How to Make a Present Cake

When I saw the picture of this adorable cake, I discovered that my friend Kathy had hidden talents! I proposed that she write a guest post on my blog, and she graciously accepted. I wanted to share it with anyone who might wander in here—and hopefully get her cake on Foodgawker. Keep your fingers crossed.

In the mean time, here's how you can make this super cute and super easy cake! Take it away, Kathy...


First, let's start with the bow.

Two days before you need the cake, you'll need to start preparations for the big bow that goes on top. I made it out of fondant. You can find ready-to-use fondant in your local craft store in the cake decorating section. (I would suggest this over attempting to make your own.) Take about 1/2 of the fondant and roll it out, using confectioners sugar to keep it from sticking to the counter. Roll into a rectangle, about 1/8" think, and a little over 12" long. Cut the fondant (I used a wood ruler and pizza cutter) into 6" x 1" strips. Moisten the end of the strip and fold it over to create a loop. Lay the loop on its side to dry on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Create 16 loops. These need to dry for a couple days before assembly.

One day before you need the cake, it's time to assemble the bow. After the loops have dried and hardened (at least one day) lay them in a circular patter, ends touching—I used 8 for the bottom. Moisten the flat ends very lightly and then pressed them together to form the circle. (Kelly's note: Take another look at the pic and you'll get a better grasp of what Kathy's doing here.) Take a tiny piece of fondant (from the other half to be used later) and mix it with a little water to make it pasty, like glue. Put that in the center of the bottle layer. Then moistening the ends of the remaining loops (just a little) layered them on top of the bottom circle. Let dry one day on a cookie sheet lined with clean wax paper.

Next, bake your cake. I used an 8" square pan and a regular cake mix. After baking and letting the cake cool completely, I sliced the cake in half with a a cake leveler that I bought at my local craft store. It is the best thing EVER and only cost $3.99. I also leveled off the top layer so it would be flat.

Then make your buttercream icing. Here is the recipe I used.

• 1/2 cup butter (real butter, no margarine) room temp
• 1/2 cup shortening (I know some of you may not want to use shortening, you can substitute another 1/2 cup of butter for this but the frosting will not be quite as firm)
• 1 lb confectioners sugar (about 4 cups)
• 1 tsp clear vanilla (you don’t have to use clear unless you want a white frosting, if you want white then use the clear, as regular will discolor your frosting)
• 2-3 Tbsp milk
• A pinch of salt (this is very important, don’t leave it out.)
• Food coloring of choice

Assemble cake layers with layer of frosting between. Gently brush off any crumbs on the cake and lightly frost the sides and the top with a thin layer of the buttercream. Let this dry 10-15 min. This will prevent crumbs in your final frosting. Continue frosting with remaining buttercream.

Getting the pretty design on the cake is very easy. Let your cake dry for 15-20 min after frosting. Lay a clean paper towel on top of your frosted cake and gently rub your fingers over the raised pattern, lightly smoothing the frosting—a quick and easy way to add a pattern to your cake. Repeat for the sides. Let dry completely.

Back to the fondant for the ribbon sides.
I measured the height and width of my cake to figure out how long I need the strips to be and made them 1 inch wide. Drape the strips on the cake like you would a present. Add a little buttercream to act as glue in the center where the two strips intersect. Gently pick up your assembled bow and put on the buttercream spot. Gently press it down in the center. Next cut a small strip of fondant, 1" wide and 3" long, and make a circle. Press the ends together. Put a small amount of buttercream in the center of your bow (you may want to use white buttercream here so it is not seen). Place your circle in the center of your bow pressing down lightly to attach. Take a small amount of tissue or paper towel and roll it to insert into the center of your circle. This will help it keep its form while it dries. Just be sure to remove it before serving!

If desired, you can dust your cake and bow with an edible pearl dust (also found in your local craft store in the cake decorating aisle). This adds a very nice shimmer! Just be sure to let everything dry completely before dusting.

Enjoy!!!!


Thanks, Kathy!

BBA Challenge Week 3 - Bagels

I don't know if you know this about me, but I love carbs. It's why breakfast is my favorite meal. It's not because of omelets or sausage or bacon. OK, maybe a little about the bacon. No, it's mainly because the entire meal can consist entirely of carbs—pancakes, waffles, hash browns, cereal, cinnamon rolls, toast... and bagels. Ah, bagels. Chewy yet crusty, plain or with a schmear of peanut butter, savory or sweet—although I much prefer sweet, especially if we're talking about breakfast.

I've attempted to make bagels a couple of times and have ended up with something more suitable for a door stop than breakfast. So it was with as much trepidation as anticipation that I approached this week's BBA Challenge bread.

These bagels, as with many of the recipes in Peter Reinhart's book, are a two-day process. The first involves a sponge, waiting, mixing the rest of the ingredients, kneading, dividing, waiting, shaping, waiting and putting in the fridge for an overnight rest. This is called "retarding" the dough so that it has a chance to develop more complex flavors. You can even leave them for a couple of days before proceeding to the next steps.

