Wedding Cakes

Okay, finally! I'm sharing my favourite wedding project - the cakes! You might not believe this, but there was a time where I didn't think we needed a wedding cake, I figured there was a dessert course in the menu and that would be the sweet ending for the meal. But Howard pointed out that it would be weird for us to not have cake - especially with me being known as being a baker and all. So I thought about it and decided it would kind of be odd and I did like the idea of baking for our guests.

Then came the hard part, what type of cake would I make? What flavours? How would I decorate them? I looked in many cookbooks and my past blog posts. What did we like to eat? What would cause me the less amount of stress?

What I did know was that we wouldn't use fondant. Even though we started this blog showcasing fondant decorations and even though fondant looks really good, we personally don't enjoy eating it. I wanted the cakes to look natural to match the venue. This wasn't a sleek and polished event, it was small, intimate, and homey. I wanted the application of the frosting to look homemade. I wanted one to be naked with no frosting covering it. Then I wanted a cake that didn't look like much, but upon closer inspection, was something special.

So my next project was to figure out what types of cake toppers I wanted to make. Pinterest was extremely helpful in providing ideas and I eventually picked three: a "Mr and Mrs" bunting, a "LOVE" sign, and a "JUST MARRIED" banner. I used cardboard, paper, thread, and wooden skewers to make them. What I liked about these was the extra height it gave my six-inch cakes.

No one else would know this, but it bugs me that I made the mistake in pairing up the cakes with the cake stands. In my original plan and sketches, I had the naked cake on the white cake stand and the white cake on the glass cake stand. In my own nervousness, I accidentally set them up wrong on the day of. I could have also pushed down the skewers a bit more - like maybe an inch. This is just me over-thinking it and being critical. Since I was the one who set up the cakes, I have no one else to blame but myself! The staff did an outstanding job decorating the rest of the table with greenery and candles - seriously, best team ever!

Here we are, our first task as a married couple! Don't we look happy getting ready to cut the cake? (Another reason why I love my wedding dress, it almost looks like another dress when you don't see the bottom part of the gown. This could have been a knee-length cocktail dress since you can't tell with the table covering the bottom.)

We picked the easier cake to cut into. The restaurant provided the knife and cake lifter.

I'm over the moon here. If Howard fed me cake everyday, I'd be the plumpest and happiest wife on the planet.

I'm sure he doesn't feel the same.

When we were finished our photos, the staff took all three cakes back into the kitchen so they could divide them up and plate them. Then they were carried back out and placed on the table as a self-serve station. To my surprise - because a lot of my family members don't have a big sweet tooth - everyone went up for cake. At one point, I thought we didn't have enough (we did, there was like three slices left at the end of the night).

I made a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting - a classic and one of my favourite go-to cakes.

The next cake I made is one that is a bit more unique. Not a lot of people have tried a mille crêpes cake before and I feel that it's that something extra for special occasions. Plus, it's a favourite of ours ever since we tried it in New York where we got engaged.

The third cake I made was mainly for Howard. Even though the mille crêpes cake is his all-time favourite, he also loves citrus flavours. This was a lemon cake with lime buttercream.

Wedding Photography: Ikonica | Venue: Auberge du Pommier | Cake Knife: Auberge du Pommier | Cake Lifter: Auberge du Pommier | Cakes: A Baked Creation | Cake Toppers: A Baked Creation | Cake Label Signs: A Baked Creation | Glass Cake Stand: Crate and Barrel | White Cake Stand: Crate and Barrel | Wooden Cake Stand: Chapters Indigo | Six-inch cake boards: PME Sugarcraft | Wedding Dress: Mori Lee Blu 5108

Smiling

Sometimes other people know best.

This was one of those situations where I was pretty adamant that I did not want a bridal shower or bachelorette party. I was serious and stayed strong. But then finally gave in after they asked me for the fiftieth time. Fine! Do it, whatever you want! No one listens to the bride anyways!

I caved and agreed to a small bridal shower (still a big no to the bachelorette party) and to my maid of honour's delight, she got to plan a tea party for me.

You know what? My bridal party has got skills. And game. They completely blew me away. Prior to the party, the only thing I did was give them a list of all the ladies invited to the wedding. Threw in a few activity ideas. And that was that. They did everything else. So I went in not knowing what to expect . . .

But look at the spread! These were all homemade! Unbelievable as they look store bought, but my maid of honour made lots and lots of tea sandwiches. One of my bridesmaids made three different types of scones: lemon poppyseed, berry, and a chocolate chip one. The other bridesmaid made a cherry crumble and blueberry crumble.

