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Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes (Not made with strawberry flavoured gelatin!)

May 10, 2013 by 13 Comments

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes | www.foodiewithfamily.com

I find Mother’s Day a surprisingly difficult subject about which to write. I’ve started and stopped this post at least five different ways. I’m a mother (of five boys, thankyouverymuch) and I’m a daughter, and we’re talking about Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, so what’s the problem?

The problem is that there as many views on Mother’s Day as there are mothers in the world. Besides that, there is a whole group of folks who think Mother’s Day is a made up ploy to sell more greeting cards. How do you hit the right note for everyone? Short answer: you can’t.

I can’t speak for motherhood as a whole, because I’m just one member of the club, so I’ll just tell you what this holiday (made up or not) set aside to honour moms means to me.

It means…

  • …my kids trying REALLY hard to get along. They try so hard, that sometimes they have to yell at their brothers who forgot to try really hard for a minute or two and were caught sitting on the couch.
  • …tepid herbal tea in bed delivered by a small boy child “who made it himself” with a look of adoration on his face. (My husband usually follows this up with a secret cup of strong black tea. Good man.)
  • …my husband and sons exhort each other to “WORK HARDER FOR MOM!” while attempting to clean the house with military enthusiasm.
  • …offers of fishing complete with promises to bait my hooks for me.
  • …the opportunity to get the first turn at ‘Halo’ first today, even though I’ve never played it before.
  • …baby carrot and dry cereal snacks arranged artfully on plates.
  • …handmade cards with silly drawings on them and a couple of discreet hearts.
  • …the remote control is shoved reverentially into my hands after dinner with an encouraging, “Go ahead! You pick what we watch.”

I feel loved every day of the year by my husband and sons, but watching their efforts to make me feel extra special on Mother’s Day is especially touching. Does it end up being a spa day for me? Oh gosh no, but I figure my imperfect efforts at mothering and their imperfect efforts at showing their appreciation are pretty much the perfect match. This motherhood thing is crazy good.

After many requests for strawberry cake that DIDN’T use strawberry gelatin for pinkness and flavour, I finally got down to business and knocked it out of the park. The solution is thawing frozen strawberries and pressing them through a sieve to release the juices. This strawberry juice is reduced in a pan to make it stronger and then added to a standard white cake recipe. (White cake so no yellow yolks interfere with the gentle pinkness imparted by the strawberry concentrate!) Don’t pitch those strawberry solids that were left in the sieve, though! Whip those into the frosting! Granted, you won’t have a perfectly smooth frosting, but how can you go wrong with little bits of strawberry laced through your frosting? That all sounds good already, right? I didn’t leave it alone, though… I opted to make these cupcakes Strawberry Lemonade by adding lemon extract to both the cake batter AND the frosting. The result was a tender, mildly strawberry and mildly lemon cake with rich strawberry lemon frosting studded with tiny pieces of  REAL strawberry.

Strawberries for Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes | www.foodiewithfamily.com

It’s not WHIZZBANG strawberry like a cake mix would give you, but then a cake mix rarely tastes like real strawberries and lemonade as these cupcakes do.

Before I drop this most wonderful cupcake recipe in your lap, I want to offer a little prayer for all the mothers out there this weekend.

May you have the vision to enjoy every stage of motherhood.

May you have the chance to unwind, appreciate your blessings, and may a famished rabbit hop by to help you eat all of your baby carrot appetizers.

May the coffee or tea you are served in bed be as strong as the love and admiration your family has for you.

May the hands that offer you a cupcake be covered with honest dirt and not something worse.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Happy Mother’s Day, friends.

XO Rebecca

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Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes (Not made with strawberry flavoured gelatin!)

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes (Not made with strawberry flavoured gelatin!)

These light and fluffy Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes use only real strawberries (no flavoured gelatin mixes!) to provide the pretty soft pinkness and delicate strawberry flavour they deliver. The strawberry lemon buttercream topping them is studded with real strawberries, too!

