Ice Cream Cake

A very special friend's 21st birthday is just a few days away so I went right on Pinterest for cake ideas and found this wacky barbie doll cake. Since winter is about to end, I've decided to make an ice cream cake instead.

Here's the inspiration:

 

Here's what I came up with:

The dollar-store barbie just look a little less drunken here... other than than it was quite on the point! Mine is a little messy and less polished since I only started making it at 11:00 PM the night before the dinner. Also, because the theme is "Barbie's Drunken Stupor", a neatly frosted cake only contradicts it. One thing for sure though, I had a lot of fun making it!

This is a lazy-woman's ice cream cake version or busy-woman's ice cream cake recipe if the word "lazy" is too offensive, lol.

Ice Cream Cake Recipe

Ingredients: 

Ice Cream Cake:
Cake Mix Box (I used Betty Crocker Strawberry Flavor)
      -baked according to box instructions
Tub of Ice Cream (I bought the generic tub of Neopolitan Ice Cream
      -left in the counter for no more than 2 hours to soften; not runny just soft enough to spread

Frosting:
12 oz Whipped Cream
       -defrosted; either left in the counter for 1-2 hours or left in the refrigerator overnight
Box of Jello Instant Pudding
Pre-made Ganache (I used dark chocolate ganache and it enhanced the flavor)
Oil or butter (Used as an adhesive for the parchment paper to the pan)

You will need:
Deep Baking Pan/ Dish
Spatula
Leveler
Parchment Paper
Plastic Wrap

Decoration:
Confetti Sprinkles
Barbie Doll (bought mine from the dollar store)
      -Make sure its washed thoroughly since it touches the frosting
Shot Bottle of Vodka
Candles

Bake the cake as instructed on the box and let cool for an hour on an oven rack. We want the cake to fully release the hot steam. As soon as its cooled completely, use a leveler to cut about an inch of the cake. Depending on how many layers of cake and ice cream stack you want, you may cut the cake thinner or thicker. For mine, I simply just have one layer of cake and ice cream. Use the same pan with both the cake and ice cream to stay consistent with the sizing. This will help in frosting later on.  This will likely serve 10 people.

Prepare a deep baking pan. With mine, I used a 9-inch round pan and about 4 inches high. Drizzle some oil into the pan and carefully cover it with parchment paper. Make sure that the parchment paper is long enough that it extends on the side. This will make it easier to take the ice cream out of the pan later on.

Flatten the parchment paper, the oil should help it stick to the pan. I've had a tough time getting a smooth side with the parchment paper. Because its round, the paper wrinkled. The ice cream will take on to the shape of its mold so do the best that you can to minimize the wrinkles/ crease.

Then do the same thing with a plastic wrap. Just like the parchment paper, get a good length extended to the side for easier handling.

After thawing the ice cream for up to 2 hours, it should already be soft. DO NOT microwave at all. Level out the amount of ice cream you desire onto the prepared pan with a spatula. I filled mine just half an inch from the brim.

Cover the top with plastic wrap fully. Place in the freezer for at least 3 hours or overnight. I left mine overnight.

When completely frozen, spread ganache on top of the ice cream if you have it already pre-made. This will help the cake stick to the ice cream. If you don't have any ganache or buttercream at hand, you can skip this. There is no need to make a batch. Simply place the leveled cake on top of the frozen ice cream evenly.

Place the pan back in the freezer as you prepare the frosting.

Like I mentioned earlier, this is a lazy woman's recipe so everything is either boxed or pre-made. For the frosting, I simply combined a banana-flavored jello pudding and thawed whipped cream.

Boil the pudding on a milk that is half the portion size recommended in the box for a stronger flavor. For this box, it required 3 cups of milk, I only used 1 1/2 cups.

Boil until it thickens. Set aside to cool. It may take 15-20 minutes to fully cool. Do not refrigerate. We want the pudding cool and fluffy; not with the jello-like consistency if you refrigerate it.

Once cool, fold in 12 oz whipped cream until the lumps are gone.

I've seen this frosting recipe on Pinterest and gave it a try for the first time. It tasted delicious with the pudding flavor but the frosting didn't hold its shape very well. And since its whipped cream, it tends to melt. For this ice cream cake, its an excellent frosting since the cake needs to stay frozen. I would not recommend the use of this recipe for regular cakes.

