SUZIE SWEET TOOTH

Cakes, Treats, and Everything Sweet

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    • Fresh Strawberry Cake

      Fresh Strawberry Cake

      Fresh strawberries when ripe and rich in deep red color are so flavorful that you’ll want to make everything you can think possible. Strawberry cakes quite often though lack really deep flavor and or call for strawberry jello as part of the recipe. Upon researching different recipes I found a common suggestion of cooking down fresh berries into a thick paste to not only concentrate the flavor but also help reduce the liquid in the batter. The cake also gets a boost from a wee bit of strawberry emulsion and the result is very fresh and delightful. I made this for a friend of mine for her birthday; I make her cake every year and always do something different and everyone at the party raved on how much they loved this cake. The recipe is from Liz at sugergeekshow.com and I just changed it slightly. I upped the wow factor by dipping some fresh berries in a striped effect with candy coating, but you could use also semi or dark chocolate if you like, or just keep it simple without.

      Strawberry Cake

      (recipe slightly adapted from Sugargeekshow.com )

      14 oz. ( 397 g) all purpose flour

      1 1/2 tsp, baking powder

      1 tsp. baking soda

      1/2 tsp. salt

      8 oz. ( 226 g) unsalted butter, room temp

      10 oz. (284 g) granulated sugar

      zest of one lemon

      6 oz. (170 g) egg whites room temperature

      1 tsp. vanilla extract

      1/2 tsp. lemon extract

      6 oz. (170 g) whole milk, room temperature

      1 Tbsp. lemon juice

      1 1/2 tsp. strawberry emulsion (such as LorAnn oils bakery emulsion) or 1 1/2 tsp. strawberry extract

      4 oz. (113 g) strawberry reduction room temperature (see below)

      1/2 tsp. pink gel food color (I used 1/4 tsp. electric pink and 1/4 tsp. deep pink)

      1. Prepare your baking pans with non stick spray with flour and line with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
      2. In a separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, except the sugar.
      3. In large glass measuring container; such as 4 cup size; if you have one (or bowl) whisk the milk, lemon juice, strawberry reduction, strawberry emulsion, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and pink food coloring.
      4. Cream together the butter and sugar, and lemon zest until light and fluffy and almost white; about three to five minutes. I actually rub the lemon zest into the sugar first before I add it to the mixer bowl.
      5. Add in the egg whites a little at a time, beating about 15 seconds in between. The mixture should not look curdled; if it does your butter or egg whites were too cold.
      6. Mix on low speed and add about 1/3 of the dry flour mixture to the batter, alternating with about 1/3 of the milk mixture ; repeating again 2 more times, ending with the flour mixture. When the batter is almost combined, stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and stir gently by hand with a spatula any uneven colored spots.
      7. Divide the batter between your 3 pans and smooth the tops to even out the batter. Bake in the preheated oven 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs on it.
      8. Place the pans on top of a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes. Then turn out the cakes onto the racks to cool completely. I also do this the day before and wrap my cakes while still slightly warm in plastic wrap; double wrap and keep on the counter to assemble the following day to save time.

      Additional items: optional

      additional strawberries (washed and dried) for garnish and also dipping

      Strawberry syrup (purchased) optional; I used Monin brand

      Strawberry reduction

      1 pound fresh ripe strawberries stems removed, rinsed, dried.

      1 Tbsp. sugar

      1 tsp. lemon juice

      In a food processor blitz the berries until you have a puree. Place the puree in a medium saucepan and over medium high cook until bubbling, then turn down to low to medium heat, cook the puree down until it resembles a thickened paste like consistency. This will take several minutes; mine took about 30 mins. If your mixture looks still loose and watery, continue to cook it until all the liquid is removed. You will probably end up with about 3/4 cup or a tad more. Allow to cool; you can make it the day before to save time and chill, just bring out to room temperature when making the cake.

      Easy Strawberry Buttercream

      4 oz. (113 g) pasteurized egg whites

      16 oz (454 g) unsalted butter room temperature

      16 oz. (454 g) confectioners sugar

      1/2 tsp. salt

      1 1/2 tsp. strawberry emulsion

      3-4 Tbsp. strawberry reduction

      In the bowl of a stand mixer place the egg whites and confectioners sugar. Using the whisk attachment combine on low, then whip whip on high for about 5 minutes.

