Little Miss Bakes A Lot

A New Challenge

Shayna — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:56:55 +0000

So last month I joined the website The Daring Kitchen and each month we get a new challenge of something tasty and delicious to make. This month, which consequently was my first, was something called The Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake! How does that sound for yummy?! The challenge, issued by Sunita included making the swiss rolls, the filling, 2 kinds of ice cream and a fudge sauce. It was so much fun, and I can’t wait for next month to roll around so I can get started on the next challenge!

So to start, here is the recipe for the Swiss Rolls, I used the one posted

Swiss roll ice cream cake (inspired by the recipe of the same name from the Taste of Home website)

The Swiss rolls-

Preparation time- 10 minutes

Baking time- 10-12 minutes

Rolling and cooling time- at least 30 minutes

Filling-5-8 minutes

Filling and rolling- 5-10 minutes

Ingredients-

6 medium sized eggs

1 C / 225 gms caster sugar /8 oz+ extra for rolling

6 tblsp / 45gms/ a pinch over 1.5 oz of all purpose (plain) flour + 5 tblsp/40gm /a pinch under 1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together

2 tblsp /30ml / 1 fl oz of boiling water

a little oil for brushing the pans

For the filling-

2C / 500 mls/ 16 fl oz of whipping cream

1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

5 tblsp / 70gms/2.5oz of caster sugar

Method-

Pre heat the oven at 200 deg C /400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans ( 11 inches by 9 inches ) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.
In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.

Whisking together ingredients

Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.

Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.

Ready to bake!

Remove the cake from the oven and flip over onto a clean kitchen towel and roll up from the short side allow to cool rolled up.

For the filling I did a simple Cherry Whipped Cream, since I was making this for a pregnant friend of mine with an aversion to all things white!

Ingredients:

Cherry Sauce:

3 lbs fresh cherries

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup water divided

3-4 tblsp cornstarch

If needed, pit the cherries and rinse. In heavy saucepan, combine 1 cup water and sugar and bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. In a measuring cup of hot water dissolve the cornstarch and set aside. Add in the cherries to the water/sugar mixture. Cook down for about 3-4 min, add in the cornstarch mixture. Stir occasionally and cook until it condenses down into a syrup that coats your spoon when you place in mixture. Strain out cherries through a fine sieve and set cherries sauce aside to cool.

In a mixer pour 5-6 oz of Heavy Whipping cream and add sugar to taste, mix on med high until light and fluffy (Whipped Cream!)

I then added in 4 tablespoons of the cherry sauce and folded in gently. Then unrolled the cake roll and quickly filled it with the Cherry Whipped Cream and re-rolled, covered with plastic wrap, and placed in the fridge overnight.

Swiss Cake Roll!

Now for the Ice Cream, this was my very first attempt making any sort of ice cream as I had always thought you needed some sort of Ice Cream Maker. I decided to compliment the Cherry Whipped Cream, I would make a Vanilla ice cream with bits of Cherries and Cacao Nibs for the first layer, and of course a chocolate ice cream, because who doesn’t love Chocolate!

The vanilla ice cream-

Preparation time-5 minutes+freezing

I have made the ice cream without an ice cream maker.

Ingredients-

2 and ½ C / 625 ml / 20 fl oz of whipping cream

1 tsp/ 5 ml/ .15 fl oz vanilla extract

½ C / 115gms/ 4 oz of granulated sugar

1/2 c Chopped Cherries

1/4 c Cacao Nibs

Method-

Grind the sugar in a food processor. In a mixing bowl, add the cream, vanilla, and sugar and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together.

Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Add in the Chopped Cherries and Cacao Nibs at this point. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

Vanilla Cherry and Cacao Nib Ice Cream

For the Fudge Sauce, I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Hot Fudge Sauce
Adapted from Silver Palate Cookbook [Anyone remember this?]

