Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Circle Cake

Hi guys!!
So, my sister-in-law is here visiting us and she celebrated her 31st birthday here with us. And of course I did her cake... ;P. Too bad that I didn't had much time to decorate, so I had to choose something more simple but I kinda like it the result. And I got the chance to use my brand new cake pedestal that I fell in love with... :D
It was a chocolate cake filled with white chocolate buttercream and fresh strawberries! It was sooo Yummy!!
 Happy Baking!!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Idea Book

Happy Thanksgiving!! 
A few weeks ago I was going through my Amazon wish list and I move one of my wanted books to the cart but I didn't complete the purchase. To my surprise the next day I read through a post on Facebook that my dear friend Layla from Layla Pegado Cakes is featuring  on this amazing book with 5 of her wonderful cakes! I'm so happy for her! She deserves too much! I bought the book and now I just can't wait to see her and ask for her autograph! :D
The book is great, click here to buy or take a peek.
Happy Baking!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Cake Pops & Cupcake Bites

Wow, I have so much to tell you guys… so much to post! A lot is happening. Well, as the famous saying goes: I'll start from the beginning ... hahahaha...
So, my sister-in-law Melissa came to visit us here and I already had the idea to make some cake pops again to test a new recipe and a new technique. And nothing better than having the family to test my new cake pop .. hahahahahaha ... The result? I loved it!!! This time my pops did not fall from the sticks and after a week (yeah… I think I did 50 pops, including cupcake bites and cake pops) they are still wonderful and super delicious. It seems that the more time passes the batter gets better and more yummy, the chocolate around them protects the batter.
Mel loved it and my cupcake bites made a big success. For those who do not know, cupcake bite is like a mini cupcake just that it's chocolate covered "head to toe." The baking cups are made out of chocolate and so is the frosting.
It's almost Thanksgiving so I gave some cake pops and bites as a gift for Shannon which is a very special person to us here as thanks for all she does for us.
The batter of the pops and bites is Devil's Food Cake with "brigadier" (a brazilian candy, it's like a toffee). For the recipe just go to my friend's Luciana Blog or click here.
My Cake Pops:
Cake Pops coated with purple sugar and decorated with purple bows.
This I did for my son just for fun… its an owl. It is kinda cute but the next will be better …
Brigadeiro Cake Pops with Chocolate Jimmies and a colorful one... oops, I see a little boy's hand there.. ;P
And here are my Cupcake Bites: aren't they cute? :)
So many of them.... 
Look at it in detail: you can clearly see the chocolate baking cups here...
My inspiration? Bakerella, of course.... ;P

Happy Baking!!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Lemon Ricotta Cookies and my "Artisan" Bread

Hi guys, sorry for the long time without writing to you. But I'm baking a lot and I think you are going to like my posts from now on... :D
So last Thursday on my cake decorating class a dear friend brought some homemade Lemon Ricotta Cookies and I just fell in love with it. I'm not going to lie to you... I even dreamed about those cookies (am I crazy?? Maybe...). She will send me her recipe but I just couldn't wait! I had to have the cookies!! I just felt that I has just like Cookie Monster... lol... Anyway, I searched for the recipe online and I bake them. But my friend's cookies where way better than mine. I'll wait for her recipe. But with you want to check it out here is the recipe that I got from Food Network site.
I also baked some homemade bread. One of my dear friend Luciana just started to blog. She's a sweetheart and is a newlywed brazilian girl who is currently living in the US. She baked some bread and I immediately wanted to bake some too... her pictures where so yummy!! Hmmm.... Check out: 
Beautiful pictures and wonderful food!! :D


Here is my bread:


And my cookies:


Perfect for a chilly day....


Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cookies:
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.
Glaze:
Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. 



Happy Baking!!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Splenda Chocolate Cupcakes

Hi guys!! Couple weeks ago I tried to bake some cupcakes for a dear friend of mine that have pregnancy diabetes. So I decided to use granulated Splenda insted of the regular sugar. The result was okay. The actual cupcake turn out good (I guess I prefer with the Sugah... hahahaha) but I also tried to substitute the sugar for the Splenda on the Swiss Merengue Buttercream. And that I didn't like it. I mean the consistency was fine but when I added some food coloring to it I don't know what happened but the frosting became kinda bitter... But I'll continue trying to bake the perfect sugar-free cupcake and frosting! Here's the tutorial.

The Swiss Merengue Buttercream I got on the blog: How to Eat a Cupcake: http://www.howtoeatacupcake.net/2008/02/face-your-smbc-fears.html and I jut substitute the sugar for the Splenda...

Splenda Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes)
Ingredients
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (sifted before measuring) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 large eggs at room temperature
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup cake flour or bleached all purpose flour, sifted into the cup and leveled off
1 cup Splenda granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1. Preheat oven 20 minutes before baking to 350F
2. Mix the cocoa and the boiling water: in a small bowl, whisk the cocoa and the boiling water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent evaporation and cool to room temperature or you can place in the refrigerator to speed the cooling process. Just bring to room temperature before proceeding.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, the 3 tablespoons water and the vanilla, just until combined.
4. In a stand mixer with the flat beater, add:
 - the flour, 
- Splenda, 
- baking powder, 


-baking soda 



-and salt 

then mix on low speed for 30 seconds. 
5. Add the butter and chocolate mixture and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Starting on medium-low gradually add the egg mixture in 2 parts. Beating on medium speed after each addition.
7. Pour the batter into the baking cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. 
Hint: I like to measure the amount of batter to put exactly the same amount in every the baking cups.

Another thing that I noticed is that they broke on the top but the frosting covered it....
I hope you enjoyed!!

Happy Baking!!