Thursday, December 3, 2009

Posted by Sweet 2ooth Treats at 4:12 PM 0 comments
Chocolate Vegan cake/cupcakes

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup Dark Chocolate Hershey's cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
* 1 cup water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 1-9 in cake pan or 12 count cupcake pan.


2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.


3. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 min for the 9 in cake pan and 12 to 15 min for the cupcakes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Chocolate Cake for that chocolate chip cookie butter cream :)

Posted by Sweet 2ooth Treats at 9:38 PM 0 comments
I know I am not the only one who when baking cakes loves is a guaranteed moist fluffy flavor full proof cake.This-is-it :D .... Share & Enjoy y'all!!

Chocolate Cake


1- 3/4 cup Sugar
1- 3/4 cup All purpose Flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 -1/2 tsp baking powder
1 - 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tbsp salt
1 cup boiling water


Directions


1 Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.Grease 2-9 in pans or line 2- 12 count cupcakes.
2 Sift flour and stir in sugar,cocoa baking powder baking soda,& salt in mixing bowl.
3 Add eggs on at a time,milk oil and vanilla;beat on medium speed 4 minutes.
4 Slowly add in in boiling water(heat water on stove or in microwave).
CALM DOWN batter will be THIN :)
5 Pour batter into pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes and cool 5 to 10 minutes.

Frost with Peanut Butter frosting or Chocolate Chip Butter cream.Share and Enjoy!!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Candy molding..

Posted by Sweet 2ooth Treats at 3:57 PM 0 comments
I remember the first time I made candy molds.It was a disaster! I had chocolate everywhere and only a few pieces done.

It is actually pretty simple stuff when it comes to candy molding...just follow these easy steps:

1 Always use the double boiler method for chocolate when melting
2 Your pot should be larger than the pot you are using with hot water.
3 Never introduce water into the chocolate or it will cease up
4 It is easier to melt chocolate in microwave but easier to burn the chocolate.
5 DO NOT OVERHEAT

Easiest chocolate for beginners is Wilton Candy wafers.
Use piping bags with different colors being used and place a warm rag towel on them to keep them melted.
Always pipe your details first,let the details set and then add your milk chocolate or white chocolate for background if using molds.

You can freeze them to make them set faster.Remember the smaller the mold the easier it is to crack so be gentle when taking them out of their molds.Don't place them in warm water because that will melt the chocolate at the bottom of mold.This will cause the chocolate to stick to the mold and hard to remove just gently shake them out like you would ice cubes :)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Chocolate chip cupcake dreams...

Posted by Sweet 2ooth Treats at 10:41 AM 0 comments
So I couldn't sleep and remembered I saw an awesome recipe for chocolate chip cupcakes from one of my baking books unfortunately I had no eggs :( I did not want to go to the store, so I settled for a chocolate cupcake I had made earlier in the week and had frozen .I brought one down and let it thaw...as it was thawing I thought what would make for a better chocolate cupcake than some good old American butter cream.

Then my mind wondered again should I go get the eggs in my jammies and risk running into some1 I know at the store..aughhh...I was set on those oh so scrumptious chocolate chip cupcakes and then my Aha! moment why not chocolate chip butter cream.

I didn't feel like turning on my laptop so ..I decided to go for the good old Pastry Chef cook book from school looked up chocolate chip cookies...which I know, I know ,I should at least have somewhat memorized..and took out the eggs (really had no choice )

I gotta tell you it was really good! So I figured why not share the recipe for those who might have a midnight sweet tooth..

Chocolates chip cookie dough Butter cream

Yields 3 cups of frosting

American Butter cream:
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup-2 sticks of unsalted butter room temp
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup milk as needed to your preference of consistency
Egg less cookie dough (check out recipe below)

Chocolate Chip egg less cookie dough:
1/2 cup(1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, plus 4 tablespoons
4 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup All purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Or

Chocolate egg less cookie dough:

1/2 cup(1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, plus 4 tablespoons
6 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup All purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

½ Dark chocolate cocoa powder

Directions:

EGG LESS COOKIE DOUGH:
Cream the butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add water and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and salt and stir to combine. Stir in mini chocolate chips (optional).

*Remember to store in refrigerator until ready to use.

FROSTING:
In a mixing bowl cream butter, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add half the powdered sugar and add milk as necessary. Once well combined scrape down bowl and add the rest of the powdered sugar and again milk as necessary. Add eggless cookie dough to mixture and frost your favorite cakes or cupcakes I recommend chocolate, peanut butter or chocolate chip cupcakes!

Monday, August 17, 2009

From Scratch Cakes or Mixes...

Posted by Sweet 2ooth Treats at 4:06 PM 0 comments
I have heard way too much hype on from scratch and mixes being used.My opinion it does not matter as long as the result is a luscious tasty morsel :)



However there are certain desserts that you really can't short cut your way around .For example the classic french Croch En Bouche, Creme Brulee or even Mexican Flan.



