Butterless buttercream?? Hmm...

The first lesson at the Wilton Course 1 in ICCA was more on the theoretical side. It was mostly on the introduction of the tools that are used in cake decorating and how to use them, which includes how to fold a parchment paper (this is more ideal for melted chocolate so i shall try this for the writing on my double double disaster cupcakes!) and also how to make the decorators' icing aka buttercream as well as 3 different consistencies for different techniques.

The decorator's buttercream i learned here at the first lesson is something i find very interesting. First of all, it has NO BUTTER! I have been to several classes and have had several different views from different people in producing the buttercream but none that has absolutely no butter in it. From what i know, shortening are added to better hold the shapes of your designs apart from adding the meringue powder as explained in one of my earlier posts. Some even prefer to use 100% butter because it has more flavour.

But i have to say, this butterless buttercream is THE BEST so far! I find it less sweet even with the same amount of sugar i normally use in my buttercream (with butter) and is creamier too! And it is especially ideal if you want to produce super white frosting for wedding or christmas cakes (for the snow etc.). Also, if you want to get certain colours right, this is the kind of buttercream you would want to use.

Click here for the recipe.

The super white buttercream.

Then again, it really depends on your preference. I'd go back to half cup of butter (instead of 1 whole cup of shortening) just to achieve the ivory colour. Otherwise, 100% shortening is fine by me. It's cost efficient too! ;)

A busy, busy weekend..

It was the busiest weekend i've had in a while. Not only i had to bake a batch of 36s cupcakes and a whole 8" chocolate cake for a Teachers' Day celebration, an aunt requested for a birthday cake for her 24 year old son (bukan age sebenar.. tee hee). "Any kind will do", said the aunt. Another brave soul! :D

Since the cousin is barely a kid and the guests are mostly adults, i've made a simple cake with no elaborate designs to mark the cousin's birthday. I've been wanting to try out this Sicilian orange cake recipe ever since i came across it at this blog called Almost Bourdain but there was never a chance. It's either i have my usual cake orders or there's this other usual thing called 'laziness'. So i thought this would be the perfect time, especially it looked pretty simple too. (Did i mention i had to bake for the teachers?) :) So, i took 'anything' and turned into this:

Though, i think it would have tasted better if i have gotten my usual self-raising flour and used rather sourish oranges for the cake. Recipe here. Let's feast our eyes again, shall we?.. hehe.

Then later i made these. I've told the teacher friend that it will be a rushed job but she insisted. I only had time for simple designs due to the time constraint. I still have another cake to make as a homework for my class! S.T.R.E.S.S! :'(

(I'm not very happy with the results but sometimes, i think best to make peace and move on. So, moving on....).

Wilton Cake Decorating Method

If you must know, mum had been telling me about the Wilton method for a while but i was contemplating because well, there's a pretty price to pay. Instead, i went to the website and youtube to learn some of their techniques :D But now that i have spent good money for the tool caddy and stuff, i think it's time for me to take it up to another level.

So, i finally registered myself to learn the Wilton cake decorating method at International Centre of Cake Artistry (ICCA) and have been to 2 lessons to date. I have to say, i've learned quite some new things and i shall share them with you in the coming entries.

If you're interested to know more about the Wilton method and any other courses they offer in ICCA, click here to unfold that domestic skills perhaps you never even knew you had! The courses are held at 3 locations in the Klang valley; PJ Section 14, Kota Damansara and Desa Hartamas. They also offer a wide selection of tools and equipment as well as ingredients to bake that perfect cake!

If first you don't succeed, try and try again!

The first few batches of chocolate cakes i made went rather smoothly with the exception of the very first one (for the Mr.). I got mixed up between the BAKING SODA and BAKING POWDER!

Mum was given the task to read me the ingredients and measurements while i put in all the stuff. So, it's either she said it wrong or i heard her/saw the label wrongly. I highly suspect it was my mother. Kidding. It must be the person who never had any baking experience, obviously. But in the end the cake was fine. Sli......ghtly dry but still good. The buttercream was sweet though.

And then it was time to bake my first vanilla butter cake. One poor soul -who happens to be the SIL wanted me to make a batch of butter cupcakes for her friend's birthday and something went awfully wrong. They all sank leaving a peak like this:


Sorry for the bad drawing. But back to the cakes, not only that it looked bad, it tasted equally horrible too! So that was my 1st real experience of cake tak jadi. I didn't have any contingencies this time because it was ordered at the last minute. So the SIL had to go get a cake from some other place as i couldn't manage to make another round.

Very frustrating it was. Then i tried another butter cake recipe i found at Wilton website on my second attempt and was (extra) vigilant with the ingredients this time too ;) and what do u know.. it was ay, okay! I don't know if it was the recipe but since the latter turned out good, i thought i should just stick to it until i find a better one. Finding the right recipe is NOT easy.

Here's the one i found at the site:

Butter Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon No Color Almond Extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

Makes: About 7 1/2 cups cake batter.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray pans with vegetable pan spray, or use Cake Release.

In mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and almond flavor. Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, starting with the flour; mix well. Pour into prepared pans.

Refer to baking chart, for baking times and temperatures for specific pans.

Cool 10 minutes in pan. Loosen sides and remove. Cool completely before decorating.

Caution: For fellow muslims, please note that ALL Wilton's extract and flavourings contains alcohol EXCEPT for the Clear Butter Flavour.

Extra info: I usually skip the almond extract because i am personally not a fan of the strong smell. But it's all up to you!

Here for more yummy recipes. Good luck! :)