American Baker in Germany

 This was a birthday cake for a friend of mine. This is a 6-inch yellow cake. Then I frosted the cake and chilled it in the fridge for a few minutes. In the meantime, I put some white and pink buttercream in piping bags with star tips of various sizes. Then I frosted the cake again. Then I piped a shell border along the bottom of the cake. Then I piped a reverse shell border along the edge of the cake. Then I piped some swirls and drop flowers on the top of the cake. Then I piped some shells as swags onto the side. I piped a few shells on top as well. And a shell below the swags. And two shells in a v-shape. Then I piped a few pink stars onto the tops of the swirls and border. Then I piped more pink shells above the white swags. Then I added some dots above and below the vertical shells and another shell with the v-shaped shells on the side of the cake. And more dots between the v-shapes and the vertical shells. I think this cake is a sweet and pretty. It's delicate and feminine. H...

 I've been asked what is the difference between yellow and white cake. Well, white cake makes sure all ingredients with color are white: shortening instead of butter, egg whites only instead of whole eggs. So, if you couldn't care less about the color and just want the flavor, yellow cake is the way to go. Yellow (Vanilla) Cake: 2 1/2 cups (310g) flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2/3 cup (200g) butter 1 3/4 cups (350g) sugar 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla sugar 2 eggs 1 1/4 cup (260mL) milk Cream butter.  Add sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs.  Add dry ingredients alternately with milk until all ingredients are incorporated.  Pour into greased baking form.  Bake at 375°F or 190°C for 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. This cake is a lovely, moist yellow color. It tastes similar to my other vanilla cake, but maybe a bit denser. Watch us make this easy recipe on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.b...

 This sweet French bread has a very soft texture. It's a bit more work than many other recipes, but has a great flavor. And I also am making a slightly fast version, compared to the full length version. Brioche: 1/2 cup (120mL) warm milk 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp dry yeast 5 eggs + 1 egg yolk 1 tbsp vanilla extract or 3 tbsp vanilla sugar 1/4 cup (50g) sugar 4 cups (500g) flour 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup (250g) soft butter Active yeast by combining warm milk, honey and dry yeast.  Whisk in eggs, vanilla and sugar.  Stir in flour and salt until you can't anymore and knead in as much flour as you can by hand before using a mixer with a dough hook. Knead about 5 minutes.  Then slowly add butter, kneading 2-3 minutes between each addition, until all the butter is incorporated.  Knead dough another 10 minutes until dough reaches a very smooth consistency. Allow to rise for 1 hour at room temperature. Knead until smooth again. (I skipped the first rise) Form into loaves. Traditio...