Flowers And Vines Cake Recipes

MERINGUE MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 225F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Place the egg whites and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer, and with the whisk attachment, mix on high speed until foamy.
• Slowly add the sugar and whip until stiff, glossy peaks form.
• Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.
• Transfer the meringue to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2" tip (Wilton 1A). Pipe mushroom tops, about 1/2" to 1 1/2" diameter, leaving about an inch apart between them.
• Put a little bit of water into a small bowl. Using a clean finger, dip your finger in the water, wiping off the excess, and gently tap down the peaked tops of the mushroom tops.
• Pipe the mushroom stems by holding the piping bag directly above the parchment, about 1/2" or so from the parchment. Apply pressure to pipe a thicker base with a tapered, thinner top in a variety of sizes. It's best to pipe these as straight up and down as possible to keep them from falling over when baking.
• Using a fine sieve, sift the natural cocoa powder on top on the mushroom tops. Sift as little or as much cocoa powder as you would like.
• Bake the meringue mushrooms for about 60-75 minutes until the meringue is dry to the touch, and can be easily removed from the parchment. I start checking the meringues every so often about 50 minutes into baking. Let the meringues cool completely.
• Fill a small piping bag with melted chocolate. Cut off the tip of the piping bag. You are going to need just a small amount of chocolate per mushroom.
• Using a small paring knife, make a small hole in center of flat side of each mushroom top. Pipe a little bit of chocolate into the hole and fit the smaller end of meringue stem into hole. Let the chocolate harden before decorating with the mushrooms.

BLOOMING SPRING FLOWER CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.
• Bake 28 to 33 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Place cooling rack upside down over cake. Turn upside down carefully so cake is on rack, and remove pan. Turn upside down onto another rack, and flip cake right side up. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• In 2 medium bowls, place 3/4 cup each of frosting. To 1 bowl, add red food color to desired pink color; to other bowl, add blue food color to desired color. In 2 small bowls, place 1/3 cup each of frosting; add yellow and green food colors to desired colors.
• Place cake, top side up, on serving platter. Spread remaining 1 1/2 cups frosting on top and sides of cake.
• Using photo as guide, decorate as follows: Fit 1 decorating bag with large size star piping tip; fill bag with pink frosting. Pipe center of a rosette flower onto top of cake. Touch piping tip to cake to attach frosting-apply steady pressure to bag while squeezing; pipe in a tight circle to make a flower about 2 inches in diameter, tapping tip to cake to complete flower, and lift off. Continue to pipe different size rosettes and stars over top of cake with pink frosting. Next add blue frosting to same decorating bag. Continue to pipe rosettes and stars with blue frosting.
• Fit another decorating bag with medium-size star piping tip; fill with yellow frosting. Pipe different size rosettes and stars around top of cake to fill in empty spaces. Fit another decorating bag with small round piping tip, and fill with green frosting. Pipe green leaves and vines to fill in spaces.
• Store loosely covered at room temperature.