whole lotta cakin' goin on- #1

Last week was a creative week. An experimenting week. A decadent week. And at my weekly weigh-in, I'd gained 1.6 lbs.

I enjoyed every bit of it! Except the gaining weight.


Of all people, my Weight Watchers leader called me up and asked me to make petit fours for a bridal shower she was hosting. Just because I've never done something doesn't necessarily mean that I can't, so I told her I'd give her a guinea pig price whilst I played around with ways and means.

To the store! I bought two Sara Lee pound cakes, torted them (meaning, cut into three layers), spread homemade strawberry freezer jam between the layers, cut into small shapes using a 2" round cookie cutter, and used a quick-pour fondant icing over the top. Oooh. This definitely works... but too pricey using Sara Lee. However, I can make pound cake.

So Thursday I baked an almond cream cheese pound cake in a 9x13 pan, torted it (note: two layers are just fine, no need to go for three), filled with my homemade strawberry freezer jam, and cut into squares and triangles.



I also had some extra chocolate cake for a different shower, so I made petit fours out of that as well--using ganache instead of fondant as the covering. Ooh. I still have about a cup of it left in the fridge, too.

Ganache is one of those things that is ridiculously easy to make, but looks like you fussed. If you ice your cake perfectly smooth with buttercream, then pour ganache over the top, you'll have a showstopper dessert, guaranteed. And the only two ingredients are chocolate and whipping cream. I used equal amounts of dark chocolate (Guittard) and heavy whipping cream--heated the cream to a boil, then poured it over the chocolate to melt.

Doesn't look so hot at first:


..but after stirring it for a few more minutes, it looks amazing:



Here's the fun, time consuming bit: put your bit of cake onto a large offset spatula (a MUST for decorating cakes!) - I used a spot of ganache or fondant underneath the cake to "stick" it temporarily to the spatula.


Ladle ganache over the top, being sure the sides get covered. (I didn't bother to ice the petit fours in buttercream first, egads, that would be a lot of work). Then allow it to drip dry on a wire rack.


Whoops, wrong picture. That's dry. Here's with ganache:


Decorate with white chocolate, a rose, a squiggle or two... that's it. These actually were the preliminary experiments that I didn't send to the WW leader... we ate these! :D