My bridesmaids are busy people. Always on the go and taking care of their energetic kids. So I was so touched that they squeezed in some baking time for me. And they didn't just make one flavour, they had to go for the gold star and make a variety!

Then there was the decoration. Silver, white, and pink balloons to match what their bouquets will be on the wedding day. Black and white HOWIA sign to match our classic wedding theme - also homemade. At first glance, I thought they bought the letters from a craft store!

Throw in my favourite colour of teal, a pretty table runner, mason jar centerpieces, and a cheese platter, this tea party had me speechless. My mom and future mother-in-law also pitched in a brought lots of food and desserts. A few aunts and friends couldn't make it, but we still had a great time playing games and catching up.

There was even a designated seat for me. I was scolded many times to stay under the Bride-To-Be bunting (also homemade by my bridesmaid). Look at how cute those paper ribbons are! Seriously Pinterest worthy!

We were pretty full from lunch, but you can't have a bridal shower for a dessert lover without dessert! There were lots of cakes and cookies and squares to be eaten and shared. Look, even teapot shaped cookies!

We obviously don't believe in sugar overload.

Or portion control. We will just eat and eat and eat. I do feel that I'm eating a lot more desserts these days - it's what all brides do a month before their wedding, right?

Also, we had yellow watermelon. And coconut lime sparkling beverages. And I ate sugar snap peas (I absolutely hate peas, especially those in the frozen medley with carrots).

Doing what I do best, cutting into a delicious chocolate cake. (For those of you who haven't seen me in contacts, I am not cutting the cake blind. I do occasionally wear them! And also for those of you who haven't seen me with wavy hair, I did attempt to curl them, but my hair likes to go back to being pin straight after awhile.)

Why the heck am I even having my wedding at a restaurant? My bridal party could totally cater.

Oh and those cute milk carton party favours? Another amazing DIY project by one of my bridesmaids. The were all personalized boxes of tea so that guests could take home a memento of the tea party.

Yup, the tags and labels were all personalized "S"ylvia tea!!!

I think everyone left smiling and I couldn't thank my friends more. They did so much to make the afternoon special for me. Hugs and thank you to Megan, Diana, and Laura!!! I am so excited for the big day because they'll be there to support me. =)

Classic French Madeleines

How have you been? I know it's been quite around here, it's been quite hectic at work. Worst of all, I met my nemesis, the flu. The flu kicked me down and knocked me out for a week. I'm still fighting the after effects, but I think I am finally winning.

The wedding plans are also coming along (mostly?). I don't think there's anything left for us to do this year. All the things that need to be booked ahead of time are done (I hope, I think?), so we just wait until we're closer to the date. I'd like to think we're ahead of schedule or at least on track! I wish I could tell you more, but I'm an odd believer that I'll jinx it if I do. Some things were too good to be true and then fell through, so I'll wait until it's all over before I say any more!

I'm still loving little madeleines though. These tiny tea cakes make good afternoon snacks. I hope you all get madeleine pans this holiday and make these tasty little morsels.

Classic French Madeleines
Recipe from Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake and Share
(Makes about 24 regular or 48 minis)

1 stick of unsalted butter + 4 tablespoons for the pan
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
3 large eggs
2/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven at 175°C or 350°F.
2. Place the butter in a microwavable bowl and melt on lower power for about a minute. Let it cool to room temperature. Butter up with the 4 tablespoons! Make sure you brush soften butter into all the nooks and crannies of the pan for easy lift up after.
3. Using a mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until it is light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add in vanilla extract and lemon zest, mix for another minute until combined. Fold in the flour and baking powder. Don't over mix at this stage, the flour just needs to be incorporated completely.
5. Use a spoon or scoop to fill the pan molds until they're almost full. You can smooth out the batter if you like, but I find that it'll melt nicely into the mold in the oven's hot temperatures.
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes for regular sized madeleines and 5 to 6 for the mini sizes. They should puff up to show that signature madeleine hump and be golden in colour.
7. Remove from the oven and let the madeleines cool. Eat them right away. Seriously, they're best when they're fresh!

I'm thinking these will make great gifts this holiday at the office. I've made macarons two years in a row, it's time to switch it up!

One more thing, don't skip the lemon zest, it gives the cakes such a great boost in flavour. Not to mention, the aroma!!

Praline Caramel Mousse Cake

In collaboration with Canadian Living, I was recently sent a Kenwood Chef Kitchen Machine and gave it a test drive by making a praline caramel mousse cake. What exactly is a "kitchen machine" you might be wondering? It's basically an all-in-one machine for your kitchen. A mixer, whisker, kneader, chopper, slicer, and blender. Yup, it does pretty much everything and you don't need to buy separate appliances such as a hand mixers, food processors, and blenders. Once you have the Chef Kitchen Machine, you can get additional attachments to make pasta or ice cream. But don't let me ramble on as you can find out more information at kenwoodworld.ca. You're here to see how the cake turned out!

