Tuesdays with Dorie: Devil’s Food White Out Cake
This is the one we’ve all been waiting for! It’s Dorie’s cover recipe: Devil’s Food White Out Cake. Thanks, Stephanie, for finally choosing it!
For my mini cake (big surprise that I made it in miniature) I made 1/3 of the recipe, using two mini springform pans. Instead of using Dorie’s icing (I know.. I cheated!), I used the basic Seven Minute Icing – I wanted to test it out for the cupcakery and I figured it would be a good match for this cake since it’s so similar.
All I can really say at this point is WOW. The cake and icing pairing was insanely good. I had no trouble with my cake falling- in fact it had a nice little bump to cut down (and devour) before I iced it. My only real problem with the recipe was the crumb decoration.. mine looks pretty messy. I don’t think I’d serve it as a whole cake- probably just in slices. In the end, though.. it’s all about taste, and this was a winner!
*Find the recipe here.
**Tuesdays with Dorie is a group of bloggers baking through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Bakery Boxes!
I can’t really think of anything cuter than these pink bakery boxes. I think they are simply adorable! They aren’t the exact size that I wanted, but I think they’re so cute that I’m going to use them anyway. Soon I’ll have a perfect logo and it’ll be right there on the top..
Test Kitchen: Fruit and Spice Cupcakes
So here we are at Round Three of cupcake testing for the Cupcakery That Has Yet To Be Named. I did five flavors, focusing around the icing this time- most of these babies have a cream cheese base. Let’s get to it!
The Good: Great pumpkin flavor, lots of spice, moist cake.The Bad: The salty pumpkin seeds ruined the taste and need to be removed. Not enough frosting.
The Verdict: Add more frosting, find a new garnish.
The Red Velvet
(Red velvet cake. Cream cheese frosting. Sprinkles.)
The Good: Great frosting, a good complement to the subtle flavors of the cake.The Bad: Too dry. Need a recipe that stays moist.
The Verdict: Tweak red velvet recipe, take or leave garnish.
The Bananas Foster
(Banana cake. Maple cream cheese frosting. Banana slice.)
The Good: Moist, dense cake. Frosting and cake compliment each other.The Bad: The cake didn’t rise as much as I’d like, so they came out a bit short. Banana slice began to brown overnight.
The Verdict: More batter in the baking cups. Try banana chips as a garnish.
The Caramel Apple
(Cinnamon Apple Cake. Caramel brown butter frosting. Caramel drizzle.)
The Good: Cake has excellent flavor, well spiced. Great match with the frosting. Frosting has a distinct, delicious flavor.The Bad: Caramel drizzle didn’t really stay where I wanted it.
The Verdict: Find a new garnish, perhaps a caramel square or tuile of some kind.
The Happy Bunny
(Carrot cake with walnuts. Cream cheese frosting. Walnut garnish.)
The Good: Great cake – classic pairing.The Bad: Might need a little something, maybe raisins, to fill it out. Raw walnut on top can be bitter.
The Verdict: Test with raisins. Test maple roasted walnuts for a garnish.
More Cupcakes on the Way!
I did a round of testing yesterday which I’ll be posting tomorrow. Here’s a little taste of what you’ll be seeing..
Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Banana Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Cinnamon Apple Cake with Caramel Brown Butter Frosting
Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
(as you can see, this round of testing was based around the cream cheese frosting.)
More to come tomorrow!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Yikes!
I’m so sorry! I’m up to my ears in cupcake testing! I really wanted to try this recipe, too.. perhaps I’ll post late and use it on Valentine’s Day. Sorry, Shari: I hope mine come out as wonderful as yours!
*To check out this week’s TWD recipe, Floating Islands, check out Shari’s blog!
**Tuesdays with Dorie is a group of bloggers baking through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Test Kitchen: Chocolate-Based Cupcakes
Today was another testing day! I wanted to work with my chocolate cake recipe, and I knew I’d have a captive audience at my book club, so I did five flavors. I also tried out some new baking cups, which I haven’t made any decisions about just yet. They look super cute and make for a great presentation, but you have to be a little more patient to get the cupcake out of the wrapper. Anyone have any thoughts about the baking cups?
