Category: cakes

It’s a Housewarming Party! Win A Set of Three Nordic Ware Bundt Pans.

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Nothing breaks in a new home like the scents of homemade baked goods wafting from the kitchen. I wanted to go all out and do something really special for my readers to welcome them to my new home, Coco-Cooks.com. I have always loved Nordic Ware , and if I could I would buy every pan. But then I don’t have the storage for that sort of collection. My favorite cookware store in the West Loop, that caters to professional Chefs, had Nordic Ware on clearance. Pans retailing usually in the neighborhood of $40 or more, were marked drastically down. I scooped them up for you! See , Nordic Ware is niche item that has many fans, especially among home bakers, but not necessarily in a restaurant supply type of store. They really are a work of art that one can get creative with . With this collection you can entertain in style throughout the seasons.

I am giving away an entire set of three Nordic Ware Bundt Pans , of approx $105 dollar value, to one reader , randomly selected. The set consists of :

  • Rose Bundt Pan

  • Holiday Wreath Bundt Pan

  • Festival Bundt Pan

Here are the Rules and Ways to Win:

  • Winner must reside in the United States or Canada ( shipping costs prohibit selection outside North America).
  • Leave a comment on this post.
  • Increase your chances to win by becoming a Fan of  Coco Cooks Fan Page on Facebook, subscribing to Coco Cooks via email. The subscription button is on the left sidebar.There will be verification  of either option for eligibility.In your post comment please, let me know if you became a fan or subscribed , for verification purposes.
  • Contest will run from July 16 -July 23, 2010  12:00 pm CST.

So what are you waiting for!  Either become a Fan on Facebook, sign up for Coco Cooks in your in-box, leave a comment, or do a combo of all three!

Three ways to win a set of Three!

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Speckled Buttercream

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I may be be called cute at times, but one thing I’m not is cutesy. Nor am I follower of fads. That’s why the whole cupcake craze just never appealed to me much. I will have one now and then, but I am not obsessed . Although I admit there are those that have taken the cupcake to pure art form. I wrote about the whole craze here. Give me a multi tiered cake to bring out the artist in me. However when it comes to a portable dessert to break my dry spell of not baking , the cupcake comes to the rescue. The small parcels of sweet goodness are just  the right thing to tote to work to satisfy  the few people that had been missing my sweets.

The security guard and customer service representative were beginning to wonder what was going on with me. They got spoiled over the holidays.  But with New Years and personal vows to get my health and weight  in check before things got out of control, baking was sidelined. Then Certain Someone, decided to remodel, which I am grateful, but it takes time with our schedules and figuring out what to do with all my stuff. So my kitchen just isn’t in the state I would like it to be for things to flow. I moved things around and lost my Mojo. The other day I moved my Kitchen Aid back to its original place and I got the urge back . With egg whites in the freezer and visions of lightness, I decided on Angel Food. Chocolaty Angel Food, cause that what’s I am. Then topped with an Italian Meringue Butter cream speckled with vanilla bean paste. Light and rich. Certain Someone is not one for sweets but that didn’t stop him from asking for his “Honig to bring me another bite of cake. Ein Bisschen”.

I exaggerate, but that’s the gist. At work , those managed to partake scarfed them down in a bite. They are that light, but with a rich decadent topping. I choose Rose Levy  Beranbaum’s Chocolate Lovers Angel Food Cake from the Cake Bible as my guide. The recipe is designed for a cake,but it made 24 cupcakes plus one 6 inch plain cake.
You can find the recipe here for the cake.
I used my recipe from from the French Pasty School. Here you can find an classic Italian Meringue with a tutorial that’s based on a Rose Levy Beranbaum  recipe.

Some quick tips:

  • Make your own cake flour by substitute by sifting  together 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch.
  • Make sure the egg whites hit the stiff beak stage. To test hold up whisk attachment and see it the beaks hold their shape.The recipe has 3 stages, frothy, soft, and stiff.
  • Don’t be deterred if your Italian Meringue curdles. It’s one of those things that has looks really bad before it shapes up and comes to life. Just keep beating on. It will come together , promise.
  • I used Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean paste which is a great alternative to actual vanilla beans.Just add to butter cream  to achieve speckled effect.
  • If making cupcakes , fill liners 2/3 of the way. Tap pan to settle batter.