Yields 2 1/2 cups

This is a deep, dark fudgy bittersweet sauce that firms up on ice cream.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 tablespoons butter, unsalted
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon rum (or other flavoring, such as a flavored liquer or vanilla extract)

Melt the chocolate and butter very slowly in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring frequently until combined. Meanwhile, heat the water to boiling in the small, heavy saucepan. When the butter and chocolate have melted, stir the mixture into the boiling water. Add the sugar, corn syrup and salt and mix until smooth. Turn the heat up and stir until mixture starts to boil; adjust heat so that sauce is just maintained at the boiling point, stirring occasionally. Allow sauce to boil for nine minutes.

Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes. Stir in the rum and serve warm over ice cream.

Chocolate Ice Cream

The chocolate ice cream-

Preparation time- 5 minutes + freezing

Ingredients-

2C/ 500 ml whipping cream

1 C/230gms/8 oz caster sugar

3 tblsp/ 24 gms/1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder

Method-

Grind together the sugar and the cocoa powder in a food processor .
In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and whisk lightly.
Place the pan over heat and keep stirring till it begins to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and cool completely before transferring to a freezer friendly container till firm around the edges. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction, after the mixture has cooled completely. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

Assembly!

I had a lot of fun putting it altogether, and it was pretty simple. I took a regular large bowl and lined it with plastic wrap as instructed. Then sliced the Swiss Cake Roll into about 1 inch pieces and covered the bowl with them.

I set this in the freezer to chill for a bit and took out the ice creams so they could soften enough to spread. First the Vanilla Cherry and Cacao Nib Ice Cream

Placed back in the freezer to reset for about an hour or so, then poured in the cooled down fudge sauce

Yummy Fudge Sauce!

On top of that went the Chocolate Ice Cream, then back into the freezer for about 3 hours so everything sets up nicely! And here is the finished product! It was a hit, and super delicious.

The Swiss Cake Roll Ice Cream Cake!

Busy Baker!

Shayna — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:17:21 +0000

This past week was super busy for us! Which is fantasic, I catered and assisted with planning a Hippy Themed Tea Party. This was so much fun, I made a topsy turvy cake, the bottom was a teapot with peace signs and smiley faces, bright flowers and the words love and peace written on it! The top was a teacup on a saucer, it was huge I have to say, the teapot tier was chocolate cake with a cream cheese buttercream frosting and 5 layers high. The tea cup tier was vanilla cake, filled with strawberry and cream cheese buttercream. It got RAVE reviews! I was so pleased to hear that, I think sometimes I am my toughest critic. But I love being able to improve my skills as as decorator.
It was also a lot of fun to put together the menu for the party, food wise, I chose:
Brandy Snaps, chicken triangles, tea sandwiches in the shape of little tea pots and filled with PB& J for half, and the rest of the tea sandwiches were a pineapple cream cheese mixture. The girls LOVED it! We also did an Orange Cheesecake Bar, fruit with a yummy dip, and blueberry tea bread with a lemon cream cheese spread. I am making myself hungry just writing about it!
It was a great party, let me jus say 12 year old girls CRACK me up! What a fun way to get a peek inside their world for an afternoon.

Bake Sale

Shayna — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:56:30 +0000

I got asked a few weeks ago if I would donate some items to a bake sale benefiting Pediatric Cancer. Now how could I say no to that? I agreed, and so today is to be spent baking for a very good cause! I thought I would make 3 items: the New York Times Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, Lemon Butter Cookies, and Chocolate Dulce De Leche bars. Chocolate Chip cookies are a staple, but these are utterly gourmet! Using a high end dark chocolate with 60% Cacoa, and a sprinkling of French Grey Sea Salt to really bring out the flavor, these are not your kids Chocolate Chip Cookies!
The Lemon Butter cookies, I was a bit irritated with when I started. The first batch I made seemed sort of dry, but baked up alright. And they certainly did not make anywhere near as many as the recipe said it would. The second batch was a lot better texture wise. So if you decide to make some, be aware that you will end up with less.
The Chocolate Dulce De Leche bars turned out to be very simple to make. The shortbread crust is just a mixture of flour, butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Which is then pressed into the bottom of the baking pan. To make the topping, mix together heavy cream and dulce de leche over medium heat, (delicious all on its own!) whisk together 4 egg yolks, and add into the mixture, you have to be vigilant about this part and not get distracted. Or else the egg will cook and there will be chunks of cooked egg in your chocolate! Then you stir in the chocolate and mix it until smooth and pour it over the shortbread. Let it chill in the fridge until set, and these are FANTASTIC!
Hopefully they all sold out this morning!