There are four components to this Praline Caramel Mousse Cake and I would highly recommend that you work on it over two days. It helps if some of the ingredients get time to cool and chill. Having the right temperatures for everything will keep your cake-making process easier. This is also one of those recipes that go smoothly when you're prepared. Read the instructions a few time and have your Kenwood Chef Kitchen Machine, saucepans, and containers ready. I suggest making the caramel mousse and pralines first and then the genoise cake and whipped cream icing on after.

To make the caramel mousse, you'll need to pour the gelatin and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until it dissolves. Set aside to cool. In a separate saucepan over medium heat, bring the sugar and water to boil until it is amber in colour and smells like amazing caramel. Carefully pour in half a cup of the cream, butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir until it's smooth and thick. Pour ½ cup of the sauce (for decorating the cake) in an airtight container and refrigerate.

Stir in the gelatin mixture into the remaining caramel sauce until it is combined. Let it cool (preferably in the refrigerator) until it's at room temperature.

Using the whisk tool on the Kenwood Chef Kitchen Machine, beat the remaining cream until stiff peaks form. You can tell when the cream is able to hold its shape (see photo above).

Gently fold the cream with the cooled caramel sauce. See above to look at how lovely the caramel gently folds in using the new Kenwood fold tool! If the caramel is too hot, it won't fold into the cream and will even cause the peaks to separate. Cover and refrigerate until firm. Remember, if you ever need tips or guidance, you can turn to Canadian Living's Cooking School. I know it's not every day that we're melting sugar to make caramel!

Next up, let's make the praline. Arrange pecans on a lined rimmed baking sheet. Give them a quick toast in the oven. In the meantime, bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Always keep careful watch for it can change to amber to black very quickly. Once it is ready, drizzle over toasted pecans.

Let it cool until it hardens and break into small pieces. Attach the food processor to the Kenwood Chef Kitchen Machine and pulse the praline into chunks. Store in airtight container in the fridge.

The genoise cake was the easiest and quickest for me to prep. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and set aside to cool. Using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until the mixture triples in volume. Then bean in the vanilla. Sift the flour and salt in three parts and fold into the egg batter. Be gentle and don't over mix or the batter will deflate. Fold in the melted butter until combined and divide among your cake pans.

Bake at 350°F (180°C) for about 25 to 30 minutes and let it cool for 10 minutes before taking the cakes out of the pan. Let the cakes cool to room temperature (also important because if you try to frost it when the cakes are warm, the icing will just melt right off).

To make the whipped cream icing, pour the gelatin and water in a small saucepan and dissolve it over medium heat. Set aside to cool.

The whisk is getting a great workout, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Then beat in the icing sugar and gelatin mixture until stiff peaks form. Set aside to firm up in the fridge.

To assemble the cake, take your first layer and place it on your serving platter, plate, or rotating cake stand. Take the caramel mousse out of the fridge and give it a quick stir. Spread the caramel mousse over the top and sprinkle with some of the praline. Repeat with the remaining cake layers, leaving the top layer bare. Spread the whipped cream icing on top and over the sides of the cake. Sprinkle pralines on top and drizzle with the reserved caramel sauce.

Refrigerate the cake until firm. Then cut, serve, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canadian Living and Kenwood. I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this recipe. All opinions are our own.

Pistachio Cake

[Insert nutty joke here.]
I just don't have an appropriate joke to start off this post with. Then again, there's no reason as to why I have to lighten the mood with laughter. Pistachio cake is very serious business. But if you want to know what is funny, it's that I can't trim cakes. Did I plan on making tiny little cakelettes? No. I wanted to make a loaf-sized cake glazed in chocolate and cut into pieces like a pound cake. It turns out that cutting three identical straight edged layers was beyond my talent. So I kept trimming and trimming until what became tiny towers of cake.

Pistachio Cake
(Makes enough to fill one loaf pan and a 8 x 8 square pan)

3/4 cups of shelled pistachio nuts
1 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
5 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and spread the shelled pistachio nuts on a baking pan. Toast in the oven for 7-9 minutes. When finished, let it cool completely.
2. Line the bottom of your cake pans with parchment paper.
3. Using food processor or blender with a chopping blade, grind the toasted pistachio until it becomes a flour.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the pistachio flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Give it a good whisk, about 30 seconds.
5. Add in the milk, vanilla extract, and eggs. Mix until combined and the batter is nice and smooth.
6. Divide the batter into your parchment-lined baking pans and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean from the center.
7. Peel off the parchment paper and allow the cakes to cool on wire racks.

