Happy June!

*phew!*

Is May over already?  My calendar says June, so I guess it must be, although whoever is in charge of the weather here in Portland is apparently stuck in early March.  If anyone out there has his number, could you please give him a ring for me?  We're running kinda low on vitamin D here.

So.  I did an awful lot of baking in the last month.  I had two big cake projects, one big cupcake project, and a lot of little bits and pieces in between.  The wedding that I wrote about before has come and gone, and I lived to tell about it.  Yay, me!  Do you wanna see how the cake turned out?  I know you do.

Look at the butterflies!  Aren't they pretty??  I seriously loved them so much.  My bride friend had pretty much given me free rein over what her cake would look like; which was both great and sorta nerve-wracking at the same time.  

She was the antithesis of Bridezilla, but with approximately 10 bazillion potential directions to go with the look of the cake, I had a hard time making a decision....until I found the butterflies at this fabulous etsy shop.  They're made of edible potato starch paper, which I then dusted with superfine sugar to give them a little sparkle.  

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this cake is actually pretty tiny.  Each tier is two layers, and they are 4", 5", and 6".  It was an adorable, mostly perfect tiny little wedding cake.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the cupcakes that went along with it, but I'll give you the rundown of what she ended up with. 

The cake was my favorite banana cake with a white chocolate frosting that is UH-mazing to work with.  It's silky smooth and melts like butter on the tongue.  Loverly.  The layers are filled with a mixture of this frosting and chopped up Pecan Pralines from Trader Joe's.  If you've never had those things before, count yourself lucky to have one less addiction.  

I also made Banana Praline Cupcakes with butterfly toppers,  Lemon Drop Cupcakes with little white pearls on top, and Carrot Ginger Cupcakes with finely minced candied ginger and coarse sugar on top. 

They were all delicious, and I'll likely be re-creating the lemon and carrot cakes before long, since I really feel like both of the recipes are worth posting here.  For now though, I'll leave you with frosting.

This recipe comes from one of my favorites, Baked.  It appears in a couple of different forms in the book.  I used the white chocolate version for the banana cakes and the lemon one for the Lemon Drops.  They're both delicious, so don't let the amount of butter freak you out.  

Okay, let it freak you out a little, but then get over it and prepare to love it.  Because you will.  And as a bonus, it totally rocks if you're making a wedding cake and need a smoothly iced cake that won't compete with the pretty little butterflies that you're decorating it with.

White Chocolate Frosting

From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

In a double boiler melt, then set aside:

6 ounces good quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

Add, and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until it comes to a boil and has thickened:

1 1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup heavy cream

Transfer mixture into bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed until cool.  Reduce speed to low and add:

3 sticks unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces

Mix until thoroughly incorporated.  Increase speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.

Add and continue mixing until combined:

1 tsp vanilla extract

previously melted white chocolate