"Fancy Cakes"
May 08, 2009 -
Vol 1, Issue 3
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Cake = Party, Party =
Cake
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A
special occasion almost always requires a cake -
birthdays, weddings, graduations, retirements - the
celebration would seem incomplete without one. There's a
whole set of rituals and social etiquette surrounding
"the cake."  Songs must be sung, flames must be
lit, cutting carefully choreographed, and photos flashed
all the while to memorialize the moment. So is the
converse true? Does the presence of a cake mean the
occasion is special? We say, "Yes!" Making your own cake
is easier than you think and the results are so much
more rewarding than the alternative. In this issue we'll
present some essential techniques for making delicious
cakes that live up to the expected standard, and riff on
some fun variations in the cake family - cupcakes and
molded cakes. We finish with a review of a
brand-new cookbook that will inspire your "inner baker,"
and three recipes from that book that will have you
craving an occasion just for the
cake!
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May Specials
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 May
1-31- Portmeirion Sale 25% off
collections May 1-9 - Alton's Angle 5" Santuko by Shun
$74.99 May 11-16 - National Pet Week - 10% off
all pet items May 26 - 30 - Annual Sidewalk Sale -
30-70% off selected items - Shop
Early!!! | | |
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May
Events
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May 9 - Mother's Day  Celebration - Goodie Bag to first
25 purchasers. Register to win Mother's Day gift basket - a
$75 value!
May 21 - Wine Tasting
May 23 - Ice Cream Social - 12 to 3 - Create
your own sundae!
May 25 - CLOSED - Have a safe and happy Memorial
Day! |
Essential Cake
Techniques
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 Some
manufacturers of boxed cake mixes would have you believe that
making a cake is difficult. Not so! With a few key techniques
your baking repertoire can be expanded and the possibilities
unleashed - there's a large world outside of the box!
Baking a cake turns you into a bit of a kitchen chemist;
combining ingredients in a certain sequence and manner takes
advantage of natural chemical reactions. Understanding a
little about what's going on will help you bake your best cake
ever!
 Measuring the Ingredients -
Improvisation in the kitchen is where the fun happens.
However, when baking there are certain rules and ratios to be
followed so that the chemistry of the recipe works well.
Measuring ingredients accurately is one of those rules that
produces the desired results. Use dry measuring cups for dry
ingredients, and liquid measuring cups for liquid ingredients.
Choose high-quality measuring spoons that are accurate;
equipment testers report finding up to 25% inaccuracy with
some kitchen tools. Fluff your flour with a fork, then spoon
it into your measuring cup. Never pack flour, nor tap the cup
so that it settles. The only dry ingredient that is packed
when measured is brown sugar.
Egg Power - Eggs are the
golden not-so-secret ingredient for cakes. Eggs provide
protein strands that create the cake's structure when
baked. Whipped eggs expertly hold air bubbles that give
the cake its airy texture. Always use room temperature eggs
when baking; the temperature relaxes the protein strands
making them more available when constructing the batter. Some
cake batters call for whole eggs, others call for separating
the yolks and whites. When separating eggs, take care; the
smallest bit of egg yolk will keep egg whites from whipping up
to their full potential.
 Batter Up - Cake batters
vary in composition. Generally, liquid ingredients are
assembled, and dry ingredients added gradually. Stir all dry
ingredients together well unless otherwise instructed. Dry
ingredients may be sifted through a sieve as they are being
added to the liquid to avoid clumps in the batter. Unlike
muffins or pie crust where we're urged to keep mixing to a
minimum, cake batters like to be mixed. A good cake recipe
will specify how long to beat the batter at the various
stages. Don't shortcut the mixing times - a lot is happening.
The necessary chemical
reactions take time, and the all-important air is being
incorporated during those minutes of mixing. We love our mixer
that has the elapsed mixing time noted right on the
appliance.
Adding
Air - Incorporating air into the batter and trapping it
in the baking process creates the cake's texture. A fine, even
texture of tiny, trapped bubbles is the goal when cake-making.
Recipes that use baking powder generate some of the bubbles
through a chemical reaction that releases air as the powder
meets the liquid. Air is also mechanically incorporated into
the batter during the beating process. Once the beating is
completed, pour the batter into waiting pans and bake
immediately. Do not allow the batter to stand in the
mixing bowl; those hard-won bubbles will disappear and you'll
have a flat cake!
