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Fudgy Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes

June 19, 2012 by 6 Comments

On Father’s Day, I told my husband I was making him a healthy dessert. Then he went fishing and I accidentally made these.

I guess that makes me a liar. But at least I’m a happy, belly-rubbing, satisfied liar.

Here’s what happened…

I had a brownie mix that was rattling around in the cupboard for a long, long time. Usually, I’m a homemade  brownie snob, but the siren song of sales and a rare coupon put a box of Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix into my cart and there it sat, languishing, on my shelf for just such an occasion.

The brownie mix caught my eye as I was shoving pantry items around and I figured I’d throw together a few brownies to have with our One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream. I grabbed the box and in pulling it forward, a jar of peanut butter fell out and onto my foot. If that isn’t a hint from God I don’t know what is!

The next thing I knew, I was scooping the brownie batter into muffin tins, shoving peanut butter balls down into each one, adding more brownie batter and banging the whole pan into the oven.

They came out of the oven looking like this.

Hot dang, people.

Then I went and did this.

Those are dark chocolate chunks covering the tops of the hot brownie cupcakes. Yes, they are. When they melted, I gave them a little touch up with a butter knife.

The only thing left to do after this point was wait for the chocolate to firm up. Did I wait? Well, I tried. I really did. Could you wait to eat a dark chocolate brownie cupcake that was stuffed with a creamy peanut butter ball and topped with melted dark chocolate?

Yeah.

Eat them warm for a messy, chocolatey, gooey treat that practically needs a spoon or wait until they come to room temperature and the chocolate firms up for a slightly tidier but no less indulgent brownie cupcake.

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Fudgy Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes

Fudgy Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes

Individual dark chocolate brownie cupcakes stuffed with creamy peanut butter balls and topped with melted dark chocolate are rich and indulgent treats that are easy enough to whip up any time!

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare the brownie batter (either according to package instructions or recipe).

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with double paper liners. Spray the liners lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Divide the brownie batter between the liners (filling no more than 2/3 full.) Gently push one peanut butter ball down into the center of each well. Use a spoon to smooth a little brownie batter over the top of each peanut butter ball. Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until the brownies are set.

Let the brownies rest in the pan for 1 minute before carefully transferring to a cooling rack. Cover the tops of the hot brownies with a single layer of dark chocolate chunks. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the chocolate is shiny (which means it is melted.) Use a butter knife or small offset spatula to gently spread the melted chocolate.

Let the brownies rest at room temperature to allow the chocolate to firm back up ~or~ DIVE IN!

Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for up to a week.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/19/fudgy-peanut-butter-cup-brownie-cupcakes/

Filed Under: Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Lemon Lime Parfaits

June 5, 2012 by 5 Comments

We are a dessert family. We like to have a little something most nights after dinner. I think of it as a sweet end to the day and send off to bed. A little hug. A little ruffle of the hair.

Our everyday desserts are easy affairs. They don’t take much time to put together and take advantage of things most everyone has on hand. One of my favourite desserts is individual trifles. Or are they parfaits?

Is it a parfait? Is it a trifle? Either word and either way, it is a dessert that never fails to stop me in my tracks. As a kid I loved it because it looked so special and tasted so festive. As an adult, I still love it for those reasons, but I also love it because it is so ever-lovin’ simple to put together.

For something that takes so little effort to put together, it sure looks pretty and it has an almost unequaled ability to light people’s faces up with one-hundred watt smiles.

If you have Lemon Lime Curd (or another fruit curd) on hand…

…Poundcake in the freezer, and a tub of COOL WHIP whipped topping in the freezer, you are five minutes away from a showstopping dessert that makes the most ordinary night feel extraordinary, but is nice enough to serve to company, too.

For the parfaits pictured here today, I used push-pop moulds and a pastry bag with a frosting tip to pipe in the COOL WHIP. That is -most definitely- strictly optional.

If you don’t want to fuss so much, you can either layer the ingredients in juice glasses or small canning jars. Heck, you can just layer the ingredients on the plate. There is not one right way to do this dessert. The only hard and fast rules are to have all the ingredients on the plate and enjoy it with someone you love. Isn’t it wonderful when desserts are undemanding?