Take the cake out of the freezer for frosting time! First Add a cardboard on top of the cake itself. Place one palm on the cardboard and invert the cake with the ice cream on top and cake on the bottom. It should come out of the pan easily. Carefully remove the parchment paper and plastic wrap from the ice cream. 

 You can see just how crucial it is to have a perfectly layed out parchment paper and plastic wrap at the bottom of the pan. Mine isn't and you will see traces of the creases all around. Because of my "Barbie's Drunken Stupor" theme, it doesn't matter so much. However, for the more formal cake types, it is inherent to get as little crease and wrinkles as possible. 

Frost the cake and place back in the freezer for an hour. Place the left-over frosting in the freezer as well.

Frost the cake again for the second and final coating. I did not work myself too much into frosting it perfectly because the idea of the cake is that its messy. And for once, today is my lazy baking day so I excused myself with the hassle. For the more professional look, this is the best time to smooth the frosting. I use a flat spatula and a round turner.

After the final frosting, sprinkle with colorful confetti all around the cake and freeze again. I added the design just before serving. By the way, don't forget the vodka- it is the best part of the cake! lol.

So here it is, the lazy woman's ice cream cake!

The pudding really made the frosting delicious! It will now be a staple for me with my frostings. This is my first experience in making ice cream cake and needed plenty of tweaking to perfect the craft but overall, I am very pleased! Happy cake eating!

Troubleshooting

The frosting was delicious! It complimented the ice cream cake really well because the whipped cream is bland but enhanced with the pudding flavor. For next time, I will play a little with the ratio of the frosting and whipped cream to make it more sturdy. I'll have to get back to my obsessive scatter plotting to get to the right consistency. Maybe, making my own whipped cream is the answer. 

The Quest for the Perfect Macarons

French Macarons has captivated my heart and soul! In 2008, I came across a food blog with images of this classy dessert. Until that point, the only macaroons I knew was the ones made in coconut. Other than both being a sweet confection and meringue-based, coconut macaroons and french macarons have nothing in common. Somehow, the chic picture of the cookies lingered but I could not find it anywhere in my area. About 2 years ago, my husband took me to Santana Row in San Jose, CA. Santana Row is a high-end shopping center about 2 hours west of Stockton. With my sweet tooth, I am always gravitated towards anything chocolate and pastry. When we approached Cocola Bakery, instantly my eyes zoomed in to the real-life french macarons right in front of me. They looked even prettier in picture.

Its funny because back in 2008, I just don't seem to find french macarons yet after the first sight, it was all over the place. Well-of course- I had to hunt for those specific places. In my previous blog, I caught the baking bug last year. I was tirelessly baking in my kitchen with just about anything. My first 3 attempts at macarons were a bust but with its temperamental nature, I've had other failures even after over 10 tries. Family and friends have been requesting me to bring some macarons for events, thank God for Facebook. It is tedious but weird to say I happily oblige.

We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday in San Francisco a few days ago. We went to Scoma in Pier 49 and my mind blown away. The crab cakes and cioppino are to die-for. I dragged my company to go to 2 different bakeries to try the macarons. Luckily, they are both in Hayes Valley area. As you know, parking is almost on extinct in San Francisco.

Chantal Guillon has wonderful reviews on Yelp and held as one of the best Macarons outside of France. I was quite impressed with their minimalistic, sassy and chic image.

They are delicious! My favorites are peach, red velvet, lavander, rose petal and caramel. It was definitely worth the drive.

Miette is more of a candy store that sells macarons. Theirs isn't as impressive and as a bragging right, I can make them better!

I plan on heading back to the bay area on a quest for the perfect macarons. This time, without any company to bore like last. Apparently, my fascination isn't shared by most people and I just don't get it.. LOL... If you are an aficionado as myself, please contact me. We can journey the world together for the perfect french macarons.

French Macarons Tutorial

Delightfully French: Macarons

With the tedious and detailed process in making french macarons, it should be held legendary. Of course that's how a novice baker would feel, such as myself, after making over 20 batches in just a span of only 4 months. It baffles me how one recipe could yield two different results.

French Macarons are bite-sized almond mound cookies that sandwich a buttercream, ganache or jam. It is entirely different from the more common pastry-coconut macaroons. Notice the number of O's. It originated in France thus the term French Macarons. Although now becoming more popular in the US, its not quite a staple on bakeries yet. Mostly, you will find this confection on specialty European bakeries and high-end cafe in the city.

