The Way I See It #92

Creeping Cobbler Recipe

Creeping Cobbler--Raspberry

This is called Creeping Cobbler because of the way the cobbler "creeps" over the berries as it bakes.  This is a super easy and flexible recipe that was given to me by my best friend's mother, Jackie Jones, years ago.  I use it every summer with whatever berries I have on hand and it is a delicious dessert, especially when it is served with ice cream.  You could also used sliced peaches instead of berries.  Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a 9"x13" pan, melt:
1/2 stick (4 Tbs.) butter
Mix together by hand in a separate bowl:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Add in:
3/4 cups milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix until blended together.  Spoon batter over melted butter in pan.  Sprinkle over the top:
3 cups berries, washed, large berries sliced, (optional- toss berries with 1/2 cup sugar before adding)
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown on top.  Let cool a bit before serving.  Yum!

Decadent Peanut Butter Cup Cake!

 

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

 

One of my Stacey Cakes clients has ordered my peanut butter cup cupcakes many times.  She, and especially her daughter, love them. So she asked me to make a peanut butter cup cake for her daughter's 12th birthday.  I decided to have some fun with this one and I created the above tiered cake.  The cake itself is chocolate and baked into it are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped in quarters.  Each double layered cake is filled and frosted with peanut butter buttercream frosting, and between each layer are chopped up miniature peanut butter cups.  Ganache is poured over the top of each tier.  More miniature peanut butter cups are used for garnish and decoration.  If you'd like to make this yourself, here's the recipe.  

 

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

 

Serves about 20

 

Cake

 

3  cups flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2  teaspoons baking soda

2  teaspoons salt

14 tablespoons (or 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) cocoa powder

½  teaspoon instant espresso powder

1  cup oil

2  cups milk

2  teaspoons vanilla extract

2  tablespoons cider vinegar

12 snack size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, cut into quarters



Equipment:

2 - 9" round cake pans
2 - 5" or 6" cake pans
4 or 5 plastic drinking straws
clean corrugated cardboard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Trace the bottom of the small pan on the cardboard and cut out a cardboard round.  Set aside for later.  Prepare the cake pans: grease (spray with cooking spray), line the bottom of pans with wax pan, grease bottoms. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.  Then add the wet ingredients and blend thoroughly.  May be done by hand or in electric mixer.  Pour batters into pans.  Use about 3/4 of the batter for the larger layers, and remaining quarter for the smaller pans.  (I weighed the batter to measure it out, but you can eyeball it.)  Distribute 16 pieces (quarters) of the peanut butter cups around in the batter of the each large pan and 8 pieces around in each small pan.

Bake small layers for 16-20 minutes and large layers for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven, cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes, run a thin sharp knife around the inside edge of the pans then invert pan to remove cake.  Continue cooling on rack. 

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cup peanut butter
6 tablespoons soft butter
 4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 cup milk

In electric mixer, beat together peanut butter and softened butter until smooth.  Add confectioners sugar 1/2 cup at time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.  Blend in milk and mix until smooth.

Ganache

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups heavy cream

Put chips and cream in a microwave safe mixing bowl.  Heat in microwave on high for 1 minute.  Whisk mixture and return to microwave for 10 seconds.  Whisk again.  If chocolate and cream mixture is smooth and well-blended, you're done.  Otherwise, return to the microwave for 10 more seconds, whisk and repeat this step until mixture is very smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Filling and Decoration

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, Family Size bag
Reese's Pieces candy

Assembly

Frost top of one of each size layer with peanut butter frosting.  Sprinkle liberally with miniature peanut butter cups cut into quarters.  Top each with same size second layer.  Frost sides and tops of each cake with peanut butter frosting.  Pour some of the cooled ganache on top of larger cake and spread top with metal spatula until ganache begins to run off sides.  Add more as desired.  Cooler ganache will flow down sides and warmer ganache will drip.  Make sure not to cover the entire cake with ganache and that the peanut butter side show.  Repeat process on smaller cake.

Cut plastic drinking straws to the height of the lager cake.  Push straws all the way down into cake: one in the center and the remaining about 2 inches from the center.  Straws should not be above the surface of the cake at all.  Place the small cardboard round on top of the larger cake in the center, over the straws.  The straws and cardboard will support the weight of the top tier of the cake.  Place assembled small cake on top of small cardboard round on larger cake. 

