Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Happy Father's Day!

I know it's a little late in the day, but I wanted to wish a very Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! I would like to send a special wish to my very own dad, who has been a constant source of strength, encouragement and inspiration to me throughout the years.


I am also very blessed to have a wonderful father-in-law, too, who has been there for me and helped out when we've needed an extra hand around the house during our whole renovation period.


My dad has always been a huge fan of camping and all things outdoors, so cast iron skillets are always high on his list of 'favorite kitchen items.' Recently, my parents renovated their kitchen, and that renovation included a new, glass-top stove. Imagine my dad's dismay when he realized that every movement of his beloved cast-iron skillet risked scratching their brand new stovetop. He knew that he would not be able to use his cast-iron skillet for everyday cooking anymore.


While planning thier last trip to Chicago, my parents asked if I would want them to bring the skillet. As much as I'm sure he hated to say goodbye to his skillet, I was giddy at the thought of finally having my first piece of cast iron! And what better way to celebrate a well-seasoned cast iron skillet than to make a super-sticky, super caramelly pineapple upside down cake.


Using fresh pineapple and making it in a cast iron skillet gives this cake a taste far superior than the others I have made in the past. The best part is that this skillet is so well-seasoned that even the stickest of sugar refused to stick. Cleanup was a breeze!

Even though I didn't have cardamom as called for in the original recipe, the allspice/cinnamon combination I substituted with was delicious. It was a bit like a spice cake with a sweet, fruity, caramel topping.

Only after I baked the cake did I realize that I baked mine in an 11 1/4" cast iron skillet, not 10 inches like it calls for in the recipe. Thankfully, I checked my cake early, and I'm glad I did, because it finished 15 minutes or so earlier than the recipe called for since the batter spread thinner in the larger skillet.

It was absolutely delicious! I can't wait to make this again, and even the hubby said this was my best pineapple upside down cake, yet!

Woohoo!

Hope all the daddies out there had a fabulous Father's Day!! You deserve it!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Adapted Slightly From Epicurious

Ingredients
For topping:
1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored
3/4 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

For batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tablespoons dark rum for sprinkling over cake

Special equipment:
a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Make topping:
Cut pineapple crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick pieces. Melt butter in skillet. Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in concentric circles, overlapping pieces slightly.

Make batter:
Sift together flour, cardamom, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and rum. Add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Beat in pineapple juice, then add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. (Batter may appear slightly curdled.)

Spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cake stand in skillet 5 minutes. Sprinkle rum over the cake and let it absorb. Invert a plate over skillet and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). Replace any pineapple stuck to bottom of skillet.

Serve cake just warm or at room temperature. (With a scoop of vanilla ice cream!)

Funfetti Cupcakes (and some news!)

I have been a terrible blogger. My apologies for that. I have been baking, I promise, and I have news to share (and hopefully it's a halfway decent excuse for my absence this past week!) First of all, this past weekend was the National Food Blogger Bake Sale. On Saturday, May 14, we sold baked goods at The Poison Cup (1128 W. Armitage Avenue) in Lincoln Park. The proceeds from the bake sale will be donated to Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale!  We had a great time, despite the crummy weather, and I'm confident that we brought in a respectable amount of money for a great organization!

I ended up make black-bottom cupcakes and mini Kentucky Derby pies recipes which I will definitely be sharing soon! But the amount of baked goods (and people) that showed up to support this cause was amazing. Look at the tables upon tables of baked goods!

Kudos to Maris Callahan at In Good Taste for organizing such a great event!

The other part of the equation is that, aside from getting ready from the bake sale, we also said goodbye to two dear friends this weekend who are moving back to the DC area from Chicago. We had a great day with them, and we will miss them immensely, but I am so excited for them. They have two great opportunities ahead of them, and I see nothing but success in the future!

If that isn't enough, things have been really up in the air with me for a while now (like since February), but now that my plans are concrete, I am comfortable sharing! This is somewhat surreal to say, but this is my last week working as an engineer. Starting Monday, I am going back to school full time to earn my Master's Degree in Secondary Education so that I can become a high school math teacher. It's a gigantic change, but one I am 100% ready for and excited about. Last month, I had to take a 5-hour exam, similar to the SAT or ACT on steroids. There was a reading comprehension, language arts, math and essay section. I got a perfect score on the language arts section (woohoo!) but ended up missing one question on the math section. Of course, I'm the math person that always performs better on the English/language arts stuff. If I didn't pass this test (who average pass rate is 25% of the total test-takers) I would have had to take it again ASAP, as I couldn't register for classes at my school without a passing grade. Needless to say, this past month has been super-stressful waiting for results of this test and, essentially, my future.

Once I found out I passed, I paid my admission deposit and will now be registering for my classes this fall (I'm already set on my summer classes).

