Sunflower Cake: Dina's 4th Birthday

When my daughter born in March explained that she wanted to have a sunflower theme for her 4th birthday I was a little bit worried. Sunflowers? In March? Is that even possible here in NL?

I immediately began planning the cake and even had her make a drawing of what she wanted her cake design to look like.

My drawing of the cake.

Dina's drawing of her cake.

My decision to paint the wall to match the theme was perhaps a bit over the top, since I was 9 months pregnant at the time.

The color yellow we choose made me so happy, however, and I have not regretted it.

The luckiest part of the preparations happened a week before the party. I was at local outdoor market, getting flowers for a friend when I saw SUNFLOWERS for sale, totally out of season. I asked the guy where they were from, "Israel," he said, and his next question was, "Will you buy them? Great deal!" I asked if they would last a week and he suggested I place them in a cold place, in water, then cut them as short as I could manage just before the party. It worked beautifully. I was thrilled to have real sunflowers in March!

Using a 9x13" pan for the base cake and a couple of 6" pans and cupcakes for the flowers, I made her sunflower cake happen.

 (Does it look a bit like Mickey Mouse here? I thought so.)

I made a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling, and basic butter cream frosting. The sunflowers were made with a leaf tip (#68) and a star tip for the top, using a cocoa frosting. The grass and the writing were made with a round tip (#10 and #7). I did not put a base coat on the sunflowers, so you see the chocolate cake through the yellow petals, which I felt made it look more true to life.
The favors were sunflowers, grown from seed in the months before her birthday. I had her take a similar favor to school to give out but in that case it was just seeds, dirt, and a tiny painted pot with a stick holding the center of the invitation design(thanks, Uncle Danny!) and "Dina is 4" on the back.

We also covered our normal framed photos with my photographer husband's best sunflower ones.

We played pin the bee on the sunflower. Thanks, Uncle Danny for the giant sunflower, and Thanks, Samantha for the bees!

Much of the food served looked like sunflowers:

For her school party I made cupcakes- using Oreos as the center of each sunflower and also using round chocolate crunchy sprinkle-type things as well.

 It was a great party and we enjoyed celebrating Dina's fourth birthday! I'm over a year delayed in posting about this- but it was a blast.

Flower Cupcake Bouquet and a Bit of Math

Next week on Tuesday evening at 7:30pm I'm offering a Flower Cupcake Workshop. At the moment there is one spot left- contact me if you'd like to join us. During the workshop, besides learning how to make five different kinds of flowers, everyone will also enjoy snacking on cupcakes. Recently I found this example of a cupcake bouquet and had to try to make my own for the workshop snacking purpose. First, I made a bunch of mini-cupcakes and frosted with buttercream, tip 104 in a carnation style. I experimented with different sized pots and ultimately decided on a mug to hold my bouquet because it was the right size. I needed a nine centimeter foam ball but did not have time to get to a craft store so I cut a florist's block and covered it with two layers of heavy duty tissue paper.

Next, to add to the stability, I filled my Dutch mug with smooth stones because I couldn't find my daughter's glass marbles I was hoping to use.

I cut bar-b-q sticks to size and jammed three into the ball and the other end down into the rocks in the mug. I was worried one stick would not be strong enough.

I cut a stick for each cupcake and, starting with the very top, placed each cupcake by jamming one end of the stick into the green ball and the other (pointy) end into the cupcake.

 I had to reposition some cupcakes after I realized I placed them too far apart. The key to the placement is measuring the diameter of the bottom of the cupcake (for my mini-cupcakes it was 3.5cm) and using half that distance away from the nearest cupcake for the next stick. It feels too close when placing the stick but it works. Incidentally, this cupcake bouquet is not for Tuesday- it is just a test bouquet. I'll make a fresh one the day before the workshop.

 

For the finishing touch I added some leaves using tip 68.

But what about the math, you ask? In determining how big of a foam ball to use, I had to decide how many cupcakes I wanted to display. Since I had made 24, I thought perhaps around 20 or 22 would work (always have extra for the hungry mouths around here.) I only wanted to do about 2/3 of the sphere because 1/3 would be underneath of course, so a 32 faced polyhedron seemed about right. Google gave me this equation:
r=2.48*a
where r is the radius of the sphere and a is side of a six sided polygon (okay it isn't a circle but its close) packed on that sphere(polyhedron- we're being a little fuzzy here).
Pretending for a moment that this polygon is the bottom of the cupcake I used circumfrence = 6*a and then:
rc= 6a/2Pi
Where rc is the radius of the circle or cupcake.
Solving for a yields:
a=rc*Pi/3
Substituting this into the above equation:
r=2.48*rc*Pi/3
My rc (radius of the cupcake) was 1.75cm. Solving for r gave me 4.5cm or a 9cm diameter ball to give me enough room for 22 cupcakes.

