I apologize for not having posted in a week!  It's been hectic, and if you will, please pray for Zach Sisk and the Sisk family.  I wouldn't usually request that on a food blog, but I feel that the more people who are praying the better for the whole situation. 

So, on to the cake.  My apologies for only having one picture!  I was very bad about photographically documenting the wedding cake tiers.  The top tier of the square wedding cake was a white cake, and the bride and groom wanted a vanilla flavor to it.  You can of course find a plethora of white cake recipes in cook books and online, but all of the ones I've tried have been a little...lackluster.  There usually isn't a lot of flavor, and they can tend to the dry side of things.

I turned to a great cake book, Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne.  This was the first cake book I purchased, and almost solely on the accolades given by Deb of Smitten Kitchen.  I haven't been disappointed.  For the vanilla cake tier, I used the recipe for Vanilla Bean Cake With White Chocolate Buttercream, found on pages 82-83.  I didn't make the white chocolate buttercream for this particular cake, so I can't tell you about that.  What I can tell you about is this cake.  It is fluffy but dense, moist, and the vanilla flavor is very pronounced due to the use of vanilla extract and vanilla bean.  It's no ordinary white cake.  It is officially a vanilla cake. 

Below are the original instructions to make one triple layer, 8 inch round cake.  I actually made 2 square six inch layers and a dozen cupcakes. 

Vanilla Bean Cake
3 cups cake flour
2 cups sugar
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 whole vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
2 sticks plus 2 Tb. (9 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 c. milk
5 egg whites
1 Tb. vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.  Butter the parchment. 

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl.  With the mixer on low speed, blend well.  With the tip of a small knife, scrape the tiny seeds from inside the vanilla bean into the bowl; discard the bean pod or reserve for another use.  Add the butter and 1 cup of the milk and mix to blend.  Raise the mixer to medium speed and beat until the batter is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with the vanilla extract and the remaining 1/3 c. milk.  Add this to the batter in 2 to 3 additions, scraping down the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate.  Divide the batter among the prepared pans.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes; then invert onto wire racks, remove the parchment paper, and cool completely, about 1 hour. 


Cook's Notes

• I think I used cake flour here, but due to my aversion to cake flour I would just as readily use White Lily All Purpose, taking out 2 Tb. flour from each cup I used. 
• The "other use" for which you can reserve the vanilla bean is limited only by your imagination and desire to think something up.  One popular thing people do with it is to stick it into some sugar.  The pod will perfume and flavor the sugar. 
• What to do with all those leftover egg yolks?  While I didn't do anything to mine in time enough, you could use it to make lemon curd, hollandaise sauce, or zabaglione.  One day those will be posted on here.  Hold me to that. 

White Chocolate cake served as half of the four tier wedding cake, comprising the base tier and second tier from the top. 

While this cake doesn't taste like biting into white chocolate, the cocoa butter from the white chocolate gives a rich moisture to the cake, which has a fairly open texture with the richness of pound cake.  One thing that I like about this cake is its high fat content that causes it to retain moisture.  It's not moist like a cake that has been doused with sugar water or milk.  It's a cake that doesn't easily dry out, and I like that.  I mean, really, who doesn't like that?  How many times have you been excited over a slice of cake that looks lush and delicious, only to be disappointed because the moisture comes only from the icing?  It's also a sturdy cake that can take most any icing you want to put on it. 

I first discovered the white chocolate cake when planning my own wedding and trying to find my perfect cake flavor.  I think I went with white and lemon in my cake, but I tried the white chocolate recipe out and have used it in a ton of cakes since. 



You start by melting white chocolate with water and then letting them cool. 












I hope that if you bake it you will let me know in the comments section what you think!

White Chocolate Cake
from allrecipes.com, submitted by VanDerStad

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the 2 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.


In small saucepan, melt 6 ounces white chocolate and hot water over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 1 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Mix in melted white chocolate and 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Pour batter into two 9 inch round cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
 
 
Notes
Just one today- I have never made this cake in the specified pan sizes; I have always used other pan sizes, like 6", 8", 10", and 12" round.  One thing I like about this recipe is that even if I overbake a bit it still tastes great and is moist!

 Red velvet cake served as the base tier in the square cake and as the top and third tiers in the round wedding cake, so I've made a lot of red velvet cake in the past couple weeks.  The leftovers from trimming make great cake balls!

I didn't grow up with a lot of red velvet cake, so even looking at recipes was a challenge as I didn't know what the resulting cake was supposed to taste like.  I just knew it needed to be red.  After searching library books and the internet and after testing three or four separate recipes, I came across one that I personally like and that I feel represents the cake well. 

Red velvet cake is a butter cake, which is a bit confusing when you'll see my recipe below actually utilizes canola oil for the fat rather than butter, but bear with me.  In my tests, I tried recipes using shortening, butter, and canola oil.  I tested out all purpose vs. cake flour recipes.  Almost every recipe varied its amount of cocoa.  Some tasted dry.  Some were too chocolatey.  You can of course test all these out on your own, but in the end I used this recipe as a major guideline and jumping off point and sort of came up with my own version.  I am happy with the end result, and hope that if you try this recipe, you will be too.











