Apple Pie Cake

I have been waiting a long time to make this cake.  I am seriously obsessed with the Milk Bar layer cakes, I have made many of them now, even made a few of my own layer cakes that I still need to blog, but the reason I had to wait to make this cake was because it required apple cider and we can only get good apple cider in the Autumn.  Well, Central Market now has our favourite apple cider, so no more waiting!

The original recipe is made as a 6 inch cake, however I have been making all the layer cakes as mini cakes with 2.5 inch entremet rings, I just prefer making them this way, and it means that they end up as little individual layer cakes, and I don't have to attempt slicing a large cake!

There are quite a few steps to these layer cakes, I am used to it now, but in the beginning the recipes looked overwhelming, but broken down they are not difficult just time consuming to make the entire cake.  The liquid cheesecake, apple filling and pie crumbs can all be made a few days in advance, which definitely helps make the cake more manageable.

Barely brown butter cake:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp brown butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1sp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper.

combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
 
Add in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and beat for 5 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white and twice the size of the original butter and sugar mixture.

Add the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. mix just until combined.  Pour onto the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Apple cider soak:
¼ cup apple cider
1 tsp light brown sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon

Whisk together cider, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Liquid cheesecake: 
8 ounces cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp cornstarch
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
1 egg

 Preheat the oven to 300.

Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. add the sugar and mix for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar has been completely incorporated. scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Whisk together the cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. whisk in the milk in a slow, steady stream, then whisk in the egg.

Stream in the egg slurry. paddle for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and loose. scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Pour cheesecake in a 6 x 6-inch baking pan. bake for 20 minutes.  The cheesecake should be firmer and more set toward the outer boundaries of the baking pan but still be jiggly and loose in the dead center.

Pie crumb:
1 ½ cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 ½ tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and paddle on low speed until well mixed.

Add the butter and water and paddle on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in small clusters.

Spread the clusters on a parchment  lined sheet pan. Bake for 25 minutes, breaking them up occasionally. The crumbs should be golden brown and still slightly moist to the touch.

Apple pie filling:
1 lemon
2 medium granny smith apples
1 tbsp butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon  ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt

Fill a medium bowl halfway with cold water, juice the lemon into it.
 Peel the apples, then halve and quarter them. Put each apple quarter on its side and cut a small slice down the length of the apple to remove the seeds and core. cut each apple quarter lengthwise into thirds and then crosswise into fourths, leaving you with 12 small pieces from every apple quarter. transfer these pieces to the lemon water as you go.

When you’re ready to cook, drain the apples (discard the lemon water) and combine them in a medium pot with the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, using a spoon to gently stir the mixture as it heats up and the apples begin to release liquid. reduce the heat and simmer the apples gently for 3 to 5 minutes. be careful not to cook the apples so much that they turn into applesauce.

Pie crumb frosting:
½ recipe pie crumb
½ cup milk
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp butter
¼ cup icing sugar 

Combine the pie crumbs, milk, and salt in a blender, turn the speed to medium-high, and puree until smooth.

Combine the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale yellow.

Add the contents of the blender, paddle until fluffy and pale yellow.

To assemble the cake, put a piece of parchment on the counter, invert the cake onto it and peel off the parchment  from the bottom of the cake. use the cake ring to stamp out circles from the cake. 

Layer 1:
Use 1 strip of acetate to line the inside of the cake ring.
Put a cake round inside the ring.
Dunk a pastry brush in the apple cider soak and give the layer of cake a good, healthy bath.
Use the back of a spoon to spread some of the liquid cheesecake in an even layer over the cake.
Sprinkle some of the pie crumbs evenly over the liquid cheesecake. use the back of your hand to anchor them in place.
Use the back of a spoon to spread some of the apple pie filling as evenly as possible over the crumbs.

Layer 2:
With your index finger, gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top ¼ inch of the first strip of acetate, so that you have a clear ring of acetate 5 to 6 inches tall – high enough to support the height of the finished cake. Set a cake round on top of the frosting, and repeat the process for layer 1.

