Chocolate Mousse

This is another one of our favorite recipes that can be eaten by itself, fill a cake, or fill a delicious fruit tart.

It's quick and easy, and very versatile.

This recipe makes a large batch approximately enough to fill three eight inch cakes

Chocolate Mousse:

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
•  1 tsp vanilla extract
•  1 cup of heavy whipping cream 
• 3 Tbsp powdered sugar

Procedure:

1. Start by placing your chocolate in a metal/glass bowl large enough to fit all the chocolate, heavy cream and room to stir. 
2. Put the 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream in a heavy bottomed sauce pot on the stove with the vanilla extract. Heat this up until you see little bubbles rapidly forming around the edge of your pot. 
3. Remove from heat and immediately pour over your chocolate. DO NOT STIR!
4. Cover your bowl with either a lid or saran wrap, or really anything that will keep the heat in. 
5. Wait about two minutes and then stir, stir, stir. Keep going until no lumps of chocolate remain. *(if you do still have lumps of chocolate after stirring for a while, heat it up in the microwave on half power for about 15 seconds, take out and stir. Repeat this process until the mixture is lump-free and glossy)
6. Set aside (don't refrigerate)
7. Put the rest of your heavy cream on your stand mixture fitted with the whip attachment. Start the mixer on a med-high speed, fast but not so fast you get splatters of cream everywhere. When you see the cream start to thicken add the powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time.  
8. Mix until stiff peaks form.
9. Check your chocolate mixture (ganache). It should be thick but spreadable. When it reaches this consistency, stir in one scoop of your whipped cream until it blends together. After that fold in the rest of the whipped cream gently in two additions.
10. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using. (Overnight is best)

After the mousse has set for several hours you should have a fluffy and delicious chocolate mousse. 

This mousse is easy to switch up, use dark chocolate or add flavoring. One of our favorite vartions is to add Baileys Irish cream. :)

If you do decide to add a flavoring or a liqueur stir in directly after you fold your whipped cream in. 

Good Luck! We hope you enjoy this scrumptious chocolate mousse!!

-The Bakerettes

Questions to ask your Wedding Cake Decorator

There are a bunch of articles about what brides and grooms should ask their baker before shelling out hundreds of dollars for a wedding cake. Here’s the Bakerettes version. Take it from two former counter girls and two pastry chefs.

1. When should I start looking for my cake?

You can go as early as you like, it’s always a good idea to shop around. Never order your cake from a bakery that cannot provide you with a tasting. After all this is one of  the most important desserts you’ll ever serve. It’s a good idea to go four to six months ahead of your date to book your cake.

2. What should I bring to my appointment?

Be prepared! Come to your appointment with some ideas. You don’t have to have the cake of your dreams picked out, but think about flavors and colors ahead of time. Most places have a time limit with how long you have to spend with them for your appointment. You don’t want those precious 45 minutes to be squandered debating square or round. Come with color swatches so your mint and gold cake doesn’t show up at your reception green and yellow. Your baker will appreciate this! You also wouldn’t want a call the night before your wedding from the decorator asking if you wanted light pink or hot pink roses.

3. How much is the deposit to reserve my date?

Depending on the size of your cake, expect to put down 50%. Some bakeries will have a set amount ie: $100, which reserves your day. But just to be sure expect to pay half.

4. How does your pricing work?

Most times bakeries charge for wedding cakes per slice. Depending on where you go this could include the flavor of the cakes and the decoration. While others will have additional fees for cake flavors and the decorations. Just know that fondant is always more than buttercream! Also, there will always be a delivery charge if you want them to deliver your cake. Most places charge by the distance from the reception to the bakery. This may be an opportunity to cut cost if you are able to find a bakery close to your reception site.

5. When will my cake be delivered?

The cake should arrive at your reception area no later than an hour beforehand. Provide the reception site with the phone number to the bakery so they can contact them if there are any issues. If the reception site doesn’t want them there that close to the start time, then they need to provide refrigeration if necessary. A cake that needs refrigeration can only be out for up to four hours!

6. Does the serving count include the top tier?

Usually the top tier is included in the serving size. If you plan on saving your top tier let your baker know so they can accommodate for the servings lost. Some bakeries may offer a free or discounted one year anniversary cake so you won’t have to freeze it! Don’t forget to tell the wait staff, so they won’t cut the top tier if you plan on saving it.

Hopefully these tips help you out with trying to book your wedding cake! If you have anymore questions that need answering leave us a comment and we’ll get back to you right away!

Until next time,

The Bakerettes

Basic Vanilla Buttercream

Hey Guys!

So, we thought we would share with you beautiful people one of our favorite basic buttercream recipes. A quality frosting can make or break your cake.

Too much fat and you'll leave your guests with a slimy frosting that coats their mouth and is just plain gross. Too much sugar and you lose the quality flavors you worked so hard to establish in your cake and filling. 

You can also decorate with this buttercream without it getting too soft or runny too quickly because of the shortening!

Basic Vanilla Buttercream: Enough to frost an 8" Cake

• 1 1/2 lbs Unsalted Butter (at room temp)
• 1/2 lbs Shortening
• 1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract* (add more or less to your liking) 
• 4 lbs Powdered Sugar (for a stiffer buttercream add more sugar)
• 2 Tbsp Milk (add more if needed)

Procedure:

1. Combine butter and shortening in the bowl of your stand mixer
2. Beat at medium speed until no lumps remain. DON'T FORGET TO SCRAPE THE BOWL!
3. Add vanilla extract *If using clear vanilla reduce 2 tsp* 
4. Beat until well combined
5. Add powdered sugar one scoop at a time, scraping the bowl (all the way to the bottom) between each addition
6. After all your sugar is in the bowl add your milk
7. With your mixer on medium, beat your frosting until fluffy and light in color. (8-10 mins) *If you have yellow frosting you didn't let it beat long enough*

Can be used immediately or store in the fridge up to two weeks (longer if you freeze it!)

Good Job! You made a delish buttercream that will compliment your cake! 

We hope you guys enjoy this recipe! More to come in the future.

Leave us a comment and let us know how it went!

-The Bakerettes 

First Look!

We wanted to share some of our work with everyone. The first two cakes are fondant cakes by Jill, and the last two are by Patty. 

This was Jill's first fondant cake ever! Stay tuned for a tutorial for a multi-loop bow like the one shown here.

This three tier fondant cake was one of Jill's first orders, almost everything is edible from the pearls to the coins!

This buttercream beer barrel cake was for a surprise 50th birthday party! This was hand carved out of eight cakes.

This Cookie Monster cake was fun to do, Cookie Monster is made out of cake, too! Tutorials about carving and using different cake pans will come soon!

We hope you enjoy this little snip-it of some of our work, and we hope that it shows some of the skills and tutorials you can look forward to reading about.

All for now.

-The Bakerettes

First Post!

A few weeks ago we decided we were going to start writing a blog, so here goes nothing...

Our names are Jill and Patty and we met in our first semester of Culinary School at Oakland Community College.

 This spring we'll both be Pastry Chefs and we couldn't be more excited!

Not only do we go to school together, but we work together and are great friends.

Our hopes for this blog is a post once a week about projects we're working on, and the occasional tutorial of a recipe that we love!

Stay tuned!!

-The Bakerettes