 Learn How to Fold - A great
baking technique to master is folding. When maximum air is
called for, egg whites are often whipped separately to a soft
peak stage. The egg whites are then added to the cake batter
very carefully. We like to take a small portion of the egg
whites and add it to the waiting batter to lighten it first.
Then, adding one third of the egg whites at a time, draw a
rubber spatula through the center of the batter all of the way
to the bottom of the bowl. Lift the spatula allowing the
whites and batter to fall gently on the top. Turn the bowl
slightly and repeat the reaching down and lifting up. Continue
this gentle motion just until no white streaks remain. Work
slowly and preserve those air bubbles!
 Pick the Right Pan - Cake
recipes are designed to fit a specifically-sized pan. Matching
your pan to the recipe will ensure that all of the batter will
fit, that there will be enough room for rising, and that the
baking time is accurate. Choose good quality pans that will
not warp when exposed to heat, nor dent or bend easily when
stored.
Pan Prep
- Some proper preparation of the pan will save cursing later
when removing the baked cake. Again, a good recipe will
recommend the best pan prep. Instructions will vary from
buttering or greasing the pan, to greasing with a light
dusting of flour, to inserting a layer of parchment paper.
Baking
Temperatures - The chemistry of cake-making all comes
together during the baking process. Air expands when heated
amplifying the power of the tiny batter bubbles. The proteins
in the batter are immortalized trapping the air and forming
the texture. Most cake baking is done in a medium oven
between 325°-350° F. Make sure your oven and racks are
level. If your oven has "hot spots" you may need to compensate
by rotating pans during baking. Ideally, to preserve
consistency, the oven door stays closed until it's time to
test for doneness.
 Testing for Doneness - It
seems like most cakes are dry and over-baked. We like to set
our timer for five minutes less than the recipe calls for and
begin our testing at that stage. A toothpick, cake
tester, or thin-bladed knife placed in the center of the cake
should come out clean. Sometimes it's ready at the early
stage, sometimes precisely on the mark, and sometimes 5-10
minutes later. If your pan differs from the recipe's
recommendation, the time of doneness will be
impacted.
Unmolding - If your pan has
been prepped well, removing the cake from the pan is no
problem. If necessary, run the back of a thin-bladed knife
around the sides of the pan. Place a cooling rack on top of
the slightly cooled cake pan and invert the two together. The
cake pan may be lifted off leaving the cake safely on the
cooling rack. Use a second cooling rack to re-invert if
necessary. If your cake sticks to the bottom of the pan, pay
closer attention to the pan preparation step the next time
around.
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Cupcake Crazy
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Petite,
portable, and portion-controlled, cupcakes are enjoying a
well-deserved renaissance. There's a buzz about cupcakes
that's generated a rash of bakeries in larger cities that
specialize in just  cupcakes.
No longer
just a "kid-thing," cupcakes appeal to all generations just
because of their size and portability. Cupcakes hold just the
right of amount of self-indulgence without breaking the bank
or the buttons, and they don't require any utensils for
serving or eating.
The term "cupcake" originated from
the early baking traditions that used small cups made of
pottery to bake the sweet confections. These baking molds
predate muffin tins and were reported to be about the size of
a teacup. We love the whimsical British term for cupcakes,
"fairy cakes."
 Cupcakes come in all sizes. Have some fun
experimenting with different pans that yield perfectly
portioned pieces:
- Traditional muffin pans
- Mini-muffin pans
- Tartlet Pans
- Muffin Top Pans
- Mini-Loaf Pans
- Individual mold pans
- Small ramekins
Cupcakes often suffer from
over-baking and dryness. To solve this, choose the right
recipe and monitor doneness diligently. Bake cupcakes up to a
month in advance and freeze until ready for icing and
decorating.
Paper liners for baking cupcakes eliminate
any pan prep while keeping the petite cakes from drying out
afterwards. Some fun silicone cupcake holders make for a lot
of added fun. 