I did not have a 9cm ball, however.

Not to be deterred, I had a piece of floral foam which was 7cm on the shortest side so I cut a 7cm block and kept shaving off the corners until it was a ball. I used a total of 16 mini-cupcakes on the 7cm ball. If you feel like doing more math to calculate the equation for a 7cm ball feel free. I'm going to bed.

 There you have it: math and cupcakes.

Samantha's Bridal Shower

 Our dear friends here in The Netherlands, Samantha and Bart, got married last year and I threw Sam a bridal shower. It was a daytime event, on a Sunday, giving me ample cooking/decorating time on Saturday. Sam, herself, created the wedding banner of gold, silver, cream, and white tassels.

The menu plan included several varieties of quiche, tea sandwiches, a cheese board with olives, peppers and crackers, salad, berry cobbler, cannolies, mini-cupcakes, and Prosecco with peach juice and sliced frozen peach garnishes.

I developed this quiche recipe because I had tried many recipes that resulted in soggy centers. It is enough for one 9" normal pie plate, or with extra filling it can be stretched to a deep dish 9" pie. For the shower I made 1.5 times the recipe to fill 8 mini quiches.

Broccoli, Feta, and Leek Quiche
(makes enough for a 9" pie-  3 cups of liquid)
(Other combinations of veggies follow below:)

Ingredients:
1 pre-baked crust (recipe follows)
5 large eggs, beaten
300 ml  heavy cream (1 1/4 cups)
125 g cooked chopped leeks (about 1 cup, I use 2 leeks, white part only, saute in oil)
200 g feta cheese, crumbled (7.5 oz)
188 g chopped broccoli, parboiled (6.5 oz)
salt to taste (1/4 tsp?)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400F/200C. Beat eggs with cream. Place cheese on the bottom of the pre-baked crust, then leeks and broccoli. Cover with beaten egg/cream mixture. Salt to taste.
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until barely jiggles in the middle. After 10 minutes of baking, use a crust shield to prevent burning of the crust.
Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve next day, warm each piece on a plate in oven for 5 to 8 min.

Crust Recipe (modified from Joy of Cooking) Makes one 9" pie crust.

Ingredients:
150 g all purpose flour (1 1/4 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
250 g butter, cut into small pieces, cold (best to be in freezer but refrigerator is fine if you are fast)
75-120 ml cold water (1/3 to 1/2 cup)

Directions:
I keep my flour in the freezer and it works great for this recipe, because the ingredients should be as cold as possible. In a food processor, process flour, salt, and sugar until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water, minimum amount and process in five 1 second intervals. Pinch mixture in fingers and see if it sticks together. If not, add more water, a little at a time, until crust sticks together. Place cling-film on counter and place crust crumbs onto cling film. Using edges of film, shape into a disc and wrap tightly with the film. Place in fridge for 1 hour or overnight and then bring out of fridge for about 5 minutes to bring temperature up. Roll into a disc, place into pie plate and trim overhang. Line with foil and place pie weights or dried beans into foil. Bake at 425F/218C for 22 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10' before removing pie weights/foil. Pre-baked crust is now ready for quiche recipe above.

For the quiche fillings at the shower I opted for the following combinations:
Tomato, Basil, & Feta
Shallots(cooked), Bell Peppers, & Dutch cheese
Bacon, Cheddar, & Chives
Bacon, Cheddar, & Thyme

Sam also provided the gorgeous Anthropologie plates for the setting.

The sandwiches served were classic crusts-cut-off and included:
Cucumber
Turkey, Cheddar, & Tomato Pesto
BLTs
Dutch cheese - I use Jong Belegen, which is ripened 8-10 weeks. While this is typically not available in the USA, the Oud, or Old version, Old Amsterdam (or something similar) can be found at my favorite grocery store, Wegmans. The difference is the older cheese is more flavorful, saltier and harder- better for eating with crackers, for example. The younger version of this cheese is perfect for a sandwich. We can't find Muenster or Colby Jack or Provolone cheese here but the Jong Belegen is fabulous for our typical lunch.

 I made berry cobblers and cannolies for dessert along with mini cupcakes in both gold and white wrappers.

