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Yummy Link: Pretty Pretty Princess Cupcakes

YumSugar — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:29:03 -0700

These beautiful pretty princess cupcakes are a bit labor-intensive, but they definitely look worth it. - Never Bashful With Butter

For The Princess In All Of Us...

partysugar — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:46:56 -0800

On Saturday night I had an amazing dinner with my family for my aunt's 50th birthday. The party was a traveling one, we started with drinks at one house, dinner at a restaurant, and finished with dessert at another house. By far the best part of the night, was the final chapter, the dessert. I'm not saying this because I have a huge sweet tooth and a weakness for desserts, I'm saying it because it was a dessert I had never heard of before, something that I didn't even know existed, something so fabulously wonderful I had to share it with all of you, something called a princess cake. With a name like that, naturally a overly delicious dessert comes to mind. Princess cakes are a traditional Norwegian dessert, a sponge cake with raspberry jam, pastry cream, whipped cream, and marzipan dome frosting. I can't wait to try out this recipe at home and make my very own princess cake! For a cake so good you feel like a princess when you eat it, read more

Princess Cake
From Diana Baker Woodall

8 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 ounces melted butter
Cream filling, recipe follows
Whipped cream, recipe follows
Simple syrup, recipe follows
8 ounces raspberry jam
Marzipan Dome, recipe follows

Whip the egg yolks until they are pale yellow and doubled in volume. In another bowl, whip the egg whites until frothy, gradually adding the sugar until the foam becomes stiff. Fold half of the whipped egg whites into the yolks. Fold in the remaining egg whites thoroughly, until uniform in color. In 4 batches, fold in the sifted flour and the baking powder then the butter.
Immediately pour the batter into 2 (10-inch) greased cake pans and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven F for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool on a rack. After they've cooled, run the tip of a knife around the edge of the cakes to loosen them from the pans and remove. Using a long serrated knife, slice both cakes into 1/2-inch thick disks. Only 3 will be needed, reserve the rest for future use.
Place a 10-inch springform pan without a bottom on a 12-inch cakeboard. Place 1 layer of the sponge cake on the bottom, and generously brush with the syrup. Spread the jam evenly over the syrup and place a second layer of sponge cake on top of the jam. Brush with syrup and spread the prepared cream on this layer. Top with a third layer of sponge cake and again, brush with the syrup. Using your hands, press lightly on the cake to ensure cake is level. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Remove the springform mold from the cake and generously frost the sides with the reserved whipped cream. Pour the remaining whipped cream directly on the center of the top of the cake and using a spatula, make a mound, working from the center out. The height of the whipped cream should be approximately 1 1/2-inches in the center and about 1/2-inch on the edges.
Dust a work surface again with confectioners' sugar and roll the light green marzipan to a 1/10-inch thick circle, using as much confectioners' sugar as necessary during rolling to prevent the marzipan from sticking to the work surface. When you're finished rolling, marzipan should be stretched enough to cover the entire cake and sides. Roll marzipan on rolling pin and gently lay it down on top of the cake, smoothing out the dome and lightly pressing on the bottom edges of the cake to form a perfect dome. Decorate with leftover marzipan, making a braided border on the edge of the cake or simply dust the entire cake with confectioners' sugar.

Cream Filling:
2 cups milk
1 split vanilla bean
2 eggs
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch salt

Bring the milk and vanilla bean to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes to infuse.
Remove vanilla bean. Whisk the eggs, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a bowl until smooth.
Add half of the milk into the bowl containing the eggs, whisking constantly, then return the mixture to the saucepan containing the remaining milk, whisking over moderate heat.
Continue whisking until the mixture is thickened and begins to simmer.
Allow cream filling to simmer, whisking for an additional 2 minutes. Transfer into another bowl, cover and allow to cool completely.

Whipped Cream:
5 cups heavy cream
10 tablespoons sugar

Whisk heavy cream with sugar until it is firm and holds its shape, being careful not to over whip.
Fold one-fifth of the cream into the cooled pastry cream and refrigerate, covered, until chilled (approximately 1 hour). Reserve the remaining whipped cream in the refrigerator, covered.

Simple Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan, remove from heat and allow to cool.

