Monday, November 9, 2009

Apple Cake: Last Course 1 Wilton Cake

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I did not particularly enjoy my first cake class because my teacher was a bit of a pill. She didn't really follow the rules the way I wanted her to, and I just didn't get along with her overall. Disappointing, but whatever.

I learned that I'm not a huge fan of working with buttercream and that I hate working with someone looking over my shoulder. I also realized that I do not work well when I only have two hours to do something. My final cake looks okay, I suppose...I wouldn't sell it, and I am sure I could do better. It doesn't really matter, though, right? It just got turned into cake bites for Walter's office.



This is the cake in all its amateur goodness. I was the only one who didn't bring pink/red for the roses. I got scolded for this.



Here are some of my better roses. They're still not great, but apparently the teacher was telling me to hold my piping bag incorrectly. Thanks, Teach.



Here is a rosebud. They were easy to make. I guess I made mine wrong, though. I got scolded because apparently you HAVE to have an odd number of buds on the cake. YOU HAVE TO. I don't know. I just added another bud and shut my mouth.



Here is the fluting done on the borders. My border was a little more white than my cake because I iced my cake with cream cheese frosting. I got scolded for that, too.

On another note, did you know that if you bake a cake, you can still eat it if you're diabetic because all of the sugar bakes out of it?! Yeah, neither did I. My teacher is full of knowledge.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT TRUE. PLEASE DO NOT EAT CAKE AS A DIABETIC AND THEN BLAME ME WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE SERIOUS PROBLEMS RELATING TO YOUR DIABETES.

Apple Cake

I made an this Apple Cake recipe from Foodie Two Shoes (I love that blog name, btw). I used the Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting from her blog as well, and it was all to die for. The cake tasted like apple crisp, and the frosting was heavenly. It was fantastic.

Ingredients
-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 teaspoons baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
(For these two ingredients, I used 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice)
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-2 cups packed light-brown sugar
-2 large eggs
-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, two coarsely grated and two diced

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 by 13 inch sheet cake pan and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, and eggs until well combined. Fold in grated and diced apples. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a pick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for twenty minutes in pans, then invert onto wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

As I said before, this frosting was heavenly. It was the perfect compliment for this cake.

Ingredients
-2 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
-1 stick unsalted butter, softened
-1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Combine cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl and beat until smooth.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar until mixture is desired thickness. Stir in vanilla extract.

2 comments:

Ange said...

I wasn't all that impressed with the Wilton cake classes, either. My teacher wasn't friendly and rushed us through everything. Plus there were 20 poeple in my class—way too overcrowded! I think I learn better on my own and from what I've seen on your blogs, so do you. Your cakes are really impressive. Fondant scares me, but one day I will attempt it.

Shauna said...

I am glad I was able to pass a recipe on to you that you enjoyed so much! I loved that cake too, and although I am not a huge fan of Martha Stewart herself, she does have some great baking recipes.

I have to agree that I wasn't impressed with my Wilton instructor either. She was too busy on her phone and disappearing out of the room. I know you can learn a lot if you have a good teacher, but I wasn't that lucky.