Since it's been so lovely and June-like here the last few weeks, I decided to go with a fruit summer flavors theme. I broke my baking up throughout the week, making a different dessert each day.
Monday - Watermelon Cake Pops
First, I made watermelon cakepops (inspired by a photo circulating Pinterest lately).
Since I had such elaborate plans for my cupcakes, I decided to stick with the tried and true cakepop method - box cake and a jar of cream cheese frosting. I know, but such are the concessions one must make to time. I would have liked to make a white cake from scratch, working in some watermelon Jello powder and dying it pink, to get the homemade and watermelon taste, but I could not find the watermelon Jello or the time, so that will be a project for later.
The process is pretty straightforward for the cake bit - make up the boxed cake (I used strawberry) and crumble it into a big bowl, mix in (most) of the cream cheese frosting, and roll that mixture into balls. |
| I added chocolate chips for the watermelon seeds! |
Once you have your cake balls, you come to the hard part - dipping them in the chocolate. I used Wilton's melting chocolate since it was at Michaels and came in green. These were my two amateur requirements - looking around now I see a lot more information from people who, unlike me, actually make candy more than once or twice a year: what type of chocolate to use, how to dye and flavor it, other chemistry considerations. But since I'm a baker, I'll just tell you what I learned in this particular adventure.
The first step is to dip your sticks in a bit of melted chocolate to get them to stick firmly in the cake balls.
Also, you should put them in the fridge to harden the chocolate and firm up the cake balls themselves for about 15 minutes before trying to dip them. I learned this the hard way after two or three fell off the stick and broke apart in the chocolate and I had to fish them out.
After 15 minutes of waiting, this was my set up. I have always distrusted microwaves for cooking (they are appropriate only for "heating") so I used the faux double boiler method (metal bowl on top of a pot of water). Apparently, it is helpful to keep the fire pretty low, as the chocolate will thicken if overheated (I'm pretty sure this happened to me). A way to thin the chocolate out is to add a bit of vegetable oil, but not too much or the chocolate can seize (I did 1/4 tsp about three times, stirring between each time). As you can see, I only took a few pops out of the fridge at a time because I was scared the would warm up and crumble again.
I couldn't take a picture of my entire dipping strategy because I was alone and it required two hands, but basically, I took a spoon, covered with a thin layer of the chocolate, in my left hand, and a cake pop in my right. I dipped it straight down into the chocolate and then gently moved the stick from side to side and front to back to get chocolate over the area around the stick and cover the pop completely (twirling it in there wasn't working). Then, I lifted the pop out and put it against the spoon, twirling it around so that the spoon took off the excess chocolate without ruining the smoothness.
After that, I stuck each pop into a convenient piece of Styrofoam to harden, then kept them in the fridge in a Tupperware until the big day. Here's the finished product!
I love lavender. I love it's smell, I love how it looks, I love its flavor. The combination of lavender and honey is absolutely perfect and I want to use it to make everything, all summer long (a week after this, I made honey lavender gelato - look for that recipe in a few days!)
There are several ways to get the lavender into the food, but I used the easiest and quickest and just threw 2 hefty tablespoons in the food processor with a 1/4 of sugar (I didn't want to use too much since I wanted most of the sweetness from the honey).
To make the batter, I mixed:2 cups softened butter
1 cup honey
2/3 cup greek yogurt (you could use sour cream instead)
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
in the mixer until smooth. Meanwhile, I prepared a bowl with:
4 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
A bit of salt
I sifted these dry ingredients and poured them into the batter, mixing a few minutes more until everything was incorporated. Look how thick it got!
Then it was into the cupcake tin and into a 350 degree oven for about 17 minutes. Let them cool for a bit in the tins before removing them and letting them cool all the way on a rack. (I frosted all the cupcakes on Thursday, scroll down to see).
Wednesday - Mint Julep Cupcakes
These and the ones below I took from a blog called Baked Perfection, the author of which has really clever ideas for flavor combinations and uses my preference for adding sour cream/yogurt to cake recipes to get that nice, cakey moistness. Check her out!
