Thursday, May 26, 2011

Zebra tort with 2 frostings


Here I come with a very beautiful cake. It has a zebra pattern. I decided to use two different frostings for this one and I am glad I did. For the lower layer I made a vanilla caramel coffee frosting with melted chocolate and mixed it all with cream cheese and cream. For the upper layer I decided to go with the same frosting  but with no added flavours. Oh boy, was it delicious?! For the lack of time the cake was decorated very simply with cocoa powder.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Turkish Baklava

Ah, this heavenly delicious Turkish delight! I use phylo dough because I need paper thin layers. I generously cover each layer with melted butter and sprinkle them with walnuts. Once the baklava is out of the oven I pour home made sugar syrup all over the baklava and let it all get absorbed into the pastry. What you get once it has cooled is crispy, layered, nutty, buttery heavenly yummy dessert. You can cut them into bite size squares and enjoy it with tea or coffee. A word of warning though: you can not just eat one ! :-)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Chocolate Paradise with a hazelnut flavour

So, it was my beloved husband's 27th birthday and of course knowing his passion for chocolate and nuts, I had to bake a deliciously rich nutty cake. The batter has ground hazelnuts in it. When baked it is very lightweight. The frosting is the mixture of whipped cream, cream cheese and melted hazelnut chocolate. Needless to say it is very chocolaty and increadibly flavourful.



I covered the cake with fondant and decorated it as an IPAD. I will admit it was very time consuming, but final result made me so happy.

Crispy meringue torte


This cake is crumbly, crispy, nutty and with caramel frosting. Sounds like something you will like? Then keep on reading;-) Every layer in this cake is covered with thick layer of  bitten egg whites that will eventually turn into crispy meringue after 40 minutes in the oven. Once I am done baking each layer, I will generously sprinkle them with roasted walnuts and assemble the cake with my delicious caramel frosting. After a night in the fridge the cake will melt in your mouth all the while keeping its crispy texture. The top layer is drizzled with melted chocolate.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Credit Card cake



Hi again. So why credit card cake?  It was my father-in-law's 50th birthday and my mother-in-law wanted a black cake because everything else including the party decorations was black too. It was quite a challenge I have to admit. I had no idea what theme to chose and how to make the cake black. Since I couldnt find black fondant I decided to go with black icing. The idea of credit card came from a long search on the internet. When I came across the picture of that lovely cake I thought it would suit my case perfectly. My father-in-law works hard, likes to make and spend money, uses Master card. And the main thing about it was that it was black!! So I took on the challenge and even added a twist to it. My father-in-law is Purto-Rican and I came up with an idea of adding a Purto-Rican flag. I could tell he really liked the cake and the flag made it even more meaningful to him.
As for the cake itself it was black and white. White amazingly soft layers had raisins in them and the chocolate layers had coconut flakes. The frosting I used this time was the mixture of sour cream and boiled caramelized condenced milk. I liked what it tasted like and will definitely use this cake for my other creations.

Multi-layered chocolate cake




Just like I promiced last time I am back with my multi-layered cake but in a chocolate version. Since the previous one was quite a hit I was impatient to try it out again in a new flavour. I have to admit I liked this one even better.I rolled my layers even thinner and got 15 layers this time. Cocoa powder both in the batter and the frosting brought it to the next level. Sprinkles of walnut gave it a nice crunch.
I baked it for the Easter so decorated it accordingly. I really enjoy working with fondant and believe Im getting better each time.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Capricious lady




This creation of mine has 10 thin layers. There was 11 , but I crumbled one of them to the powder consitency  to sprinkle all over the cake.You are  probably thinking it must take a lot of ime? Yes it is pretty time consuming, but I like to deal with cakes like that from time to time,especially if I have someone to take care of my little dude. The cake is extremely soft, magically absorbs all the frosting I cooked by mixing flour, milk, eggs, vanilla and later beating it with butter. You can see  from the pictures that there is almost no frosting to be seen, thats because the layers just sucked them in. Next time I make this cake I am gonna make a chocolate version of it with chocolate layers and chocolate frosting and I even think of srinkle layers with walnuts. Sounds mouthwatering , doesn't it?And I will make sure I make double the ammount of frosting so we can feel more of its creamy texture.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Bee hive cake




