cake, settled
The cake will be a four-tier round.
Bottom to top:
Devil's Food Cake (chocolate icing, though it remains TBD if I'll try the cooked fudge frosting again*)
- Why? Because I made this cake three times in one week and that should count for something.
Chocolate cake of some kind with peanut butter frosting**
- Why? Because it'll probably taste good.
Lemon cake with lime frosting (a variation on the lemon-lime cake, but with lemon cake rather than plain vanilla [not BAM!LEMON! but a more subtle flavor] and probably a lemon curd filling***)
- Why? See justification for choco-peanut butter layer above.
Almond cake, apricot jam filling, frosting TBD
- Why? I needed a second light layer and this just sounded cool.
In other news...
I found a version of the Cake Bible recipe for mousseline buttercream. Not sure I'm going to attempt it. I feel like I ought, but the recipe also sounds like you'd be insane to attempt it without a stand mixer. So marshmallow fondant may be the winner by default. Or maybe I'll try a seven-minute frosting or ganache or something a bit simpler-sounding. Maybe every single tier can have its own version of coating. Or maybe I can get someone to loan me a stand-mixer. Hm...
Anyway.
Next up on the Decisions! list: cupcake flavors. There will be ganache. There may be buttercream. There will be chocolate lavender. There may be chocolate orange and/or chocolate mint. There will be something involving orange blossom water. I just need to figure out if there will be something involving hibiscus, jasmine, rosewater, or kirsch; and, if yes, how. I'm trying to keep things relatively simple. So, one batch of choco cupcakes and one batch of vanilla and whatever I can do with those batches will be it. (Will have to test the idea of separating the batter and mixing in fruit purees to create different flavors, and also find out which flavors play well together.)
And then?
Fruit plate(s). Zucchini-ricotta galette. Some mushroom variation on the galette theme (possibly vegan). And I'm hoping to get the happy couple on board with the idea of little tomatoes and marinated mozz balls skewered on toothpicks.
~~~~
* I'm drawn for some reason to the idea of a chocolate cherry combination, so perhaps I could fill this with cherry jam; on the other hand, I wanted this to be the safety cake [for those who don't want anything too weird], so maybe not.
** This may be end up being a choco-honey cake. Why? Because honey roasted peanut butter is kind of awesome. (Another recipe option here.)
*** Lemon curd recipe TBD as I'm still unsure about using the recipe I have and leaving it out unrefrigerated.
Bottom to top:
Devil's Food Cake (chocolate icing, though it remains TBD if I'll try the cooked fudge frosting again*)
- Why? Because I made this cake three times in one week and that should count for something.
Chocolate cake of some kind with peanut butter frosting**
- Why? Because it'll probably taste good.
Lemon cake with lime frosting (a variation on the lemon-lime cake, but with lemon cake rather than plain vanilla [not BAM!LEMON! but a more subtle flavor] and probably a lemon curd filling***)
- Why? See justification for choco-peanut butter layer above.
Almond cake, apricot jam filling, frosting TBD
- Why? I needed a second light layer and this just sounded cool.
In other news...
I found a version of the Cake Bible recipe for mousseline buttercream. Not sure I'm going to attempt it. I feel like I ought, but the recipe also sounds like you'd be insane to attempt it without a stand mixer. So marshmallow fondant may be the winner by default. Or maybe I'll try a seven-minute frosting or ganache or something a bit simpler-sounding. Maybe every single tier can have its own version of coating. Or maybe I can get someone to loan me a stand-mixer. Hm...
Anyway.
Next up on the Decisions! list: cupcake flavors. There will be ganache. There may be buttercream. There will be chocolate lavender. There may be chocolate orange and/or chocolate mint. There will be something involving orange blossom water. I just need to figure out if there will be something involving hibiscus, jasmine, rosewater, or kirsch; and, if yes, how. I'm trying to keep things relatively simple. So, one batch of choco cupcakes and one batch of vanilla and whatever I can do with those batches will be it. (Will have to test the idea of separating the batter and mixing in fruit purees to create different flavors, and also find out which flavors play well together.)
And then?
Fruit plate(s). Zucchini-ricotta galette. Some mushroom variation on the galette theme (possibly vegan). And I'm hoping to get the happy couple on board with the idea of little tomatoes and marinated mozz balls skewered on toothpicks.
~~~~
* I'm drawn for some reason to the idea of a chocolate cherry combination, so perhaps I could fill this with cherry jam; on the other hand, I wanted this to be the safety cake [for those who don't want anything too weird], so maybe not.
** This may be end up being a choco-honey cake. Why? Because honey roasted peanut butter is kind of awesome. (Another recipe option here.)
*** Lemon curd recipe TBD as I'm still unsure about using the recipe I have and leaving it out unrefrigerated.