Arrange chopped miniature peanut butter cups around edge of smaller cake tier, as in picture.  Arrange miniatures cut in half around bottom edge of bottom tier of cake, as shown in picture.  For the top, use 2 whole miniatures ad flower centers and arrange Reese's Pieces around them as petals.  use a single Reese's Pieces candy as the center for each flower.  Put a small amount of ganache in a small plastic or piping bag with a small writing tip or small corner of plastic bag cut off.  Pipe stems and leaves for flowers.  Ta-daa!!

Enjoy!

Rainbow Cloud Cake

Made this cake for Olivia's 9th birthday.  Sky with clouds and sun outside, rainbow inside! It's a rich, buttery vanilla cake with wonderful buttercream.  Makes a big cake, will probably serve 15+.  Very delicious and cool looking!

 

 

 

 

Rainbow Cloud Cake

 

4 ½ cups  flour

1 ½ Tbs. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking soda

2 ¼ cups butter, softened (important!)

1 ½ cups + 2 Tbs. sugar

1 cup milk

2 ¼ tsp. vanilla

6 eggs

Food coloring: red, yellow, green, blue, and purple (Note: mixing red & blue food coloring makes a muddy purple so better to use a specific purple food coloring)

 

Preheat to oven 350F

Prepare 9” round cake pans (grease then flour or use flour spray for baking).

 

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda together in small bowl. Set aside.

In mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar together on high speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time, and then vanilla, beat until smooth.

Add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with milk.  Beat for 2 minutes.

Divide mixture into 6 small bowls (about 1 ¼ cups of batter per bowl).  Color each bowl so that you have red, orange (mix red and yellow food coloring to achieve), yellow, green, blue, and purple. 

Pour one bowl of batter into one prepared pan for each layer.  You can bake 3 at a time in a convection oven.  Bake 10 minutes and test.  Cool in pans for about 10 minutes then remove from pans and cool on rack.  Fill, frost, and decorate with buttercream frosting.

 

Buttercream Frosting

1 ½ cups (or 3 sticks) butter--must be softened (important!)

3 pounds confectioner’s (powdered) sugar

½ cup plus 1 Tbs. milk

3 tsp. vanilla

Blue and yellow food coloring

 

(This is a lot of frosting. You may want to do this in 2 batches.)  Cream butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add sugar in thirds, incorporating each addition before adding more.  Beat in milk and vanilla.  Beat until smooth. 

 

Assemble cake, frosting top of each layer as you go.  Measure out ½ cup of frosting and set aside (this will stay white for clouds).  Measure out another ¼ cup of frosting in a separate small bowl and add a few drops of yellow food coloring to achieve desired shade.  Mix thoroughly and set aside.  (This is for the sun.)  To remaining frosting, add a drop of blue food coloring, mix thoroughly and repeat until you get the desired sky blue shade.  Frost the outside of the cake with the blue frosting.  With a frosting knife, use white frosting to make clouds on the top and sides of the cake.  Use yellow frosting to make the sun.  Voila!  You’re done!

 

Proper Goat Anatomy

Dining Room Window at Christmas

I love the way this turned out.  Used red wired ribbon, gold curling ribbon, and red, green, & gold balls in two sizes.  Hot glue the ornament tops on to make sure they don't fall off.  Added bows to some of the balls, wrapped tail ends of ribbon around rod.  Curled the tails of the gold curling ribbon.   Merry Christams!

Stacey Cakes website!

I set up a website for my baking business:  www.staceycakes.vpweb.com
There are lots of pictures of my cupcakes on the site and descriptions.  If you live in the Seattle area, take a look at the site.  I'd love to bake for you!
Here's a preview:
Stacey Cakes home-bakes gourmet cupcakes, cakes, and muffins from scratch with high-quality ingredients and scrumptious flavors.  Premium chocolate, real butter and cream, Madagascar vanilla, fresh fruits, pure extracts, even my own handmade caramel.  If you’re looking for basic or plain, it’s not here! You will find delicious, over-the-top treats for all occasions...or no occasion at all!

  

Check out the Cocktail Cupcakes, a specialty for grown-ups!  It’s like your favorite beverage poured into a delicious little cake.  They’re "Cupcakes with a kick!"

www.staceycakes.vpweb.com