I am excited, anxious, nervous and ecstatic at the same time. I really hope to keep up with the blog and the posting, but I hope you can forgive if there is a lapse or two in postings as I'm transitioning to this new phase.

Today is my last Monday at work, so it is somewhat bittersweet. I've been here for nearly four years, and it was my first full-time job out of school. My mood has been happy, sad, elated and depressed, sometimes all at the same time. Call it a rut, a “mood” (complete with air-quotes) or a case of the “Mondays.” (props if you know that reference!)


No matter what the day brings, I don’t seem to be able to get past the fact that my alarm went off and I had to get out of bed. Did I mention my alarm goes off at 5:20 in the morning? The sun is not even awake at that hour, which begs the question…”Why am I?”


Days like these, I need to bring out the big guns to pull myself out of the weeknight doldrums. Those ‘big guns’ come in the form of itty-bitty sprinkles inside nothing other than a funfetti cupcake. I did not eat funfetti a lot as a kid, but the few times I did have it, I was in heaven. Light-as-air cake contains a rainbow of color throughout. How can you not be happy eating a rainbow?

I do not buy cake mix all that much, so I did not have a box of Funfetti on hand. But, I did have everything in my pantry, including the rainbow sprinkles, to bring them to life from scratch.


This recipe did not disappoint. The light almond flavoring gives this cake a little something special, which elevates it above your traditional vanilla cake. The cake itself is a little more dense than it’s boxed counterpart, but I’ll trade that any day for a homemade treat sans preservatives and other ingredients I cannot pronounce. The frosting is my first attempt at a cooked frosting, and I was so pleased with how it turned out.


Smoother and lighter than its eggless-uncooked buttercream sister, this frosting was reminiscent of marshmallow fluff, and a perfect counterpart to the nostalgic cake. A few sprinkles on top and, ta-da, the “Mondays” have all but vanished.


Bake yourself up a smile today.


You deserve it.

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

Makes one dozen cupcakes

from Fake Ginger

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups AP flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large egg whites (room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350C. In a small bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, whip together your butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg whites, one at a time, until thick and white. Add your extracts and mix again.

With a spoon, slowly mix in your dry ingredients and milk/yogurt mix, alternating between the two. When everything comes together (taking care not to over mix), add the sprinkles and lightly fold in a couple times. Again, do not over mix.

Spoon in the batter to liners and bake for about 20 minutes or until your tester comes out clean. Set out to cool before icing.

Vanilla Swiss Buttercream

From CCakery

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

3 large egg white

18 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Extra sprinkles

Directions

Over a double boiler, whisk together the egg whites and sugar until the granules have a disintegrated. Pour the whites into a mixing bowl, careful not to get any condensation or water into it.

With an electric mixer, whip the whites until it forms soft peaks. Continue mixing and slowly add the butter, about 4 Tablespoons at a time and mix until completely incorporated. Mix well - after adding your butter, your buttercream will reach the "curdled stage". Don't worry, just keep mixing and it'll smooth out.

After everything has smoothed, add the extracts. When everything is incorporated, use buttercream to pipe over your cooled funfetti cupcakes. Add extra sprinkles on top. Enjoy!

Don't forget to stop by my Facebook site if you like what you see!

Carrot Cake

I really need to find more excuses to bake for people because as much as I love making desserts, I really can’t afford to be eating three dozen cookies, a double-layer cake or an entire pie every few days. So, when birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, bridal showers, a good dentist check-up, or any other event calling for celebration rolls around, I always want to make a dessert.

Carrot cake is a favorite of mine, but I get a little wary when making it for other people. There are so many ideas of what carrot cake is – anything from a spice cake with grated carrots and (maybe) walnuts, to cakes with spice, carrots, coconut, crushed pineapple and raisins. The only thing really tying these two cakes together is the cream cheese icing, which even that can have white chocolate thrown into the mix.

Because this was for a friend’s birthday, I made sure to ask which type of carrot cake the recipient would prefer. Being told he was more of a ‘purist,’ I knew exactly which recipe I wanted to try.

As much as I love the traditional (to my family) carrot cake with crushed pineapple, walnuts and coconut flakes, I found this cake to be truly special in how moist and tender it was, without the distraction of all the other ingredients. The spice came through beautifully with the cocoa powder being a nice addition, and the slight tang of the cream cheese icing cut the sweetness of the cake as a whole.

The best part of this cake? It’s a mini!

First, nothing to me says “birthday” like a layer cake. Cupcakes are cute, and I love them, but I always look forward to being able to cut whatever sized slice I wanted out of a cake. Even if it’s the same amount of cake as four cupcakes, I don’t feel nearly as guilty for eating one ginormous slice of cake as I would eating four cupcakes.

