Large Crumb Coffee Cake recipe from Living Eventfully

This past Christmas was a quiet one. We enjoyed the company of each other, friends and our extended family.
In my attempt to create my own Christmas Traditions with my small young family, I went hunting for a  bit of my own childhood love... crumb cake.  Now as my mom always says, she is not a baker.  She loves to cook but never baked.  So the crumb cake I remember as a kid was Entemann's.  Yeah I could have gone to the store and just purchased one, but then I would not be me; so I searched for a recipe.

Every recipe for coffee cake or crumb cake I found looked like large hunk of cake with a thin layer of fine crumbs. I remember this cake with huge crumbs, so I did an image search and came across this beautiful blog called Living Eventfully.  This picture of her cake spoke to me.

I asked Kim-Erin from Living Eventfully if it was okay that I share her recipe for Big Crumb Cake or as she calls it Go big (crumb) or go home - so cutely cleaver I love it!   She agreed and of course I am so thankful. Thanks so much for the beautiful post Kim, I will make this delicious cake forever.

This cake came out moist, delicious, light and oh the crumbs on top -- Yum.   The crumbs come out as big as you can make them and the recipe gives plenty to pile on the batter.  Don't forget to wrap it up tight if your planning on making it ahead of time.

As for Christmas morning, it worked out perfectly! I made this recipe two days before and wrapped the cut pieces well.  When we woke up the kids tore into some gifts of corse, but at some point we all needed a little break.  Mommy got to drink coffee (and eat cake!) instead of starting to make pancakes or something.  No restless kids waiting for breakfast, just nom nom sounds and back to presents!

Monkey Cupcakes with Ganache Recipe

 Monkey Cupcakes 

courtesy of the November 2009 issue of Parents Magazine.  Sorry they do not have the recipe posted yet.

Update:
I was thinking of these today because a friend of mine was talking about a dream she had about us making strawberry cupcakes with chocolate ganache.  I think these would be great strawberry with strawberry cream middles. yum!  
These were chocolate though, and the kids I was told went silent while eating them.   I guess it was the yummy things to pick off of them and eat, where to start first what to have next, just gave them the nom noms.  
Anyway... I went looking for the instructions again to update this post and still I cannot access them I found millions of individuals who made them so I know it exists but I cannot give proper links so instead here is how you make them.

24 Cupcakes
Make any type of cupcake you like, brown wrappers if your like me and everything has to match (although I did not do that here, they were for my kids and so they get what they get).

24 Ginger snap cookies
1 Ganache Recipe (as follows)
48 Mini Oreos
48 Brown M&M's OR plain ole chocolate chips
small bag of buttercream frosting your recipe or the store bough in a zipplock bag with a small hole in corner of bag

Once your cupcakes are cool, make up your ganache.  You can start to dip your cupcakes directly into your ganache but really it will be a bit thin the trick is to let it set up for a small amount of time.  Not where it is solid and you could pipe it, but where you could dip and it will actually stay on your cupcake.  This is a good time to prep those Ginger snaps.

Take the cookies and put them on a microwave safe plate (If your not fast you may want to to do this in batches, or else you will be eating broken cookies all day) put them in the microwave for 20 seconds to start, then add a few more seconds until the cookies are semi pliable just enough to cut them with out breaking the whole cookie. Cut them about 2/3 down so you have a larger upper portion the smaller lower.  Set them aside for quick assembly, along with the oreo ears.

If your ganache has a thicker consistency you can begin to dip the cupcake.  Allow the excess to drip away and form a nice even coating.   Add your upper and lower mouth piece and oreo ears while the ganache is still wet. Once this sets up it will not be easy to stick these pieces.  If you run into this problem though a dab of more ganache will do the trick.   Do one at a time like this or if you feel comfortable do a few and then decorate and then do a few more and decorate them.  

For the Eyes you just take your make-shift piping bag and dab on white dots for eyes and add on the chocolate chip or m&m.  

Enjoy.


Chocolate Ganache

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
1 Cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate into a medium bowl.  Be sure it is free of water!

Heat the Cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat and bring just to a boil, don't walk away because this will boil over.

Pour the cream over the chocolate and walk away!!  for about five minutes...

Whisk the chocolate mixture until it is smooth and even colored, with no lumps it will take a bit of time but soon it will be beautiful.

Give it time and you could pour this over a cake to cover it as with my Guinness cake, or you could do these cupcakes, or you could put this as a filling for cupcakes, you could allow this recipe to set up in the fridge and come to it with a mellon baller scoop out a bit and then roll it in nuts and you have TRUFFLES.  I Love Ganache

Swiss Roll Graduation Scroll Cake

This was a delicious cake, I made one for the graduation and one for us.  

