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A Piece of Cake
June 2005: Fourth Slice
Newsletter written by Anne Byrn June 02, 2005
A Word from the Doctor
A Word from Workman
Do Tell
Do Share
Recipe Swap
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A Word from the Doctor
Anne with her cupcakes at WGN in Chicago (photograph by Judy Krug) |
I've returned from the spring Cupcake Tour, a time when my recipes receive the best road test of all - they are baked in kitchens from Philadelphia to St. Louis to San Diego to Seattle. In the past few years of writing cookbooks and then traveling on tour, I have learned to pack lighter, drink more water, savor quiet room service meals, and to listen to my bakers/escorts in each city, for they are the ones who bake my recipes for media appearances. And so, from the tour, I'm sharing their comments on Cupcakes recipes and their advice for not only presenting these cupcakes well, but travel tips on getting the cupcakes from the kitchen to the event intact!
 | Monster Monkey cupcakes with brown eyes were a hit in Chicago
(photograph by Judy Krug) |
Big hugs to Judy Krug in Chicago for sharing her photos of my appearance on WGN in Chicago. Judy loved the Monster Monkey Cupcakes but found if you want to bake these ahead of time, don't freeze them with the M&Ms on the monkey's face. Freezing causes the M&Ms to turn white. She suggested, instead of using brown sprinkles for the monkeys, to bake the same cupcakes and use yellow or red jimmies to create Raggedy Ann and Andy cupcakes. Harriett Granthen in Phoenix baked monkeys with brown M&M eyes as the recipe suggested, but because she ran out of brown candies and had blue and green, she created green-eyed monkeys as well as blue-eyed monkeys, and they were adorable and much more colorful. Necessity is the mother of invention, isn't it?
As for toting the Ice Cream Cone Cakes, the escorts got really creative. Barbara Heikin in Cincinnati sunk the frosted cones into green floral foam to keep them steady on the drive. She then placed the cones on colorful chip and dip platters and then surrounded the cones with M&M candies to keep them in place. Judy Krug cut up cushioned mailing envelopes to make partitions, which she wrapped around each cone to keep them from toppling over. Gordon Ayers in Portland baked the cones standing up in miniature cupcake pans instead of the regular, and he said the small pans supported the cones better.
And one last bit of great advice. You'll see in Cupcakes that the wedding cake is arranged on three glass stands, one on top of the other. You can do this for any cupcake display, and quite easily if you have three plates of slightly graduating size. Place a small glass bowl rounded side up on a table. Top with a large plate. Place a small water glass in the center of this plate and top with a medium-size plate. Place a small water glass in the center of this plate and top with the small plate. You have a cupcake tier. Have fun and mix and match the plates and glasses to create a fun look. Place the cupcakes on the tiered stand and decorate with fresh flowers.
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A Word from Workman
The Cupcaking of America has started! Anne spent April and May spreading
the cupcake gospel and is planning to get back on the road this fall. Be sure to check the following tour schedule to see if The Cake Mix Doctor is visiting a city near you. And don't miss the June issue of Ladies' Home Journal. The adorable "Crazy for Cupcakes" story features recipes from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor. May your summer be filled with plenty of cupcakes!
August 13 - Nashville (12:00pm at Sam's Club)
September 12 - Dallas
September 13 - Houston
September 14 - Lexington (7:00pm, Joseph Beth Booksellers)
September 15 - Memphis (6:00pm, Davis Kidd Booksellers)
September 19 - Birmingham (6:00pm, Books & Co.)
September 20 - Tampa/St. Petersburg (7:30pm, Barnes & Noble)
September 21 - Raleigh/Durham (7:30pm, Barnes & Noble in Cary, NC)
September 22 - Charlotte (6:00pm, Joseph Beth Booksellers)
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Do Tell
Joy Fifer of Crofton, MD, writes that she tried the Cupcake Bouquet from Cupcakes for a baby shower. "It turned out great. The cupcakes were tasty and the bouquet was beautiful." She shares a photo of her bouquet here. One tip: "I used chopsticks to help punch holes in the foam. This kept the flower stems from breaking and bending."
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Do Share
Betty Adams of Old Hickory, TN, is looking for a cookie recipe that uses an angel food cake mix and coconut. If you know of such a recipe, please help out Betty and send the recipe to: anne@cakemixdoctor.com
Anne Lambert of Winterport, ME, is searching for a chocolate cake roll that used to be in a Hershey's cookbook. "It had a peanut butter filling," Anne says, "which was made of peanut butter chips, marshmallows, and heavy cream." Does anyone have this cookbook or recipe? Anne says she hasn't been able to recreate it from memory. Please send this recipe also to: anne@cakemixdoctor.com
And Jane Martineau of Oakdale, MN, shares a frosting recipe that her mother always made for her birthday cake. It's pretty simple and extremely good on cakes or cupcakes:
Melt 6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips and let them cool. Whip 1 pint (2 cups) heavy (whipping) cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the cooled chocolate. "That's it! No need to sweeten the cream. The chips do that."
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Recipe Swap
We're heading into summer, a time for potluck suppers with friends and picnics on the go. I'd like to share a recipe I tested a while back. It was given to me by my friend Martha Bowden, who received the recipe from her neighbor, Anita Forlines. And Anita received the recipe from a friend in Arkansas. Are you still with me? We have no idea as to the origin of this recipe or why it is called a Jewish Pound Cake. I can tell you it is truly delicious, with a hint of cocoa and cinnamon. It works well as a pound cake with fresh fruit or as a coffee cake served earlier in the day.
Jewish Pound Cake
Makes 12 to 16 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 47 to 53 minutes
Assembly time: 2 minutes
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup finely chopped pecans
Topping
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray (or brush with shortening), then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour, and set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, sugar, oil, eggs, cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla, and coconut in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more. The batter should be thick and well combined. Add the nuts and blend on low for 20 seconds. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and place the pan in the oven.
3. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 47 to 53 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a small rack to cool 30 minutes.
4. To garnish, if desired, dust the confectioners' sugar on top of the cake. Slice and serve.
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Next Issue: September
Answers to your baking questions. A recipe for Toffee Cake. And a low-fat chocolate cake recipe from a reader.
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