Cookbooks

When making whipped cream, it’s always a good idea to chill the bowl (preferably metal) as well as the cream in the freezer for about ten minutes before you begin.

Prepare the mousse at least four hours or up to two days in advance. Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap.

You can also use other whole nuts, such as almonds, macadamia nuts, pecans, or cashews. It is best to make these on a day with low humidity.

This recipe is extremely versatile. We love to use it for cupcakes, but it makes an equally impressive layer or sheet cake; either is a perfect choice for kids’ birthday parties, swirled with Swiss Meringue Buttercream. For a more grown-up flavor, try icing the cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream (page 213).

Martha loves the combination of fluffy white frosting and fresh coconut curls that adorn this cake. You can also top the cake with more sweetened or unsweetened coconut, toasted or not. If you don’t have square cake pans, use 9-inch round ones; the baking time will be the same.

Marzipan comes in plastic-wrapped seven-ounce logs and is available in baking-supply shops and most supermarkets. If you find the marzipan too sticky to shape, dust the work surface with a bit of confectioners’ sugar. If you’re preparing the Carrot-Ginger Layer Cake, make slightly larger carrots.

An abundance of grated carrots makes these cupcakes moist, while granulated sugar, instead of the traditional brown, keeps them light.

This frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to three days. Bring to room temperature before using.

Maple Buttercream is the perfect complement to these walnut cupcakes, but you can also frost them with Brown Sugar Buttercream (page 386).