I have always been curious about swiss rolls, and it seriously delivered.  

For the scroll to feed enough people, I doubled the recipe.  Thick Chocolate ganache filled the roll and also covered the roll beneath the fondant.  

How do you roll it? I included a video I found helpful click on the link below  

I hope you enjoy 

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
• 6 TBS fine granulated sugar 
• 6 heaping TBS fine white flour
• Dash salt

How to make it

• Preheat oven to 450°.
• Prepare a  parchment-lined cookie pan with raised edges.
• In a large greaseless bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry.
• While still beating, add the sugar tablespoon by tablespoon.
• Continue to beat while adding the yolks one by one.
• Add the salt and flour and continue to beat only until combined.
• Pour into parchment-lined pan with edges (cookie sheet can work fine here).
• Cover loosely with foil (it should not touch the batter) and bake in lower part of oven for 10 minutes only
• While baking, prepare a large clean tea towel by spreading it on a flat surface and sprinkling it lightly with powdered sugar.
• Remove foil and brown for 2 further minutes. Don't let it get too brown!
• Turn hot cake out onto clean parchment (or clean tea towel) and pull off the old parchment paper gently.
• Okay here is personal preference I immediately added the chocolate and rolled up, but some people like to roll and chill, unroll and then fill and re roll.   If I were adding whipped cream I would cool first and re roll.  
• Roll the towel up loosely and allow the cake to cool in this rolled position.
• When cool, unroll and fill with any of the following:
• Lemon curd, chocolate cream, whipped cream and fresh fruit, sweetened cream cheese or Chantilly cream, chopped cherries and nuts in vanilla filling, or chocolate like me.
• Chill until serving; slice in about 1 1/2" slices and turn onto plate to serve.

Here is the video, I did use a large rolling pin to start it and I wrapped in the new parchment to get nice and formed as they did here (I don't like using tea towels) 

http://youtu.be/5qN0whe5ZFc

Pretty Pink & Green Christening Cake

Oh The Places You'll Go Cake

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don' t
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

Or go here to have it read by John Lithgow    

http://youtu.be/IQRWeZy-S8Q

Tall Daisy Cake

Sweet and simple, daisy design for a 50th birthday.   Inside is a gluten free chocolate cake, three layers tall with a chocolate buttercream between the layers.

The daisies are made from gumpaste cut with a flower cookie cutter.  I stacked 2-3 layers of these cuts, curled the ends and dried in a shallow cup.  For the center I took a ball of brown gumpaste and pressed it on a small strainer (screen-like strainer) to make the design and then added to the flower.  

Cat In The Hat cake

The design of this cake came from Marj at The Icing on The Cake

Visit her site her work is beautiful! Her cake inspired this cake.  Enjoy

Two flavor Cakes Baked in One Pan

Two flavors baled in one cake pan is a simple idea.  People ask for for multiple flavors in one cake often because of different preferences.  Yet once you are faced with the challenge of baking it, well, problems arise.
Of course there is the simple way of baking your say chocolate in one pan, and then your vanilla in another pan and simply pulling the two cakes together.  This makes huge sense, especially if you're going with a layer cake you can make chocolate in the first pan and vanilla in the second pan.  Once baked, you cut each in half and then layer by flavor, and finally bring the two halves together and DONE.  
BUT...
What happens when you want a single layer half sheet cake, or square cake that you will not be needing a second layer or pan.  What then?  For years I would fill half my pan on an angle and then add the batter to the other half and what ever happened in the center, happened.  Typically a strange marble situation.  I don't mind having a specific separation between cakes, but I do not want to me making more cake than needed in order to make multiple flavors.  This is how I tackle two flavor cakes baked in one pan.


Of course you want to mix up your multiple flavors, and have them ready to go.  You could absolutely use this technique to do more than two flavors in the same plan.  For the purpose of this tutorial I will use two, vanilla and chocolate.   I will be making them in a 12"x18" half sheet pan.

Grease your pan generously with vegetable shortening, taking care to get the base sides and in the corners.

For the next step, parchment paper or waxed paper work fine.  I used wax paper because it is what I had on hand.  I prefer parchment for it's versatility, but for baking cakes and not being in direct contact with the heat of the oven wax paper works beautifully.  

Tear off a sheet a length longer than the length of your pan by about four inches.  Fold the sheet in half.  

Then open the sheet and add the edges of the wax paper as if to cover the bottom of your pan, but allow the paper to tepee in the center and fold one way and then the other to create a damn in the center 

Now you are ready to begin filling your first flavor.  I like to still tilt my pan to keep everything nice and neat.  

I just stuck the wax paper box under the one side while I prepared the chocolate batter to go in.  

