Jo Bean and the Amazing Technicolour Heart Cake

Have you ever heard of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat? Probably not. Doesn't matter. Have you ever been obsessed with the idea of making a cake that looks like a rainbow explosion? It's been on my mind for a few days now, and today I finally remembered to buy more vanilla essence so I could finally make my dreams come true.

I baked it with the intention of trading it for some art at SUPER MARKET-- an art show where everything and anything is legal tender except dollars and cents. I heard someone was doing silhouette cut-outs, and I intended to offer my cake in exchange for my silhouette. But then I was overcome with a great fear of rejection and a great rolling, rumble in my stomach.

So...

Anyway, it's my vanilla cupcake recipe, halved. And lots of food colouring.

I used foil to divide the heart pan into three section to at least somewhat separate the 3 colours. It's a bit ghetto and didn't work particularly well. I'll use cardboard next time.

The batter took the food colouring very well. The red looked a bit pink, but das cool.

The batter's in the pan, looking like some sort of flag (maybe Primary Colourland's), and ready to go.

The frosting, the frosting, the frosting!

It looks like an artist's sink!

Why would I need two forks? S'not like I'm sharing...

Little Orange Pound Cakes with Orange Glaze

I've moved house!

Which means: new kitchen, new hood, new views, new neighbours, new ceilings, new floors, new this, new that, bleep.

The first thing I baked in the shiny new abode was these cakes. My mom sent me a silicon mould with heart-shaped compartments for Valentine's Day, and I was all in a tizzy and had to use it right away. I don't have a pound cake recipe of my own, so I took a chance on the first one I came across.

I had one orange left from BAJA ORANGE SHRIMP FAJITAS, so I thought it best to have a pound cake of the orange-flavoured variety. BAAAA-JAAAAAAA!

The recipe is from My Wooden Spoon. I halved it because there are only six hearts in my mould, and I certainly didn't feel like two rounds of baking and I certainly didn't want muffin-shaped orange pound cakes (BORING)-- I'd just end up feeling bad for them because they'd have to sit around being boring while the cute heart ones were gobbled up in a hot second.

Here is the original recipe (un-halved):

Orange Pound Cake
1/2 cup butter, room temperature (I used margarine)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup milk (I used soy)
1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind

Orange Glaze
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/3 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325F (180 C) and butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan
2. Cream butter & sugar, then add eggs and mix well; set aside.
3. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In a measuring cup combine orange juice, milk and orange zest
5. Start adding the juice mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the flour mixture until light & creamy
6. Spoon (pour) into pan and bake for 45 minutes or until center comes out clean with toothpick
7. Cool in pan and then remove from pan and drizzle with glaze

They were quite tasty. In my opinion, pound cake SUCKS when hot, so don't sneak a bite before it's cooled. I ate one of the little hearts when it was still hot and I thought my first baking venture in my new home was a failure and I was slightly disappointed. Then they cooled and I glazed them and they were delish and hope was restored.

Oh, and I've made these since. It's the Strawberry Cake I've shown you before-- just muffin-sized!

Strawberry Cake to Have with Tea

The other day, two of my favourite people brought over a punnet of strawberries! Oliver and Georgia had gone strawberry pickin' in the country and their bounty was too great to keep to themselves.

I ate a fair few strawberries over the next couple days, but my efforts weren't making much of a dent. So, I confronted the large punnet head-on, and baked a darn cake.

I wish I could describe to you how much I enjoy this cake. Maybe I enjoyed it so immensely because I was just a leetle drunk when I had a piece last night. But, then again, my husband wasn't drunk and he really dug it. Also, I had another piece this morning and it was just as good-- with a lil bit of whipped cream, oh HELL YEAH.

Strawberry Cake
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups sliced strawberries

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C)
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in mixing bowl
3. Add milk, egg, and butter
4. Spoon into 8-inch pan (in the past, I've used the plain, 8-inch cake pan, but this time I used a slighter larger but shallower tart pan)
5. Top with strawberries
6. Combine crumb ingredients
7. Sprinkle over batter in pan
8. Bake 30-35 minutes

What would you guys do if I just got stuck like a broken record and I was like:
5. Top with strawberries
5. Top with strawberries
5. Top with strawberries
5. Top with strawberries

You'd be like, 'ONTO THE NEXT DIRECTION, JO BEAN!'

The only direction you need: Go make a cake, fool.

Mini Birthday Cake

Last weekend we celebrated my friend Hannah's birthday! I've never been in the country for her birthday, so I felt I ought to make something real special for her ('I've never been in the country for her birthday'-- that makes me sound so cool).

I decorated it in such a hurry, my kitchen was left looking like the aftermath of a party hurricane.

The cake is a vegan recipe I got from one of my favourite blogs, Bread and Honey. However, Hannah's tumtum doesn't agree with wheat, so I substituted brown rice flour for this particular cake. I've used this recipe many times, and both flours work a charm. I also double it, because the original recipe is for a mini vegan cake, and I usually want a full size 8-incher. So, this is the recipe, doubled.

Vegan Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup cold water
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C)
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
3. Grease an 8 inch cake pan
4. Pour da batta in
5. Bake 25-30 minutes
6. If you want to make a three-tiered cake like Hannah's birthday cake, after the cake has cooled COMPLETELY, cut three circles out of it, each slightly smaller than the last. My base circle was probably about 3 1/2 inches across, 4 tops.

The frosting I made is very yummy, but cream cheese/whipped cream frostings are a pain because they're just not especially firm and they don't like to be out of the fridge for long. I made a very small batch because the cake is teensy. Also, note that the frosting isn't vegan.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 a package cream cheese
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl
2. Add cream and continue to beat beat beat until it forms firm peaks

So, stack the three cake circles, using the frosting as an adhesive between each one. I stuck a wood skewer (which I later put a little H-flag on) right through the whole cake to prevent slippage. Now, frost the whole darn thing and decorate with sugar and spice and everything nice-- that's what birthday girls are made of!