Say it with Sprinkles: A baking blog filled with recipes & photos of sweet treats & savory eats.

Here’s the deal.  I’m always slightly disappointed (and sliiiiightly annoyed) when I visit a blog and they’ve gone and done something like a “Wordless Wednesday” post.  I mean, I sorta get it.  Sometimes there’s just not much to say, or the photos are so amazing they do all the talking or whatever.  Blah blah.  It’s just that usually when I visit a blog, it’s 60% for the oogle-worthy food photos, 20% for the recipes, and the rest for the commentary!  So basically if my calculations are correct, without the commentary I’m being stripped of at least 20% of my blog enjoyment!  That’s generally at least 80% unacceptable!

I like to read about the creation of the recipe, or someone’s workout, etc…(except I don’t like to hear about everything someone ate in a day, especially if the photos aren’t super lovely.  That’s just me.)

So, what else am I probably going to do today but disappoint you all (maybe you’re relieved and you like a break from jabber?) by not exactly following this wordless trend, (since obviously I’ve still done and am still doing some blabbing!) but by cutting it short.  Slightly wordless Monday?  Mostly wordless Monday…..ugh, it’s a working title, darn it! 😉

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiKnooooooow….

To be real with you, I have stuff to say.  A lot of stuff.  More stuff than I should say.  But I mostly feel awful because I left town and forgot to bring with me the recipe for this awesome birthday cake I made for my brother’s fiance…future sister-in-law!  So, I guess you get to enjoy it in photos, and I hope you will forgive me for not saying more and not including the recipe!

I hope this made her day a good one! 😀

Happy Birthday (again!), Becky!

It seems like a brother of mine just had a birthday, right?  It seems like just yesterday I was concocting the impossible birthday cake request of one brother and here I am blabbing on about another brother birthday already!  I know I only have two older brothers, but most days it seems like I have more.  Like 10 more.  And all of them like to “challenge” their sister with feats of birthday cake prowess worthy of a Just Desserts episode.  Probably not just any episode either, more like the finale minus that whole dramatic centerpiece thingy.  You know what I’m talking about.

Now, I know I’ve professed my undying love for Johnny Iuzzini on more than one occasion, but the last thing I want to be doing most days is competing, reality tv style, against myself, no less, for a reward that has nothing to do with a 5 page spread in Food & Wine magazine, or any amount of money furnished by Kitchenaid or whoever.  I think I was being a bit generous when I implied my cake baking adventures could possibly result in anything remotely close to what could be construed as a reward, but I suppose it should be reward enough for me to see a birthday boy’s face light up with happiness and joy, right?

Meh, I could go either way.

Kiddingggg…There’s so much birthday love floating around here, it’s ridiculous! =)

While no snack-cake or hostess knock-off recipes were harmed in the making of this cake, it was still a fairly lofty request, as far as my cake making skills are concerned.  I heard banana cake and was ok.  Chocolate frosting, do-able.  Whipped cream infused with banana flavor, with a thousand layers and made to look totally edible?  Debatable.  Wheels.  Turning.

For some reason whenever I think bananas and whipped cream, I immediately imagine Southern-Style banana pudding, layered up with vanilla wafers and banana pudding in a pretty glass trifle!  I’m no Southern Belle, nor will I ever qualify as such, but I have it in my head and heart that someday I may live in Louisiana at some point in my life just to take in the culture and atmosphere.  Sweet tea?  Absolutely!  Whippy, dreamy banana desserts while getting lost in the Jazz-filled streets of New Orleans?  Yes, please!

