Shelf Stable Mousse Fillings

The carton of Pastry Pride that I picked up contained about 4 cups of liquid and I only used 1 cup for the filling on my last cake.  Because the carton said, once thawed, product keeps fresh 3 weeks in fridge and do not refreeze liquid, I had to do something soon.

Given that it's 90+ degrees in the Bay Area this week (I know, crazy, right?), I decided against turning on the oven and baking a bunch of cupcakes and cakes to fill.  Instead, I made the mousse fillings, sealed them up in plastic containers, and popped them in the freezer for a later time.  I assumed I could freeze it once whipped since it's suppose to be the non dairy, shelf stable version of Cool Whip.

I made oreo mousse filling, cheesecake mousse filling, and kahlua mousse filling.

Step 1: Empty the pudding mix into a small bowl


Step 2: Add 1-3 tablespoons of hot water to form a thick paste and set aside (Note: It should be thinner than as pictured because I ended up with "cheesecake" tasting bits in mine.)


Step 3: Whisk the thawed Pastry Pride in a mixer to stiff peaks
 

Step 4: Spoon a small amount, about 1/4 cup, of the whipped Pastry Pride into the bowl of pudding mixture and stir to lighten


Step 5: Scrape the mixture back into the bowl of whipped Pastry Pride


Step 6: Mix until combined
 

Blue Daisies Birthday Cake

I made this cake by request for my brother's girlfriend for her Mom's birthday.  She asked that I incorporate her Mom's favorite things: flowers, the color blue, and chocolate cake.


This became my favorite cake to date as I was finally able to replicate a design from the book, Sweet and Simple Party Cakes and work with a filling besides buttercream. Two things that has been on my list to try for quite some time now.

The cake was covered and decorated with marshmallow fondant.  For the flowers, letters, and butterflies, I made them the night before to allow them to dry out.  Unfortunately, the day of, I realized that the larger flowers wouldn't work and had to remake a bunch of smaller flowers.

I made my go to chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream frosting but it was the oreo mousse filling that took it to another level.  I finally got a hold of Pastry Pride, a non dairy whipping cream, from Smart & Final out here in CA.  This allowed me to make a shelf stable filling which I adapted from Cake Central.  The possibilities are endless as long as you can get a hold of a box of Jello pudding in your flavor of choice or extracts to flavor the vanilla one.  I can't wait to try the white chocolate, cheesecake, pistachio, and butterscotch flavors.

Birthday Cupcakes and Cookies

Hooray for birthdays!  I could always use an excuse to bake.  This week, I whipped up carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for one friend and sugar cookies (from i am baker) with powdered sugar icing (adapted from i am baker) for another friend.

Given I've already made these exact cupcakes a few times for this one friend as they are her favorite, for her birthday, I personalized them a bit with marshmallow fondant toppers. 


As for the cookies, I found this 4 piece set at Michaels that included a cake, a cupcake, a gift box, and a party hat cutter.  The dough was a lot easier to work with than the dough I used for the Star Wars sugar cookies.  The powdered sugar icing was less fussy than royal icing but still held up really well too.  I could see more sugar cookies in the future with these results.

Peach and Blueberry Crumb Pie

Ahh!  I told you I couldn't stop with this all of this pie making business.  Oh, I wish I got to eat this one though.  Instead, it was made for my brother to bring to a dinner party.

Exact same recipe as the Peach and Raspberry Crumb Pie I made earlier this week.  Started with a basic pie crust, added a filling of peaches and blueberries, and then topped of with a crumb topping.  Yum!

Peach and Raspberry Crumb Pie

Ever since learning that making your own basic pie crust is not only easy but tasty, I have not stopped making pies (and eating them).  Especially with so many fruits being available from strawberries to peaches to raspberries to blueberries to cherries.  I can't stop picking them up from the market!

This week's fruits of choice were peaches and raspberries.  For the filling, I used a recipe from The Ultimate Cook Book, which I had for a few years now but was never inspired by until now.  They have a section dedicated to fruit pies and you just mix and match the crust, filling, and topping.  How amazing is that!

Because I was using my tart pan, I went with the crumb topping found in my BHG New Cook Book instead of a double crust.  It only required brown sugar, flour, and butter.

Perfect combo of sweetness and tartness.  Gotta see how many more of these I can squeeze into the oven (and my pants) before the end of summer!