Happy Easter Cake

I hope everyone had a happy Easter. What a great holiday we had - the weather was beautiful and the company, as always, was fun and filled with laughs.  All the food was delicious. I think it might have been the best Easter food in a long, long time. 
I made this cake inspired by cakes I had seen online.  I decorated it in the style of a basket (sans the handle) using a basket-weave piping tool and added grass (colored coconut) and eggs (Robin's Egg candies) and Peeps to the top.
The cake was coconut lemon: white cake, lemon icing and lemon coconut filling. It was a combination of 3 different recipes, the icing being all mine. 

As far as the blog goes, I know I have been slacking. It has been a very busy time for me but I would like to get back into it. Because of work constraints, it is hard for me to keep up as much as I used to, but I am still cooking and baking, especially on the weekends!  I hope this spring/summer to have more regular entries and I thank you for continuing to follow.

Funfetti Cake Sandwich Cookies

Hello!  Long time, no posting.  It's all my fault.  Spring has been busy for me.  I know that is a lame excuse, but it's true.  But I am feeling back on my game now that the nicer weather is (finally) upon us.  And just because I have not been posting, does not mean I have not been cooking.  It's very much the opposite, actually! 

This past weekend we got together with friends who have two young kids.  I offered to bring dessert and went through my "to make" files to see what I could whip up.  I have so many things I have yet to try, but I did want to avoid anything with nuts because I know one of the kids is allergic to peanuts.  Therefore, my list became smaller and a little easier to go through.  I picked out this recipe I had seen on Serious Eats posted by Cakespy figuring it was the perfect thing to make for the kids. Kinda like cupcakes, but in cookie form.  Just as cute, but less mess. 

They came out great.  Everyone loved them (especially the kids).  I was actually surprised how much I liked them.  I will definitely be making them again!  The beauty of this recipe is that you can change it up by using different cake mixes and icing options. 

Funfetti Cake Sandwich Cookies

adapted from Cakespy

For the cookies:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 package funfetti or rainbow chip cake mix

For for the icing:
1 stick of butter, softened

3-4 cups confectioners sugar

evaporated milk (as needed for consistency)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch or two of salt

food coloring (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Cream the butter and cream cheese. Blend in egg and vanilla.

3. Add cake mix in two parts, mixing well (it will be a super thick batter—if it is too stiff, add a small quantity of heavy cream to the batter and mix well).

4. Form balls of cookie dough (about a tablespoon each) on an ungreased baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between the cookies.

5. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool cookies for at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack; the cookies are very delicate when they first come out of the oven and they will break if you try to transfer them too soon.

6. Once completely cool, add a generous dollop of frosting to the bottom of half the cookies, and then sandwich the rest of the cookies on top to form something that vaguely resembles a whoopie pie, but tastes like something else entirely.

Another Favorite This Summer

Another favorite for me this summer was strawberries.  I am a huge strawberry fan and this year they seemed to be superior (I am eating some right now).  

A few weeks ago, we had dinner plans in the evening with friends.  I had an abundance of strawberries so I thought instead of wine it would be fun to bring something unexpected for dessert.  I looked online to see what I could make with the ingredients I had and when I found this recipe, I knew in an instant that was what it was going to be.   

Cupcakes seem to be the in thing right now and while I do enjoy them, I still prefer a regular piece of cake.  But cupcakes are cute, fun and more informal than cake, so they are the perfect thing to bring to a casual affair.  I will post the recipe as it is written, but I did make changes to the icing.  I could not fathom using 2 full sticks of butter, so I started with 1/2 stick and added more as I went along until it was to my liking.  Overall, I  probably used 1 stick total for the icing.  They were so good and easy to make, I made them a week later for another event!

Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes
Makes 1 dozen

Cake:
2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2.  Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about  1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
4.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
5.  With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
6.  Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Icing:
1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.  Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. 
2.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined.
3.  Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.   

Zucchini Bread Cupcakes and Tomato Pie!

My youngest sister lives in historic and beautiful Charleston, SC.  Her boyfriend has always been in the food biz, which is very big down there as it is an huge tourist and foodie destination.  Most recently, he has been working for a farm out on Wadmalaw Island and therefore has access to fresh organic produce.   My sister has recently taken advantage of this and made the most of what he has brought home.  She sent me these pictures this morning and they looked so good I immediately had to post them.  So here it is: Zucchini Bread Cupcakes (ZBC's) and Tomato Pie!