Snap back to reality, got it.  But, I ran with that inspiration on this one, and added traditional vanilla wafers to the cake, yummy banana to pillowy whipped cream, and marshmallow dreaminess to rich chocolate buttercream frosting.  I realize there’s a very real possibility that I’m horribly misrepresenting the South and Southern culture with all of this, in which case, infinite apologies!   I’m pretty much basing all of my imaginations on a few episodes of Hart of Dixie and a single visit to Georgia. =p

Banana Cake Recipe

(This turned out to be a dense, flavorful cake that I’m sure would make amazing banana bread, too!  Layered up with lots of sweet, lightly banana flavored whipped cream, and topped with smooth, rich & creamy chocolate marshmallow buttercream frosting.  Summer cake?  Totally!)

Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 Tbsp baking soda
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup butter or margarine
* 1 cup white sugar
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 4 bananas
* 2 large eggs
* 2/3 cup heavy cream mixed with 1 tsp white vinegar
* 20 vanilla wafers

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease or line a 9×13″ casserole pan.

Mix 2/3 cup heavy cream with 1 tsp white vinegar and set aside.  Cream together the butter, brown, and white sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add the bananas and eggs, mixing well between each addition.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the cream and vinegar mixture to wet mixture.   Mix until batter comes together.

Place a layer of vanilla wafers on half the bottom of the prepared casserole pan.  Pour batter into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cover with foil if the cake is browning too quickly.  Allow to cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan and flip onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Banana Whipped Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

* 2 cups heavy cream
* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 1 banana, pureed
* 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Add 2 cups of cream to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high until a soft whipped cream texture forms. Add the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated.

Puree the banana (I used a blender, but a food processor would work, too) and add it to the whipped cream along with the vanilla extract. Beat about a minute more on high until a thick whipped cream forms. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

 Once the whipped cream is made, cut the cake in half the short way using a serrated knife, so that each half measures 9×6.5″.  Filet the cake horizontally to make 4 pieces of cake.  Square off all 4 outside edges.  I wanted a rectangular cake, so I trimmed some length off each end, resulting in 4 pieces like those below, measuring 9×4″.

Place the vanilla wafer studded layer on the bottom of a plate or cake stand.  Layer with banana whipped cream.

Add the second layer, and banana whipped cream again!

Repeat steps 1 or 2 for layer 3…you get the idea by now!

Add the top layer, and voila!  Sort of.  Not quite done, but ready to be covered with plastic wrap or a cake container top and thrown in the fridge to firm up for about an hour.

In the mean time…

Chocolate Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup butter or margarine
* 3 cups powdered sugar
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup marshmallow cream
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* dash of salt

Directions:

Add butter or margarine to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until soft and whippy.  Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing between additions and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.

Add the vanilla extract and the cocoa, and then mix until combined, and gravely looking.  Add in the marshmallow cream along with the salt and beat on high until fluffy.  If the frosting seems too thick, add a bit more vanilla or a splash of milk.  If it seems to thin for your taste, throw in a little more powdered sugar.

Once the cake is sufficiently chilly, frost away!  I started on the top, but any way you feel is necessary to get frosting on that cake, I say go for it.

 I’m just throwing this out there.  I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I’ve always been pretty honest, so there’s no going back now.  These matches are a hoax.  Strike anywhere?  How about strike anywhere but the actual strike slip!  Not a chance this was working.  Ugh.  Had to dig out the lighter for the candles on this puppy!

Dressed up and birthday ready.  Awww =)

Served with Extraaaaaaa banana whipped cream and banana slices.  Banana never looked so good.  Except for the other times I used bananas and made awesome things, I mean! =D

Ok, so it wasn’t as “eventful” making this cake as the Hostess Cupcake Birthday cake, but I guess the birthday boy was sorta pleased or whatever with the result of his request because he raved about it for days.  Literally.  Anyone who touched leftovers was practically eligible for punishment by death or dismemberment.

Typical.

Happy Birthday, oldest of older brothers!

Birthdays are the type of thing you look forward to and love so much when you’re young that you wish you could celebrate several times a year, but then start to avoid, ignore, and maybe even detest once you’re old enough to realize what getting older means. Maybe that’s just me?

