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

He Said/She Said: Ad Hoc at Home

We had a beautiful Victoria Day this year. There was sun, barbecues, fireworks, and time well spent with family and friends. Plus long weekend cupcakes to top it off! This is what inspired the lovely layers:

Ad Hoc at Home
Written by Thomas Keller
With Dave Cruz, Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman, and Amy Vogler
Photographs by Deborah Jones
Blackboard art by Dan Bunter and Nick Dedier

ISBN 13: 9781579653774
ISBN 10: 1579653774
Publisher: Artisan
Hardcover: 368 Pages

S: There was so much buzz about Ad Hoc at Home that it piqued my interest. I usually look for baking or dessert books, so it is rare that I want to look through a regular cookbook.
H: This book stands out thanks to the size and the design. We both really liked the chalkboard art.
S: It has the coffee-table feel to it which does make it bulky in the kitchen. I usually copy down the recipes now, because I have found small amounts of flour or icing sugar in my cookbooks before.
H: However, we did take this book to the kitchen and it didn't take up too much space on the table. Of course that depends on your kitchen size.
S: We wanted to share a few spreads with you here. Unless your local bookstore has an open copy, the book is plastic wrapped so you can't browse through. The table of contents:

Some of the recipes include a photo, so here is a sample layout:

If you're wondering, this cookbook includes three cupcake recipes! White, Chocolate, and Carrot, along with recipes for vanilla and chocolate buttercream and cream cheese frosting for the Carrot cupcakes. Cake recipes include Coconut, Pineapple Upside-Down, and Grapefruit. I am very excited to try the Grapefruit cake next!

Finally, my favourite part of this cookbook:

Isn't that just a great photo? Chocolate chip cookies! I really liked it because it reminds me of us bloggers. A lot of my favourite bloggers lay out all the ingredients for the recipe they're using in their photos. It is always helpful to have visuals, especially when you're trying a new recipe! There are a few of these photos in the cookbook, that one was in the Dessert section.
H: We always like to try a recipe for our reviews, so we made the Carrot Cake Cupcakes:

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Ad Hoc at Home
(Makes about 24 cupcakes)

2 cups of cake flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
1/4 cup of whole milk
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 cup of canola oil
3 cups of finely shredded carrots

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and have all ingredients at room temperature. Also have your cupcake liners and pans ready.
2. Wash and peel your carrots. Using a grater, shred your carrots and set aside.
   
3. Using your stand mixer, beat the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
4. Add in the oil.
5. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon. Slowly add this and mix.
6. Add in the shredded carrots.
7. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into the cupcake liners.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. Remove the cupcakes and let it cool to room temperature.
10. Note: I cut down on the granulated sugar, it should be 1 cup. I also omitted the 2 1/2 cups of chopped toasted walnuts that are supposed to be added in after the shredded carrots.
    

Shredding carrots was harder than I thought.

Almost 1 cup! We need 3!

Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe adapted from Ad Hoc at Home
(Makes about 3 cups)

1 package of cream cheese
1 stick of unsalted butter
2 cups of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1. Have all ingredients ready at room temperature.
2. Using your stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
3. Add the butter and mix until smooth. Include the pure vanilla extract.
4. Beat in the icing sugar until frosting is smooth.
5. Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost and eat! They are best on the day they are baked, but can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
6. Note: I cut back on a few items since I didn't have them and most shops were closed on Victoria Day. The original recipe calls for 1 pound of cream cheese, 2 sticks of unsalted butter. I did add more icing sugar, the recipe only asked for 1 1/2 cups.

S: My mom really likes carrot cake, so she was our first taste tester. She ate the cupcake first before I had frosted it - fresh from the oven. She said it was really good and told me to keep the recipe for her. Next, she tried one with the cream cheese frosting and liked it too! I was very surprised! I did cut back the sugar in the recipe for her because I know she doesn't like to eat overly sweet desserts. She said that the cupcake and frosting were both the right amount of sweetness! Do you know how rare that is? Hurray! She even asked to save some for Dad. =) Having both of my parents approve is unheard of, so that gives Ad Hoc at Home huge bonus points.
H: Overall, it is a very easy to follow cookbook with really nice photos. Good tips and techniques, a few with step-by-step photos for us beginner cooks to follow.

A very nice weekend treat. Carrot cupcakes with a dab of cream cheese frosting!

A very hot afternoon (27°C), I quickly saved the rest in the fridge and ate cold red fruits.

Thank you to Chrissa, Lydia, and Amy from Artisan for providing us with a copy for review.

Delightful!

The weather outside is frightful, but the oven is so delightful! We were in a mood: to eat cake, to make cake, to try something new, and somehow the colour pink should be involved. So we opened up a new cookbook and found something to try but, was missing buttermilk and one more egg! Was not going outside to the "feels like -23°C" weather to buy buttermilk and eggs, so made the cake with milk and one less egg! Also left out the salt and baking powder too.

Above collage from top left going clockwise: Pink cream cheese frosting in a piping bag; mixing cream cheese frosting; our new sifter; our new sifter top view; and cake batter in 6-inch pan!

Vanilla Milk Cake

Altered majorly from Sky High's 6-inch vanilla buttermilk cake

(makes a 6-inch cake and 1 cupcake)

1 stick of butter

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of cake flour

1/2 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Using a mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Incorporate the sugar.
3. Add the eggs one at a time and mix.
4. Next, add the flour and milk and mix.
5. Lastly, add in the vanilla extract and mix well.
6. Pour all the batter into a 6-inch cake pan or save an ice-cream scoop sized batter for a cupcake.
7. The cupcake will bake for 20-25 minutes.
8. Bake the cake for 45-55 minutes or until the cake tester came out clean.

The cake was very dense and moist, very nice and bouncy... haha if one can describe cake like that! My parents found it too sweet (as always) but, it was just what we needed. Also went for a messy look on the side of the cake. Howard loves cheese and we always wanted to make cream cheese frosting! This is where we could add our something pink...

Cream Cheese Frosting

From Cupcake Blog

(Makes 4-5 cups)

1-1/2 packages of Philly cream cheese
1/2 stick of butter at room temperature
4-5 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1. Using a mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until creamy.
2. Add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla extra, mix until smooth and combined.
3. Fill your cake and frost it. For cupcakes, put frosting in piping bag with tip and make your swirl! Keep in mind, there will be leftover frosting.
4. We also tried out these Nut & Party cups to bake in, also inspired from Cupcake Blog!