Part Two!?  Catch up on Part One here!

If you had children and could only share one recipe with them, what would it be?

If I could only share one recipe with my kids, I’d no doubt teach them how to make a Sweet Potato Pie.  Wait… I haven’t even taught you all how to make a Sweet Potato Pie!  I’ll get on that.  Pies are a big deal in my family, it’s the only real way to get out of doing the dishes at holiday time… “I made the pie!” and you’re sitting pretty on the couch at dish time.  Brilliant!

What is your favorite cookbook specifically for cakes and cupcakes?

I’m a sucker for the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. It’s simple, approachable and has some really lovely recipes.

How do you like your coffee?

Two tablespoons of fresh ground coffee with 3 cups of hot water in a French press. Thow in some sugar and whole milk… press the press and coffee is a go!

What 3 things did you learn in culinary school that everyone should know?

Ah… as I mentioned before, I wasn’t one for the fancy-hat-wearing culinary school scene.  I did take a three month Professional Baking Course here in Los Angeles to get my feet wet just after I graduated with my bachelor’s degree.  By then I had already been working hard in bakeries.  I just wanted to see if professional culinary schooling was something that would float my boat.

When as our final class project we made a Croquembouche, I knew that large-and-in-charge-culinary school just wasn’t for me.  Beautiful, yes.  But what the heck am I going to do with a Croquembouche!?

I did learn some great things in the baking program.  Here are three off the top of my head.

1.  Always fluff flour before you measure it in a measuring cup, and don’t pack it in there too heavily before you level it off with a butter knife.

2.  Baking recipes almost always call for large eggs.  Using medium or jumbo eggs will throw off your recipe.

3.  Don’t ever ever ever ever EVER touch boiling sugar.  And if you do, thank the teacher that put the bowl of ice water next to your station to instantly cool your bad decisions.

AND!  BONUS!  Here are three things I taught myself in the kitchen. Good oven mits go a long long long way. Buttermilk lasts waaaay past it’s printed expiration date… weeks people… weeks. And, if you’re standing in the baking aisle at the grocery store and you’ve forgotten your list at home, just buy the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda… you’re probably out.

Is there a particular bakeware you would swear by?

Can I tell you a secret? I’m not super picky when it comes to bakeware. Heck… I’m the kind of baker that doesn’t even use parchment paper when I’m supposed to. There isn’t one name brand that overwhelms my kitchen. The only piece of glory that I swear by is my Kitchen Aid Mixer. The rest of my pans and such I get from my local restaurant supply store. They’re cheaper than those fancy kitchen stores and I know the products work because they have to stand up to restaurant type use.

What is the most intimidating food project you’ve ever taken on?

Wedding cakes are pretty daunting.  Why?  Well, you pretty much only get one shot.  Much of the work comes together the morning of the wedding and there is absolutely zero room for error.  It quickly becomes a high pressure situation.

I’m a pretty novice baker but I want to purchase a stand up mixer to help with my dough-making and such. Can you recommend the easiest to use and best bang for my buck.

I’m no kitchen snob… I promise you I’m not. The only piece of equiptment I have in my kitchen that I feel like I couldn’t do without is my KitchenAid mixer. It means a lot to me. It’s got power. It’s got style. It understands me, and it wants to help me make the most delicious treat possible. The Artisan versions are a bit over the $200 mark, but worth every penny. I mean it.

I’ve always been under the impression that you did work in some type of bakery as well as baking for fun. If so – is it the coolest thing ever?

For as long as I’ve been working, I’ve been working around food. In the past several years I’ve spend a lot of time baking professionally. For a girl that loves baking, it was just lovely to hand people something that I had created and watch a smile form on their face. For the sleepy head in me, the 3am wake up call was brutal, to say the least.

Do you have a full-time job besides blogging?

Yes I do. I learn about food. I get to talk to people about food and eat gorgeous food.  I work with a fantastic group of food people at a small restaurant in Los Angeles.  It’s an amazing job.  I feel very lucky to be surrounded by food and people that love it as much as I do.  Believe it or not, I spend as much time here on my blog as I do at my restaurant job.  This humble blog is no joke.  This little corner of the internet that I’ve created means so much to me… and it’s growing thanks to you!

Where did you get that flower mold that you have on your website?

I got it a few years ago at a candy making shop. I don’t think they’re hard to find. Just look for a flat daisy flower chocolate mold. Ah Google… thank goodness for you.

Can I substitute orange juice for milk in most recipes?

I don’t think substituting milk for orange juice is the best idea. Orange juice is full of acids that are different from milk. Milk also has a creaminess that orange juice can’t compete with. On top of all that, milk often works a certain way with the leavening agents in a recipe.  Buttermilk, for example, goes hand in hand with baking soda, because the acids in buttermilk react to the baking soda to help lift the baked good. If milk is a big part of a recipe, I would stick with milk. If it just calls for a teaspoon or two, you could probably safely experiment with orange juice or water. See what happens! That’s what baking is all about!