You know, you figure out that birthdays are more than just cake, presents, slumber parties, and pink. Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who birthdays still mean exactly that to, and growing up definitely has its perks, but often there are a lot of less desirable aspects of aging that accompany getting older that I won’t even start to get in to. I don’t think I have to!

Anyway, I think the key is really in that whole “young at heart” theory. Some people just seem to be able to remain “young” their whole lives, staying active, energetic, quick witted, and full of that zest for life that sometimes even the chronologically young lose sight of. Genetics surely plays a part, but it’s undeniable that it takes some effort, and a whole lot of motivation, passion, and interest in life and all it has to offer in order to really avoid aging.

So, to my older brother who just turned 30-something: don’t worry, I’ll keep you on your toes. Younger sisters keep older brothers young (I think it’s a scientific fact or something? Maybe younger sisters age older brothers? Nah…) You may get a few headaches over the years, that’s just a benign side effect of the process. You may get your heels run over by giant shopping carts full of cinder blocks, but that just makes you stronger. Let’s just say, you won’t ever be allowed to “phone it in” on my watch.

You may even get a cake. A cake that outwardly resembles a Hostess cupcake with some structural integrity issues…if you squint enough.  It may or may not be only several weeks late.  Just remember, it’s all in the name of keeping you young.

You’re welcome!

I had a perfect plan for this cake. A Hostess cupcake cake…accurate to size specifications, including everything from the cream filling (best scooped out with a finger and eaten slowly) to the frosting layer that was always so much fun to peel off and eat once the rest of the cupcake was gone. In theory, it seemed easy enough (not really).

By the time I figured out I’d need to quintuple the recipe (within the first 5 minutes), rather than double it, as I’d originally (naively) anticipated, I knew it was a challenge I was unwilling to un-accept.

A few quick modifications to the original recipe as well as the diagram I’d elaborately constructed in my head, and everything seemed (key word: seemed) to be back on track.

Hostess Cupcake Birthday Cake

(Slightly adapted from the New York Times Faux Hostess Cupcakes Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Filling Recipe)

I decided for the sake of simplicity to include the recipe for a single batch, which is intended to make 12 (one dozen) standard-sized cupcakes.  If you would like to make the birthday cake version, just go ahead and quintuple the recipe (x5), like I did.

Ingredients (For the Cake):

* 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (they used cake flour, but I had none)
* 1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s cocoa powder)
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* pinch salt
* 2 large eggs, separated (I used extra-large)
* 1/3 cup canola oil
* 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Directions:

(*Remember the quantities given in the directions are for a single recipe, and that you will need to multiply everything by 5 if making the cake! )

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease a straight-edged bundt pan and a cake round.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

Separate eggs into whites and yolks.  Add the whites to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until soft peaks form.  Add 2 Tbsp of sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks.  Move whites to another bowl and set aside.

Add the yolks to the bowl of a stand mixer along with the oil, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 2 Tbsp water; beat together.  Turn mixer to low and gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.  Mix until almost completely combined.  Mix 1/4 of the whites into the batter and then fold in the rest gently, until no white streaks remain.

Pour batter into prepared cake round until about 1/2 full.  Pour the remaining batter into the bundt pan.

Bake bundt pan for about 55 minutes, depending on your oven.  Check after about 45 minutes with a toothpick.  Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  I made the mistake of NOT baking the bundt pan cake long enough and it ended up sinking.  DISASTER!

Bake the cake round for about 30 minutes, but again, check after about 20 minutes and take it out when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Allow both cakes to cool in their pans before removing and allowing to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Once the cake round cake is fully cooled, using a cake knife, or a serrated bread knife, filet in half.

(while you’re waiting for both of the cakes to bake, whip together the filling!)

Ingredients (For the Cream Filling):

This is the single recipe for the cream filling if you want to make cupcakes. For the cake, I doubled (x2) the recipe.  I don’t know how it happened, but somehow I managed to NOT get a single photo of the cream filling process.  Ugh.  Well, it’s white and whippy.  Got that?  Ok, good.

