Parade of Cakes

In the past several weeks, I've been on a baking rampage. Having recently consulted my new favorite cookbook, Sky High, and finding numerous recipes that had to be tried, I set out on a baking adventure. I was also commissioned to make an anniversary cake for my friend who accidentally ate her anniversary cake about six months too early. I made her wedding cake last year, and she really wanted another cake to fill that void in her life.


Cake #1 Ginger's Anniversary Cake (Lemon Cake w/ Blackberry Filling)

This was a somewhat-exact replica of the wedding cake I made last February for a friend. It is a delicate lemon cake recipe that I found in a Southern Living Weddings magazine which, by the way, is a great publication that hasn't been on the shelves for years. Not that I need to be looking at wedding magazines or anything. The frosting is what I like to call "True Buttercream", made with butter, cream, powdered sugar, and almond extract. The original wedding cake was filled with blueberry preserves, but I secretly went with blackberry this time. Surprise Ginger! I hope you enjoyed it. You can see from the picture that I got a little experimental with my piping. That's the initials of the bride and groom in the center, not AIG the insurance giant.

Cake #2 Chai Cake with Honey-Ginger Cream


It all started with Indian food night. I made a lovely spread of Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken), coconut and Jasmine rice, and a stew of Indian-spiced vegetables. The Chai Cake was the perfect finish to our meal. A delectable combination of spices such as cinnamon and cardamom, and freshly brewed chai latte made one of the most delicious spice cakes I've had. The Honey-Ginger cream, as you can see, was just creamy, honey, 'drizzley' goodness. All in all, a very pleasing finish to an opulent dinner.



Cake #3 Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake


Good heavens, this cake was delicious, if I do say so myself. What an amazing recipe. A delicious chocolate cake coated with a thick peanut butter cream cheese frosting, all topped with a rich, thick chocolate peanut butter ganache. What was the occasion? Well, my faithful co-workers and I had to give up our Good Friday holiday because of a snow day in January. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try a great new recipe, as well as promote a positive work environment. After smuggling a knife down from the home-ec department, we hacked into that cake and our English department was changed forever. Well, that might be somewhat of an exaggeration, but it I think my co-workers would agree it made the day more enjoyable.

Cake #4 Robin's Egg Cake

Well, it was Easter, so we had to have a glorious cake for the family lunch. I decided on a vanilla bean recipe, once again from Sky High, and this time I went out on a limb with my icing. As I mentioned before, any "buttercream" that is not made of simply butter, cream, and sugar is completely foreign to me. My new favorite cookbook is filled with cooked buttercream recipes, such as the recipe that accompanied this vanilla bean recipe, white chocolate buttercream. The process included making a sugar syrup and whipping it with egg whites into a meringue. Then, a colossal amount of butter is whipped in, followed by melted white chocolate. I would call this frosting a sweetened, whipped butter. It turns out to be a good option for those who prefer
a frosting that isn't quite so sweet. By far, the most enjoyable part of creating this cake was dismantling the vanilla bean pods. A slice must be made down the body of the aromatic, skinny pod, and then, with a sharp knife, you scrape out the interior. This turns out to be what looks like blobs of black/brown gunk, but when closely examined, is actually hundreds of tiny beans. I used vanilla bean for the frosting, though it didn't call for it, and created a robin's egg inspired cake. Don't give me any points for originality, because I got the idea from Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes book. The top of the cake was lavishly decorated with white chocolate shavings, and some piping of a delicious cream cheese frosting (the deliciousness due to the fact that I used whipping cream instead of milk).

My next cake adventures will be in the upcoming weeks as I prepare for my cousin/roomie's 25th birthday, and for a friend's baby shower.