When you're ready to assemble the cake (cakes in my case), trim them to size. Spread raspberry jam (or strawberry jam, but the tartness of the raspberry is just fantastic here) on the top of the cake. Sandwich the jam with another cake layer.

Using a double boiler, make chocolate ganache (chocolate chips and heavy cream) to glaze the cakes. A spatula helps spread the chocolate over the edges. This part gets a little messy. Don't worry if they don't look perfect. I'm not sure who would resist a chocolate covered pistachio cake.

Chop up some pistachios and crumble on top as decoration.

Let the glaze cool and set.

Or just eat it. Why wait? It makes a lovely breakfast, healthy in my opinion! The cake itself isn't too sweet (hence the chocolate) and the raspberry jam really brightens up the flavours.

Disclaimer: We received product samples from Diamond of California. The shelled pistachios are new to their line and we also received chopped walnuts and chopped pecans. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of their products. All opinions are our own.

Surprise-Inside Cakes

I have been following Amanda on iambaker.net for a long time now. She has a great collection of topic-specific blogs and even prettier posts about sweet and savory confections. I couldn't wait for her book, Surprise-Inside Cakes, to release! If you were particularly fond of the tutorials she's shared on her blog like I was - Ghost Cake, BOO Cake, and the Countdown Cake, you'll enjoy this book. You can feel the patience she's giving with her clear cut instructions. I was also lucky enough to be able to connect with Amanda and ask her a few questions about the process!

Sylvia: Did anyone take a look under the dust jacket? I love that there's something special stamped on the case. How do you read the symbols stamped on the case? It is still "Surprise-Inside Cake" or "You never know what you'll get inside a cake"?

Amanda: That just depends on who is reading it! ;)

Sylvia: Okay, how many cakes did you go through to make this book? You mention baking over 50 cakes in 30 days in the acknowledgments, do you have an exact number? I am just trying to imagine all the ingredients you would have had to stock up on! How many carton of eggs, milk, and sticks of butter? How many bags of sugar? I'm not even a "number" person, but I find this fascinating!

Amanda: I made about 60 cakes all together. It was an insane amount of ingredients! I was buying flour and sugar in 25 lg. bags and running out frequently! I didn't keep track of specific numbers, but I definitely got strange looks at the grocery store! :)

Sylvia: How many attempts are required for you to be satisfied with the surprise inside? Do you do a lot of trial-and-error or at the level you are now, are you able to hit it bang on during your first attempt? Was there a cake design in the book that required more than a few tries before you were happy with it?

Amanda: Since I had a short timeline for the book, I would often think of a cake and then make it. If the design was awful and unrecognizable, it didn't make it in the book! Some of the cakes we left in are rough-around-the-edges, but I left them in for sentimental reasons or for inspiration.

Sylvia: You take beautiful photos for you blog, I was a bit surprised to see that you didn't take them for the book. How was it working with Susan Powers?

Amanda: Susan is so talented and added a level of sophistication for the book that I greatly lacked.

Sylvia: I have to say, I loved reading each cake introduction, you have a great personality that shines through and you're thoughtful in each of your cake dedications. In response to your Kiss Cake and also being from Canada, I would love to see a maple leaf inside a cake! I do hope you'll try it soon! The one about Beth Moore made me laugh, so often we think BFFs are made through cake!

Amanda: Thank you! I am now starting to work with twice-baked cakes and could easily do a leaf now! Will hopefully blog that soon! :)

Sylvia: Is there a second book in the works?

Amanda: Nope! No second book right now.

Sylvia: Okay, last one! Favorite dessert in the whole wide world?

Amanda: Mr. Donut donuts with frosting inside and powdered sugar outside. I haven't seen a Mr. Donut in 15 years… how I long for those delectable treats!

My favourite design in the book is the Herringbone Cake. To my dismay, it's the most difficult one by Amanda's standard. So I'm just going to bookmark this until I reach the expert level to attempt it!

Rudolph!

Bunny! I seem to be drawn to all the animal cakes.

Now for the fun part, if you want this cook to bee yours (see what I did there?), enter by leaving a comment below telling me what design you'd like to find in a surprise-inside cake. North American mailing address only and giveaway ends on April 8, 2014 at midnight EST. Please leave me a way of contacting you (e-mail address, twitter handle, etc.), otherwise, check back when the winners are announced!

Disclaimer: A copy of Surprise-Inside Cakes by Amanda Rettke was sent to us for review. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this book. All opinions are our own.