ZBC's

Cupcake:

3 eggs

1 C vegetable oil

1 1/2 C sugar

2 C medium-fine grated zucchini

2 tsp vanilla

3 C flour
3 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 C chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Either grease cupcake tin or line with paper cups.

3. Beat the eggs with a whisk.  Mix in oil and sugar and then zucchini and vanilla.

4. Add flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, salt and mix.  (Then add nuts, if using.)

5. Pour batter into cupcake cups (distribute equally to make 24 cupcakes).

6. Bake for 20 minutes (25 max).

 

Cream Cheese Icing:

8 oz package cream cheese

1/2 stick (4 oz) butter

1 lb confectioners sugar

2 tsp vanilla

 

1. Soften the cream cheese and butter (but don't melt).  Beat until smooth.

2. Add sugar and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.

3. Slather onto room-temp cupcakes.

 

 

Tomato Pie 

Frozen pie shell (or make your own)

Spicy brown mustard

Grated cheese

Tomatoes (she used heirloom green and striped tomatoes)

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

(Other herbs or grated vegetables can be added as well)

 

1. Defrost pie shell. 

2. Cover bottom of pie shell generously with spicy mustard.

3. Add layer of grated cheese.

4. Add layer of sliced tomatoes.

5. Sprinkle olive oil and salt and pepper on tomatoes.

6. Repeat steps 3-5 until pie is filled, leaving room for the top layer to be a tomato layer.  (Can substitute a layer of tomatoes with another veggie, ie: shredded zucchini.)

7. Bake at 350-375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Colossal Crumb Cake

I don't think there is a person on the planet who would say they do not like crumb cake.  I prefer crumb cake over any doughnut, danish, or cinnamon roll for breakfast - it is my absolute favorite.  I have tried Martha Stewart's recipe a couple times but had to stop making it because I could not stop eating it!  But when I saw this recipe on Serious Eats, I could not resist.  I HAD to try it.  Anticipating that I would be able to give some away to family, I decided to make it this weekend.  Luckily, it freezes well, so hopefully I can show some restraint and put the rest of what I have in the freezer for later consumption.

First let's start with the most important component: the crumbs!

I am not sure if this picture gives the crumbs justice.  This is the biggest bowl I own.  The utensil in the picture is a big serving fork (not regular size), so hopefully that will help you to understand just how much of the cake is made up of this delicious crumb topping.

Now for the cut-out corner shot: to say that getting this piece out was easy is a lie.  To say that I did not enjoy eating all the bits of crumbs that fell off the top is another lie.

And finally, the piece de resistance: the cross-section.

Now, this is a particularly big piece... I would not recommend eating all of this in one sitting; while your tastebuds would be very happy, your stomach would not be later on.  Plus, you would probably not be able to move for a while.

So, as long as you stick to smaller-sized pieces and/or have a good crowd of people share this with, I recommend you make this.  It is unbelievably good.

Colossal Crumb Cake
adapted from Arthur Schwartz
serves a small army

For the crumb topping:
3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter
7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar (I used half light/half dark)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 tablespoons cinnamon

For the cake:

2 1/4 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup superfine or strained sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1. Make the topping: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low flame.  Remove from heat and cool for about 5 minutes, but do not allow butter to become cold. Transfer butter to a very large mixing bowl.

2. Add the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and cinnamon.  Stir together until mixture forms small crumbs.  Set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 350 with the rack in the lower third of the oven.
4. Butter a 9x13 inch pan.  Dust lightly with flour.

5. Make the cake: Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl and whisk together.

6. Add butter to a large bowl of a stand up mixer.  Cream butter until soft. 

7. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl occasionally.

8. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping sides as necessary. Add vanilla.

9. Reduce mixer speed to low.  Add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream, dividing the flour mixture into 3 parts and the sour cream into 2 parts, starting and ending with the flour.  Mix just until incorporated after each addition.  Scrape sides down and mix for another 10 seconds. 

10. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a rubber spatula.

11. Pour crumb mixture over the cake in the pan.  Make sure to gently press down crumbs on top of batter. Try to make sure the whole surface is covered well (this should not be a problem).  

12. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until cake is golden brown and begins to come away from the sides of the pan.  

*Just a note - my cake needed a little more than 30 minutes for the middle portion of the cake to be cooked through, but ovens may vary so be sure to keep an eye on it!

 Nothing but crumbs!

Triple Chocolate Pecan Cake

Mara's Homemade is one of our favorite restaurants in the city.  We discovered it after coming back from New Orleans - we were jonesing for cajun cuisine and found Mara's online.  We gave it a try and boy were we glad we did.  Not only is the food great and owners friendly, the homemade desserts are out of this world.  Now every time we go to Mara's we HAVE to get dessert.  If we're too full (which we usually are), we take it home.  A couple months back, this is exactly what we did.  We ordered the chocolate pecan cake to go.  After we got home, I opened the box to take a look and said maybe I'll try a bite.  That particular bite will forever be in my memory - it was absolute ecstasy.  I called my husband over because he HAD to try it and 5 minutes later, the slice was gone.  There was nothing we could do to hold back - it was that good. 

So after that night, I was on a mission to find out how to make this incredible cake myself.  I found this recipe online and decided that it was the closest thing I could find, pecans and all.  Since my husband is a chocolate lover, I figured it was the perfect thing to make for his birthday.  We brought it to my parents on Mother's Day (also his bday) and everyone loved it.  While I am still not convinced that it is as good as Mara's, it is pretty darn close...but it won't stop me from ordering it next time I go!

Triple Chocolate Pecan Cake

adapted from The Baking Pan 

Batter:

8 1-ounce squares semisweet chocolate

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ cups granulated sugar

6 large eggs

1/3 cup brandy or cognac (or any kind of liquid you like - I used instant coffee for a mocha flavor)

1½ cups toasted pecans finely chopped

Glaze:

5 1-ounce squares bittersweet chocolate

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons whipping (heavy) cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

pinch of kosher salt

½ cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Fill a deep casserole dish halfway with warm water and put on lower shelf in oven. Prepare one 9 inch springform pan; lightly grease the pan with butter, line with wax paper, and then lightly grease the top of the wax paper.  (I did not use wax paper).
Batter:

In top of a double boiler over hot water, Melt the semi-sweet chocolate and butter; stir to combine. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cocoa powder and sugar. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs and brandy; whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the eggs. Add the egg mixture to the sugar mixture and stir to combine. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and stir until completely combined. Stir in the chopped pecans.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and set on higher shelf in oven.
Bake:

Bake 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool for 15 minutes then remove cake from the pan and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 6 hours.
Glaze:

In top of a double boiler over hot water, combine the bittersweet chocolate, butter, whipping cream, vanilla and salt. Stir until melted and completely combined. Remove from heat and let cool about 5 minutes.

Place a piece of wax paper under the chilled cake, and then drizzle spoonfuls of glaze along the edge of the cake, allowing the glaze to drip down and coat the sides. Pour the remaining glaze on top of the cake.

Cover the sides of the cake with ½ cup chopped pecans, gently pressing them on with your hand. Let the cake sit, uncovered, at room temperature or in the refrigerator until the glaze is set. Transfer cake to a serving plate.

Cover cake and refrigerate until ready to serve. Refrigerate Leftovers.
 

After reading this recipe again, it sounds pretty complicated.  Don't be intimidated, because it really is not.  I do have to warn you though, this cake is definitely chocolate overload - if you don't like chocolate, this might not be the right cake for you.  Fortunately, my family does not have that problem!

Chocolate Guinness Cake!

Guinness is one of my favorite beers, especially this time of year.  I figured there was not much you could do to improve a Guinness...until I saw this recipe!  Even those who do not like beer or Guinness will love this cake.  It's very chocolaty and dense but still moist and gooey in the middle (mine was a little underdone, but I think that made it even better).  It's also super easy to make - everything is combined in one pot.  I would recommend making this cake any time of the year.  It is truly that good.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

From Feast by Nigella Lawson
Yield: One 9-inch cake (12 servings)

For the cake:

Butter/flour for pan
1 cup Guinness stout
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups superfine sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

For the icing:

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar (I used more)
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream

pinch salt

Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.

Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.