Red Velvet Cake
adapted from The Confetti Cakes Cookbook

3 cups plus 1 tablespoon White Lily All Purpose Flour (see notes)
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups canola or vegetable oil
2 1/4 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
3 oz. or 6 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
2 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 tsp. white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare three 9-inch round baking pans (spray with Baker's Joy or grease and flour) and place parchment in the bottoms of each pan.

Whisk flour, cocoa, and salt in a bowl.

Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. (Take care: it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.











Notes

• White Lily is only found in the South.  I am sorry if you don't live here and can't get it.  I specify White Lily because as a Southern flour, its protein content is lower than that of national brand all purpose flours, but slightly higher than cake flour.  In my tests, I found that cakes made with White Lily as opposed to cake flours actually tasted more moist.  You can try doing the same amount of regular all purpose flour.  If you want to use cake flour, the original recipe called for 3 1/2 cups cake flour. 
• For your information, I used Happy Home red food coloring, which I bought in a local cake supply shop.  It's much more economical than what you'll find in grocery stores.  While they don't supply a complete list, you can check their website to find out where it's sold near you or to order online.
• The original recipe called for more cocoa, but I felt that it turned the cake into more of a chocolate cake.  I suppose you can adjust this according to your own tastes.
• I used white vinegar, but a friend tells me that red wine vinegar is good, too.  I plan to try that when I'm making this recipe for fun.   

In the past two weeks I have completed and delivered my first two big (larger than two tiers) wedding cakes.  In each of them, there were different flavors for different tiers.  I'll sort of deconstruct them and give you each recipe I used on these cakes over 5 different posts.

First off, here are the pictures of the two cakes:

Between the two cakes, something like 10 pounds of butter and 20 of powdered sugar were utilized to make the icing.  I went with the simple buttercream recipe I know the best for each of the two cakes.  I tested out swiss buttercream and viewed recipes for other buttercreams in The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, but the people for whom I made the cakes are used to and like the simple buttercream, and I know how it behaves the best, so simple buttercream it was. 

The recipe posted below is not an original, and it's certainly not new, but it is a great basic recipe whose flavorings can be switched out to suit your taste.  I have substituted most of the vanilla flavoring with almond and if you like almond, it's great!

Buttercream Icing
1 pound (16 oz) powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 oz) butter, softened^
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or flavoring*

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until fluffy.  Mix together the milk and vanilla in a small bowl or measuring cup. 

Working in batches, add the powdered sugar and milk mixture alternately, occasionally scraping the sides of the mixing bowl until all ingredients are incorporated and you have a fluffy texture.

^If you want pure white icing but a bad texture in the mouth, use vegetable shortening.  I don't recommend this, unless you're only making this icing to practice your piping skills.
*If you want your icing to be whiter, use clear vanilla flavoring.  If you intend to color your icing anyway, feel free to use extract.  This is also the part where other flavorings or extracts may be used. 

Enjoy this easy and addictive icing!

This last weekend Drew's side of the family had a reunion, and instead of bringing a full meal or going to a restaurant, the family decided to do appetizer-type foods.  Since I like to try different or new recipes at these opportunities, I decided on something I had seen long ago in a Kraft Food and Family magazine.  The Hot Parmesan Artichoke Dip had been marked with a post-it for just such an occasion.  This was actually the second time I made this dip, but the first time there were no pictures, so I made it to share with you too!



This dip is a great party food (so easy to prepare and such good results), and even those who aren't normally crazy about artichokes don't mind this one.  Serve with crackers or baguette slices.  I personally love the cheesy-ness the parmesan brings that contrasts and complements the artichokes.  The creaminess of the mayonaise binds it all together well.  I could probably eat the whole thing by myself.  The only negative I have for this dip is that it gets kind of greasy in the way that pizza with too much cheese does.  The next time I'll make this, I'll experiment by adding less mayo or less cheese.  I will definitely cut the mayo first as my love for cheese exceeds that of mayonaise.  I am posting my version below, which omits the original garnish ingredients.  To see the original recipe. click the link above.

Hot Parmesan Artichoke Dip
adapted from Kraft Foods

1-14 oz jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup mayonaise
1 clove garlic, minced

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients together and pour into a shallow baking dish (a 9 inch pie plate is recommended).  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until browned and bubbly. 


Notes

• This is so easy!  I mixed the ingredients up in the same dish in which I baked it.  Prep time is around 5 mintues.
• I served this with herbed crackers, but I imagine baguette slices, plain or toasted would shoot this up another level
• The original recipe calls for green onion and tomato to be chopped up and placed over the dip.  Probably a good idea. 