* 6 Tbsp unsalted butter (I used salted butter)
* 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff (use a full jar of marshmallow cream)
* 2 Tbsp heavy cream (I used 2 Tbsp vanilla extract instead)

Directions:

Cream the butter until soft and fluffy in the clean bowl of a stand mixer.  Add half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Add the marshmallow cream and the vanilla (or heavy cream, if you prefer) and mix until smooth.  Add the rest of the powdered sugar, and beat until creamy and fluffy.  Set aside.

Ingredients (For the Ganache):

This is the single recipe for the ganache if you’re just making cupcakes. I tripled (x3) the recipe for the cake.

* 1/4 cup heavy cream
* 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used a combination of Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate kisses)
* 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (Again, I used salted)

Directions:

(I suggest this not be made until the cake is fully assembled and ready to be frosted, since it will tend to set up when cooled)

Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan on medium-low heat.  Once the cream starts to boil gently, remove pan from heat and add in the chocolate.  Stir until melted and smooth, heating again on the stove if needed.  Don’t burn it, though!  Add in the butter and stir until melted and completely mixed.  To frost the cake, allow the ganache to cool slightly and then spoon on, smoothing over the top.  For best results, chill the whole cake for several hours before serving in order to allow the ganache to set.

To Assemble the Cake:

Place one of the cake round layers on a cake round, a cake stand, a plate (whatever you want your cake to be sitting on).  Place the bundt cake on top of the cake round (cone shape facing upward).  Since the cake round is slightly larger than the small end of the bundt sitting on it, slice around the cake round so it’s the same size.

Fill the center well of the bundt cake (you can hollow it out a little more if you want lots of cream filling, but don’t go overboard, that’s where I started having structural issues!) with cream filling.  Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cream filling frosting and put it in a plastic ziploc bag.  Throw it in the fridge.

Place the last cake round layer on the top of the bundt cake.  This is the fun part.  Use a serrated knife to round out the top of the cake (think top-of-the-cupcake kind of round).

Spoon ganache onto the top of the cake, starting in the center and working outward.  Take it slow, it will run off the edges and all over the plate you’re working on.  Not that I know.  Except that I totally know.  It will probably be a bit of a mess to clean up regardless, but there are worse things to have to do.  Refrigerate the cake for a couple hours to let the ganache set up.

Once everything is firm and in place, take your ziploc bag of cream filling frosting and let it soften a little.  Cut the corner off the bag and pipe on the swirly topping…little known fact (or maybe just little known fact I didn’t realize I didn’t know until now): there are 8 swirls on a hostess cupcake.  No more, no less.  Now you know.

As you can see, the center of the bundt cake managed to condense under its own weight, creating a center portion that’s more like a fudgey brownie than cake.  This part was everyone’s favorite, though, being the perfectionist that I am, it was the most annoying part to me, ha! =)

I made this on Saturday, and after a night in the fridge, I can tell you from experience: the ganache peeled off JUST like the real Hostess Cupcake frosting – WIN!

I’m not going to lie, this cake is A LOT of work.  Let’s just say a certain brother will NOT be getting the cake he requests next year.  I’m thinking maybe a Ding-Dong.

You know, a round sheet cake, a little filling, ganache coating, and be done with it?  To make it even cuter, I’d maybe even consider wrapping it in a giant piece of foil, but that’s only if I’m feeling any ounce of ambition left after this year’s Hostess Cupcake Cake fiasco!

So, if you’re feeling a little more like going in a different direction, I would highly recommend Birthday Cream Puffs like I made for my brother’s birthday last March…

Or perhaps Birthday Cake batter Biscotti, like I made for my momma’s birthday last July…?!  Both Birthday Wins!

Happy {Belated} Birthday, Big Brother!

(When you end up feeling like, .2 years younger because of me and this cake, you owe me. BIG time)