Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Everyday between 2-3pm, my body craves chocolate cake. The cake I crave is not a cake that's saturated in chocolate frosting. I'm talking about a dense/moist/slightly chewy chocolate cake with a few drizzles of chocolate frosting. When I'm not able to fulfill this craving (which is like all the time), my mind goes into daydreaming mode and I start to fantasize about a chocolate cake delivery service at my work and how wonderful it would be if there were ice cream sundae vendors at every street corner. Imagine that. That would be the life!
I also had this thought the other day: Has anyone ever put EAT MORE CHOCOLATE on their New Year's Resolution list? Doubtful.
With a chocolaty dense bundt cake like this, I can't see why that wouldn't be a good idea.
Maybe I should give in to my chocolate cravings more often. Maybe then I could consider myself a chocolate lover.
Blueberry Yogurt Cake
There are a few things I can guarantee in life. I can guarantee that my fingernail polish won't last for more than a day. I can guarantee that it will rain the day after I wash my car. I can guarantee that I will always pick the worst lane to be in at the grocery store. I can guarantee that my brother will always open my fridge the second he walks into my house, and I can pretty much guarantee that this cake won't last long in anyone's presence.
See this cake? It's a very moist cake filled with fragrant blueberries. A cinnamon spiced walnut layer is slugged right in the middle and a crunchy layer rests on top! I cut out a hunk to take this picture, and when I went to focus my lens on the pan, I suddenly noticed that almost half the cake was missing. Cooper and Casey were standing there... guilty. But really, who can blame them? The house smelled so good and they had to wait 45 painful minutes for it to finish!! If you make this cake, you'll clearly see why I had none left only a few hours after it came out of the oven. Also...save yourself a few corner pieces. They will blow your mind.
Orange Walnut Cake
We've had a slew of gray mornings in the past few weeks. A few Saturdays ago, I decided to make this cake to summon the sunshine. Even if it didn't work, at least the taste of the cake would give the illusion of a warm sunny morning. All I had to do was whip out an orange and my zester and the sun immediately peered through the clouds and heated up my kitchen island. The last time this happened was during my cocktail hour a few weeks ago. There's something about citrus in my kitchen; it has the power to cut through clouds the same way a good dish washing soap cuts through grease.
Walnuts, oranges & olive oil...the foundation in which dreams are built uopn. The walnuts are ground-- not chunky and add a fantastic texture to this cake. The orange perfumes this treat and the olive oil adds that hint of earthy greenness in a way only olive oil can. The sweet Greek yogurt and the orange zest to the side add some fun, but honestly the powdered sugar on top of the cake is enough. This is the perfect cake for breakfast or as a snack in the afternoon with a good book and a huge mug of tea. Bring on the sun!
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Winning Hearts & Minds Chocolate Cake
The other night, Casey and I had a discussion about chocolate cake. He seems to think that the best part of chocolate cake is the frosting. I disagree. I think the CAKE in chocolate cake is the best part. I'm actually one of those people who scrapes the frosting off chocolate cake and leaves it to the side of my plate. Does that make you think less of me? I hope not... It's just too much chocolate for me to take! I always make sure to give Casey my extra frosting. This is love.
This cake is the perfect compromise for both of us. A cake that needs NO frosting because it's moist, delicate, fluffy and oh so fudge-y. Frosting on top of this cake would be absolutely insane. I do believe that a light dusting of powdered sugar spruces it up and makes it cute! Slightly sweetened whipped cream makes is decadent but somehow even lighter! Who would have thought that was possible? See the heart on top? I made this sweet little cake for our Valentine's Day last year and in the course of a few days that cake disappeared hunk by hunk from the kitchen counter. It's no wonder Molly decided to serve this cake as her wedding cake. Hope you win some Hearts & Minds this Valentine's Day! XOXO
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Cranberry Apple Cake
Inside my head there's a tornado of Holiday TO-DO lists whacking into the side of my skull. Christmas cards, Christmas gifts, Christmas candy, CHRISTMAS ANYTHING. AHH!! MAKE IT STOP. The only thing that calms the storm is the sound of Scoop. Measure. Stir. My measuring spoons hit the bowl, my sink is littered with batter smeared bowls and the cake goes off into the oven. I'm standing in the kitchen licking the remains of batter off my wooden spoon and suddenly I smell the heavy scent of cranberries, apples & cinnamon waft in the air. The tornado disappears and I'm temporarily focused on things that don't stress me out. CAKE! Ahhhhhhh.