My journey towards the perfect macaron has taught me one important lesson: the biggest secret to making these temperamental cookies is to do it right every step of the way. No shortcuts, no substitutions.

I've tried many different recipes of french macarons and this one worked consistently for me after making several adjustments. The Math teacher part of me became handy after scatter plotting all my attempts in the past and finally finding a middle "recipe".

French Macarons Recipe

3/4 cup Almond Flour
1 cup Confectioners' Sugar (I buy instead of blanching to save me time)
2 large egg white (aged for 1-2 days in the counter, room-temperature)
Pinch of Cream of Tartar
1/4 superfine sugar (regular white sugar on a food processor)
Filling (buttercream, ganache, jam etc.)

Things you will need:

Parchment Paper, pastry bag, coppler and icing tip, 2 cookie sheets, scissors, cooling rack, oven thermometer and loads of time. If you do not have at least 2.5 hours to make 25 sandwiches, then I suggest you postpone baking them. I usually make 2 batches and it takes me approximately 4 hours.

Separate 2 egg whites 1.5-2 days before you bake these goodies. Place it on a bowl covered with a saran wrap tightly and leave in the counter. The egg whites must be at a room temperature as it holds air better. Otherwise, your macarons will flatten.

• Prepare 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat. I prefer silicone mat because its flat and even unlike the parchment paper. But for this illustration, I only had the parchment paper available. Flatten the parchment paper by placing a sheet over it.

• Pulse together confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor or blender. Pulse white sugar separately. You can buy baker's sugar for this purpose as well but since I have a surplus of regular white sugar at home, I simply pulse it to a finer grain. 
• Sift the confectioners sugar and almond twice. I find it somewhat grainy when sifting only once or not sifting at all. Note: Discard the crumble or chunk of almond flour, do not add to the mixture.

• Its time time whisk the egg whites. This process is crucial to the success of your meringue. Personally, I prefer the use of a hand mixer. I've done different batches using both the stand and hand mixer, I've had better results with the latter. Start whisking at a slow speed as you are breaking the protein down. When it becomes bubbly, add a pinch of tartar and increase the speed to high. When soft peaks start to form, decrease speed to medium and add the white sugar one tablespoon at at time.
• Increase the speed to high until stiff peaks form. With a hand mixer, from the time I added the white sugar, it took 4-6 minutes to get a stiff form. It should be able to hold a form so when you invert the bowl, the meringue will not drip.

 The meringue should look glossy.

This is another crucial part of the process. If its too airy, during macronage it will deflate and you will have a flat cookie. If it is under mixed, the meringue will not hold its shape and will also flatten. So if your cookies are flat, then its most likely over or under mixed.

If you want to add color, add it at this time. Do not use oil-based food coloring. I usually just add 2-3 drops especially if the food coloring is water-based.

• Sift the flour mix to the meringue 1/3 cup at a time. Remember sifting the flour mixture helps your cookie from being grainy.

• Macronage: With the use of a spatula, fold until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Add another 1/3 cup and repeat the process. This process is called the "MACRONAGE" and to me is the MOST crucial part. Most of my failures in the past has its roots in this process. The goal is to get a magma-like flow. Fold it between 50-65 times and this is another excellent use for my scatter plotting.My magic number is 60. If it looks like this, fold just a little more. It should still look somewhat glossy and not too runny.

                       It may take a few try for you to figure out what works best with the equipment and ingredients you have. Over folding it can result into a runny meringue which will flatten. At this point, you should already know that one of the biggest clue as to whether or not your cookie is perfect is whether or not its flat. Other issues like cracking can be caused by the temperature and the cookie sheet. I've made those mistakes too!

Unfortunately, for this batch, I stopped at 55 foldings. My cookie did not hold the  mount as well, it was a little spread out. It was just as delicious but I did not get the perfect macaron mound. The next batch I made, I did 60 foldings and they turned out perfect.

• Transfer the meringue to a prepared pastry bag seated inside a tall drinking glass. I use a coppler and Wilton pipe 12. 

• I found a printable template for macarons sizes on the internet. You can make 1.5 to 3 inches cookies sizes. I prefer to make the 1.5-inch mounds, they are perfect for 1-2 bites. Depends on the filling, it can be sweet so a smaller size is better. 

