yeilded much less cake than I had anticipated, so I used one 9 inch round pan, instead of two. Since I only had one 9 inch round of cake, I decided to section it into three pieces, instead of two.

I found a quick and easy peanut butter frosting recipe in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. I was a little surprised to see that it called for cream cheese, but it was delicious. The peanut butter frosting was put between the layers of cake and I should have been a little more generous with the frosting.

To top the cake I used a chocolate ganache recipe (from Sur La Table, again). I was beyond pleased that my crumb coating worked like a charm. (Crumb coating, in case you don't know, means that you coat the cake with a thin layer of frosting/ganache and then let it set. Once the layer is set, you add a more generous layer of frosting/ganache so that the crumbs do not show.)

As a final touch, I added some mini Reece's cups and peanut butter frosting accents. This cake should be kept chilled until about fifteen or twenty minutes before serving.

Mmm, don't you want a piece?

Giant Cupcake Cake

I know I've been MIA for a bit- things were a little hectic. We had a visit from some family and then our basement flooded. No worries, everything/everyone is just fine and dry now.

Our family's visit coincided with our nephew's 4th birthday. Although we celebrated his birthday in NYC a few days before his stop by our place, I was itching to try out my Cupcake Cake pan and this occasion was too good to pass up.

My nephew requested chocolate cake, so I used my favorite recipe and layered vanilla buttercream in between the "frosting" and the "cake" sections.

My crumb coating is terrible on cakes. Terrible. I wanted this cake to look like a cupcake I would bake and not like one I'd dropped on the floor. I decided to try using rolled buttercream (because I'm pretty sure my nephew would not have enjoyed eating fondant on his birthday).

My experience with rolled buttercream was interesting. I am a perfectionist (I may have mentioned that before) and I got quite frustrated. The rolled buttercream was probably a little too warm (too much kneading by hand) and a little too sticky (I kept adding powdered sugar by the handful, but it never seemed to un-stick).

However, having said that- I think it looked great on the finished product. Plus, it tasted really good too. It's quite sweet, but I think that's right in line with it being a buttercream product.

I used the leftover cake batter to make coordinating cupcakes.

Cake Truffles

Mmmm, cake.

But what do you do with all those left over cake bits after you level your cake and put it all together?

Cake truffles, my friends. Cake truffles.

If you haven't already visited Bakerella's website, go there now. I'll wait. Bakerella does amazing things with her leftover cake crumbs and pieces.

A few weeks ago I went to a dinner party with some friends. I offered to bring dessert because, well, it's what I do. I made minature chocolate cakes (with yummy orange swiss meringue frosting in the middle). I ended up with a LOT of cake bits left over. And I didn't want to waste them.

Viola, cake truffles. I've made these before (as Cupcake pops) and they are always a huge hit. You take your cake bits, mix them with frosting, and dunk in chocolate. That's it. It's easy, but time consuming- be forewarned. And it makes a lot.

The ones you see above are chocolate cake (my favorite Martha one-bowl recipe) with vanilla buttercream (also homemade) in both white chocolate and chocolate coatings. We like to keep them in the freezer in our house.

I bet once you eat one, you'll need to eat at least two more.

Gift Cake

This Monday I had the second class in my Wilton III class. We had to bring in a square cake to cover in fondant.

It was the first time I worked with fondant (we had to use the Wilton Fondant), and I was nervous. My instructor was really helpful and walked me (and the other people in my class) through the process.

The only thing we had to do was cover the cake and make the bow. I decided to add the shaped flowers to make it a little more interesting.

Overall I'm super pleased with the results. I think the fondant tastes kind of gross (I much prefer the MMF I made for the Cupcake Electoral Map), but I just peeled it off and ate the chocolate cake and buttercream icing that were underneath.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

About two weeks ago I baked a cake for my friend's surprise birthday party. Her husband and best friend told me to make whatever I wanted because she loves desserts in any flavor.

I decided to try out a Chocolate Chocolate Chip recipe I had. It turned out really amazing- nice and moist but not overpoweringly chocolate. I torted the cake with a Whipped Caramel Cream in the middle and all of the frosting is Chocolate Buttercream.

The Birthday girl was very pleased, and there weren't even crumbs left after we cut the cake.

Wilton Course 2

Last night was my last class in Wilton Course 2. For our final class we have to decorate an oval shaped cake using some very specific techniques: the basketweave, the rope border, and at least two kinds of flowers made from Royal Icing.

I was really nervous about both the basketweave and the rope border. I made all the flowers last Thursday so that they had time to dry out before class. Both the rope border and the basketweave ended up being easier than I had anticipated.

I need to get a cake leveler I think. It's so hard for me to level my cake and make it even. I'm not too worried about it since the cake just got eaten, but it would be nice to have an even top.

Here are some detail shots of the side of the cake.