Second, they’re cute.

Last, I don’t know why, but part of my enjoyment of carrot cake is the way the cake is layered with the icing. I will never say no to a carrot cake cupcake, but I much prefer the ratio of icing to cake in each bite of a slice of cake, versus a cupcake. But it’s only carrot cake so far that I’m this picky about. Weird. Maybe it’s because I can never take a normal bit of a cupcake without wearing half of the icing on my nose or upper lip.

Alas, I digress. Back to mini cakes and veering away from my lack of ability to eat a cupcake like a normal person…

I made two mini cakes by filling some small stoneware dishes with the batter. The approximately six-inch diameter mini-cakes are much more manageable to transport and will easily feed the amount of people attending at the birthday dinner. And, seriously, how cute are these?? One of the cakes was four layers tall, the other was two (that was a thank-you to my in-laws for puppy sitting for us this past weekend!)

With the rest of the batter I did make cupcakes so that I could take them into work and not be tempted by them sitting on my dining room table. Unfortunately, I still have yet to master the art of transporting them. The trek from my house to the train to the city had a net casualty count of six cupcakes. At least they still taste great!

Because I am not sure how the copyright issue works with this recipe, from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s book entited “Rose’s Heavenly Cakes,” I will direct you to where I found a copy of this recipe, which is here.

Link to Carrot Cake Recipe

I followed the cake recipe exactly, and it was absolutely amazing. Perfectly moist and that hint of cocoa did amazing things for the taste of the cake. For the frosting, I omitted the sour cream and white chocolate, favoring the powdered sugar version. I did add about 1/4 c to 1/2 c more sugar than the recipe called for because I wanted the icing to be a little stiffer for decorating.

(This would also be perfect if you haven't decided on that special dessert for Valetine's Day! It's not far off now!)

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Red Velvet Cupcake

This post is in response to a specific request for a red velvet recipe - I'm always glad to do what I can!

I wish I could tell you I knew what red velvet cake was actually supposed to taste like. It does have cocoa in it, so there is a slight chocolate flavor, but there isn’t enough to make it a ‘chocolate’ cake, and it’s definitely not a white or yellow cake – so what is it? No clue.

All I know is that, in my opinion, I’ve had really great ones, and really terrible ones. The good ones are moist and tender, with a uniform crumb texture and a good ratio of icing to cake – typically a cream cheese icing. The not-so-good ones were so dry that as soon as I took a bite, it felt like I had cotton mouth, and it was difficult to chew and swallow the cake. The icing was cloyingly sweet, and there was way too much of it on the cake – maybe in an attempt to compensate for the lackluster cake underneath? In both cases, I’ve had some that are just barely red, where the cocoa color was more prevalent, and some that looked like they were going to bleed out as soon as you took a bite. I have never made red velvet before, but figured a recipe with some decent reviews and feedback would be a good place to start.

I love how pretty the cupcakes are – bright red cake, stark white frosting. They really do have the “POW!” factor. They were moist and flavorful, hurting both notes of cocoa and tangy buttermilk.

Nothing will ever replace a classic chocolate cupcake with white frosting in my heart, but I think I can certainly make some space for red velvet as well!



Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake
Adapted slightly from Paula Deen via FoodNetwork.com
Makes about 27 cupcakes

Cake:
2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 ounces red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
From AllRecipes.com

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 (16 ounce) box confectioners' sugar

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat cream cheese, softened, butter, sour cream and Vanilla Extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.

Nuttier than a Fruitcake!

I really do understand why people think of fruitcakes as doorstops. This one is no exception. It is not a light cake - literally and calorically. This cake must have weighed 5 pounds, and it cost a small fortune to send one of them halfway across the country. But you know what? This one is worth picking up from in front of the door and actually enjoying. This is by far the BEST fruitcake I have ever come across, with dried fruit, warm holiday spices and the fact it requires being bathed in bourbon anywhere from several days to several weeks before serving. It packs a punch.

My dad loves fruitcake and rations his so that he can enjoy it throughout the year. My mom, who rarely eats it is now eating small pieces of my dad’s rations, and he's getting sad that he's ahead of schedule with his fruitcake consumption. This is going to be a yearly favorite in my family. And I’ll make sure to make my family extra this year so that they don’t have to worry about their rations.

We're lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's nearby, and between there and our local grocery store, we can find all the dried fruits for this recipe at a relatively low cost, including the candied ginger, which I've heard can be pretty pricey in other stores.

There are a lot of ingredients to this cake as well, which can make it a little intimidating. But this one is worth it. The ingredients for the most part are interchangeable. Don’t like currants? Try dried pineapple, or any other dried fruit your heart desires. If you can’t find any of the dried fruit listed in the recipe, you can easily adjust the amounts of the ones you do have to compensate for the missing ingredient. Change out the alcohol for vanilla rum, or dark rum. Use walnuts or hazelnuts instead of pecans, or omit the nuts completely, if you prefer.

