flouryfree

So yesterday I completed my first foray into the world of gluten free cakes.
Meaning, start to finished and delivery included "completed".
It was a 16" star, cut from rounds, and alternating layers. It was a chocolate / vanilla cake, but I can't say I really enjoyed the flavor. I wasn't so happy with the taste of the finished cakes, probably because I trusted it to mixes. I used Bob's Red Mill and Pamela's, both very reputable companies whose products I normally enjoy. I used my regular buttercream recipe, and sadly saw the cake sinking as I waited for the icing to settle.
I iced the entire thing and mixed fondant circles to the colors requested (bright, bright, bright) and tacked them on with a little buttercream.
With all the extra cake I had cut away, I made three mini 4" rounds to go along withe the main cake.


This is the most boring entry ever. I need pictures - STAT.
//edit... HERE!

congrats, congrats!

not one but THREE of my favorite blogs won big at the bloggies this year.

congrats to cakewrecks, cute overload, and i can has cheezburger!! :)

cry a little, spice it up

this may sound like a 'duh' statement, but i firmly believe my mood affects my baking or cooking.
normally, this would not mean as much - but as i have been cooking in foreign kitchens this week or just assembling on the side of a crowded table - it's very obvious to me that the food is affected by amount of sleep and definite emotion i happen to be harboring during said preparation.
it is not, however, in the way you would expect.
naturally, if i'm angry or pissy, you would think that everything would be a little sloppier, a little rough.
instead, everything is closer to being perfect.

when i made those grilled cheese sandwiches, my head hurt, a lot. i was rushing around in order to make sure that things were still hot when i took them to the set.
i burned myself with the oily pot lid, cut myself by reaching into a sink that was definitely not left by me.
(note to anyone who SHARES a kitchen with ANYONE - never EVER leave a knife in a dirty sink, or even in a basin of drying dishes. it will usually result in a painful reach.)
anyway.
those sandwiches were, while a bit dark, melted perfectly. browned by not charred, with a nice browning taste - not oily or too greasy. it is 'grilled' cheese, after all, so you have to expect a little bit of grease.
the tomato soup was spicy, but not burned. it didn't splash everywhere or have weird chunks floating in it because i didn't take the time to chop the tomatoes fine or have the soups meld together.
it came together. all of it.

wednesday night, as i was making delectable pretzel roll sandwiches, i was not in a rush. i felt decent - it was gorgeous outside and i didn't really have to be anywhere until 2:30. i guess it was the comfort - the NON deadline, i suppose - and things got sloppy. i forgot to count lettuce leaves so we were short on lettuce. the cookies were okay - but not the softness i usually bake my dough to. the pretzels were lopsided... still good but weird to look at.
this was from a happy girl? weird.

cakes are almost impossible to track. wedding cakes i am a bloody wreck - especially when i think they will be simple cakes.
for instance.
this cake - hexagonal, with 'PLEATS' on the second layer.
i was also doing an entire wedding as well as a double wedding cake for the next day, so i planned on spending the necessary time but no more on this cake.
in the end.. i was horrified. especially when i took it to the venue and the florist had neglected to leave the promised flowers for the top.
the top tier, which had a huge blerb in the middle because i was planning on plopping a beautiful hydrangea on it.
instead, i had to whip out my trusty offset that i carry with me everywhere and hope to the cake gods that the cake would smooth.
the result, after the freakout and a random rose?

not too bad.

i think the ultimate scary was this grass cake. as i was carrying it out to the car, the entire top tier BOUNCED off center. that's right.
bounced.
introduce the worst two hours of my life, making grass out of fondant that should have dried all night and attempting to fix buttercream that was so beautiful until my feet hit the concrete floor. also introduce the night i almost gave up baking.


it was based upon a magazine article, and we mirrored it basically down to the petrified wood base. the groom heat lasered their names and anniversary in the edge - it was incredible. i was very happy by the end, but let me tell you - it was terrifying.

to be honest, i'm not sure if there is one cake i was totally good with from the beginning. in fact, i'm usually pretty pessimistic when i begin a cake - yet somehow i get this breath of happy halfway through and im willing to carry on and believe that something good will come out of it.
it sounds lame, but it's just the way i work.

i hold my breath daily to make sure i haven't made it onto cakewrecks. i love that site so much, and i might actually be okay if i do in fact make it on there one day just to be on it. however, it would be one end of the spectrum or the other... either my item was horrific enough to be reported for ultimate damage control, or i made it into the sunday sweets post... one thing i aspire to, actually.

we shall see. *gulp*

PS. today i'm making sauteed mushroom pockets, as well as garlicky sloppy joe pockets. they smell fabulous. thanks again to my girl sandra. plus a few tfc adjustments, as per usual.


