Dream the Dream of Dreamsicle Cake

At the job I currently work at I am in a kitchen all day making desserts and salads. I work at a ball park, so when the team plays a game, we work. The chef of said kitchen has a birthday coming up, and I thought surprising her with a birthday cake would be a great way to celebrate before we went on our next break. After brainstorming with my friend Abbie and scouring the net, cookbooks, and magazines, we thought a dreamsicle cake would be perfect.

This cake is an orange one I found on Food Network's site. It's soaked in orange simple syrup to keep it nice and moist. It is iced with a super easy Martha Stewart buttercream recipe. And a perfect complement to orange, I topped the cake with beautiful, fresh raspberries.

The surprise was well taken, and the whole staff loved the cake.

Orange Cake from Food Network
Ingredients
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Zest of 1 orange, minced
• 1 3/4 cups flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Syrup:
• 1 orange
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch cake pan with 2-inch sides, then dust with sugar and flour.

2. Beat the eggs with the sugar to pale yellow ribbons. Beat in the milk, oil and orange zest. In a small bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture a tablespoon at a time, stirring well after each addition.

3. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until middle of cake springs back when lightly touched. Remove cake from oven, let cool slightly on a rack, then invert and cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the syrup: Use a sharp paring knife to cut the orange rind off the orange used for zest and the remaining orange, leaving the bitter white pith on the orange. Cut the skin into very thin strips and reserve. Cut away and discard the white pith, remove the orange supremes, and reserve.

5. In a large saucepan, combine the orange juice, sugar, and thin orange strips. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until a thick syrup. Strain the syrup and reserve the orange strips, along with 1/2 cup of the syrup. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the top of the cake, and then pour the warm strained syrup all over the cake so that it soaks through.

6. Place the remaining 1/2 cup syrup in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer and reduce to a few tablespoons. Use a spatula to spread the thick glaze over the top of the cake. Place cake on a serving platter, and arrange the reserved orange strips and orange supremes on top of the cake.

Vanilla Buttercream Icing from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Food coloring (optional)

Directions
1. Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high).

2. Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (If refrigerated before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth.)

Italian Bread

I've always been a sucker for carbs. Rice, potatoes, pasta, bread. You name it, I love it. I made dinner for my family, and decided to make some bread to go with it. Zach is a sucker for  nice crusty breads with light airy insides, and this recipe fit the bill. With five people, it was gone in minutes so that should tell you something.

I did make a change to the original recipe to use what I had on hand. I did not have semolina flour at the time so I substituted it with A.P. flour. It turned out perfectly!

Italian Bread from Stephanie Gallagher

•1 cup warm water (between 105 and 115 degrees F)
•1/2 cup warm skim milk (between 105 and 115 degrees F)
•2 Tbsp. honey
•2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
•3 cups bread flour
•1 cup semolina flour
•1 tsp. sea salt (such as Maldon sea salt)
•2 Tbsp. olive oil
•coarse cornmeal
•olive oil-flavored nonstick cooking spray

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine water, milk, and honey. Sprinkle yeast over top. Allow to stand 10-15 minutes until foamy. Add 2 cups of bread flour. Using electric stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat on low for 4 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel. Place in an unheated oven and allow to stand 1-2 hours.

Remove bowl from oven and add remaining cup of bread flour, semolina flour, salt and olive oil. Using your electric mixer with a dough hook, beat for 5 minutes. Spray another large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Pour dough into that bowl. Turn over until dough is covered with oil. Cover and let rest 15 minutes.

Sprinkle a cookie sheet with several teaspoons of cornmeal. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into an oval mound. Flatten slightly until each half is about 6 inches across. Spray tops of dough loaves with nonstick spray. Put cookie sheet into unheated oven to rise another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled. Remove dough from oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Using a sharp knife, make 3 slits across top of bread about 1/4 inch deep. Fill a small round cake pan with 1/2 inch of water. Place on cake pan on bottom rack in oven. Place cookie sheet with bread dough on it on the middle rack of the oven. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. If bread browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Zach and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon, which is where I discovered little morsels of heaven: chocolate lava cakes. They have a moist cakey outside with a liquidy chocolate inside. Paired with vanilla bean ice cream and fresh strawberries. A-ma-zing! Of course they are super yummy without the ice cream and strawberries too.

This particular recipe actually turned out more like a chocolate soufflé than a lava cake. The cakes had a nice airy texture, and didn't give me the really cakey outside I was hoping for. However they tasted awesome! I used a mixture of semi sweet chocolate chips and dark chocolate Hershey kisses in mine. I just can't resist dark chocolate. Yum!

Overall the recipe was not what I was expecting out of a lava cake, but pleasantly surprised me with a sort of soufflé version that my guests and I greatly enjoyed.

Molten Chocolate Cakes Recipe from Joy of Baking


1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces (170 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Generously butter 4 - 3/4 cup molds, ramekins, or custard cups and dust the insides with granulated white sugar. Place the prepared molds on a baking sheet and set aside while you make the chocolate cakes.

In a stainless steel bowl suspended over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and set aside while you whip the egg yolks.

In your electric mixer beat the egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar until thick, pale, and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract and then fold in the melted chocolate mixture.

In another clean bowl whip the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to whip until soft peaks form. Gradually add the 1 tablespoon of granulated white sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula or wire whisk gently fold the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture, just until incorporated. Do not over mix or the batter will deflate. Divide the batter between the prepared molds, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the outside edges of the cakes are set but the middle still looks a little wet. You may have cracks on the top surface of the cakes.

Immediately remove from oven and let them rest for a minute or two. Run a palette or sharp knife around the edge of each cake and then invert onto the center of each serving plate. Carefully remove the mold. Sprinkle the top of each cake with confectioners sugar and place a dollop of softly whipped cream, clotted cream, creme fraiche, or vanilla ice cream on top of each warm cake.

An Update

So here's what we've been up to the past couple of months.

Finishing classes.

Finding an externship.

Moving.

Preparing for Zach to leave for bootcamp.

So now we are settled back at home. I'm externing at The Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, and I graduate from CCI in July. Then Zach leaves for bootcamp for the United States Marine Corps in September.

Yummy posts will be coming in the near future, so come back soon.