Classic Birthday Cake

Summer is the hardest time of year to bake. After walking around in 90 degree weather all day, the absolute last thing anyone wants to do is hang out in a 100 degree kitchen. That being said, it takes a lot for me to actually bake during the months of June, July and August (which explains my recent lack of posts).

Anyway, with yesterday being Dan's 26th birthday, I decided to brave the heat and make him a birthday cake from scratch. My apartment only has one tiny window air conditioner in it, so when I say my blood, sweat and tears went into this cake, I mean it... with a big emphasis on the sweat.

Moist Yellow Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting

adapted from here and here

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (12 tablespoons)

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large egg yolks

3 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the middle.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a small bowl and whisk to get ready of any lumps or chunks.

Place butter into a bowl and mix on a medium or high speed until fluffy and light in color. Add in sugar and vanilla, and beat until thoroughly creamed and mixed in. Add egg yolks one at a time, letting each egg yolk mix fully in before adding the next. Add the whole eggs one at a time as well, allowing 1 minute of mixing between additions. The mixture should be very pale in color at this point.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture and mix until incorporated. Add in half of the milk and mix until incorporated. Continue to alternate adding in the dry ingredient mixture and milk until all ingredients are thoroghly mixed in and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter between two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. Be sure to butter them thoroughly before filling with batter! Bake until the cake edges slightly pull away from the pans and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out dry with just a few crumbs, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove the pans from the overn and let cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

3 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature

2 2/3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted (VERY IMPORTANT!)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

Beat the butter with a mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

Stop the mixer and add the powdered sugar in stages until it is fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla and chocolate and beat on a medium high sped until the frosting is light and airy.

To frost:

Make sure the cake is thoroughly cooled before frosting. The frosting should be at room temperature for frosting, but don't let it get too soft or else it will become runny and won't hold on the cake.

I assume most of you know how to frost a cake, but if you don't, click THIS fantastic link for a video tutorial.

decorating tutorials + mint buttercream

Cake decorating is an art. Some people have a wonderful ability to create beautiful (and delicious) cakes with fancy decorations and designs. I'm slightly challenged in the decoration department but my Aunt Kathy is a natural. We have all seen her showpieces from the Girard Family Cake-Off, but this weekend we in Chicago had an opportunity to watch the master at work.

She worked quickly, eh... not exactly quick but diligently. She confidently frosted the layer cake like an old pro sharing tips + tricks with her captive audience along the way. After perusing the food coloring options + piping tips she choose to decorate the cake in a beautiful rose petal pink. I always have fun with Aunt Kathy, we laughed a lot. Enjoy the photos.

{she showed us how to use a decorating triangle}

{A closer look at the final product + intricate details}

Lastly, I made a few cupcake varieties with the left over cake batter. Here is a recipe for mint buttercream. It's delicious on a chocolate cupcake served cold with a glass of milk.

Mint Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon mint extract
green food coloring

Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, milk, and peppermint extract, beat until combined. Add green food coloring until frosting reaches desired color.

Chouquettes Aux Pepites de Chocolat

As I was sitting outside enjoying a day in the sun something about the warm breeze + smell of summer reminded me of Europe. I miss the beautiful beaches, amazing architecture, delicious food + wonderful people I met. Wishing I could magically teleport myself to a cafe in France where I could sit + read while enjoying a delicious pastry I decided to bake something so I could at least pretend.

A while back I read David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris and marked a recipe for Chouquettes aux pepites de chocolat or chocolate chip cream puffs. These seemed like the perfect recipe for my afternoon activity.

They were super easy to make + truly deee-licious. Enjoy these little guys outside, close your eyes + pretend you are in France.

Chouquettes Aux Pepites de Chocolat

From David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris

1 cup water

1/2 tsp coarse salt

2 tsp sugar

6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 cup flour

4 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup pearl sugar*

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a small saucepan heat water, salt, sugar and butter until butter is melted and water starts to boil. Remove from heat and add to flour. Stir rapidly until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the bowl. Allow the dough to cool for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to release the heat. Briskly beat in eggs one at a time until the paste is smooth and shiny. Let cool completely to room temperature, then stir in chocolate chips. Drop mounds of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 teaspoons each. Sprinkle each generously with the pearl sugar. (David recommends using a lot + really pressing into each pastry). Bake for about 20 minutes or until puffed and well browned.**

*I bought my pearl sugar at Fox and Obel in

Chicago, I also hear it can be purchased at some Ikea stores. It's great.

**Note: the original recipe says bake for 35 minutes but mine were brown + ready to go around 20 minutes in.

Key Lime Pie.

Wow. It's July 2nd already. Summer is really flying by (as it usually does). We decided to take a month off from Cookie Confessions as we have all been extremely busy with work + various summer-time activities. Both Katie + Nikki have recently moved so we can look forward to their contributions from their new kitchens.