What you add makes it! #coolwhipmoms

Whichever way you make it, you’ll be awfully glad you did!

 

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Lemon Lime Parfaits

Lemon Lime Parfaits

Whether you call it a parfait or a trifle, dessert doesn't get much easier (or more impressive) than this layered delight. Poundcake, lemon lime curd and whipped topping come together in this sweet, tart, delightful 3-ingredient, 5-minute crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

    Per Serving:
  • 3 (1/8- to 1/4-inch thick) slices pound cake
  • 3 tablespoons Lemon Lime Curd or storebought fruit curd
  • 4 tablespoons COOL WHIP whipped topping

Instructions

For Simple Servings:

Place one piece of pound cake on a serving plate. Spread with 1 tablespoon of the curd and dollop with 1 tablespoon of the COOL WHIP. Repeat the layers, ending with 2 tablespoons of whipped topping.

For Special Occasions (Push-Pop Moulds or Individual Parfaits):

Use a round cookie cutter slightly smaller than the diameter of the mould or dessert cup you're using to cut three rounds from the pound cake slices. Place one pound cake round on the bottom of the push-pop mould or dessert cup. Layer with 1 tablespoon Lemon Lime Curd then 1 tablespoon of the COOL WHIP. Repeat layers, ending by piping the last 2 tablespoons of whipped topping with a pastry bag fitted with a frosting tip for a decorative touch.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/06/05/lemon-lime-parfaits/

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received coupons for free COOL WHIP Whipped Topping and a stipend. Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. All opinions in this post and all posts here on Foodie With Family are my own.

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes

March 28, 2012 by 17 Comments

I have the privilege of being able to make the cake for the upcoming wedding of my brother and his wonderful fiancée this summer. Besides being excited to be such a big part of their day, I’m thrilled that I’ll be occupied in making sure the cake is just-so and therefore will hopefully not be sitting at the table sobbing from joy over the nuptials and having a massive aging crisis over the fact that my baby brother is now wed.

Ahem.

I have to say that I am a seriously fierce big sister. I’m hyper protective of my little brother and more than just a little bossy. (I’m looking more charming by the moment, aren’t I?) I remember one time Luke had to talk me and another of our sisters out of beating up a kid who had punched him. In retrospect, it’s probably for the best. I had never thrown a punch in my life and didn’t have a clue how to do so. I probably would’ve ended up getting creamed. Nothing screams “pick on me!” like having your big sisters fight your battles and then lose them for you.

I gave the secret stink-eye to girls he dated over the years but then came Elvi. The second I met her I knew. I knew that my brother was going to marry her. And if he didn’t? Well, we were going to adopt her as a sister and he’d be on probation. Luckily, my baby brother is a smart guy.

Aside from being a talented artist (see my header above for an example! Shout out to Elvi!), she’s just plain fun to be around. She has an infectious laugh and a fresh perspective on almost anything. For example, in our food obsessed family, my first question was, “What flavour cake do you want?” She looked at me funny and said, “You know. I hate to admit this, but I don’t really care how it tastes. I just want it to look a certain way.”

While I picked up my lower jaw from the floor and fixed it back in place, I considered what she had said. Well, obviously! She is an artist. The real deal. With studio space and everything. She’s visual! Heeeeyyyy… Does this mean I get to decide the cake flavour?

“Hey, Elvi, does this mean I get to decide the cake flavour?”

She said yes. SHE SAID YES. That was almost as good as her saying yes to my brother. I talked snickerdoodle cakes, carrot cakes and all sorts in between. She didn’t care as long as it had the specified form! Jack. Pot.

And then it hit me. Blueberries and lemons. Nothing screamed my brother more than blueberries and lemons. Blueberries because I’m fairly sure my brother starts panting with anticipation about a week before blueberry season. There is no safe blueberry around him.  Lemons because, well… There’s more than one reason, but here’s a warning. The story I’m about to share is not appetizing.

