Baby Oblad's Cake

We had a great day yesterday as we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Baby Oblad. Our friends Stephanie and Paul are expecting their first little boy this August and we couldn't be more excited for them. We had a lovely potluck-style luncheon in Victory Park; of course, my contribution was the cake. I chose to do a blue, white, and green striped fondant 12 in. round cake (white cake with vanilla buttercream) with a dome of white roses on top. To make the cake glisten, I brushed each fondant stripe and the top of the cake with some watered-down piping gel and then sprinkled on some sanding sugar. (It made the fondant more edible as well.) This might be the most technically perfect cake I've ever made; I credit the homemade buttercream for that. As with the banana pecan cupcakes, I made a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream for the filling and as a coating under the fondant. The consistency of the homemade buttercream made a world of difference and gave me a super smooth coating under the fondant. The taste was superior as well. I would considering foregoing the fondant all together for a smaller cake and just using the buttercream; that's how smooth this stuff looks!

The dome of roses on top was inspired by a wedding in which I was a bridesmaid about a month ago. I took home a floral arrangement and after a few days completely took it apart and analyzed its construction. It seemed pretty straightforward: a shallow dish with a wet floral foam taped to the dish with waterproof floral tape. As long as the foam stays wet, the flowers inserted into the foam stay fresh! So I picked up some Oasis foam, a shallow dish, and waterproof tape from the craft store and whipped this little guy up with about 2 dozen white roses. I think the next time I have a party I'll definitely make some nice big dramatic floral arrangements with this technique. It was so easy!

The Most Perfect Cupcake

This is (far and away) the most perfect cupcake I've ever had. It might even be the most perfect thing I've ever baked. Martha would call it "a good thing." It also represents a baking milestone for me.

First off, it's a banana pecan cupcake. By itself, it's just wonderful. The texture really makes the cake. Right out of the oven, I would say they are the perfect breakfast treat. More of a cake though, than a muffin. What takes these to the next level though is the frosting. Caramel buttercream. Fresh, homemade caramel buttercream. With more caramel drizzled on top. The recipes are both from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook and are much better than other cupcake recipes out there. The whole book is full of awesome ideas and well written recipes. Every cupcake I've ever produced from that book has been a home run, slam dunk, and touchdown all in one. You need this book.

Now, the baking milestone: I finally (FINALLY) figured out real, authentic buttercream. Like the kind with a meringue base and everything. Buttercream is always a bit of a disaster for me. Either my meringue fails to thicken and form stiff peaks, or it breaks when I add the butter. You name it, it's gone wrong for me. Martha's trick was essential to my success. I usually have trouble telling when the sugar has dissolved in my egg whites while gently heating them over a simmering pot of water. Because I'm never able to see through the foamy mess of egg whites, I usually heat them too much or don't get the sugar dissolved enough. But Martha suggests rubbing some of the mixture between your fingers until the "grittiness" of the sugar ceases. Once this happened, I heated them for a brief second longer, and pulled them off the simmering pot of water. After beating the egg white/sugar solution, I got the most beautiful, fluffy, stable (!) meringue I've ever produced. I quite literally danced around the kitchen. But, it wasn't done! I slowly added the butter portionwise with mixing. All looked well, but then, it looked like it was breaking! I was pretty heartbroken, but followed Martha and beat it into submission. After a few minutes on high with the Kitchen Aid, I had the most silky, smooth buttercream in history. And it only got better once I added the homemade caramel! I think I'm far less intimidated by this now than I used to be. I think I'll be making my own buttercreams for all my cakes from now on. All thanks to this most perfect little cupcake.