Layer 3:
Nestle a cake round into the apple pie filling, cover the top of the cake with the pie crumb frosting. Garnish the frosting with the remaining pie crumbs.

Transfer the sheet pan to the freezer and freeze for a minimum of 12 hours to set the cake and filling. the cake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

SRC - Fresh Peach Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog  Jessie Weaver.  One of the things I love the most about the SRC is discovering new food blogs.  Jessie is a mom of 3 from Chattanooga, TN, who, very interestingly, lives on-campus at a private high school with her husband, a dorm parent.

Randal helped me decide on this peach cake as it was really different from any other desserts we have made.  Last month we chose a salad  so this time we went with a sweet option.  When I first read over the recipe I was a little stumped by one of the ingredients in the frosting - Milnot.  I had never heard of it, but Randal was pretty sure it was some kind of canned milk product like evaporated or condensed milk.  A little Googling later and I discovered he was correct, and that we could substitute half and half for the Milnot because it is very difficult to find in stores.

Randal said it reminded him a little bit of the oatmeal cake his mom used to make.  The cake was brown and fluffy for the most part and a little dense wherever there was a peach.   It had a nice glaze on top with nuts and coconut.   Fresh peaches on the side made it perfect. 

Cake: 

2 eggs
2 1/2 cups mashed peaches
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:

1/2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup milnot or half and half
1 cup coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

To make the cake, in a large bowl beat the eggs, add in the chopped peaches and stir together.  Add in all the dry ingredients and pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan and bake for 1 hour.

To make the topping, add all the ingredients to a saucepan, stir together and bring to a boil, reduce to heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until thickened.  Pour over warm cake.

An InLinkz Link-up

Honey Bun Coffee Cake

Today I ended up having a very rare and unexpected day off from daycare, because it was so unexpected I hadn't planned on baking a cake today, but I was wasting some time on pinterest and this coffee cake ended up on my screen.  As I have mentioned a few times I am loving all things cinnamon lately, so I saw that cinnamon sugar layer in this cake, checked the ingredients and realised I had everything I needed, and practically ran to the kitchen to throw it together.

This cake is made with a few simple ingredients, comes together very quickly, actually the most difficult part was waiting for it to cool down enough so I could try it!

1 yellow cake mix
8 oz sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

glaze:
2 cups icing sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, sour cream, eggs and oil.

Spread half of the cake batter into the baking dish.   Cover with the cinnamon sugar.  Top with the remaining cake batter.  Bake for 40 minutes.

When the cake is baked, make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar, milk and vanilla together.  Pour over the warm cake and leave to cool.

Orange Pound Cake

I found this recipe over at Sweet Peas Kitchen  and I just couldn't resist making this orange pound cake.  I love pound cake and while I usually make lemon, or the madeira cake I grew up with I had a bag of oranges just sitting in the fruit bowl waiting to be used.

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/3 cup orange zest
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Orange Syrup:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar

Orange Glaze:
2 cups icing sugar
6 tbsp orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease 2 loaf pans.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt, set aside.  In another bowl, combine the orange juice, buttermilk and vanilla.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the orange zest.

Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour.  Divide between the 2 pans and bake for 50 minutes.

While the cakes are cooling, make the orange syrup by combining the orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Poke holes in the cakes, and pour the syrup over.  Leave cakes to cool completely.

To make the glaze, stir together the orange juice and icing sugar, it should be thick but pourable.  Pour the glaze over the cakes.

SRC - Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal.  This month I was assigned the blog Flavors by Four  which is a mother and daughter blogging team.  

I always go straight to the dessert recipes whenever I get my assigned blog and this blog did not disappoint, so many great looking cakes and desserts.  I ended up choosing the Pumpkin Crumb Cake even though it isn't officially Autumn for another fortnight or so.  I just cannot wait for cooler temps and the scents and flavours of autumn, so this cake was just perfect to kick start Autumn, even if it was a little early!

