Guest Post for Cakespy!

Hi everyone! After a few days of hiking in storms at Mount Rainier, I'm back with a guest post for cakespy. I've long been a reader of cakespy, so when Jessie asked me to do a post, I can't even describe how excited this made me. I made lemon poundcake cupcakes with raspberry and blackberry buttercream frosting. Go check it out at cakespy.com, here.
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Orange, Vanilla, Blackberries, & Raspberries

I hope everyone had a nice fourth of july. it's gotten really hot the past couple of days, so my friends and I went onto my roof in hopes of seeing the fireworks, but there were too many trees blocking our view, so we decided to go walk down and see them. it was a fun, low-key, little celebration. But to me, what defines a holiday, is that there might be other people at our house who I can make something for. i hadn't made a cake in a while, and with four other teenagers in the house, I knew a substantial amount would get eaten. I used blackberries and raspberries since those are in season right now, and you gotta use them while you can. Our neighbors have raspberry plants, and brought some fresh berries by. They were so fragrant, so i knew they were good. They saved me from having to buy some and I'm sure the quality of the home-grown berries far exceeds the quality of store berries.

I start my art program this week, so baking will be something I can only do in free time here and there. It has school-like hours, so by the time I get home, it's rather late. I'm hoping I can fit smaller projects in [i always find a way].


Orange Buttercake

2 sticks butter
6 oz cream cheese
1 1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
4 eggs
1 cup AP flour
2/3 cup self-rising flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2- 7" springform pans with parchment.Butter and flour the pan sides and the parchment. Cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until thoroughly combined. Add in orange zest and eggs. Sift the flours together and add them to batter until just combined. Pour into pans, diving the mixture in half, using an offset spatula to spread. Make for 40 minutes (depending on oven), spinning the pans around every 10 minutes or so. Remove from pan and let cool for at least 2 hours before cutting.



Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter; softened
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 vanilla bean; scraped

Combine butter and cream cheese in stand mixer and add powdered sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla bean seeds until they speckle the mixture.

Assembly

Once the cake is cool, use a serated knife to remove to domes formed on both cakes. Split both of the cakes into 2 even layers. Clean one of the pans you use to make the cake in, and set the bottom of the springform pan inside. Using a 4" strip of acetate, line the cake pan's rims. Place a bottom layer of cake inside the pan. Using a piping bag, pipe a rim around the outermost edge of the cake, making sure to be piping along the acetate sheet. Fill in the rest with frosting and spread evenly. Lay another layer of cake on top, and repeats steps until your last layer of cake. Frost the top layer, too. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and remove from the springfrom pan and remove the acetate. Frost a crumb-coat [very lightly] on the cake and refrigerate for another 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator. Frost another thick layer of frosting onto the cake, so that none of it shows through. Place macerated berries on top just before serving, and mint leafs for decoration.
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Daring Bakers: Bakewell Tarts

This is my first Daring Baker's challenge I've been able to participate in! I was so excited to try this. I'd never even heard of anything like this: essentially, a tart with almond cake baked inside of it. I knew I had to try this as soon as I read about it. The only thing that bugged me was that it seemed a little...flavorless. With both an almond dough and cake, I knew I had to put something more than just a layer of jam at the bottom. The seasonal fruits that are available during the summer are just too good not to include, so I added peaches into the mix. I wanted to maintain the cake feeling of the dessert, but get sort of fruit tart thing in there, too. I ended up layering the peaches on top of the raspberry "jam."

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.



Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.



Filling

5 medium white peaches; pitted, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a medium sauté pan, mix peaches, sugar, and lemon juice. Turn heat on medium-high, and wait for the peach juice to fill the pan. Stir frequently with a spoon until when put pressure on, the peaches cut very easily. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg and cook 1 minute more, and stir. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool.

For the raspberries, use the same procedure as for the peaches, but omitting the nutmeg and cinnamon. Once cooked, transfer to a food processor, blend until smooth.

Assembly
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Next, layer peaches on top, and end with a layer of frangipane almost to the top of the tart shell. Smooth the top and place one raspberry in the middle and press it slightly into frangipane. Cook for about 25 minutes if making tartlets. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.
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