Spiderman Cake

When you love Spiderman as much as my son does, you don't have a choice but to make the hero the center of your world also because I love my son almost as much as he loves Spiderman, and that is saying a lot!

I made this cake a year ago for his 3rd birthday and looks like he will be just too happy if I repeat it because he loves Spidey all the more if that is even possible :) With the new movie that is going to be released in July, we have some more Spidey overdose to live with in the near future.

The cake might look very complicated but was actually not that hard to make. What made it hard was that instead of just choosing a simple cake - I made this also as a Strawberry Shortcake cake and that complicated things a bit. I used 1 and a half times the required ingredients for this size. I did cut this cake also into two and then stuffed the middle with the strawberry filling + icing, but for the top - I did not do that, I used the cream cheese  icing and then followed the instructions for decorations as is from the instruction sheet.  

Note 1 : I used cream cheese icing instead of the recommended butter cream icing as I had a lot of it and it worked just fine.

I got the Spiderman pan from Michaels and it is this one by Wilton. 

The instructions that come with the pan are very detailed and self explanatory and were all I used to make the decoration on the top.

Note 2: Make sure you coat the pan generously with the spray and also with flour. I did that and all the indentations came out perfectly on the cake without sticking to the bottom and make it so much easier to decorate.

And the amazement on your Spidey lover's face will be so worth it!

Strawberry Shortcake cake

I can't believe it is already going to be a year since I made this cake :) I know that is how long it takes me sometimes to get to post some recipes, not good but at least I get to it at some point :P I came across this recipe as I was looking for a cake to make for my son's birthday. He loves strawberries and the Mr is not a big fan of chocolate and this looked different enough so I gave it a shot. 

I was very happy with the outcome. This is a great cake and very different from the usual cream filled birthday cakes. However I will not deny that it needed a good amount of work especially for the size I made it. So my only advise is to make this for a smaller size party or plan on spending some time if you want to make it for a bigger crowd. 

I used the larger of these rectangular pans  (resulted in a lot of cake enough for at least 20 people) and this link here for measurements. 

Time: Preparation Time (45 min), Cooking Time ( 60-70 min)

Difficulty Level: Medium

Ingredients:

I ended up using almost 3 times the required ingredients for the cake and the icing. However, I ended up with lots more icing than needed.   I suggest for the size of the pan I used, doubling the ingredients for the icing  is sufficient, but use triple times the ingredients for the cake. Below measurements work for a 8 or 9 inch round pan that is 2 inches deep at least.

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tbsps cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 9 tbsps unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 whole large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla

Icing

• 1/2 pound cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 pound powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 pound strawberries

Method de Preparation:

Make the cake first, then work on the strawberry filling while the cake is in the oven baking and the icing when the strawberry filling is just sitting :)

1. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and corn starch.
2. Cream 9 tablespoons butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well each time. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just barely combined.
3. Pour into greased and floured 8-inch or 9-inch cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cake is no longer jiggly when you shake the sides.  As soon as you can do remove from the cake pan after you pull it out of the oven, and place on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely.
4. Remove the leaves from the strawberries and slice them in half from bottom to top or from top to bottom, it really does not matter :) Place into a bowl and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar. Stir together and let sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, mash the strawberries in two batches. This gives your arms a great workout. Sprinkle each half with 1 tablespoons sugar and allow to sit for another 30 minutes.
5. Make icing: combine cream cheese, 2 sticks butter, sifted powdered sugar, vanilla, and dash of salt in a mixing bowl. Mix until very light and fluffy.
6. Slice cake in half through the middle.By now it should have cooled. Spread strawberries evenly over each half (cut side up), pouring on all the juices. Place cake halves into the freezer for five minutes, just to make icing easier.
7. Remove from freezer. Use a little less than 1/3 of the icing to spread over the top of the strawberries on the bottom layer. Place the second layer on top. Add half of the remaining icing to the top spreading evenly, then spread the remaining 1/3 cup around the sides.
8. Leave plain OR garnish with strawberry halves.
9. The cake is best when served slightly cool. The butter content in the icing will cause it to soften at room temperature. For best results, don't leave out and store in the fridge. For that reason make sure you have place in your refrigerator for the size of cake you are making.
10. Like I said I had a lot of icing, so I used some food coloring and piped the sides and top of the cake with some decorations.

Source: Ma lady Ree here.

Coffee Cake

May 17th 2011

You know usually when you invite friends over it means work. But when you have friends like mine - Krupa Sharath especially, I love it because she usually comes over with a new dish. And this is how I got to try this super duper coffee cake. It is so moist, it melts in your mouth. And the cinnamon and pecans - oh yum! 

I challenge you to make this and just stop at one piece. And though it says coffee cake, it goes perfectly well with coffee, tea or just on its own. It should be made in a fluted tube or a  bundt pan, but I only had this from when I made a marble cake, so this worked too :)

Time: Preparation Time ( 20 min), Cooking Time ( 60-70 min)

Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup good quality Sour Cream
• 2 cup chopped Pecans
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Method de Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat granulated sugar, butter and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream, beating until well blended after each addition.
2. Mix pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. Spoon half of the pecan mixture into greased 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan; top with half of the cake batter. Repeat layers.
3. Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack. Loosen cake from side of pan with spatula or knife. Invert cake onto wire rack; gently remove pan. Cool completely.

Confessions:

• I was super excited to see how this cake came out and once I saw the top of it (which unfortunately will become the bottom), I hurried to take it out. PLEASE WAIT!! Allow it to cool completely else your cake will break, especially since at the bottom you have the pecan-brown sugar mix that will stick to the pan.  If you are a good cook does not mean one always follow instructions, we are impatient too :D
• Also I have doubled the amount of that filling because I felt the one with the original recipe it was not quite enough. However if you are the kind that does not like this too much, then stick to a little lesser quantity of pecans and brown sugar.

Source: Krupa Sharath - who in turn got it from here at allrecipes.com. Off late I have come to use this site a lot. Really nice recipes with a lot of reviews too.