Romance Is In The Air

Shayna — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:12:50 +0000

Valentines Day is fast approaching. Actually in our house, Valentines Day has come and gone. Mr Baker was here for a short time in January, and we chose to celebrate on January 14th! We kept it simple, celebrating at home together. Isn’t that what this day is truly about? Spending quality time with the one you love.
To all you guys out there, its not about the money you spend, we just want to see you put forth some effort! Roses are nice, but only if they are our favorite flower. Diamonds are ALWAYS appreciated, but only if you (or we) don’t go into debt over it.
What about putting together a romantic dinner for just the two of you? Restaurants can be crowded and noisy. And for an extra special venue, reservations are required, sometimes a month in advance! At home, you can control everything, from the food served, the ambiance, even the music. I thought I would provide two 4 course menus to get you started!

Romance, Italian style
Appetizer
Sundried Tomato Stuffed
Mushrooms

Salad
Caramelized Pancetta and Fennel Salad

Entree
Chicken Parmigiana

Dessert
Chocolate Tiramisu

These dishes are easy enough for anyone to make, but look and taste fantastic enough to impress! You just can’t go wrong with pasta and chocolate!

Bring The Heat

Appetizer
Chicken Sate with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

Salad
Spicy Greens With Warm Basalmic Dressing

Entree
Chicken Tikka Masala

Dessert
Aztec Truffles served with a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

These dishes will truly get your blood going, and while I think romance should be an every day occurence, why not make Valentines Day extra special? I have to say the Chicken Tikka Masala is one of my personal favorites, it is definitely worth the effort, and looks pretty when plated. I hope these jump start your plans for Valentines Day, or get creative and come up with your own love inducing menu!

Plans

Shayna — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:13:06 +0000

Today I spent most of the day planning. Knowing that we will be back on track to find the perfect space to house the bakery in about a year, has prompted me to see what is out there.
There is so much research that goes into this particular hunt. Its not like looking for an office space. Which I was tempted to look into! I was and still am an Event Planner. But have always worked from home. And how easy would it be to get back into Event Planning on a more continuos basis, getting into a nice little office, with a few employees, and in a year, move into a bakery with the Event Planning already intact? My thought had been to start the bakery and then bring planning back into it.
I was chatting with a friend of mine today, about working, going to school, etc. Do you? Don’t you? Which is better? Going to school and hoping to find a job in that field? Finding a job is hard enough these days! Or is it better to KNOW what you love, and just go do it? And yes, if you want to be a doctor, please don’t just go and do it, please go to school…. I love baking. Not just at home either. The days I spent baking at the commercial kitchen I had rented space in were fantastic. I would get into a groove and just bake the day away. And I loved it so much.
I think I just rabbit-trailed a bit there! Anyways, back to hunting for a bakery. The best possible space would have already been a cafe or a bakery at one point. Small and intimate would be a good fit for our first location. Without a commercial kitchen already installed, remodeling would cost us an arm and a leg! The less we have to borrow in the form of a loan, the better.
So there you have it. We are so close, but not there yet.

Sandwich Cookies With A Twist

Shayna — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:37:42 +0000

Yesterday I was cleaning up around the house, and found a Food & Wine magazine in my boys room. Apparently they are closet foodies! I flipped through it quickly to see if it was one I had missed when I had organized recipes the last time. On the last page was a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches with a Ganache filling. Of course, I immediately wanted to give them a shot.
Unfortunately after rummaging through my baking cupboard, I realized I was out of chocolate chips. And with a limited amount of time, I couldn’t make a grocery run to pick them up. Whats a baker to do?
Improvise of course! So what I came up with was this: Sugar cookies, bottoms dipped in chocolate, and sandwiched with a vanilla cream cheese buttercream. YUM!