Add the second flavor and take out the lift on the one side.  Now that both batters are in, you can now spread it out to the corners it may not have spread to, and make it smooth.  I like to add a baker's nail to the chocolate side as close to the center as I can for even baking.  

And bake as normal.  

As you can see the rise occurred without strange running from side to side.  More importantly a nice clean separation line.  

After torting, and flipping here is the cake after removing the paper.     

And from the center, be careful to pul the cakes apart enough to not ruin your edge. 

Finally, you have your two flavors with an even edge. There you have it Two flavors baked in one pan.

Thanks for looking at this tutorial!! 

Teal and Brown Cupcake Tower

These cupcakes were for Cornerstone Community Church in the Poconos.  They were chocolate with a chocolate hazelnut creme filling.  A recipe that I created specifically for these cupcakes.
They were placed as the show piece at this event.  Thanks goes out to the lovely ladies at Cornerstone Church - 2011 Chocolate event.

Pirate Cupcakes

These cupcakes are simply pirates and maps that were crafted from fondant.  I love the simplicity of a cupcake topper that I sits a top a swirled cupcake.  

Stella & Dot

I made this cake for an independent stylist with Stella & Dot - Nadine Larson. If you live in the Philadelphia suburbs you  can click here to go directly to her site and view the beautiful collection. She wanted to bring some extra sweetness to her hostess's show.  Book a show with her and perhaps she will take along something sweet for you.

This company has some beautiful jewelry, so pretty I had to make a piece out of fondant.  This cake had white doughnut kreme stuffed inside three layers of white cake.  Delicate decadence!

Minnie Mouse inspired 2

This cute little cake was designed by the mom.  She wanted to have a number two cake but also wanted minnie mouse to be the inspiration and so I came up with this.

I took a 10" square cake with a layer on the bottom, the top layer was cut into a two, polka dots,ribbon around the base of the layers, ears, a bow and her name completed this cake.  Simple and cute

Animal baby shower cake

This was a simple little cake for a baby shower.  The concept came from the napkins that they decided to use.  I knew the animal babies had to be on there, but I also liked the polka dots on the napkins, and knew that should be part of the whole concept. 

For the baby animals, you'll notice that all but the giraffe is a circle base.  I started there... 

• I used a crinkle cut to make the lions head and then layered with a circle and added his facial features 
• For the elephant it was a matter of ears and a trunk on the circle and then the eyes and the smile 
• The monkey was simply ears and the half circle for his face again I added the fondant details for the facial features 
• As for the giraffe I free handed the shape of the head in scale to the other ones I added the half circle for his snout and some polka dots for his "spots", then just ears 

As far as the rest of the cake it was simple buttercream some polka dots, and the welcome baby. 

 The Large circles that the word baby is in I actually pressed with that design.  

First I took a piece of clear clean (wash it, and make sure it is very dry) plastic from packaging, I put it through my cuttle bug machine with the circles embossing plate.  This process created a portable reusable template that I can roll through the pasta machine with the fondant.  Once I roll the fondant  through the machine with my homemade plate I now have a sheet of fondant embossed and ready to cut with circle cookie cutters.  I added the letters I made and they were ready for the cake.  

I love the simple clean look and hope you do too.  

Iphone Cake

This cake was a lot of fun and people really seem to like it.  

I covered a flat sheet cake in buttercream and then simply placed a sheet of fondant on top I left the sides all buttercream in pink because it was for kids and we wanted to keep it tasty.  

The apps I made prior by cutting squares of fondant and creating the look of some well known apps.  

I free-formed the letters from strips of fondant.  

Hope you like it!!  

Pretty number three Cake

This cake took a simple idea of a number shaped cake and added a few elements to create a simple yet special design.  This cake was requested to remain small and to be the number three but girly.  In order to accomplish this cake and keep it small I cut away the top layer of the cake to make it a 3D number 3.  and made the layers different colors.  I created a 3 template in order to carve the top portion properly.  after a crumb layer and frosting, I added the girly details.  The flowers were made from fondant that I tinted and cut with cookie cutters I also cut small circles and added a silver candy ball for texture.  The butterflies are one of my favorite take aways from a terrific book called Hello Cupcake.  If you are interested in really simple and cute designs from the things you can find in your candy isle the book is for you.   It will teach you simple tricks to using things without having to make them.  The butterflies are the exception to that though, but they only look harder than they are, you can make more than one to practice if your only using one choose the best of many and enjoy eating the rest.   