I followed her recipe pretty closely, creaming in the mixer:
1 cup softened butter
 |
| This batter was much thinner, but still made nice, hearty cupcakes. |
then beating in
3 eggs
then
6 tbsp bourbon (I didn't have any so I used whiskey, which was fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp mint extract
In a side bowl, I sifted
3 cups flower
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
I alternated mixing a bit of the flour mixture and a bit of 2 cups of Greek yogurt in to the batter until everything was incorporated, spread it into cupcake tins, then baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 23 minutes, let them cool a bit in the pan, and transferred them to a rack.
Here they are, frosted and ready to go, with festive, mixed drink umbrellas. See the frosting recipe below, after the final cupcake recipe.
Thursday - Blackberry Lime Cupcakes
This is another flavor idea from Baked Perfection, and I was really excited about is since blackberries are my favorite summer fruit. Again, I followed her recipe for the cupcakes themselves pretty closely.
I creamed in the mixer:
1 cup softened butter
2 cups sugar
then beating in
3 eggs
then
5 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 limes worth of zest
In a side bowl, I sifted
3 cups flower
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
Like before, I alternated mixing a bit of the flour mixture and a bit of 2 cups of Greek yogurt in to the batter until everything was incorporated, spread it into cupcake tins, then baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 23 minutes, let them cool a bit in the pan, and transferred them to a rack.
The blackberry aspect of the cupcake came in with the filling. I mashed up a 12 oz package of berries in my nifty African grinder thing (I'm always excited when I have a chance to use it) and put them in a pot with just a bit of sugar and honey (like, a teaspoon of each). I let it heat up over medium heat and reduce a little bit until it was a thin jam consistency (10 minutes or so). Then I took it off the heat and let it cool before putting it in a pastry bag and squirting a bit into the center of each cupcake. I left about 1/2 a cup to the side to add to the frosting.
After I made these, it was time to frost all the cakes. I am on a constant quest to find a buttercream that I don't think is too sweet, and I did not find the solution this time, but it wasn't too bad, definitely less sweet than others I've had. Since I made all the butter cream at once, then divided it into 3 to frost all the cupcakes (about 75-80), this recipe is pretty big. Feel free to divide it by three or even four to get a small amount.
First, I creamed:
3 sticks of softened butter
then, slowly so as not to cover my kitchen, I added
7.5 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt (this helps counter the sweetness)
4 tbsp milk
I mixed that in, then added
7 1/2 MORE cups of powdered sugar (I know)
3 tsp vanilla
3 tsp lemon juice (also counters sweetness)
I beat it until fluffy, then separated it into three to alter it for each cupcake.
For the Honey Lavender Cupcakes, I just added a tablespoon of honey (the extra sweetness was balanced a bit here, as this was the least sweet cupcake. I also added a bit of red and blue food dye to get a pretty color. Then I piped it on and sprinkled a bit of decorative dried lavender pieces on top.
For the Mint Julep Cupcakes, I drizzled a 1/4 tsp mint extract and a tbsp of whiskey in the frosting and mixed it in. I also added a couple drops of green food color for effect. Then I piped that one on and decorated each cupcake with a cocktail umbrella.
Friday - Chocolate Mousse
Okay, so this is not a fruity summertime treat, but it has gotten great feedback, so I thought I'd make it as a sort of evening standout treat. And it did, apparently, because it sold out first.
First, I chopped up
12 ounces of semisweet chocolate
1 stick of butter
and melted it in the bowl-over-pot method I used with the cake pop chocolate. As that cooled, I separated and whipped up8 egg yolks
3 tbsp sugar
until they thickened. When the chocolate was no longer a danger to the eggs (cool enough to stick my finger in it), I whisked them together. In another bowl, I mixed
3/4 cup of whipping cream
2 tbsp sour cream
until stiff peaks formed, then folded it into the chocolate mixture. Finally, I whipped2 egg whites
1 tbsp sugar
into soft peaks, then folded that into the chocolate. Then I poured the chocolate into Dixie cups, ground a bit of sea salt over each for flavor contrast, and stuck them in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, I whipped up (yet again) some heavy cream with a bit of vanilla and powdered sugar to top the mousse cups. When they came out of the freezer, I sprinkled a bit of cocoa powder on them and they were ready!
And here's a peek at my table at Women Rising: A Night of Creative Empowerment II:
Ta da!