So, on the weekend of September 25, there was a wedding, for which I made the cake.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, more is to come on that, but first I want to show you what I did with the leftovers.  I made cake balls!  Cake balls are cake that has been crumbled, mixed with icing, shaped into balls, and then dipped into chocolate or candy coating. 



For more on cake balls and all their creative variations, visit Bakerella's blog.  I am apparently in a hole, because Bakerella has had her blog and fan following for something like 3 years and I'm just getting around to discovering her adorable creations.  I had heard of cake balls from a show I watched a long time ago on Food Network, and then they popped up again when I happened upon Bakerella's site.  I had a bunch of leftover cake pieces from where I trimmed the wedding cake or the recipe made more than I needed, etc, and I didn't want to just throw the scraps away, so I tried my hand at these balls.  I took them to two different events I had the following weekend they were a huge hit at both.  It's pretty safe to say that whatever flavor you choose, they'll rock the party. 



You can pretty much choose any cake and icing combination that you want to make these cake balls, but my leftover cake and icing were red velvet and cream cheese, respectively, so that is what I used.  You can also use a boxed mix cake and purchased icing or homemade.  These are so forgiving!  If you use homemade cream cheese icing, you'll need to store the balls in the fridge.  I am pretty sure that any other icing is OK to leave out at room temperature.  So, here is the "recipe" for the cake balls:

Cake Balls
inspired by Bakerella

1- 9x13 cake, baked and cooled or the scrap equivalent
1-2 cups (1 can) of icing
24 oz. semisweet chocolate, almond bark, or candy coating of your choice

Crumble the cake so that it's just a bunch of crumbs.  Mix in the icing, starting with 1 cup and adding more if it's too dry.  You want a soft, mushy mixture that holds its shape.  Shape the mixture into 1 inch balls and place them onto a wax paper or parchment lined baking sheet.  Place the balls into the freezer for at least 15 minutes to allow them to really firm up. 

While the cake balls are chilling, melt your chocolate/candy coating in the microwave or a double boiler. 

One at a time, dip the balls into the chocolate/candy coating and roll around with a fork or silicon scraper to coat.  Using two forks, pick up the coated cake ball with one fork and gently rock it back and forth between the two forks to remove the excess chocolate.  Use one fork to place the cake ball back onto the baking sheet.  Repeat with all the balls.  Once the cholocate or candy coating is dry, store in an airtight container.  Enjoy!

I am so excited that fall feels like it has arrived because it means that I get to make my favorite food, soup!  I just love soups when the weather turns cold, and it seems that the endless varieties and options prevent me from tiring of soup.  This weekend I asked Drew what kind of chili he might want, and I should have known he'd say chicken chili.  It's his favorite.  This recipe is different from the white chicken chilis you see in Ruby Tuesday or other places because it lays no claim to being white.  It also contains corn, which is not found in those other chicken chilis.  Did I mention it has a whole pound of cheese?  How can it not be delicious?!

This recipe was given to me by my friend Constance, who held it hostage until I gave her my recipe for mocha cupcakes.  So glad we worked that trade, Constance!  I don't have the source to share with you- all I know is that it came from a church cookbook. I can just tell you that Hillary Lewis, who is credited with entering the recipe into that book, has a winner recipe. 

This chicken chili is super easy, delicious, and very economical.  It makes somewhere around 6 quarts, so you can feed a small army for about $20.  By my calculations, this works out to be less than $2 per bowl!  Make this huge pot of chili and have a party.  Feed your neighborhood.  Or, you could freeze several 1 quart portions to reheat later on.  It freezes and thaws well. 

You'll notice it calls for a lot of beans and chicken.  This time I reconstituted and cooked 1 1/2 pounds of dried great northern beans in a crock pot and then added the other ingredients.  To save work on the chicken end, I bought a rotisserie chicken from my grocery store and used all of its meat for the chicken needed in the recipe.  As before stated, I used my crock pot and cooked/warmed all of the chili on low so that it'd be ready when we got home from church.  Three cheers for the crock pot! 

I hope you enjoy this wonderful recipe!

Chicken Chili
5-6 cans great northern beans (or 1 1/2 to 2 lb dried beans)
1 jar salsa
1 lb pepper jack cheese, cubed
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 lb corn (2 cans or 1 big bag of frozen corn)
5-6 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed

Place all ingredients except cheese in a pot and heat over medium heat until warm.  When all ingredients are warm, add cheese and stir until incorporated.  Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread.  Works great in the crock pot, too!


Notes

• As I said in the post, I didn't use cans of beans.  I cooked dry ones.  To do this, follow the instructions in my pinto bean post.  I soaked the beans Saturday afternoon and then put them in the crock pot to cook overnight on low.  Then, Sunday morning, I added the rest of the ingredients.
• Use whatever salsa you like- I use mild because I don't like extreme spiciness, but the original recipe calls for medium. 
• The recipe calls for pepper jack cheese, but I am sure it'd be delicious with monterrey jack or mild cheddar- just use a softer cheese that would be good for melting.