What I've Been Up To

I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything. In the past year I have continued my adventures in culinary school, I have had a baby, and become a stay at home mom. Its been a busy year with not much time for cooking. I am making every effort to get back to baking. My internet connection also does not allow me to update this site from home, but I am doing my best.
Here are a few pictures of what I have done:

Orange Dream Cake

I was asked to make a cake for a family reunion in May. It was very hot outside so I decided to make a cake that would taste much lighter than it actually was. I also had just bought an 8 pound bag of fresh oranges from the fruit stand down the street. Now, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of oranges and summer are the 50/50 bars from my childhood. That tangy refreshing orange sherbet paired with the smooth, creamy, rich vanilla center. I could eat those all day. Well, I looked and found a site called Easy Cake Ideas. There was an Orange Dream Buttercream recipe that I was dying to try. Since I was going with her buttercream and filling recipes, I also decided to go with her yellow cake recipe. (I wasn't that thrilled with the cake itself but the buttercream was to die for.)
So, here it is:

Yellow Cake Recipe

yields one 9” round cake (3 layers) or 24 cupcakes

• 2 sticks butter (8 ounces)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

NOTE: All amounts are given in U.S. standard measures.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare 2 x 9” round cake pans by spraying with non-stick cooking spray and lining bottom of each pan with a wax paper circle cut to fit.

1.using an electric mixer beat butter and sugar at high speed until lighter in color and fluffy.

2.add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition

3.sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt on to a piece of parchment or wax paper.

4.mix the milk and vanilla together.

5.add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients alternately to the batter, ending with the dry ingredients.

6.pour the batter into the prepared pans (1/3 in one, 2/3 in the other) and bake for 25-35 minutes (20-25 minutes for cupcakes), until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

7.cool the cakes in their pans for about 15 minutes then turn out of the pans on to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cake itself seemed dry and very dense. The flavor was OK but I could have achieved that taste from a box mix and not spent the money on all that butter.

The butter cream filling was soo good. 

It started with a basic butter cream filling:

Buttercream filling

• 1 pound bag of powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 sticks butter, cut into ½ inch slices
• 1/2 cup shortening

• using the whisk attachment on your electric mixer, mix the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and milk at low speed until smooth.
• add butter, one slice at a time, until incorporated
• add shortening and whip at highest speed 10-12 minutes, until volume increases by at least 50%.

 Then I made an orange curd and added that to the filling:

Orange Dream Buttercream

To the basic recipe, you add :

• 3/4 to 1 cup Orange curd (to taste)

To make Orange Curd:

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons butter, melted

• In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth.
• Stir in orange juice, zest and butter.
• Cook for one minute intervals on high, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.
• Cover the curd with cling film placed directly on the surface of the curd and refrigerate until set.

The Buttercream frosting was very similar. This is definitely NOT a crusting buttercream so it must stay refrigerated until you are ready to serve it. It seemed as though we had buttercream everywhere by the end of the day. But it is so good you won't mind licking it off your fingers.

The Perfect Buttercream Frosting

yields about 8 cups of frosting (enough to fill and frost a 9" round cake - 3 layers)

• 2 pound bag of powdered sugar
• 1 cup milk or water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 sticks butter, cut into ½ inch slices
• 2 ¼ cups shortening (not butter flavor)

• using the whisk attachment on your electric mixer, mix the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and milk or water at low speed until smooth and creamy.
• add butter, one slice at a time, until incorporated
• add shortening and whip at highest speed 10-12 minutes, until almost doubled in volume 

Orange Creamsicle Frosting
      To half of the basic recipe, you add:

• ¾ to 1 cup Orange curd (to taste)

to make Orange Curd:

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons butter, melted
• In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth.
• Stir in orange juice, zest and butter.
• Cook for one minute intervals on high, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.
• Cover the curd with cling film placed directly on the surface of the curd and refrigerate until set.

I also attempted to make buttercream roses out of this frosting. It was extremely soft, so I made sure to keep the frosting chilled until I used it and then as soon as the roses were made I put them in the freezer to set up. They weren't half bad. It looked pretty.

I also candied orange slices to decorate the sides of the cake.

I honestly can't remember where I found that recipe, but I plan on using a different one next time. It was very finicky and I wound up with quite a few orange slices that were slightly burnt or not candied enough. Well, enough chit chat, here is the finished cake.