martha stewart
Moon & Stars Baby Shower
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 | How To | No Comments
If you don’t know by now, I love BAKING! I think it’s that I love being creative and love having a good challenge. One of my favorites to follow is Martha Stewart. Now I now she has a full time staff who gather new ideas for her show, website, etc., but I simply love this woman. She’s great when I need some inspiration. I recently ran across a recipe for an adorable cake she created – Stars-and-Moon cake. It’s just precious and I thought it would fit perfectly with a Moon and Stars diaper cake I created for a client. The whole theme is a precious idea for a baby shower. I checked out the recipe. Although it doesn’t seem too difficult, I would imagine it may be a bit time consuming….so as a warning…I would mix the batter and chill a day ahead just so you’re nice and fresh to begin the time consuming fun! 
Here’s the recipe from Martha’s site:
Ingredients
Serves 8 to 10
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for parchment
- 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- Royal Icing
Directions
- Sift flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Mix butter and brown and granulated sugars on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined.
- Divide dough into quarters; shape into squares. Wrap each in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Working with 1 square at a time, roll out dough between pieces of lightly floured parchment to 12-inch square, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer on parchment to baking sheet; freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut dough into rounds with 2 1/4-inch cutter and into moon and stars with shaped cutters.(You will need 75 rounds for the cake; use remaining dough as desired.) If dough becomes too soft, freeze for a few minutes. Space cookies 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
- Bake until centers are firm to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.
- Beat cream and confectioners’ sugar until soft peaks form.
- Lay 15 cookies in an 8-inch circle, overlapping edges slightly to fill the circle. Spread with about 11/4 cups whipped cream. Repeat, making 5 layers. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or up to 1 day.
- Tint royal icing as desired. To frost moon and star cookies, pipe icing around edges; pipe zigzags to fill in, and spread with small offset spatula. Let stand until set, 1 to 2 hours. Serve cake, garnished with moon and star cookies.
Looks dreamy right? This cake would also be great for a child’s birthday party as well. And you can’t forget the wonderful DIAPER “cake” to go along with your edible one. This Moon and Stars diaper cake comes complete with the wonderful classic “Goodnight Moon” which is a must for any child’s library.
Sweet Dreams!!!
*For more information or diaper cake ideas, click the “quick buy” or “custom cakes” option above, or visit www.la-babycakes.com