Sofia's Patisserie

Mississippi Mud Cake

2010-02-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

This cake was shared with some friends at a get together a few weeks ago. I only had a sliver.
I though it was a bit tooo sugary for me. My grandson along with my friends thought it was really good. Even though it was quite easy to make, its not one that I would repeat.

Here are some pictures .

Ropa Vieja (old clothes)

2010-02-12T20:21:00.000-08:00

As you can tell baking cakes is what I like to do. Although I do cook everyday. Well I do get Sunday off.:-) My husband and I were both born here in Tampa, Fl, and both are of cuban, spanish decent.

So as you can imagine I cook alot of spanish food. My husband is a true Spaniard. He lovess his white rice, matter of fact if I gave it to him for breakfast he would probably love it.

Today Friday I made what we call Ropa Vieja, Shredded Beef in Tomatoe sauce, the literal translation in english is "old clothes". This is one of my husbands favorite.

I have a cookbook called "Sabor" by author Ana Quinocoes Rodriquez
Spanish cooking is second nature to latins here in Tampa.
So I decided to make her recipe which by the way is very similar to the way my grandmother made it, just a bit of an updated twist.

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it.
Serves 6 to 8
2 teaspsoons salt, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon whole black peppercons
2 pounds flank steak
1/2 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, roughly chop
1 medium green bell pepper roughly chopped
1 medium red bell pepper roughly chopped
2 cups tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1 cup vino seco (dry white cooking wine)
*I use a dry white wine not cooking wine
Lime
1/2 cup canned peas, for garnish
1/4 cup chopped pimentos for garnish

Combine 1/2 quarts water, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the peppercorns in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Add the steak and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook for about 2 hours, until the meat is nice and tender.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the tomato sauce, bay leaf, pepper, cumin, oregano, and remaining teaspoon of salt, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Add the vino seco and continue boiling for 5 mininutes.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Drain the flank steak and let it cool to room tempertature or a plate lined with paper towels. use your hands to shred the beef into long strips, if you shred it along the grain, it should come apart easily. Season the steak with salt and peper and a squeeze of lime juice, and add it to the tomatoe mixture. Stir to coat the meat with sauce. Cook over medium-low heat for at least 20 to
30 minutes, to allow the flavors to come together. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Garnish with peas and pimentos before serving.

Chocolate Cake

2010-02-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of a Chocolate Cake I made a few weeks ago, I did not have the time to post them till now.

This cake was really easy to make. It is one tier of a three tier wedding cake from the same book that I made for my girlfriend's aniversary party. "Wedding Cakes You Can Make" by Dede Wilson.

This cake is really tasty and moist. The Chocolate Buttercream was not overly sweet, it was just right and the filling had Creme de Cacao Buttercream. It was the perfect chocolate cake.

I am part of a group of friends that love to cook , get together and entertain and I am, of course usually the one that brings desert. :-)

Hope you enjoy these pictures.

Red Velvet Cake

2010-01-21T02:37:00.001-08:00

I have made Red Velvet Cakes before, I thought this one was very good.
I really liked the Coconut-Pecan Icing instead of Cream Cheese Frosting, although I didn't think there was enough
of it. Next time I will definitely make the Icing 1 1/2.

I made the cake for my husband's son Travis and wife Barbara who told me that she loves Red Velvet Cake. She send me an email saying "yummy" so I guess it tasted as good as it looks.

Aniversary Cake

2009-12-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

This is an aniversary cake I made for a friend of
mine that was married 20yrs.
The cake was soaked with simple syrup and apricot brandy.
I love the recipe for the Buttercream. I like this recipe better than the ones with butter and crisco.

Here in one of the pictures is my girlfriend Gisela who is always
ready to help me when it comes to decorating my cakes.

This cake is from the cookbook called "Wedding Cakes You Can Make" by Dede Wilson.
I have three of her books, I love them. I like how she explains everything in steps,
Recipes, Components, Equipments, and Timeline so you know what you can make ahead of time.

The recipes are all from scratch and the Icing is made with egg whites, sugar & butter YUMM.

I followed her intructions and bought quality ingredients.
The cake was a hit with my friends and guest.

Burnt Sugar Cake

2009-11-24T22:16:00.000-08:00

According to Southern Cakes this cake dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. The national culinary treasure Jean Anderson traced it only as far back as the 1930'sin her landmark American Century cook book.

I have The American Woman's Cookbook published in 1946. The recipe is similar to the one we are baking except they used cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Unlike caramel cake, which is a yellow or white cake with a thick caramel frosting, a burnt sugar cake has caramel inside and out.

Here are some pictures of my version of The Southern Cakes Burnt Sugar Cake.

A vintage cake with a vintage picture of my grandmother

The cake was a hit with my husband and my friends. I thought it was good as well, except for the frosting was a bit gritty and too sugary. The cake itself was very moist and tasty.

Strawberry White Chocolate Cake

2009-11-08T15:58:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to make a simple bundt cake and have some of my friends over for cake and tea.

I think its simple because usually anyone that bakes will have these ingredients on hand.

4 oz. of white chocolate
1 cup of milk
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 oz. of cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup strawberry jam

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup Bundt Pan.

In a small saucepan, heart white chocolate and milk over low heat. Cook just until chocolate is melted; cool

In a large mixing bowl, mix well. Add melted chocolate mixture and all remaining ingredients except strawberry jam; mix well Spoon into prepared pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted
in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes.

Remove from pan; cool completely on rack. While cake is warm,
drizzle with jam.
16 servings

Cakes from the "Sky High" Cookbook

2009-10-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

This summer, while visiting my daughter in Tennessee, I had the pleasure of meeting Alisa Huntsmann of Loveless Cafe, the author of Sky High Cakes.

Not only was she very sweet, she posed for this picture and gave me a few baking tips. I tried her recipes for Mango Mousse Cake, Orange-Grand Marnier Cake and Apricot Carrot Cake. They turned out so fantastic, that I wanted to share a few pictures:

Orange-Grand Marnier

Mango Mousse

Apricot Carrot Cake