In-Depth Update with CAKE!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Wow, it's been nearly two months since I posted anything. At least a few weeks of that I have an excuse. I had an Ulnar Nerve Transposition on my primary arm. That is to say that the major nerve running through my right elbow was being heartily abused, so they removed it from the tunnel it ran through and put it where it couldn't be squished anymore. The problem is that I'm severely right handed. Like, I can barely open a door with my left hand, let alone eat or cook or do DIYs. Sad, but true. So, I've done little else but play the role of supervisor at work and watch cartoons at home.

There were some notable exceptions, however. I had locked myself into making a few cakes prior to my rather quickly scheduled surgery, so with my mother's help (THANKS, MOM!!) and my husband's supervision I managed to turn out three decorated cakes, two pound cakes, and a glazed rum cake. They aren't my best work, but considering the proximity to my convalescence, I'm pretty proud.

First up came literally two days after my surgery. We were hosting a party for the 50th anniversary of our beloved Doctor Who. I'd been talking up the cake I was going to make without thinking about the date. Doh! It turned out a little short (two more layers wouldn't have been amiss) and in the end I didn't get the electronics to work ($13 down the drain at Radio Shack), but the entire thing was eaten in less than 36 hours and a month later people are still mentioning it to me. What was it?

That's right. I did. Be jelly.

It's nine layers of tender white cake, filled with fudge, and decorated with whipped vanilla icing and a few strips of fondant. I don't really like fondant unless I make it myself, otherwise I would have done the whole thing in it for a smoother finish. For a first try on a 3D cake, though, and only my second TARDIS cake ever, I think it came out exceptionally well.

Next up was a birthday cake for my darling Elisabeth from work. She's my little high school protege and I love her to bits. She was turning 17, which is a simultaneously frustrating and splendid age to be! She picked out everything from the shape of the layers to the colors of the icing. The only thing I picked was the flavors of said frosting.

It's red velvet with cream cheese filling and piping, but ermine icing for the outer surfaces. I adore ermine icing. It was the traditional red velvet icing before cream cheese came in and stole the show. It takes more work, but it you once have red velvet cake with ermine frosting you will never be satisfied with another.

Lastly -- for the ones with pictures at least -- was my beloved John's birthday cake. Let's start off with a story: I make cakes for people. That's what I do. If you get a promotion at work, I make you a cake. If you graduate from college, I make you a cake. If it's your birthday, I make you a cake. When I ask what you want for said birthday in the context of food, I am asking what kind of cake you want.

Me:  What do you want me to make for your birthday?
John:  Something that goes good with gravy.
Me:  ... ... ... I'll see what I can do.

Ladies and gentlemen of the internet, I ask of you, do I not love my husband? Do I not listen to his wants and try to ascertain what would best suit his desires? I assert that I do. As proof, I submit to you my crowning achievement of 2013:

Yes, that's right. I made a four layer meatloaf cake, filled with Jack Daniels barbecue sauce, iced in mashed potatoes and decorated with bacon roses. For reference: That's 10 pounds of meat, six eggs, half a bottle of barbecue sauce, a whole box of potato flakes, and an entire pack of bacon. He has subsequently shared it with all his friends and I have been declared best wife ever.

Back on track with the updates, my arm is healing well for the most part, but not where we thought it would be. I was supposed to start work at a bakery at the beginning of the year, but it doesn't look like it's going to work out. I can't lift over a certain poundage, my range of motion is much more limited than before, and I still have shooting pains at the incision site. To top it off, I'm starting to have symptoms in my other arm since I've started relying on it more heavily. Until I know whether I'll need another surgery and until I can frost a cake without having to take a break between layers, it looks I'll continue slogging away in retail and building up my personal ventures.

In less self-centered news, John's new job seems to be going really well. We're keeping our fingers crossed that things continue to work out. We've also made some decisions about house renovation that will hopefully unfold over the next six months or so. Aaaand I have a few furniture projects lined up, as well as a bunch of recipes, and maybe a surprise or three.

All in all, it's been a crazy-crazy 2013, but 2014 is sure to be even crazier. Stay tuned!

Fourth Quarter Cake

This cake (as many of my cakes are) was made for my husband's homebrew club meeting, more specifically their fourth quarter meeting. It was based around one of the few beers I will actually drink: Blue Moon, though I was informed (loudly but politely) that Blue Moon isn't real beer and the proper name for the cake is a Hoegaarden Cake. Despite the name, this is a non-alcoholic cake that can be served year round. It has the simple honesty of yellow cake, chiffoned for lightness and brightened by a hint of citrus. Even picky eaters love it!

This cake was adapted from smitten kitchen's Best Birthday Cake recipe.

Ingredients:
2 large oranges, zested*
1 tsp. coriander, powdered
4 2/3 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. + 1 pinch salt
18 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 large eggs
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 quart heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
white chocolate curls

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 9-inch pans. Put a metal mixing bowl in the freezer. Bring butter, eggs, and buttermilk to room temperature. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix in powdered coriander and the zest of both oranges. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Separate your eggs. Add yolks one at a time to butter, scraping down bowl after every egg. Slowly add in buttermilk just until combined. Don't worry if it looks curdled. In sections of three or more, carefully add in the dry ingredients, again scraping down the bowl after every addition.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Carefully fold egg whites into batter, one third at a time, until no streaks remain.

