Sunday, January 18, 2009

This is the Strawberry Colada Cake. Strawberries were in season and I had a Coconut Cake recipe I wanted to try out. I filled the cake with a light Coconut Cream and sliced Strawberries. The sides were covered in toasted coconut, which gave it great texture. I will post the recipe as soon as I can dig it up.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

BANANA CAKE

I know...easy is my favorite word. But it is...easy...and good. I like to fill it with a Chantilly Cream & sliced Bananas drizzled with caramel and then frost it with a Salted Caramel Buttercream. Better than Bananas Foster.

1/2 cup Buttermilk
1 1/4 # Bananas, mashed (2-3)

1 cup Butter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
3 Eggs


2 1/2 cups Sifted Cake Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
3/4 tsp. Salt
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2x 9" pans or 1 10"x3" pan and line with parchment.

Sift Cake Flour - then measure. Sift all Dry Ingredients together. Set Aside.

Mash Bananas & mix together with Buttermilk. Set aside

Beat Butter & Sugar together until light & fluffy. Add Eggs one at a time and continue to beat until very pale in color. Add Buttermilk mixture and mix well. Add Dry Ingredients to batter and mix on low then beat for 1 minute on medium.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until toothpick is clean.





Here is the Banana Caramel Cream Cake. I finished it off with Pepperidge Farms Pirouette Cookies. The birthday writing leaves much to be desired...had to be said...

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Everybody needs a good Chocolate Cake Recipe. Do yourself a favor - give this one a try. If you measure out all your ingredients ahead of time, this recipe is super fast.

1 1/2 cups Hot Brewed Coffee
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate


3 cups Sugar
2 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 tsp Salt

3 large Eggs

3/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk, well-shaken
3/4 tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 300°F. Lightly grease 2 10" cake pans & line the bottoms with parchment.

Finely chop chocolate & put into a small bowl with the hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix oil, buttermilk and vanilla together.

In another large bowl beat eggs with an electric mixer until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 to 5 minutes). Slowly add the buttermilk mixture followed by the melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until well combined.

Divide batter between the pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool completely in pans on racks. Run a spatula around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove parchment and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

Ganache Frosting
1 pound quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Make frosting:

In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency).



Here's a Chocolate Caramel Macchiato Cake using the Devil's Food Cake. It was for an Vegas Game themed 18th Birthday Party. Very fun.

TRIPLE-LAYER CARROT CAKE

This is the one that makes people weak in the knees. I think I get more requests for this cake than anything else I make...besides brownies maybe...everybody loves the brownies.

1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar

1 1/2 cups Vegetable oil
4 lg Eggs

2 cups All purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups finely grated carrots (about 1 pound)

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease three 9-inch cake pans & line the bottoms with parchment .

Mix sugar and vegetable oil in a large bowl until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots. Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally.

Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, about 45 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely.

Fill & Frost Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Garnish with Glazed Pecans.

Cream Cheese Frosting
16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar (to taste)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tbsp Vanilla

Beat Cream Cheese and Butter together until smooth. Gradually add 3 cups Powdered Sugar & Cinnamon. Add Vanilla. Start tasting. Add the balance of the Powdered Sugar only as needed. The addition of the Cinnamon gives the Frosting a flavor boost that allows you to use less sugar - the end result will be less sweet and that means you can eat more of it!!!

CREAM SHORTCAKE

For years, I searched for a shortcake recipe that would satisfy an old friend's discerning taste. I tried this version out on her 40th birthday. "This is it!" She exclaimed after the first bite. The hunt is over.

4 cups AP Flour
8 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Sugar
12 oz. Butter
2 cups Heavy Cream



Heat Oven to 400 Degrees. Grease 2 10" round Cake Pans & line the bottom with parchment.

Cut Butter into large pieces. Mix Dry Ingredients together in Processor. Add Butter & Pulse until it resembles Coarse Meal. Pour into Bowl. Stir in Cream & Knead for less than 1 minute to form soft dough.

Lightly press into prepared pans. BAKE for 20 minutes (depending on pan size)

I like to serve it with Sweetened Whip Cream and Sliced Strawberries and maybe a dash of lemon curd if I have it. Simple is good.

Fresh Raspberry White Chocolate Angel Food Cake

This is not as decadent as it might sound. The sweet bits of White Chocolate offsets the tartness of the raspberries. I was always intimidated by Angel Food Cakes but now it's one of the simplest things I can whip up. All you need for success are super fresh eggs and a grease-free pan.

1 cup Cake Flour
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
12 large Egg Whites
1 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1 cup Sugar
1 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 cup Fresh Raspberries, sliced in half
5 oz White Chocolate, chopped



Preheat to 325 degrees. Use a 10" loose-bottom Tube Pan.

Sift Cake Flour & Powdered Sugar together 3 times and set aside.

Carefully seperate the Yolks from the whites - the best way to do this is to use 3 bowls. One to seperate, one for the yolks and one for the clean whites. This is important because even a tiny bit of egg yolk is enough to flatten your egg foam. Whip the Egg Whites on Medium Speed until frothy. Add Cream of Tartar and beat on high speed, adding sugar gradually, until whites are glossy and stiff but not dry. Add Lemon Juice and Vanilla and mix until just blended.