When we were little we had a station wagon. The drive to the grocery store was pretty lengthy (as in more than a half hour) and over winding country roads full of C.O.D. curves*. Luke -about four or five years old at the time- had a squirrely travelling stomach in the best circumstances and was just about exhausted from a day of “being in town” and out of his routine. He was sitting in the ‘way back’ of the wagon (the rear facing rumble seat) and called to mom that he was hungry. She told him to dig into the bags and eat one of the little single serving containers of lemon yogurt (here comes that lemon!) Luke ate it and promptly threw up over the back of the car, his sisters and everything else he could look at while his head made like a rotating sprinkler.

*Come Over Dear curves. In other words, you’re taking a hairpin turn that requires you to lean against your nearest neighbor in the car.

So lemon and Luke. What can I say? It’s an association.

But there’s more. Lemons equal sunshine. My sunshine haired baby brother who always looked like he had a halo around his head because of his white blonde hair. And Elvi is sunshine. She brings light and joy to the room just like the sun does. I cannot think of a better cake to represent the two of them.

This is my first experiment along the road of providing the perfect wedding cake for two of my very favourite people and I do believe we already have a winner. The tender, fine lemon cupcakes are dotted with juicy, sweet and tart blueberries and topped with a cloud of whipped cream and a pinch of fresh lemon zest. These bright, sunshiney cupcakes are a little burst of spring and freshness.

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Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes

Yield: 24-28 cupcakes

Serving Size: 1 cupcake

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes

These bright, sunshiney, tender lemon cupcakes are dotted with juicy, sweet and tart blueberries and topped with a cloud of whipped cream and a pinch of fresh lemon zest for a burst of spring and freshness!

Inspired by and adapted from both Sweetapolita and Julievr at Babble Blogs

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • grated zest and juice of a lemon
  • 1 cup milk, divided
  • 2 cups of fresh blueberries (or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained), tossed with 3 tablespoons of flour
    • To Serve:
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
  • additional lemon zest

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Line 24 muffin tins with muffin papers (you may have enough batter to make a few extra cupcakes, so if you have more tins and papers, keep them handy.)

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer or sturdy spoon, cream together the softened butter, sugar and lemon zest on high speed or until light and fluffy and even. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs -one at a time- beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon extract.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix in well, add about 1/3 each of the milk and lemon juice and mix well. Repeat until they are used up, ending with the milk and lemon juice.

Shake any excess flour from the blueberries and gently fold them into the cake batter. Fill the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full of batter. Tap the pan gently on the counter two or three times to settle the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when gently pressed in the center and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out without gooey batter on it.

Turn out of the pans onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Store the cupcakes, unadorned, at room temperature in a tightly covered container for 3-4 days.

Just Before Serving:

In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer or whisk) on high speed, whip the whipping cream and confectioner's sugar until it holds a peak when the beater is removed from it. Pipe or dollop the whipped cream onto the cupcakes and top with a pinch of fresh lemon zest.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/03/28/blueberry-lemon-cupcakes/

 

Filed Under: Cakes, Comfort Food, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Boston Cream Pie

January 11, 2012 by 12 Comments

Phew. I made it through birthday season! I cooked, I decorated, I celebrated, I cooked some more and I found the perfect gift for each child. Thankfully, three-fifths of the kids chose their dad’s extra wonderful specialty (extra crispy fried chicken) for dinner, but that didn’t leave me off the hook. Oh, no no no it didn’t.

There were still pig tails (my kids’ name for these), French fries, coleslaw, and various other side dishes to make with those meals. Above all else, though, there were the cakes to be made. Yes, those cakes.

Last year, my studiously wacky second born asked for a three-dimensional Tardis cake. My policy to is to deliver whatever the requested cake is no. matter. what. So I toiled with fondant (blech!), and cake sticks and printable edible transfers and what not. And after the kids went on a three day food colouring induced nutso bender, I prayed that there would be no more Ace of Cakes style requests.

When Aidan approached me this year announcing he’d decided on his cake, I held my breath. “I want a Boston Cream Pie!” Not only was there zero required food dye, he’d chosen one of my all time favourite desserts. Woo to the hoo, people.

I asked the birthday boy why he wanted a Boston Cream Pie (file this question under the “Mom Trying to Understand Male Children” category) and as he ran out of the room he yelled, “Because it’s called a pie but it isn’t one. Isn’t that great?”

Yes.

Yes, it is.