      Add in the room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time with the mixer running and whip until all the butter is in and the mixture looks very pale and shiny. Add in the strawberry reduction, salt and the strawberry emulsion until combined and smooth. I like the then run a spatula through the mixture and pressing down to remove any air bubbles; alternatively, you can switch to the paddle attachment and run for about 5 minutes on low to achieve this.
      To assemble and decorate, place one layer of cake onto your desired base and brush with some strawberry syrup. If you don’t have syrup you can spread some strawberry jam; this helps keep the cake moist as well as give some extra flavor. An option (which I did is to remove any of the browned areas of the cake top/bottom/and sides with a serrated knife before assembling; it gives the cake a more refined and polished look). I use a standard size ice cream scoop to dollop my buttercream before spreading as this makes sure you have an even layer of buttercream; I think I used 2 1/2 scoops per layer; it mighty have been three but you get the idea. I had some buttercream left over so you could definitely do three scoops. Repeat with the next cake layer by brushing with the syrup, then apply buttercream until you have all three layers assembled. Apply a thin crumb coat of buttercream and chill the cake at least 30 mintues before completing with the final layer of buttercream to the top, and sides. Decorate with fresh cut strawberries or as desired.

      Now I realize I want a pink cake stand…
    • Lemonies

      Lemonies

      Lemonies

      What’s a Lemonie you ask? A Lemonie is wonderful soft and somewhat dense lemon bar; but not in the sense one normally thinks of a lemon bar. Calling them a lemon brownie seems kind of misleading. Well imagine if a lemon bar and a shortbread cookie had a love child. The texture is meltingly yielding while still somewhat dense- but when you bite into it, its tender and the tart lemon glaze lends the perfect bit of bright punch of flavor. I have a ginormous lemon tree in my backyard and try to do it justice by coming up with as many lemon treats as possible. Right now my tree is dumping lemons as fast as it can while Spring is on our doorstep. It always makes me sad this time of year as I wish I could have lemons all year round. I just love having a lemon tree in our backyard. But all good things usually ebb and flow and my lemons are no exception.


      “Lemonies”

      ~ 16 bars

      2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

      3/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

      1 large whole egg + one egg yolk

      1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice

      zest of one large lemon

      2 Cups all purpose flour + 1 Tbsp.

      1/2 tsp. salt

      1/2 tsp. baking powder

      Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan w/ parchment paper on both sides so you have at least a 2 inch overhang. Spray w/nonstick spray.

      Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and yolk and mix until homogenous. Add in the zest and lemon juice and mix. Add in the dry ingredients and mix them by hand w/ a spatula as to not overmix. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for ~ 25-30 mins. or until set and a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean. While the bars are baking mix up the glaze because you’ll want to pour the glaze over them while still warm. Remove the bars from the oven and set over a wire rack to cool. Pour the glaze immediately out of the oven or w/in a few minutes. Its advantageous to use oven mitts and grab the sides of the pan and tilt it back and forth to let the glaze flow evenly. Allow to cool completely then set in the fridge (to allow the cut easier when cold). Cut into bars.

      Lemon Glaze:

      2 Cups confectioner’s sugar

      5 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

      In a bowl whisk the sugar and lemon juice until smooth and no lumps. If the glaze starts to harden before you pour it, just re whisk gently; try to avoid vigorously whisking as to avoid air bubbles.

    • Valentine Macarons

      Valentine Macarons

      Who’s your Valentine?

      What’s your favorite part when making macarons? Mine is playing with color. Sometimes you end up very satisfied and other times the color doesn’t quite come out the way you intended. The good news is they still taste amazing. For Valentine’s Day I wanted to do something in pastel colors. I ended up using 3 colors to color my batter and then laid the colors alongside each other on a big piece of plastic wrap and rolled it into a log and dropped it into my piping bag. Before I started piping; I squeezed the bag in a few different spots to mix the colors just a wee bit. As you pipe, the colors blend a little and you end up getting a few different extra colors. In my experience, I’ve found that it does not pay to color more than 3 colors as the color will tend to get too muddy looking, but rather if you squeeze your bag a little it in a few different sections the colors will mix more subtle while still maintaining your original colors as well. Hope that makes sense!