Cake:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
12 oz canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk

Crumb topping:
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x9 cake pan and set aside.

To make the crumb topping, place the oats, flour, sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl and cut in the cold cubed butter until crumbly.  Set aside.

To make the cake, in a medium bowl mix together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer add the butter and sugar and beat until combined.  Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and canned pumpkin.  Add in the dry ingredients, followed by the milk and mix until combined.   

Pour into baking pan, top with the crumb topping and bake for 50 minutes, or until cooked through. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Irish Apple Cake

Being English I don't celebrate St. Patrick's day, our day is St. George's day, which is in April.  However I rarely pass up the opportunity to bake something, so I figured I would join in with the rest of America this year and celebrate St. Patrick's day just a little bit!

This cake is packed full of apples with a crunchy sugary top.  I made my usual custard to serve this with this rather than the one that was with the cake recipe over at  the kitchen mccabe.

Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
6 oz butter
3/4 cup sugar
4 large granny smith apples, peeled and diced
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar, to sprinkle on top of cake

Preheat oven to 375 and grease an 8 inch springform pan.

 Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cloves into a large bowl.

Using your fingertips rub the cold, diced butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles crumbs.

Add the sugar and apples to the mixture and stir together.

In a small bowl, combine the eggs and milk.  Add to the flour mixture and stir together.

Pour cake batter into the cake pan and sprinkle the top with the 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Creme Anglaise
1.5 cups heavy cream
1.5 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Seeds from 1 plumped Vanilla Bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
8 large egg yolks

Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan, and add the sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla beans and add to the milk, then split the vanilla beans in half and add that to the milk also. Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl and leave near the stove. Place a sieve over a second large bowl.

Heat the cream mixture over medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar, until the mixture is very hot but not boiling. Slowly whisk half of the cream mixture into the yolks. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the crème anglaise is thick enough to coat the spatula. Pour through the sieve to remove the vanilla beans and any cooked egg pieces, leave to cool for 15 minutes.

Strawberry Cake Skewers

I knew I wanted to make these cake skewers as part of our Valentines dessert.  I have seen these all over pinterest and they are usually made with cake mixes.  I knew I wanted to make my favourite chocolate cake recipe for these as Randal loves that as well, but I did take the easy route for the yellow cake and used a box mix, but I used milk not water and butter not oil.

Yellow cake:
1 yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted

Chocolate cake:
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. valrhona cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
½ cup black coffee
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp. vanilla extract

To make the yellow cake, in the bowl of an electric mixer combine the cake mix, butter, milk and eggs.  Beat until combined.

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

To make the chocolate cake, in a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.  Pour into a greased square pan and bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes.

Once cakes have cooled cut into squares.  Take a skewer and alternate with cake squares and strawberries, drizzle with melted white and milk chocolate.

Italian Cream Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal, and the first reveal for group B of 2014. This month I was assigned the blog it bakes me happy and as soon as I saw the name of the blog I knew I would love it, as I love baking and I usually end up making a dessert or baking something for the secret recipe club each month.

I immediately went to the cakes and cupcakes recipes that Emily has on her blog and at first I thought about making her vanilla birthday cake, as it's Randal's birthday next month and I still haven't perfected a great vanilla cake recipe.

As soon as I saw the Italian Cream Cake though, I knew this was the recipe I wanted to make this month.  I have never made an Italian cream cake before, I don't think I've ever tried an Italian cream cake before but we both loved this cake, so much so that Randal has actually requested I make it again for his birthday next month, so it looks like I did find his birthday cake on Emily's blog after all!

Cake:
1 stick butter
1 cup crisco
2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
1 cup buttermilk
1 small bag coconut
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, chopped
5 egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks
pinch of salt

Frosting:
1 lb icing sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

To make the cake, in a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer add the sugar and crisco and cream together. Add the egg yolks and mix together. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk.  Add in the vanilla and fold in the egg whites, along with the coconut and pecans.