Ingredients

    For the Cupcakes:
  • 1 pound frozen strawberries, microwaved just long enough to get them thawed and juicy
  • 16 tablespoons (2 sticks or 8 ounces, by weight) butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 3/4 cup (12 1/4 ounces by weight) granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon extract
  • 5 large egg whites
  • 2 3/4 cups 11 ounces, by weight) cake flour (you can substitute all-purpose flour, if necessary)
  • up to one cup whole milk
    • For the Strawberry Lemon Frosting:
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces by weight) butter, softened to room temperature
  • 4 cups (1 pound, by weight) powdered sugar
  • The strawberry solids left from the cupcake recipe, mashed thoroughly with a potato masher or pastry blender
  • up to 6 tablespoons of whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons lemon extract
    • Optional:
  • Fresh strawberries for garnish

Instructions

To Make the Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes:

Put a fine-mesh sieve over a heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour in the strawberries, and press the strawberries to release as much juice as you can. Put the saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Stirring frequently, reduce the strawberry juices until you have about 1/3 to 1/2 of a cup and it is darkened and thick. Pour those into a liquid measuring cup and add enough whole milk to bring the level to 1 cup. Use a fork or small whisk to combine the two until even. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a batter paddle, or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Add one egg white at a time to the butter mixture and beat well after every addition, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Add 1/3 of the flour to the butter mixture. Mix until evenly combined, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add 1/3 of the strawberry milk and mix until even. Repeat this process until you reach the final addition of strawberry milk, which should be stirred in by hand to prevent overmixing.

Prepare 24 cupcake liners (either free-standing on a pan or in cupcake/muffin tins). Scoop batter into the cupcake liners until each is about 2/3 full. Tap the pan on the counter once or twice to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Carefully turn the finished cupcakes out onto a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

To Prepare the Strawberry Lemon Frosting and Frost the Cupcakes:

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer) beat the butter on high until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until incorporated. Then, with the mixer on high, beat in the strawberry solids, lemon extract, and the milk -1 tablespoon at a time- until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Use an offset spatula to smear the buttercream on the cupcakes or load it into a pastry bag with a big tip to pipe on the frosting.

If desired, garnish finished cupcakes with whole or sliced fresh strawberries.

Store leftover cupcakes covered lightly in the refrigerator.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/05/10/strawberry-lemonade-cupcakes-not-made-with-strawberry-flavoured-gelatin/

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Layered Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with Salted Caramel

January 18, 2012 by 12 Comments

This cake has two layers and this post has two purposes. One is a no-brainer: to share the recipe. The other? Well the other reason is a serious case of Mama pride. This cake is what my pickle in the middle son requested for his birthday but that’s not why I’m proud. I’m busting my buttons because he came up with the idea for the cake.

Let me backtrack a bit and introduce you to my guy.

This is Ty.

Not Tyler, not Tyrone, not Tyson. He’s Ty. It’s a Welsh word that means “House”: as in strong like one. And Ty is. He’s the strong, silent type. He has a fast wit, but you have to listen for it. Believe me, it’s worth listening.

Ty is a sports and outdoors nut.

He’d just as soon be hitting home-runs, throwing balls,  climbing trees, running laps, slap-shotting, or bicycling at warp speed as he would anything else. Don’t let his elven appearance fool you. He is made of stern stuff. He taught himself to ride his own bike in one afternoon.  It didn’t matter that he fell of about fifty times. He was determined to learn it and no gravity was going to stand in his way.

He zigs when others zag. (Note the upturned corners of the mouth during the obligatory Sturgeon Faces at the Sturgeon River pose. He’s the happy sturgeon next to the Grandpa Sturgeon.)

Sports, admiring cats, and reading Harry Potter are three of his favourite past times, but there’s one bigger than anything else. The boy loves to cook.

It gets better, though, because he’s darned good at it. He loves traditional British food (think treacle tarts, shepherd’s pie, toad-in-a-hole, etc…) but he’s an innovator, too. Proof of this came with his birthday dessert request; he wanted me to whip up a gingersnap crusted pumpkin pie with a thick cheesecake layer on top, thus combining all of his best-loved desserts. And here’s the kicker; he wanted to help make it.