      Valentine Macarons: with Raspberry Champagne Buttercream

      Macaron Shells (yield: ~ 27 paired macarons) depending on how large your pipe

      140 g. Almond Flour

      124 g. Confectioners Sugar

      108 g. Egg whites

      110 g. Granulated sugar

      1/4 tsp. Cream of tartar

      1. In a food processor place the almond flour and confectioners sugar and run for 30 seconds. Repeat 2 more times. Preheat the oven to 300° F convection, 325° F or your preferred temperature. More about that later. Prepare two baking sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper.
      2. In the bowl of a stand mixer place the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar and whisk by hand to combine. Place over a bain marie and stir gently for about 5 minutes until the mixture reaches about 130 F or when you touch the mixture with your index and thumb fingers you don’t feel any sugar crystals. Remove from the heat and place on the stand mixer fitted with the whisk at power level 4 (Kitchen Aide)  and run for a few mins. 
      3. Increase mixer then to power level 6 and run for ~ 3 minutes. Add in any gel color at this point before turning up.
      4. Increase mixer to power level high (10) and run until the meringue is stiff peaks and it has started leaving tracks in the meringue and a good portion has collected inside the whisk like a ball. If the color does not appear to be mixer to your liking at this point I add in any color and mix gently by; being careful not to overmix.
      5. Add one half of almond flour/sugar mix and start folding with a rubber spatula until mixture starts to look cohesive. Add in the remaining half and continue to gently fold, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. After the almond/sugar mixture is all added, I do about 4 reps of where I smash the mixture against the walls of the bowl with either my spatula or bowl scraper, stopping after each time to test the “flow” of the batter.. The batter is perfect when you lift up the spatula and tip the pointed end of the spatula down and ribbons of batter fall smoothly back into the bowl. I like to gauge its ready when I can count 6-7 ribbons falling without breaking and I can “draw” a figure 8 with the batter when lifting the spatula and letting it fall into the bowl. Fill your pastry bag by using a heavy tall cup or mason jar to hold your pastry bag with the top folded over the glass. When preparing your bag after you drop in your round tip (I use Ateco 804), twist the bag right above the larger end of the tip and push it down into tip. Fold the top 4 inches of the bag over the jar or glass.
      6. Let the batter fall right into the bottom of the bag and continue filling to ensure you don’t get air bubbles.
      7. Pipe the batter onto prepared baking sheet with 30 macarons per sheet. Six across the long side, and five rows perpendicular. Take the sheet pan and let it drop onto the counter about 5-7 times, then look for any visible air bubbles and pop with a toothpick or bamboo skewer.
      8. I bake the macarons one tray at a time in a preheated (convection oven ) for NON convection oven* you’ll want to play around and determine what the perfect temp for you is; generally it would be 20 degrees hotter than convection) for about 15 minutes or until the cookie does not wiggle when attempting to check by carefully grabbing both sides of a cookie and gently testing. Let the tray rest on a wire rack and then bake the second tray. Cool the cookies completely and pipe the buttercream between two cookies and sandwich together.
      9. Normally I dry my macs in a unconventional way; using the technique known by “Sugarbean” on Youtube. She has a technique whereby she dries her macs in lower degree oven for 2-3 minutes with the door ajar and then she increases the temp and bakes at the higher temperature. After a few thousand trials #kiddingnotkidding I finally (for me) arrived at the perfect temp for my oven at a convection temp of 248° F for drying and then 293° F. I baked them at 293 degrees F convection oven for about 15 mins., then did the oven “shower” for 2 mins with the oven open and oven off. I only bake one tray at a time.

      Drying macs w/ oven method: (known as the Sugar Bean method). She has videos on you tube if you search for her.

      I preheat my oven to 248° degrees F before I have piped my macs. I place one tray in the oven and immediately turn off the oven, then open the oven and place something like an oven mitt or something to keep it ajar a couple inches. Then I immediately turn back on the oven at 248° F again, and time for 2-3 minutes. After 3 minutes I close the oven door and turn up the oven to 293° F. Once the oven temp comes up to 293° F, I then start timing my bake time for 15 minutes. After the bake time I open the door and check a macaron; if it’s super wiggly still I bake for another minute. If it barely wiggles or not at all, I turn off the oven and open the oven door ajar and time for another 2-3 minutes; “Sugar bean” calls this the “oven shower”. After the 3 minutes, I remove the tray and then let them cool over a wire rack. Now; since the second tray has already been drying at room temperature; I usually only oven dry for 1.5 minutes and repeat the bake as I did for the first tray.

      *A word about oven temperatures: EVERY one’s oven is different and after painstaking doing several batches of macarons I determined that in MY oven 293 F convection setting is best for me. Check your oven temperature against a thermometer placed in the middle of your oven. Some people bake there’s at 285, 290, 310 etc. unfortunately it’s something that you have to play around with and determine what is best for you and your oven. 