What is your favorite artist to listen to when making bread?

When I’m making bread I love to listen to episode after episode of This American Life. The stories keep my mind busy and the bread keeps my hands moving right along.  For music, the Fleet Foxes seem to be getting me through the days with ease and smiles.  Love em!

What is your favorite cookie?

A warm chocolate chip cookie, 10 minutes out of the oven with a glass of whole milk with ice cubes in it. Perfect world.

How long are you supposed to chill the dough in your Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe?

For my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, I chill the dough for at least three hours, but usually overnight.

Will you send me cookies?

Maybe, but don’t count on it. Will you send me something back?

Do you have a recipe for macaroni and cheese? I woke up craving it..and if you did have a recipe, I bet it would be a good one.

I think that macaroni and cheese is one of those recipes that is best if someone else makes it for me. For that reason, and for that reason alone, I don’t have a recipe.

Part Three, because you’ve got questions and I sometimes have answers…. coming soon.

Just the thought of cinnamon rolls-  warm, gooey, soft, sweet- makes me literally swoon.  I love them.  If I were a baking superhero (I’m working on it) my weakness would be cinnamon rolls.

As much as I love the little devils (and I hate to say this) I hate to bake them.  The problem is not the sweet yeast dough or the rolling or the slicing.  I simply have no patience for the waiting that is required of me during the proofing, rolling, slicing and proofing again process.  I realize this is totally unreasonable, but it’s just the truth.

Nicole at Baking Bites seems the understand my need for instant, yet stubbornly homemade cinnamon roll goodness.

I’d like to introduce you to Cinnamon Roll Muffins-  add the yeast, subtract the long rising.

Imagine my glee when I had cinnamon roll-esque goodness coming out of my oven in well under an hour.  These muffins rise for a short 15 minutes in the bowl and then are placed into a cold oven to cook as the oven preheats to 350 degrees.  After 20 minutes in the oven, they’re risen and golden and bubbling with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Baking Bites

Print this recipe!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp active dry or rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Filling/Topping

2 tbsp butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cardamom

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk or cream

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.
While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly.  Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips (or swirl in with a spatula.)
Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.
Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.
Serve warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.

Preheat. Why? Because it says so! If a recipe asks you to preheat the oven to a certain temperature. Well… you should. What the recipe is trying to tell you is that your cupcakes, or loaf of zucchini bread, or blackberry muffins need to combine with a certain temperature to do their thing. And we all know, we want out baked goods to do their thing. Even if they don’t, we’ll probably still nibble on them on their way from the oven to the trash bin. But everything seems to work out like sunshine and roses if our baked goods do their thing. Right?

You Don’t Need Gadgets. You might want them… but you don’t need them. Is it just me or has baking become kind of trendy lately? I’ve noticed all sorts of intricate, multi layered whisks, and scrapers, and bumper stickers for your Kitchen Aid mixer. It turns out that you don’t really need any of that stuff to produce some killer cupcakes. You’ll need some stainless steel bowls and a fantastic candy thermometer but really, stick with the basics.

Yeast- You Can do It! I know, yeast is a little intimidating. But really- you can do it! There are a few things yeast needs to get going- warm water and sugar. Simple as that. You have live yeast. These cinnamon rolls were some of the first yeasted breads I mastered. They were more approachable to me because the dough has creamed butter, sugar and eggs. It starts off like and cake and finishes as a bread. If you’re scared of yeast, please give this recipe a go!

Oil up- This tip isn’t really a baking tip. If you’re dicing up peppers, before you handle the peppers rub your hands with vegetable oil. This will help make sure that the hot pepper juice doesn’t soak into your hands for you to find later when you brings your hands up to your mouth and nose. Ouch!

Butter is butter. Margarine is NOT butter. I don’t mean to yell. I just really need you to understand that margarine is not butter. Butter is fat, milk solids, water and sometimes salt. Margarine is hydrogenated yellow. And you know what!? They (margarine makers) have to dye it yellow! Margarine is really a dull grey color that they bleach white and then dye yellow to make it look more like butter. Not kidding. Not cool. Google it. Use butter. It tastes good and we know where it comes from. If you’re a vegan- please don’t yell at me, because I like tofu and I’m not listening.

Cool To Room Temperature. Translation- Wait. I tend to be a bit of a rule breaker, which has produced some pretty disastrous baking results. One of those tragedies came when I didn’t let a cake cool properly and I tried to frost it while it was still a bit warm. Fail. Not good. My cake turned into a slip and slide. Frosting was oozing out of the layers and the whole thing wouldn’t stay together no matter how I cursed. Some lessons you have to learn the hard way. I’ll never frost a warm cake again.

Frosting a two layer cake doesn’t have to be daunting.  You don’t have to be a math genius, or an abundantly creative person.  It’s just cake!  You’ll just need a plane cake, some frosting, a smile on your face, and a few basic kitchen supplies.

Ok, the smile is optional, but it generally helps.

Make the jump and let’s frost a cake!

You’ll need a few supplies besides a cake and frosting in order to make this happen.

Cake cardboard

Cake boards come in all different sizes.  I usually use a board that is 1-inch larger than the cake pan I baked in.  If you don’t have cake boards, a kitchen plate would be just fine!  Just make sure that the center dip in the plate isn’t to deep.  You could also decorate directly on a pretty cake stand! 

Revolving cake decorating stand

These stands make frosting a decorating a breeze because the cake moves easily.  There is a plastic version of this cake stand for a great price here!  I have this plastic Wilton stand at home and it works great! 

Cake decorating knife or Icing spatula

These are round tipped blunt knives that are essential for moving icing around and smoothing edges.  They come in bent and flat.  I almost exclusively use a flat, but the bent come in handy for smoothing the top of cakes. 

The example below is a Yellow Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Caramel Butterscotch filling (recipe will follow soon).  I baked 2 8-inch round cakes, and places the cake on a 9-inch cake board and doily.

 1.  Start by taping a doily to your cake board, or kitchen plate.  Place on the revolving cake stand.  Take a dollop of frosting and smear it in the center of the doily (not pictured).  This will ensure that the cake sticks to the doily and doesn’t slide during possible transport.

2.  Center cake on top of the cake board or kitchen plate.  I placed my cake, top side up.  I also trimmed the top a bit with a serrated knife to ensure that the surface was as even as possible.  

3.  Dollop about 3/4 cup of frosting (you should eyeball it) into the center of the cake round.  With an icing spatula, spread the frosting evenly around the cake until it reaches the edges.  Add more frosting as necessary.  For this cake, because I added a butterscotch filling, I created a slight edge with the icing at the edges of the cake.  I  accomplished this by simply not scraping off excess frosting as it reached the edge of the cake,  I let it build up into a protective lip.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, just a bit of a raised edge to hold in a thin layer of filling.

4.  Pour about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of  butterscotch filling into the center of the iced layer ( you can eyeball this too).  Using the back of a spoon, not your icing spatula, spread the filling until it reaches the icing barrier that you have created. 

5.  Set aside the butterscotch topped layer for a moment.  Place the second layer of cake on a piece of waxed paper on the revolving cake stand, top side up.  Trim the cake with a serrated knife to even out the cake round just as you did with the first layer.  Dollop about 1/2 cup of frosting into the center of the cake.  Using the icing spatula, spread the frosting around until it reaches the edges of the cake.  This layer of frosting will be much thinner than the first layer you put on the previous cake.  This layer is going to go face down, directly on top of the butterscotch layer, and this thin layer of frosting is just to ensure that the butterscotch doesn’t soak into the cake lying above it.  

6.  Return the butterscotch layer to the cake stand and carefully place the second layer, frosting side down, on top of the butterscotch filling.  The top of the cake will be the bottom of the second layer.  This is great, because the bottom layer of the cake is usually uniform and flat.  Go you!  Now you’re going to frost the top.

7. Make sure that the top of the cake is fairly even.  Gently push the cake down a bit if one side is higher than the other.  Dollop about 1 cup of frosting onto the center of the top of the cake.  Using the icing spatula, spread the frosting out towards the edges of the cake.  Smooth the center ( it doesn’t have to be perfect) letting frosting accumulate at the edges of the top of the cake if you find you have extra.  The extra frosting at the edge of the cake can be used to frost the sides of the cake.  

8.  At this point it’s helpful to run the icing spatula under warm running water.  Cleaning the knife with warm water will help smooth the icing more easily.  The more icing gunk on the knife, the harder it is to get clean lines.  After cleaning the knife,  scoop up some frosting using the cleaned icing spatula and spread it across the sides of the cake.  Repeat this action, turning the cake on the cake stand, until all the sides have been frosted.  The frosting does not need to be applied perfectly the first time around the cake.  A warmed, clean icing spatula will do wonders to smooth the sides of the cake the second time around.  

9.  Once the sides have been frosted and smoothed, clean the icing spatula once again.  With a light but steady touch, place the front edge of the icing spatula along the seam where the side of the cake meets the top of the cake.  Icing has accumulated here and is creating a rough border to the cake.  Hold the spatula firmly in one place along this icing seam and slowly being to rotate the revolving cake stand- moving the cake, but not the knife, to smooth the top.  You can leave the icing as rough and rustic, or smooth as you’d like.  It just depends on what look you’re going for.  Clean any stray icing at the base of the cake, or on the cake board with a damp paper towel. 

10.  Now you have a blank canvas for decoration!! From here you can cover the cake in fondant and go nuts.  You could add fresh flowers.  You could write Happy Birthday! You could simply get out a sharp knife and have a slice… many many possibilities.  It’s your cake.  Frost it, and eat it too!