(all of these pictures aren't copyrighted, but they are MINE. as in, cakes I have done.... just for the record.)

i LOVE catering.

i know it's not quite the way most do it, but i've only been in pittsburgh for less than 24 hours and i'm loving it.
grocery shopping this morning, cutting, prepping, and mis-en-placing all afternoon, and now just chilling until about 7ish to begin the actual cooking in order to report to set at 8:00 to set up and be ready for the hungry masses.
granted, all of this was done solo, and it may seem like a lonely job - but i'm having such a good time.
i love watching people whine about how far away dinner is when i'm smashing turkey hill ice cream (which costs an arm and a leg in pittsburgh) between freshly baked pumpkin cookies.

tonight's menu...

romaine, english cuke, and celery green salad
jonagold slices and navel orange wedges
zesty grilled cheese
spicy tomato basil soup (both thanks to our friend sandra... plus a few alixe adjustments)

for dessert, the aforementioned ice cream sandwiches.

it seems really simple, but sometimes you don't need massive mediterranean antipasto trays for ten people.
this is such a new experience for me - i mean, the broke part is still very normal
but it's fun to have to really plan ahead with no 'go backs' - once the door is closed, it's locked and i have to make due with the stores around me and what i have along.

i have a photojournal of this catering journey, which will eventually make it's way here, but i will need to get home before i can put those on here.

itunes radio choice for cooking: Planet Hits Radio, solely for the reason that Mika was the first song playing when I randomly chose it earlier.
fantastic.

a bientot for now, friends - i should begin assembling my fabulous sandwiches.

Normally I can't STAND her.

but I do have to admit that Sandra Lee is sort of awesome.
her cookbooks are really sweet, actually - even though they call themselves 'semi-homemade', i can't understand why you WOULDN'T take some of the 'shortcuts' she uses.
baking shortcuts are another story, but a lot of these easy quick fix meals are really well done - and half the time you're going to spend less money on her way (mind you - don't necessarily pay attention to the brands she recommends... if it's one thing i stand by, it's that most canned goods live up to each other).


in any case, i'm catering a set this week in Pittsburgh, and was in need of five days of food to feed from 15 - 35 people daily.
oh sannnnddraaaaa!
i immediately went to the 'family favorites' cookbook of hers, hoping there would be wrap ideas ad sandwiches that were fabulously easy and delicious.
the problem with going through one of these cookbooks isn't necessarily that i can't find anything to make - i just have to go through the ENTIRE book, because i am such a picture mosquito.
if i see the vibrant glossy pages of finished products, i'm hooked.
i don't do well with cookbooks that are solely text, even though most of my notebooks are just the words and the stains from when i have attempted the recipes.
i think my favorite is my snickers pie recipe, which i spilled an entire pint of heavy cream on, but i just stuck it in a page protector and rewrote the entire thing from memory in pen over the bleeding ink.

cookbooks are really neat things, if the compiler has done their job to test them.
thats what i LOVE about BH&G: Baking because they actually SAY in the first intro that each recipe has been tried and held true if the recipe is truly followed. they expect butter to be used where butter is required, no margarine, and that the ingredients are followed pretty faithfully. while i've gotten around that fact a few times, the truth is that you CAN make your own adjustments, but choose carefully.
there are a few ingredients that you really just can't substitute, also learning the hard way about THAT.


for instance - things that DO work...
egg substitute - i use the real thing. i know, its more cholesterol, usually, but you know what? a cup of eggs is a cup of eggs.
half and half - heavy cream and skim milk, or heavy cream and water. i know, it sounds elementary, but it does work. be careful if you're making custards though - that can get iffy.
white sugar - brown sugar (again, will depend on your final product, but i like the taste of brown sugar more anyway)

things that do NOT work.
anything less than heavy cream when making a decent ganache... that goes for chocolate too. you don't need $15/lb coating wafers or break up, but don't use the candy coaters from your local craft store if you want to make a beautiful alhambra. just don't do it. if you use dairy with a lot less milkfat than heavy cream in conjunction WITH the crappy chocolate, you will get dotty, liquidy grossness. aka NOT ganache, not even close.

current recipe obsession?
triple irish chocolate cake.
anything that involves pouring Guinness into the batter, Irish Mist into the ganache, and Bailey's into the buttercream gets an A+ on my list... i changed it around a bit, but Epicurious has a great recipe for it...
i did the ganache exactly, but halved the cake recipe - makes a BEAUTIFUL half of a 10" (yeah, figure that one out on your own... haha)
and my own buttercream, involving the aforementioned Bailey's.
mmmm, speaking of breakfast.