A Yummy Cake from Zucchero Dolce

Yellow Cake (adapted ever so slightly from Shirley Corriher's Bakewise)

4 tbsp unsalted butter cut in 1 tbsp pieces
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup canola oil
3 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cup cake flour
1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup heavy cream


Preheat the oven to 350F at least 20 minutes before baking.  Spray 2 6" pans with baking spray, line with parchment, and spray again.  (You can also make a single 9" layer.)


Soften the butter in a mixer on medium speed.  Beat until light in color, about 3 minutes (warning: it's not so easy to beat such a small amount of butter, but give it your best).  Add the sugar, and beat until very light.  Keep the bowl cool, and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally (or use a beater blade).


Beat in the vanilla.  On medium, mix in the oil.


On low, beat in the yolks, then the whole eggs, one  at a time, mixing just until combined.  


Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until fully combined.  Add about half the dry ingredients to the batter, and mix on low until just combined.  Add in half the buttermilk, still on low, and add the rest of the dry ingredients until just combined.  Finish with the remaining buttermilk.  


In a separate bowl (make sure it's cold), whip the cream to soft peaks.  Beat just a little longer.  Stir in 1/4 of the whipped cream into the cake batter to lighten.  Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream.  Pour into the prepared pans.  Drop the pans (just a few inches) to knock out air bubbles.


Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick just comes out clean.  The cake should just pull away from the sides when you remove it from the oven.  Cool in pan, on a rack, for about 10 minutes, then invert onto parchment paper and remove pan.  Cool completely.

Freeze one cake layer for another time. 




Nutella Mousse  (The Scotto family)


1 jar (13 ounces) Nutella
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1 ounce Frangelico


Beat together the Nutella and mascarpone on high for several minutes until very smooth.


In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream and Frangelico to stiff peaks.  Fold cream into the Nutella/mascarpone mixture.  Chill for at least a half hour (longer in warm weather).  If it's very lumpy when you remove it from the fridge, you can beat it for 30 seconds or so to smooth it out. 
 

Assembly

1 package Pepperidge farms chocolate hazelnut pirouette cookies 



Cut one cake layer into three equal layers.  Place one layer on a cardboard cake round.  Spread with about one-fourth of the mousse.  Top with a second layer of cake, and spread another one-fourth of the mousse on top.  Top with the remaining layer, and brush off as many crumbs as you can from the top and sides of the cake.  Spread another one-fourth of the mousse on top, and the remaining mousse around the edge.  It doesn't have to look pretty, but you need something for the pirouette cookies to cling to.  Cut cookies in half, and place around the outside of the cake.  
ever-and-best

bakingsheet: Cooking School: Self Frosting Cupcakes

bakingsheet: Cooking School: Self Frosting Cupcakes: "Nutella Frosted Cupcakes
10 tbsp(140 grams) butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups (200 grams) sifted ap flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

Preheat oven to 325F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don't worry if the batter doesn't look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.
Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. They should be 3/4 full, if you're not using a scoop. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the nutella.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 12."

Meringue Cake A Must Try

Meringue Cake With Nutella Buttercream

Recipe from: Priya's Easy N Tasty

Our this month Sweet Punch challenge goes for bakes with meringue, most of us know that meringue is prepared with egg whites, sugar with cream of tartar,my choice went for a simple meringue cake which is prepared with yellow butter cake baked directly with a meringue on the top, i prepared as per the recipe went for but instead of using whipping cream and strawberries as in the original recipe,i prepared a nutella buttercream to make a sandwich cake, they tastes terribly irresistible and my teddies loved it much, the butter cake was absolutely excellent,the technique of baking a cake batter and meringue in the same pan at the same time is quite unique, but the result was extremely delicious and while tasting this cake, u will definitely forget the efforts u put for making the beautiful meringue cake..Thanks to Sweet Punch team for choosing this delicious cake.We loved it..



