Bunny Cake

March 21, 2016March 21, 2016

A good friend of mine Lisa, who you may remember from her recipe ‘Stuffed Jalapeno’s’, decided to have a little Easter party for her daughter and her friend’s this past weekend. My two little one’s were invited and as I never like to show up to a party empty-handed, I decided to bring a little cake along!

Lisa is a full-time working mom and she did an amazing job with the party, the kid’s had so much fun. She put out a great spread for lunch, had an Easter egg hunt, coloring, a pin the tail on the Bunny game and Easter baskets to top it all off. The kid’s didn’t stop talking about it afternoon after leaving!

I baked my own recipe for chocolate cake and buttercream, you can certainly use a box cake mix for this recipe. However, I would use a real buttercream for filling and decorating. Also, feel free to use any flavor cake for this. Then just collect your candy and nuts and you can get started. The only real rule here is to get creative!

Here are most of your ingredients… You will need three layers of prepared cake, frosting, green sprinkles, chocolate eggs or some sort, bunnies, a spreading spatula and a cake stand.

I decided to go with three different buttercream frostings. I am doing a strawberry buttercream filling, vanilla buttercream colored green for the top and chocolate buttercream for the sides.

Start with any flavor cake baked into three layers.

Start by spreading your filling on each layer. You will want to try to divide your filling in half for this.

Be sure not to go all the way to the edges because when you place your next layer on, it will spread from the weight.

Place the next layer on.

And repeat with the remaining filling.

Place the third and last layer on top.

Next I like to add on the side frosting, spreading evenly, but it’s supposed to mimic dirt, so a little roughness is nice here.

Once you have it all spread on be sure to go up over the edge just a bit and then clean up the plate.

It’s always a good idea to trim the cake bottom… Here I’ve used sliced almonds that mimic rocks in the dirt, but you can really trim with anything you like.

Once this stage is complete, move onto the next step.

Pile your green frosting up on top, right in the middle of the cake.

You will want to be sure you are gentle with this step so you come just to the edge of the top of the cake, spreading evenly.

Now go around the edge of the top of the cake with your chocolate eggs.

I like to go around with a little turn and it is ok if there is green on the outside of these… you don’t want them falling off.

Move all the way around the cake.

Pile up some sprinkles right in the middle of the top of the cake. My sprinkles are an Easter mix with cue little eggs in them. Use whatever you like here. Even brown sprinkles would be cute.

These Peep bunny’s come in rows, so when you detach them from each other, they will have a raw edge.

To mask that raw edge, simply take another bunny and rub the sugar from the back of the bunny on the raw edge of the one you will be displaying.

And it does a good job of masking it.

Now to affix the bunny’s to the top, you will need some tooth picks or serving picks as I am using here.

Insert the tooth pick or serving pick into the bunny.

Once it goes in about halfway, you are ready to use.

I use three different color bunny’s here, you can get creative, use the same color or use 5 bunny’s (I like to stick to odd numbers)

Be sure they are placed just as you like.

Bunny Cake

Serves 12-16

Ingredients:

3 8″-9″ cake layers (any flavor)

4-5 cups buttercream frosting, divided (see recipe below)

1 bag chocolate candy eggs

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/8 cup green sprinkles

green food coloring

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

3 Peep bunnys, assorted colors

8-10 chopped strawberries (optional)

Directions:

Divide frosting in 4 parts. Two parts will be filling, add chopped strawberries or any other flavoring if desired. Add green food coloring to third part until desired green color is acheived (usually 4-5 drops). Add melted chocolate to fourth and final part.

Place first cake layer on cake stand. Add one part of filling and spread. Place second cake layer on top. Spread second part of cake filling. Place final cake layer on top.

Spread chocolate frosting on sides of cake. Trim bottom of cake with sliced almonds.

Spread green frosting on top of cake. Rim the top of cake with candy eggs. Pile up green sprinkles in center of top of cake.

Pierce Peep bunny’s with toothpick’s and affix to the top of cake in a decorative fashion.