Sugar Cookies are easy enough to make, this is the recipe I use.
3 cup Flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 c unsalted butter (softened) although to be honest, I always use sweetened salted butter in all my recipes
1 egg beaten
1 tblsp milk
powdered sugar, for rolling out dough, you can use flour too if you prefer

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until pale yellow in color. Add in egg and milk until just combined. And slowly add in flour mixture until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refridgerate for about 1-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, bake for 9-10 min. Every oven is a little different, mine bakes them perfectly at 10min 30 seconds.
Roll the dough out, and with a round cookie cutter, I used one about 2in across, cut out your cookies. Line a pan with parchment paper to place the cookies on to bake.

Once the cookies have cooled completely, I took about 12 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips, and in a microwave safe bowl melted them down. Check about every 15-20 seconds and give it a good stir, until its smooth. I dipped the bottom of each cookie and placed it chocolate side up on a sheet of wax paper until the chocolate had set.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream filling
1 stick softened butter (1/2c)
1/2 block of softened cream cheese (about 4 oz)
Powdered sugar to taste
dash of vanilla
3-4 oz heavy whipping cream

In a stand mixer, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth, add in powdered sugar. I honestly don’t have an accurate measure of this, I add in until its the perfect balance between the taste of butter and the taste of powdered sugar. And the color is a very very pale yellow. But if you want a measurement, I would start with a 1/4 cup and go up from there until it reaches the taste you like. Add in vanilla, blend and then the heavy whipping cream. Turn your mixer to about medium speed and whip until its a nice thick consistency.
The chocolate should be set by this time. Fill a pastry bag with the filling, snipping the end to make a good size opening. Pipe in the middle of the cookie, and sandwich with another cookie, chocolate side in! These were so yummy, but easy to make!
You could also leave the cookies plain, pipe in the filling, and then dip half the cookie sandwich in chocolate, or even just drizzle it over the top for a pretty design.

Tres Leches Cupcakes

Shayna — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:42:16 +0000

Tres Leche Cupcake Delight

I am always up for a challenge. The world is my guinea pig basically. So if you meet me ever, I will try new stuff out on you! So last weekend, I was supposed to go to my small group meeting. But since it was Mr Bakers last night on his vacation time at home, and my sister was in town, we ended up not going. But! not before I had made a delicious dessert!
The theme for dinner was Mexican, and the first request I recieved was to make fried ice cream. Another something I haven’t ever attempted before. In my mind, its not really baking though, unless you make home made ice cream, its just buying it, and rolling it in another store bought item. Also, unbeknownst to me, it is a TIME consuming process. Scooping ice cream, letting it harden in the freezer. Crushing corn flakes and mixing in brown sugar and cinnamon and rolling the ice cream in it. And then once again, letting it sit in the freezer to harden some more.
I began brainstorming and decided I would instead make Tres Leches cupcakes, top it with French Vanilla ice cream, sprinkled with crushed up corn flakes, cinnamon and brown sugar that I had dotted with butter and baked in the oven. I also made some home made cinnamon strips for a garnish.
The cupcakes were easy enough to make, just use a simple sponge cake recipe and fill cupcake tins about 2/3 full. Once they have baked according to instructions, and cooled completely, combine 1 can evaporated milk, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, and 1/4 cup heavy cream and pour it over the each cupcake. Let it soak in completely and let set.
The result is so yummy!! The cupcakes are light and sweet, and the crunch of the topping really brings it all together.

