Cakes by Melissa – Recipe and Giveaway
October 10, 2017 by Jenny
A chapter entitled “You’re
Amazing and You Can Do Anything” is how Cakes by Melissa: Life Is What You Bake It:
120+ Recipes for Cakes, Icings, Fillings, and Toppings for Endless
Flavor Combinations by Melissa Ben-Ishay opens. Every
morning when Melissa’s father took her to school, he told her
“You’re amazing and you can do anything that you set your mind
to. Today is going to be the best day.“
This story hit me hard. While my struggles with my son over the
last year are no secret and have nothing to do with cake – except
for the fact that Andrew loves cake more than he loves me – this
was a wake up call. No matter how tough things are or how difficult
our children can be – they are amazing and should be told daily. So
right off the bat, thank you, Melissa, for sharing the great wisdom
of your father’s words.
Melissa has always loved cake, but cake as a vehicle to earn a living – could that work? When she called her brother to tell him she had been fired from her job in social media, he told her to “go home and bake cupcakes”. (The men in her family are so wise.) The rest is history and is shared in The Baked by Melissa Story chapter.
Cakes by Melissa is vibrant, enjoyable and full of sugary delights that will be sure to please. Peanut butter cup cupcakes and chocolate peanut butter cake (Andrew wants this cake now!), a Rainbow cookie cake (we love Italian rainbow cookies in our house so this recipe grabbed my attention), Neopolitan cake and a Cereal cake are examples of recipes you will find here. Toppings, icings (pretzel icing anyone?), batters, ultimate flavor combinations (Melissa is the queen of exciting flavors) and more are shared and are guaranteed to make any baker happy. I am gobsmacked by all the possibilities in this title! Melissa has some book tour dates scheduled that we have added to our calendar.
Special thanks to the author and William Morrow for sharing the following recipe components for the Berry cake. The publisher is also offering three copies of this book to our members in the US and Canada. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to enter.
Berry cake
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Cake: Classic Vanilla Cake
Fillings: Whipped vanilla icing and mixed fresh
berries
Icing: Whipped vanilla Icing
Toppings: Mixed fresh berries, fresh mint sprigs, and
confectioners’ sugar
Ingredients:
- 1 recipe Classic Vanilla Cake
- 1 recipe Whipped Vanilla Icing
- 2 to 3 cups mixed fresh berries (whatever’s in season)
- Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 13 x 18-inch half- sheet pan, then line it with wax paper or parchment and butter the paper.
2. Mix the cake batter according to the recipe directions. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the middle of the cake feels springy when you gently press your finger against it, 35 to 40 minutes.
3. Set aside to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the whipped vanilla icing and stash it in the freezer until you’re ready to frost the cake.
4. Use a 6-inch round cutter to cut three rounds from the cake. Place one cake layer on a turntable and thickly frost the top with about a third of the vanilla icing; spread the icing out just over the edge of the layer. Spoon a few tablespoons of fruit on top. Repeat with the remaining layers, until reaching the final layer.
5. Generously top the cake with the remaining mixed berries. Garnish with the sprigs of mint and lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Classic Vanilla Cake
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Ingredients
- ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1¾ cups whole milk (or buttermilk; let the cup overflow a bit)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the pan of your choice or line the pan with wax paper or parchment and butter the paper. This will make the edges less crispy.
2. With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter for 1 minute on high speed, then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
3. Add the vanilla extract. While mixing at medium-low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the edges of the bowl midway through.
4. Combine the flour, baking powder, and sea salt in a separate bowl.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture. When it’s mostly incorporated, add half the milk. Add the remainder of the dry and wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Stop mixing as soon as you have a smooth batter.
6. Take the paddle attachment off the mixer and lick the batter-it should be delicious!
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the middle of the cake feels springy when you gently press your finger against it. All ovens are different, so it’s important to do the fingerprint test to see if the cake is done.
Whipped Vanilla Icing
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Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions
1. If possible, chill the bowl and the whisk attachment of a hand or stand mixer for at least half an hour before using. All of your ingredients should be cold.
2. Pour the cream, vanilla, and sugar into the chilled bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.
The publisher is offering three copies of this book to EYB Members in the US and Canada. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.
Which recipe in the index would you try first?
Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on November 15th, 2017.
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