Whew!

That was crazy. I spent roughly 10 hours yesterday just baking cakes!

To give you an idea of how crazy it was, I’ve compiled a list of just how much of each ingredient I used yesterday:

• 12 cups of sugar
• 24 eggs
• 12 sticks of butter
• 18 cups of flour
• 6 cups of milk
• 24 tsp. of vanilla
• 20 tsp. of baking powder

And that’s just for the cakes, don’t even ask me how much butter was used to make the buttercream! And speaking of buttercream, remember that giant vat of it I made on Tuesday? I ran out. In fact, I think that was about half the amount I actually needed!

I had work stations going on every available surface in the kitchen:

I had to hand-wash that mixing bowl 7 times, my hands are so dry now.

But, I finished em’.

Today, I need to:

1. Carve the cakes (they will have a rounded top edge)
2. Crumbcoat them
3. Frost them
4. Cover them in white fondant
5. Dye some fondant pink and purple for stripes
6. Adhere the stripes
7. Insert support dowels in the bottom layer

It’s daunting to look at that list. It’s a lot to do, but each thing shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes at most.

I have a sinking feeling that I don’t have enough fondant though, so I need to leave time to go get some if that happens.

Ok, back to it. I’ll try to take more pictures today since it’s less messy (didn’t want to drop my camera in cake batter.) Wish me luck!

April 14, 2011 Alayna Discussion 23 comments

No, not cake-bacon week….though that does sound intriguing.

My brother-in-law is getting married this Saturday, so the time has finally come for me to bake that wedding cake I’ve been talking about. We’re heading up there the evening before, so I need to have the cake finished a whole day early. So, pretty much this entire week has been and will continue to be consumed with activities related to cake-baking!

Yesterday, I spent most of my time taking care of tons of housework that I know I won’t have time for later in the week. I also needed to start prepping for the baking by getting everything in order. Here’s my list of solely cake related to-do’s for yesterday:

1. clean out fridge to make room for two large cakes and a vat of frosting
2. take all cake-baking paraphernalia out of wrappings
3. calculate how much I need of each ingredient for the whole shebang
4. clean and cover my prep table so cats don’t get fur on it
5. shop for any remaining ingredients needed
6. test fondant dyes on scraps of old fondant
7. locate and set out all baking tools

That was a lot of work.

Today’s assignment was to make a triple batch of the buttercream icing. I managed to snap a few photos of the process…

Kitchen is absolutely covered in powdered sugar!

Here it is resting in the fridge. I’ll take it out first thing in the morning before I start baking so it has time to soften up again.

So, tomorrow is the day that will require the most work. I’ll be baking cake layers starting immediately after breakfast until whenever I’m done. I’m hoping I can get them all baked, cooled, and assembled in one day. I’ve gotta hurry and get the buttercream on them so that they don’t start getting stale.

What is the most delicious dessert you’ve ever eaten?

April 12, 2011 Alayna Discussion 13 comments

(For another raw vegan treat, check out my recipe for raw nectarine dream cookies!)

Oooooo! These are so good!

I just love the combination of orange and pistachio together! These bars are so soft and citrusy, they remind me a bit of lemon Larabars, and yet they’re totally different from any Larabar I’ve ever had.

Here’s what you’ll need for these little emerald gems:

• 3/4 cup raw cashews
• 3/4 cup raw pistachios
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 tsp. agave nectar
• 1 tsp. coconut oil
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• zest and juice of a small orange such as a clementine or satsuma
• desiccated coconut for dusting

Start by pulverizing the nuts in a food processor…

Then add the chopped apricots…

Then grate over the orange zest and add the remaining ingredients…

Blitz it til it pulls away from the sides and looks fully incorporated…

So green!

Now you need to mold it into bars. I lined a loaf pan with wax paper to help pull the bars out with later and then poured some desiccated coconut in the bottom so they wouldn’t stick to that.

It took a while to press it all out flat in the pan, just keep working at it until you get it to reach the edges.

My loaf pan was just a bit too big so these didn’t quite make it all the way to one side. After spreading it out I topped it off with more coconut.

These should get popped in the freezer for a while to make them easier to cut. I chose to cut mine into little squares.

They are delicious! The bright orange flavor really stands out and contrasts with the earthy and slightly bitter green pistachio flavor. They taste so springy and fresh!

I’ve been keeping them in the fridge since they have orange juice in them that could go bad if left out. It also helps them to hold together better being that they’re very soft at room temperature. They are even more refreshing nice and cool right out of the fridge anyway.

Raw vegan orange pistachio bars

Bright citrusy orange zest accents these nutty raw pistachio bars.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Yield: about 10 squares

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup raw pistachios
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 tsp. agave nectar
• 1 tsp. coconut oil
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds
• zest and juice of a small orange such as a clementine or satsuma

Cooking Directions

1. Pulverize nuts in food processor until very small.
2. Add all other ingredients and pulse to incorporate.
3. Press mixture into a wax paper lined baking dish with desiccated coconut.
4. Sprinkle more desiccated coconut on top and press in lightly.
5. Freeze until firm then turn out and cut into squares or bars.
6. Keep refrigerated.

What is your favorite snack bar/granola bar/protein bar?

March 8, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 20 comments