Divide the batter between 3 8 inch greased cake pans and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy. Stir in the chopped pecans.

To assemble the cake, spread a thin layer of the frosting between each cake layer, then use the rest of the frosting to cover the cake, and top with chopped pecans.

Banana Caramel Bars

The amount of bananas I buy every week is kind of ridiculous, but I look after three two year olds who all could happily eat bananas all day long, however quite often I end up with a few over ripe bananas and that's when I go looking for new recipes to bake.  I found the recipe for these bars over at Yammie's Noshery and while the original recipe has walnuts on top of the frosting I decided to add them into the cake batter for texture.

 2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup mashed bananas
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 pan

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking soda and powder, salt and softened butter.  Mix together well. 

In a small bowl, mix together the egg, mashed banana, buttermilk and vanilla.  Add to the flour mixture and mix in the walnuts.  Pour into greased pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Caramel Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

In a small pan over medium heat, combine the corn syrup and sugar, heat until caramel coloured. Add the heavy cream and half the butter, salt and vanilla, mix together and let cool.

Once cool, beat the caramel in the bowl of a stand mixer, adding the remaining butter a tablespoon at a time.  Slowly add the icing sugar followed by the milk and beat until smooth. 

Frost the cake with the caramel icing and cut into bars.

2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (3 to 4 very ripe bananas)
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Read more at http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2013/05/aunt-pats-banana-cake-with-caramel.html#8yU91A3YCsS0zXhO.9

Banana Bavarian Cake

I made this cake quite a while ago but I am trying to catch up on posts before the new year. I found this recipe over at Pastry Girl Without Borders and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to try it. I ended up using a cake round that was too large, so my cake wasn't as tall as the original so I should have used a 6 inch round not an 8 inch.  There are quite a few steps to this cake, but the end result is well worth it as it looks very impressive and who doesn't love the idea of piping banana puree in any pattern you want on cake batter before it's baked!

Banana Puree
2 large bananas, sliced
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rum
pinch of nutmeg

In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat.  Add in the sliced bananas, sugar and nutmeg.  Heat until the bananas start to break down, add in the rum and let cook for a few minutes.  In a food processor blend until smooth and set aside to cool.

Cake:
3 eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325

Melt the butter in a small pan and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the eggs for three minutes.  Add in the honey, followed by the dry ingredients, mix until combined.  Add in the melted butter.

Spread the mixture onto a parchment paper lined half sheet pan until it is about half a centimeter thick.  Place the banana puree into a piping bag and pipe whatever design you like over the cake batter, making sure to leave half of the puree for the cake filling.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Bavarian Cream:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tsp gelatin
1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp water
1 cup heavy cream

Whisk the 1 cup of heavy cream until the soft peak stage and set aside.

Place the water and gelatin in a small bowl and set aside.

Add the half cup of milk and the half cup of cream to a medium pan along with the vanilla bean and half of the sugar, heat until the sugar has dissolved.

In a small bowl mix the other half of the sugar and the egg yolks together.  While whisking constantly, add around a 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolks, then return the warmed egg yolks to the pan with the milk mixture.  Whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened.  Strain into a large bowl and while it is still hot mix in the gelatin mixture, set aside to cool.

Once cool fold in the whipped cream.

To assemble the cake, cut out two 6 inch rounds (or 8 inch in my case) from the baked cake and one 4 inch (or 6 inch in my case) round for the middle of the cake.

Place one of the larger rounds into the bottom of the cake ring used to cut it out, and seal it by piping a ring of the banana puree around the edge of the ring.  Fill 3/4 of the ring with the cream mixture, place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Spread the remaining banana puree onto the smaller cake round, and place in the middle of the cake.  Top with the remaining cream and finally the last cake layer.  Place in the fridge for 3 hours before serving.

