Making the world a little sweeter one pastry tip at at time.
Another gem of a cookbook found for $1.00 and this time it’s The Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook from Southern Living. Published in 1983, this has everything from layer cakes, cakes where the main ingredients are fruits (like Blackberry Cake and Sweet Potato Pound Cake), old …read more
Request for wedding cake trends from HARO (Help a Reporter Out) – food related: The link isn’t active, you need to type in the query email directly. You can also sign up with HARO to have all reporter requests sent directly to you. They are …read more
The warm weather is upon us, and with it comes picnics and potlucks. Picnic cakes are the quick and easy solution if you are tasked with bringing a dessert: they are portable, store well at room temperature, and are typically baked in a 9 inch by 13 inch pan. I’m working on posting my top 10 picnic cakes, and this one ranks high with my kids.
The spice cake contains sour cream mixed with a little baking soda to give it extra richness as well as lightness. The brown sugar meringue topping has chopped pecans folded inside, and it bakes up to a lovely, toasty color when the cake is finished.
Enjoy it with your favorite iced coffee or sweet tea.
Juliet Stallwood’s hobby making novelty cakes for her kids turned into a career in pastry and cake decorating. She went from creating fun themed cakes to cookies and ‘fondant fancies’. Stallwood’s website Cake and Biscuits and her book have the same feel, only the book …read more
There is something about toasted coconut, chocolate, and caramel that make it an irresistible combination. Girl Scouts have picked up the combo with their top selling cookie, Somaos, which are also Caramel deLites depending on where you live. This cookie was next on my list for ‘Girl Scout …read more
Biscuits have three general terms in the bakeshop:The first two are familiar to most people. The last one is a favorite to industry professionals. Biscuit sponge cakes (an example of which is Biscuit Joconde) are not only quick to bake up and use, but there is literally a recipe for just about every application.
I go into their detail, including a definition and give examples on the Pastry Sampler main site, but also included a link so you can hear how the word is pronounced.
Biscuit (Sponge) – Thin Cakes Great for Layered Desserts and Mousse Cakes
Image above is an example of a mousse cake using biscuit sponge cake. Image courtesy Flickr User avlxyz through a creative commons license.
Looking for a little stocking stuffer this year for the baker in the house? Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops by Joey Dellino is the perfect book. This book is a hardback, pocket-sized cookbook packed with over 40 different cake pop creations. The spiral binding makes it easy …read more
I love madeleines. So does everyone else in the family, too, so when I make a couple of batches I use every pan I have (I have three) to keep up with demand once they are finished. What is a madeleine? It is a tiny …read more
Love this idea!! I first heard about this style of cake this morning on one of my favorite blogs, dessert girl. In the blog post, there is mention of MRobin Cake Design and her luscious and completely different wedding cakes wrapped up in joconde sponge. I had to check them out having made about a thousand mini jaconde-wrapped cakes myself, served up as individual desserts. Really great idea here. And COMPLETELY customizable to whatever the bride can think up. She is based out of Portland, OR.
If you are wondering what Biscuit Joconde is, it is a thin, baked sponge cake that usually has a decorative element on it. The decorative element can be piped on, or scraped using a decorative marker and a colored mixture of the same batter. This batter is spread thin on a silpat (any brand silicone baking sheet will do), baked, then cut into strips and placed inside a pastry ring to hold together a mousse cake or layered for sheet cakes, like L’opéra. Really tasty, this sponge cake contains a mixture of egg whites and almond flour.
Here is one of the best videos on YouTube from Albarock. It’s in French, but you don’t need to understand the language; just watch the video as he explains the procedure well. The recipe is listed in English in the video.
As soon as I had seen the Slumber Party cupcakes from the book Hello, Cupcake!, I knew I’d love to make them. Unfortunately, the opportunity didn’t come up – until this weekend. My daughter had a sleepover with her cheer squad for some team building …read more