Decorating cupcakes is a great way to spend time
with little chefs and to express your own creativity. Begin
with a base layer of frosting applied with the help of an
offset spatula, a tool that is quite handy for this task. Any
icing appropriate for a cake is appropriate for cupcakes with
the exception of icings that are primarily whipped cream.
Designs and flourishes may be piped on with a simple
decorator's kit, or fun shapes molded from ready-made fondant.
Sometimes simple toppings are all that's needed: toasted nuts,
coconut, fruit, colored sugars, nonpareils, little candies, or
chocolate shavings.
The cupcake itself is just the
beginning of the fun! We've seen cupcakes arranged in
tiers in lieu of wedding cakes, cupcake decorating contests,
cupcake haiku, cupcake blogs; it's endless and
timeless! |
Sculptures in Cake
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 Most of
us are familiar with the classic Bundt cake pan.
Originating from a German tradition of kugelhopf, (coffeecakes
baked in a fluted ring pan), the modern day Bundt pan was
developed in the 1950's by H. David Dahlquist in Minneapolis,
MN. Mr. Dahlquist's company became the Nordic Ware company
that is well-known today for its quality bakeware. More than
50 million of the trademarked Bundt pans are reported to have
been sold. And, should you find yourself in a food trivia
contest, National Bundt Pan Day is November
15th!
Nordic Ware cake pans are constructed from heavy
aluminum that promotes even baking. The special surface
provides great detail and easy unmolding. Bundt bakeware
features large, single cake pans and molds for individual
cakes. Each  Bundt pan is sized by volume for easy
matching to an appropriate recipe. At their website, Nordic
Ware provides some great tips for "How-To Bake the
Perfect Bundt Cake."
From their classic beginnings,
the Nordic Ware people have unleashed their creativity in the
21st century into a whole line of sculpted cake pans. You can
find a variety of molds that turn a simple cake into a
celebration. We like to think of these pans as
"traditions in the making." The sturdy pans last a
lifetime and will be one of those items that get passed on to
future generations. Choose from different seasonal motifs such
as a bunny, a pumpkin, holiday trees, floral designs, hearts,
or even a beehive, and start your own family cake
tradition.
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Smart
Cake-Making Tips
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Tip #1: Did you forget
to take the butter out of the refrigerator to soften? Set the
sticks upright on the kitchen counter for maximum air
circulation for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, you can prepare
your baking pans, measure other ingredients, etc. If
you're very careful, a stick of butter can be softened on the
defrost cycle of your microwave in a mere five
seconds.
 Tip #2:
Use a technique from grade school to prepare parchment paper
for your baking pans. For a round pan, fold a square of
parchment paper in half, half again, and once more - 8 layers
of paper. With your kitchen shears, (handily stored in
your knife block), freehand cut an arc with a radius
equidistant from the folded point. Trim as necessary for a
final fit.
Tip #3: To create a
visually appealing presentation, display cakes and cupcakes at
different heights. A cake stand is the perfect pedestal for
your lovely baked creation. It not only elevates the
cake, but the occasion as well. A tiered serving plate
is perfect for displaying and serving a set of
cupcakes.
Tip
#4: Transporting cakes and other baked goods can be a
challenge. Give yourself a fighting chance of getting
your creation to its destination by using specialized cake or
cupcake transporters. The covered design of transporters will
keep your decorations safe and the cake moist and
fresh.
Tip #5:
Decorate a batch of cupcakes in such way that when served
together create a presentation design, similar to pieces of a
puzzle.
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| Q
& A's |
 Q: My baking pans have
a greasy residue on them. What is it and why can't I clean it
off?
A:
Many popular cooking sprays will leave a residue on your
baking pans that is nearly impossible to remove. To keep your
pans looking like new and baking well, we recommend using
butter or oil to grease your pans. For many applications,
parchment paper or silicone mats will create a non-stick
baking surface. The only spray recommended by Nordic Ware for
use with their Bundt pans is Baker's Joy Non-Stick Spray which
supplies both flour and oil in the spray.
Q: What's the best way to cut one
cake layer into two layers?
A: Some layered cake
recipes call for thin layers of cake where one baked layer is
cut in half. To obtain two equally thick layers, use a
long-bladed, serrated knife such as a bread knife. Score
the outer edge with the knife cutting no more than one
half-inch deep. Once scored all around, begin cutting deeper
with the serrated knife turning the layer gradually and using
the scored line as a guide.