Limoncello Cake

I have been wanting to make this cake from  Technicolor Kitchen  for a long time, but now that I am doing in home daycare again I don't get as much time to bake as I used to, so when I had a few days off last week the first thing I did was find some new recipes to make for Randal to take to the office.  This limoncello cake was my favourite, it is no secret that as much I enjoy baking cakes I really do not enjoy eating them, but if there is a kind of cake I love it's one like this, not too sweet, lemony with a simple lemon glaze poured over it.

Cake:
1 cup plain, unsweetened yogurt
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
½ cup  limoncello
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking power
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

Glaze:
¾ cup icing sugar
½-1 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a large bowl whisk together the yogurt, eggs, canola oil, lemon zest and juice. Add vanilla, sugar and limoncello and mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir into the yogurt mixture.  Pour into a greased 9 x 12 baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

To make the glaze, put the icing sugar into a small bowl and gradually add the lemon juice, mixing until you get a pourable consistency. Pour over the cooled cake. Set aside for 20 minutes for glaze to set.

Magic Cake

I have seen this magic cake many times recently on pinterest or other blogs,I thought it looked really interesting but didn't think it would be something I would like so didn't really plan on making it, although Randal was definitely interested in it so I thought I would include it in some treats I was making for Randal to take to work.  It is a fun cake to make, you just prepare a simple cake batter and after it has baked it turns into a 3 layered dessert with a custard layer in the middle and the cake layer on top.  I will be honest and say that I did not really enjoy this, but that's because it really reminded in both flavour and texture of the egg custard tarts we used to have back in England, and I did not care for those either.

 

4 eggs (separate yolks from whites) at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick butter, melted

3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 cups milk lukewarm

icing sugar for dusting cake

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 8 inch x 8 inch baking dish.

Separate eggs and add the egg whites to a mixer and mix until egg whites are stiff. Place egg whites in a bowl and set aside.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light. Add butter and vanilla extract and continue beating for another minute or two after which you can add the flour and mix it in until fully incorporated.

Slowly start adding the milk and beat until everything is well mixed together. Add the egg whites, a third at a time and gently fold them in using a spatula, repeat until all egg whites are folded in. Another variation to folding in the egg whites would be to add a third of the egg whites and gently whisk them in to the cake batter, then reverse the process and add a bit of the cake mixture to the egg whites and gently whisk in, repeat until all cake batter has been whisked in.

Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 40 to 70 minutes or until the top is lightly golden. The baking time could vary greatly depending on the oven, so take a peek at around 40 minutes and see how it looks.

Sprinkle some icing sugar after cake has cooled.

Lemon-Raspberry Cake

I made this cake a few weeks ago for my birthday. I made Randal a chocolate truffle cake for his birthday, so I thought why not make Sarabeth's lemon raspberry cake.

I loved making this cake, but then I always enjoy cakes that involve many steps and I finally got the chance to make lemon curd for this cake.  This is such a lovely cake, not too sweet which is great for me, as I really am not a fan of heavy sweet cakes with lots of frosting.

Vanilla Genoise:
5 tbsp unsalted butter
5 large eggs
5 large egg yolks
1 cup superfine sugar
seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean
1 cup cake flour

Lemon Curd:
4 lemons
10 large egg yolks
1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened

Lemon Buttercream:
5 sticks unsalted butter
5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean
1 1/2 tbsp lemon curd

Simple Syrup:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water

Two 6 oz containers of fresh raspberries

To make the vanilla genoise, preheat oven to 350. Grease a half sheet pan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, transfer to a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes, until tepid.

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Bring a large pan of water to simmer over high heat, reduce heat to low and place the mixer bowl over the water.  Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is about 118 degrees.

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Add the vanilla and beat on high speed until quadrupled in volume and very pale yellow, will take around 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer. In four equal additions, sift the flour over the egg mixture and use a balloon whisk to fold it in.  transfer a quarter of the batter into a medium bowl and add the butter and fold together with the balloon whisk.  Pour this mixture back into the remaining batter and fold together.

Pour the batter into the half sheet pan and smooth it evenly with an offset spatula. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

---------------------

To make the lemon curd, zest the lemons, set aside the zest then cut the lemons in half and juice them.  There should be around 2/3 cup of lemon juice.

