Chocolate Lace and Roses Wedding Cake

I got to use a fun new toy this week - a SugarVeil confectionery mat.

This is how you make edible lace!  You make up the SugarVeil icing mix and spread it onto one of their silicone lace mats.  It dries in a few hours, and you can carefully peel it off and stick it on a cake!

This cake was chocolate with salted caramel buttercream, glazed with chocolate ganache, wrapped in the SugarVeil lace, and then topped with hand sculpted sugar paste roses and leaves.  I'm quite pleased with this product!

http://www.sugarveil.com

Lemon Blueberry Wedding Cake

I got to make this cake for a friend of mine.  The cake was lemon with lemon Swiss meringue buttercream and fresh blueberries between the layers.  I covered it in homemade fondant and added hand-painted grass swirls.  The flowers I sculpted out of modeling chocolate.

I had a little bit of extra batter and buttercream, so I made these cupcakes to sample.

The lemon buttercream is made using lemon curd.  Lemon curd is so delicious!  I use it in a shortbread tart shell for lemon tarts, or injected into cupcakes, as I did here.  It's also wonderful with cubed pound cake, berries, and whipped cream as a trifle.

Lemon Curd

1 cup (8 ounces) fresh squeezed lemon juice

8 ounces egg yolk (from about 10-12 eggs)

1 1/4 cups (8 ounces) sugar

pinch of kosher salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon zest

Bring the lemon juice to a simmer in a medium pot.

Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks, sugar, and salt. When the lemon juice begins to bubble, being whisking some into the yolk, about 2 ounces at a time. Once the yolks are lemony and warm, pour them into the pot and cook on medium low heat, stirring constantly with a heat resistant spatula, until the curd has a thick, pudding-like consistency (about 165°).

Strain into the bowl of a stand mixer, discarding any bits that remain. Add the lemon zest and, with the paddle attachment, stir on low 5 minutes, until the curd has cooled to lukewarm.

Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap flush on the surface of the curd, and refrigerate up to one week.

Raspberry Lemon Macarons

My own father requested French macarons for Father's day.  They are so fun to eat, with their slightly crisp crust covering a soft, cake-like interior, and then the creamy buttercream in the middle.

I chose raspberry shells and filled them with lemon Swiss meringue buttercream.  Sweet, tangy, and delicious!

Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream

4 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
pinch salt
4 sticks (16 ounces) unsalted butter, soft, cut into 16 pieces
1/2 cup lemon curd

Place egg whites, vanilla, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer and gently whisk over simmering water until sugar dissolves and mixture is 150 degrees, about 3-5 minutes. Place bowl on mixer and whip on high speed 7 minutes. Scrape down bowl. On medium speed, add butter 1 piece at a time, counting 10 seconds between additions. Mixture may look curdled. Increase speed to high and whip until it smooths out. Add the lemon curd and beat until fully incorporated.

Oreo Cake

This may be the most delicious cake I've ever made... if you love chocolate, that is!

Chocolate cake layers with oreo French buttercream, a chocolate ganache glaze, and more oreos on top!  My sister requested this cake for her father-in-law for father's day.

Oreo French Buttercream
8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
12 whole oreo cookies (with the creme intact), processed into crumbs in a food processor

Place the egg yolks, sugar, salt, and vanilla in the bowl of your stand mixer and set it over a saucepan with an inch of simmering water.  Whisk until the temperature reaches 150F. All the sugar should be dissolved.  Place the mixer on its stand and whip on high speed for 7 minutes until cooled to room temperature.  Mixture will be much paler in color and very light and fluffy.  On medium speed, add the butter 1/2 stick at a time.  Increase speed to medium high and whip until smooth.  Add the oreo crumbs and mix just until combined.

Cherries and Blueberries Tarts

In my family, the favorite dessert is my fruit tart.  It is hard to beat, that's for sure!  The crisp, shortbread crust combined with the cool, creamy vanilla bean pastry cream and the fresh, tart fruit is an amazing combination of textures and flavors!  I made a fruit tart for Father's day for my step-dad this week.  One of my favorite parts is making mini fruit tarts with the dough scraps that are left after trimming the dough on the main tart.

I went with cherries and blueberries for these tarts, since they are in season, which means they are at their best!

To make a fruit tart, you will need 1 baked and cooled tart shell
1 recipe vanilla bean pastry cream, chilled
1 pint each of 2 or 3 fresh berries

Spread the pastry cream in the tart shell and top with the berries.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

High Heel Cookies

I got to do one of the cutest projects this week!

These are soft vanilla sugar cookies, covered with modeling chocolate, and decorated with piped royal icing flowers.

Here they are all bagged for delivery!

Modeling Chocolate

16 ounces white candy coating (such as "almond bark" or Wilton candy melts)

3.5 ounces (by weight) corn syrup

gel food coloring

Place the candy coating in a medium bowl and microwave 1 minute. Stir and microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring between, until melted.  Add the corn syrup and fold in with a spatula until it makes a ball of soft dough.  Spread the dough 1/4 inch thick onto a piece of plastic wrap and let cool 1 hour.  Knead until you have a smooth ball of dough.  Color with food coloring gels as desired. Store wrapped in plastic wrap and then sealed in a sandwich bag at room temperature for 1 month.

S'mores Cupcakes

I've had this idea for cupcakes in my head for a while. I made chocolate cupcakes and frosted them with homemade marshmallow topping. Then, the most fun part, using my torch to toast the marshmallow! Then I dipped some graham cracker squares in chocolate and stuck them in. These were so delicious! Homemade marshmallow is a truly wonderful thing.

Marshmallow Meringue

4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

Place all ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer and place bowl over a pot with an inch of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture is 160F. Place the mixing bowl on the stand and whip on high speed for 7 minutes until you have a billowy, sticky meringue. Scoop meringue into a piping bag with a 1M star tip amd pipe onto cupcakes. Use a kitchen torch to carefully toast the meringue.