Q: What's the origin of the
phrase "Let them eat cake!"
A: This common
phrase is most often attributed to Marie Antoinette from the
mid-18th century. When told that the French people had no
bread to eat due to a flour shortage and a complex pricing
policy, she uttered the remark. To our modern ear, the remark
seems rather callous. However, the French phrase is "Qu'ils mangent de la
brioche," refers to a baked good that relied more on
eggs and less on flour, and would have been more available and
nutritious to the peasantry.
Q: How do I keep crumbs
from gathering during frosting?
A: Tops of cakes have
just a bit of crust that holds the cake surface intact.
The sides and bottoms, however, do not. Freeze the cake layers
just slightly before frosting. The outer frozen surface
will make spreading the frosting easy with less crumbling
during frosting.
Q: What are "butterfly
cakes?"
A: This fanciful term
comes from a 1950's tradition with cupcakes. To make your own
butterfly cakes, trim off the top of the cupcake, cut in half
and set aside. Scoop out some of the crumb from the cupcake
base and fill with fruit compote, whipped cream, or pudding.
Place the two halves in the filling at an angle to simulate
butterfly wings. |
Cookbook Review
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The
Modern Baker, Time-Saving Techniques for Breads, Tarts, Pies,
Cakes, and Cookies by Nick Malgieri. Copyright 2008.
Published by DK Publishing, New York, NY.
A
2009 Nominee for the prestigious IACP Cookbook
Awards.
 If you're inspired to develop your "inner
baker," this book is for you! Mr. Malgieri has assembled the
new primer for making baked goods at home. The hefty book
covers breads, tarts, pies, cakes, and cookies. He's
constructed his recipes in a step-by-step fashion that brings
the novice along, while retraining the expert baker in new
techniques that save time without compromising the ingredients
or the results. As Malgieri states, "this whole book is very
technique oriented, with explanations about the hows and whys
. . . . " It's hard to beat fresh-baked food, and nothing is
fresher than those items made in your own kitchen. Mr.
Malgieri promotes taking a Zen-like attitude toward baking -
something to be enjoyed, the process savored, and the results
relished. Expertly photographed by Charles Schiller, the
luscious pictures are pure inspiration by themselves. We love
a well put-together book, and this one qualifies in content,
design, and published quality; it's obvious why this book has
risen to the top tier of the cookbook
world.
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Fancy
Cake Recipes
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Recipes excerpted from The
Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri. Copyright 2008. Used by
permission of DK Publishing, New York, NY. Used with permission. All rights
reserved.
Sour
Cream Coffeecake
 While
baking, the kitchen was redolent with the aromas of cinnamon
and sugar - we could hardly stand it! The result was a moist
slice of coffeecake that lived up to all of the anticipation.
The cake unmolded without any error - the sign of a good pan
matched with a good recipe! Each bite melted in our mouths.
This recipe is quick, easy, and definitely in the "keeper"
file.
Click here to view the
recipe.
Click here for a
printable
version of the
recipe.
Golden
Cupcakes
These cupcakes had substance, not
anything like the inferior cupcakes of questionable character
that we've become accustomed to. It's like biting into a real
peach! Moist from the sour cream, the petite cakes domed
perfectly providing a proper canvas for frosting and
decorating. They made several people instantly happy!
Click here to view the
recipe.
Click here for a
printable
version of the
recipe.
Milk
Chocolate Mousse Cake
 Ok, this one is a little more complex,
but oh, sooo worth it! It's really two recipes combined into
multiple layers of pure dessert nirvana. A triple chocolate
experience, two layers of cocoa génoise (cake) provide the
structure, two layers of chocolate mousse are interleaved, and
the entire masterpiece is slathered with whipped cream and
generously topped with chocolate curls. Thankfully, the
process can be staged over a couple of sessions in the kitchen
and then completed well ahead of any guests arriving.
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Click here to view the
recipe.
Click here for a
printable
version of the
recipe.
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Enjoy
making your cake and eating it
too!
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Wanda and the Entire Staff
Kitchen & Spice, and
Other Things Nice | |
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