Boston Cream Donuts

Boston Cream Donuts on the first day of school. A new Geyer tradition?

In a moment of weakness I asked my boys "Would you like me to make homemade donuts on the first day of school?" What middle schooler would possibly say no to that question?!  I was feeling bad for Gabe and Garrett because they had to go back to school nearly two weeks before their older brother.  Yves, the new freshman at Pomfret School, just smiled because he knew that meant donuts for him too, and then another day of summer vacation.

A plate full of delicious donuts.

I instantly regretted my offer.  I have made donuts on special occasions many times. Usually the birthday boy will request donuts for their special day, a tradition that started with my husband and Boston cream donuts. As romantic as homemade donuts sound, it is a very messy and time consuming project. It seems like I use every bowl, spoon, and spatula in the kitchen in the process; and then there's the large pot of vegetable oil to deal with when it's all over. What was I thinking? I offered a trip to We-Lik-It ice cream instead of the morning donuts to honor the last day of summer vacation; no deal. All hearts were set on donuts, and Boston cream was the flavor of choice.

Today was my third attempt at making Boston creme. I used the recipe from the Food Network today. As they say: the third time is a charm.  My approach this time was to do as much as I could the night before. The cream recipe came out very nice with good flavor, much like a vanilla custard. The dough was a sweet yeast dough that had to ferment for an hour before I could roll it out and cut the donuts. I used a three-inch round cutter to make the donuts.  I left the donuts in the refrigerator overnight with the cream. The morning production was very easy, the only thing left to make was the chocolate glaze. My only problem was that the donuts didn't rise enough, even though I got up at 5:00 to take them out of the frig. Next time I'll set the alarm for 4:00, take them out, then go back to sleep for a few hours.

I had to carve out the center to create a space for the filling.

The donuts were delicious, but a little too dense. They didn't puff up enough make a nice big open cavity for the cream. I used a knife to cut out the middle so I could squirt in enough cream to make it a respectable Boston cream. The kids and Brian loved them and enthusiastically ate two each (so did I). I will definitely make them again now that I have figured out the secret to keeping the project manageable.

Another surprise inside cake

I made this surprise inside cake for our advisee Caelan for his 18th birthday. This recipe is called the vintage cake, from Amanda Rettke's book. I was really pleased that the surprise was truly hidden when it was fully frosted.  The bottom layer is a fudge brownie with a chocolate sauce on top. The top two layers are white cake. The whole thing is topped with cream cheese frosting. 

I'm still working through the beginner level cakes. This fun cake was a nice confidence boost. I loved the overall height of the cake. The brownie layer gave the cake just enough height to make it feel more festive. Caelan and the boys really enjoyed it. 

The brownie layer was pretty chewy and the cake was a bit dense, which made for a pretty heavy cake. It was good sliced thin and served with ice cream

Happy Birthday, Caelan!. 

My First Surprise Inside Cake

This is an entry level cake, but I'm really pleased with the effect. It is a variation of the birthday cake surprise from the book Surprise-Inside Cakes by Amanda Rettke.  I was skeptical about the impact of the colored layers when they were cooling. However, I think the effect was very cute and indeed surprising when I served the cake. 

This fun cake book has sparked my imagination and truly inspired me to try something new. Amanda recommends starting with the easy cakes first. For once in my life I decided to start at the beginning with this colored birthday cake. She has so many great ideas in this book. I'm planning my next cake, a brownie and white cake combo. 

Cats in Hats

Pomfret knitters embraced the cat hats.  Here's part of our cat hat collection.

This is a really fun knitting book.

Yes, you are reading this correctly.  Cats in Hats by Sara Thomas is a wonderful new knitting book with patterns for cat hats.  Laurie, the librarian at the Pomfret library, knows exactly what will be a hit for the knitting group.  We spent an entire Tuesday afternoon laughing over the creative and fun hats in the book that are all modeled by adorable cats.  We decided to make a collection of cat hats for the library so patrons can check them out during the summer.  We are hoping to get a collection of photos of Pomfret cats in these stylish head pieces.

I love this picture from the inside cover of the book.

The top hat cat hat.

A collection of hats with twisty embellishments.  A carrot, a cactus, and a red boa.