And the best part is you can make it weeks before the holidays! I baked mine on November 21, over a month before Christmas. My one big loaf and seven mini loaves have just been hanging out in my kitchen, getting basted every few days with brandy since being baked. If you do not have a 10-inch loaf pan, you can make two standard-sizes loaves filled 2/3 of the way full, one 10-inch bundt, or six mini loaves – perfect for gift-giving!

Even the biggest fruitcake haters should give this recipe a try. The cake might change your mind, and if nothing else, the alcohol in this cake will definitely fill your holidays with a little more cheer.

Curious about what I’ve made already? Check out:
White Trash
Quick Mix Spritz Cookies
Peppermint Icicle Candy
Spiced Pecans and Praline Candy
Fresh Orange Spritz Cookies



Free Range Fruitake
From Alton Brown via FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup sun dried cranberries
1/2 cup sun dried blueberries
1/2 cup sun dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup gold rum (I used brandy instead)
1 cup sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks)
1 cup unfiltered apple juice
4 whole cloves, ground (between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp)
6 allspice berries, ground (about ¾ tsp allspice)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted pecans, broken
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

Directions
Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum (I used brandy) and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit.

Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.)

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour (40 minutes for mini loaves). I also erred on the side of caution and used Pam for baking to grease my pans. The recipe doesn’t mention greasing the pans, but I figured it’s better safe than sorry.. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again. My large loaf took about an hour and twenty minutes to bake all the way, and I used a wooden skewer to test for doneness, since a toothpick doesn’t reach all the way to the middle of the cake, which is the part that would be undercooked and gummy.

Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.

When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks. If you decide to give the cake as a gift, be sure to tell the recipient that they are very lucky indeed.  

Mojito Cupcakes

I loved mixed drinks. I just wish they loved me back. Nowadays I typically stick to beer simply because they don’t slap me in the face like mixed drinks tend to do.

Some of my favorite drinks are Mudslides, Long Island Iced teas, and Mojitos. Mudslides are my drink of choice when I’m sitting on a beach, long islands will cure what ails ya, and Mojitos are so light and refreshing, they mentally transport me to somewhere much more tropical than Chicago.

I figured that a mojito cupcake would be the perfect non-chocolate cupcake option (paired with none other than the Car Bomb Cupcakes) for my dessert spread. I love when I can bake with a little creativity. And it’s not that bar-themed cupcakes have never been done before, but I always love when I get to chance to create something a little out of the ordinary for my friends. When I mentioned the idea of making a yellow cupcake with rum, lime and mint to my husband, he faltered a little bit before tentatively saying ‘it should be fine... I think.’ This got me thinking about the fact that I had not used mint a lot before in my baking and I was wondering if the cakes would end up with a strange flavor or aftertaste that I wasn’t anticipating. The only way to find out was to try it and hope for the best.

The cupcake consists of a cake using mint infused milk, lime and rum, which is then coated lightly with a rum, mint and lime glaze and finally topped with a rum and lime buttercream. The cupcake recipe yields a light, fluffy and moist cupcake that has a nice punch of citrus from the lime juice and zest. The addition of the mint infused milk gives it an ever-so-subtle flavor, but resulted in a wonderful freshness and lightness to the cake. The glaze was probably an unnecessary step, but certainly dialed up the rum notes a little bit more.

The cake itself was delicious, but the icing sent it over the top. A lot of the recipes I’ve seen use a cream cheese-based frosting, and I was just too hesitant about the tangy flavor overpowering the subtle flavor components of the cake, so I settled on a lime and rum buttercream frosting. My husband and I both agreed though that the icing was what tied the whole cake together. And because this recipe starts with a killer cupcake, by omitting the rum and mint you make a wonderfully summery lime cupcake that would be perfectly suited for an afternoon tea or baby/bridal shower. You could also jazz the cake up with a coconut buttercream (yum!) or a lime curd filling. Or switch out the rum for tequila, omit the mint and glaze, and you’re on your way to a margarita.


Delicious.


Mojito Cupcakes

Mojito Icing:
Group Recipes

1 1/2 cups powdered (icing) sugar (or more, depending on rum amount)
3 T butter, softened
zest and juice of half a lime
half shot of spiced or dark rum (or more or less to taste)
12 sprigs of mint garnish (optional)

Mojito Icing:
Mix the butter and sugar together in a bowl until smooth.
Add the rum and lime, mix further until stiff peaks form (add more powdered sugar if necessary).
Taste to see if it needs more rum, and add as appropriate.
I use a flat knife to spread the icing onto the tops of the mojito cupcakes because a spatula is just too big.
Then add a sprig of mint on each to garnish.