This? Right here? Breakfast nirvana.

Day one went swimmingly. The sponge got spongy, the dough came together nicely and kneading did its usual trick of making me feel like a strong pioneer woman (not THE Pioneer Woman, more of a "Mrs. Ingalls" kind of pioneer woman). But things weren't looking very promising 10 or 15 minutes into the kneading. I attempted to achieve a "windowpane"— stretching a small portion of dough until it's transcluscent—but mine kept tearing. I kept up the kneading for another 10-15 minutes, but it didn't seem to help.

So I did what any self-respecting home baker would do and gave up. Threw in the towel, hung up my apron. Kidding. I did give up kneading, but continued with the rest of the process, weighing hunks of dough so that each was approximately 4.5 ounces. I ended up with 11 full size and one around 3 ounces. I covered them with a damp towel and let them rest for 20 minutes while I poured myself a glass of wine and hoped for the best.

Measured and shaped rolls, ready for a nice rest.

Next came the shaping. Resting the dough worked some sort of miracle, because the dough seemed just about perfect. I turned each roll into a rope, wrapped it around my hand and pressed the ends together to form the circles. I was feeling much better about the whole thing while letting the shaped bagels rest for another 20 minutes.


At this point, you have to do the float test. If a bagel floats in a bowl of water, you're ready put them in the fridge. My test bagel floated like a champ, so into the fridge they went. And I had another glass of wine.


Day two: boiling and baking. A straightforward day, consisting of—you guessed it—boiling and baking. It wasn't until I snapped my first picture that I realized I'd forgotten to put the baking soda in the pot of boiling water. A mistake easily corrected.


The bagels boil one minute for each side, then you slide them back onto the baking sheets and top with whatever strikes your fancy. I opted for sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and garlic for the savory ones. The rest were either straight turbinado sugar or cinnamon sugar. LOTS of cinnamon sugar. I was going for a Panera-esque look and taste for those. Unfortunately, my heavy-handed sugaring lead to my overly sensitive smoke alarm going off three times while the sugar overflow melted on the baking sheet.

Just-boiled and ready for some toppings.

As a result, I think I undercooked them a bit. The bagels were done, but the crusts weren't browned enough. Didn't stop me from consuming two of them as soon as they were cool enough to eat without burning my mouth.

Get a look at that crumb. Looks like a real bagel and everything.

The verdict: A bit too chewy with a not-as-crisp-as-I'd-like-it crust, but utterly delicious. I'll definitely make them again, just adjust the baking time to achieve the proper crust. Given some practice, I think these could rival any bakery-made bagel I've had.


Next week: Schedule some extra gym time, because we're making BRIOCHE!

My take on Pastor Ryan's bread

Those of you that follow Pioneer Woman know what I'm about to talk about. Last weekend, PW Cooks guest poster and total cutie Pastor Ryan traveled with his wife and daughter to The Ranch. During his stay, he fixed some amazing meals, and went "Iron Chef" style on a crazy ingredient list gathered from PW's readers.

The one that really caught my attention was—no surprise—the bread he whipped up on his first day at the Ranch. I had some time tonight and decided to give it a whirl. Naturally, I changed it up a bit, 'cause that's how I roll. You can check out the recipe here, but here are my alts:

I didn't measure the flour, but I would guess that I had closer to 3 cups than 4. Four would have been way too much. I also added 1-1/2 tsp yeast instead of just 1 tsp. I cut the butter from 4 oz. to 2 oz. I allowed the dough to proof for about 20-25 min after the first rise and before popping it into my PREHEATED baker. Ryan shaped the bread right after the first rise and baked it right away.


I proofed it on a piece of parchment and when the stoneware baker was hot, I dropped the whole thing in, covered it and cooked it 25 min before removing the lid for the last 10 min. It looked done, so I checked the temp. Bingo!






It smelled amazing and tastes great. For a yeast bread, it was incredibly quick. I'll probably keep this one in my arsenal.

BBA Challenge Week 2 — Artos: Greek Celebration Breads

Yesterday wrapped up week 2 for the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge group. If you're interested in learning more about the challenge, Nicole at Pinch My Salt has created an incredibly helpful FAQ here. Although the official group is closed to new members, there's no reason not to join us. Here's how.

This week's bread was Artos, Greek celebration breads. It's an enriched bread (in this case, meaning it contains fat, eggs and milk) and is the basis for holiday-specific variations. The book lists two, Christopsomos and Lambropsomo, for Christmas and Easter respectively. Each has its own combination of add-ins in the form of various dried fruits and nuts, and also has a specific shape. The Christopsomos is a boule with a fancy cross/swirl over the top and the Lambropsomo is a braid with hard boiled eggs nestled in the strands.

Right after shaping ... and just before going into the oven.

I chose the Chrisopsomos add-ins but went with the braid shape. I'm partial to braided bread; I think it's just gorgeous. Despite not having honey (I substituted with agave syrup), everything seemed to be going swimmingly. It wasn't until I was shaping the bread for its final proofing that I realized I'd left out the fruits and nuts.

