Cake Stencils: Amazing Cakes Made Easy

Last Christmas, I mentioned these wonderful cake stencils from ModCloth. I enjoy baking, and I actually took cake decorating classes for several years. However, these stencils always looked lovely, so I purchased them a while back, but I never got a chance to actually use them until recently.

I was going to spend the evening alone, so I decided to make a one layer chocolate cake from scratch (which nearly turned out disastrously--but I survived). The stencil kit contains recipes, too, so I tried out the chocolate ganache. Incidentally, I cheated and make it in the microwave rather than on the stovetop, but that is neither here nor there. The ganache was quite tasty, and I simply poured it over the top of the cake, let it cool somewhat, and then applied the stencil and powdered sugar. When I took the stencil off, I actually had a bit of trouble trying to convince myself to cut it, just because I was so proud of it.

There are, of course, a few catches to using the stencils. For one, you want the cake to be flat, or else the stencil isn't going to be able to lay flat and the image is going to be distorted. This wasn't a huge issue at all for me, as I'm used to trying to make my cakes as flat as possible. However, I guess not that many people know how to do that, so here are a few options:

1. Pound your cake. This is actually pretty simple. After you pour the batter into the pan, put a hand on either side of the pan and essentially pound it against the counter. I usually throw a towel between the pan and the counter, just in case. You should see little air bubbles coming up through the top of the cake. You're technically supposed to do this until air bubbles stop coming up, but you can pound forever. I usually stop when my arms get tired. By getting rid of the air bubbles, your cake will be denser and should rise more evenly and not as high.

2. Cut the top off the cake. Before you take it out of the pan, grab a large sharp knife (serrated works best) and cut off the top of the cake. This also allows for the cook to have something to snack on while finishing cooking. Mind your fingers, though!

3. Flip the cake. As soon as you pull the cake out of the oven, flip it over onto a plate/platter. I usually leave it in the pan when I do this, so that the shape actually flattens, rather than inverting.

Once the cake is rather cool, ice and then apply the stencil. The book has instructions for how to use the stencils, and as long as you follow the step by step, it is rather easy. I've used it several times so far, and I'm quite happy with it. I'm still working on my technique for using it on cupcakes, though....

AerOs: Chocolate Bliss

There is a large spectrum of tastes in chocolate. Many cannot sense it, either because their palate is or because they simply choose not to. Others sense it, but aren't chocolate fans. How they survive, I shall never know.

Anyway, a new chocolate was brought to my attention most recently, one that I had understood was only attainable in Canada.

That is no longer true. The other day, I came home to find three glorious AerO bars sitting on the passthrough. They were nicely arrayed on top of other treats that I shall write about later, but I must say I am deeply grateful to the one who first introduced me to AerOs and to the ones who found these bars, right here in California, to share with me.

For those of you who don't know, an AerO bar is chocolate that has been aerated. And it is really tasty to some people, and to other people, it just taste like plain chocolate. To me, it tastes like slightly burnt chocolate (burnt in a good way, not that black charcoal you get when you accidentally forget to stir it when melting chocolate on the stovetop) with a hint of something else--perhaps cinnamon? Anyway, it is amazing, and I love it. Aerated chocolate wins. So run out to your local World Market/Cost Plus and get some.

Fattening Fridays: More Fudgy Goodness

As a rule, I only go to graduations if I have someone interesting to sit with. It is well known that I chatted on my phone through pretty much all of my father's graduation ceremony, and if he goes on to get a doctorate, I can guarantee the same thing will happen again. I'm so synical that I believe the only purpose of a graduation ceremony is for the graduates to get cash and giftcards from everyone they know. And then to go party. The two hours spent sitting listening to some person talk about how important you are to the future and reading off a list of names is superfluous.

Program graduations are only slightly more bearable, as they usually come with a dinner of some sort. I can handle that. Food is always a great picker-upper, plus, you can talk over it. And if the dessert is amazing, well--you can convince me to at least pretend that I'm paying attention.

This dessert was amazing. Three layers of chocolate mousses and rasberries...and I'm happy. This is one to savor. I actually tried to recreate this one, and I think I may have figured something akin to it out.

Mousse mixes in the cooking aisle were a great help, and, while I couldn't build them into perfectly standing little towers, layering them into cocktail glasses made it pretty. In the future, though, I think I shall pipe the mousse in rather than trying to spoon it in. The spoon makes things slightly messy.

Oh, yeah. And I don't like the taste of the coffee mousse instant mix. It doesn't taste like coffee, and it has some weird aftertaste. The chocolate one is awesome, though. :)

A Chocolate A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

I love chocolate. The darker, the better. 85%? Amazing. Higher? Drool. My dad knows I love chocolate so much that whenever he gives me a gift for no reason, I can usually count on it being a bar of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate, which is amazing. I'm still working on the bar he gave me around Easer.

Oh, and did I mention...today is Chocolate Day?? It is. I am hoping that all the chocolate stores have specials for today, so that I can get even more great chocolate. In favor of this event, I am going to share my favorite factoid about chocolate.

Are you ready? Here it is.

People who had small servings of chocolate throughout the week, the total netting between 1.5 and 2 ounces of chocolate, had a decreased likelihood of heart disease. Those who ate no chocolate maintained the normal risk level, and those who ate more than two ounces had a greater chance of heart disease. So, now, the question is, how much chocolate is 2 ounces? it is almost exactly one half of the largest size of chocolate bar you can get.

So, now, the healthy thing to do is to practice self restraint and have one little square of chocolate each day, and presto! you are a healthier person.

I am SO loving this new research! Now, I'm going to go celebrate by hitting the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and getting me some chocolate.

A Fattening Start: Welcome to National Doughnut Day

I find it fitting that my first post on TaintedLoves should be about getting a sugar high. Eating is one of my tainted loves. And eating FREE doughnuts, is, definitely, very high on that list. Today, I danced through the waves of crowds at Krispy Kreme to retrieve my free Krispy Kreme doughnut of choice, which, really, resulted in my eating two doughnuts instead of one. As you can tell, I brought a friend (I most certainly will not be eating four doughnuts on my own!!), and we enjoyed a nice breakfast on the couch located behind the coffee cups. This is the second time I've had the current "featured" doughnut, which happens to be an oreo-filled and -topped doughnut, and is quite tasty. It isn't as good as the Chocolate Kreme one they last featured, which was a dark-chocolate lover's dream in doughnut form. I guess the Oreo one will do until I find a new chocolate doughnut fix.

I shall be keeping my eyes out for more free sugar highs. Don't forget to go get your free doughnut.