      Champagne and Raspberry Buttercream

      (Makes 2 Cups buttercream )

      3 egg whites

      3/4 Cup sugar

      small pinch of salt

      2 sticks (1 Cup) unsalted butter, softened, but still slightly cool to touch

      1 tsp. clear vanilla or butter vanilla emulsion

      Raspberry seedless jam: I like Smucker’s brand

      “Champagne flavoring” ( I use LorannOils Sparkling Wine flavor). (to taste) start with a drop at a time ; I think I ended up using about 6 drops.

      Prepare a bain marie and place the sugar, salt, and egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer (I have a Kitchen Aide); so if your bowl doesn’t fit over a saucepan place a metal or glass bowl over your pan that allows it to fit without touching the water in the pot. Place the mixer bowl over the bain marie and heat the mixture until it reaches 160° F. Take off the heat place on the mixer with whisk attachment until you reach a stiff meringue. Add in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated, then mix in the vanilla. Change to a paddle attachment and mix until smooth. If you want to make a rainbow style colored buttercream, divide equal parts into 4 colors in small bowls and add in a few drops of gel food coloring or powdered color to achieve your desired color. I did yellow, pink, turquoise and lavender colors. Place a large sheet of plastic wrap onto the counter and pipe each color side by side along aside each other carefully wrap your color log; so that is is vertical into your piping bag fitted with a small star tip or tip of your choice. Pipe a swirl of circular dam of buttercream leaving an area free in the middle for you to pipe in some raspberry jam. Sandwich the macs together and let them mature in the fridge for 2-3 days for best optimal taste.

    • Blackberry~Mint Popovers with Berry Sugar

      Blackberry~Mint Popovers with Berry Sugar

      Next to scones, popovers are probably my next favorite breakfast treat. They are light and don’t leave you feeling so full that you have to dive back into bed for a nap. They are quick to whip up too. I like to rest my batter in the fridge for an hour to let the flour become absorbed into the wet ingredients well. Ideally you can whip up the batter in a few mins then head to the shower or grab a cup of coffee and relax before you head back to the kitchen to pop in the oven. Just like scones, once you’ve made a basic batter the flavor additions are endless. Play around, have fun.

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    • Chocolate-Bourbon Cake with Bourbon Browned- Butter Buttercream

       

      Chocolate-Bourbon Cake with Browned-Butter Bourbon Buttercream

      I used to always say that rum was my favorite spirit, but as I’ve gotten older I can definitely say it’s now bourbon. I love trying and buying new bourbons; there are so many out there now to choose and try. I decided to go bold and use a 100 proof bourbon and use Knob Creek which is my current favorite, but as I love to try new brands; that may be subject to change. This cake was such a sweet surprise. I love to have some texture in my cakes when I’m placing the filling, so I decided to try the butterfinger pieces that are new in the baking aisle. I was afraid it would be too sweet, but it was perfect with this cake and gave a wonderful little crunchy bite. My neighbor loves cake and every year I make his birthday cake. His wife is my best friend and she always has a great party with me bringing the cake.

      Chocolate-Bourbon Cake

      1 3/4 C all purpose flour

      1 3/4 C granulated sugar

      3/4 C natural unsweetened coco powder (such as Hershey’s)

      1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

      1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

      1 tsp. kosher salt

      1 Cup whole milk (room temp)

      1/2 C vegetable oil or canola oil

      2 large eggs (room temp)

      1/2 C good quality bourbon

      2 tsp. vanilla extract

      1/2 C hot coffee

      Preheat the oven to 330° F – 350° degrees F. I used four 6 inch pans so I baked them at a lower temp as I wrap my pans with baking strips and I find that I prefer to bake my cakes when I do this at a bit lower temp so they come out flat. If you don’t use baking strips then bake at 350 F. Prepare the pans by spraying with baking spray. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.

      In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer place all the dry ingredients and whisk well. Whisk together the milk and the next 4 ingredients well. Add to the dry and whisk to combine. Add in the hot coffee and stir with the whisk to combine. The batter will be very thin. Divide the batter equally into your pans; note if you use 6 inch pans it will be about 1 cup and 5 tablespoons of batter if you are like me and like to be precise. Bake until the tops of the cakes start to pull away from the sides and the top springs back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean. Six inch pans will take about 30-31 mins at 330° F, 8 inch pans will take 22-25 mins at 350° F. Always watch your bakes though; don’t rely on a recipe and go be strictly time alone. A good baker will always check often towards at least 5 mins before the suggested time. Cool the cakes in the pans set over a wire rack, and let cool for 20 mins, then turn out and continue to cool until the cakes are completely cool; about 40 more minutes.