Boston Cream Pie is no pie. It is a cake. It is a darned good rich butter cake filled with vanilla flecked pastry cream and topped with a gooey chocolate glaze and it is also the perfect metaphor for my boy. Playful and silly,

deep,

irresistible, surprising, charming, and easy on the eyes.

Aidan and Boston Cream Pie, two great things that go great together.

 

Happy Birthday, little fire. You are strong, loyal, hilarious and loving. You keep my life full of joy!

 

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Boston Cream Pie

Boston Cream Pie

Layers of tender, buttery cake and rich, custardy pastry cream with a bittersweet chocolate glaze are irresistible for any occasion. This is well worth the little bit of effort required to produce it.

Used with thanks from the King Arthur Flour's The Baker's Companion.

Ingredients

    For the Cake:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons softened butter
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ cup milk
    • For the Vanilla Pastry Cream:
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 4 tablespoons cold butter plus 1 tablespoon
  • 1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
    • For the Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze:
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

To make the pastry cream:

In a heavy-bottomed medium or large saucepan, stir together 2 ½ cups of the milk, the sugar, salt and split vanilla bean with its scrapings. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil.

While the mixture is coming to a boil, whisk together the cornstarch, flour and egg yolks with the remaining ½ cup of milk in a separate bowl.

Carefully ladle some of the boiling milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the boiling milk, again, whisking constantly. Return to a boil for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat immediately and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of butter to the custard (and the vanilla extract if using) and stir until completely melted and combined. Smooth the top of the custard, rub the remaining piece of butter over the surface of the custard and place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

While the custard is chilling, prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat together the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla extract in a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer until the mixture is fluffy. Beat in the oil, scrape down the sides, and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating until the mixture is even fluffier.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder.

Alternate adding about 1/3 of the dry mixture and 1/3 of the milk, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, until the batter is even and smooth.

Grease and flour an 8”x8” square baking pan or a 9” round baking pan and spoon the batter into the pan. Bake for 38-45 minutes, or until the cake tests clean with a skewer or tooth pick and the edges pull away from the pan. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a rack to cool completely.

While the cake is chilling, prepare the chocolate ganache:

Pour the heavy cream into a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high heat and bring it to a boil. Pour over the chopped chocolate, corn syrup, vanilla extract and salt and let rest for 5 minutes, undisturbed. When the 5 minutes have elapsed, stir slowly in one direction until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy. Add the pinch of salt and stir in gently. Set aside for 10 minutes at room temperature.

To finish the pastry cream and assemble the cake:

Fold the whipped cream into the chilled pastry custard and set aside.

Level the top of the cake using a serrated knife if necessary then split the cooled cake in half horizontally and carefully transfer the top layer, cut side down, to a cake plate or serving platter. Pile the pastry cream onto the cake layer to within 1/2-inch of the edges. Carefully invert the remaining cake half cut side down onto the pastry cream. This will leave the smoothest surface of the cake on top to be covered with glaze.

Refrigerate the cake without glaze if you do not plan to serve it immediately as the glaze hardens into an almost taffy-like consistency in the refrigerator.

Shortly before you're ready to serve the cake, pour the glaze down onto the center of the cake. This will allow the glaze to spread over the top and drip down the sides of the cake. Slice and serve.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/01/11/boston-cream-pie/

We have one more birthday post coming up, even though Aidan’s birthday wrapped up our birthday season. Even though it’s coming out of order, it’s such a spectacular dessert that it’s worth saving for last. Stay tuned for a tale of Mama pride and a gorgeous dessert.

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Layer Cake with Ganache

November 28, 2011 by 11 Comments

It’s birthday season around here, as I may have already mentioned once (or twice)… With the exception of the one child who requested shepherd’s pie for his birthday dessert until I informed him he could have it for dinner AND have a proper cake or pie, everyone has asked for something spectacular. Last week was no different, but the pressure was amped up a bit. My eldest and youngest were born on the same day, eight years apart. Birthday feasts and desserts take on a special level of crazy when two people are egging each other on in the brainstorming process.