In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Place over a saucepan of simmering water, cook the curd and stir often until it thickens and reaches 185 degrees, will take about 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in the butter a tablespoon at a time.  Press a piece of cling film directly over the curd, pierce a few holes in it to allow steam to escape and leave to cool.  Once the curd has cooled transfer it to a covered container and refrigerate.

---------------------

To make the simple syrup, place the water and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, let boil for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat and leave to cool.

---------------------

To make the buttercream, add one inch of water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and place over the simmering water.  Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches around 160 degrees, should take about 5 minutes. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on high speed until the meringue is cool, could take up to 10 minutes.

With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Once all the butter has been mixed in, add the vanilla and the lemon curd and beat for another minute.

---------------------

To assemble the cake, split each raspberry in half and place on a paper towel lined sheet pan.

Using an 8 by 3 inch entremet ring, cut two rounds from opposite corners of the genoise. Cut out two half rounds from the remaining cake. 

Insert an 8 inch cardboard round into an 8 by 3 inch entremet ring.  Place a whole cake round into the ring and brush with 1/4 cup of the simple syrup. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the circumference of the cake.  Spread 1/2 cup of the lemon curd up to the ring of buttercream and layer half of the raspberries cut side down on the lemon curd.  Top with the two half rounds of cake, using the scraps of cake left for filling any gaps and repeat with the simple syrup, piped buttercream, lemon curd and raspberries.  Place the final cake layer and brush with the remaining syrup.  Place one cup of buttercream onto the cake and using a large offset spatula spread so that it is even with the top of the ring.  Carefully lift off the metal ring, refrigerate for 1 hour.

Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the cake, refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Apply the final layer of frosting to the cake, top with raspberries and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Linked to:
A Pinch of Joy
Create With Joy 

I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Addicted to Recipes
Inside BruCrew Life
Love Bakes Good Cakes
Nap Time Creations
Our Delightful Home

Chocolate Root Beer Bundt Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal. This month I was assigned the blog Satisfy My Sweet Tooth which is such a pretty blog, such great pictures.

After looking through all the recipes I decided on this chocolate root beer bundt cake, I do not like root beer at all but Randal loves it and I figured that once it's baked into a chocolate cake you wouldn't taste too much of that root beer anyway.  I used my favourite valrhona cocoa to make this cake so it ended up really chocolately.  I wanted to make the root beer chocolate frosting a little more runny so I could drizzle it on the cake, so I doubled the amount of root beer in it.

2 cups root beer
1 cup valrhona cocoa
1 stick unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Frosting:
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate, melted
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup root beer
2/3 cup valrhona cocoa
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 10 inch bundt pan.

In a small pan, melt the butter, add in the the root beer, cocoa and the sugars.  Leave to cool.

In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt.

Whisk the eggs into the cooled root beer mixture and add to the flour, mix until combined.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until cooked through.

To make the frosting add all the ingredients to the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk until smooth. You can either pour it over the cake or use a spoon to drizzle it.

Amish Cinnamon Bread

I know that this is a bread recipe that I made in a bundt pan, but the reason for that is even though I have at least 2 bread pans, I can't find them. We moved into our house 2 years ago this month and we still have a closet full of unpacked boxes. Pretty sure my missing bread pans are somewhere in that closet.

Anyway, I found this recipe over at Redfly Creations and knew immediately that Randal would love this, and as I had some buttermilk in the fridge I needed to use up I gave it a go, bundt pan and all.

