Utes-Bears Poinsettia Bowl 2009

  This was done for the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl.  The Utes vs the Bears.  I had much higher expectations for this cake when I started, but my inexperience and lack of time really did me in.  The top of this cake definitely screamed for fondant as opposed to icing, but I was quickly running out of time and had zero experience with fondant so I just frosted it.  Alyssa pointed out she didn't like the 5 petal poinsettia, but I spent almost as hour looking for a template for a 5 point one because that is actually on the Bowl games logo.

  I had planned to sculpt a 3d poinsettia to put on the top, but as I tried to crumb-coat the smaller cake for the top, it literally fell apart.  It became such a mess of frosting, I just decided not to include it on the top. Definitely need more research into sculpting cakes before trying again.

Stats:

• 9" Cake Round
• 7 " Cake round for top - Scrapped.
• Duncan Hines Swiss Chocolate Cake Mix prepped per box.
• Iced with Butter Cream Frosting
• Filled with Costco Mousse Filling

  I decided that I wanted to actually put something between my layers other than frosting for this cake.  I found this recipe that is supposedly Costco's mousse filling and I love their filling so I decided to give it a try.  It tasted wonderful, but I whipped it up a little to long so it was stiffer than I would have liked.  The butter cream was your standard boring butter cream flavor.  I liked the texture of the Meringue butter cream I did last time and I think I will try more of the boiled frostings from here on out.  I really like the added flavor of adding a real filling in the middle of the cake, so I will probably be doing that from now on.

This was the first cake I did that actually baked nice and tall.

  I don't have any real Bake Even strips so I made my own out of tin foil and paper towels as explained here. I'm not sure if that's why it baked so tall, but until I get some real ones, I'll keep baking them this way.  Since it was a 9"x3" pan, I ended up using more than once cake mix as well.

This was a learning experience for me.  I'm beginning to realize how much of making a cake is hurry up and wait time.  Bake the cake, wait for it to cool.  Crumb-coat the cake, wait for it to harden.  Ice the cake, wait for it to set.  I had all these grand ideas in my head for this cake, but I'm still not a point where I can easily translate all my fancy ideas onto the cake yet.   I really wanted to do little Cal and U logos around the outside and a few other frills.


FTW:

• Earned "Cake Filling" Badge.
• Vanilla Mousse filling tasted awesome.
• Cake baked nice and high for once.

FTL:

• Cake Sculpting fail.
• The cake with the filling in it didn't stack as well as I expected
• Taste of the butter cream was meh.

 Till Next Time, enjoy your desserts first!

Aunt Becke's Oreos

My Aunt Becke just recently lost her battle with Cancer and as I reflected on her life and the time we spent together these cookies came to mind. Every year the Probert family would hold a huge Super Bowl party. And every year for the party, Becke would make these wonderful cookies. After finally getting her recipe I had to try them myself. They turned out fabulous! Korynn tells me they are her favorite cookies ever! Also, I would also like to introduce Korynn as my official blog photographer. All pictures from here on out will most likely be taken by her.

Stats:

• 1 Box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake mix.
• Cream Cheese Frosting.

Directions for cookies:

• 1 Package Devil's Food Cake Mix
• 2 Eggs
• 3/4 cup shortening.

Mix well and roll into balls. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

One thing you need to watch out for while making these cookies is to make all the balls as close to the same size as you can since you're going to be stacking them later on.

I already had the frosting made up from a previous batch so I'm not able to blog about it here. The recipe I used has a very strong cream cheese taste. (It IS cream cheese frosting after all.) I, however, am not a big fan of cream cheese frosting that is really tart so I added an extra cup of confectioners sugar to the mix. You'll want to mix in the sugar to taste.

FTW:

• "Best tasting cookies ever!" or so I've been told.
• Nice and simple to make
• "Cookie Time" Badge earned.

FTL:

• Lack of a good large frosting tip made these hard to frost. I think they should be frosted like cupcakes with something like a #1M tip.
• Don't last long around my house. You need to get them while you can.

Utah/BYU Great Cake, Bad Game

This the first cake that I've ever really decorated. This was made for the annual Utah-BYU football game. Just to prove what an amateur I am, I had only 4 tips to work with. With Christmas just around the corner I am not actually allowed to buy anything to help fuel my new hobby.

Stats:

• 2 8" inch cake rounds
• Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix
• Filled and Iced with Italian Meringue Buttercream(IMBC)

The cake mix was prepared using the CakeMixDoctor's basic butter cake recipe. I definitely recommend her book to anyone who makes cakes. She starts with basic box cake mixes, but mixes them differently and judging my the taste of this cake, they are changed for the better. I wanted to make this a single layer cake, but found out that my Springform pan is a 9" round and not a 8". 9" is a little too big for a single box of cake mix and unfortunately I found this out AFTER I actually tried to bake it.

For the frosting, I used this IMBC recipe. It was very easy to make and since it's the first frosting I've ever made seemed easy enough to frost with. :) I was not a huge fan of the taste, however. It was too buttery for my liking. There are a couple other IMBC recipes that use less butter that I plan on trying in future, but I hear they're a little harder to work with. There is a good how-to video for the frosting from the CakeLove guy. I also saw a recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream that appeals to my Swiss heritage I will have to try.

FTW: (For The Win!)

• My first ever decorated cake!
• Cake tasted fabulous
• I have begun my journey down the path to cake decorating.

FTL: (For The Lose)

• Didn't like the IMBC flavor.
• Cakes came out really flat.

Everyone at the party I went to liked the cake, but since the majority of them were BYU fans, they refused to eat the little corner with the "Y." For my first decorated cake, I was pleased. Hopefully for Christmas, I will get new decorating toys.

Did Someone say Pie?

I may have mentioned that I love Lemon Meringue Pie. I am particularly fond of Alton Browns for two reasons. 1) It tastes fabulous and 2) it's crazy easy to make. You can find Alton's recipe here: Altons Yummy Pie. I made this pie for Thanksgiving this year, and it was the first pie gone. Luckily I made two :) The cheesecake I made went a quick second. The key to this recipe is to make sure that you cook the Lemon filling for about 5-10 minutes on low. Alton says 1 minute, but that usually ends up too soupy for me.

Lonnie's Adventures in Dessert Making

Welcome to my Blog!

For the past year or so, I have been in charge of making desserts for my family on the weekends. This came about because Alton Brown had unlocked my inner chef. However, the foods I enjoyed making the most were all desserts. From his Cheesecake, to brownies, doughnuts and even homemade marshmallows I have made them all. My favorite has to be his Lemon Meringue pie. Lately I have started to get into cake decorating thanks to a co-worker of mine who has her own blog: cakeoricandothat. So even though I have no official training, I have decided to blog my adventures in dessert making to hopefully inspire and encourage people.