I could have left it alone and baked it without, but I decided to gather the dough back together and knead them in, letting the dough rest again before shaping. I had already shaped a small boule with about 1/3 of the dough and left that alone.

This is a 1/4 sheet pan, which makes this loaf look huge. It's not!
See the flecks? Those are all of the fragrant spices. Mmm...

The re-kneaded dough proofed beautifully and baked up as good as I could have hoped—it was gorgeous. But I think the interruption of adding the fruits and nuts changed the crumb. Unlike the boule that was as soft as can be and almost melt-in-your-mouth tender, the braid was drier and more dense. While they both tasted excellent, Dwight preferred the boule with its soft texture. In his words, "It was perfect."

Clockwise from the top: Cinnamon, cloves, allspice, Penzeys Baking Spice, and a puddle of yeast and fresh nutmeg at 7 o'clock. They were victims of a flour avalanche.

I love this stuff. I put it in many of my baked goods.

Nutmeg innards. Cool, eh?

I will definitely be making this bread again. It's loaded with all of my favorite baking spices, and is a beautiful dough to work with, not to mention that it's delicious. It was absolutely perfect as french toast!


This week, we move on to bagels. I'm anxious to try them. I've made some in the past using different recipes and they were better suited to hockey pucks than breakfast food, so keep your fingers crossed that Mr. Reinhart will help me finally get them right.

BBA Challenge Week 1 — Anadama

First, a little background. This challenge began with a casual comment by Nicole of Pinch My Salt. About three weeks ago, she decided to bake her way through the book and posted her thoughts on Twitter, asking if anyone would be interested in joining her. Much to her surprise, like-minded bakers chimed in, eager to join her challenge. From there, it exploded. I happened to find a reference to it in my foodgawker feed. I clicked on the link and was instantly drawn to the challenge, and was thrilled to see that the deadline for joining was that day—seredipity.

Today was the final day for Anadama bread, the first of 43 breads the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge group is baking. I won't be posting any recipe today or for any of my BBA posts due to the group's repect for copyright laws. Feel free to Google any bread name to find other recipes out there, or check your local library for a copy of Peter Reinhart's book. If you're really interested in learning about bread baking and not just looking for a recipe, this is a great resource.

Because I was baking last minute, I was able to read the notes from other BBA bakers and I started to get worried. I was wondering if I would have falling loaves, as others did, or if the taste would be just "eh." I had a few moments of doubt along the process. I had to add quite a bit of flour when I kneaded the dough. I also worried about the temperature of the dough. According to the book, the dough should have been between 77° and 81°F. Mine was about 71°F. Ack! Also, I never achieved a "windowpane" when stretching the dough, not even close.

So I was a little concerned. But I finished the kneading and popped it into the greased bowl for it's first rise. It looked great. Whew. I dumped it onto the counter and cut it roughly in half. In comes the kitchen scale. I weighed the pieces, shooting for 24 oz. The recipe was supposed to make 2-24 oz loaves or 3-16oz loaves. I planed up making 2, but ended up with some extra, so I made three - one at 24 oz, one at 16 oz, and the leftovers as the third.

The verdict: the loaves rose beautifully, baked great (and in about half the time called for), and tastes wonderful—soft, flavorful and a bit crunchy. Simply delicious!

Here are some images from the process.

The "sponge"—it was bubbling as I took pics!

Adding molasses and shortening.

After adding the flour and getting ready to knead.

After the final rise, ready for the oven. I was supposed to dust with cornmeal, but forgot—oops.

Checking for doneness using an instant read thermometer. Not quite there, but very close.

The 24 oz and 16 oz loaves. The "leftover" loaf had already been consumed!
The 16 oz went home with my parents.

Perfection.
Did I mention that I love making bread?

p.s. I used AP flour—I didn't realize I was all out of bread flour. Didn't seem to adversely affect the bread.

Looks like I'm feeding an army

I'm in the middle of dinner prep for just myself, Dwight and another couple and I appear to have made A LOT. Of course, how do you make "a little" lasagne? That's like making "a little chili" — not possible.

On the menu is the aforementioned lasagne, along with a mixed green salad, homemade bread with roasted garlic and tiramisu cupcakes. The bread is proofing, the cupcakes are baked, cooling on the counter, and the lasagne is in the oven. I'm cooking it a bit early, but I'll need the oven for the bread. Besides, I figured I'd mostly cook it now, let it sit a bit, flavors getting all meldy with each other, then pop it back in the oven for a few minutes to brown the cheese on top.

Here are some in-process shots:


My newest kitchen gadget—a scale. I've been wanting one for a long time and it's going to come in VERY handy with the BBA Challenge. This will ensure I'm measuring correctly AND that my loaves are of equal weight. No more guessing and having uneven loaves which means uneven baking times. Hooray!






Off to finish up. Man, does it smell good in here!