Need help with cake frosting and decorating

[LaraW]

Hi everyone-

I'm going to be making a birthday cake for DD's birthday. I'm thinking of using this recipe below, but I'm a bit stumped on what to frost it with. She wants her cake to look like a dragonfly, and so I don't think I can do a chocolate frosting, which is what I would normally do.

I have very little experience decorating cakes, and would like a frosting that has some flavor to it - the buttercream frostings that I have used in the past have not had a lot of flavor.

Here is the cake recipe with Val's notes at the end:



Elegant White Cake
from King Arthur Flour

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 oz.) butter, softened
1/2 cup (3-1/4 oz.) vegetable shortening
1 tablespoons (1/2 oz.) baking powder
1-3/4 cups (12-1/4 ounces) superfine or granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

-- Cream together until light. 5 min. or more.

5 large egg whites (6 to 7 oz.)

-- Add egg whites one at a time and beat well after each addition.

2-3/4 cups (11 oz.) cake flour
1 cup (8 oz.) milk

-- Stir in flour and milk, alternating between the two, starting and ending with the flour. (i.e. 1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, 1/3 flour)

-- Pour into pans (2 9-in. round or one 9x13-in) and bake at 350. 25-35 minutes or until done.

Recipe from "The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion"

my notes: made in 9-inch layers and they took about 23 minutes. it is EXCELLENT. big thick layers (1 3/4 inches). very tender. moist. more dense (less airy, finer crumb) than the silver white cake from the black and white cake. more tender and better tasting, too. don't want to give the impression that the cake is dense, though. it is just nice and fine crumbed. but still very light. it is like as fine crumbed as a pound cake almost, but not even half as dense. the butter makes a nice difference in taste but the cake is still just as white.

[mbrogier]

I add a bit of almond extract to buttercream frosting so it tastes good.

[lisas3575]

What about a cooked frosting? This is a T&T that you can leave the extract out of:

Fluffy Coconut Frosting

From Cooking Light
This recipe goes with Coconut Triple-Layer Cake


1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Dash of salt
3 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract

Combine first 5 ingredients in top of a double boiler; place egg white mixture over barely simmering water in bottom of double boiler on cooktop. Beat at high speed of a hand-held mixer until stiff peaks form and candy thermometer registers 160°. Add extracts; beat until blended.

Yield: 4 cups



Cooking Light, MARCH 1998


I keep meaning to post an idea for the dragonfly cake and haven't had a chnace. As a matter of fact, little fingers are helping me type this right now... :rolleyes:

[clairea]

This French Buttercream from sneezles is really good and nice to work with too:

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr
4 large egg whites at room temperature for 30 minutes
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water
1 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened
2 teaspoons vanilla (to get a white icing you would need to use imitation clear vanilla like Wilton's makes)

Special equipment: a candy thermometer, pastry bag and large coupling with large star (can find the # if you need it) tip.

Combine whites and salt in a very large bowl. Stir together water and 1 1/3 cups sugar in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan until sugar is dissolved, then bring to a boil over moderate heat, without stirring, brushing any sugar crystals down side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.

When syrup reaches a boil, start beating egg whites with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until frothy, then gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat at medium speed until whites just hold soft peaks. (Do not beat again until sugar syrup is ready.)

Meanwhile, put thermometer into sugar syrup and continue boiling until syrup registers 238 to 242°F. Immediately remove from heat and, with mixer at high speed, slowly pour hot syrup in a thin stream down side of bowl into whites, beating constantly. Beat, scraping down side of bowl with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 10 minutes in a standing mixer or 15 with a handheld. (It is important that meringue is properly cooled before proceeding.)

With mixer at medium speed, gradually add butter 1 piece at a time, beating well after each addition until incorporated. (Buttercream will look soupy after some butter is added if meringue is still warm. If so, briefly chill bottom of bowl in a large bowl filled with ice water for a few seconds before continuing to beat in remaining butter.) Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all of butter is added but will come back together by the time beating is finished.) Add vanilla and beat 1 minute more.

Cooks' notes:
• Buttercream can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered, or frozen 1 month. Bring to room temperature (this may take up to 3 hours; do not use a microwave) and beat with an electric mixer before using.
• The egg whites in this recipe are not cooked. If salmonella is a problem in your area, you can use reconstituted powdered egg whites such as Just Whites.

Makes about 6 cups.

[LaraW]

I keep meaning to post an idea for the dragonfly cake and haven't had a chnace. As a matter of fact, little fingers are helping me type this right now... :rolleyes:

Lisa, I'd love any ideas you have. Need to see if I can get artistic gene implanted into my DNA. :p

Some trouble I've had with buttercreams in the past is tinting them. I remember making one a while ago and trying to tint it blue, and it came out green (b/c of the yellow butter). So, next time I tried a shortening buttercream and that had no taste to it (I added peppermint to go with a white cake) even though it was prettier.

[mbrogier]

Have you been using gel color or liquid? I've found that the gels work better. I've not had a problem with butter messing up my colors with the gels. The gels also last forever.

[LaraW]

I'm sure I used liquid. I was making it at my mom's house and probably used what she had.

Can I buy the gels at the grocery store, or do I need to go somewhere else?

Can you tell I don't do this much? :o

[lisas3575]

Hooray for nap time. ;)

Anyway, this is from an ancient Bakers Coconut cake decorating book that my mom had. I wonder if you cut it with the body going the long way and the wings being shorter if it would look like a dragonfly?

http://www.ideasmithdesign.com/clients/cookinglight/CCF20061128_00002.jpg

(sorry about the poor scan, my scanner doesn't scan well in color.)

[lisas3575]

Some trouble I've had with buttercreams in the past is tinting them. I remember making one a while ago and trying to tint it blue, and it came out green (b/c of the yellow butter). So, next time I tried a shortening buttercream and that had no taste to it (I added peppermint to go with a white cake) even though it was prettier.

FWIW, that cooked frosting I posted is bright white-- it would be easy to tint. Don't make the mistake I did, though, and leave the top boiler on top of the bottom boiler while you frost. :o It cooked the egg just a hair more and made the frosting lumpy, even though I pulled it off the heat when it was *perfect*.

[Robyn1007]

For the gel colors you'll probably need to go to a Michaels or Hobby Lobby or cake decorating store. I only know of the one in Superior but I'm sure there are ones closer to you.

[LaraW]

Bumping this back up to say thank you to everyone who helped here. :) Lisa, I ended up using the instructions you posted (well, sort of) and I used that frosting that you posted. I think if I were to do it again, I would use a buttercream, just because that merangue kind got *very* sticky, and it was a giant PITA cleaning it off of 13 three-year-olds :eek: ;)

Anyhow, here is the picture of DD's cake. :)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid220/p902f802052f289e2aeac151588352e53/eba90c11.jpg

Thanks again, I appreciate everyone's help!

[mbrogier]

The cake is beautiful! Great job.

I didn't see your question before. The gels are in the cake decorating section at Joanns and Michaels. Use a toothpick to get them out of the tubs. They're a lot more concentrated, so start with just a bit and keep adding a bit to build up the color.