Mercifully, the eldest wanted fried chicken and the youngest wanted fried chicken nuggets. (Bless you child. Your nuggets were boneless, skinless chicken thighs dredged in the same coating as your elder brother’s fried chicken. And it was good.) The youngest deigned to allow the eldest to have a fruit salad even though, as he has repeatedly informed us he does not “wike fwoot.” And then came the negotiations on the cake.

Cake, for crying out loud.

How complicated does it need to be*? The answer to that, evidently, is extremely complicated. Eldest wanted a vanilla cake with strawberry layers. Youngest, again, informed us he doesn’t “wike fwoot”. Youngest wanted chocolate. Eldest didn’t want plain chocolate. Eldest suggested combining chocolate and mint. Youngest now decided he didn’t “wike mint”.  Eldest suggested I make two cakes. Youngest agreed. And then one of them, can’t quite remember which since my head was spinning on its axis, said, “Why don’t you just make a huge chocolate and vanilla swirl cake? Then you can put ganache** over the whole thing!”

*This is a question I should be past asking considering one year they wanted a realistically shaped/decorated globe cake, another year someone wanted a 3-D Tardis, and so on and so forth. But I am an optimist. Some day someone will ask me for a sheet cake with nothing on it. Then I’ll probably cry.

**Because my children do say things like, “Put ganache over the whole thing!” I suppose this means I’ve spoiled them.

Phew. It’s the lead-up to the cake request that stresses me out the most. Swirls I can do. Swirls I have done. But my previous swirly cakes were a bit more on the dry side (intentionally) since they were to be layered with ice cream. This cake was to be a moist, stand-alone (if you count being smothered with ganache as standing alone) birthday beauty. Enter butter… and quite a bit of it.

 

Let’s talk about ganache just for a moment. If you’re not familiar with it I’ll break it down for you. Ganache is equal parts heavy cream and chocolate, melted together and gently stirred until it magically turns into a thick, glossy, chocolate spread. And oh, what a chocolate spread. When refrigerated, it is thick enough to roll into balls  to nibble,  drop into hot milk for hot chocolate, or coat with cocoa powder or chopped nuts or more melted chocolate for homemade truffles, or, or, or… to frost or sandwich between cookies, or CAKES.

So, to recap, we have a big layer cake made with lots of butter covered with dark chocolate and heavy cream. Very diet friendly. But diets have no place in a home with five sons. This is my justification and I’m sticking with it. Would anyone else like to join me here on Delusional Island? We have cake. And ganache.

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Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Layer Cake

Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Layer Cake

Birthdays (or any occasions, for that matter) get a delicious boost when you serve this moist Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Layer Cake frosted with dark chocolate ganache.

Ingredients

    For the Cake:
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons, separated
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups fine or superfine sugar
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk, warmed to room temperature plus 4 tablespoons, separated
  • 2 level tablespoons dark cocoa powder
    • For the ganache:
  • 16 ounces (2 cups) heavy cream
  • 16 ounces chopped dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate
    • Optional for garnish:
  • Melted white chocolate for drizzling

Instructions

To Bake the Cake:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in colour.

Beat the eggs in one at a time, fully incorporating each egg and scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

Add about 1/3 of the milk, beat to incorporate, then 1/3 of the flour, again beating to incorporate.

Repeat this process, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until all of the milk and flour are added and mixed in evenly.

Divide the batter equally between two mixing bowls. In one, add 2 tablespoons of milk and the additional 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Whisk until smooth.

In the other bowl, whisk in the cocoa powder and remaining 2 tablespoons of milk until smooth.

To create the swirls, scoop 1/3 of a cup of the white batter into the center of each prepared pan. Follow this with 1/3 of a cup of the chocolate batter directly into the center of the white batter in each pan. Repeat the process -white batter, chocolate batter, white batter, chocolate batter- each time, pouring the batter directly into the center of the contrasting batter. This will form concentric circles (and when baked, the stripey swirls) of contrasting colour. Repeat until you run out of batter.

Bake, rotating midway through, for about 35 minutes or until the cake tests done.

Let the cakes cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes before turning out onto the racks to finish cooling.

To Make the Ganache:

Heat heavy cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan just until it is about to boil. Pour immediately over the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and let stand undisturbed for 5 minutes. Using a wire whisk, gently stir in one direction until the ganache becomes glossy and evenly dark. Let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until thick.

