Happy 30th Birthday Dean: 10-10-10!

I can't believe that my son is now thirty years old.  How can that be? It seems like just yesterday I made him a Dodger cake for his first birthday.

Now twenty-nine years later, I'm at it again, making a sports-themed cake--only this time it's a sport and team of Dean's choosing.

He is a lover of ice hockey and a die-hard Mighty Ducks fan, which gave me my theme.  As for the type of cake, well, he's also a big fan of peanut butter and chocolate, so that took care of that.   My only problem was that the cake had to survive a drive down to San Diego where he lives, so buttercream was out of the question.  In the past, I've made chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes using chocolate ganache and a peanut butter confectioners sugar filling, and Dean loved them.  So I decided to use a variation on this recipe. 

First things first: the Ducks logo! I found it on-line and printed it out.  Next I traced the pieces on parchment paper and used them to cut out each on appropriate colored fondant.  Using black soft gel paste food color, I painted the details on the duck face mask.  Then I assembled the pieces using a touch of water so they would adhere and not slip.

                                  
I was so proud of my logo...until I found out at the "unveiling" that it was their old logo!  Hey, I knew that.  I just thought this one was more colorful?
                                    
Next I baked a basic chocolate cake in a 9x13 pan.  (All recipes to follow.)  After it cooled on the rack, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge over night.  Next day, I sliced it in half very carefully...

and placed a layer of chocolate ganache and then a layer of peanut butter filling in the middle of the two layers

                                     

 I iced the entire cake in chocolate ganache and decorated with the peanut butter filling using a piping bag.

 Last I placed my Ducks logo in the center

and set up the hockey decorator set (purchased at Kake Creations in Canoga Park).

The cake was very rich and sweet--almost like eating a slice of cheesecake. The smoothness of the chocolate ganache compensated for the peanut butter's thick texture.  But oh my, it was delicious.  This was so much fun to make--and Dean was most appreciative.

Happy Birthday Dean!  I love you!

Chocolate cake.  (Allrecipes.com)

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups AP flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 t vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour pan. (2 9 inch round or 1 9x13)

2.  In a stand mixer, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt. 

3.  Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla--mix for 3 minutes.  Boil water.

4.  Stir in boiling water to mixture by hand until well-combined.

5.  Pour into pan(s) and bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

6.  Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely.

Chocolate ganache:

3 cups of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips

2 cups heavy cream

1.  Place the choc. chips in a medium bowl

2.  In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer.

3.  Pour cream over the choc. chips and let sit 30 seconds.  Then whisk gently until all chocolate has melted.  The color will deepen into a nice, dark, creamy chocolate brown.

4.  Let it cool at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, then stir.

Peanut Butter filling:

2 cups creamy peanut butter

6 T butter

1 1/3 cups confectioners sugar

1.  In mixer, cream the peanut butter and butter until smooth.

2.  Slowly add the confectioners sugar; beat until light and fluffy.

If It's Raining, I'm Baking!

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain and immediately thought of blueberry streusel muffins and a hot cup of coffee and fresh baked bread with tomato basil soup.  But not just any bread.  I was craving some type of pretzel bread, braided, with lots of salt.  So I flipped through baking books and searched the internet until I found a recipe on allrecipes.com.  I tweaked it a bit to fit my plan. Then I got to work--or in my case to play!  Pretzel Bread and Blueberry Streusel Muffins coming up.

I began with the bread dough--mixed and kneaded--and then set it aside to rise. Both of these recipes are fairly easy to make.  In the hour it took for the dough to rise, I was able to make the muffin  mixture and streusel topping, bake them, and clean up my mess.  While they cooled, I formed and braided the dough and baked the bread.  Both were done during a rainy morning and were ready to enjoy that afternoon.  And the house smelled great!

Pretzel Bread
1.  Dissolve and let stand for 10 minutes:
               1 1/2 t active dry yeast
               3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
2.  In large bowl combine and mix well:
                yeast mixture
                1/2 t sugar
                1/4 t salt
                1 cup bread flour 
2.  Add 1 more cup of bread flour gradually.  Work the dough until a stiff dough is formed.
3.  Form a smooth ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in size--about 1 hour.                                           

4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Lightly grease baking sheet or use parchment paper.

5.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface.  Press and smooth dough into rectangle and divide into 4 pieces.
6.  Divide each of the four pieces into thirds.  Roll each of these into even lengths to braid.  This will make four loaves of braided pretzel bread.

(I pinch one end and braid; then pinch the other end and fold under.)

7. Place on baking sheet.  Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle thoroughly with kosher salt.

8.  Bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I've already posted this recipe.  Here's the link to my previous blog and the recipe:

http://bakingdazeinla.blogspot.com/2010/04/blueberry-streusel-muffins.html

It's one of my most requested items to bake!

Helpful hint.  If you don't have buttermilk, it's easy to make your own, which is what I did this morning.  Simply add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk.  Let it sit for 5- 10 minutes and you have "buttermilk."

I love these muffin parchment papers.  I got them at Surfas Restaurant Supply in Culver City.  Kake Kreations on Sherman Way in Canoga Park also has a great selection of similar items.

Muffins before the topping is sprinkled on.

Ready to eat!

Okay, so now that the baking is done, who feels like cooking? Certainly not me.  Thank God for Wolfgang Puck!  I particularly like his organic Classic Tomato Basil soup.

                                       

And it was delicious with my pretzel bread.  Just like I imagined this morning.