(Chocolate cake. Marshmallow frosting. Hot chocolate topping.)
The Good: Cute concept, nice look with the topping.The Bad: One of the chocoholics in the group noted that it wasn’t chocolatey enough- agreed!
The Verdict: Add some more chocolate to the cake, perhaps dark chocolate chips.
The Campfire Smore
(Chocolate cake. Marshmallow frosting. Teddy grahams. Hershey Bar.)
The Good: Great concept, nice presentation.The Bad: Not enough graham taste.
The Verdict: Try a graham cupcake with chocolate filling, or crushed graham on top.
The Grasshopper
(Chocolate cake. Mint buttercream frosting. Junior Mint.)
The Good: Classic flavors, just enough mint in the icing.The Bad: I didn’t hear any bad feedback about this one.
The Verdict: A keeper. Sticking with it.
The Oreo
(Chocolate cake. Oreo buttercream frosting. Mini Oreo.)
The Good: Everyone loves oreos. The Bad: Need to crush the oreos a little more before icing. The big chunks make it look sloppy.
The Verdict: Crush the oreos in a food processor.
The Aztec
(Mexican chocolate cake with cinnamon and chile powder. Cinnamon buttercream frosting.)
The Good: Something new. You can taste the spices, but it’s not overwhelming.The Bad: Didn’t get to try this in the other baking cups. Maybe needs a topper.
The Verdict: Maybe up the spices a little, maybe add a cinnamon stick.
YWPWT: Oops!
To all my You Want Pies with That? participants, my regrets! I’m working on starting a cupcake business and have been up to my elbows in cupcakes lately! My mind has been there, and I forgot about my Literary pie until it was too late! Sorry, Mary- I really did want to do this challenge!
Test Kitchen: Cupcakes Galore!
Remember the last post, where I said I was thinking about opening a cupcake bakery? Well, I’m really thinking about it. So much so, that I’ve inquired about becoming a vendor at Dayton’s 2nd Street Market and started testing recipes. Hopefully my tasters will continue to help over the next few weeks.. they were a great help so far! 🙂 Here are the first five testers.
(Vanilla cake. Peanut Butter frosting. Grape filling.)
Good stuff: The frosting was a hit. It tasted exactly like a PB&J.Bad stuff: The jelly dilemma- not everyone is a grape lover. It looks a little plain, needs something on top to help visually.
The Verdict: A keeper. I think I’ll stick with the grape jelly, and add something on top, but the recipe is pretty solid.
The Sweet Celebration
(Vanilla cake. Confetti sprinkles. Vanilla frosting.)
I made two variations here: Little Sprinkles and Big Sprinkles. I wanted to see the difference.
Little Sprinkles.
Big Sprinkles.
Good Stuff: Everyone loves confetti! It just makes people happy. The cake and frosting are tried and true.
Bad Stuff: Big Sprinkles. They don’t give the same visual appeal. Piped frosting. I just don’t like the look as much, and it gives less coverage on the cupcake.
The Verdict: Little Sprinkles (on the left) are the winner. No piped frosting. Variations on the color of the frosting.
The Black on White
(Vanilla cake. Chocolate frosting.
The Good: Classic cake. Sprinkles give visual appeal. Chocolate icing was not too sugary.The Bad: Not enough frosting.
The Verdict: Very good basic cupcake. Add more frosting.
The Strawberry Shortcake
(Vanilla cake. Strawberry filling. Pink icing. Fresh strawberry.)
The Good: Very good presentation. Really makes you want to eat it!The Bad: WAY TOO SWEET. The filling was too overpowering- I could feel the Diabetes coming on with the first bite.
The Verdict: Love the presentation, need to remedy the filling. I used a pre-made topping, which was way too sugary. Use jam or a homemade puree instead.
The Watermelon
(Pink vanilla cake. Chocolate chips. Green vanilla frosting.)
The Good: Good concept, fun idea.The Bad: Doesn’t actually taste like watermelon, when you sort of want it to. Pink wasn’t pink enough, green was too green.
The Verdict: Table the retesting of this one until the summer. There won’t be any interest in it in the winter, and there are more pressing cupcakes to be perfected!Cupcake Love: What’s Your Favorite?
