My day started at about 9:30 when my body decided that I was not allowed to sleep in anymore. Cody’s body apparently felt the same way and so we both got up and showered and made sure the apartment was in fit shape for Fallon to come over and help me bake Cody’s birthday cake and mini cupcakes. After that we just kind of rested and picked up some 참치 김 밥 and 고기만 두 for lunch. For those of you that don’t read Korean, that’s Chamchi Kimbap, or kind of like a tuna and spam California roll without the imitation crab and with pickled radish instead; and Goki Mandu which is a steamed pork and veggie dumpling. After eating and relaxing 12:00 finally rolled around and I proceeded to kick Cody out of the apartment so that I could start the process of making his Ugly Duckling cake. This cake is a calorie monstrosity of two homemade chocolate cakes with a chunky peanut butter, butter cream frosting in the middle, and the same frosting spread on top. You then make a chocolate ganache, which you then pour over the whole cake. The cake is then decorated with piped peanut butter butter cream and chocolate ducks made in silicone ice molds.
After the cakes were done baking and were cooling, Fallon came over around 2:00 to help me make some mini cupcakes. These ones were only yellow cake made from box mix, as I was only willing to overachieve and spend a ton of money for the cake, I didn’t want to make more batter from scratch for the cupcakes, and I wanted something other than chocolate and peanut butter as well.
I also used this opportunity with Fallon to give her the Maid of Honor present I had put together for her:
A really nice silver necklace, and miscellaneous face packs, cleansers, hand cream, makeup, and nail polish I picked up from Skin Food and The Face Shop.
I am happy to report that she loved everything I got her. i also guessed the exact facial cleanser she uses from Skin Food and kind of cheated by finding the necklace on her amazon.com wish list. But, considering the necklace was the main present, I wanted to make sure she liked it.
So anyway , with Fallon’s help, I made a ton of mini cupcakes frosted with chocolate icing from a can and an entirely homemade cake for Cody’s birthday with only a few mishaps, which all involved the from-scratch cake, and all led to the ugly-duckling name.
While I had always intended to put the chocolate ducks on the cake, this is not why I called it the ugly duckling cake. The cake was so moist and the day was so humid, and I didn’t have parchment paper to line the cake pans, that when I tried to release the cakes from their pans, they fell apart on me, tearing when they stuck to the pans. I didn’t panic, I used the peanut butter butter cream as glue and put the cakes back into a rectangle shape, and while still having the clear peanut-butter layer in the middle and on top. This, of course, caused my cake to look really, really ugly. I thought the ganache would make it look better, covering much of the problem, and it did make it look better, but it was still really ugly. I then added the piped-on butter cream and the ducks, which pulled the look together. I was originally going to call it my Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake, but I suddenly had an inspiration and decided to call it my Ugly Duckling Cake, or Cody’s Ugly Duckling Cake. And so a delicious monster was born.
Fallon and I finished baking and decorating almost exactly on time, and so we headed down to meet everyone with the cake, and headed to the all you can eat Galbi place (Galbi is pretty much any grilled meat, but this place had some other things than Galbi, as well as a ton of sides to eat) to gorge on an unhealthy amount of meat for Cody’s birthday. After eating for way too long (about an hour and a half), we broke out the cake, and everyone then proceeded to have sugargasms and tell me I should have brought milk. It was delicious, and Cody announced that it is now in his top 2 favorites for cake (carrot cake still being a close contender).
Following dinner and cake, everyone headed home to get refreshed, the boys having played ultimate Frisbee before dinner and being all sweaty and tired from the oppressive humidity. I stuck the left-over cake in the fridge and we grabbed the mini cupcakes and headed to Kathryn’s house to play card games, play around on Fallon’s Wii and use her Wii fit to see how we ranked with our heights/weights/balances, and gorge on the cupcakes and other snacks and drinks provided (though no one gorged too much after that cake).
