I rarely work with buttercream cakes, I much prefer working with fondant. But the couple getting married was having a rustic backyard wedding and dreamed of having a simple yet elegant cake to match. Making the buttercream look rustic and perfectly imperfect is so much harder than it sounds! Luckily I was able to achieve the look I wanted without too much trouble.
The top of the cake was to have a few simple flowers. Here I made three sugar peony flowers from white gum paste. I don’t make my peonies with actual instructions, I just add petals until I like the look of them. I attached the flowers to a round disk of gum paste and placed that on top of the cake. Green gum paste leaves were added in between the flowers.
The final touch was some shimmery green petal dust that I added to the centers of the flowers. It gave the flowers a bit more dimension. I love how this cake turned out, I can’t believe I was so nervous to pull this off.
I love making this cake! I have made one just like this before for another teacher retiring. I didn’t make it exactly the same as the last one, I had to change the design up just a bit but a few elements definitely needed to stay. Book cakes are fun to make and work for a variety of occasions. Here’s one to celebrate a graduation and another to celebrate a big birthday!
I had to include the edible lined paper cake topper. I cut these pieces out of thinned out gum paste. I cut them into two different sizes and added holes down one side using a round piping tip. I cut the bottoms of the pages at an angle so they would look staggered on top of the cake instead of straight across. I used a blue and red edible marker and a ruler to make the lines on the page. I made some pink rubber erasers out of pink fondant that I molded by hand. The pencils were made in advance so they would be firm enough to pop out of the cake. I know that pencils wouldn’t actually be sticking out of books, but I love how this looks! It gives great height and dimension.
The middle book cake is my favorite one because I sponge painted it to look like a black and white marble notebook. Remember those?! So classic. I also included some chalk and an eraser. The chalk was made by rolling some fondant or gum paste in a long even rope and cutting it in different lengths to give some interest. The eraser is made from black fondant that I shaped by hand. I used a corn starch duster to tap some corn starch onto the eraser to look just like chalk dust.
The cake board brings the whole cake together. I used some black royal icing and spread it all over the cake board. I used a thicker consistency royal icing for some additional texture. I used white gel food coloring and a food-safe paintbrush to paint on the message. The additional chalk dust was dusted on with more corn starch.
If I were to write a dessert cookbook, I would want it to be exactly like this one. My friend and fellow food blogger, Miriam Pascal, has worked tirelessly for months on her gorgeous cookbook debut. I had been talking to Miriam throughout the process and am blown away by how much work it takes to put this all together. Miriam shares her kitchen talents on her blog Overtime Cook. She understands that nobody has time to spend hours in the kitchen and tailors her recipes to be quick, simple and impressive. Over the years she not only perfected some amazing recipes, but she also honed her photography skills and took every photo in her cookbook.
Here is some exiting trivia for you: I baked 3 of Miriam’s recipes for her to photograph for this cookbook! The chocolate celebration cake, bakery style cake donuts, and the cookies decorated with royal icing were all done by me using Miriam’s recipes. How cool is that?! I’m so happy to help and I would love to do it again.
“Something Sweet” is really the perfect baking resource. It includes notes about every essential kitchen tool, recipe ingredient substitutions, and baking tips and tricks. Most of the recipes in this stunning book are new, but Miriam did include a few of her readers favorite recipes that were originally posted on her blog.
While Miriam does it all in the kitchen, this book specifically focuses on desserts which I am really excited about. There really is a lack of good kosher dessert cookbooks on the market. Although all the recipes in the book are strictly kosher, these desserts will appeal to everyone; especially those with dairy sensitivities. Nearly every dessert category is covered from cookies and bars, cakes and cupcakes, muffins and pastries, pies and tarts, desserts and party treats, candy and chocolate, drinks and frozen treats and finally, frosting and toppings. She even included a healthy, dairy-free pie crust recipe!
As a cookbook lover, I have read many, many cookbooks. This one has a perfect layout. The recipes are easy to read and the directions are very clear. Each and every recipe is accompanied by a high quality color photo. A few of the recipes have step-by-step photos to make those possibly complicated steps really easy to understand.
I can’t wait to dig in to these delicious dessert recipes, but the few that immediately caught my eye are the fruity pebble cookies, snickerdoodle bundt cake, cinnamon cheese buns, cookie dough fudge pie, cookies n’ cream stuffed waffles, and chewy sea salt caramels.
Do you want a preview? This recipe for Neapolitan Trifles from Something Sweet by Miriam Pascal, is reproduced with permission from the copyright holders, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications.
1 cup heavy whipping cream or nondairy whip topping
1 cup strawberry pie filling, pureed
8 oz. cream cheese or soy cream cheese
⅓ cup sour cream or soy sour cream
1 tsp, vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
Vanilla Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream or nondairy whip topping
⅓ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Prepare the chocolate crumbs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
Combine all crumb ingredients in a bowl. Mix until combined and the texture of crumbs. (I found it easiest to mix this with my fingers.)
Spread the crumbs in a single layer on prepared baking sheet; bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven; cool completely before assembling the trifles.
Prepare the strawberry mousse
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, on high speed, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form.Remove whipping cream to another bowl. There's no need to wash the bowl before continuing.
Add pie filling, cream cheese, sour cream, and vanilla to mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed until combined and smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture until combined. Set aside.
Prepre the vanilla cream
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, on high speed, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until combined.
Assembly
Place crumbs into a 6-ounce jar or cup, filling it about one-quarter full, Spoon or pipe strawberry mousse over crumbs, filling container a little more than three-quarters full. Pipe on vanilla cream, filling container almost to the top. Repeat with remaining jars.
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Plan Ahead: These trifles freeze beautifully. Move them into the fridge for a couple of hours before serving to allow them to soften a bit.
Now for the giveway sponsored by Artscroll/Mesorah Publications! One lucky reader will win a free copy of Something Sweet. Contest open to US mailing addresses only. One winner will be chosen at random. Giveaway ends at 11:59PM EST on Monday, December 28, 2015. Please provide a valid email address; winner will be notified via email. Winner has 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Good Luck!