So I’m thinking about starting a business. A cupcake bakery, actually. Nothing’s set in stone yet, but I did a little cupcake brainstorming. Okay, actually, a lot of cupcake brainstorming. I came up with tons of variations, some have been done, some are new, some are regional. Please comment with any feedback on the names and flavors, and if there’s something else you think would be great in cupcake form! (Sorry in advance for the weird spacing of this post!)
Here are the flavors I came up with:
Basic Flavors
The Black on Black: Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Icing
The Black on White: Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Icing
The White on White: Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Icing
The White on Black: Chocolate Cupcake with Vanilla Icing
The White on Red: Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Fruity/Fresh Flavors
The Key Lime Pie: Lime Flavored Cupcake with Coconut Icing
The Lemon Meringue Pie: Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Curd and Meringue Topping
The Strawberry Shortcake: Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Filling and Strawberry Icing
The Strawberry Patch: Strawberry Cupcake with Vanilla Icing
The Pina Colada: Coconut Cupcake with Pineapple Cream Cheese Icing
The Banana Split: Banana Cupcake with Strawberry Marshmallow Icing and all the Toppings
The Bananas Foster: Banana Cupcake with Cinnamon Rum Icing
The Violet Beauregarde: Vanilla Cupcake with Blueberries baked inside and Blueberry Vanilla Icing
The Royal Raspberry : Chocolate Cupcake with Raspberry Buttercream a Fresh Raspberry
The Watermelon: Pink Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Chip “Seeds” and Green Vanilla Icing
The Caramel Apple: Cinnamon Apple Cupcake with Caramel Icing
The Creamsicle: Orange Cupcakes with Orange and Marshmallow Icing
Chocolate Flavors
The Aztec: Dark Chocolate Cupcake with Hot Cinnamon Icing
The Oreo: Chocolate Cupcake with Oreo Buttercream Frosting
The Goddess: Chocolate Pomegranate Cupcake with Pomegranate Icing
The Caffeine Rush: Chocolate Mocha Cupcake with Mocha Buttercream Frosting
The Hot Chocolate: Dark Chocolate Cupcake with Marshmallow Icing
The Buckeye: Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and a miniature Buckeye
The Campfire Smore: Chocolate Cupcake with Marshmallow Icing, Graham Cracker Crumbs and a Hershey Bar
The Grasshopper: Chocolate Cupcake with Creme de Menthe Icing
The Cherry Coke: Chocolate Coca Cola Cupcake with Cherry Icing
Fun Flavors
The PB&J: Vanilla Cupcake filled with Grape Jelly and Topped with Peanut Butter Icing
The Sweet Tooth: Vanilla Cupcake with Dulce de Leche Filling and Caramel Icing
The Boston Cream Pie: Vanilla Cupcake with Custard Filling and Dark Chocolate Ganache
The Great Pumpkin: Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing
The Sweet Celebration: Confetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Icing and Sprinkles
The Happy Bunny: Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
The Midnight Snack: Vanilla Cupcake with Cookie Dough Filling, Vanilla Icing and Chocolate Chips
The Dayton Dragon: Vanilla Cupcake with Green Vanilla Icing and topped with a Malted Dinosaur Egg
The Granola Girl: Almond Cupcake with Granola baked inside, Cinnamon Icing and Granola sprinkles
The Fluffernutter: Peanut Butter Cupcake with Marshmallow Icing
Which are your favorites?
Tuesdays with Dorie: World Peace Cookies
I truly believe these cookies could bring world peace. Dorie is not kidding with this title! The secret deliciousness comes from this trifecta (in my opinion): the sea salt, the chocolate chunks and the butter. They combine, along with a few other tasty ingredients, to create a melt-in-your-mouth, sweet-yet-salty, perfectly textured treat. I don’t know why I only made half of the recipe- I feel like making 1,000 of these. Please make them. Or leave me a comment and I’ll send you some in the mail. That’s how much I think you should try these. Spread the happiness.
*Find the recipe here. Thanks, Jess!
**Tuesdays with Dorie is a group of bloggers baking through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.
