Whip It Up Week 4 - Chocolately Goodness!

Thanks to some extreme technical difficulties, I'm about two weeks behind in posting Whip It Up updates - sorry everyone!

One of my favorite things about being back in San Antonio is that I can occasionally run by Joseph's Storehouse - San Antonio's premiere restaurant/bakery/church - again for lunch or a sweet treat, like Amy and I used to do when we were at Trinity. Amy is a girl after my own heart and firmly believes in finishing most every meal with a little something sweet - Joseph's cookies were often just the thing we needed!

My mom and I stopped into Joseph's seeking a sweet treat on a trip to the area two years ago and discovered Joseph's gigantic chocolate fudge cupcakes. I noticed a framed newspaper article on the wall where the recipe had been printed and figured I'd have no trouble finding that particular article online - I was wrong.

Bryon and I met for lunch during the week at Joseph's recently, and I took the opportunity to furiously scribble down the recipe while Bryon was paying for our meal. Upon closer examination, the recipe is nearly identical to a sheet cake recipe that my mom has been making for as long as I can remember, except her recipe uses shortening, cinnamon, and there's less vanilla extract in the icing.

The cupcakes are rich, fudgey, and wonderful - definitely a winner! And, like my mom's recipe, it can be made as a sheet cake as well. Will I make it again? Probably - but I think I'll add the cinnamon to the batter that my mom's recipe includes. The recipe is very easy - I think even a very beginning baker would have no problem with these whatsoever.

Joseph's Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup cocoa

1 cup oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla

¾ cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease jumbo muffin tin or rectangular cake pan. Sift dry ingredients together. Add liquid ingredients and mix well. Bake 25-30 minutes for large cupcakes, or 30-40 minutes for cake.

Icing

4 Tablespoons cocoa
6 Tablespoons milk
1 stick butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Begin preparing the icing approximately 5 minutes before the cupcakes or cake is done baking. Bring butter, cocoa and milk to boil. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, mixing well. Pour/spread over hot cake(s).

Source: Joseph's Storehouse Bakery, Grandma Goldsmith

Strawberry-licious

For the last week of my Wilton cake decorating class, I decided to change things up and do a strawberry cake with mascarpone filling and cream cheese icing. The cake was delicious! I was not nearly as pleased with how my decorated cake ended up looking (the cream cheese icing was just too soft for a lot of the decorating techniques I was using), so there were no "beauty shots" of the completed cake - just this one of a slice on a plate.



If this recipe looks familiar, I've made (and shared) it before, modified into cupcake form

Strawberry Cake

3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/2 cup fresh* strawberries, pureed
1 small package strawberry Jello
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour, baking powder, soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine evenly. Stir the sour cream, strawberries, jello, and vanilla together in a large liquid measuring cup and set aside.

Beat the butter on high in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue beating while gradually adding the sugar - it should take a couple of minutes to completely incorporate all the sugar. Continue to beat until very light and fully, about 3-4 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl as you mix. Blend thoroughly.

Scoop the batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Lightly tap the pans on the counter so that the batter settles evenly.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes, then place cakes onto the rack to cool completely.

*Substituting frozen strawberries for fresh works just fine.

Source: Modified from FoodNetwork.com Raspberry Cake

Mascarpone Filling

6 - 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
Confectioner's sugar
Vanilla extract
Heavy cream

There's no real science to this filling. Let the mascarpone sit out on the counter for a bit to soften so that it will mix easily. Cream the mascarpone, then add sugar, vanilla, and cream until you reach the taste and consistency you desire.

Cream Cheese Icing

8 oz. cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar (approx. 1 pound)
2 Tablespoons milk

In large bowl, cream the cream cheese with an electric mixer. Add vanilla and combine. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in, the icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Icing can be stored up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Re-whip before using.

Makes 3 cups.

Note: Quantities of confectioner's sugar and/or milk may vary to reach the desired consistency, particularly depending on the weather. Humidity can have a great impact on icing.

Mmmm, cake!

This past month, I took Wilton's Course 1 Cake Decorating class at my local Michael's. For our first week of actual decorating, we were instructed to bring in a shaped cake. I have a really pretty sunflower pan that I bought several years ago at William's Sonoma, so I decided to use that. I was wanting to make a yellow cake with lemon curd filling. A friend provided me with two cake recipes - one she had used and thought was quite good, and a second that she had recently found and was wanting to try. Initially, I used the first recipe she sent. Unfortunately, that cake didn't come out of my pan properly, so I had to bake a second cake. I decided to make lemonade from these lemons, and use this opportunity to make the second cake recipe. While the first recipe was good, the second one was the winner, hands-down! I now have a go-to yellow cake recipe.

Fluffy Yellow Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour, plus extra for dusting pans

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

10 Tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 large egg yolks, room temperature

3 large egg whites, room temperature

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 350. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans (9 inches wide by 2 inches high) and line bottoms with parchment paper. Grease paper rounds, dust pans with flour, and knock out the excess.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1 1/2 cups of the sugar together in a large bowl (1/4 cup sugar will remain).

In a 4-cup liquid measuring cup or a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg yolks.

In clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. With mixer running, gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form, 30 to 60 seconds (whites should hold peak, but mixtures should appear moist). Transfer to another bowl and set aside.

Add flour mixture to now-empty mixing bowl fitted with whisk attachment. With mixer running at low speed, gradually pour in butter mixture and mix until almost incorporated (a few streaks of dry flour will remain), about 15 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape whisk and sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium-low speed and beat until smooth and fully incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds.

Using rubber spatula, stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten, then add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Lightly tap pans against the counter 2 to 3 times to dislodge any large air bubbles.

Bake until cake layers begin to pull away from sides of pans and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. (Note: since I was using a single, larger pan, my baking time was obviously longer.) Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen cakes from sides of pans with small knife, then invert onto greased wire rack and peel off parchment. Turn cakes over and cool completely on rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Source: Adapted from the February 2008 issue of Cook's Illustrated

Lemon Curd

3 lemons

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature

4 extra-large eggs

1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Using microplane or carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees, or just below a simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

Source: Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Buttercream Icing (Medium Consistency)

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar (approx. 1 lb.)

2 Tablespoons milk

In large bowl, cream butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in, the icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. This icing can be stored 2 weeks if refrigerated in an airtight container. Just re-whip before using.

Makes 3 cups.

For thinner (spreading consistency) icing, add up to 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup, water, or milk until desired consistency is reached.

To assemble, I split the cake into two layers. I piped a thick "dam" of icing along the edge of the bottom layer, spooned the lemon curd inside, then placed the top layer.

From there, it was just a matter of decorating with a star tip (Wilton #21).