Enjoy!

Basic Buttercream Frosting

Yield 5 – 6 cups

Ingredients:

3 sticks softened unsalted butter

6 cups confectioner’s sugar

1/3 cup milk

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Cream butter with an electric mixer. Turn speed to low and add in confectioner’s sugar. Add milk. Add vanilla. Beat until smooth.

*Gluten-free

Portuguese Meringues (Suspiros)

March 2, 2016May 13, 20203 Comments

How can I describe a Suspiro? Well… If you have never had a Suspiro or a meringue before, what I can say is imagine what cotton candy’s opposite would be texture wise while still retaining all the sugar. It’s almost like a chalky consistency, but far from that in flavor. And the best part about the home-made ones most especially is that they have a relatively gooey middle.

Suspiros have been part of my life forever. Every Portuguese market I know of always has these big beautiful sweet treats stocked. More candy than cookie, these special goodies were only bought every so often in my house, but when they were, we were always happy kids! Unlike the American version (Meringues) which are only about the size of a half-dollar, Portuguese Suspiros are about the size of a hamburger bun. They are best eaten slowly with a cup of tea.

In my opinion each and every holiday should include Suspiros, but none more than Easter! After 40 days of Lenten sacrifice, there is nothing more satisfying than pure sugar! They can be colored, of course, to accommodate any theme (think pink for Princess tea parties or blue for a baby shower) and are a great addition to birthday parties and anything you might want something a little “out of the box” for. A major part of making these yummies is drying them out, it is best to make them when it is not too humid out and best stored in an air tight container or zip tight bag.

Preheat your oven to 225°F.

Start by adding about 2″ of water to the bottom of a medium-sized sauce pan. Bring the water to a simmer over medium heat.

You want to be sure the sauce pan you use is smaller than the bowl of your electric mixer.

Separate 4 egg whites into the bowl of your electric mixer. Cold eggs aid in this process.

They won’t look like much in the bowl, but their volume will increase, don’t worry.

Use the egg yolks in a cake recipe or to make lemon curd or just discard.

Measure out 1 1/2 cups of granulated white sugar.

Add directly to the egg whites.

With a hand whisk, incorporate the sugar in with the whites by beating well.

Once the whites and the sugar are beaten to a slightly frothy milky white substance, place the bowl on the sauce pan that you have brought to a simmer. Beat steadily and quickly with your hand whisk for about 3-4 minutes.

You will know the mixture is ready to remove from the heat when it looks like the sugar crystals have melted as you bring the mixture up the side of the bowl as seen here.

Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

Once sugar crystals appear to have dissolved, place bowl on electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high until mixture has cooled and stiff peaks have formed. This should take about 4-5 minutes.

The mixture is so stiff that when I remove it from the machine and let it rest for transport to the sink, it just stays up right.

Stiff peak.

Ready your supplies. I am using a disposable pastry bag and an extra-large tip. If you don’t have these supplies, you can use a gallon size freezer bag and attach whatever size decorating tip you have, or just use no tip at all. The Suspiros will turn out just fine, they just won’t have the pretty carved look to them. (Unless you cut a zig-zag shape into the corner or “tip” of your bag.)

Prepare the bag by cutting off enough tip to accommodate your tip holder.

This is what you should have once it is all assembled.

I like to start by folding back about an inch from the top. whether using a pastry bag or a gallon size freezer bag, this tip helps to fill without incident.

The tip I am using today is a 1M by Wilton.

Fill the bag.

Unfold that top portion you had originally folded down. Pinch at the top so as not to lose too much mixture.

In a circular motion, pipe the mixture onto the parchment lined pan.

Build as high as you like. I like good hearty Suspiros. These are about 2 1/2″ in diameter.

Once all the Suspiros are built, they are ready for the oven.

Bake at 225°F for one hour without opening the oven door. Once the hour is up, shut off the oven and leave the Suspiros in the oven until completely cool about 1-2 hours more.

