Sushi Cupcakes

by Anne

One of these days I’ll run out of photos from my baking days in Chicago. Until then, here’s a batch of Sushi Cupcakes I made last May! (I should probably tell you right away that these guys contain no fish- raw or otherwise…they’re just pure sugar, baby.)

As I recall, these went over quite well with my friends- who were probably just as giddy about our newfound done-with-graduate-school status as they were about these sugar packed desserts. Meh. I’ll pretend all the smiles were about these little 'cakes.

Why sushi cupcakes you might ask? Well, my friend was throwing a “roll your own sushi” party, and while, I LOVE a good theme, I also wanted to try Bakerella’s Cake Pops method.  While these are technically pop-less (read: no sticks), I think I got the gist of the technique, and gained a profound amount of respect for her mad decorating skills.

Want to make ‘em? Just whip up a batch of cake pop “batter”, and form into your favorite sushi shapes. That’s right, sushi shapes. That’s about as technical and this non-sushi eater is going to get. Sorry folks.

Once you have your sushi-shaped ‘cakes, stick them in a refrigerator or freezer for a while, maybe 30 minutes, or until they’re quite firm. While the ‘cakes are chilling, melt chocolate. I’m sure there are lots of fancy melting chocolates you can buy for this task, but I just used chocolate bark for the brown, and almond bark for the white.

Melt the chocolates (do one flavor at a time so you don’t have to keep reheating everything) in a double boiler or via the bowl-over-boiling water method. Not familiar with that method? It’s pretty self-explanatory. Boil water in a small saucepot. Place a heat-proof bowl over the boiling water. Make sure the bowl is larger than the pot- you want the steam from the boiling water to heat the chocolate, not the water. Place chocolate in the bowl and stir until melted.

When the ‘cakes are firm and the chocolate is melted, dip each cake into the chocolate. Depending on what kind of sushi you want to make (California-roll-esque or those little cubes of white rice with fish on top- “nigiri,” or so I’m told), dip the ‘cake into the melted white or chocolate bark. If you want a rice-like texture, roll the ‘cake into coconut or decorator’s sugar before the chocolate hardens.

I topped the rolls with a little bit of vanilla frosting and lots of chopped up gummy worms.

The nigiri are made with a ‘cake, dipped in white chocolate, rolled in coconut, and topped with a “fish” made of starburst candy.

The fish are easy to make, and, I think, look pretty authentic. Just pop a couple of (unwrapped) starburst into the microwave for about 8 seconds. The heat should soften the starburst enough so that you can mold them, but not so much that they melt. Mold them into fishy shapes and use a butter knife to add a little texture. Use a little frosting to stick the fish to the coconut-covered "rice" patties and you're done!

In all, these little sushis are a bit tedious, with all the melting, cooling, and sprinkling... but they're lots of fun! Oh, and they're ridiculously sweet. So consider yourself warned.

Squishing Together Twos

by Terese

For some reason, I love to worry about things. I will plan them out, worry about them getting done on time days before they are due but never actually start them until the last possible moment. A perfect example would be the cake tasting that I had arranged for this Monday evening.

Many moons ago, at a dinner with Aaron's family I was explaining (ok fine...bragging) about the wedding cupcakes (that you all have yet to see) from Christopher and Anne's wedding. I am very, very proud of them and definitely feel up to many more challenges after that feat. SO... I offered Aaron's newly engaged cousin my services for their upcoming May wedding. Not really thinking too much of it, I received a Facebook message a couple weeks later to find out if I was serious. I was and am so we started to plan their 4 tiered tiramisu layer wedding cake together.

This is where the procrastination comes in. I knew they were going to come over for dinner this past Monday almost 2 weeks in advance. I knew I worked everyday of the week leading up to the dinner. And yet I put off making all THREE 4-layer cakes until that very Monday.

So not only did I spend a whole week worrying about the cakes and planning my weekend around getting them together, but I just ignored all my inner urging to get started and waited until Monday at 7:30 am to get my mixer going. It all worked out fine though after 8 hours in the kitchen. Well, almost fine. The last cake became very unimpressive cupcakes and was quickly vetoed from the running.

See them in the back-ground there...

The two cakes we ended up debating between could not have turned out better. Both were beautiful, delicious and offered a great tiramisu flavor. As one would expect, he liked one better and she simply said no, not that one. Haha. Final recipe for the wedding cake squishes the two cakes together as a compromise, a great practice step for their marriage.

The first recipe was found on epicurious.com and has amazing reviews! The moment I read it I knew it was going to be the winner. The tiramisu flavor of this cake is spot on, very coffee-y and chocolate-y with a hint of marsala wine in the frosting. The second can be found on love & olive oil and is the most refined and elegant cake I have ever made. The layers and lines inside were so clean, but the tiramisu flavor was more subdued.

The final wedding cake will combine the cake, filling and soaking syrup of the epicurious cake, with the soft, almost velvety swiss buttercream from the love & olive oil cake. It's kinda funny...we're squishing together two cakes and their squishing together two lives, its very symbolic don't 'cha think? I'm so excited for the cousin and his bride-to-be and am happy to be an important part of their very special day!