This is a really simple recipe to make, and we both enjoyed the end result, and a few days later we used the last of it to make french toast, which Randal loved but as I am not a fan of sweet french toast (I much prefer mine with baked beans and ketchup!) I left that for Randal.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon 

In a small bowl mix together the 2/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and the 2 cups of sugar.  Add in the eggs.  Add the milk, flour, and baking soda and mix until combined.  Put half of the batter into a greased pan (be it bundt or bread) and top with 3/4 of the cinnamon mixture. Add the remaining batter and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Once the cake has cooled, remove from pan and top with the remaining cinnamon sugar.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Ever since Randal bought me the Sarabeth's Bakery book I have been wanting to make this chocolate truffle cake for him, and as it was his birthday last week I finally got around to making it. I knew that Randal would love this cake, so much chocolate between the cake, the ganache and the glaze, but there is never too much rich gooey cake for my husband, I used valrhona cocoa for this cake as it's Randal's favourite.  I had so much fun making this, I love recipes that involve lots of steps to end up with a perfect cake. 

Chocolate Orange Cake

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup superfine sugar

1/2 cup valrhona cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Grated zest of 1/2 orange

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, beaten

Orange Simple Syrup

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

Whipped Ganache

2 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided

14 ounces semi sweet chocolate

Chocolate Glaze

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water

2 tablespoons superfine sugar

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350.

Line a half-sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or lightly butter the pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together. Combine the cream, zest, and vanilla in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer. Attach the bowl to the mixer and fit with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium speed until the cream holds its shape, just before soft peaks begin to form. Gradually beat in the eggs-the mixture will thin somewhat. Change to the paddle attachment. On low speed, add the flour mixture, and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute. Because the cream is chilled, the batter thickens to the consistency of very stiff frosting. Distribute the batter in 5 large dollops in the pan, 1 in each corner and 1 in the center. Spread evenly with an offset spatula. Bake for about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Run a knife around the inside of the half-sheet pan to loosen the cake. Place a large piece of parchment paper over the cake, then top with a large cutting board. Invert the pan and board together, and remove the pan and mat. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill and firm, at least 1 hour.

To make the orange syrup, bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small pan, let boil for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat and stir in the grand marnier.

To make the whipped ganache, bring 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Add the hot cream and let stand until the chocolate softens, about 3 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Let cool until tepid, about 15 minutes.

Whip the remaining 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cream in the chilled bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed only until the cream holds its shape, just before soft peaks begin to form. Pour the whipped cream over the cooled chocolate mixture and fold together with a silicone spatula. Do not overmix, or the ganache will be grainy. Transfer 1/2 cup of the ganache to a small bowl and set aside.

To assemble the cake, transfer the cake, with its cutting board, to the work surface. Using an 8 by 3-inch metal cake ring as a template, cut out two 8-inch rounds of cake from opposite corners of the chocolate cake. Cut out two half-rounds of cake from the remaining cake, and save the scraps. The two half-rounds will be put together, with the reserved scraps cut to fill in the gap, to become the center cake layer. Place the cake ring on a half-sheet pan. Insert an 8-inch cardboard round, white side up, inside the ring. Place a whole cake layer in the ring, and drizzle and brush with about 3 1/2 tablespoons of the syrup. Top with half of the whipped ganache filling, and spread evenly. Top with the partial cake layers, and fill in the gap with trimmings of the reserved cake scraps. Top with a smaller cardboard round and press gently to level the layers. Remove the cardboard round. Drizzle and brush the layer with another 3 1/2 tablespoons syrup. Spread with the rest of the filling. Add the final cake layer, cover with the smaller cardboard round, and press gently to level the layers. Remove the cardboard round. Drizzle and brush the cake with the remaining syrup. Using a small offset spatula, spread the reserved 1/2 cup filling over the top cake layer to make a smooth surface. Refrigerate the cake until completely chilled, at least 6 hours.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Rinse a kitchen towel under hot water and wring it out. Wrap the hot, moist towel around the sides of the cake ring, being careful not to get water on the top of the cake. Let stand for about 30 seconds. Lift up on the ring to remove it.

Place the cake on a small round wire cake rack set on a half-sheet pan. Using a small offset spatula rinsed under hot water and dried, smooth the sides of the cake to even out the exposed ganache between the layers. Refrigerate the cake on the rack until the outer layer of ganache is very firm, about 30 minutes.