Cake Batter:
4nos Egg yolks
1cup Cake flour
1tsp Baking powder
1/2cup Butter
1/2cup Sugar
1tsp Vanilla extract
1/4cup Milk

Meringue Layer:
4nos Egg whites
Pinch of Salt or 1/4tsp Cream of tartar
1/3cup Sugar
1/2tsp Vanilla extract

Nutella Buttercream:
2tbsp Nutella spread
1cup Confectioner's sugar
1/4cup Butter
1tsp Milk

Beat the nutella spread,butter together until they turns soft,add the confectioner's sugar,milk and turn everything as a smooth nutella buttercream, arrange this buttercream in fridge for atleast two hours..

My Nutella Frosting

 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup smooth Nutella

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream (or milk)

Beat the butter until smooth.  Add the cream cheese, and continue to beat until smooth and fully combined with the butter.  Add the peanut butter and beat until well combined. Slowly add the powdered sugar and continue to mix until the frosting is smooth. Add in the cream, and beat another 30 seconds.  Frost cupcakes.

Mini Root Beer Float Cupcakes
Makes 32
Ingredients:
1 pkg. Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake Mix
1 Tbsp. Root Beer Extract (in the spice aisle w/ the other extracts)
1 can Root Beer (you can use diet to cut the sugar)
Creme Roulee wafer cookies
Vanilla Icing (storebought or your favorite recipe)
Red Mini Gumballs (or M & M's or other red candy)
Clean votive candle holders or shot glasses
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 Tbsp. root beer extract in 2 C. measuring cup (you'll have extract left over for another batch!:)). Fill cup with Root Beer until it reaches 1 1/2 C. (you'll have just a taste of root beer left in your can). Add to cake mix and stir well. No eggs, no oil, easy!!
Place shot glasses/votive holders on a baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Fill 1/2 full with cake batter and bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes until done. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Your kitchen will smell like a soda factory--the kids loved it!:)
Cut creme roulee wafers in half.
Put vanilla icing in canvas bag w/ star tip (or you can just put it in a ziploc baggie and snip off one end). Pipe a dollop of icing onto each cupcake, top with a gumball and half of a wafer cookie. Serve or refrigerate until needed.

Tasty Treats: Chicken Biryani

Tasty Treats: Chicken Biryani

Baking - MyRecipes.com

Baking - MyRecipes.com

Cake Pops

INGREDIENTS Makes about 50. 9-by-13-inch Chocolate Cake for Cupcake Pops 2 cups Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting 1 package chocolate coating bark 1 package white coating bark or pink candy melts Sprinkles, for garnish Candy-coated chocolates, such as M&M's, for garnish

DIRECTIONS Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Trim about 1/2 inch from the perimeter of the cake. Working in batches, crumble cake into the bowl of a food processor; process until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a large bowl and add frosting; blend together using the back of a spoon, until well combined, 5 to 10 minutes. Roll mixture into 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-inch balls; transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with parchment-paper-lined aluminum foil. Transfer to refrigerator until chilled, about 2 hours or to a freezer for about 10 minutes. Begin to shape balls into cupcakes by rolling balls first into logs. Fit logs into a 1 1/4-by-3/4-inch flower-shaped cookie cutter. Push cake mixture into the cutter halfway so that some of the cake mixture extends beyond the top of the cutter. Shape extended cake mixture into a cupcake-shaped top. Push cake from cutter to remove. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Transfer to freezer until chilled, 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt chocolate in heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Remove cupcakes from freezer and dip the bottom of each cupcake into the chocolate; transfer, bottom-side up, to prepared baking sheet. To make lollipops, insert a lollipop stick into the bottom of each cupcake. Let chocolate set, 15 to 20 minutes. Melt white chocolate or pink candy melts in heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the chocolate and place right-side up on prepared baking sheet or stick lollipop sticks into a Styrofoam square. Place a candy-coated chocolate in the center of each and top with sprinkles. Let dry completely.

Make Your Cupcakes Pop! « bakerella.com

Make Your Cupcakes Pop! « bakerella.com

Sugar’s Pink Heart Cinnamon Crescent Rolls-A Valentine Treat

Sugar’s Pink Heart Cinnamon Crescent Rolls-A Valentine Treat

Candy Buttons

Candy Buttons

How to Make a Tidal Wave Cocktail (with video) - wikiHow

How to Make a Tidal Wave Cocktail (with video) - wikiHow