Rum Syrup Glaze
Cream Puffs in Venice
For the rum syrup:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup dark rum
2 or 3 pieces of lime zest
a few sprigs of fresh mint
In a small pot, combine the sugar, water and butter over medium-high heat.
Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often.
Once the butter has completely melted and the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat.
Carefully add the rum. The mixture will bubble and spurt so take care not to burn yourself.
Once you’ve mixed in all the rum, add the lime zest and mint and let the syrup infuse for 5 minutes before spooning over the warm cupcakes.

Mojito Cupcakes
Alpine Berry
makes 12 regular cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
3/4 cup whole milk, hot
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
grated zest of 2 limes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum (optional)

Preheat to 350F.

Add mint leaves to hot milk. Let steep for 10-15 minutes. Pour milk through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Press liquid from mint leaves. Discard leaves and allow milk to cool slightly.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in lime zest, vanilla and rum (if using).

On very low speed, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour, mixing until just incorporated.

Fill 18 standard muffin cups half full. Bake until cupcakes spring back when touched, 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely.

Chocolate Pound Cake

When I was younger and would visit my relatives in Virginia, my brother and I would almost always be greeted with two things: scratch off lottery tickets and chocolate pound cake. Inevitably, my brother always got the winning ticket, he was just lucky like that. But I didn’t mind, because I knew that the pound cake was guaranteed to be on my dessert plate, and that was enough for me. The cake itself was soft, with a dense, silky crumb, and sturdy. It is also not nearly as sweet as some of the other chocolate cakes I have had in the past, probably due to the fact that pound cake typically uses unsweetened cocoa instead of melted chocolate. It was always baked in a tube pan, and perfectly iced in chocolate frosting. I was so methodical when I at my slice. I would start from the unfrosted bottom, which had been compressed simply from the weight of the cake, and then eat my way through the inner portion of the cake, and leaving nothing but the edge my slice that had an equal frosting-to-cake ratio. I’d eat this part last. The cake alone was heavenly; those last few bites with the frosting were bliss. I loved how the top of the frosting would get just the slightest crust on it after sitting out for a day, and hiding just underneath was a velvety smooth layer sitting atop the cake.
There was only one thing you could do to ruin the cake. You could forget to use a serrated knife to cut it. That was a close to a mortal sin as you could get, and believe me, if you ever forgot to cut it with a serrated knife and were caught, you would never forget again!

It wasn’t until years later when I was talking with my mom about this recipe, and wondering if she had the amazing chocolate frosting recipe that accompanied the cake that I found out the frosting I loved so much was out of a can from the grocery store. I normally don’t care for grocery store icings, because they are they are incredibly sweet and then typically paired with boxed cake mixes, which tend to be on the sweeter side of the spectrum as well. But with this cake, it just works. The super-sweet icing balances the ever-so-slight bitterness from the unsweetened cocoa.

My mother-in-law’s birthday was recently, and I wanted to make a cake that I was sure would be a winner. As much as I love experimenting with new recipes, birthdays are not the time to do it – I want something reliable. Where better to turn than a tried-and-true family recipe? This recipe calls for three sticks of margarine, so I bought a box of four. Good thing I did, because as soon as I opened the box, one of the margarine sticks fell end-first onto the floor. At least I don’t have to figure out what I’m going to do with a fourth stick of margarine. The cake did scare me for a little bit in the oven, because it looked as though it was melting before it would have a chance to set, but I was worrying for nothing. The cake baked up perfectly, and looks and tastes just like I remember it.
This cake would be delicious sans frosting and I’m sure you could easily use a sour cream chocolate buttercream, or basic chocolate buttercream with this cake, but in keeping true to the spirit of my family’s cake, I’m using the good old canned stuff with pride.


Chocolate Pound Cake
Family Recipe

1 ½ c margarine
3 c flour
3 c sugar
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
5 eggs
4 Tbsp cocoa
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Sift together dry ingredients. In a separate container, combine the milk and vanilla.
Cream butter and sugar (after my sugar was incorporated into my margarine, I let it go for 4 minutes, until it got light, fluffy, and almost white in color). Add in eggs one at a time. Add dry ingredients, alternating with the milk/vanilla mixture. Spoon into a greased and floured* bundt pan and bake for 1 hour 20 minute to 1 hour 30 minutes.
Let the cake cool for 20 minutes before unmolding onto a rack to cool completely. It should turn out with ease.
Once cool, frost and decorate as desired.

*I can’t stress this enough. Nothing is more depressing than turning your pan over, lifting it up, and not seeing cake on your rack because it’s still in the pan. I have to pry more than my share of cakes out with a knife because I get so focused on the recipe that I forget basic things like greasing your pan.

