Very Cherry Pie!

Yum! For this pie, I used an almond crust to compliment the cherry filling. Almond crust goes well with any pie, and it's fun to switch it up! With the extra pie crust, I thought it would be cute to cut out cherries and attach them to the top of the pie. The recipe for the crust is from SimplyRecipes.

Ingredients:

(pie crust)

2 cups All Purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds, or almond flour

1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter - cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar

6-8 tablespoons cold water, very cold!!

(filling)

2 cans of cherry pie filling (20 oz) - 1 can seems to be enough for me, but it depends!


(egg wash)
1 tablespoon heavy cream, half and half, or milk
1 large egg yolk


Directions:

1. Combine flour, ground almonds, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.
2. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.
3. Add filling to the pie.
4. Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.
5. If you want to add cherry cut-outs to the top, roll out the extra pie dough, and cut the cherries out of it. I used an egg wash to attach the cherries to the pie, and then painted the whole pie with the remaining egg wash.

Chocolate Yule Log

This is a Chocolate Yule Log recipe, which is served during Christmas time. The cake resembles a log shape, hence its other name, "Chocolate Log." But "chocolate log" may be interpreted wrong haha, I prefer "Yule Log." This cake is super fun to make, decorate and eat with the whole family! Yule Logs are generally made from a chocolate spongecake and are then filled and frosted. (To get the ridges on top, uou can use a fork!) The recipe I attached is from Betty Crocker, and it is so easy to do!

Ingredients:

(Cake)

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups Betty Crocker SuperMoist devil's food cake mix (from 18.25-oz. box)

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

(Rich Chocolate Frosting)

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz)

1 tablespoon corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

(Filling)

1 container (12 oz) Betty Crocker whipped vanilla frosting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bottom of 15x10x1-inch pan with parchment paper (that works best), or you could use waxed paper or foil. Spray with baking spray and then dust with flour.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for about 5 minutes, or until thick and lemon colored. Add cake mix, water and oil; beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 1 minute, scraping the bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.
3. Bake 11-14 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center. If necessary, run knife around edges of pan to loosen cake. Turn cake upside down onto clean kitchen towel sprinkled generously with powdered sugar; carefully remove foil. While hot, carefully roll up cake and towel from narrow end. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, in medium microwavable bowl, microwave whipping cream uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds or until it just starts to boil. Stir in chocolate chips and corn syrup; let stand 3 minutes. Beat gently with wire whisk until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Refrigerate about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, until spreading consistency.
5. Unroll cake carefully and remove towel. Spread filling evenly over cake; roll up cake. Place cooling rack on sheet of waxed paper. Place cake roll on cooling rack; frost cake. Using fork, drag tines through frosting to resemble log. Add snow caps or m&ms or sprinkles for decoration too! Let stand 15 minutes. Transfer cake to serving platter. Store loosely covered in refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.

Red Velvet Cake

I learned how to make this cake my freshmen year of high school. The picture above is actually the first one I made. It is a Red Velvet cake with the traditional cream cheese frosting. As you could see, it is very difficult to pipe cream cheese frosting, because it is not as sturdy as a buttercream one. The piping still looks good! - it is just not as defined as it could be.

The following recipe is from Good Eats - Food Network.

Ingedients:

Red Velvet Cake

nonstick spray

5 1/2 oz all pupose flour

4 oz cake flour

1/2 oz natural cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup low-fat buttermilk, room temperature

1 fluid oz red liquid food coloring

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

10 1/2 oz dark brown sugar

4 1/2 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

2 whole eggs, room temperature

cream cheese frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line the bottom of two 9-inch pans with parchment paper. Spray each pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. Whisk the flours, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
3. Whisk the buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla together in a small bowl and set aside.
4. Using the stand mixer and the paddle attachment, cream the brown sugar and butter together, until it has lightened in color (about 2 minutes).
5. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a spatula. Add the eggs slowly on medium speed, until they are fully incorporated.
6. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture.
7. Add the buttermilk mixture, remaining on low speed.
8. Add the rest of the flour mixture, and mix until smooth.
9. Divide the batter evenly between the two preared pans and bake (about 30-35 minutes).
10. Cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, and then remove the cake from the pans, and cool completely (about 1 hour), before frosting.

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Frosting

13 1/2 oz powdered sugar

12 oz cream cheese, room temperature

3 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 oz vanilla extract

1 pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

1. Using a stand mixer and paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter together on low speed until mixed.
2. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and salt and beat until combined.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar in 4 batches, mixing well and scraping the sides of the bowl between each addition.
4. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes before using.