Marzipan Dome:
1 1/2 pounds marzipan
Green food coloring
Confectioners' sugar for rolling

Color a walnut size piece of marzipan with the green food coloring until the marzipan is deep green. Reserve. Using a sifter or a fine mesh strainer, dust a scrupulously clean work surface with confectioners' sugar.
Tear off a pea-sized piece of green marzipan and knead it with the remaining marzipan until it is uniform in color. Add additional pieces from the green marzipan until it achieves a light green color (it should be the color of a Granny Smith apple). Discard the leftover deep green marzipan.

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5 Fabulous Gifts For the Do-It-Herself Hostess

partysugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:50:27 -0800

She's the girl who makes snake cakes in her sleep. The gal who sends twenty-five handmade birthday invitations to a four course sit-down dinner that she cooks. She's already obsessing about her Thanksgiving menu and testing out Christmas cocktails. You know who I'm talking about, she's the hostess who does it all and she's giving Martha Stewart a run for her money. Always on top of things, this fun-loving gal is easy to shop for. Here are my holiday gifting suggestions for the party-princess in your life.

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Off To Market Recap: Cake Plate

partysugar — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:57:49 -0800

By now most of you know about my obsession with making cakes. I don't mean those cakes from a Betty Crocker box, I mean elaborate creations that have tons of steps and take hours to complete. An epic cake of these proportions deserves, and requires, beautiful presentation. Unfortunately I don't have a cake platter or a cake stand... imagine how sad my gorgeous cakes look on a boring old everyday dinner plate! That's why I asked you to head off to market in search of cool cake plates. Just in time too: it's YumSugar's birthday on Monday, my half birthday on Friday, and my sister's birthday in 2 weeks so looks like I have a lot of fabulous excuses to go all out making cakes. You guys found some pretty plates and saved them in the Yum Market with the tag Cake Plate. I totally appreciate all your searching. Here are my favorites:

For modern, sleek cakes with ganache frostings, I love this square cake plate that chellebaby found. It's totally contemporary and will make any chocolate-y creature that much more mouth-watering.

A couple more, so read more

The exact opposite type of cake: an old fashioned layered one with thick, rustically spread frosting calls for a classic glass cake dome. Chlyn discovered this beauty that every at home baker needs. Even if you aren't serving the cake on this platter you need a safe place to hold the left overs.

A complete sucker for anything shiny, and I love this beaded crystal cake plate submitted by amyfinke. What better way to feel like a princess on your birthday than with a cake presented to you on this sparkling plate?

Thanks to everyone who scoured the web for cake plates! To learn more on how to bookmark your foodie finds in the Yum Market, check out geeksugar's guide.

Biggest Headline of 2008: The Fall and Return of Robert Irvine

YumSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:30:00 -0800

For Food Network star Robert Irvine, 2008 was dicier and more stressful than completing any challenge on Dinner: Impossible.

In February, news surfaced that the show's host had embellished his résumé. Many of Irvine's claims - that he was a KCVO Knight, awarded a castle by the Queen of England, attended the University of Leeds, and helped make the wedding cake for Prince Charles and Princess Diana - turned out to be made up.

The news, once it broke, seemed to be career suicide for Robert Irvine.

Food Network immediately distanced itself from Irvine, failing to renew his contract and replacing him as the host of the show with Next Iron Chef winner Michael Symon.

Last month, Food Network announced the near-impossible: It would be bringing the fallen Irvine back to host the show again. Many of you were excited about the turn of events, as you love Chef Symon but thought he was better suited for Iron Chefdom, anyway. New episodes with Irvine will debut in March 2009. Will you tune in to watch him again?

Source

Do You Care If Robert Irvine Embellished His Résumé?

YumSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:48:11 -0800

You may have heard but over the last several days, there's been a bit of a hub-bub over Robert Irvine's résumé. Looks like he might not have done the things he said he did, nor made the things he said he made, such as the wedding cake for Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Seems like he may have embellished just a tad bit. I wonder what this means for Irvine's career. After all, we all know what Food Network thinks of embellished résumés - anyone remember Jag? In fact, if you try to find Irvine's profile on their website you get an error instead of info (although the Google cache currently has the original one).