Some Happy News! (AKA Tastespotting accepted one of my pictures!)

It doesn't take very much on a friday to make me happy, but I am ecsatic that one of my photos submitted to the Tastespotting website was picked for the front page! It's photo 101634, not that I'm counting :)

Even better, it's of the birthday cake I made for my hubby, so I'm proud that I actually made him a cake that tasted delicious and apparently was pretty enough to be featured on Tastespotting!

Yay and Happy Friday!

(PS, remember the Asiago Cheese Bread from a while ago? There's a Part II post coming tonight. Be excited!)

Birthday Cake!

I love making cakes. And decorating them. And especially eating them. I have finally started to understand why cupcakes are all the rage. They are essentially portion-controlled cakes. I will admit that biting into a cupcake is not nearly as satisfying to me as taking a nice big slice out of a layer cake and plopping a big hunk of vanilla ice cream on top. I find a beauty in cakes, their construction, the balance of cake, filling and frosting, and in their decorations. But with only two people in our house, both of whom are fairly conscious of our daily diets, having surplus cake around is a problem. Which is unfortunately why I do not make them very much.

My husband’s birthday was recently and he requested and all-chocolate cake to celebrate. So, not only do I get my cake, I get chocolate, too! This is an ultimate chocolate layer cake. It’s a chocolate cake, chocolate ganache and chocolate buttercream. I decorated it simply because I didn’t want to go overboard girly on his cake.

The cake was Martha’s one bowl chocolate cupcake recipe baked into two round cake pans. I made the batter, weighed it in my pans and started to bake them off. I set my timer and came back when it beeped. When I opened my oven door, the cakes didn’t even look close to finished. I started to panic, wondering if Martha had set me astray. I persisted, put more time on the timer and prayed I didn’t mess it up. It would have helped if I read the instructions again. What took me a while to realize was that I followed the recipe instructions for the cupcakes, including the bake time. If I had read the footnote about ”If making a two-layer cake... I would have saved myself the moment of panic, because these cakes were done just when Martha said they’d be.

The ganache is a basic chocolate ganache, and so far my favorite, with the perfect proportions of chocolate to cream and butter. It was smooth and set enough so that when the cake was sliced into, the ganache held its shape but soft enough that when you ate a piece, it enrobed your tongue luscious chocolate.

The frosting is a new recipe, and a keeper if I do say so myself. It’s different because it uses melted butter instead of just room temperature, but the rougher, drier texture of the frosting when combined with the silken filling and the soft, moist, airy cake was absolutely to die for.

The cake assembly itself was probably the most difficult for me. I cut each layer in half, so I was working with relatively thin layers of cake. Oh, the things I do to make sure more ganache is in the cake...

While the bottoms of both layers were easily sturdy enough to stack, the tops were a different story. They were much softer and much more delicate. I got the first two layers assembled without incident. And then I went for the third layer. Somewhere in between picking the cake up off of the wax paper and laying it on top of the ganache, it broke into three pieces. Two stayed in my hands while one unceremoniously fell onto the table, which broke that piece into two pieces. I now have four pieces of cake, and a relatively slippery ganache layer in between. The math didn’t add up, but I persisted anyway. I reassembled my cake jigsaw puzzle on top of the ganache, layered more ganache on top, and then put on my top layer. That’s when the problem started.

I walked away to get my frosting, and when I came back, I noticed a little lump of cake bulging out the side. I used my finger to poke it back in, which then squeezed a little lump out of the opposite side. Hoping that when the ganache set up it would hold the layers better, I swaddled my cake in plastic wrap and threw it in the fridge.

While not perfect when it came out, I figured the frosting would bind it all together. I squeezed the couple cake protrusions back in and frosted the sides before they had a chance to bulge again. Success! A non-bulgy cake!

I really enjoyed this recipe, and hope to make it again in cake form – though I will most likely at least be making the one-bowl cupcake recipe again in the near future, and this time in cupcake form.

Chocolate Birthday Cake
Frosting and Ganache From A Spicy Perspective
Cake from Martha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe (not posting due to copyright but a google search will give you the recipe)

Ganache Filling
12 oz. heavy cream (about 1 ½ cups)
12 oz. baking chocolate ( I use Ghirardelli dark chips)
2 Tb. butter
2 Tb. sugar

Frosting
1 stick butter, melted (1/2 cup)
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3+ cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cream (or milk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. instant coffee

After baking your two 8-9" cakes: Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then use the edge of the pan as a guide to cut of the round top. This makes a great mid-cake-baking snack!

Run a knife around the edges and flip out onto a cooling rack. I like to “slam” the cakes out of pan to (hopefully) insure they come out in one piece! Once totally cooled, carefully slice through the middle to make 4 thin round disks. Stack with wax paper in between, then wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze, until ready to assemble. Frozen cakes are SO much easier to handle while frosting. It also helps to keep the frosting from getting crumby!