The cannoli-filling recipe was from my Godmother and included a brilliant tip to remove the excess water in the creamy-mixture. Poke holes in a plastic lid and place it in the bottom of the bowl. Add your mixture and then let it sit overnight in the fridge. The excess water drains out under the lid!

The filling for these was amazing. Due to time constraints I decided to buy pre-made cannoli shells (imported from Italy!) but I was disappointed with the quality. Next time, I make my own and once I've got a good one, I'll share the recipe.

Once Sam had opened her gifts we made a 'bow-quet' from the bows on the gifts, using a paper plate as the base. She used this on her rehearsal day to walk down the aisle. I had never heard of this tradition until I got married and my friends did this for me.

 Mini-orchids in white candle-holders were the favors for the attendees. And we made a 'quiz-night' style set of pictures of Sam and Bart (and things related to them) for people to guess where or when the photos were taken as one of the games.

Congratulations to Samantha and Bart! Up next: their wedding cake!

A Fairy Cake for a Sweet Birthday Girl

Fairies are a favorite of a dear friend so she requested that theme for her daughter's first birthday. The human shape is a challenging thing to make in edible form, and I cautioned her on expectations of realism. She showed me a book with these worm-like fairies and I was game.

We discussed a pink lily as the backdrop(based on this toy) and the design was born.

To make the flower, I used a leaf cutter on pink colored gumpaste. I dried the cut pieces on curved surfaces (a paper towel cardboard tube lined with waxed paper works great) for over a week to be sure they were stiff. The day before I made a pink gumpaste circle about 2 cm thick which I stuck the tips of the petals into before it dried.

Of course I wanted this cake to taste amazing, so against my better judgement I decided to use a whipped cream/cream cheese icing. It was challenging to smooth nicely, and almost insane to pipe! The purple border at the top was intended to be star-tipped beauty but as you can see I could barely get it to look decent. I learned my lesson and made the lower purple border with a larger star tip. Luckily the green lily pad should look natural, and therefore imperfect.

Three layers of cake and two of the strawberry cream filling from Cooks Illustrated created a show-stopper.

The vine along the outside of the cake used a tip #3 and a small star tip for the pink flowers on the vine. I feel lucky to be a part of this sweet girl's life.

Revel Bars (aka Rebel Bars)

One of my favorite vintage cookbooks is the Better Homes and Gardens Homemade Cookies Cook Book, 1975 edition.

A recipe I use often, and modified to suit my tastes is a bar cookie called Revel Bars. When I tell people what they are called they never remember it right and instead call them Rebel Bars, which I think the bars find endearing. Also, I enjoyed this photo from the book. I remember my grandma had an oven in that pea-green color.

With an oat-base (I've substituted spelt for some), and a chocolate-nut middle, these bar cookies are addictive. The recipe also makes an entire 9x13" pan full, so it can feed a crowd, or your family for a few days. These bars don't last long in our house. If you want, you can also freeze the baked bars for longer storage.

Revel Bars
230 g unsalted butter (1 cup), room temperature
350 g light brown sugar (~1 & 2/3 cup)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

170 g rolled oats
90 g spelt (or you can sub rolled oats for a total of 260g)
300 g flour (2 1/2 cups)
1 tsp baking soda (zuiverings-zout in NL)
3/4 tsp salt

1- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (don't use evaporated milk!)
340 g semi-sweet or dark chocolate (chips, or chopped) (2 cups)
28 g butter (2 Tbsp)
150 g chopped, toasted walnuts (can use hazelnuts or pecans) (1 cup)
2 tsp vanilla extract

With the paddle attachment in a stand mixer (or by hand) cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until combined. In another bowl, mix oats, spelt, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir this into the butter/brown sugar mixture until blended. Set aside.

In a heavy saucepan over low-med heat stir condensed milk, chocolate, and butter. Once smooth, take off heat and stir in vanilla and nuts.

Pat about 2/3 of oat mixture into an ungreased 9x13" baking pan. Spread chocolate mixture over oat layer. Clump remaining oat mixture on top of chocolate layer. Some chocolate will not be covered.

Bake at 350 F (180 C) for 30-33 minutes. Rotate pan half way through baking. Cool, cut into bars.


The condensed milk can be found here in NL at the Rohit store I've blogged about. It is not the same as evaporated milk. Condensed milk has sugar in it, evaporated milk does not.

Yes, evaporated milk costs 10 cents more, because the can is bigger. Funny thing, they are almost exactly the same weight and both described on the cans as 'Rich & Creamy'.

Be a rebel and make these Revel Bars as soon as possible. They are amazing.