Best of 2010

Seeing everyone's best of 2010 posts this week inspired me to take a trip down memory lane myself.  For my year end round up, I decided to feature a few of your favorites as well as a few of my favorites for 2010.

Fans Favorite Five Posts

1. Oven Baked Apple Donuts

2. Hello Kitty Cake

3. Best Brownies

4. Chocolate Cupcakes - Two Ways

5. Banana Pudding Pie

My Five Favorite Posts

1. Chocolate Peppermint Whoopies: Chocolate and peppermint is one of my favorite dessert pairings.  This post was only my second tribute to Whoopie Pies.  I definitely need to tackle more Whoopie Pies next year.


2. Little Mermaid Cake: This cake led the way into cake decorating for me.  I knew nothing about how to stack a cake, how to fill a cake, nor how to work with a timeline when I cranked this cake out from start to finish in less than 24 hours.  It's crazy to think about how much I have learned and am continuing to learn since then.


3. Pralines and Cream Ice Cream: Receiving an ice cream maker for my birthday along with the Perfect Scoop changed my life.  Pralines and Cream was the house favorite but I've made everything from Mint Cookies and Cream to Rocky Road to Horchata Ice Cream.


4. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie:  After discovering the best pie crust ever, I finally tackled my first fruit pie.  It was the most amazing thing ever.  I couldn't stop making fruit pies for a straight month, almost.  I can't wait for next summer!


5. Lego Cake: This was one of my favorite Cake4Kids.org cakes.  Looking forward to more cake requests through Cake4Kids for foster children and children in need.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Burnt Almond Cake, Take 2

So, a few changes since my last attempt at a copy cat version of the best burnt almond cake I ever had.  I made a doctored French Vanilla cake mix cake; however, the texture/crumb wasn't as fine as I wanted.  Next time, I'd probably make a white cake from scratch using cake flour.  For the frosting and filling, I based it off of this mousse filling recipe.  I used Pastry Pride instead of milk and heavy cream and a box of French Vanilla pudding.  I couldn't stop sampling it; it was so good.  As for the crunch, I should've realized there's a reason why they sprinkled powdered sugar all over the top of their cake.  So, I toasted the sliced almonds with powdered sugar in a skillet over medium heat until the sugar melted and the nuts were slightly brown.

Chocolate Peppermint Whoopies

Merry Christmas!  Christmas wouldn't be complete without showcasing a chocolate and peppermint dessert!  I've been eyeing these since I received the Whoopie Pies book.  Was able to make these for a dinner party last night with friends.

The batter was thicker than cake batter but thinner than brownie batter.  Was manageable with my 1 tablespoon cookie scoop.

I painted streaks of red food dye inside the pastry bag before I filled it with the buttercream. When I piped it out, it created a nice candy cane effect.

Burnt Almond Cake, Take 1

A few weeks ago, my friend let me tag along with her and her fiance as they tasted some cakes in search for a baker for their wedding cake next year.  At one of the bakeries we visited, I took home a slice of their infamous burnt almond cake.  It was the best thing I ever had and I had to try to replicate it ASAP.



My go-to sources didn't yield any definite answers on this recipe but I figured it might be a white cake with swiss meringue butter cream and an almond brittle crunch.

I have a favorite go to white cake that I've used here and here with no issues.  But, for some reason I let myself be swayed to use a brand new white cake recipe, the White on White Buttermilk Cake from the Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather.  This cake tasted more like a vanilla cake than a white cake.  It was also moist and dense.  Nothing like what I was trying to achieve.

Then, I was in a rush to get the cake to my boyfriend's family dinner that I slapped on the SMBC while the cake was partially frozen.  The SMBC did not thaw to room temperature by the time it was served.  Cold SMBC tastes like a sweet stick of butter; not a good thing to me.

For the crunch, I found this recipe from Tish Boyle Sweet Dreams.  She said it was suppose to be reminiscent of the crunch on those Good Humor ice cream bars but I felt as if there was too much brittle and not enough almond.

In the end, it wasn't anything like the burnt almond cake I tried at the bakery but it made a good tasting vanilla cake with SMBC and almond brittle crunch.  The leftovers made yummy cupcakes too.

Caramel Popcorn with Roasted Almonds

My boyfriend talked me out of buying a $20 tin of popcorn while at Costco yesterday.  Still wanting some caramel popcorn when I got home, I did a little research on making it myself.  I had no idea it was this easy!  I didn't even have to leave the house for the ingredients.

I roasted the almonds for 8 minutes for 350 degrees before adding it to the bowl of popped popcorn but I don't recommend this step.  The almonds ended up tasting a little bit too toasted compared to the popcorn after baking for an additional 45 minutes.

Caramel Popcorn with Roasted Almonds
slightly adapted from All Recipes
Makes about 10 cups

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 cups popped popcorn
1 cup of raw almonds

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C).  Place popcorn and almonds in a very large bowl. 

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Stop stirring once everything is dissolved.  Let mixture come to a boil.  Boil without stirring for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla.  Pour in a thin stream over popcorn and almonds, stirring to coat.

Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 45 hour.  Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.  Store in an airtight container.