To make the glaze, bring the cream, espresso, and sugar just to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Let stand until the chocolate softens, about 3 minutes. Add the corn syrup and stir well until the chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth. Strain into a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Transfer the cake on its wire cake rack to a room-temperature half-sheet pan. About 1 inch from the top edge of the cake, pour some of the glaze in a circle around the outside edge of the cake. Pour the remaining glaze in the center of the cake. Using a large offset metal spatula, quickly smooth the glaze over the top of the cake, letting the excess run down the sides.   Refrigerate until the glaze sets, at least 1 hour.

  Linked to: I should be mopping the floor, Create with Joy, Addicted to recipes, Tutus and tea parties,
This gal cooks, The dedicated house, A pinch of joy,
Flour me with love, 

Mini Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cakes

These were our Valentine's dessert. Randal loves ice cream cakes and again he actually came up with the idea of making mini ones, which was the perfect dessert to go with our dinner of appetizers.

For 2 Ice Cream Cakes
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. valrhona cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
½ cup black coffee
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups mint chocolate chip ice cream
Cool whip for frosting

In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.  Pour into a greased 9 inch cake pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until baked.

While the cake is baking, microwave the 2 cups of ice cream for 30 seconds, just long enough to soften the ice cream.  Spread the ice cream into a greased 9 inch cake pan and return to the freezer for about an hour.

Once the cakes have been baked and cooled, use an entremet ring (mine was around 3 inches) to cut out 3 circles of cake, then cut each one in half so you end up with 6 circles.  Freeze for 30 minutes.

Using the same entremet ring, cut out 4 circles of ice cream.  Layer the chocolate cake and ice cream, starting and ending with cake.  Frost with cool whip and return to the freezer until ready to serve.

  Linked to: Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Two Yellow Birds, What's Cooking, Love?, Mandatory Mooch,

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

A lady that Randal works with loves pineapple desserts. I made her a pineapple cream cake a few months ago, and this time she asked for a pineapple upside down cake. I tested a few recipes but this one was the best of them.

Topping:
1 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 can (20 oz) pineapple slices

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

6 tbsp cake flour

6 tbsp of ground almonds

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups of sugar

1 cup  unsalted butter at room temperature

4 large eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream

Maraschino cherries

 

Preheat oven to 325.

 

To make the topping, add the butter and brown sugar to a medium pan, heat until the sugar dissolves. Pour mixture into a 10 inch cake pan. Arrange pineapple slices in a single layer over the caramel mixture, add a cherry to each pineapple ring. 

 

To make the cake, whisk the flours, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter together until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream in 2 additions each, beating well after each addition. Pour cake batter over caramel and pineapple in pan.

 

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, before turning out onto a cake plate. 

 

Visitation Cakes

Today is the first Secret Recipe Club reveal of 2013.  This month I was assigned the blog Heavenly Treats and Treasures,  after searching through all of the recipes I kept going back to the visitation cakes as they looked so good and I definitely prefer cakes that aren't overly sweet and without lots of frosting.  I had never heard of visitation cakes before, but they originated in the convent of a community of French nuns called the Sisters of the Visitation.

I ended up having to make these with blackberries, because I spent 2 weeks searching for raspberries as the recipe calls for, but just couldn't find any.  These worked just fine with blackberries but I do think we would have preferred them with raspberries just because we like those better than blackberries. 

1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup blanched almonds, finely ground
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Zest of one lemon
Blackberries (or raspberries)

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a mini muffin pan.

Put the butter in a medium saucepan and melt it over medium heat. Continue cooking the butter until it colors lightly. Set aside.

Put the almonds, icing sugar, and egg whites in the same saucepan and place over low heat, stirring constantly, until they are just warm, about 100 degrees.

Remove the pan from the heat and fold in the flour. Fold in the butter, extracts and lemon zest.

Fill the pan 3/4 full, top each cake with a fresh blackberry and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cakes are golden brown.  Leave to cool and sprinkle with icing sugar.