Black Forest Cake

My son turned 9 in September and I made this gorgeous looking Black Forest cake for him. He loved it with chocolate gratings on the top and cherry with it.  It was easy to make n bake. It was my childhood favorite and lot of memories are attached to it. So I was happy to bake this for him to make new memories of his own. I Followed a youtube link and it helped me with simple steps. It turned out well and yummy.

Only thing I would do next time is not use machine hand blenders and use hand whip so I don't brake the gluten in the cake. It turned out a little dry but taste overpowered all that.

Fire Truck Red Velvet Cake

Here is the Fire Truck for my son on his 5th year Birthday. He enjoyed cutting and eating it. Will post the recipe soon.

Spiderman Chocolate Cake

I saw this cake in Wendy's"Cake Space" and wanted to try out as I had some buttercream frosting sitting in my freezer. It was a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. My Son freaked out seeing it.

Surprise cake

This is a cake I made for my friend Preeti-Pramodh on their 10th yr anniversary and it was a surprise, that's why I called it a surprise cake. It was a Vegan Marble cake with Butter cream Icing. I used store bought cake mix but substituted egg with Ener-G egg replacer and water with Applesauce and it was a very dense and moist cake.
The inspiration/idea for this cake was from Dhanya's collection.Thanks to her, I know I couldn't make it as professional as her. But I was happy that I tried and I loved it.

Wilton course III final cake

This is my final cake the Wilton Cake decoration course III,I enjoyed it so much and was happy that I took it by jumping course II(as they had to cancel because of less no. of students in the class).We had a option to make a stacked cake or a 2 tiered cake, I chose stacked cake.Now am planning to do the course II all by myself without a class, as some of them have done it a and says its not that hard if you follow the book.May be now i have an idea will give it a try and if it doesn't work out then will take up a course. In this final class there was nothing to learn but to put everything that we learn in the previous 3 classes together. It was fun and i was so happy that it turned out more than I expected. I still remember the day I put my hands of doing the fondant and rolling them...guff that was a hard day.
I had lot of fondant left out from my previous cake so had refrigerated and reused for this class. It was much easy. So I learnt something that always make fondant way ahead you make a cake so it saves lot of your time and energy. I colored the fondant yellow for a change, made lots of Petunia flowers in peach color and some white Butter cream icing for the decorations like the Rossete, dots and strings.

Carrot & Pineapple Cake with vegan Fondant Icing

For my Wilton course 3 class 2 , I had to take a cake and fondant icing.But Fondant icing that we get in store is not a vegetarian, so was in a big dilemma as to do what?Just buy the fondant icing and cover it on Styrofoam or bake a cake and try vegan fondant. I found a recipe for vegan fondant and bought all the ingredients too. Since i didn't know the consistency of the fondant I took that to the class. My instructor was happy with it and said a little more powder sugar should do the trick.Hurray!I was happy. But working with fondant is not as easy as it looks. My hands were sour the day i made fondant at home because it demands lot of kneading.

I felt my fondant was not that stretchy as it has to be, may be because I used Agar flakes instead of powder.Will try powder and see it next time. That's why it was breaking apart. But I could eat the cake with no guilt, I was happy for that. Fondant icing looks very neat and natural compared to other icings that's what I felt.

Carrot and Pineapple Cake was something I wanted to try for sometime now.So I made it for the class and I turned out very tasty with a little pineapple chunks in each bite.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown sugar
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups finely-shredded carrots
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup applesauce (i used crushed Pineapple with juice)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 egg substitute (Ener-G) (I skipped this as I was using lot of Pineapple and juice)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnut)

Method:
Stir together dry ingredients.Mix in the carrots, oil, crushed Pineapple with juice(if u think the juice is too much then pour a little bit at a time) and vanilla.Beat about 2-3 minutes , until well mixed.Stir in the nuts, if used.Bake at 325 F for about 40-50 minutes , or until a toothpick comes out clean.Cool on a wire rack.

It was very moist and yummy!

Vegan Fondant Icing(I found the recipe here)
For fondant icing, the ingredients are:

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (I used agar agar flakes)
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup Glucose (There is a glucose mixture that Wilton sells, but you can use light corn syrup, you'll just get a softer fondant)
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon Glycerin
8 cups sifted confectioner's sugar (about 2 lbs.) -- 8 cups is a lot, plan on using more like 6. The 8 really makes it stiff and dry/cracked.
Icing color and flavoring, as desired.


Method:

Combine agar flakes and cold water; let stand until thick. Place mixture on stove and boil 5 minutes, or until dissolved. Remove from stove add glucose and shortening, and mix until shortening dissolves. Add glycerin, flavoring and color. Cool until lukewarm (should happen pretty quickly). Next, place 4 cups confectioner's sugar in a bowl and make a well. Pour the lukewarm agar mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon, mixing in sugar and adding more, a little at a time, until stickiness disappears. Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time). Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container in a cool, dry place. Do not refrigerate or freeze. When ready to use, knead again until soft.