A Baking We Will Go

Shayna — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:15:13 +0000

Baking has become my passion in life, next to my family and God. I was talking to my mom the other day, I was telling her about the Eggnog Cupcakes I made, as well as my Peppermint Patty ones. I took them to a small group meeting, and they were a hit! My mom asked me, why I was baking when I was so busy with the kids, and stressed out with the current deployment of Mr Baker. My answer? I can’t stop! Its like a disease, I HAVE TO BAKE!
My goal, is to get my product out there to as many people as possible. One of the ladies in the group asked if she could pass the cupcakes out to some friends of hers. By all means!! YES!
Right now, I am more then happy to pass out as many of my goodies to anyone who has not had them yet. They always come back for more!
I am thinking of having a tasting party of some sort, invite everyone I know, and tell them all to invite at least 2 people I don’t know!
What I have found fantastic, is that I have my own personal PR agent in my neighbor. She literally is telling every person she meets about me, my baking, and how amazing it is. From there she goes on to let them know that if they or someone they know are having an event of some sort, I am their go-to person for all cakes, cupcakes, or goodies.
There is just so much we are learning that goes into opening a bakery. It was one thing to run an Event Planning business. My main concern was getting new clients. There was no store front to maintain, and very little in the way of inventory. And its not just baking yummy goodies. I really think its building a client base, loyal customers, creativity and business sense. Thank God, I have Mr Baker for that side of it. Anyways, I thought I would leave this for anyone else who is in the same position we are in Its a great article, very straight forward, and actually very encouraging!

Tis’ The Season

Shayna — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:51:01 +0000

Its my favorite time of year. I love the Holidays, and starting in November, all I can think about are ways to bake with pumpkin, cinnamon, and peppermint. Last night however, I became caught up in an Eggnog discussion. A little weird, I know. But I love eggnog, and my kids do too. Someone mentioned pumpkin eggnog, which got me thinking about baking. Of course! Which led to Eggnog cupcakes! Can Seasonal baking get any better? Anyway, I have a fantastic Vanilla cupcake recipe that I use, so I came to the conclusion that instead of using a 1/2 cup of heavy cream, I would sub in eggnog (Southern Comfort brand) and see what happened. And OH MY WORD!! If the batter is any indication, (yes, I licked the mixing attachment…) these are going to be AMAZING!! I am thinking a vanilla buttercream with a hint of cinnamon.
I’m back! Cupcakes out of the oven, and I whipped up some vanilla buttercream, the cinnamon really brings out the flavor of the “nog”. A few weeks back, I had picked up a cinnamon sugar grinder from the grocery store. Which looks like big chunks of sugar and flakes of cinnamon stick together. And with a pepper or salt grinder on top. With a few twists of the top, it makes a nice addition to the frosting. The taste is fantastic! And it gets 2 thumbs up from my picky eater. I will get some pics to share with you after I have a group sample them Saturday morning. I am super territorial about recipes, but I think I might just have to share this one!

Plans In Motion

Shayna — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:32:42 +0000

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted anything here. Mr. Baker is officially overseas now, doing his part to protect our lovely country. Since the actual storefront is on hold, I have decided to concentrate on building a loyal clientele. At the moment, I have 2 birthdays coming up, and a cookie exchange I am co-hosting and planning! I am super excited about that one, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. And what could be better then baking, decorating, and sharing recipes with some good friends, as well as new ones?
Another new project, which ties into another love of the Posh Baker, is to write a cookbook. Let me just say, it is a lot more time consuming then I thought it would be. Mostly because I am not sure of the angle I want to approach it from. It makes sense to have it reflect the Bake Shoppe, at least I would think so. On the other hand, how many other bakery owners out there are or have done the very same thing? Should I be looking for a “niche” of some sort?
A good friend of mine had suggested I do something along the lines of a “deployment” cookbook. As in fun, easy and delish dishes, that are great for the “faux” single girl and something the kiddos might just eat. And while it’s a great idea, I can’t say whether its for me. Although I have to say, that sounds like a plan for my next cookbook! However, I have done a pretty good job of holding the Navy at arms length. I don’t particularly like the association much of the time.
Here is my official take on the cookbook in progress. I want it to definitely reflect the bakery, the Posh and fantastically fun desserts I make, but also how simple they can be to put together. Mixed in with tips on Event Planning, party prep, and streamlining the chaos! Baking it Posh should showcase that passion. What do you think?