This is What I Have Been Up To

It is hard to believe summer is over and the fall season will begin. I will not apologise for not truly blogging, but August was a dozy.Starting with the Boston trip, work, the Foodbuzz Smirnoff Lunch, Foodbuzz Visa Signature dinner at Tru with local bloggers , which I haven’t written about, but here is a quick visual tour or a memorable evening.

I also had another night course at the French Pastry School this past week focusing on classic French Cakes, Wedding and Event Cakes with Chefs Laura Ragano and Bob Hartwig. Laura is a protege of the famous Nicholas Lodge.I am just plain fatigued. I haven’t even posted the rest of the recipes from the Smirnoff lunch! Certain Someone has been away for most of the summer, and year for that matter. So not much regular cooking going on here. But I haven’t been a slacker.

I have chosen a winner for the Best Summer Drinks. Lets hear it for Jen of Aeatwrite! It was so fun to read all of your summer memories.

Well I Thought I was the Cake Diva… Nasturtium 40th Anniversary Cake

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Those of you that have been reading Coco Cooks know I dabble in Cake decorating. In fact that’s is how this blog came to be. My firsts posts were on my ventures into Cake decorating and sugar craft. This year I finally mustered up the nerve to enter The 4th Annual Student Cake Decorating Competition sponsored by the French Pastry School Chicago. Its for students at both culinary and high school level , of which I fall into neither. But they said as long as I wasn’t a professional , I was good. So I paid my $10 donation as entry fee, to benefit Esperanza Community Services and got to work thinking of a 40th anniversary themed cake. I choice the nasturtium flower and accents of Ruby as they are symbolic of the 40th anniversary.
Earlier in the month I started making the gum paste flowers and leaves using a rose cutter and stretching and manipulating the petals to form the Nasturtiums. Then I went back over and brushed color and shimmer over the flowers to give more detail. You can call my style Impressionistic. I let thse dry for sevral days to become hard.
The cakes were actual cake dummies of 6, 10, and 12 inch. I decided to stick with simple white fondant as there would be a lot of color with the flowers. I rolled the fondant, took about 3 Wilton boxes, and centered with a wooden skewer.
The flowers and leaves were applied with royal icing and I made more flowers on the fondant with royal icing using the brush embroidery method. That’s piping the icing and taking a damp brush and stroking int outline inwards to create an almost raised Waterford type of effect on the fondant.
Chef Laura Ragano gave an excellent demo with Wayne Johnson of local NBC on basic sugar craft and how she made her cake for Esperanza and a television segment with Wayne earlier in the week. While they did this Celebrity Cake Decorator Nicholas Lodge judged with other experts from Wilton and the community.

I wish I had a picture of the High School levels 1st prize winner. My Blackberry ran out of memory. The boy was phenomenal and it was great to see his family and friends go all out to support him.

This cakes creator was 18 and drove all the way from Massachusetts to compete. She hopes to go to French Pastry School and placed 2nd!


Here is the Culinary level in which I was competing.The first and 4th cakes on the table placed 1st and 3rd respectively.
Certain Someone was very supportive with emails and said mine was still good and to hurry up and get my frickin license so I can make my cakes and sell them.The Twitter and Facebook support was awesome and uplifting. The organizers said the they would email the judges comments for feedback and I am looking forward to hearing what they have to say. My theories are that I didn’t include any writing or anything pointing to a 40th anniversary or Esperanza . My images were more symbolic. Maybe my style isn’t as neat and precise and I have always had a more painterly style. The teachers in school always pointed this out. I plan to study more int actual anatomy of the flower to be as realistic as possible. Competition is tough and plays at all your insecurities, but the trick is to move on learn from it. Next time!