Ty and I made gingersnaps together.

We snuck a couple, shared a few with the rest of the family and turned the remaining cookies into crumbs for our crust. He tossed in melted butter and sugar and pressed it into the bottom of a parchment lined springform pan.

We whipped up a small batch of pumpkin pie filling and a medium batch of cheesecake batter.

We did a very convoluted method of pouring both into the pan (which you can skip since it formed its own layers), put the pan in the oven, then sat down with a cup of tea (any Welsh readers will recognize the seriously appropriate nature and wondrous pun of Ty’s love of tea) to wait for the cake to finish baking.

After it was set up, all that was left was the long overnight wait for the cake to chill through and birthday proper to begin. Showing much more patience than his Mum, Ty insisted on waiting until after dinner (shepherd’s pie) to cut into the cheesecake pie. And like Ty’s humour, it was more than worth the wait.

The spicy, deep molasses of the gingersnap crust was the perfect foil to the custardy pumpkin pie and silky cheesecake. The slight hint of orange in the cheesecake amplified the nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon in the pumpkin pie. The just-this-side-of-burnt sugar salted caramel drizzled over the cloud of whipped cream pushed the entire dessert into the stratosphere.

Can you see why I’m about ready to pop with the pride?

Oh, these boys of mine. I think I’ll keep them. Happy Birthday, my Ty guy. You are very loved.

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Layered Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with Salted Caramel

Layered Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with Salted Caramel

The spicy, deep molasses of the gingersnap crust is the perfect foil to the custardy pumpkin pie and silky cheesecake. The slight hint of orange in the cheesecake amplifies the nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon in the pumpkin pie. Then, the just-this-side-of-burnt sugar salted caramel drizzled over the cloud of whipped cream pushes the entire dessert into the stratosphere.

Ingredients

    For the Crust:
  • 2 cups fine gingersnap crumbs
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup raw or granulated sugar
    • For the Pumpkin Pie Layer:
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground or grated nutmeg
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 can (15 oz.) canned pumpkin (NOT canned pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
    • For the Cheesecake Layer:
  • 3 (8 ounce each) bricks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier ~or~ 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
    • For the Salted Caramel Sauce:
  • 1 cup (7 ounces by weight) sugar
  • 1 2/3 cups (13 ounces by weight) heavy cream
  • Sea salt or kosher salt to taste

Instructions

Grease and line a 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper. Position the springform pan in the center of a rimmed baking sheet. Toss together all of the ingredients for the crust with a fork and press evenly and firmly onto the base of the prepared pan. The crumbs may extend up to 1/4-inch up the sides, but no higher. Set aside.

Position your oven racks so there is one in the center and one far enough below it to hold a bread or cake pan that will be filled with boiling water. Preheat the oven to 300°F and put a kettle of water on to boil.

To Prepare the Pumpkin Pie Layer:

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, use a fork or whisk to combine the sugar and spices. Add those along with the pumpkin puree to the eggs and whisk until smooth. Stir in the evaporated milk and pour carefully into the prepared crust.

To Prepare the Cheesecake Layer:

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade (or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk), blend the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Scrape down the sides, add the eggs and blend until smooth again. Scrape down, add remaining cheesecake ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour carefully into the center of the pumpkin pie filling.

Place the baking sheet with the sprinform pan on the center rack in the preheated oven and pour boiling water from the kettle into the loaf or cake pan. Bake for 60-80 minutes, or until the outer 2/3 of the cake is set but the center is still a little jiggly. Turn off the oven and insert a wooden spoon in between the oven and the door to hold it slightly ajar. Let cool, along with the oven, to room temperature.

Lay plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cheesecake and refrigerate overnight before serving.