To make them you want to create the two wing shapes on a piece of paper for the template, then lay parchment paper over top of that, heat your chocolate melts but understand that in small amounts chocolate begins to harden so you have to work swiftly.  Temper both of your colors at once and put them in a piping bag or a ziplock bag, with a small opening.  You want to use your darker color to trace the outer edge of the wing and then come in with your lighter color to fill in the inside.  Use a toothpick to draw up the darker color through the lighter.  Allow the wings to harden.  When they set up you want to use a dollop of icing or a candy to hold the wings in place and then simply fill in the body.  

They are cute and easy and they add a lot of interest to a cupcake or cake 

I am what I am and it's all that I am

I instantly loved the idea for this cake, simply because - What ever happened to ole Popeye?
This cake was a lot of fun to make I used two separate pan shapes but two of each so ...
 two 9" rounds
 two  10" squares
Each cake was filled and then sculpted.
I studied many different pictures of popeye to figure which direction I would like to go with him.
I basically deconstructed the face in my mind before beginning, assuming where I would need to build up the cake to create cheeks and chin and an nose.  I added my buttercream and fondant after chilling it over night.  Once the fondant was on I formed the aspects of the face and added details.  I hope everyone likes it!!

Magician Cupcakes

These were simply tinted buttercream and fondant, I molded each top hat out of fondant and attaching to a brim I cut out with a cookie cutter.  I free handed cutting the card markings and then a little wand.

For the bunnies I simply made strips of fondant with a pink layering strip and then added a white ball that I added a very simple bunny face.   

Thanksgiving...

I have always loved thanksgiving! I remember the feeling in the air from childhood, not to mention the wonderful smells.  The air though, it was that heaviness of the cold settling in.  Back then it felt refreshing, as I get older, I know it brings on dry skin and cold bones -- I still love thanksgiving though!  

The above cornucopia is one of those WOW projects.  The thing that really impresses people.  When I first started making them I used to make my own bread to put around it but I found an easier way.  

What you'll need: 

Poster board/oaktag paper 

stapler 

aluminum foil 

3 rolls of refrigerated breadsticks 

1. Take your poster board/oaktag sheet and cut a triangle shape relative to the size of the cone you would like to make.  
2. Form your cone shape and use the stapler to put just a few staples to hold it together.  Perfection is not necessary here, just stability.  
3. Wrap your paper cone in Aluminum Foil.  This may take a few pieces but you want to accomplish two things, first cover all of the paper (making it oven safe), and second forming the tail to any funky shape you may want. 
4. If your form is a bit soft, stuff the form with some foil to keep it from collapsing from the heaviness of the dough 
5. Grease your foil/paper form lightly 
6. Separate your bread sticks dough strips and start from mouth and work back, layering the strips around the form.  Create length around the wider areas by joining the pieces after you have laid them on.  
7. Add finishing touches by braiding some bread dough strips off the form and then attaching it to the mouth, a bit of water may help this to attach if there is trouble. 
8. Bake your cornucopia at 350 until it is brown, this timing will vary with how large yours is but a good rule of thumb is what is on the bread dough packaging and watch it closely from there.  
9. Un-molding is simple, but first let it cool, and it will stiffen.  If you leave a that piece of foil in the tail (as I often do) dont forget to tell those who start eating it

I have had the same paper form for years, it never actually touches food since it is wrapped up in foil and it has held up for years of use!  I think I have only two staples in it now but it holds its shape. Happy Thanksgiving !! 

Bah ba da da dahhh, Dahhh da da ...Star Wars Cupcakes

 
It seems that everyone has a birthday in the fall, it's defiantly a busy time!   


These Star Wars Cupcakes were a request of a great customer of mine, so of course I was excited to make them.  Well that, and it was a challenge I knew I would enjoy.  


We found the idea for these by searching google from an individual who made them prior to me, thank you who ever you are for the idea!  Slight difference in mine... I did not form mine to the head of the cupcake, mine are flat.  Either way they have similarities and differences.  I am forever grateful to all of those people that have created things and posted them online, that fueled my inner designer abilities and my customers desires.


These were a challenge on details and,  in the fact that some I had no idea on who some of the characters were.  I did some research with some descriptive words and was able to find some not all, and to be honest there is at least one guy that I still have no idea who he is.  Either way the Star Wars Cupcakes were a lot of fun!!      

Halloween aka October

So this morning I was listening to the radio, and they were trying to move some of the pile of prizes they have laying around.  Their idea was to make the game super easy to ensure people win.  The one man had to name five holidays and he said "Christmas, October, Labor day, Easter and Valentines Day."  They told him and he corrected himself but they commented that that is what halloween has become, October, and all of it.  -- so true I mean they had the candy out at the beginning of september. 

Well in the spirt of October 1, the kick off of Halloween season some pumpkin patch cupcakes inspired by Hello Cupcake!