Bowling Themed Cake

This cake was for the 75th birthday of a woman who spends four days a week bowling.  If you aren't from New England you have perhaps never heard of Candlepin Bowling.  Candlepins are different from your regular bowling pins - they don't have the boulbous bottoms.   Plus the balls that are used are much smaller (and lighter!) than the typical three finger balls.  Anyway, I thought a '50's retro theme would be fun.

I always start with sketches.  This way I can be sure I've covered all the details.

I spent an evening watching the season finale of "Justified' (LOVE Timothy Olyphant!) and rolling out these individual Candlepins from white fondant!

For the decorations I chose retro signage from 1950's bowling alleys.

 Mini fondant bowling balls decorated the cake's base:

Sunflower Cake

I saw a cake similar to this on the web somewhere.  I thought it was wonderful.  My good friend Katie loves flowers of all kinds and sunflowers are certainly one of her favorites.  So this year I surprised her with a garden full of flowers in white chocolate.  The cake is a new recipe - brown butter pound cake... yumm!

Brown Butter Pound Cake (Adapted from Williams Sonoma)

Ingredients:
32 Tbs. (4 sticks) unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 eggs

Directions:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, then cook until the solids separate and settle on the pan bottom, 3 to 5 minutes. Continue to cook until the solids brown and are almost burnt, 18 to 20 minutes more. Pour the brown butter into a bowl, leaving the solids in the pan (discard the solids). Let the butter cool at room temperature until firm. The brown butter can be prepared up to 2 days in advance; cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Bring to room temperature before using. Cookin' Mary's note: It really is important to make sure the butter has gotten firm.  I suggest refrigerating it the night before you plan to make the cake.  It wont take long to come to room temperature once you're ready to begin making the rest of the cake.

Over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the brown butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition just until incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, dividing it evenly between the two halves and spreading a little extra into the head area of the pan. Bake until the center of the cake springs back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes.

Travel Cake

First and foremost I'm an architect.  I love buildings, drawings and math.  But I also love cake.  So when I was asked to create a cake for a couple who are moving from Boston to Florida I began sketching images of all the iconic buildings and things I could think of from all the places they've been to. Quickly a multitude of monuments, opera houses, leaning towers and Vespas began to take over my kitchen! The result is a delightful treat celebrating two wonderful people.  Oh, and the cake was filled with a lemon buttercream and fresh raspberries!

Puppy Birthday Cake

It was a busy baking weekend.  After completing the "fashionable bridal shower" cake I began work on a birthday cake for a 4 year old who loves puppies!  ( who doesn't?!)  Using bright colors I created this adorable cake. 

So What do you do with leftover cake and frosting??

Make a mini cake for Sunday Night Family Dinner!

Fashionable Bridal Shower Cake

I love it when people ask me to design a cake that is completely unique!  I received this photograph and was asked to create a cake to complement these plates from Crate and Barrel.

I then  thought of the baby shower cake I did last fall  http://cookinmary.blogspot.com/2009/11/baby-shower-cake.html and decided to do something similar, but with the flowers shown on the plates.  Here's what I created:

Baby Shower Cake and Cookie Favors

I love sketching ideas for cakes.  Last week I received a request for a cake AND cookies for a baby shower.  The cookies were to be individually packaged as favors for everyone to take with them as they left.  They know the baby is a boy but didn't want the typical "baby and duckies" theme.  So I came up with four sketches:

She chose Option 4

The cake was a lemon ricotta with lemon curd filling and buttercream frosting.  The cookies were butter cookies decorated with royal icing and white chocolate. 

Close-up of the cake:

And the cookie favors, each with a Thank you card attached:

Close-up of the cookies:

The cookies packaged and ready for delivery:

Trolley Roll-sign Cake

I work part time at a little shop in Cambridge, MA for a couple of brothers.  They've recently added an interesting line of products; antique roll signs from decommissioned street trolleys of Boston and New York. 

