Bit O' Sweets

     For the last 9 months to a year I've been trying to decide on cake flavors and a design for our 25th wedding anniversary.  I can now truly relate to the brides who have a difficult time pinpointing exactly what they want.  This is no easy task for someone who didn't dream all the details of their wedding.

     Maybe we'll get a pack of crackers, a can or two of sardines in mustard sauce and a container of Blue Bell ice cream and enjoy each others' company(after others see what we're eating, we won't have to worry about anyone else hanging around too long).

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what all the hooha is about trans fats.  Do products containing it, if eaten in moderation, contribute to all the health woes?  Or is it that these products are so addictive that once consumed the person can't get enough?  I mean, really....take, for instance, the only time a person consumes it is the annual slice of birthday cake...or a weekly reward of a most desired cream horn(the town's landmark bakery has got the best cream horns!),  or the portioned out quantity of 5 Oreos as a evening snack, will that cause obesity or cancer?  There's not a day that goes by that I don't enjoy a sweet of some kind.  I've even been known to eat them all day long.  There was a time when I ate nothing but healthy foods...low calorie/high fiber...daily recommended portions of vegetables and fruits and a heckofalot of baked/broiled/boiled chicken...I exercised almost daily...sweated my arse off at work and drank my share of water.  A doctor visit changed all that..."you have high cholesterol".  How the heck....?

 

Now, I eat what makes me happy but within reason.  I mean, I don't sit around like Fat Bastard(Austin Powers character).

 

I reckon, the question that gnaws at me is....................

 

 

1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup softened butter(salted or unsalted)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tblsp finely grated lemon peel

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

4-6 cups non-dairy whipped icing(Bettercreme) (can use topping but your filling will be slightly less firm...still very good)

 

Beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and peel until smooth and creamy.  Add juice and mix just until combined.  Add 2 cups of the whipped icing and blend well.  Fold in the remaining 2-4 cups(depending on how lemony you like it)of the whipped icing.

Fill between layers.  This can also be used to ice the cake.  The cake above was filled and iced with the above recipe.

 

Pansies made of royal icing.

 

The flavor is best if filled cake is allowed to rest overnight in refrigerator.  Iced cake can also be successfully frozen if placed in a cake container(for obvious reasons, I don't recommend placing wrap directly on cake surface.

     I don't think I've ever used so much chocolate on research as I have the last two weeks.  I've tried cakes with enormous amounts of chocolate and some with so little that I'm not sure it should be called a chocolate cake...I have narrowed it down to four.

 

I believe a chocolate cake should contain a certain minimum amount of chocolate to be classified as a chocolate cake.  Red Velvet, although gorgeous and if made correctly is delicious, shouldn't be classified as a chocolate cake.  It does have cocoa in it but the cocoa doesn't play a starring role in the flavor.  I appreciate the flavor and the beauty of a good Red Velvet cake but I still don't understand them.

 

 

Chocolate cake filled and iced with Italian meringue buttercream and topped with ganache.

 

 

 

I use a wonderful chocolate cake recipe.  It's firm, moist,and incredibly chocolatey!  I have been researching various recipes to find one that goes beyond wonderful.  One that defines ultimate chocolate cake...that will stand alone but when paired with any number of icings will shine through and be complimented and not overpowered...intense flavor without it grabbing your tastebuds and making them scream for their lives but instead, makes them hum in unison and beg for more.

 

The house is now filled with the smell of CHOCOLATE!  The trimmings off the first batch from the oven(the warm taste test) proved to be delicious...moist...almost brownie-like.  Of course, each batch must pass the warm, cold , overnight, frozen-then-thawed taste tests.  It's a shame one person must endure this all alone.