To Prepare the Salted Caramel Sauce:

Melt the sugar (with just a couple drops of water to help it along, if you're uncomfortable melting it dry.) over medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot until it is a nice, deep-caramel colour. Do not stir as this causes crystallizing in the caramel. When it reaches the caramel colour you want, pour in the heavy cream (taking care as this will bubble up massively), whisk it and remove from the heat. Add sea salt (a couple good pinches usually does the job) to taste, whisk and set aside to cool to a comfortable temperature.

To Serve the Cheesecake:

Slice the cheesecake into thin wedges. On each wedge, dollop a hearty amount of whipped cream and drizzle the salted caramel sauce.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/01/18/layered-pumpkin-pie-cheesecake-with-salted-caramel/

 

 

 

Filed Under: Desserts, 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: , , , , ,

Garam Masala Depression Cake

October 20, 2008 by 2 Comments

Two weeks ago, Jim and I drove back to Western NY to gather up what was left of our earthly goods (kindly stored in a building at Beccy’s), 14 hours on the road TO New York, and 18 hours back (the rental truck felt happiest popping along at 55 to 60 miles an hour, and we wanted it to be happy all the way home). We brought lots of tools, furniture, the rest of my kitchen wares (oh, how I’ve missed you all!), books (here a groan from Jim), and THE FLU. We were able to unload the truck fairly quickly, but there is still a lot of unpacking to do. For me, the biggest job right now is a book purge. The house we are living in is quite small, and while I’ve packed in as many shelves as we reasonably can, there are still many hundreds more books than there is room to store them. On top of that, I’ve been living with the flu for the last several days, and today I felt in the need of some comfort food, mainly in the chocolate category.

 

Enter Depression Chocolate Cake. I’m thinking the name can be applied any way you wish–it’s originally from collections of frugal recipes connected with the Great Depression, but it applies equally well to how you feel on the sixth day of the flu, still shuffling around the house in ‘comfortable clothes,’ hair tousled, trails of tissues scattered all around (so you can be sure to be able to find your way back to the bedroom while in a medicine-induced haze).  It is a very simple and basic recipe, but I actually found enough gumption to play around with it a little bit today.  So I will give you the basic recipe, noting the changes and additions I made along the way.

 

One of the things I added was a teaspoon of Garam Masala, a mixed spice used in Indian cooking, easily found at most natural food stores or Asian markets. It’s a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, black pepper, and a couple other items I can’t recall at the moment. We’ve been using it in Jim’s morning oatmeal, I will stir it into my hot chocolate now and then, and I thought it would add a nice touch to the chocolate cake. That of course meant that I felt moved to tweak the plain vanilla buttercream as well; and since I had a little shredded coconut hanging around, well, might as well use that up, too!

 

Oh, one more thing–this can easily be made into a vegan dessert, since it requires no eggs. Just use alternatives for the milk and butter, and you are good to go!

 

This makes a single 8″ layer cake, enough for 8 to 10 people.

 

Spiced “Depression” Chocolate Cake with Orange Vanilla Butter Cream and Toasted Coconut

 

 

 

 

 

For the cake:

1 cup soured milk or buttermilk

1 t. vanilla

1 t. baking soda

1/4 c. butter

1/4 cup cocoa

1 t. garam masala (my addition to the recipe)

1 cup sugar

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

1 t. salt

 

 

Preheat over to 350 degrees, and grease a 8 inch round cake pan, set aside.  (This would  be a good time to put the coconut on a shallow pan and let it toast for a few minutes, if you think you won’t forget it while making the cake.)

 

Melt butter with cocoa and garam masala, stirring till smooth. Once butter is completely melted, remove from heat and let cool while you mix the other ingredients.

 

Combine Buttermilk and vanilla in mixing bowl, gently whisk in baking soda. Combine sugar, flour and salt in a sifter and sift into the buttermilk mixture, stirring to mix. Finally, stir in the cocoa mixture, blending completely, and pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, till toothpick inserted in middle of cake comes out clean.  Remove from oven, cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cake to a serving dish or board.

