67/99: Apple Upside Down Cake

 

The apple upside down cake was really fun because one of my friends, Augusta, came over to help! It was so great!  I normally don't like upside down cakes because I think they're kind of ugly but seeing as this is the first recipe in Rose's Heavenly Cakes, it certainly needed to be tried.  

I let my mom pick a Thanksgiving cake and this was her choice.  She loves apple so this one was an easy pick. 

Before I get busy talking about the cake though, I want to take a second to clarify something.   I have been surprised at how many people have stopped me to ask if I think I can actually make my deadline.  They've been very concerned that I'm behind.  I didn't understand where the concern came from but then someone mentioned that I was going to have to make a cake every day till the end of the year if I was going to make it.  Then it clicked.  Somehow people got the impression that I was going to try to make them all by the end of 2011. So just to clarify, my deadline is actually in April since I am not superwomen, I am a full time student, I'd like to maintain my weight, and since my goal is one year from when I started.  Check out the ticker on the top right side of my blog to see the countdown.  

66/99: Sybil's Pecan Torte with Coffee Cream

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been cooking up a storm getting ready for everyone to come over tonight for Thanksgiving dinner.  My part of the deal was to make dessert and sweet potato casserole.  Normally, sweet potato casserole doesn't take that long but when you have to peel and mash potatoes for 20+ people, it is quite the endeavor. 

But in the true spirit of Thanksgiving, here are two things that I am thankful for:

65/99: Cradle Cake

Rose describes her cradle cake as "magical."  It was the winner of the Pillsbury bake off and I can definitely see why.  It's a really different cake but in a good way.

The cake is made with an egg yolk batter that is surrounded by a dacquoise.  A dacquoise, as Rose explains, is "a meringue with a touch of bitter chocolate and nuts that cradles the cake batter as it bakes." Yum.

Rosemary Butter

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 

I know, I know.  We still have a week till Thanksgiving Day.  But, this weekend officially begins THANKSGIVING BREAK! It was definitely time.  I spent the weekend doing absolutely nothing in order to regain my sanity and today, my roommates and I have been cleaning out our house before heading home for the holidays.

64/99: Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake

 

The Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake was for a get together with RUF at Rowan Oak. I was a little late getting there but apparently that was a good thing because as soon as I arrived a man came running outside from the house to talk to us about the cake.

63/99: Pumpkin Cake with Burnt Orange Buttercream

 

Now that the multicolored leaves are fluttering all around when I walk from class to class, it seems appropriate to bake a cake shaped like a pumpkin.   I wanted to save it for a special occasion so that it would have a worthy crowd but when a friend asked if she could use me for a magazine project for her class, I knew that the pumpkin cake would be perfect for her;  it's cute and its seasonal. 

Though the cake wasn't particularly difficult to make, it was time consuming.  But, since I've had a few comments about my lack of photos in the process of baking, I took some extra time for you faithful readers out there to provide you with step by step photos once again.

62/99: Baby Chocolate Oblivions

 

As mentioned in the Coconut Cake post, these little guys were a last minute decision that took forever to cool.  I was rushed on time and so I had to make these within an hour. Thankfully, that seemed easy because there are only 4 ingredients in the cake. The ingredients were pretty loud though. You can just feel the pounds (no pun intended) as you read what's in it:

1 POUND of dark chocolate

2 STICKS of butter

3 tablespoons of sugar

6 eggs

So as you can see, they are basically mini flourless chocolate cakes.  Personally, I love flourless chocolate cake so I was pretty excited. But since they're so strong, I think it's difficult for some people to handle them sometimes.

But as easy as it seems, they were also a huge headache. 

Live in the kitchen: Barcelona Brownie Bars

The Queen of Cakes from Betsy Lynch on Vimeo.

Here's Betsy's video, as promised. I think I pronounced Rose's name wrong so just ignore that part. Check out the Barcelona Brownie Bars post for more details!

Fresh Coconut Cake

 

A friend of mine asked me to bring a cake to an event last night and I happily agreed. I made the Baby Chocolate Oblivions from Rose's Heavenly Cakes but then I realized that they probably wouldn't have enough time to cool for the party.  It was supposed to take 4 hours for them to cool.

So fresh from the book signing with Jodi Rhoden, I decided to quickly try out one of her cakes for the party.  I had exactly an hour before I had to leave for a meeting.  I could bake the coconut for 15 minutes while I prepped the cake.  Then I could stick the cake in the oven for 20 minutes.  That's 35 minutes total.  I could make the icing and grate the coconut while it's cooking.  Let it cool for 10 and then ice it in 15.  It's brilliant, right? Exactly one hour.

I opened the fridge and the pantry to begin but discovered that I had all the ingredients except the essentials: eggs, milk, and butter.  I thought I could make it to wal-mart and back and then swing back home later on to ice the cake right before the party.

Lesson of the day: always allot extra time.  Making a cake on the run, especially a coconut cake, is not always the best idea.  Here's why:

Cake Ladies: Book signing with Jodi Rhoden

Today was yet another wonderful day at Square Books.  But, unlike the Paula day, this time I actually got to breathe in the store.

I went to a book signing for the cookbook Cake Ladies by Jodi Rhoden.  For those of you who aren't familiar with her, she's pretty wonderful.  Luckily for me, it was a small turn out so I actually got to speak with her for awhile.

Reasons why Jodi is cooler than Paula:
1. She didn't start sentences or conversations with comments about butter.
2. She had wine and cheese at her book signing. 
3. She blogs about gardening and spirituality and baking and anything else that is on her mind.  I kind of have the feeling that Paula doesn't actually have time to tour, write cookbooks, write articles for her magazine, and film a cooking show all on her own.
4. Her content is fascinating and unique.

Lingerie Shower: Booty Cake

 

As mentioned in my previous post, last Thursday Betsy came over because she had a little cake emergency.  The dilemma: lingerie shower that weekend and a cake box with no ideas on what to do. We got to work on that real fast.

I love making cakes, as you know, but I really love making cakes that are really different.  I quickly did some google research and got inspired by one cake that didn't look super hard to do.  We nixed the fondant and decided to make the butt a little bit more sexy.