Occupy Kitchen!

So yes, I haven't blogged in a while. It doesn't mean that I'm not busy! I'm still cranking things out of the kitchen, but a lot of what I was making was for my Christmas project. Ironically, today, I decided to scrap the original idea and go with a more generic focus. My idea was to do a Chinese-food themed cookbook, but I realized that trying to make presentable dishes every weekend, whether or not I wanted to eat them or not, was turning into a very ambitious project. And I was losing my passion for it very quickly. I think it will be something I will put together later, but I think I need to spend more time perfecting my recipes and figuring out better lighting schemes in the darker months.

But aside from Chinese food, I am still baking away! Two big birthdays came and went - which meant two cakes were made along with some other treats cranked out from my oven.

Have you ever heard of Domo-Kun? He's this Japanese...err..."character" who is actually a mascot for a TV station. It's all a bit weird, but he's very cute and adorable and can be seen adorning many people's cell phones, key chains and other typical swag areas. A friend LOVES Domo - so why not make her a Domo cake for her big day? I've seen it done many times before (online) and as I was not going to do extremities (gah, I don't think I can find a box big enough for arms and legs) - it was a simple square chocolate cake.

I present to you... Domo-cake!

Cake: Dark Chocolate Cake (classic standby recipe, it never fails to shock me how much sugar it contains)
Filling: White Chocolate Mousse (next time will use gelatin or a proper egg-white stabilizer)
Frosting: Chocolate Buttercream
Details: Eyes - Girl Guide Chocolate Mint Thins, Mouth - White Candy Melts, red colouring

Yes, it does look like a Deep 'n Delicious cake! :P I used a fat star tip to pipe the buttercream. The cake was received very well, and was as delicious as it was cute!

Caaaake!

Yes, if you noticed in the previous post, I mentioned the "c-word". Cake. Delicious, delicious cake. By the way - the ice cream sandwiches? Other than for a bit of freezer burn, not bad! I used the Tovolo ice cream sandwich maker gadget, which worked out pretty well. It's a little complicated to explain - so maybe next time I will photo-document to explain how it worked.

So yes, I had some cake tops (levelled off cake....'tops') leftover from a project I had last week - my very first "paid-for" cake! Granted, it was for a co-worker's birthday - but it was my first paid-for cake! That wasn't paid for by a relative! Ha!

They didn't have a specific cake in mind, "something chocolate", they requested, and of course I obliged. I went with a multi-layered chocolate mousse cake enveloped (rhymes with 'developed') in a white chocolate ganache-buttercream frosting (kind of an oxymoron, I know, but I'll explain later). A pic of the goods, c/o a coworker's camera (but taken by me):

How many layers would you say that cake is? 3? 5? Does the mousse filling count as a layer? Or simply the sandwich glue that holds it all together? I didn't tell them, but this cake was booze-heavy! (say it with me "boooooze heavy!") Kahlua and Frangelico in the mousse and Amaretto keeping the cake layers nice and moist. Trust me, it makes a difference.

The only specific instruction I received was to keep the top white. I'm not the best at cake decorating, so I opted to do an all-white frost and let them decorate the rest. Oh, did I mention that this was for the Art Team? Ha ha - I knew they would appreciate a little more white space. I found a recipe for white chocolate ganache, but once I made it...it didn't really coat as nicely as hoped. I did halve the recipe - but still, the chocolate cake was so dark, the effect wasn't great. I decided do mix things up by integrating it into a moderated buttercream (butter, cream, icing sugar) and it was really, really good. Really creamy, perfect amount of sweetness and went on like a dream. I'm going to try and duplicate it in the future!

(a snippet of their fantastic decorating! I missed the candles and cutting, but managed to secure myself a slice :)

So there ends another week. And next week - another cake. I have something quite unique up my sleeve...or rather, my apron. Which would mean, I have something quite unique under my skirt? ;P

Buttercream in a Flash!

I think I'm starting to get a hang of this buttercream thing. I think it helps having different recipes to test out various methods. This time, twenty-something chocolate cupcakes were topped with strawberry buttercream, which were then topped with the previously mentioned special-for-purchase raspberries.

The cake I used was a classic dark chocolate cake that I've used for years - it's extremely reliable, light (yet rich), fluffly (yet dense), and delicious. There are definitely a lot of smudge marks on that page! It was a last-minute frosting job - the event I was going to was further away than expected and it was a last-minute decision to attend. I'm glad I did!

As a result, as soon as I got home, the butter got softened, and away we go!

Recipe?

The short form - 3 egg whites + 1 cup sugar, whisked over simmering water until the sugar was dissolved and the mixture was warm to the touch. Stick that bad boy in a mixer and whip until good 'n ready - and then gradually integrate a cup of butter and cup of jam. Yeah - not for the dieters, for sure, but it was delicious! And easy!

It does look a little....congealed, right? But even in the Martha vid - they looked kind of gloppy. I'm wondering if the jam separates the fat a bit to make it not-as-appetizing-looking.

So apart from that horrendous first buttercream, I'm 2 for 3! Let the good luck continue!

(below left: up close shot of the cupcake, below right: tray of cupcakes)