King Cake

Well, after more than a few trips to New Orleans, I decided it was time to take a try at baking this NOLA classic- the King Cake! I made a few changes to the original recipe- and would make a few more if I made it again. For starters, this one was way too dense to be a King Cake- but it still tasted heavenly! And two- I didn't have any plastic babies on hand- but I did have a mini PBR can!

Dough rolled out; filling being added.

 

Dough rolled up and then shaped into a ring.

Vents cut about 1/3 of the way down and about every inch.

I made the icing by sight, not recipe. I also made it with milk rather than water and of course, Nielsen Massey Vanilla Paste. If you don't own it, you should. I NEVER bake w/o it. I am also obsessed with this awesome whisk- it's from IKEA.

The finished product- and the hidden prize- a PBR Can! Ha!

While this recipe was very dense (and not very King Cake-like), I didn't get one complaint. They all loved it!

Toffee Cupcakes

I did a little experimenting this week. I decided it was time to try and conquer Toffee. Sugar arts are hard to perfect since they require such exact temperatures and humidity levels. I had my trials with lollipops and other hard candies earlier this year. Toffee was no different. The first batch burnt. Yuck, smokey toffee? No thanks. I lowered the temp a bit for the second batch, and for the third I will go somewhere in between. I decided to make some vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream to showcase the toffee flavor. Yum!

Baker's trick: I use a Silpat almost exclusively when making cookies, meringue, macaroons, hard candies and now toffee. I don't know how it works, but it works beyond any of my greatest expectations. Nothing EVER sticks to it. Everything removes with ease and without any additive. I wasn't paid for this- I'm just a HUGE supporter! :)

Chocolate Cupcakes with Toffee Crunch
Cake - Classic Vanilla White Cake
Icing - Chocolate Buttercream