I don't think there is anything wrong in using some type of mix in a mainly from scratch recipe.Now I know this is sending shivers up many of my culinary peers,but I think it is silly to say something is 100% made from scratch. I know of a handful of bakeries in Saint Louis who use no mix in their cakes.Most bakeries including the most popular ones here DO in fact use cake mixes ,because if the high demand in cakes.



Let's take the following recipe I have come across at cake central. I tried it and it could stand alone as an awesome cake...with some modifications of my own of course :)



Strawberry Cake

2 c White Sugar

1 (3oz) package Strawberry flavored gelatin

2 Stick unsalted butter (room temp)

1/4 tsp Salt

4 eggs (room temp)

2 3/4 cups sifted All Purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 cup Whole Milk

1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla

3/4 cup finely chopped Fresh Strawberries

Directions

1* Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 - inch round cake pans

2* In a large bowl ,cream together the butter,sugar,and strawberry gelatin until light and airy.

3* Beat in eggs one at a time mixing until completely combined

4* Combine dry ingredients including salt.

5* Alternate dry mix with the milk begin and end with dry ingredients

6* Mix in vanilla and finely chopped strawberries.

7 * Divide the batter evenly between prepared pans and bake 20 to 28 minutes.

Cake is done when cake springs back with light touch and sides of cake has a brown color on top or you can do the old toothpick method insert and if it comes out clean it is done!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Issues with wedding cakes..

Posted by Sweet 2ooth Treats at 8:19 PM 0 comments
Ok so one of the fellow gals at cakecentral.com had an awesome question. How to crumb coat a cake and how :)
It is super easy! Once you have let both or all your cake layers cool you fill your cake and cover it completely in a thin layer of icing it will have lots of crumbs all over it (hence the name crumb coating) then place in the refrigerator for 30 min to an hour and give it a final coat with your choice of frosting.

Crumb coating is very beneficial exspecially when you have a very moist cake or for example a chocolate cake that needs to be frosted in vanilla icing, giving it a very clean look and easier to cover with fondant too!

Another question that popped up was how much is your work really worth? I tend to stay away from charging per hour since it is pretty hard to keep track of time when you are trying to work on a cake. Per person is the best way that can not change very much and you are sure to make a progit and charge a fair amount to your customers :)

Saturday, July 25, 2009

If you're in a pinch and have no sugar for frosting...

Posted by Sweet 2ooth Treats at 4:15 PM 0 comments
I remembered running out of sugar last week when making chocolate frosting and yet found I had lots o condensed milk.So here is a recipe for a Sugarless Chocolate Frosting (sorta)
1 square unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup (1/2 can ) condensed milk
1/4 tsp salt
1tsp Vanilla
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water bath.Stir 2/3 cup of condensed milk and salt.Stir and cook over boiling water ( don't let the water hit the bottom of bowl) until thick, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla then stir in 1/2 tablespoon water and beat.Add a few drops of hot water if too thick :)

For those of you who are bi lingual in Spanish I created a really rich sugarless recipe now at the Splenda website you can get at :

www.splendaenespanol.com/recipe_detail.jhtml?id=splendaenespanol/recipes/library/pastel_con_Pudin_de.inc

Once I get a chance I will definitely translate it soon!!

I dreaded the idea of making a Three Milk Cake (Tres Leches Cake)...

Posted by Sweet 2ooth Treats at 2:03 PM 0 comments
This cake is traditional in Latin America and Mexico essentially a Genoise (Sponge) cake and really easy to mess up especially if it is raining like it was. This is a tedious cake because like any sponge cake you have to whip ahhhh egg whites yes egg whites and like I mentioned before if it's raining they don't whip very well...

Anyway the cake is baked and soaked in three milks :
Evaporated Condensed Heavy Cream I personally add a 1/2 cup of milk to diluted some so it's not so sweet! So I look in my pantry and no flour! I really didn't feel like going to the store just for a bag of flour so I looked around and found a pancake mix.

I decided to improvise and use that instead ;0) the result?
This awesome light buttery cake recipe:


2 Cups Pancake Mix ( I happen to have AJ)

1/2 Cup of sugar (if you wanted sweeter add an addt'l 1/2 cup)
3/4 Vegetable oil
1 cup Whole Milk ( Skim for the health conscious)
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla or 1 Vanilla Bean
4 Large Eggs


That's it! Mix all the ingredients, let it rest for 5 minutes while your oven pre-heats to 350 degrees. Pour into two- 8 inch pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes depending on your ovens temperament (we all know our ovens have those days) If you went for the less sweeter a good chocolate frosting works if the sweeter version was your choice whip cream or mousse and berries is awesome!!!

Have Fun sharing tasting and baking !!
 

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