Wilton Course 1 Lesson 2

For the second class we were required to bring in a cake and frosting to decorate it. We first practiced bead borders and building up 3d designs on the practice boards. We were also shown how to transfer a design from parchment paper onto the cake using parchment paper. I used a Swiss meringue butter cream to frost my cake which doent harden up like regular butter cream, so I wasn't able to use the parchment paper trick and just free handed my cupcake design. I think it came out pretty good, I need to practice more on making borders as mine are a little uneven. This was a very fun class because we were decorating the whole time.

The cake I made had no flour, butter, or sugar and it was delicious! Its a healthy low carb cake made from black beans, eggs, and coconut oil that I adapted from Healthyindulgences.net. The texture was similar to carrot cake and the coco powder covered up any bean taste and the cake just tasted chocolaty. I think next time I'll add some mini chocolate chips or walnuts to camouflage the not perfect texture. I gave a piece to my boyfriend without telling him what it was and he really liked it, he said it tasted just like cake!

The frosting I chose was not healthy at all. Swiss meringue buttercream, dangerous stuff. Creamy buttery taste, silky smooth texture, and beautiful satiny finish makes this my new favorite frosting. Its also wonderful to pipe with, the egg whites really stabilize it so you don't need to add a ton of powdered sugar to make it stiff enough for decorating. Unfortunately, it contains a pound of butter, I'll have to reserve it for special occasions because that's way too much saturated fat to be eating regularly.

Healthy Indulgence Chocolate Cake

adapted from Healthyindulgences.net

makes one 9 inch cake

Ingredients:

1-15 ounce can of low sodium black beans
5 large eggs, room tempuratue
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon Truvia brand stevia
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon water


Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease one 9 inch cake pan and dust with coco powder.

Drain and rinse beans and shake off excess water. Blend beans in a food processor until they are very smooth and set aside.
Sift together cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, set aside.
In a heat proof bowl, combine the stevia and coconut oil. Whisk in the eggs until smooth. If the coconut oil hardens up, whisk the mixture over a pan of simmering water until it is completly smooth. Whisk in the vanilla and water. Beat in the pureed beans until completely combined. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and blend well.
Pour into the cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. It will dome up while baking but fall flat as it cools. Let it cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing it.

Notes
I think the chocolate flavor could really be enhanced with a little espresso powder. As for a healthy frosting, Peanut Butter & Co's Dark Chocolate Dreams, fresh fruit, or I'm thinking of a greek yogurt and cream cheese combo I wanna try out.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

from Bakersroyale.com, they have a wonderful how-to post

Makes approximately 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

5 large egg whites
11/2 cup sugar
4 sticks unsalted butter, sliced and softened
1/4 teaspoon salt


1.Combine egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer bowl and place it over (not on) simmering water. Heat mixture to 160 degrees F while whisking constantly.
2.Transfer mixer bowl to stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed (speed 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) until mixture cools, doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks; about 10-12 minutes.
3.Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking at first—this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again.
4.Add flavoring, such as vanilla extract, mix to combine.