At about 2:00 everyone headed home, stuffed from cake and happy from celebrating Cody’s big 25 in Korea. Happy Birthday honey!
Also:
Thank you to Fallon, Chris Walker-Bush, Kathryn, Hugh, Stephen, and Chris Snell for showing up to come out with us to make Cody’s birthday so special. You guys are awesome!
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Peanut Double Chocolate Chip Cake
Ugly Duckling Cake
Cake:
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 cup)
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 1/2 ounces semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate, melted and cooled (1/3 cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
Peanut Butter Butter Cream:
• 1 (18-ounce) jar chunky peanut butter, at room temperature
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 cup)
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Ganache:
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (1 c)
• 1 cup heavy cream
Chocolate Ducks:
• Silicone ice cube molds in the shape of ducks
• 1 ½ 7 oz large sized candy bars (Makes about 19 ducks) – chopped or shredded into small pieces
Directions:
Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cooled chocolate and vanilla and beat for 3 minutes to incorporate. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another 3 minutes. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with the cold water. Beat for 1 minute after each addition to incorporate the ingredients. Mix until the batter is smooth.
Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Cut 2 circles of parchment paper to fit the pan bottoms and place them inside the pans; then spray the paper for added non-stick insurance. Pour batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula; the pans should be 2/3 full. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes *.
Leave to cool for 40 minutes. Prepare the butter cream and the Ganache.
Make the butter cream: With an electric mixer beat the peanut butter and butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat until spreadable.
Make the Ganache:
Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Stir in the rum if desired.
Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over the cake**.
Turn the cakes out of the pans and remove the paper. With a metal spatula, spread 1/2 cup butter cream on top 1 of the layers. Start in the center and work your way out. Carefully place the second layer on top. Smooth the sides with butter cream, and then spread the rest over the top so that the cake is completely covered. Refrigerate or place in the freezer for 5 minutes to firm up the butter cream.
Pour the ganache on the cake, starting at the center of the cake and work outward. Be careful of the platter you have the cake on and watch the ganache, it is prone to overflowing out of your platter.
Refrigerate or freeze for 5 minutes before decorating. Pipe any leftover butter cream onto the cake in any style you desire and decorate with your chocolate ducks.
Refrigerate for 5 minutes before decorating or cutting.
*Cook's note. The cake is cooked when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and the cake springs back when touched
**For a fluffy frosting or chocolate filling, allow it to cool until thick, and then whip with a whisk until light and fluffy.
How to make Ducks:
Bring 1 ½ inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan or the bottom half of a double boiler. Do not let the water come to a boil, that will mess with the tempering of the chocolate, and the moisture from the steam may get into your chocolate, causing it to ‘seize.’
Place your chocolate into the top of the double boiler or into a stainless steel bowl (Use a towel or oven mitt to hold the bowl in place), and place on top of the simmering water. Make sure the water level is low enough that the bowl does not touch the water. The bowl should not go down very far into the pan. As soon as you have the chocolate in place, start stirring constantly until the chocolate is smooth. Take off the heat as soon as it is entirely melted, and remove the bowl away from the pan to allow the chocolate to cool slightly.
Now spoon the chocolate into the clean molds, filling to the top (no greasing or anything is necessary with silicone molds). It may be easier (it was for me) to fill a piping bag prepared with the small decorating tip. This way you can avoid too much of a mess and you can fill in the details in the mold better (I have read a zip lock bag with the very tip cut off works, but I find piping bags so much easier).
Once the mold is filled, tap the tray on the counter a few times to release any big air bubbles that will make your candy look misshapen, and you may need to add more chocolate if the level goes too low.
Now, place your mold into the freezer for 10-15 minutes. When the chocolate is solidified, tug on the edges around the silicone to loosen them from the candies, and then tap the mold upside down onto wax paper. The ducks should fall out relatively easy. If the day is very warm or humid, you may need to stop halfway through and freeze all the sucks again, as they may start to soften quickly.
Freeze the chocolates until you are ready to use.
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