It's hot in Chicago. I've been having some trouble coming up with summery sweets to try because as I've said before, I always want chocolate. Trying to steer away from chocolate I made a Key Lime Pie a couple weeks ago. I used a recipe from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach FL. I saw this recipe on Oprah a while back, I'm glad I tried it- it's reallllly delicious. I'm not usually a huge fan of Key Lime Pie but it was cool + tart, exactly what you need on a hot summer night. Enjoy.

Key Lime Pie

Mar-a-Lago via Oprah.com

Gramham Cracker Crust:

3/4 pound graham crackers

4 tbsp. sugar

2 sticks butter, melted

1/4 tsp sea salt

Filling:

4 egg yolks

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice

1 lime, grated zest

Topping:

1 cup heavy or whipping cream, chilled

2 tbsp confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
To make graham cracker crust: Preheat the oven to 325°.

Break up the graham crackers, place in a food processor and process to crumbs. Add the melted butter, sugar and salt and pulse until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan, forming an even layer on the bottom, sides and edge. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the crust to cool.

To make filling: While the crust is resting, in an electric mixer with the wire whisk attachment, whip the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until fluffy, or 5 to 6 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to whip until thick, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice until incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling has just set. Cool on a wire rack, and then refrigerate for 20 minutes.

To make topping: Whip the cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until nearly stiff. Evenly spread the whipped cream on top of the pie, and place in the freezer for 20 minutes prior to serving.

The Girard Cake Challenge

As some of you know, I was interested in taking a cake decorating class to improve my much-lacking skills in this area. My mom was kind enough to take the class with me, so I wouldn't have to go it alone. When my dad, the artist, got wind of this class, he went into put up or shut up mode and challenged us that his decorations would be far and away better than ours. So, that's how all three of us ended up in a store in the middle of the ghetto in Atlanta for four Monday nights, taking a cake decorating class.

While all of the other students were busy concentrating, we were the class clowns in the back, laughing at each others' heinous decorations and poor technique. Somehow, though, they let us graduate (we even have diplomas!), and we proudly present to you our final assignment for your judging pleasure. We were required to have the following elements: at least one rose, stems, sweet pea flowers, leaves, a bow, and a shell border.

I won't tell you which cake is which, but please comment and leave your vote for the best Girard family cake! Some voted earlier this weekend while we were in Kansas City for Mary Beth's graduation (congrats MB, go K State!), so I can tell you that my dad's cake is in the lead right now by three votes. There will be some sort of yet to be determined prize for the winner.

Vote early, vote often.

Cake #1

Cake #2

Cake #3

Marbled Peanut Butter + Chocolate Cookies

There is a cookie company out of Highland Park, IL called Carol's Cookies. If you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying one of their massive 1/2 lb cookies yet don't waste any time running to your nearest whole foods. I had a really delicious peanut butter chocolate combo cookie the other day, it was rich with peanut butter taste and had chocolate swirls throughout. I wanted to try and recreate this cookie so I decided to use my go-to peanut butter cookie with the additio of oatmeal. I then planned to marble in a chocolate cookie dough. It definitely was not like Carol's (I can't figure out her secret) but they were good. Next time I think I will try to marble in some sweet ground chocolate instead of a chocolate cookie dough... I will report back.

Here is the recipe I used for the chocolate cookie part. Click here for my peanut butter cookie recipe. To marble the cookies, throw in pieces of the chocolate dough into the peanut butter. Lightly combine the doughs using a mixer. Do not over combine.

Cocoa Cookies:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bown. Beat butter, sugars and vanilla in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, beat well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes

Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Brioche

I had my first foray into bread-making this week when I made these mini Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Brioche. While they aren't bread proper, the brioche definitely required me to be patient while baking them. I had to let the little guys sit and rise not once, but twice before I could place them into the oven.

If you know me, you know that I am always on the go, so this "waiting" concept proved a bit challenging. But patience is a virtue- and thanks to the act of making little treats, I think I am slowly beginning to embody this virtue. Well, sort of.

Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Brioche

adapted from 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly

1/2 tbp. active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp. sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 eggs

1/4 cup superfine sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter, softened

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 beaten egg

Combine the yeast, water and teaspoon of sugar in a large, warmed bowl. Stir well and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the flour until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. Beat the eggs and add them to the yeast mixture. Add the sugar and salt. Stir in the remaining flour and the cinnamon, and mix until the dough is soft and slightly sticky. Leave in a warm place (covered with plastic wrap) for about 45 minutes or until the batter has doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 mini brioche or muffin molds. Beat in butter and chocolate chips. Fill the molds halfway. Leave in a warm place to rise for about 20 minutes, or until the dough has risen to fill about 2/3 of each mold.

Brush each brioche with a little of the beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes. Cool in the molds for five minutes, remove and cool on a rack.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.