For the ganache: Place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl.
Heat the cream, butter and sugar in a small pan. Once the cream is just barely simmering, pour it over the chocolate and allow it to sit for 5 minutes.
Then whisk until perfectly smooth. Allow the ganache to cool another 10-15 minutes before assembling layers.


For the frosting: Heat the cream in the microwave until hot to the touch, then add the instant coffee to it and mix. Place the cream in the freezer for a few minutes to cool rapidly. Using an electric mixer, mix the melted butter, vanilla and cocoa powder until well combined. Alternate, adding the cooled coffee-cream and powdered sugar until smooth. Add a little more cream or powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.

To assemble: Take the cakes out of the freezer. Slather 1/3 of the ganache in between each layer, until all four layers are stacked.

Press the top of the cake to level it. Using a large spreader, smooth the frosting around the sides. Then frost the top and re-smooth the edges.


Use a damp paper towel to clean up the edges of the cake stand. Place the last bit of the frosting in a piping bag to “fancy-up” the edges, if you want!

Leave the cake out, at room temperature so the insides can thaw. Cake taste better when the frosting and filling are room temperature and soft!

Festive 4th of July Cake

Happy Independence Day!

Want something easy and festive for the 4th of July? I made this last year for A good friend’s Independence Day party; heaven forbid I go to anything empty-handed. I was actually staying at my parents house for the weekend, and I didn’t want to make a huge mess in their kitchen, so this cake is a simple yellow boxed cake mix and a can of frosting (I didn't even hide the can for the picture!). I feel a little ashamed for admitting that. I don’t enjoy many of the vanilla canned frostings because they are way too sweet and taste artificial, but I will say that the fruit on top definitely made up for that. The acidity of the blueberries and strawberries cut through a lot of the sweetness and provided a nice balance of flavors.

You could easily make up your own scratch cake/frosting mix but, in a pinch, the other stuff works fine. And how cute is that? I really enjoyed decorating it, and being able to bring something celebratory.

Have a wonderful and safe Independence Day!

Classic Pound Cake

Sometimes simple is better.

A pound cake is incredibly simple, yet totally satisfying. And it's a basic recipe that I think everyone should have in their dessert arsenal. A slice topped with whipped cream and strawberries? Oh yes.

This cake is moist without being wet, and has a sturdy yet incredibly tender crumb. I love the almond extract in this, but I could definitely see it being a little overwhelming for some people. So experiment with your palate. I think it'd be great also if you remove the almond extract and added some lemon zest to the batter. Or even some blueberries, too. That would really brighten it up for the springtime. Also, you could easily double this recipe to transform it from a loaf cake to a bundt cake.
Old-Fashioned Pound Cake Loaf

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup 1% milk
3 eggs
1 pinch baking soda
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1/2 tsp real almond extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add milk and eggs one at a time until completely incorporated. Add extracts.
Add flour and pinch of soda, mix well. Pour into loaf pan.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

Fondue Night!

Typically my husband and I try to make meals that come together quickly because we are always starving by the time dinner rolls around on weeknights. The weekends, however, are a different story. I love taking an afternoon and putting together a nice meal that we wouldn’t have time to make and eat on a work night. We make these our date nights - A nice dinner, a bottle of wine and a movie from our Netflix queue. Even with the extra time on weekends, there are occasions that I like dinner preparation to be easy, but still special enough for our date night. I have found the perfect solution: Fondue.

For me, ‘fondue’ used to evoke images of VW buses and slug bugs, bell bottoms, shag carpets and lava lamps. I thought it was a novelty of the 70’s that had no real place on more contemporary tables. While most of these things are now distant memories of the past (well, minus the lava lamp, our guest room has my pink one as a night light…), fondue is fortunately making a modern comeback – just look at the success of The Melting Pot . After my first trip there for dinner, I now understand why fondue is making a return.

We are a part of a fast-paced culture where time is money, and as a result, we are becoming increasingly more focused on convenience foods and and less on the importance of sitting down as a family for a meal. Fondue transforms dinner into the social event I think it deserves to be, instead of just sitting at the table just long enough to stuff your face full of whatever is in front of you and then continuing on with life. I now associate ‘fondue’ with intimacy, family and relaxation because, while the food is important, the meal is more about slowing down and enjoying your company. If you really want to have fun with it, there are also cute little fondue traditions. One tradition says that a woman who drops food in the pot has to kiss the person next to her (sometimes all the men at the table). And since I am not a big fan of that one, I like the other tradition which dictates that the person who loses food in the pot buys a round of drinks or the next pot of fondue. That's more my speed.

