Brady's Birthday

I made this cake for my newphew's 2nd birthday. He is really into trains right now. The cake was dark chocolate with raspberry mousse filling and vanilla buttercream icing.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

My mom clipped the recipe for these pies from a magazine and sent it to me. They really do taste like little red velvet cakes.
RED VELVET WHOOPIE PIES
From Better Homes and Gardens Magazine - December 2008

CAKE INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 - 1oz bottle red food coloring (2 Tbsp)

FILLING INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 7oz jar marshmallow creme

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

2. In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined. Stir in food coloring.

4. Spoon batter in 1- or 2-inch diameter rounds, about 1/2 inch high on prepared baking sheets, allowing at least 1 inch between each round.

5. Bake 7 to 9 minutes for 1-inch cookies or 9 to 11 minutes for 2-inch cookies, or until tops are set. Cool completely on baking sheets on rack. Remove cooled cookies from baking sheets.

6. In medium bowl, beat all filling ingredients until smooth.

7. To fill, dollop Whoopie Pie Filling on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. Makes 60 one-inch or 42 two-inch cookies.

8. To store, refrigerate in airtight container up to 4 days. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Orange Parfaits

I made these parfaits for Valentine's Day dessert. They are layered with chocolate cake, orange chocolate mousse, and orange liquor whipped cream.

Boston Cream Cupcakes

I also made Boston cream cupcakes today for Matt to take to work tomorrow. I really want to try one, but it would look weird to send him with only 11 cupcakes so I will hold back. I did eat some of the extra pastry cream and ganache, so I guess that's close enough.

The recipe below is adapted from Cook's Country magazine. I did not care for the magazine's recipe for yellow cupcakes, so I substituted a different one; however, I did stick with the recipes for pastry cream and chocolate glaze as published.
BOSTON CREAM CUPCAKES
Adapted from Cooks Country Magazine - June/July 2006

YIELD - 12

PASTRY CREAM
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

CUPCAKES
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
4 egg yolks
6 tablespoons milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

CHOCOLATE GLAZE
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
1. For the pastry cream: Heat cream in medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt together in medium bowl. Add cornstarch and whisk until mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 15 seconds.

2. When cream reaches full simmer, slowly whisk it into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thick and glossy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer pastry cream to small bowl, press plastic wrap directly on surface, and refrigerate until cold and set, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

3. For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly tapped. Cool 10 minutes before removing to cooling racks.

6. For the glaze: Cook cream, corn syrup, chocolate, and vanilla in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Set glaze aside to cool and thicken for 30 minutes.

7. To assemble cupcakes: Insert the tip of a small knife at a 45-degree angle about 1/8 inch from the edge of the cupcake and cut all the way around, removing a cone of cake. Cut away all but the top 1/4 inch of the cone, leaving only a small disk of cake. Fill the cupcake with 2 tablespoons pastry cream and top with the disk of cake. Set the filled cupcakes on a wire rack set over parchment paper. Spoon 2 tablespoons of glaze over each cupcake, allowing it to drip down the sides.

8. Refrigerate until just set, about 10 minutes. Cupcakes can be refrigerated for up to 2 days; bring to room temperature before serving.

Matthew's Birthday

This is the cake I baked today for Matthew's birthday. It is a white mascarpone cake with raspberry filling and a lemon mascarpone whipped cream icing.

LEMON MASCARPONE CREAM
From Hannah's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese, room temperature
Zest of one small lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS
In large bowl of a mixer, whip cream on high speed. Gradually add in lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar. Continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Fold in mascarpone cheese.

RASPBERRY FILLING
From Hannah's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS
1 (12 ounce) bag frozen raspberries, thawed and drained
3/4 cup raspberry preserves

DIRECTIONS
In small bowl, stir raspberries and preserves together. Spread on cake layers.