Many of our hats feature big pom poms.  Who can resist.

It turns out that my cats really hate wearing the hats that I made for them.  Max was my first hat model.  He was very mad at me, but waited out the hat humiliation with dignity.  Adam was less kind.  He got loose and hid from us so thoroughly that we couldn't find him.  When he emerged, the hat was around his middle with many tears, the pom pom was ripped off.  He brought the pom pom out of hiding for me a week later, so I repaired the hat and gave it over to Laurie for the library collection.   By the way, small dogs can wear these adorable hats too.  I bet they might enjoy them more than the cats.

Max in his new hat.

Adam in the hat, just before he took hid from us in protest.

Making Skeins!

Today I used my new nitty notty for the first time!  Brian was a big help adjusting the equipment and holding the big scan of yarn. I was very happy to use my new tool too. 

Cinnamon Rolls for Easter Sunday

Bobby Fisher, our school Chaplain, is my biggest cinnamon roll fan.

It isn't Easter Sunday without cinnamon rolls.  Our school chaplain, Bobby Fisher, leads a beautiful sunrise service on Easter morning here at Pomfret School.  We enjoy the sunrise with friends and family with songs and prayer to celebrate Easter.  After the service we gather for fellowship and (here's where I come in) cinnamon rolls at the Lodge.  Bobby is my biggest cinnamon roll fan.  Every year he pulls me aside the week before Easter and with that look on his face that says, "Can I count on you to make them, for all of us?"  How can I say no?  It's every baker's dream to have such a dedicated fan.  I have to admit that the rolls are very tasty and, when served warm, are a perfect complement to the sunrise service.  I always make two pans on Easter Sunday, one for the fellowship group and one for my family, who don't like to get up early for the sunrise.

I use the recipe from The Tasty Kitchen Pioneer Woman blog.  Cinnamon Roll Recipe  I actually started using her recipe about six years ago, before her Food Network fame or the launch of Tasty Kitchen website.  This recipe is easy to follow and works great.  Over the years I have modified it only slightly by adding more kneading time and more rest time for the dough to make it easier to roll out.  I like to proof the rolls overnight in the refrigerator so that all I have to do is bake them in the morning.  I use a cream cheese frosting from the Cinnabon website that has lemon zest and lemon juice in the mix.  The lemony tang gives the frosting a really nice flavor.   Delicious!

Gabe pointing to his cinnamon roll choice.

Gabe asked me to teach him how to make cinnamon rolls this weekend.  It was a lot of fun to make the same recipe with him, explaining my process to him.  He mixed all the ingredients, kneaded the dough, and helped me gauge the correct moisture of the dough.  When we got it right, I pointed out to him how the dough feels moist but not too sticky.  We rolled the dough in two shifts, letting it rest for 30 minutes each time to get a thinner spread of dough.  I think the end result was very good because we got extra layers in our rolls.  He asked if we could make them really big and juicy, so we rolled the dough out into square instead of a rectangle.  Gabe carefully analyzed each roll and chose the perfect one for him to eat first.  My apprentice gets the first dibs on the rolls!

Confucius Cake

Gabe with his Confucius cake.

Gabe cutting out his cake desin

This week Gabe decided to make a Confucius cake for a class project.  His 6th grade history class is studying ancient China.  About a week ago he opened his text book to the picture of Confucius and said "I want to make a cake that looks like that."  Why not?

First he made made a wax paper cut of the cake pans so he could make a template for the cake shapes.  He used our "go to" cake recipe for yellow butter cake from Birthday Cakes for Kids.  My job was to assist him, but he really made the whole cake himself.  He wrapped the cake in plastic wrap and popped it in the freezer overnight to make the design phase easier.

The next day he took his cakes out of the freezer and just admired them for a few minutes.  I though to myself, "He's starting to sound like me when I make something, scary!"  He cut out the main shapes using his wax paper pattern.  Then he made a huge batch of butter cream frosting using the recipe from the same book.  The colors he chose were dark gray for the beard, white for the face, and orange for the hat.  He made the eyes blue to match the decorations on the hat, even though we all know he had brown eyes.

He did all the decorating.

Gabe really enjoyed making his school project.