Cynthia and I enjoyed this cake while sipping white wine and watching a chick flick: Eat, Pray, Love. We may or may not have had two slices each...Sounds like a splendid girls' evening, doesn't it?
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
L is for Lemon Layer Cake
My birthday is way over. I still need to finish my thank you cards, but the wrapping paper is gone and I have no more excuses to celebrate. To bring my birthday-season posts to a close, I will bring you the luscious lemon layered cake from my friend Cynthia. She came across the recipe here at smitten kitchen, where there are a lot of photos and descriptive details on how to make the cake. I cannot lay out the steps any better than Deb at Smitten Kitchen, and I consider this blog post a nod to her incredible blog and my friend Cynthia's baking talent as well. Not only can she make a killer cake, but she has a special knack for finding the best recipes on the internet as well.
I requested a lemon cake, but I was wowed by this tall and decadent layered delight. Cynthia's lemon curd was fantastic & I'll be asking her to make more so I can spread it on toast on leisurely weekend mornings. In general, I'm not a huge fan of fruity cakes, but I would make this for a shower or a summery dinner party. It feels light and yet satisfying. The only negative comment I have on this dessert is that the frosting hardens and dries quickly, so it's divine the first day and goes downhill quickly from there. This frosting can't sit around for days, so plan on icing this cake the same day that you intend to serve it and send your guests home with a slice too because this is a large cake!
Cynthia and I enjoyed this cake while sipping white wine and watching a chick flick: Eat, Pray, Love. We may or may not have had two slices each...Sounds like a splendid girls' evening, doesn't it?
Cynthia and I enjoyed this cake while sipping white wine and watching a chick flick: Eat, Pray, Love. We may or may not have had two slices each...Sounds like a splendid girls' evening, doesn't it?
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
F is for Funfetti Truffles
I have heard of this trendy new dessert they call "cake balls," but the title doesn't sound very appetizing to me. Some bakeries make cake balls out of the scraps left from leveling out their cakes. Neiman Marcus will sell you 12 delicious cake balls for $38 plus shipping and handling. Whoa.
I was skeptical about cake balls (also known as cake truffles or cake bites) because I love the layers. I love tall cakes on a pedestal. I love smearing frosting into little peaks. I enjoy big, thick slices of cake and I like being able to cut small slivers too. I particularly enjoy the challenge of choosing ideal positions for my fork so that I can have a little frosting in each bite. Everyone does this, right? In general, cakes are great!
Some foods become better in ball-form, but is cake one of them? Consider cheese. It transforms into a party staple once in ball form. Who doesn't love a cheese ball? Think of chocolate. Rolled into balls with coconut or hazelnuts or peanut butter? Better! How about sausage? My family balls up sausage with cheese and Bisquick every year around the holidays for a delicious breakfast treat or appetizer. They're so savory, so bite-size, so wonderful! And if that's not enough for you--bourbon balls, buckeye balls, date balls, meatballs...highballs!
I decided to make these cake balls and from now on, I will call them cake truffles, because that is what they are. They are small. They are rich. They have solid chocolate shell on the outside and creamy goodness inside. They are more like truffles and that's that.
Here's My Cake Truffle Process (because it's not really a recipe):
I opted for a boxed cake mix for my truffle experiment because I really didn't know if I'd be tossing the whole batch. I went for an old favorite flavor--Funfetti! I prepared it according to the regular directions, baked it in a 13x9" dark pan and after it cooled, I put chunks of the cake in the food processor. In my biggest bowl, I mixed together the cake crumbs and a tub of store-bought buttercream frosting. My mother didn't raise me to use store-bought icing and it's not my norm. Remember! This was an experiment! I tried to roll the cake and frosting mix into balls, but at room temperature, this was impossible. Honestly. Don't even waste your time trying it. I stuck the bowl in the fridge and the next day, I found it was infinitely easier to roll the mix into 1" balls...err...truffles. I put the truffles on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and set them back into the fridge for a couple hours. Don't skip this part. I used white candy bark and melted it in a double boiler I rigged up using a pot and a glass bowl nested on top. The first few truffles I dipped were beautiful and smooth, but as the temperature of the cake rose to room temperature, the less smooth the white chocolate coating seemed to be as it cooled. I'd recommend keeping your cake truffles on a few cookie sheets in the fridge and just dip a batch at a time.
From my experiment, we can conclude that Funfetti cake truffles are delicious. They're absolutely wonderful if you like cake and you want to try a variation. They'd be great to take to an elementary classroom for your child's birthday or for a party. They'd look beautiful on a tiered platter at a baby shower or bridal shower. They pack up well in lunches. They stay moist and delicious for well over a week. There are endless possibilities for mixing cake and frosting flavors, as well as different types of chocolate or candy coating you could dip them in.
All you really need to know is that cake truffles disappear!
I was skeptical about cake balls (also known as cake truffles or cake bites) because I love the layers. I love tall cakes on a pedestal. I love smearing frosting into little peaks. I enjoy big, thick slices of cake and I like being able to cut small slivers too. I particularly enjoy the challenge of choosing ideal positions for my fork so that I can have a little frosting in each bite. Everyone does this, right? In general, cakes are great!
Some foods become better in ball-form, but is cake one of them? Consider cheese. It transforms into a party staple once in ball form. Who doesn't love a cheese ball? Think of chocolate. Rolled into balls with coconut or hazelnuts or peanut butter? Better! How about sausage? My family balls up sausage with cheese and Bisquick every year around the holidays for a delicious breakfast treat or appetizer. They're so savory, so bite-size, so wonderful! And if that's not enough for you--bourbon balls, buckeye balls, date balls, meatballs...highballs!
I decided to make these cake balls and from now on, I will call them cake truffles, because that is what they are. They are small. They are rich. They have solid chocolate shell on the outside and creamy goodness inside. They are more like truffles and that's that.
Here's My Cake Truffle Process (because it's not really a recipe):
I opted for a boxed cake mix for my truffle experiment because I really didn't know if I'd be tossing the whole batch. I went for an old favorite flavor--Funfetti! I prepared it according to the regular directions, baked it in a 13x9" dark pan and after it cooled, I put chunks of the cake in the food processor. In my biggest bowl, I mixed together the cake crumbs and a tub of store-bought buttercream frosting. My mother didn't raise me to use store-bought icing and it's not my norm. Remember! This was an experiment! I tried to roll the cake and frosting mix into balls, but at room temperature, this was impossible. Honestly. Don't even waste your time trying it. I stuck the bowl in the fridge and the next day, I found it was infinitely easier to roll the mix into 1" balls...err...truffles. I put the truffles on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and set them back into the fridge for a couple hours. Don't skip this part. I used white candy bark and melted it in a double boiler I rigged up using a pot and a glass bowl nested on top. The first few truffles I dipped were beautiful and smooth, but as the temperature of the cake rose to room temperature, the less smooth the white chocolate coating seemed to be as it cooled. I'd recommend keeping your cake truffles on a few cookie sheets in the fridge and just dip a batch at a time.
From my experiment, we can conclude that Funfetti cake truffles are delicious. They're absolutely wonderful if you like cake and you want to try a variation. They'd be great to take to an elementary classroom for your child's birthday or for a party. They'd look beautiful on a tiered platter at a baby shower or bridal shower. They pack up well in lunches. They stay moist and delicious for well over a week. There are endless possibilities for mixing cake and frosting flavors, as well as different types of chocolate or candy coating you could dip them in.
All you really need to know is that cake truffles disappear!
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