Celebration Cakes: Sesame Street Party!

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of making some goodies for a Sesame Street-themed birthday party for a cute little 2-year old girl. A personalized cake, monster cupcakes, and colorful cake pops were on the menu for this special day. The cake was funfetti with a chocolate ganache layer and a vanilla custard layer, frosted with chocolate American buttercream and decorated with fondant.

 

I had such a fun time designing and creating the cake as well as piping the Elmo, Oscar, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster cupcakes. The cupcakes were chocolate and vanilla with colored vanilla American buttercream frosting and fondant accents.

This last picture, above, was taken by the birthday girl's mother - cake, cupcakes, and pops as part of her fun, adorable Sesame Street-themed display.
This project was one of my favorite, yet!

Superhero Birthday Party!

About a month ago, one of my friends asked me to make her son's 4th birthday cake decorations - that's right, decorations. Not the cake, not the cupcakes, just the decorations. I thought this was such a great idea, especially for those who like to bake and want the look of a custom cake but may not have the time or experience of making such detailed and labor-intensive decorations.

Her son, quite the little superhero himself, wanted his party to have a superhero theme. And not just any superhero, but quite nearly all the superheros! It was such fun for me to create these little medallions that would go atop the cupcakes my friend would make for his birthday party. I have to be honest, I didn't know many of the logos belonging to these superheros, but a quick Google search took care of that.

Top row (left to right): Green Lantern, Spiderman, The Hulk, Flash Gordon. Bottom row (left to right): Captain America, Batman, The Incredibles, Superman.

 These superhero medallions were created during the week Sandy hit. We had no power that week and making these medallions was a great way to spend the sunlit days. And since they required no baking or refrigeration, it was quite perfect.

Onomatopoetic words

I've made and blogged about these fondant medallions before, both here and here. They are proving to be such a versatile adornment to cupcakes and can really fit in with any theme. 

It was such a pleasure to be responsible for such a fun, memorable part of this special little boy's very special day. Thanks for the opportunity, guys.

My friend's home-made cupcakes topped with my fondant medallions.

Celebration Cakes: Submarine Cake

This weekend, one of my dear friends asked me to make her son's 5th birthday cake, a submarine cake, for his birthday party. This particular friend of mine is an amazing chef - the best I know - and I knew the food she would make for the party would be out of this world, and indeed it was. (You are so talented, Natalie!)

I wanted a cake that would fit right in alongside all of that delicious food. So, I created a 3-layer chocolate cake filled with a luscious strawberries and cream filling made with fresh strawberries. When I make celebration cakes I can't usually get a pic of a slice of the cake. This time, I made sure to take a picture of the interior of the cake for you to see.

The whole cake was frosted in vanilla buttercream and decorated with fondant. The submarine was made out of rice crispy treats. This project was exciting to put together since working with rice crispy treats is something I am starting to do more and more. I really enjoy the moldability and versatility of this medium.

Thanks to Natalie, Scott, and Chase for allowing me the pleasure of making a cake for you on this very special day..! Happy 5th Birthday, Chase..!

A Year of Blogging

There has got to be a way to slow down time. I don't know about you, but in my life, it's going by way too quickly. So much so that stopping to smell the roses is more like getting a whiff while hurrying by. My daughter just turned 8, my son is soon to be 5, my sweet marshmallow of a puppy is going to be 10 years old in just a couple of months! And yesterday, this very blog turned one....!
A full year of baking and displaying it for all of you to see. It was a hard step to make, to start a blog and let you in to my lives in such a way. I am an introvert, by nature so having a blog was a true leap for me. But I did it and I'm glad I did. It's been a fun year in the kitchen and I've been able to unleash my creativity so much more than I ever thought I could or would. At a time when my children were getting older and less needy the way little ones are of their mommies, I needed something to call my own. And I found it in my kitchen. I'm in no state to slow down either. I have ideas and flavor combinations, designs and a bunch of recipes waiting to be experimented with.

