Valentines Cake & Paper Cones

Happy Valentine's Day to all, especially to my husband and my little son. I feel so blessed to have them. Not one day goes by when I have not thanked God for my beautiful family. People often ask me how I manage to spend time on my crafts and baking, with a full time job and a little boy. Normally, I would just smile or give some vague answer, but the real answer is my sweet little family that enables me. My son, who gives me motivation for all that I do, and my husband who gives me all the space and time for my hobbies. Without making any mention of it, he takes up the daily chores when I am working on some project. He'll do the dishes without saying once that he did it whole of last week as well. He'll cook on the days I am baking. He'll put our son to sleep if I am in the middle of my craft projects. And he does all this not once making me feel that he did most of the essential things of the household whereas I was working on my hobbies. He totally spoils me. 

Now, about the cake I made for Valentines. Its a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I wanted to try something different and healthy, so opted for this cake flavour. And guess what, Kabir likes it more than the chocolate cake. He gobbled it up pretty fast and asked for more. I used the recipe my Mamiji(aunt) gave me a while back. I have modified it a little to add some pineapple and brown sugar. 

Carrot Cake

4 eggs very well beaten
2 cups flour
Total 2 cups sugar : 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar(I use total of 1 3/4 cup of sugar only)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp sodium bicarbonate
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnut
1 cup corn oil
2 cups grated carrot
0.8 oz crushed pineapple

1)Preheat oven to 350 F (325 F if convection oven) and grease the pan. 

2)In a bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix sugar and oil very well, until light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs to it slowly. 

3)In another bowl mix rest of the ingredients. Then slowly add it to sugar and oil mixture. 

4) Pour the mixture in greased pans, and bake for around 45 minutes. Be sure to do a toothpick check after 30 minutes. 

5)Allow cake to cool completely before frosting. Frost with buttercream or cream cheese icing (recipe below). 

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese softened
sifted 2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Turn mixer to low speed and blend in powdered sugar and vanilla extract.  Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in chopped walnuts and use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth). 

I omitted the walnuts in the icing because of the look I was aiming for. Made the roses to go on top from rolled fondant. It was my first attempt on making these roses. Still need a lot of practice before I can get then right. 

Heart shaped cake bites 

I used some of the cake mixture for these heart shaped cake bites. I think it makes it easier for kids to eat. I was planning to send these out to Kabir's daycare. But on the pretext of tasting, Kabir and Rohit ate enough to mess up my count. I didn't have enough left for the kids at daycare, so I guess they will be eating the rest as well. 

Instead, I got dinosaur fruit snack for the kids and packed it in these paper cones. I got the idea of paper cones from the this site.

Happy Valentines Day! 

Red Velvet Cake

Valentine's Day is just days away. What better way to celebrate it than with a Red Velvet cake. Well, it was the last Valentines season when I first tried my hand at Red Velvet cup cakes and my husband loved it. I think he loved the cream cheese frosting more. Valentine's day is normally not a big affair at our home, but I am still excited over trying something exciting to bake or make.

I baked it from my favorite recipe below. I started out with making a 2 layered cake, but one cake got stuck badly, so instead made up cake balls from it, and just a single layer cake with the other. Ended up with not so smooth cream cheese frosting. Actually I did not get a chance to smooth the icing as 3 adults were hovering over me to get away so they can dig into it. So it wasn't surprising when it was over in a matter of minutes.

This is the recipe from pinchmysalt blog.

Red Velvet Cake

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 oz. red food coloring
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans or three 8-inch round cake pans.

2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.  In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go.  Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

4. Make sure you have cake pans buttered, floured, and nearby.  In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda.  Yes, it will fizz!  Add it to the cake batter and stir well to combine.  Working quickly, divide batter evenly between the cake pans and place them in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check early, cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. To remove the cakes from the pan, place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, then gently lift the pan.  Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting. Frost with buttercream or cream cheese icing (recipe below).

Recipe Notes: *Sift cake flour once before measuring, then sift again with the other dry ingredients per recipe instructions. Wear an apron and be careful with the red food coloring. As you’re mixing the cake batter, use a spatula to scrape down the bowl frequently throughout the entire process. To mix flour and buttermilk, use cut and fold method, instead of the mixer. It makes for a softer cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz. cream cheese (2 packages), softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of salt

With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Turn mixer to low speed and blend in powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract.  Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.  If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth).

Recipe Notes: If you prefer a sweeter and/or stiffer frosting, more powdered sugar can be added (up to four cups). But remember, the more sugar you add, the less you’ll be able to taste the tangy cream cheese!

Happy Baking!