Add Flour in 3 batches - resift over the whites - and gently fold in with large rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in Raspberries & White Chocolate. Scrape batter into tube pan and bake for 50-55 minutes, until cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan. Remove pan from oven and invert over the neck of a bottle. Cool the inverted cake completely.

Turn pan right side up and run a thin spatula between the cake and the side of the pan to loosen it. Remove the side of the pan and loosen the cake from the bottom of the pan as well. Invert cake onto a cake board or plate.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Island Macaroons

This is like the best Mounds bar you ever had - toasting the coconut really improves the texture. These can be made like drop cookies but I like to use loose-bottom rectangle tart pans so I can cut them into slices or squares which gives them a different presentation.

6 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, chopped
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
9 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
1 tbsp. Organic Coconut Oil

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place coconut and macadamia nuts on large cookie sheet. Bake until lightly toasted (around 8 minutes), stirring at least once about halfway through. Maintain oven temperature.

Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Grease parchment. (If using tart pans, brush evenly with coconut oil - make sure you get all the nooks and crannies.)

Combine condensed milk and vanilla in large bowl. Add coconut and macadamia nuts & mix thoroughly. In a seperate bowl, using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into coconut mixture a third at a time. Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets or spoon evenly into 2 tart pans.

Bake until macaroons turn golden brown around edges, about 14 minutes. (time for tart pans won't be much longer - maybe 18-20 minutes) Chill completely before removing from cookie sheet/pans.

Line another cookie sheet with parchment paper. Dip cookie bottoms into melted chocolate. Place cookies, chocolate side down, on parchment. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 15 minutes.


NOTES
Can be prepared 4 days ahead. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.
Use Milk Chocolate if you prefer, also 1/2 milk 1/2 dark works out great too.
Rectangle Tart Pans Single Batch = 2 pans Double Batch = 4 pans

Monday, January 5, 2009

Alfajores de Dulce de Leche

This is a sandwich cookie - 2 bisquit cookies with a mildly sweet caramel filling. The coarse sugar gives the cookie great texture. You need to use a small cookie cutter to acheive the bite-size goal - the ones I use are usually no more than an inch and a half in diameter.

Cookie Dough
4 cups AP Flour
6 tbsp. Powd. Sugar
3/4 # Butter, chilled & cut in pieces
1/2 cup Water


Put Flour & Sugar in food processor. Add Butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 20 seconds. With machine running, pour water in a slow steady stream. Process until dough just comes together, about 20 seconds. Form dough into 2 discs & wrap in plastic. Chill 1 hour.

Roll 1/4" thick. Cut out shape & place on parchment - evenly spaced, ready to bake. Chill until firm before baking. Dampen the tops of cookie with milk or cream. Sprinkle with Coarse Vanilla Sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cookies are a light golden color, about 13-15 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely. Match up the cookies by size.

Spread a generous amount of caramel onto the bottom of one cookie and top it with another. It is smart to serve these in small paper cups so the caramel doesn't ooze out onto your serving plate.


Dulce de Leche Caramel (Traditional Method)
2 14 oz. Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk

Place milk in top of double boiler. Cover with tight fitting lid.
Cook, stirring every 10-15 minutes until milk is thick and amber colored.
About 5 hours. Remove from heat. Beat with wooden spoon to smooth.
Transfer to clean bowl. Refrigerate overnight.


Notes:
I usually purchase my Dulce de Leche Caramel from Williams Sonoma - they import a high quality brand from Argentina. It will set you back about $8.00 a jar but it's worth the time you save. You can't use just any caramel because other variety won't stand up. Dulce de Leche is thicker and less sticky than other varieties.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

This is the best oatmeal cookie recipe ever. People totally rave about them and they are incredibly easy. Seriously.

2 2/3 cups Rolled Oats
1 1/2 cups AP Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup Dried Cranberries
6 oz. White Chocolate
1/2 cup Macadamias

1 cup Butter
1 1/3 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 lg. Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla


In a medium mixing bowl, measure out brown sugar and cinnamon. Using a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients together, including Cranberries, Chocolate & Nuts.

Melt Butter over Medium Heat. Simmer over Medium-Low heat until milk solids turn golden brown, about 4-5 minutes.

Pour butter over brown sugar and mix well. Whisk in eggs & vanilla. Pour over dry ingredients & stir until just combined. Scoop onto Baking Sheet and flatten the mound of dough slightly.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden & just dry to the touch but still a little soft inside, about 10 minutes.

Notes: Extra cookie dough freezes well - just portion out and put into a large freezer bag. You can use Dried Cherries, Dark Chocolate & Pecans instead for a totally different cookie. If you are out of chocolate and nuts, just make up the difference with Cranberries.


I borrowed this image from a fellow blogger at Good Eats & Sweet Treats I promise to replace it with my own as soon I can....pinky swear. This is pretty close to what mine look like.