To Assemble and Frost the Cake:

Level out your completely, 100% cooled cakes and cut each into two even layers.

Place one layer on a cake plate then add a layer of ganache, spreading to the edges and evening out as you go. Repeat with the remaining layers.

Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining ganache. If you have uneven areas, you can put the cake into the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so, then use ganache to fill in the spaces.

If desired, drizzle melted white chocolate over the top of the cake to garnish.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before slicing.

Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/11/28/chocolate-vanilla-swirl-layer-cake-with-ganache/

 

Happy Birthday to my sweet bookends.

My Chocolate and my Vanilla…

Am I the luckiest mom in the world or what?

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, Holiday Food, Instructional, kid food, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Best Basic Cheesecake

October 28, 2011 by 9 Comments

DON’T CLOSE THIS WINDOW.

I know, fear of cheesecake is strong, but I’m here to tell you it is one of the easiest things you’ll ever make. Easier than a no-bake box number from the store. Easier than a brownie mix. Easier than falling off a cliff. Easier than, well… look. I’ll just show you.

But first…

This is my wild man. (The one behind him is also a wild man, but I am referring, specifically, to the man in motion in front.)

His hair is always a little crazy. No amount of water or mousse or hairspray or prayer or anything short of a head shaving will make it lie down and that’s how we like him.

His grin is always huge and his ability to find or be found by mischief is near legendary. He’s a dog lover, a fruit monkey, a silly little man and wow can he talk. He’s not a man of few words. I have no idea where he got his gift of gab.

He has always been a noise maker. When he was little he beat-boxed and this year he discovered that he’s a real, honest-to-goodness drummer. This kid is a metronome.

Between the hair and the antics and the drumming, he reminds me of a kinder, gentler Animal.

My boy has put a smile on all our faces since the day he was born eight years ago. This year, his birthday fell on the first day of a family road trip and we were unable to do our usual “choose the meal, dessert and movie” that is usually bestowed upon the birthday boy. He did, however, have an ice cream cake courtesy of a sweet auntie, but that didn’t stop him from regaling us with what he was going to have for his birthday feast on the fourteen hour drive back home. It went something like this,

“I’m gonna have tacos and haystacks and home fries and tortilla chips. And I’m going to have celery and carrots and Ranch dressing and venison and pizza and hamburgers and hot dogs. And tortilla chips and pretzels and potato chips and dip and beef jerky. And a salad.”

After we managed to negotiate down to tacos and a salad, I asked, “What would you like for dessert?”

And my talker, Young Master Verbose as we sometimes call him, said one word in a reverential whisper,

“Cheesecake.”

Five minutes -and some meaningful looks- later he was back off and running,

“Can I have it be a plain one with lots and lots and lots and lots of berries? How about a big strawberry right in the middle? I think we should put some raspberries and strawberries and blueberries and cherries and apples and pears and blackberries and plums and grapes and…”

You get the idea.

Then my oven broke. (Yep. That again. I’m sorry. I write real-time. Most of the food on here makes it online within a week of being served to the family, so you get life as I get it, for better or worse.) And Leif had to wait again.

He was pretty patient, all in all.

And then today. I finally sliced into his cheesecake in all its plain cheesecake with berries and berries and berries. My slightly bigger every day eight year old sat down and dug into his cake and I sat down and dug into admiring him.

I’m pretty keen on this little guy.

And obviously, I’m not the only one…

Now, let’s talk cheesecake, shall we?

Can we agree on what a great cheesecake is? It’s creamy, smooth, rich, and sweet-but-not-too-sweet. I like a little bit of a crushed cookie crust, but that’s optional* and can be included or omitted. To top or not to top? I like it plenty naked. The cake being naked, not me. I don’t eat cake naked. I mean honestly. If you’re eating a wedge of plain cheesecake you’re going to be happy enough. In my book, though, the perfect foil for this ultra rich and creamy cake is, as Leif wanted, a nice tart berry topping. Anything else must be approached with extreme caution at the risk of overdoing the sweet factor.

*Duck! The cheesecake mafia is going to smack me down on this one. I know, a “pure and proper” cheesecake has no crust, but shoot me. I like the homestyle crust. My recipe is flexible enough to omit the crust if you’re a crust hater, though. Stick with me people.