This recipe makes approx. 36 oz., enough to cover a 10 x 4 in. high cake.

Note:Try using Powder instead of flakes or soak it in hot water for couple of minutes and wait till the water cools down, flakes didn't dissolve really well and i could see some flakes on my fondant.
Once the fondant is done try to store them in a close container and use a little bit at a time as they dry up very soon. Roll them and cut in desired shape and decorate it.

Mango Football Cake

This was a cake I made for my Husband on his Birthday.When i was browsing the cake decoration online found some baseball, basketball shaped cakes, So I got an idea to bake a football shaped cake since my hubby is a big fan of Football(US). There is lot of football theme cake pans acvailable in the market but I didnt wanted to buy them for 1 time use. So thought of baking a cake and cutting it to the desired shape, which was much more cost effective.

I had some mango pulp sitting in my refrigerator for quite a while which needed some immediate attention. So I remembered a friend (Chhaya) who had baked this vegan cake at her son's birthday party and I liked it a lot. So I gave it a try and it turned out wonderful. Since I was taking this Wilton cake decoration classes, wanted to do some experiment with my new creation. I was very happy that it turned out great and didn't disappoint me.

I baked the cake in a loaf pan and cut it into football shape with a knife, then used brown color icing to make stars(using Tip 16) all over and with white color(since i made my icing with butter flavor shortening, it is cream in color) icing to make lines(using Tip 3). Since it was a small cake it did not take much time to make stars all over but if its a big cake u can use the 3 star tip available, which makes icing the cake faster.

To make the Mango Cake:(I used half the proportion, since it was a small cake)

Ingredients:

2 cups All purpose flour
2 tsp corn starch
2½ tsp baking powder
¾ cup margarine/canola oil
1 cup of sugar
¾ cup of mango puree
1 ½ cup milk

Method:

Preheat the oven for 350* F.Mix all the dry and wet ingredients together with a hand mixer and pour it into the greased tray/loaf pan. Bake for 30-40 mins . Cool it completely for about 30-40 mins and then cut it into desired shape.

Carrot-cinnamon-nut Bread "Happy Thanksgiving"

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Its the holiday season and I am coming across so many new recipes to enjoy this season. So I was in hunt for new kind of bread for our afternoon snack. I found this recipe in Betty Crocker "Fall Baking" book.I liked it as it was simple and wanted to try out something new instead of the banana bread which i usually bake. The main recipe was with ginger instead of cinnamon, my family is not a big fan of ginger especially when its a bite size so I substituted it. It was good but since i made it vegan it felt a little dry and needed some more moisture in it. So I guess we can add a 1/4 cup of water/orange juice to it. I even used wheat flour instead of All purpose flour, so it made the bread a little bitter. I recently came to know that if orange juice is used when baking with wheat flour reduces the bitter flavour, so i shall try it next time. But over all it was good and new way to enjoy Thanks giving.

Ingredients:

2 eggs(i used 1/2 cup applesauce)
1.5 cup brown sugar
1/3cup Oil
1/2cup Milk
1tsp vanilla extract
2cups All-purpose flour(I used wheat flour)
2tsp Baking powder
1tsp ground ginger(i used cinnamon)
1/2tsp salt
1cup shredded carrots(about 2 medium sized)
1/2cup chopped nuts

Method:

Heat the oven to 350*F and grease a loaf pan and keep aside. In a food processor add applesauce, brown sugar until creamy. Now add oil,milk, vanilla essence. Now add Flour,baking powder, cinnamon, salt.Stir in carrots and nuts and pour it into greased loaf pan.Bake for 60 minutes. cool completely for 2 hours and then cut them into slices and enjoy them with butter.

Cup Cakes

In our 3rd class of Wilton Decoration we had a choice of either a 8inch cake or 6-8 cup cakes. I choose to take cup cakes to the class. 3rd class is a relaxing class as we don't learn much in this except few simple decorations like a bear, faces, apple, heart, grapes,swirl flowers. They r very simple but when did on cake looks very decorative and hard. Among all these i loved making clowns which was the simplest and fastest. I felt clown on a cup cake was too big, it looks better on a cake. Since it was just a practice class it was fine, but will try out sometime soon on a cake.

Rainbow Cake

Its been quite a long time that I posted something on my blog that's b'coz I was busy taking a cake Decoration Class. The class demands a little attention as you need to bake a cake and prepare the icing from home. With out regular cooking, house hold work this was an addition, so I couldn't make time for blogging but was trying to check all my friends blog regularly.

Its a great class to take up, if any one interested in cake decoration should definitely try one course. Its usually offered in Hobby lobby, Michael's and Joann stores. This course is of 4 classes and the Course I teaches basics like baking the cake, making the Butter cream icing and using the tips. I enjoyed the class as I got to learn some new things and got to explore with Icing. I have registered for Course II as well which starts in Dec, so till my next course I shall show my cakes in my blog. So expect the next few blogs just on cake decoration.