We have many different signs from several trolley stops in the store:

So when one of the brothers was celebrating his 30th birthday we decided a roll sign would be an awesome concept for his cake. So here's what I came up with:

Tee Hee!  I'm beginning to feel the love for fondant!

Spring Garden Cake

Spring has sprung here in the Northeast!  My tulips are a month early this year thanks to the unseasonably warm weather.  I'm looking forward to planting my porch garden, an activity that keeps me busy all summer long enjoying the multitude of flowers and plants while I sip fresh mojitos made with my home grown mint.

I saw a cake similar to this one somewhere on the internet and I immediately wanted to replicate it.  I wish I had saved the name of the original designer - I would certainly give them credit.  I'll update this post once I find it again. I thought it was adorable, how the letters of Happy Birthday turned into the stems of the flowers.
Anyway this is my now famous butterbeer cake in a mini (6") version.  I love how happy and celebratory it is.  Who doesn't like to see Happy Birthday all over their cake?

Carrot Cake

I love carrot cake. It reminds me of Spring. The sweetness of the carrots, the crunch of toasted nuts and the frosting. Cream Cheese frosting. yummm. So when my friend Dave's birthday arrived yesterday I was delighted to hear that he loved carrot cake! I've made this recipe a couple of times before. Once I made it in a sheet cake pan and it was soup in the center. (urgh). So I stayed with the old stand-by. The 9" round cake pan. One thing I dislike about carrot cake is sometimes it can be dry and as dense as a fruitcake. Not this recipe!  I found it on Epicurious.com and the secret ingredient is orange marmalade! Also there is a thin layer of the marmalade on the bottom layer before it is topped with the frosting.  This made the cake even more moist and tasty.

The chopped nuts on the outside of the cake are a classic carrot cake decoration. Their crunch helps offset the cream cheese's sweetness.

This is the first time I'm posting a recipe so I hope you like it.

 

Marmalade Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

adopted from epicurious.com

Cake:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I only use King Arthur's)

2 teaspons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed golden brown sugar

1/2 cup orange marmalade (I used my mom's homemade but you can use what you like.  Beware of high fructose corn syrup varieties!)

1/2 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed is best!)

3 cups (lightly packed) grated peeled carrots (about 4-6 large)

3/4 cup chopped toasted nuts (I used pecans but walnuts work great too)

Frosting:

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Nutty outside:

1 1/2 cups chopped toasted nuts

9" cardboard cake circle

For Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9 inch diameter cake pans with 2 inch sides.  Using a whisk, mix first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.  Beat eggs, oil, sugars, marmalade and juice in a large bowl until blended.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Fold in carrots and nuts.  Divide batter between cake pans.  Bake until tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 40 minutes.  (Cookinmary note:  Due to all of the sugars in this recipe the cake begins to brown rather quickly.  Don't let this alarm you.  If the center jiggles when you move the pan the cake isn't ready - put it back in and check again in 10 minutes.) Transfer the cakes to racks; cool 15 minutes.  Turn out cakes onto racks; cool completely.

For Frosting:

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth.  Add vanilla and blend well.  Add sugar one cup at a time and beat just until smooth.  Taste to confirm it meets your personal level of sweetness.  (this is the best part!)

Assembly:

Place one layer on a 9" cardboard cake circle. Spread cake with 1/4 cup marmalade.  Spread 1 cup of frosting to cover layer.  Top with second layer.  Spoon enough frosting to cover top and sides.  Smooth sides.  Remember to keep frosting thick enough to allow nuts to adhere.  Grab a handful of chopped nuts and gently press them to the side of the cake (don't worry lots will fall off, just scoop them back up and use them for the next part of the cake).  Do this until the cake is covered on the sides.  I typically do this on a separate plate than the one I'm going to serve the cake on.  It's a messy process and by transferring the cake to a clean plate I can dust off the nuts that didn't stick.  This is why I always use a cardboard cake circle underneath my cakes.