Ever share a recipe with a friend, maybe even make the same recipe and compare notes over how it came out? Isn't that fun and certainly a way to grow as a baker or cook? If you have, then you need to join The Daring Kitchen.
One day, Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice decided to share a recipe for pretzels back in 2006, and before they knew what happened, by 2009, they had a website with thousands of followers!! "Today, The Daring Bakers and The Daring Cooks span the world as bakers/cooks of all nationalities come together once a month to try something new in the kitchen!"
For more information about Lisa and Ivonne, check out the Daring Kitchen website and become a member. The monthly challenges, whether you are a Daring Cook or a Daring Baker, are fun and certainly challenge (pardon the redundancy) you to spread your culinary wings! We've been members since November 2010, and even though we can't do every single monthly challenge due to our already hectic schedules, we try to do it because it really is so much fun for us!
Check out our recent challenges from December, February, and March. Stay tuned for May's challenge at the end of the month - it's a yummy one for chocolate lovers!
May and June are always busy months for us, and this year is no different! Last week we made a cake for Christina's cousin, this week we have a bridal shower and a boy's birthday, and next week we have a sweet 16.
Phew!
We end the month with a Safari-themed cake for twins turning one and then we head into June, when we have more birthday cakes and baby shower cookie favors too.
Never let it be said that we are idle! We even have an order for wedding cake pop favors for July, so it looks like the summer is going to be busy as well.
Here is the baby shower cake from last week and the bridal shower cake from earlier this week, and be sure to come back tomorrow for the Yankee jersey cake for a boy's birthday, which is a reprise of a cake we did last year.
The bridal shower cake (below) was small and simple with the bride's main color of royal purple as an accent. The couple's monogram on a heart with ribbon roses made this cake a sweet treat indeed! The inside was a duplicate of the bride's actual wedding cake: chocolate cake with Bavarian cream and strawberries (although we had to leave out the strawberries since one guest had severe allergies). Nonetheless, the cake was yummy and the bride loved it!
The baby shower cake was a zebra print for a girl and also a reprise of a cake from last year. The client requested matching cake pops; both cake and pops were red velvet, with cream cheese filling for the cake. The cake was delivered to The Mansion in Madison.
A variation on a baby shower cake we did last year.
We found this recipe in our May issue of BHG magazine. In keeping with our strawberries theme for Tasty Thursdays in May, here it is. Christina is planning on making these for a Mother's Day brunch this weekend!
Double-Strawberry Scones
(recipe courtesy of BHG magazine and BHG.com)
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries, (optional - Trader Joe's carries these!)
2 Tbsp. snipped basil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup half-and-half
Half-and-half or milk
Sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl stir together the flour, the 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gently toss in fresh and freeze-dried strawberries and basil. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl stir together eggs and the half-and-half. Add egg mixture to flour mixture all at once. Using a large spoon, gently stir just until moistened.
3. Turn dough out onto a generously floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing it 5 to 7 times, turning dough a quarter turn after each fold. Transfer to a lightly floured parchment-lined baking sheet. Pat or lightly roll dough into a 3/4-inch-thick circle. Cut circle into wedges and pull apart slightly.
4. Brush wedges with additional half-and-half and sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 16 minutes or until golden. Serve warm. Refrigerate any leftover scones; reheat 15 seconds in microwave. Makes 12 scones.
Wilton's 10-piece fondant/gum-paste tool set is a must-have for every cake decorator.
It includes every tool you would need to create beautiful gum paste and fondant flowers, leaves and accents. The set comes in a covered case and "includes large/small veining tool, shell tool/knife, large/small dogbone tool, serrated quilting/cutting wheel, umbrella tool with 5 and 6 divisions, scriber/cone tool, large/small ball tool, palette knife and modeling sticks #1 and #2."
It sells for $29.99 on the Wilton website as well as in stores such as Michael's and AC Moore, although if you shop there, be sure to use a discount coupon for it!
First known as the Chocolate Gallery over 25 years ago, NY Cake is indeed a baker's paradise!
A renowned cake decorator and gold medal award winner, Joan Mansour founded NY Cake after customers kept asking "repeatedly for a shop to purchase supplies to bake and decorate their cakes, she decided to emphasize more on baking products and we thereby became known as New York Cake and Baking Distributor." Now her store is 5,000 square feet and carries everything a cake decorator could ever want!
Located at 56 West 22nd Street between 5th & 6th Avenues, NY Cake is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm for all of your baking needs. They also offer classes of all kinds so be sure to check out their website and visit their store if you are in the area!
Christina's cousin Jason is turning 26 on May 2nd, and yesterday she attended his birthday bash for which she provided the cake. Red velvet with cream cheese was what the birthday boy requested, decorated with navy, chartreuse, hot pink, and white as well as some serious pizzazz! The cake was a hit with all the party-goers.
Now that spring is here and the weather has turned for the better (we hope), fresh fruit is always first and foremost on our minds for healthy snacks as well as for cake.
Strawberries are always a personal favorite because they can be so juicy and delicious. And fresh strawberry time is upon us, hooray! In fact, we love strawberries so very much that we are going to showcase those luscious berries in each Tasty Thursday feature in May!
We've shared our go-to fresh strawberry filling in the past and today we'd like to share a delicious strawberry cake recipe we came across by chance. What we love about this cake is that it doesn't require any frosting, although a scoop of fresh whipped cream wouldn't be amiss on it!
Oh, and strawberries give Christina, our resident kitchen gadget geek, an excuse to use her favorite gadget: a strawberry huller! If you don't have one of these, be sure to get one. They save your berries from being hacked to death and losing out on some of the precious fruit by simply digging out the green stem and none of the ripe, red berry. Christina's is from The Pampered Chef and can be used to core tomatoes too, when they come into season!
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on top of cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan or pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
3. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Arrange strawberry slices on top of batter. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over berries.
4. Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 50-55 minutes. Let cool in pan. To serve, cut into wedges. Store cake at room temperature, for up to two days.
Serves 10
Happy baking!
Christina & Meghan
P.S. One of our favorite children's books features the strawberry:
