Red Velvet Twinks

Individually packaged baked goods...we have all had them at one time or another, for they were usually stuffed inside our school lunch bag or purchased upon impulse at the convenience store. They are also found on shelves in the grocery store. Here in Texas, the Little Debbie brand is the most popular and has the most variety. However, I think the start up of these type of things began with the Hostess company back in 1919.

Twinkies were one of the little cakes that were created by Hostess in 1930. The creation of a sponge cake filled with cream became a sweet success. Yet, this recipe tops that original idea. It is actually a red velvet cake filled with cream. Not just any cream, but a blend of goat cheese and cream cheese which add a great dimension of tangy flavor to the cake.

You could make these into cupcakes as well and double the recipe for the filling and put it on top of the cupcake. Either way, your taste buds will thank you for taking the time to bake these little cakes. There are several methods to combine the filling with the cakes. The original instructions are below and at the bottom are my tips and notes. This recipe makes 16 "twink" cakes.

Red Velvet Twinks
adapted from Baking Out Loud

Ingredients/Cake
2 tsp white vinegar
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbs Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp red food coloring

Ingredients/Filling
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz goat cheese (room temp)
4 oz cream cheese (room temp)
6 tbs unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 cups chopped toasted pecans or shredded coconut (optional)

Prepare canoe baking pans by greasing the interior cavities and top edges of 2 pans with 8 cavities. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the cakes, start by pouring the sugar and oil into a medium size bowl and blend using a hand mixer. Add food coloring, one egg and vanilla extract. Beat for about 30 seconds. Add the other egg and beat again for 30 seconds. Set aside.

Using a separate bowl, sift together the cocoa, flour and salt. Add 1/3 of this dry blend into the bowl of red batter and fold mixture together using a spatula. Then stir in 1/2 cup of buttermilk. Repeat the process starting with 1/2 of the sifted dry ingredients. After the remaining buttermilk is mixed in, fold in the last of the dry ingredients.

Fill a small bowl with the vinegar and mix in the baking soda. Stir this mixture into the red batter until evenly distributed.

Spoon or pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan cavities.  Place pans in oven and bake for 8-9 minutes and rotate pans. Bake for an additional 8-9 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cakes will have a slightly firm top center when done. Remove from the oven and place pan on rack to cool. Cool completely before removing cakes from cavities.

For the filling, cream together the goat cheese, cream cheese and butter using a hand mixer. Your batter should be void of lumps. Add then vanilla extract and beat again for 30 seconds. Take out another bowl and sift together the confectioners sugar and salt. Measure out 1/2 cup of the dry ingredients and beat into batter. Repeat the process with the sifted ingredients until all has been blended into the batter. If you choose to decorate the cakes, reserve 1/4 of the filling in a separate bowl. Prepare a piping bag with 1/4 inch tip. The remaining 3/4 of the filling will be used with the piping bag.

Remove the cakes from the pan.  Both sides will be rounded, so the side that was face up in the pan should be flattened so the cake will sit properly on a plate. Trim that side with a serrated knife.

The filling will be piped into the cake via the flat trimmed side. Pipe the filling into the bottom of the cake by making separate, even 3 holes with the tip. Make sure that there is sufficient space from each end of the cake. Each hole should be filled with about 1 tablespoon of filling. As an additional option, frost the flat side of the twink with a thin layer of the remaining filling. Pour the coconut or pecans evenly onto a flat plate and dip the frosted bottoms of the cake into the plate, coating the bottom.

Tips and Notes:

1. The perfect shape is hard to achieve. I had some cakes came cleanly out of the pan and some that did not. If your cake shrinks from the sides of the cavity when cooling, that is a good indicator that they will keep their shape. For no worries on this issue, cupcakes are the answer.

2. For filling, I preferred to use a skewer to make the holes at each end and piped from the sides and one hole in the bottom. The picture of the dessert did not show that there was a cake bottom, just a filling bottom sitting on the plate. This lead to my interpretation...cutting the sealed surface of the cake would expose the lighter crumb of the interior, making it victim to oozing filling.  I did not cut the cakes to have a flat surface.

3. Spreading the filling onto the cakes and dipping them makes for a better presentation and adds an additional flavor layer.  I kept mine basic to the original idea of a Twinkie and found it to be a good ratio of cake to filling.

4. Not ready for a big Twinks project? Try cupcakes instead for the same flavor, just without the cute shape.
                                       **LAST YEAR: Spiced Honey Pecan Fingers**

Strawberry Mousse with Joconde Cake

This particular week I felt the need to make something tasty, but be a new project as well.  The mood does not strike all the time, so I did take some time to decide.  This particular recipe has something called stencil paste. In this recipe a design is done on parchment and then a cake batter is spread over the top.

Since this was the first time dealing with this type of medium, I kept it very simple with the stripes.  I am sure with practice designs can become more intricate.  Also, the end result was actually three different assemblies from the same recipe.

Regarding the taste, I really did like the combo of the cold strawberry mousse with the chocolate almond cake.  The ratio of mousse to cake was just right.

Please be sure to read all the recipe completely before starting, especially the tips and notes.  One note is crucial to making your decision on the form of your dessert. If making round cakes, you will need 8 stainless steel 3 inch pastry rings.

Strawberry Mousse with Joconde Cake
adapted from the book Sprinkle Bakes

Ingredients/Chocolate stencil paste
1 1/2 tbs cocoa powder
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup flour
3 egg whites, room temp
4 tbs butter, room temp

Ingredients Joconde Sheet Cake
2 tbs melted butter
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Strawberry Mousse
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 cups strawberry puree
1/4 cup cold water
2 tbs unflavored powdered gelatin
3/4 cup sugar
8 extra whole strawberries for garnish

The stencil paste will need to be made first.  Prepare a jelly roll pan by greasing the interior and then lining with parchment.  Also, grease the face up side of the parchment.

Using a stand mixer, beat together the confectioners sugar with the butter.  Scrape down the sides occasionally and beat until it becomes smooth and creamy.  Then beat in the egg whites.  The batter may look lumpy at first, but continue to beat until the lumps disappear.

With a wooden spoon, fold in the flour and cocoa powder until just combined.  Take the paste and spread thinly over the parchment paper, covering all corners and sides.  Once all is spread evenly, take the tip of a spatula and remove long strips of chocolate, moving down the shortest length of the pan.  Clean the spatula after every stripe, before starting another.

Once all the stripes are complete, place  pan in the freezer. Then preheat the oven to 450 degrees

For the cake, fill a stand mixer bowl with whole eggs, egg yolk, confectioners sugar and both types of flour. Beat together until smooth, stopping a few times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Set aside
when all is blended.

Fill another bowl with the egg whites and beat until they reach a foamy consistency.  Continue to beat, adding the sugar slowly.  The mixture should turn into a shiny meringue.  Fold this into the almond flour batter until no streaks remain.  Then stir in the melted butter.  Take care not to deflate the egg whites.

Take the pan out of freezer and smooth the batter on top of the stripes, making sure all is even.  Place in oven and bake until top springs back when lightly touched, which is about 5-8 minutes.  Put a sheet of parchment paper ( slightly longer than the jelly roll pan) on a flat, heat tolerant surface. Remove cake and let cool for 3 minutes and then invert onto parchment paper.  Remove top sheet of parchment and let cool completely.

For the strawberry mousse, start by sprinkling and mixing gelatin powder in a bowl with the cold water.  Let stand for about 5 minutes.  It will become spongy.  Set aside.

Blend the strawberry puree with the sugar.  Then heat the gelatin mixture in the microwave for 15 seconds.  Stir and then pour into the puree.  Let sit for 20 minutes to thicken.

While that is thickening, pour the whipping cream in a bowl and whip until thick and fluffy.  Give the puree a stir at the 20 minute mark.  Blend in 3 tbs of whipping cream. Then fold in the rest of the cream until pink hue is consistent throughout.

To assemble, place pastry rings on a flat plate and line with parchment paper.  Then cut cake strips that are the same inside diameter and about 1 1/2 inch wide.  Be sure to cut so stripes are parallel to the 1/1/2 inch width.  Line the inside of the rings with the cake, stripes facing outward.  Then fill with about 1/2 cup of mousse, which should bring it to a height of about 1/2 inch beyond top edge of cake.
Refrigerate for about an hour.

To serve place cake ring on a small plate, remove steel ring and parchment paper.  Then garnish with one sliced strawberry on top and serve immediately.

Tips and Notes:
1. Cake was not very flexible, so it broke upon trying to line the rings.  I pieced it around but it was more of a box. Based on that, I tried the assembly as a sandwich, which turned out quite nicely.  If I had to do over again, I would make entire sandwich cakes by making two pans of cake and putting mousse between the layers.
2. Getting the thick stencil paste on the parchment was a difficult task, the parchment slid around while I was trying to smooth it out.  This does take some patience.  Also, I used the handle straight end of a measuring spoon to scrape the chocolate off to make stripes.
3. My cake had more of a milky look to the chocolate stripes, next time for a darker contrast I may use a darker cocoa. The recipe never stated which to use.
4. If making sandwiches, leave a overhang of parchment when preparing the bottom layer of cake.  It will need to be lifted out and placed in a cool jelly roll pan instead of being inverted.  Then you can put the mousse on top.  Let set up in fridge before placing cake layer on top.  Then cut in squares, perhaps it can be frozen first before adding the top layer so there is a clean sharp cut.
                          **LAST YEAR: Cinnagrog Pie***