Babys First Applesauce Cake And Petit Fours Recipes

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Liberally spray an 18-by13-inch sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Stack the lined sheet pan inside a second sheet pan, to avoid extra browning when baking.
• In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In a food processor, pulse together the almond paste, granulated sugar and honey. Pulse until well combined. Open the food processor and scrape the sides and bottom with a metal spoon to check that the almond paste is completely incorporated. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing to combine after each addition.
• Add the eggs one by one, pulsing until each is completely incorporated. After the last addition, scrape down the bowl and then pulse until the batter is completely smooth and slightly fluffy. Pulse in the flour mixture until blended.
• Spread the batter evenly in the prepared sheet pan. Bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back when gently poked, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely.
• While the cakes are cooling, color the Royal Icing in the colors of your choosing and add each color to a pastry bag fitted with a #2 tip. Pipe tiny flowers on a piece of parchment by making small closed spirals in one color, then add leaves to either side in the other color. Set aside to set up and harden, about 1 hour.
• Remove the cake from the sheet pan and cut in half widthwise. Spread the jam on top of one half and top with the second half. Freeze for 10 minutes to set.
• Use a serrated knife to cut the cake into 1-inch squares. Place onto a parchment-covered sheet pan and freeze for at least 1 hour.
• For the coating icing: In the meantime, add the white chocolate chips to a heatproof bowl and set over a pot of simmering water (the bowl should sit above and not touch the water). Heat, stirring, until melted and smooth.
• Sift the confectioners' sugar into a separate large bowl. Stir in the hot water and corn syrup until smooth. Stir in the melted chocolate. If the icing is too thick (it should be pourable), add more hot water 1 teaspoon at a time. Use while warm; you can reheat it in the microwave if necessary as you are working.
• Put the little cakes on a wire rack fitted inside a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Coat the cakes with the icing using a spoon and small offset spatula, or add icing to a pastry bag, snip the corner and use to coat each cake. Top each with a hardened royal icing decoration. Allow the icing to set up before transferring to a serving platter.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment, add the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder and beat to combine. Beat in 4 tablespoons of warm water to combine. Raise the paddle head to check the consistency of the icing; the icing should be thick and smooth but not dripping from the paddle. Add more water until the desired consistency is reached. (You can add slightly more water to achieve a flooding consistency icing to completely cover cookies. Use a stiffer consistency to pipe decorations and details.)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degree F. Oil two 13"x18" rimmed baking sheets; line with parchment paper and set aside.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl.
• Whisk applesauce, oil, maple syrup, vinegar, and apple juice concentrate in another bowl. Add to flour mixture and mix until combined.
• Divide batter between prepared sheets. Bake until pale golden and a cake tester (toothpick if you're not Martha) inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.
• Cool in the pans on wire racks 10 minutes, then invert and remove parchment. Reinvert (turn it so pretty top is on top again) onto a large cutting board lined in parchment. Let cool completely.
• Cakes can be stored at this point, wrapped in plastic, overnight.
• Cut a 3" strip off the long (18") side of each cake (for petit fours). Cut remaining portion in half crosswise and trim into four 8" squares (for adult cake).
• For adult cake: Stack square cakes on a square piece of cardboard, spreading Apricot Whip (Recipe #238540) between them (or whatever filling, jam, or frosting you want). Spread a very thin layer of Apricot Frosting (Recipe #238541) on top and sides, smoothing with offset spatula (or use your own frosting, of course). Decorate as you wish.
• For Petit Fours: Trim cake strips to 3"x15". Spread Apricot Whip (Recipe #238540) on one strip; top with remaining strip. Cut into twenty 1 1/2" squares. Top half with squares cut from Soft Apple Slices (Recipe #238883). Pipe dot of frosting onto other half, or decorate in some other manner.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9''x9'' cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, combine the whites only of 4 eggs (reserve 2 of the yolks for later). Try to avoid any 'goldfish' (little bits of yolk in the egg whites). If you do get goldfish, it's okay for this recipe, just realize that you won't get peaks when you beat it.