I'm in love with this cake! The recipe comes from Ina Garten's new book, Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?-- a new addition to my cookbook library, thanks to my INA OBSESSED mom. She knows I love a good/easy recipe and thank goodness for that because this book is chalk full of them! The top of this cake is a splendid union of tangy cranberries & juicy apples rocking a cinnamon sugar citrus vibe. Think pineapple upside down cake meets Christmas. A very light spongy cake (that has no baking powder or soda!) is what it sits upon...and at the very bottom of that is a crispy cinnamon sugar crust. Three layers of deliciousness are all waiting for you to meet them. Go ahead, introduce yourself! I suggest you top off a slice with a scoop of vanilla bean gelato. I'm sure it will silence your holiday tornadoes. I can vouch that temporarily silenced mine!
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Carrot Ginger Cake with Brown Butter Icing
Welcome to another edition of "Tracy uses her cellphone for a blog post!"
Mission: Make a tasty cake for girl's night in an hour or less.
Picture this. I spent the day waiting for Casey's work to let him know if he had to fly out for work that night (which meant I would miss Glee with the girls) or the next morning (I could go to Glee with the girls!). If I could go, I'd have to bring dessert for the 5 of us. If not, then I'd sit at home watching it by my lonesome. This waffling back and forth happened ALL. DAY. LONG. And finally, at 5pm (1 1/2 hours before I was supposed to be at my friend's house) I got the green light that I COULD GO! Flight was booked for the next morning! Awesome.
So with an hour to whip something up, I enlisted the help of Cooper to make this little cake. I pulled a box of Trader Joe's Deep Dark Gingerbread Cake Mix from the pantry and added a few ingredients and tada! We have a Carrot Gingerbread Cake. The cake was moist & spicy and the Brown Butter Icing was STELLAR. The girls loved it, just as much as Glee! You might need to think of Coach Beast to help you cool off from eating a slice....but a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream just might do the trick! ;)
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Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing
So I walk out onto the Project Runway stage holding this cake on a pedestal and Michael Kors gasps! He cries, "EFFORTLESSLY CHIC!" Then I proceed to ask him why the screw always comes out on my ritzy MK sunglasses??! Come on Michael! My Isaac Mizrahi sunglasses from Target have held up for almost 4 years now! Of course Nina Garcia would like to talk some mad crap about my cake, but the caramelized walnuts shut her up. Yeah girl. You know it's totally editorial. Zip it. Later on I catch Heidi scarfing down half of it....
Then I woke up.... Why is this cake effortlessly chic? Well there's three different recipes that come together to produce a simple, yet killer pumpkin cake. At first I was intimidated because I usually avoid recipes that refer to ANOTHER recipe to complete an ingredient. I just want it all there, right in front of my face. I want to know how hard I need work and if the effort is going to pay off. So yeah... I was blown away by the ease of this cake. Three different recipes? Child's play. Chic? Check! Effortless? Pretty much!
This is the cake that we ate on Halloween night. YES. After all that candy wrangling, my friends & neighbors made room for this cake. Once you lay eyes on a cake like this, your stomach sends singles to your brain. "Hey! Let's make some room for this cake!" Yes, surprisingly they'll synchronize their swatches and suddenly your devouring a big slice.
Oh and did you get a load of those nuts? Make sure you snag one because I might fight you for it.
Spiced Lemon Cake
When you've tackled 5 loads of laundry, cleaned up Cheerios for the 1000th time after being on hold with the garbage company for 25 minutes, and you're working from home battling Excel spreadsheets to the soundtrack of a little boy screaming "baseball and skateboards," THIS is the cake that you must turn to to quiet the shit storm you've just encountered.
You are worthy. You are capable and you can handle anything now that you have a slice of this cake. Go ahead. You deserve it! The liberation derived from a slice can be compared to the feeling of removing your spanx, pantyhose AND clingy dress with too tight of a waistband and substituting them with a baggy sweatshirt and soft yoga pants. Finally, you can breathe again.
Spiced Lemon Cake. Spiced? Not really. The cardamon didn't pack as much of a spice punch as I'd hoped. Is it still worthy of being one of the best/simplest lemon cakes? Yes. The glaze provides just enough tang to match the fluffy light lemony cake it rests upon. If you are looking to fulfill the spice aspect, perhaps a full teaspoon instead of 3/4 will do the trick.
Pair a slice with a cup of milky tea, and this cake is absolutely divine.
Crazy day? What crazy day? There's cake!