And if you are one of the people who frequents the pages of my blog, I thank you for having the interest and believing in me. It truly means a lot.

I've had it in my head to change the look of my blog for a while now. What better time than at the 1 year mark. I am one of those people who is constantly changing the furniture around in their house because I get tired of the same thing day in and day out. I've also started a Leelabean facebook page that is dedicated to all things that are created in my kitchen. So check it out when you get a chance.
Now.... On to this week's celebration!

So, what to create and blog about for such a milestone? Surely this had to be something unusual, out of the ordinary. No plain-jane vanilla or chocolate this time. This cake had to be dressed up and fancy.. An opera cake!

For those of you who don't know, an opera cake is French in origin. It is composed of layers of almond sponge cake, also known as jacond, nestled between layers of coffee syrup, ganache and coffee and vanilla buttercream. Some would call it a distant cousin to Italy's tiramisu. Opera cake is beautiful and refined with the familiarity of such flavors as chocolate and coffee. It's cake at a ball - in a full-length gown and sparkly glass slippers. And it's the perfect dessert for this occasion.
Making it was a multi-step procedure but each step was relatively easy. The almond cake is made very thin for stacking and only uses beaten egg whites to incorporate a rise. The ganache is made from a combination of semisweet and bittersweet chocolates. The buttercream is the glorious Swiss meringue buttercream in vanilla and coffee flavors. The syrup that helps keep the layers of cake moist is a coffee-infused simple syrup. Finally the chocolate glaze layer is made using corn syrup and vegetable oil to create sheen.

Surely this is the grandest cake I've ever made. Taking a bite brought me to a cafe in Paris, where I was sitting outside and having a cup of coffee while taking small, delicate bites of this heavenly dessert. The elements of this cake work so well together to create one delicious experience in your mouth. It's the perfect cake to celebrate this special day.

And with that, this post comes to a close. A year of baking ends and another begins. I look forward to the upcoming year of baking and blogging bliss and I'm excited to see what amazing kitchen adventures it will bring!

Until next time,

Leelabean

Fondant & Bakery-Style Cakes

Check out these two cakes I made for two brothers' birthdays  this past weekend. The first one was white cake with vanilla frosting and the second one was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. While I love doing fondant cakes, sometimes a classical bakery-styled cake is just what you need. I'm glad I was able to do both for this party.

An Angry Birds Birthday Party

Angry Birds... This is what my daughter said when asked what the theme of her birthday cake would be this year. This from my very girly daughter who spends her free time dancing ballet and playing piano and frolicking around like the sweet 8-year old girl that she is. Angry Birds. Maybe it was in part because we recently adopted a bird named Phoenix of whom my daughter cannot get enough of. Or maybe it's because Angry Birds has quite an impact on most kids, these days. Not only kids, I might add. I found myself hooked on the game for about a month not so long ago and if I remember correctly, so did my hubs. In the times of children getting Ipods and tablets as holiday and birthday gifts, this game is near the top of my kids' list of things to play in a day. And if you go into almost any store, you'll likely see Angry Birds paraphanalia displayed in some form or fashion.
So it's no wonder my daughter chose Angry Birds as the theme of her birthday cake this year as she turns 8. She gave me a scene to base the cake on and I was excited to take on this challenge and hopefully have a successful Angry Birds cake under my belt. The interior of the cake was a white cake with strawberry filling and a light chocolate American buttercream. Working with fondant is always an enjoyable and creative experience for me and this time, I used crispy rice treats for the textural effect of the boulders and cement blocks.

This cake was loads of fun to make and my daughter loved the finished product. Her birthday party was a success with all the kids enjoying the Angry Birds theme. After donning some Angry Bird tatoos, we faux-tie-dyed tee shirts, hats, and scarves and the weather was lovely.