The picture above is also a red velvet cake that I made with cream cheese frosting. It was for Valetine's Day, and garnished with maroon M&M's and chocolate sprinkles!

Princess Cocoa

A lot of cake recipes, I know! This cake I call, "Princess Cocoa." It is a decadent chocolate cake, with a rich and creamy chocolate frosting. I mainly put the pictures of this cake up for inspiration - have fun with decorating! - I used an artificial flower on top to embellish the cake, and then matched the pink sugar crystals for decoration! I have seen real flowers used as garish for cakes as well - it looks beautiful if done well. I posted one of my favorites below, although I did not decorate the below cake, I have used it for inspiration!

Pastel de Navidad!

Pastel de Navidad means Christmas cake! It is perfect for a simple dessert after Christmas dinner! Again, this cake is iced with buttercream icing, and virtually any cake would go well with the icing. I used a yellow cake for the one in the picture, but chocolate or maybe even a gingerbread cake would go just as well! A cinnamon icing could be used in place of the chocolate buttercream for the gingerbread cake! To get the ridges in the cake, I used a cake triangle, after spreading the icing on. The giant chocolate flower was piped on using a piping bag, and red licorice and a red M&M was used as garnish on the flower.

The following Buttercream icing recipes are from Wilton.

Yield: 3 cups of icing

Ingredients:

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup cocoa, or three 1 oz. chocolate squares, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, preferably clear vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (about 1 pound)

3-4 tablespoons of milk

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.
2. Add cocoa and vanilla.
3. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often.
4. When all of the sugar has been incorporated, the icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
5. To store, keep the bowl covered with a damp cloth, or store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Buttercream Icing

4 cups confectioners' sugar (about 1 pound)

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature

3-4 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Beat butter on low speed in mixing bowl until light and fluffy (about 30 seconds).
2. Turn off mixer, and add remaining ingredients to bowl.
3. Turn mixer back on, and mix ingredients fully together at low speed (about 1 minute).
4. Increase speed to medium, and mix icing until light and fluffy (about 1 minute).
5. If icing is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of milk, and mix thoroughly.

Easter Cake

This was an Easter cake that I made one year. I took a cake decorating class to learn how to do the different piping designs. It is a white cake with a buttercream frosting. Once the buttercream frosting is made, it is put into different bowls, and then the food dye is added to give it color. Buttercream is the best icing to use for decorations, because it can hold very well! The piping was done using a piping bag and different inserts, which can be found at any craft store - I recommend the brand Wilton.

The following Buttercream icing recipe is from Wilton.

Yield: 3 cups of icing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, preferably clear vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (about 1 pound)

2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream the shortening and butter with an electric mixer.
2. Add vanilla.
3. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all of the sugar has been mixed in, the mixture will appear dry.
5. Add milk and beat at medium speed until fluffy.
6. To color icing, separate into bowls, and add food dye until the desired color is reached. Put into piping bags and start decorating!!
7. To store icing, cover bowl with damp cloth, or store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Rewhip when ready to use!

Christmas Tree Almond Cake

I baked this cake for my grandma one Christmas, because she loves having cake in the morning with her coffee. The recipe come from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook, Essentials of Baking, and it was so tasty! The sugar, cinnamon and crushed almond topping wonderfully accented the almond flavor of the cake. It makes one 9-inch cake!

Ingredients:

1 cup cake (soft-wheat) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 oz almond paste
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
6 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Position rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch decorative tube pan or Budnt pan.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, break up the almond paste, and then add the granulated sugar and butter. Beat on mdium-high speed until the mixture is light and creamy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs in, on at a time, beating well after each addition. The mixture may look curdled, but this is normal. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Add one-half of the dry ingredients and, using a rubber spatula, fold in gently until almost fully incorporated. Folding is done by using a light lifting motion with the spatula and continuously turning the bowl. Add the remaining dry ingredients, and fold into batter. Do not fold too vigorously, or the cake will be tough. The purpose of folding is to keep in as much air as possible, so the cake is light!
5. Spread the butter in the prepared pan. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (about 40-45 minutes). Watch the time closely towards the end to prevent overbaking.
6. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake and invert them together. Cover the cake with a clean, slightly damp kitchen towel so that the outside does not dry out as it cools.
7. Dust Confectioners' sugar on top of the cooled cake, or serve it plain! I added a topping made of 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup finely crushed almonds, and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Enjoy!!