Suspiros (Meringue)

Serves 16

Ingredients.

4 egg whites

1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 225°F,

Beat egg whites with sugar by hand for about 30 seconds in the bowl of an electric mixer. Place a sauce pan on the stove with about 2″ of water in it. Bring water to a simmer. Place the bowl on the sauce pan and beat constantly. (This is an important step as it both builds volume and keeps the mixture moving so that the eggs don’t cook.) After about 3-4 minutes, check that the sugar crystals have mostly dissolved. Remove from heat and return bowl to the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk mixture for about 4-5 minutes until stiff peaks can be formed.

Place mixture in a piping bag (or gallon size freezer bag) fitted with a star tip (or just with the end cut off). Pipe mixture onto a parchment lined sheet pan in 3″ round circles that are about 2″ high.

Place sheet pans in the oven and bake at 225°F for one hour without opening the oven. Then turn off the oven and allow Suspiros to cool completely in the oven before removing. Remove from oven and enjoy! Be sure to store in an air tight container.

Halloween Candy Bars

October 16, 2015October 16, 2015

Halloween has to be one of the most fun-loving holiday’s we have! I thought I would come up with a project to do with my kids that reflects that! And because it’s Halloween, there needs to be sugar involved in said project… Soooo, I took sugar wafer cookies (yum), chocolate (yum), and candy (more yum) and I put them all together in one super yummy festive treat!

All you need to do is pick up a couple of packages of sugar wafers (I got three flavors), two kinds of melting chocolate (or colorful melts if you like), and a selection of candy. My kids LOVE m&m’s so those had to be there, then to make it extra Halloweeny, some candy corn of course and the rest were just random selections that suited my fancy!

This no-bake treat is inexpensive, easy and fun, let me show you how I did it…

Here are all the ingredients I used... You can swap any of this out, get creative, taylor it to your tastes!

Here are all the ingredients I used… You can swap any of this out, get creative, tailor it to your tastes!

I chose bittersweet chocolate because it helps to off set some of the sweetness.

I chose vanilla melts for the contrast in color.

Three different types of sugar wafers… the classic vanilla, chocolate and strawberry… but there are lots of different flavors out there, again, get creative!

I used sweetened coconut flakes, you could use unsweetened or even toasted if you want to cut some of the sugar.

Candy corn is a non-negotiable if you are making these for Halloween! Even if they are just on a few, it really helps to doll them up… Now, if you are making these for let’s say Christmas or Easter, you might use candy canes or peeps!

I chose mini m&m’s because their cute little size fit with the wafers, also, because they are small, we could get more color… and as I already mentioned, this is a family favorite!

I picked up a cookies and cream candy bar and chopped it up… My kids love Oreo yogurt and so I knew they would just love this one!

I reserved some of the vanilla chips for decoration.

I also picked up some peanut butter cups, um, yum… obviously if you are making these to bring into a school or somewhere there might be a peanut allergy, I would leave these out.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment. You want to place on something mobile so you are able to move your bars to a cool place to set up.

Place your vanilla melts in a microwave safe bowl and heat for one minute to start, then stir as well as you can.

Place in the microwave again for 10-15 seconds at a time, stir after each time… until you come to this level of melt. Then allow any random bits to melt with the rest of the meltiness.

just plop each sugar wafer into the pool one at a time. With the vanilla chips, I start with the vanilla so that if some crumbs fall in, it doesn’t sour the batch.

Gently coat and allow to drip so you don’t get over coverage.

Once they are coated, place on your tray.

Some vanilla crumbs did get in, but they really aren’t seen, so I continue with the strawberry.

While still warm, start sprinkling on candy.

Get creative, let the kids have at it, there is no wrong way to do this!

Once you are done with the vanilla chips, move on to the chocolate… I like to do one at a time because it only stays warm enough to coat for a short time. So, pop this in the microwave for one minute and this is what it looks like after that minute. Mix as well as you can and pop it in for an additional 10 seconds at a time until you get to the next level…