• Add the 1/4 t cream of tartar and 1/4 t salt to the egg whites. Beat until foamy.
• Add the 1/3 c Splenda/sugar to the egg white mixture and beat until stiff peaks form (or until foamy and well-mixed if you had goldfish).
• Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
• In a small bowl, mix together the 1/4 c flour and 1/4 c cocoa.
• Lightly fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture.
• Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until cake springs back lightly to touch.
• Once the cake is finished baking, turn out onto parchment lined baking rack to cool.
• When the cake is cool, slice into two layers using a long, sharp knife with a serrated blade.
• To make the simple syrup: combine the 1/2 c water and 1/2 c Splenda/sugar in a small saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved.
• Using a pastry brush, coat both sides of the two cake layers with the simple syrup mixture.
• To make the frosting: cream the 3 T unsalted butter with 1/4 t vanilla. Add the 1 1/2 c powdered sugar and 1/4 c cocoa and blend gently to avoid the powders flying everywhere. CAREFULLY add just enough water to get a thick frosting (caution on this because if you add way too much you'll need to start over with the frosting, it only takes just a little water).
• Spread the frosting over one layer of the cake. Top this layer with the other layer and then frost the top of your layered cake.
• Using your sharp serrated knife again, cut the cake into 36 pieces (5 equal cuts in both directions). To make the pieces perfectly the same size you can measure and insert toothpicks as markers before you cut.
• To make the glaze: In a double boiler, melt the 16 oz bittersweet chocolate, the 1 c unsalted butter, and the 2 T light corn syrup. Stir often until well-blended.
• Set a baking rack over a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Set the layered cake pieces on the backing rack with spaces between each piece to let the chocolate flow over their sides.
• Pour the glaze over the cake pieces, taking care to cover the sides. The excess glaze will pool on the cookie sheet and may be reheated and reused. **For less waste, you can half the amount of glaze and coat in two phases, or have another recipe ready to use the excess glaze in.**.
• Allow the glaze to cool. I relocate the baking rack to the freezer to speed up the process once the pieces are slightly cooled.
• For the white hearts decoration: melt the white chocolate chips in a clean double boiler. Once the petit fours are well-hardened, use a clean paintbrush to paint the white chocolate hearts (or whatever decoration you'd like) on the tops. You may need to go over them more than once to get a nice white color without mixing with the dark brown glaze.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, hot water, and cream of tartar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 5 to 9 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Cook until thermometer registers 226 degrees, stirring only when necessary to prevent sticking. Remove saucepan from the heat. Cool at room temperature, WITHOUT STIRRING, to 110 degrees (allow about 1 hour).
• Add vanilla flavoring. Stir in enough powdered sugar to make the icing of drizzling consistency. If necessary, beat the icing with a rotary beater or wire whisk to remove any lumps. If desired, stir in a few drops of food coloring.

Steps:

• Arrange the pound cake cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze until firm, 4 hours or overnight.
• In the top of a double boiler, dissolve the gelatin in 2/3 cups cold water. Add egg white and corn syrup. Whisk. Add confectioners' sugar and whisk until well blended and not too thick. When mixture reaches 110 degrees F. (warm to the touch) divide the icing among several bowls and add your preferred food coloring to each bowl. Mix well.
• Line baking sheet with waxed paper. With 2 skewers for each color, dunk cake cubes into colored icing and cover completely. Place on waxed paper to dry. Do this for remaining cubes. When completely dried, place a drop of icing onto each cube and sprinkle with edible gold for design.

Steps:

• To Prepare cake trim the edges off the pound cake (no crusty bits).
• Cut 1 inch strips.
• Cut each strip into 1 inch squares.
• Color the coconut and place it in a bowl.
• Prepare frosting as follows:.
• In large bowl, beat together sugar, butter, vanilla and milk until smooth.
• If necessary add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.
• If desired, add a few drops of food coloring.
• Mix everything well.
• Frost the sides of each square and coat with the coconut.
• Star tip or zig-zag the top of each square and decorate with a tiny rose or rosebud or grapes or whatever you like.