Please. I beg you. If you love cheesecake and you’ve been afraid of making one or failed at it before or even if you’re a cheesecake veteran, make my cheesecake. It is, in a word, sublime. It is everything a cheesecake is supposed to be -crust or not- and you will not be disappointed.

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Best Basic Cheesecake with Berry Topping

The gentle orange flavour of this silky, rich cheesecake makes it perfect for eating pure and pristine or topping with berries or ganache or whatever your imagination desires.

Ingredients

    For a Cheesecake with a Crust:
  • 1 sleeve graham crackers crushed (about 10 crackers, or 1 cup crumbs)
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons raw sugar
    • For the Cheesecake Itself:
  • 4 (8 ounce) bricks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons Grand Marnier (or another orange liqueur ~or~ 1/2 teaspoon orange extract mixed with 4 tablespoons of orange juice)
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
    • For the Berry Topping:
  • 2 cups fresh raspberries (or the same amount of frozen raspberries, thawed)
  • 1 cup strawberry jam (preferably freezer jam)
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

Put a kettle of water on to boil. Arrange the oven racks so you have one in the center and one 6-inches below it and preheat oven to 300°F.

Line a springform pan with parchment paper then butter both the paper and the pan generously. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.

To Prepare with a Crust:

Toss all the crust ingredients together with a fork, then press firmly and evenly into the prepared pan.

To Make the Cheesecake Batter:

Put the cream cheese into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Add the eggs and sugar and process again until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape the sides down.

Again, scrape the sides down, then add the Grand Marnier (or extract and juice) and vanilla and process until smooth.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pan and put the baking sheet with the pan on it on the center rack. Put an empty bread pan on the rack beneath it and fill with boiling water from the kettle. Bake for 55 minutes, or until the outer 2/3 of the cake is set and the inner 1/3 is still jiggly. Turn the oven off, prop the door open a couple inches and let it cool to room temperature. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cheesecake and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before attempting to umold.

To Unmold the Cheesecake:

With plastic wrap still in place, undo the clasp of the springform pan and push the base up through the outer ring to free the cheesecake. Place a platter on top of the cheesecake and invert it. Remove the base and parchment, then place a cake plate face down on the bottom of the cheesecake, invert again, remove the plastic wrap and Ta-Da! One cheesecake, ready to slice!

To Prepare Berry Topping:

Use a fork or whisk to beat the jam a little to break it up. Stir in the berries and lemon juice and top your cheesecake slices as you serve them.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/10/28/best-basic-cheesecake/

 

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

August 26, 2011 by 147 Comments

Here is the cake that upended my tidy little world. This is a Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not fond of cake or frosting. (Here and here, for starters…) As a little girl, I watched “Pollyanna” over and over. I’m talking about the original nineteen-sixty Disney film. It was one of the twenty five movies available for rental in the small movie  section of the Glen’s Market in Gaylord, Michigan where we shopped.  Despite my dislike for cake, I dreamed of the giant slab of cake she scored at the fair. That towering layer cake called to me like no other cake could. And for the most  of my life, I resigned myself to the fact that while that Pollyanna cake looked so good, no cake measured up to the promise it offered.  That is still true except. for. this. cake.  And who do I blame thank for this earth shaker? My friend, Krysta. She, without a word, sent me this link. No word of warning, no heads-up. No. Just a link. She knows my feelings on snickerdoodles so she sent it my way. She didn’t know it, but she delivered my Pollyanna cake to me.

All of a sudden, in my brain at least, I was Hayley Mills wandering around a small town fair with the world’s largest slice of layer cake and a sunny disposition. I might’ve even belted out the National Anthem and poked at the little prism dangling in my kitchen window. It was as good as I thought it would be.

The cake itself is a cinnamon vanilla butter cake. (I died a little bit just typing that…) It is moist, it is cinnamon-y. I’ve never had a cake like that. It is layered around and slathered with the only buttercream I have ever craved in my life; brown sugar cinnamon butter cream. (A little more dead now…) It is smooth yet still crunchy with sugar. It has little bursts of brown sugar and cinnamon and it is smoothed out with half and oh-my-goodness half. People. The buttercream. It must be stopped.

