Devil's Food Cake made with love for Mr. and Mrs. Paul (one of our best friend's parents), Jan. 27, 2010.
Katie brought the America's Test Kitchen cookbook over to the Brigade meeting, and boy were we excited. This book has page after page of mouth-watering recipes, as well as an entire section devoted to layer cakes! Mm mm mmy favorite!
We decided to try the devil's food cake and top it with butter cream frosting. We added almond extract to the frosting, and it proved to pack a flavorful pizzazz.
Mariel's about to take off for a couple of fencing competitions, so we tried to savor this bake session as we don't know when our next will be. (Good luck, Mariel!)
Now, a bit about the recipients of this cake ... Mr. and Mrs. Paul's daughter, Kelley, has been working in Germany for more than a year, and we miss her dearly. That's totally an understatement. We're counting the days until her return. Her parents have been empty nesters as her sister moved over to Germany to work, too, and her brother moved away for work also. Kelley has some of the nicest parents in the world. All nice people deserve a cake!
Showing posts with label layer cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label layer cake. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Surprise Attack
German Chocolate made with love for Mariel's fencing club, Dec. ?
We decided it was about time to try a German Chocolate cake. We made the recipe off the Baker's chocolate wrapper.
We decided it was about time to try a German Chocolate cake. We made the recipe off the Baker's chocolate wrapper.
Breakfast in Vermont
Maple Layer Cake prepared with love for Mariel's dad, Robert ... also known as the "Default Delivery."
This was a Martha Stewart recipe, and all I can say is it was quite a letdown. Numerous errors on our part--using less maple syrup than called for, not really grasping the concept of "softball stage" when using a candy thermometer, and attempting to use less than five (count 'em, FIVE) sticks of butter--but really, Marty? Really? I was expecting this to taste like a giant maple bar, but it turned out tasting like a pancake breakfast, heavily doused in maple syrup ... hence the name, Breakfast in Vermont.
This was a Martha Stewart recipe, and all I can say is it was quite a letdown. Numerous errors on our part--using less maple syrup than called for, not really grasping the concept of "softball stage" when using a candy thermometer, and attempting to use less than five (count 'em, FIVE) sticks of butter--but really, Marty? Really? I was expecting this to taste like a giant maple bar, but it turned out tasting like a pancake breakfast, heavily doused in maple syrup ... hence the name, Breakfast in Vermont.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Double Header
Red Velvet Cake prepared with love for the PSU women's basketball team.
Ever since embracing her inner Southern woman as a temporary Texan (red velvet is a Southern thing, right?), Kate has been infatuated with red velvet cake. After polling a few players on the women's basketball team at Portland State, she found out many of the ladies shared her taste in cake. As a congratulations for finishing pre-season training, the ladies of the Brigade decided to dedicate this cake to the team.
They called it "The Double Header" as it was one-of-two cakes baked that night.
The cake turned out well, although the color was a little off - the amount of food coloring added was incorrect. Also, in wanting to add a bit of decoration to the top, sifted cocoa powder was added. This was a good thought, but the actual action did not equate to a pretty design. From now on, red velvet cakes will remain simple and flair-less.
Ever since embracing her inner Southern woman as a temporary Texan (red velvet is a Southern thing, right?), Kate has been infatuated with red velvet cake. After polling a few players on the women's basketball team at Portland State, she found out many of the ladies shared her taste in cake. As a congratulations for finishing pre-season training, the ladies of the Brigade decided to dedicate this cake to the team.
They called it "The Double Header" as it was one-of-two cakes baked that night.
The cake turned out well, although the color was a little off - the amount of food coloring added was incorrect. Also, in wanting to add a bit of decoration to the top, sifted cocoa powder was added. This was a good thought, but the actual action did not equate to a pretty design. From now on, red velvet cakes will remain simple and flair-less.
The Grand Marshal
(Deep Dark Chocolate Cake)
Made with love to kick off the CB, Sept. 20!
The day before our first baking endeavor, Mariel was the grand marshal in the City of Beaverton parade. Like any local celebrity, we thought she'd be riding in style on an excessively decorated float or a cherry red convertible at the very least. When we (her adoring fans) arrived to wave as she glided by, we were a bit surprised to see her revving down the road on a Yamaha Rhino ... with not a scrap of crepe paper in sight! Local nuns rode in convertibles and nerdy Boy Scouts graced the floats, but the grand marshal was downgraded to a RHINO? We were pretty disappointed to say the least. In an attempt to make up for the lackluster accommodations, we made an over-the-top rich, delicious chocolate cake and deemed it the grand marshal ... the leader of the cakes!
Made with love to kick off the CB, Sept. 20!
The day before our first baking endeavor, Mariel was the grand marshal in the City of Beaverton parade. Like any local celebrity, we thought she'd be riding in style on an excessively decorated float or a cherry red convertible at the very least. When we (her adoring fans) arrived to wave as she glided by, we were a bit surprised to see her revving down the road on a Yamaha Rhino ... with not a scrap of crepe paper in sight! Local nuns rode in convertibles and nerdy Boy Scouts graced the floats, but the grand marshal was downgraded to a RHINO? We were pretty disappointed to say the least. In an attempt to make up for the lackluster accommodations, we made an over-the-top rich, delicious chocolate cake and deemed it the grand marshal ... the leader of the cakes!
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