      While the cakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream. Note; you can make the buttercream ahead as it does take some time.

      Browned Butter-Bourbon Buttercream

      2 Cups unsalted butter

      6 Cups confectioners sugar, sifted

      1/4 Cup good quality bourbon (I like Knob Creek)

      1 Tbsp. heavy cream

      1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste

      1/2 tsp. kosher salt

      Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring continuously until the butter turns golden brown and starts to smell nutty. Do not rush the process. Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a shallow wide heat proof bowl. Allow the butter to stand for about 15 minutes then, cover and refrigerate until it is almost firm. Stir the butter about every 15-20 minutes.

      Beat the chilled butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners sugar, beating on low speed until well combined; about 2 minutes. In a separate cup stir the bourbon, heavy cream, vanilla bean paste, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.

      To assemble the cake, fill with buttercream and sprinkle with crushed butterfinger pieces. Finish frosting the cake with the remaining buttercream. Decorate as desired.

    • Gingerbread Scones with Espresso Glaze

      Gingerbread Scones with Espresso Glaze

      I never used to be a gingerbread flavor fan of anything. Something changed a few years ago I guess my taste buds changed and I suddenly flipped in the opposite direction. I now love gingerbread and I had to go about creating a recipe recently one morning. There is something I truly cannot stand when it comes to a scone; it cannot be even remotely dry. I can’t stand a dry scone. I know some people may scoff when they read my recipe and find out I use heavy cream. The cream creates a scone that will still be moist even a few days later (not to mention the butter). The dark brown sugar also helps in creating a moist scone as well as lending that molasses flavor that is needed when making gingerbread flavored treats. We were eating these even up to a week later and they were still moist. Please do not skip on the glaze; it makes these sconces sing! It may sound like an overpowering flavor next to the gingerbread but I assure it is not.

      Gingerbread Scones

      2 C all-purpose flour

      1/4 C lightly packed dark brown sugar

      1/2 tsp. kosher salt

      2 tsp. baking powder

      1/2 tsp. baking soda

      1 tsp. cinnamon

      1/2 tsp. ground ginger

      1/8 tsp. ground cloves

      8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and very cold

      1/2 Cup heavy cream very cold

      1 egg yolk

      1/4 Cup molasses (such as Grandmas brand)

      In a small bowl combine the cold heavy cream and egg yolk with a small whisk or fork. Stir in the molasses and set the bowl back in the fridge for about 20 minutes to ensure the mixture is cold. In a large bowl combine the first 8 ingredients. Using a pastry blender cut in the butter until it resembles size of peas. Make a well in the center. Add in the wet cream mixture and combine until it becomes almost a cohesive ball. Gently bring the dough together by shaping with your hands just to bring the dough together so there are no stray bits. Tear off a large piece of plastic wrap and dump the scone mixture out and using a bench scraper (instead of your warm hands) shape and form into a long rectangle log with straight sides that measures about 10 1/2inches long x 1 1/4 inches high. You will have a log with straight sides as the picture shows below. Chill the scone “log” in the plastic wrap for about 20 minutes in the fridge or 10 mins in the freezer.


      Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. F. Line a baking sheet with either a Silpat liner or parchment paper. Unwrap the plastic wrap and using a bench knife/scraper cut into 8 equal sized triangle shaped scones. Brush the scones with a little bit of cold cream or beaten egg white that you have leftover. Space the scones a few inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees then drop the oven temp to 375 degrees and continue baking for another 5-6 minutes until set.

      While the scones are baking mix up the glaze as per below. Note: The scones will be very soft so let them set up while still on the tray before attempting to move them.

      (In this picture below; you’ll see the white spots; those are actually cold pieces of butter which ensures the scones are moist once baked).

      (This is how the “log” will look once you shape it while in the plastic wrap; I also use a bench scraper to shape instead of my warm hands. Shape it into 10 1/2 inches long by 1 1/4 inch thickness x about 3 inches wide)

      Allow the glaze to set and serve slightly warm or allow to cool completely.

      Espresso Glaze

      1 2/3 C confectioners sugar

      2 Tbsp. coffee (It does not have to be hot).

      1/4 tsp. + 1/8 tsp. finely ground instant espresso powder

      In a bowl combine the sugar and espresso powder. Mix in the coffee until the glaze is combined.