Who’s in?

Here are some tried and true cake baking and decorating tips to help you get the most polished finished product before you polish off your finished product.

  • To butter two pans easily, smear the pans with the butter wrappers you used for the cake itself (use more soft butter if necessary.) *If you choose to use parchment, too, butter under AND over the parchment for easiest release.
  • To flour those pans neatly, toss 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour into one pan, swirl it around over the second pan then tap the excess into the second pan. Repeat the process with the second pan, then tap the excess into the garbage.
  • When dividing cake batter between pans, use a scale to get them as close to even as possible. No scale? Scoop it in with a measuring cup.
  • Smooth the top of the cake batter into the pan and tap firmly on the counter several times before baking to settle the batter evenly.
  • Rotate pans front to back and side to side mid way through baking.
  • Cool the cakes COMPLETELY before slicing into layers. Do not hurry this or you will regret it immensely while you cry over your broken cake.
  • Before slicing your cooled cakes into layers, use a large serrated knife to even up the top of the cake. (In other words, to slice off any dome that formed while baking.)
  • Before you move your cake to the plate you’ll use to frost and serve it, lay four strips of parchment or waxed paper around the edges. Center the cake on the parchment strips. This will help you frost the cake rather than the plate. When you’re done frosting, pull the strips straight away from the cake. Ta da! Professionally done. Go you!
  • Make sure each  layer of frosting/cake is level before adding another level. It is much easier to adjust as you go along than to try to fix everything with frosting.
  • When the cake is assembled, refrigerate for at least an hour (preferably more) before attempting to slice into wedges. If you skip this step, the cake is likely to shift around on the frosting and look like it was thrown together by drunken monkeys.
  • If you forget all of these steps it really won’t matter because you’ll still have this cake. Pour yourself a nice hot cup of coffee or tea and enjoy it anyway!

Before you rub your eyes and question me, that is not a typo. Yes, there really ARE 4 1/2 sticks of butter in the buttercream. I told you it must be stopped.

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Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

The name says it all: Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream. This is the well-loved snickerdoodle cookie rewritten as a moist cinnamon vanilla butter cake layered and surrounded with a smooth, decadent buttercream laced with sweet ground cinnamon and brown sugar.

Gently adapted from Always With Butter

Ingredients

    For the Cake:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 sticks butter (8 ounces by weight), softened to room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups fine or superfine sugar
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk, warmed to room temperature
    • For the Buttercream:
  • 4 and 1/2 sticks butter (or 1 pound, 2 ounces by weight), softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 8-9 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup of half and half, plus more if needed
    • Optional:
  • Whole cinnamon sticks for garnish

Instructions

To Bake the Cake:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in colour.

Beat the eggs in one at a time, fully incorporating each egg and scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

Add about 1/3 of the milk, beat to incorporate, then 1/3 of the flour, again beating to incorporate.

Repeat this process, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until all of the milk and flour are added and mixed in evenly.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake, rotating midway through, for about 35 minutes or until the cake tests done.

Let the cakes cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes before turning out onto the racks to finish cooling.

To Make the Buttercream:

Beat together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until fluffy and pale in colour.

Add 6 cups of the confectioner's sugar and the vanilla extract and beat, starting on low and moving up to high, until it is fully incorporated.

Scrape down the bowl and add the half and half. Beat to incorporate again.

Add another 2 cups of the confectioner's sugar and beat, starting on low and moving up to high, until fully incorporated. Check the consistency of the buttercream. If it needs to be thicker, add the remaining confectioner's sugar. If it is too thick, add more half and half a teaspoon at a time, beating after each addition, until it reaches the consistency you like.

To Assemble and Frost the Cake:

Level out your cooled cakes and cut each into two even layers.

Place one layer on a cake plate then add a layer of buttercream, spreading to the edges and evening out as you go. Repeat with the remaining layers.

Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream.

If desired, garnish the top of the cake with whole cinnamon sticks.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before slicing.

Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/26/snickerdoodle-cake-with-brown-sugar-cinnamon-buttercream/

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Cakes, Desserts, Instructional, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,
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