I made this sweet little cake for my 28th birthday. The layers I baked for this cake are the same kind I did for my son's 1st bday cake, that is they have honey in it,  they are very soft and spongy and easily absorb any kind of frosting. For my bday cake I used the frosting I made  beating the condenced milk with butter. Also as a big nut lover I generously sprinkled the layers with nuts. My family found the decoraion very adorable:-) I really wanted to create the effect of the honey dripping from the sides of the cake and looks like it worked out. I had  a lot of fun creating hives. This is what I love about baking, the final beautiful result and expression on people's face when they taste the cake. Its all worth it.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Mini apple rolls


Do you like crumbly cakes? Do you like nuts? Do you like apples? Then this your type of dessert. Not only are they pretty,  but very addictive too:-)  The roll dough is soft and crumbly and the filling is a mixture of grated apples cooked together with walnuts and sugar. Any other filling can be an option (mixed nuts or your favourite jam for example), but this one is my husband's favourite, so this is the one I make practically all the time.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Bird's milk cake.



This cake is for those who love the types of cake that are eaten cold. No it does not taste like a cheesecake. Its very different because it has souffle between the layers. The souffle has a very soft yet springy texture, since it has gelatine in it. It is moderately sweet, very light. You can eat a big piece and not even notice:-) This time I made a white cake, but I next time i will add cocoa powder to the batter for the contrasting effect of the cake and the souffle. The top layer is covered with melted chocolate. Definitely a must try!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Curly cake :-)



Okay, so why Curly you would say? Simply because of the decoration. After i cut my cake horizontally ,with the help of my fingertips I gather some cake curls, dragging them in the opposite direction of the cut. Once I am done assembling the cake I sprinkle those curls over the top layer. To make the cake super soft I like to moisten the layers with sweetened water,coffee etc. The frosting that i make using condenced milk will go deep into moistened layers and the cake will literally melt in your mouth all the while without feeling heavy or overly sweet. I love to add some roasted walnuts too.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Puachees (meat buns)

Are you looking for a filling  lunch  option?Or maybe something to serve at your tea or coffee parties?Maybe a sort of an appetizer or simply pack into your child's lunchbox?Whatever the case is these buns will work just great!!I prepare my dough and leave it overnight to rest.In the morning the dough is nice and ready to work with.Buns have a surprise inside.I like to fill them up with a number fillings.My favourite ones are beef with rice or mashed potatoes with sauteed onions.But the choices are endless: it could be sauteed mushrooms,chicken with peas and carrots,completely vegetarian or any other  you like.

These buns freeze perfectly.I make them ahead of time and freeze them.It takes about an hour(or less) to defrost at the room temperature or you can pop it in  the microwave right away.They taste just as fresh and soft as if they were right out of the oven.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Pineapple cake



So this time I came with my Pineapple cake. This delicious cake has a  very soft texture to it. Pineapples in between the layers give it  a tropical  vibe and a white chocolate-milky-buttery frosting will leave you wanting more. Altogether this cake is packed with flavours and colour. Pineapple can be replaced or mixed with other fruits.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

My son's first b-day cake






This is the very first cake i covered with fondant and decorated. It took me a lot of time, but  when you really love doing something it does not feel as a hard work. All you need is patience, especially with those little cars:-) I was happy with how it came out. From now on i will definitely try many other decorating ideas with fondant.
As for the cake itself, its a four layered cake with a subtle taste and smell of honey, layered with my caramel frosting mixed with butter. The cake becomes very soft after a night in the fridge, which allows the frosting to penetrate into layer making them tender. I sometimes also sprinkle some walnuts in between the layers which gives the cake a crunchy side.