Given all the weird facts, embellishments and errors, what I want to know is does any of this affect the way you think of him?

Source

Keeping It Simple

partysugar — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:58:01 -0800

I love to go crazy making an expert level dessert with layers full of syrups, cakes, creams, and frostings, but I also love creating a supremely simple dessert with one or two easy components. It's because desserts are like handbags, one day you choose your Dior and the next day you feel more like your Target.

Yesterday I was in the mood for an intricate princess cake with marzipan dome and today all I want is vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. The classic "can't go wrong" combination of vanilla and chocolate in its purest form. Pour this chocolate sauce over your favorite store bought vanilla ice cream (my recommendation: Häagen-Daazs vanilla bean) or if you are feeling adventurous, break out the ice cream maker and whip up a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream. For the recipes, read more

Chocolate Sauce
From the Joy of Baking

12 ounces (340 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated white sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) light corn syrup
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract or strong liquor, such as rum, or liqueurs such as Grand Marnier or brandy

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl and set aside.
Combine the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan and place over low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often.
Remove from heat and pour immediately over the chocolate. Let stand until the chocolate has melted, then whisk until smooth.
Whisk in vanilla extract or other flavoring.
Store the sauce in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container. Reheat over simmering water before serving.

Makes about 2 cups.

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Vanilla Ice Cream
From Martha Stewart

2 vanilla beans
2 cups milk
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups very cold heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Split vanilla beans lengthwise with a sharp paring knife. Gently scrape out all the seeds.
Place vanilla-bean scrapings and pods in a medium saucepan with milk. Scald the mixture, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep for 30 minutes.
Combine egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium-high speed until very thick and pale yellow, 3 to 5 minutes. Alternatively, whisk together in a medium bowl.
Return milk to stove, and bring just to a simmer. Using a measuring cup or ladle, slowly pour about 1/2 cup of the hot-milk mixture into the egg-yolk mixture, whisking constantly on low speed until blended. Keep adding milk mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time, until it has all been added. Whisk until combined.
Pour mixture back into saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. The custard should retain a line drawn across the back of the spoon with your finger.
Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Remove pan from heat, and immediately stir in chilled cream to stop the custard from cooking. Pour through a mesh sieve into a medium bowl set in the ice bath, and stir occasionally until cooled. (Discard vanilla-bean pod and strained seeds.) Stir vanilla extract into cooled custard. Cover bowl, and transfer to refrigerator until chilled, at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Pour custard into an ice-cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Churn until the ice cream is just set, but not hard.
Transfer soft ice cream to an airtight plastic container; freeze at least 4 hours and up to 1 week.

Makes 1 1/2 quarts

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All About Almonds

partysugar — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:33:13 -0800

I think mousse is an underrated dessert. It has sort of slipped off of the radar as of late (when was the last time you were at a restaurant and you ordered mousse for dessert?) and I think it's time we bring it back. It's light, creamy, cool and lusciously good. And while you may think that it comes in only one flavor (chocolate), mousse is as versatile as its more popular cousin, pudding. Mousse is a great dessert for a dinner party because it can be (well it has to be) made well in advance to allow it to chill and set. Lately I've been craving almond based desserts (it was the marzipan in the princess cake that got me started) and I'm furthering the obsession today with a recipe for amaretto mousse. To make it, read more

Amaretto Mousse
From Razzle Dazzle Recipes

1 pint whipping cream
1 tbs. gelatin powder
3 oz. amaretto liqueur
4 eggs
3 tbs. confectioners sugar
vanilla extract, to taste
almond extract, to taste
1 cup sliced, toasted almonds

Whip the heavy cream. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
Dissolve gelatin powder in Amaretto in double boiler. Keep warm until ready to use.
Combine eggs and confectioners sugar in a separate double boiler. Heat on low, until warm whisk constantly. Remove egg & sugar mixture from heat.
Mix at high speed until reaches firm peaks.
Fold gelatin mixture into eggs.
Fold in whipped cream.
Add vanilla and almond extract to taste.
Fill dessert glasses, place in refrigerator until firm (approx 1 hour).
Garnish with sliced, toasted almonds.

Serves 6

Can be made a day ahead.

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