 

While the cake cools, prepare the butter cream:

 

3 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 c. butter

1/2 t. vanilla

Grated rind of one orange

Juice of one orange

1/2 t. coconut extract (optional)

1 cup toasted shredded coconut

 

Cream together 1 c. confectioner’s sugar with the butter, till light. Add flavorings and orange rind, and about 2 T. of the orange juice. Add enough of the remaining confectioners sugar to make a thick, spreadable frosting, adding more orange juice as needed.

 

Spread over the top of the cooled cake, cover with toasted coconut, and enjoy!

 

mmmmmmmmmmm……(sez Jim)

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Uncategorized, Valerie Tagged With: , ,

Brown Butter Plum Cake

September 25, 2008 by 2 Comments
Well, as promised, here is the Brown Butter Plum Cake recipe. I connected with it via a link in Tastespotting, and that link took me to Patent and the Pantry, another foodie-related site. As the host there said, one of the wonderful things about cooking is the freedom to make recipes your own, and it really is fun to watch recipes morph as they go from hand to hand, each change reflecting the invididual tastes of the cooks involved.  Gwendolyn, the host of that site, found the recipe on another site, hosted by a Julie, and I took the recipe and made some changes of my own. (You can see the original recipe by clicking on the earlier link for Patent and the Pantry.)
 
The changes I made were simply taste changes–I like more fruit, I love vanilla and spices, and I had some cinnamon sugar to use up. When I was young and first learning to cook and bake, I would stick pretty closely to the recipes, but after a while, once I learned something of the science of food, how ingredients work together, and began to see how  flavorings, spices and condiments could combine and recombine to provide a wide variety of tastes, I was able to  begin to play with things without being too worried about the result. Once in a great while there would be a culinary bomb (Jim reminds me of the great Carrot Ginger Soup Fiasco), but overall, what I make ends up being at least edible, and at times, pretty darn good.  So at age 53, I have a bit more confidence than I did at the age of 23, I know what kinds of flavors tend to work together, I know what kinds of amounts will work, and so there has opened up a whole field of play in the world of food. I love being able to relax and not worry about things as I mess around in the kitchen.
 
So, here is the recipe, and help yourself to any changes you might want to make! Be bold! Or be cautious! Be whatever you need to be, but do enjoy yourself!
 
By the way, this is great with vanilla ice cream (I know I say that a lot, but so many things are good with vanilla ice cream, it just can’t be helped!)
 

 
Brown Butter Plum Cake—Valerie’s Version
 

 

 

§             16 to 20 prune plums, or 8 or so larger fruits—plums, peaches, etc.

§             3/4 cup + 3 Tbsp. sugar, divided

§              1 tsp. cinnamon

§             ½ t. nutmeg

§             1/2 cup butter

§             2 large eggs

§             1 cup all-purpose flour

§             Pinch of salt

§             ½ t. baking powder

§              1 t. vanilla

 

Preheat the oven to 350F and butter a pie plate or 2 qt. casserole dish.   Pit and quarter your fruit and place in prepared dish.

 

 

Combine 3 T. sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg, and sprinkle 2 T. of the mixture over the sliced fruit.

 

Melt the butter in a saucepan or small frying pan and keep cooking it for about five minutes until it turns golden. Swirl and stir the butter as you watch it, because it can burn easily. When it becomes a lovely caramel brown under the foam, remove immediately from heat.

 

This is the lovely dark amber caramel color you are aiming for with the browned butter

This is the lovely dark amber caramel color you are aiming for with the browned butter

   
 
 

 

Slightly beat eggs, adding vanilla.  Whisk together the flour, ¾ c. sugar, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Pour the butter into a bowl and add flour mixture and eggs, mixing well.

 

The batter takes on the beautiful color of the butter...

The batter takes on the beautiful color of the butter...

 

 
Pour and spread over the fruit and sprinkle with remaining spiced sugar. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden and the juices are coming up around the edges.  Let cool for a few minutes before serving.
 

 

 

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Valerie Tagged With: , , ,