I shall not go in depth with the course but show u the cake i decorated. I made a store bought cake mix as I had lot of things to do so I didn't wanted to make a cake from scratch. As it was my first cake its not a perfect one but was happy that I could do it so well on my first cake.My confidence level was boosted for sure.

Chocolate Hazelnut Pie

There are couple of recipes i have tried last couple of weeks and haven't been able to put them on this blog.This week I had some time so I am blogging each dish for the day.Pie is something I am not so fond of but this particular pie made be do it, as it is a no bake pie and ingredients in this is simple and fat free too.So who on Earth would not like to have a fat free pie?no one i guess.I saw this recipe on Food network, a show I like a lot..."Semi-home made cooking by Sandra lee".She made a peanut butter pie, but we're not that fan of Peanut butter when compared to Chocolae Hazelnut..Best part is the hazelnut with chocolate combination its Heaven.I love chocolate in any form but hazelnut and chocolate combination is wonderful. The chocolate-hazelnut spread available is very famous in Europe as its like peanut-butter spread for them.This time when i visited my brother in Europe I picked one "Nutrella" brand Chocolate Hazelnut spread.Now a days we're so much hooked up for this that we no more use jam/jelly's for bread toast.

This pie is like an ice-cream cake, need to be cut an eaten fast once its out of the freezer.In summer time its the best dessert you can serve.Kids love it as its filled with chocolate.It demanded more chocolate topping(according to the recipe) but i skipped it.It really tastes yummy and i recommend to everyone who is a chocolate fan.

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup Chocolate Hazelnut spread
1 Chocolate Pie base
8oz Fat free cream cheese
8oz Fat free cool Whip
1tsp Vanilla extract
1tbsp Chocolate syrup(I skipped this)



Method:

Take Powdered sugar and chocolate-hazelnut spread in a bowl and mix it well , then add vanilla and cream cheese and mix it with a hand blender for few minutes.Add the whipping cream and mix it lightly with a spoon.Pour this mixture on the pie base and refrigerate for 30 minutes.Spray chocolate syrup(which i did not use) on top and cover it with an aluminium foil and freeze it for 2-3 hours or till it is set and serve.

[Note:I freezed it over night so it was completely set.]

"Vanilla Sponge Cake"

Vanilla sponge cake is a basic cake prepared in almost all the bakeries.It is then used to make pastries or can be eaten the way it is.It is so fluffy and sponge as the name suggest.Its very simple and easy to bake too.

Ingredients:

Makes one 8-inch-square cake

Unsalted butter, for pan
1/2 cup All-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 cup Cornstarch
4 large Eggs, separated
1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup Sugar
Pinch of salt

Method:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.Butter a 9-inch-square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, and butter again.Flour the pan, and set aside. In a small bowl, sift together flour and cornstarch; set aside.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks, vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Transfer the egg-yolk mixture to a large bowl. Wash and dry the mixer bowl and the whisk attachment.Combine egg whites and salt in the mixer bowl, and beat on medium speed until whites hold soft peaks, about
1 1/2 minutes. With mixer running, slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Continue beating until stiff and glossy, about 1 minute.Fold the egg-white mixture into the egg-yolk mixture. In three additions, fold the reserved flour mixture into this new mixture. Transfer the batter to prepared pan, and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into middle comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool; turn out cake
and wrap it in plastic wrap until ready to use.



Note: when mixing the flour mixture into the egg mixture do not fold too many times otherwise the cake will not turn out to be fluffy/sponge.Do not break the peaks of the egg whites.

Banana Bread with Walnut 'n' Raisins

Banana bread is a tasty snack with elegant, soft and tender inside.The recipe is very simple and easy to bake,I got this recipe from Food Network(a TV Channel).Everyone in my house love to eat this, its very yummy.I have used eggs in this recipe but u can skip the egg and use just ripe bananas, as it makes the bread fluffy by itself.You can add any nuts instead of walnut, like pecan,almond, pistachios.But walnut and banana together makes a good pair.

Ingredients:

1 cup Granulated Sugar
8tbsp(1stick) Butter
2 Eggs
3 Riped Bananas
2cups All purpose flour
1tsp Cinnamon powder
1tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Baking soda
1tsp Salt

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 325* F
  
• In a mixing bowl add granulated Sugar and room temperature butter and mix well.
• Then add Eggs to the sugar-butter mixture and beat it well.
• In a small bowl mash the bananas and add the above mixture and mix well.
• In a seperate bowl swift All purpose flour, cinnamon powder, Baking soda and Baking powder and salt.
• Add the sugar-butter mixture slowly into the flour and mix it well and pour it to a greased baking tray.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1hr 10 min.
• Cool it on a cooling rack and then cut to the desired shape and size.