Extra cream cheese frosting? Use it up!

So a friend of mine used the red velvet recipe I posted last time but made cupcakes instead of a cake and had extra frosting left over. I suggest making something carrot, zucchini or pumpkin to use up the extra cream cheese frosting. 

Here's a wonderful pumpkin cupcake recipe that is so light and fluffy it offsets the dense and tart cream cheese frosting so nicely!

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

Yield: 18 cupcakes

2 c all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp all spice

1 c brown sugar

1 c granulated sugar

1 c unsalted butter, melted and cooled

4 eggs

15 oz pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin tins. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and all spice in a bowl. Set aside.

2. In another bowl mix butter, sugars and eggs until combined. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix just until incorporated. Fold in pumpkin puree.

3. Distribute batter into muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on rack.

4. Once completely cool, pipe on cream cheese frosting with a large round tip or spread with a small metal spatula.

Now I had made mini-cupcakes and piped dollops of cream cheese frosting on each one. To pipe the dollops, use a large round tip and, holding the piping bag and tip straight up, squeeze gently until the desired amount is on the cupcake, stop squeezing and pull up. The closer the tip is the cupcake, the flatter the dollop will be. And remember, practice makes perfect.

Parchment Cones

Somewhere along my baking endeavors I was decorating a cake or a cookie with a parchment cone - super easy to make and use, disposable - when it was mentioned to me that this was a great tool that most at-home bakers don't have access too. Well, while in the original conversation it was suggested that I come up with a silicone, resuable version, a feat I haven't quite conquered just yet, I do have a little try-it-at-home write up for now. Here we go!

PARCHMENT CONES

1. Cut a rectangular piece of parchment. Cut diagonally into two triangles.

2. Holding one triangle piece with top of triangle facing you (that diagonal cut you made? that is facing away from you) and the long side of the triangle on your left (L for left, L for long. easy to remember right?)

3. Now with your right hand holding the short side of the triangle, roll it upwards towards the top of the triangle.

4. With your left hand, roll long side of triangle upwards towards the top of the triangle, forming the cone.

5. Pull corners together, tightening cone until tip is closed. 

6. Fold corners into secure cone.

7. Fill with whatever you're decorating with (melted chocolate, colored frosting, etc.). To close off the cone: after filling (not too full or it'll burst! shoot for about 1/2 to 2/3 full) close the opening and fold the entire edge over, then fold again.


I know that nowadays there are many products out there that are suppose to make piping easier but with parchment cones, once you get the hang of making one, it's really not that complicated. Plus I find it easier to control the pressure while decorating AND there's the bonus of not having to clean up the accordian style piping things or the tube piping doohickies. With a cone, when you're done, you just toss! It's great for small amounts (so you don't have to use a whole piping bag) like chocolate when writing on cakes like this birthday cake I made: 

The End.

So we're coming up on our grad show... I have three days left of exams and then I'm done with culinary school!! eeks, man.
But for part of our grad show we made wedding cakes for display.


My three wedding cakes!


This one is by far my favorite (and my first!). It was inspired by a fence in Balboa Park.



Number 2. Inspired by a wedding dress in a magazine.


And Number 3: A Taiwanese wedding cake. Flower pattern designed by my sister, Aileen Cheng.

I promise better pictures and more from the grad show. Stay tuned.