Divide batter evenly among pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. Invert layers onto parchment paper to cool. Remove mixing bowl from the freezer. Pour in the whipping cream and beat until it thickens and begins to leave ribbons behind. Sprinkle in powdered sugar and continue beating just until cream holds peaks. Level each layer and assemble with thickly layered whipped cream icing. Decorate top with a sprinkling of orange zest and white chocolate curls. * NOTE: The orange flavor continues to develop over time. If you aren't going to serve the cake for a day or two, cut back the orange to only one tablespoon of zest.

Lemon Layer Cake

It's pretty frustrating when you know you want to make a cake, but the recipes out there are all for a different kind of cake. When you search for lemon cake recipes, you'll inevitably come up with a ton of pound cakes, loaf cakes, sheet cakes, icebox cakes, gooey bars, and even a cocktail or two. The layer cakes I found were generally referred to in the comments as "dense" and that wasn't something I wanted either. However, as usual, I waited until the day before and didn't have time to experiment. That being said, I found a recipe that looked like it would take the minimum amount of tweaking and ran with it.

My source's source called the (now twice altered) recipe a "Robert E. Lee Cake." I'm not sure why. As an historian it interests me, though you might think it's silly. Did he have a particular predilection for lemons? Perhaps it was a Yankee slur in regards to the cake's color. Either way, it's pretty delicious! I'll probably post another version at some point and call it a "Southern Lady Cake" because I want to make it a chiffon and perhaps add another fruit (coconut, maybe?) as well as Swiss meringue for the frosting.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 large lemon
4 large eggs
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can lemon pie filling
frosting of choice

Directions:

Bring butter, eggs, lemon, and buttermilk to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.

In a large bowl, sift and whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Zest the lemon and add into a mixer with butter and sugar. Cream the butter mixture. Add one egg at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Squeeze the lemon. In a small cup, mix together two (2) tablespoons of lemon juice, the vanilla, and the buttermilk.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture.
Add 1/2 the buttermilk.
Add 1/2 the remaining flour mixture.
Add all of the remaining buttermilk.
Add all of the remaining flour mixture.

Remember to scrape down the bowl between each addition. Mix just until incorporated so that the cake doesn't get tough. Pour into the prepared pans. Spread the mixture evenly, then rap each pan on the counter several times to release any air bubbles.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. You may need to rotate your pans a time or two throughout for even cooking. My new oven gets quite hot at the back and would have overcooked one of the layers if I hadn't been paying attention.

Place the layers in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, or until cool. Dollop half of the lemon filling onto the first layer and smooth it out the best you can, all the way to the edges. Place the second layer and repeat. Place the third layer on top and use part of the icing to create a crumb coat. Put the cake in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so, just until the frosting begins to set up but is still tacky. Finish icing and decorating the cake. Put in a cake box or the like and store in the refrigerator until and hour or so before time to eat (to take the chill off).

I was running behind, so I used "whipped" buttercream frosting from a can for the outside. It was still delicious and very easy, but I'll be posting how to make both real lemon curd and, as previously mentioned, Swiss meringue icing, which would have been best (in my opinion) for the exterior.

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Ultra-Fudge Brownies

What better way to celebrate moving into a new house than by baking brownies? This is my super-special, ultra-fudge brownie recipe. Everyone tells me that my recipes are awesome, but this is my favorite. It's the most chocolatiest, yummiest, nummiest brownie you'll ever eat, but it's so rich that you'll probably only eat one. I put most of the ingredients together in layered jars for Christmas gifts in 2011, and they went over really well. At the bottom of the post I'll explain how.

You'll Need:

• 1 cup butter, unsalted
• 9 ounces dark chocolate
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup white (caster) sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch by 13-inch pan. If you have a problem with baked goods sticking, dust the grease with a little bit of cocoa powder.

Whisk together the eggs, salt, both sugars, and vanilla. In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate and butter on medium power. Check every 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Alternatively, you can use a bain-marie (double boiler), but this is faster. Once the chocolate is smooth, slowly add it to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Be careful not to let the heat of the chocolate turn everything into scrambled eggs! Dust in the cocoa powder and continue stirring. Do the same with the flour until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and beat against a solid surface to release air bubbles and settle brownie mix. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

To make this into a gift, first procure a 1-quart mason jar and a pretty square of fabric that is at least 2 inches longer in each direction than the diameter of your lid. Into the CLEAN jar, carefully spoon the flour. On top of that -- in order -- spoon: Cocoa powder, white sugar, and brown sugar. Pack everything down as needed between layers. Drizzle the vanilla on top of the brown sugar. If you have room (I didn't) put the chocolate on top of that and seal the jar with the fabric trapped between the lid and the rim. If you don't have room for the chocolate, wrap it tightly in saran wrap and then place it in a pretty mesh or organza bag that can hang from the neck of the jar. Include instructions that specify the need for eggs and butter.

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DOWNLOAD THE GIFT CARD!

Print the recipe card on a 4" x 6" unlined index card. Print the gift card double-sided on a 3" x 5" unlined index card. Or use pretty cardstock of similar dimensions.