First Event Application

I got a bite!

I'm supplying cakes, cupcakes and cookies for a party of 80! My first non-family-and-friends event!
I'm working for dirt cheap, the woman is getting a deal of a lifetime for custom crafted, from scratch baked goods. I'm personally hoping for referrals. It's a little overwhelming, but mostly in terms of organization and time management. I know I can do it, it just might take some serious caffeine and stimulants to get through it.

To apply to this job, I made a cake. A specific request modeled after her favorite cake: a moist full-bodied pound cake generously scented with fresh lemon zest and layered with tart lemon mousse and fresh strawberries. She had tasted the cake at a super fancy baker in the Bay Area named Katrina Rozelle. Awe inspiring cakes but a tacky website.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Adapted from Staff Meals from Chanterelle via Smitten Kitchen (I got it from Stickey, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy)

Makes two 5 x 9 loaf cakes or one 12-cup bundt cake (I used 2 7in round cake pans to make a 4 layered cake.)

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• Zest from 2 lemons
• 6 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Cut partchment paper for the bottom and grease your pan.

Mix the sugar and the lemon zest in a small bowl and rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers. The warmth from your fingers will release the oils from the zest and flavor the sugar. Set aside.

Place the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and airy, about five minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the vanilla and lemon extracts. Then, add the flour and salt all at once. Mix just until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and shake lightly to even out the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours.

Cool the cake(s) on a rack for 20 minutes. Remove the cake(s) from the pan(s) and let cool completely.

Lemon Mousse
Originally published in Bon Appétit, August 1999. (I got it from Epicurious.com)

• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2 large eggs
• 11/2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

• 2 cups chilled whipping cream

Combine 1 cup sugar, lemon juice, 6 egg yolks, 2 whole eggs and grated lemon peel in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bowl to touch water). Whisk until mixture thickens and thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160°F. Transfer lemon curd to another large bowl. Chill until cool, whisking occasionally.

Using electric mixer, beat 11/2 cups cream in medium bowl until medium-firm peaks form. Fold 1/3 of whipped cream into lemon curd to lighten, then fold in remaining whipped cream.

Vanilla Buttercream

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat the butter until fluffy and holds peaks. Beat in the vanilla. Slowly add in the sugar until light, spreadable, and tastes like frosting.

To Assemble your Cake
Cut each layer in half so that you have 4 layers. Layer it: cake, mousse, fresh sliced strawberries. Cover the outside with vanilla buttercream.

Good luck!