Earlier this week before the harriedness of birthday party prep began, I looked in my fridge and found about 20 limes. Turns out I had purchased limes on sale at the fruit market two weeks in a row and hadn't realized it. Coincidentally (or not) I had 11 egg yolks sitting in my fridge from the white vanilla cake I had made for my daughter's birthday cake that I needed to do something with. Citrus and yolks.... There could be only one path out of this excessive ingredient situation - lime curd.

Curd can be made one of two ways - using cornstarch as a thickener or using yolks. The cornstarch method produces a curd that is slightly gritty on the tongue and not as smooth and rich as the yolk method. It's a quick fix in times of necessity, but the yolk method creates a far higher quality result.
Citrus curd can be made using any citrus fruit - oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit. I would love to make an orange curd as oranges are my favorite citrus flavor. But this time, I needed to use up all these limes. This lime curd is has such a smooth mouthfeel. There is quite a tartness from the limes but it is so pleasantly complimentary to the creamy sweetness and richness from the added sugar, yolks and butter. This curd is wonderful on toast, bagels, in a tart, as a filling in cakes or cupcakes, in between sandwich cookies or just by the spoonful. I especially love mine on plain graham crackers. Yum! I urge you to try this recipe. It's a keeper.

Lime Curd
(*This recipe can be successfully halved or doubled; to halve the recipe, use 5 egg yolks)

1 cup fresh lime juice (about 4-5 limes) (you can also use any other citrus fruit or combination thereof)
zest of 2 limes
11 egg yolks
1 cup sugar (for sweeter citrus such as orange, reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup)
12 T butter, unsalted and cut into 12 slices

In a saucepan, combine lime juice, zest, sugar and 6 T of butter. Whisking constantly over medium-low heat, this mixture will start to thicken. Once you can leave a clean trail through the curd on the back of a wooden spoon with your finger, the curd is ready to take off the stove. At this point, add in the remaining butter and whisk until the butter is completely melted and well incorporated. Run the curd through a sieve to strain any unwanted egg pieces and all of the zest for a smooth product. Let the curd cool. It will continue to thicken. Transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, if it lasts that long.

Planning a Week of Baking

I find that most tasks in life are much simpler approached with a schedule. Producing multiple orders due within days of each other, raising two kids, and running a household warrants me to create a multitude of lists, each one coordinating, overlapping, and working towards the greater goal. The first thing I do when I encounter such a week is plan. This is the key to my sanity and so far it's served me well. Additionally, I don't sleep past the few hours my body truly needs for sleep and that helps a great deal too.

This week I had a couple of cakes, a dozen cupcakes, and over 50 decorated sugar cookie favors to make. The preparation of these cakes and cookies are broken down so I only do a few tasks a day spread out over a week, leaving the cake baking until the very end, since I like to have my cakes super fresh.

Thursday happened to be "Bring Your Child to Work Day," so my daughter was my sous chef for the day! Unfortunately, it's not all baking fun in a day in the life of me, so she assisted in folding and putting away a whopping four loads of laundry as well!

In dealing with fondant cakes, the preparations of the fondant and other decorations must be done days in advance to be ready to apply to the cake. One of my cakes for this week was a horse-themed cake for a little girl, Ella's, 6th birthday party. Everything I make for my baked goods is from scratch, so I prepared the fondant, horse applique, and daisies early in the week so they could set and dry. The cake was classic vanilla with chocolate buttercream. I created a bunch of daisy cookie favors for this order, too. Happy Birthday, Ella! I hope you have a fun and wonderful day!

My next order was for a communion. It consisted of a cake and cupcakes. The cake was a coconut cake filled with a pecan coconut filling similar to one you'd find in a German Chocolate Cake. It was frosted in a smooth white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. The design was a rose theme to coordinate with rose cupcakes which were chocolate cake with vanilla-flavored American buttercream.

My last order was for some smiley face and ticket cookies.

I know I've said this before, but as intense as these weeks prove to be, I really enjoy being in the midst of them - the planning, the preparation, the execution. I love it.