•   Place the template underneath the parchment paper. I find it difficult to consistently make mounds of similar sizes without the template though I see others do perfectly without it. Angle your tip between 85-90 degrees and pipe it to the sheet. 

• Some mounds may have a pipe tracing on top. To create an even and smooth macaron top, simply dip your finger with water and press slightly on the uneven spot on the mound. 

•  This recipe will make you 44-50 small cookies (1.5 inches) or 22-25 sandwiches. Tap the bottom of the pan several times to allow the air to rise up. If it bubbles, use a toothpick to let the air out. Let stand at room temperature for 30-45 minutes. I've had the longer wait time on my successful attempts.
• Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Make note that ovens may have inaccurate meter. I calibrated mine by using a thermometer. 

• Feel the top of the cookies, it should be dry and the shell somewhat hard. 
• At 325 degrees, bake one sheet at a time in the middle rack for 6-7 minutes then turn the sheet around and bake for another 3-5 minutes. Allow to cool in the baking sheet for 2-4 minutes and transfer to the cooling rack. It should not stick to the parchment paper. If it does, allow to cool for a few more minutes.
• Cookies must be completely cool before filling. Sandwich 2 cookies with buttercream, ganache or jam preferably the ones that are not too sweet. 

• Serve immediately. French Macarons are excellent pairings for black tea blends, cappuccino and dark coffee.

Viola! They look gorgeous! Don't let the process discourage you. They are absolutely delicious and worth every minute you spend in labor.

Ooh la la, bon appetit!

Troubleshooting:

• Storage: store macarons on airtight container. I prefer to keep it outside in room temperature if eaten within 2-3 days. But for longer storing, you can freeze them for up to 3 months. It only takes 30 minutes to thaw it out. 
• How it should look like?: Perfect macarons have the "feet" and the mounds are even and smooth. If grainy it could be because its not mixed well or improper sifting or incorrect macronage.  It it cracks, it could be because of inaccurate oven temperature or the type of cookie sheet. 
• Once piped into the cookie sheet, the mounds will not rise or expand unlike most cookies. Whatever the size of your mound is upon piping is the size of your cookie after baking. 
• Macronage: This is how it turned out with only 55 foldings in the macronage process. 

 The "feet" expanded and the mounds did not stay on the center.

Macronage in 60 foldings on the picture above: less grainy, smooth mounds and the "feet" perfect. 

Filling: Vanilla Buttercream and Dark (100% cocoa) Ganache

I will post excellent flavor and filling ideas much much later. Honestly, baking these heavenly bites takes up all of my energy. This is one heck of a laborious passion!

Who ate the fucking ranch?

Basic Combat Training with the US Army is among the most memorable and exciting part of my life. It was a scary and fun experience. I came across this page on Facebook a few days ago named "Awesome Shit My Drill Sergeant Said". Its filled with epic and hilarious basic training stories. I decided to submit on of the funniest moment in my time in BCT. Here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/ASMDSS

Field days usually mean eating MRE’s or hot food is brought over to our location. It was a little later than our usual chow time, we were all hungry, grumpy and cold. I was voluntold to help serve lunch that day. As it usually is on chow time, I watched other soldiers stand toe to toe and snaking the line. Drill Sergeants eats last and after serving 200 soldiers, it was their turn to chow. We had beef stew that day and the usual salads and fruits. After the last soldier was served, there wasn’t much food left to serve to the Drill Sergeants. Here comes DS G- he epitomizes all of my notion of what a DS is. He just barely came back from deployment and acted real crazy. When he realized the beef stew was gone, that got him cussing. “What the fuck, bunch of fat selfish asses”. So he went on to fill his plate with the salad instead then he flipped when he realized all of the ranch packets were gone. He threw his plate up in the air, and yelled “WHO ATE THE FUCKING RANCH, Privates!”. He started ranting “Privates, you are all fucking selfish!”, “Who got 2 packets of ranch?”. He went from soldier to soldier to inspect. We all tried so hard not to laugh as he will smoke anyone that gets in his way.

DS G walked away yelling for the last time “Who ate the fucking ranch privates? You are all selfish, Privates fucking eating all the ranch.” It was quite an epic exit! It instantly became our favorite topic to talk about in basic. Who ate the fucking ranch!

Fort Jackson

2010 Winter Cycle 

My time in basic training is nothing but a fleeting memory. I will post some more about that experience another time.