As much as I love The Melting Pot, I still have a hard time justifying the cost of their meals. First, you are going there and paying a premium to cook your own food. Second, for about the cost of a two person dinner, you could easily invest in a little fondue pot and make your own in the comfort of your home for a fraction of the price. Let’s do a little comparison, shall we?

From the menu of my local Melting Pot, the least expensive entrée selection is 16 dollars a person. 32 dollars doesn’t sound too bad for diner, but don’t forget drinks, tax and tip! So for us, our overall dinner cost would be about 40 dollars. That’s being optimistic, because we would each almost certainly have a seven-dollar glass of wine as well. If you were to look at Bed Bath and Beyond, you would see that they have a good selection of at-home fondue pots, even some under 60 dollars. And you know you have some of those 20% off coupons sitting around that come all the time in the mail. So, for about eight dollars more than just your bare-bones dining experience at the Melting pot, you can have your own fondue, anytime. I particularly love our electric fondue pot because it takes a lot of guesswork out of the process and I can switch from broth to chocolate because it has a temperature dial.

Finally, the last big benefit of at-home-fondue is that you have the liberty customize your meal based on your likes, and aren’t limited to the options on a menu. The word “fondue” comes from the French word ‘fonder’ meaning “to melt” and originally referred to a cheese dish mixed with wine and eaten with bread. It has progressed to oil and broth bases used to cook entrees such as meats, seafood, and veggies, and now has even made its way into the dessert world with chocolate fondue for dipping fruits, marshmallows, pound cake or brownies. There's something for everyone.

Of all the options, I choose a broth-based cooking method versus oil, simply because I feel I can make the broth more flavorful and it’s healthier than essentially deep-frying everything. The menu is relatively simple, and easy to put together. Last time I even prepared everything but the veggies the night before. I also love mixing lots of dipping sauces, the last meal included sweet and sour, asian and honey mustard sauces.

I do have to caution that if you’re starving, fondue is not a quick fix. Dinner can take up to two hours. Imagine the look on my poor husband’s face when he told me he was hungry and I pulled out only two forks. He looked devastated. By the end of the night, he had convinced me to use all six forks in the pot: 2 for meat, 2 for potatoes and 2 for mushrooms.

If you do have a fondue pot collecting dust in your closet, I suggest you to give it a try. It's a long recipe, but easy. This is one of our favorite date nights, and I look forward to having friends over to share in my fondue love.

Fondue Broth
1 tbsp Vegetable oil
2 Garlic clove, crushed
1 Onion, finely chopped (I had one large scallion and 1/4 leftover onion which I subbed for this)
8 cups Water
Beef bouillon cubes or concentrate
1 Celery stalk, finely chopped
1 Tomato, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Bay leaf
1 cup Red wine

1. In a large pot, warm the oil and cook the garlic and onion until soft.
2. Add the water, bring to a boil and add enough beef bouillon cubes for 2 L (8 cups) of broth.
3. Lower the heat and add the vegetables, spices and wine.
4. Cook on low heat for about 3 hours. Add more water as needed.
5. Filter the broth and refrigerate.
6. Prior to serving, remove the fat that has hardened on the surface.
7. Warm up the broth on the stove top.
8. Pour into your fondue pot and adjust the heat.

What to dip in your broth?
On average, you plan to have 1/3 lb of meat per person. I usually have several veggies on hand as well. Here is a standard list of options, but feel free to experiment!

Marinated Beef or pork tenderloin (see marinade recipe below)
Chicken Breast
Loin of Lamb
Regular sirloin
Button or Portabello Mushrooms cut into bite-sized pieces
Par-cooked Potatoes
Sausage
Shrimp
Lobster

Dipping Sauces

Honey Mustard Dip
1 cup Honey
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients and let chill for a day if possible.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve at room temperature.

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
Combine all ingredients and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Serve warm or at room temperature. This sauce may be prepared a few days in advance and warmed before serving.

Asian Dipping Sauce
4 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
3 Green Chilis
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Water, cold

Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, chilis, garlic and sesame oil in saucepan over low heat. In small bowl, mix cornstarch and cold water until thoroughly blended. Add cornstarch mixture to saucepan and bring to a boil until thickened. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Beef marinade
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tsp Minced Ginger
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Water
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb beef tenderloin, sliced thin or cut into bite-sized chunks.

Chocolate Fondue
Ingredients
12 oz. of semisweet chocolate chips (dark or milk chocolate may be substituted)
1/3 c. heavy cream
1/3 c. milk
2 TBSP liqueur (may be omitted) such as coffee, chocolate, mint or fruit flavored liquors. Rum and brandy also work well.
Combine all of the ingredients in a fondue pot, stirring constantly until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Spear and immerse assorted dipping items.

Dessert Dippers
Pineapple
Strawberries
Bananas
Pound Cake