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Tag: cake

09 Nov

Nigella’s Chocolate Guinness Cake

guess what I had for breakfast this morning…..

I made the cake part on Friday night while Cooper was napping….

I am guilty of licking this spoon!

Chocolate Guinness Cake
(recipe from “Feast” by Nigella Lawson)

Ingredients

Cake:
-1 cup Guinness stout
-1 stick unsalted butter, sliced
-¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-2 cups superfine sugar (i used granulated)
-¾ cup sour cream
-2 eggs
-1 tablespoon vanilla extract
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Icing
-8 ounce cream cheese
-1 cup confectioners’ sugar
-½ cup heavy cream

***The recipe didn’t say whether the cream cheese should be cold or at room temperature. I left mine out to take the chill off and it produced a runny frosting. I ended up adding another 4oz of COLD cream cheese to the food processor-whirled it up and it was finally the perfect consistency. Good luck!***

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

2. Pour Guinness into a large saucepan, add butter and heat until melted. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar. In a small bowl, beat sour cream with eggs and vanilla and then pour into brown, buttery, beery mixture and finally whisk in flour and baking soda.

3. Pour cake batter into greased and line pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour (Check at 45 minutes for doneness, poking a skewer in center.). Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

4. When cake is cold, gently peel off parchment paper and transfer to a platter or cake stand.

5. Place cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a mixing bowl, and whip with an electric beater, until smooth (You may also do this with a food processor like I did.).

6. Add cream and beat again until you have a spreadable consistency.

7. Ice top of cake, starting at middle and fanning out, so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

Serve it up!

I really enjoyed this cake. Not only was it novel to have beer in a cake, but it was pretty moist and had a good balance between bitter and sweet. The cake definitely needs the frosting to balance it out. Fortunately after adding the extra 4oz. of cream cheese I had extra frosting to make it even yummier. I’m pretty sure chocolate ganache frosting would be superb too!

Now excuse me…I have another slice to devour…

27 May

Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake

two words: HOT DAMN!

Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake

makes enough for 8 servings

(recipe from Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)

-4 cups heavy whipping cream
-3 tablespoons sugar
-1 tablespoon vanilla extract
-1 1/2 packages Nabisco chocolate wafers

1. Whip Cream: In a large bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream with the sugar & vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Make sure to not over beat!

2. Start assembling the cake: On a flat plate (at least 9 inches in diameter) arrange seven wafers, with one in the center and the remaining 6 surrounding. Scoop about 3/4 cup of whipped cream onto wafers and gently spread the cream in a thin layer to completely coat the cookies.

3. Finish & Refrigerate: Continue to layer the wafers with the cream, making sure to end with the whipped cream layer on the top. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours or overnight before cutting & serving.

I topped mine with strawberries to make it look extra special. It helps mask all the drippies.

***BTW-This was soooo good. I can’t believe I’ve never tried this before. I made this for a family BBQ on Sunday. Everyone seemed skeptical about the cookies…but one bite erased all doubt. Think cookies & cream ice cream…but creamier…and less cold! I can’t wait to experiment with different flavors. Lemme know what you think and what you come up with!! ***

25 Mar

Happy Anniversary Carrot Cake!

Casey and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last week! I made him a cake to celebrate! Carrot Cake is our number one FAVORITE cake. I decided to try the recipe from The Magnolia Bakery cookbook my neighbor gave me.

The cake turned out FANTASTIC! It was the first time I used pineapple in a carrot cake and I really enjoyed the result. I did not use the toasted coconut though…I thought it might take away from the carrot flavor. If you end up trying it with the coconut, lemme know how it is!!!

For the Cake Part:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil (canola is preferred)
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups lightly packed shredded carrots
One 8oz. can crushed pineapple in it’s own juice-with juice
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I omitted this part)
2 cups coarsely chopped toasted pecans (1 cup for the garnish and 1 cup for cake batter)

To toast the pecans, place on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until lightly brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool

Preheat Oven 325 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour two 9×2 inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with wax paper. (I used Pam instead and it worked just fine!)

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the oil and sugar together. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until light & thick (about 2 minutes). Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating until well incorporated. Stir in the carrots, pineapple (with it’s juice), 1 cup of pecans and coconut (if you decide to use it). Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pan for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting Part:

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese (softened and cut into little pieces)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened and cut into little pieces)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar (I used a heaping 4 cups cuz I don’t like it tooo sweet!)

In a large bowl, on the medium speed beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth (about 3 minutes). Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate the frosting for 2-3 hours to thicken before using. Do not keep it in the fridge any longer or it will be too hard to frost!

When the cake has cooled, ice between the layers, then ice the top and the sides of the with the Cream Cheese Frosting. Put the toasted chopped pecans around the edges. Tada!

I quickly gave half of the cake to my neighbors. There’s no way that cake would have lasted under our supervision! You’ll see what I mean….

08 Mar

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Channeling Summer!

My parents were in Maui for a month! (lucky…..) While they were away, I talked to my mom on the phone and she told me about the most wonderful Pineapple Upside Down Cake her friend made her. I had to try it!

The recipe comes from one of our favorite restaurants in Maui- The Hali’imaile General Store.

I made this cake for the second-to-last Project Runway night at my house. It was pretty simple to whip up and sooo scrumptious! I had to give away leftovers because I was too afraid to have that caramel beauty resting innocently on my kitchen counter. You’ll see what I mean if you make it….

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Beverly Gannon’s Recipe)

For the Cake:

2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cup sugar (original recipe called for 2 cups which made it way too sweet my mom said)
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 egg yolks
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

Caramel Pineapple Topping:

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 fresh pineapple cored and sliced (or 12 slices of canned pineapple rings)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

To prepare cake batter: Sift all dry ingredients together. Combine milk, egg yolks and vanilla. Soften butter to room temperature. In a mixer, add butter to dry ingredients and mix slightly. Scrap the sides of the bowl and continue to mix. Gradually add the egg yolk mixture. Mix until smooth.

To prepare the caramel: Melt butter to boiling. Add sugar. Mix until smooth and mixture is a light brown color.

Cut 12 slices of pineapple (or use canned slices like I did). Pour the caramel mixture in an ungreased 12″x3″ round metal pan. Layer the slices of pineapple on top of the caramel. Next, pour the cake batter on top of the caramel and pineapple slices. Leave about 1″ of room at the top of the pan to allow the cake to rise. Bake for 35 minutes. Rotate and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes or until center is cooked. Let rest in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert slowly on the plate you intend to serve in on. DIG IN!

This recipe makes one cake. I didn’t have a 12″x 3″ pan, so I used a 9″x 3.” I used about 3/4 of the caramel and 3/4 of the cake batter and it seemed to work fine. You will also notice that I only used 7 of the pineapple slices. I think the next time I make this (which is soon) I will try using a rectangular pan or a square pan. The slices might look even better if they are perfect little squares.

I topped each slice with a little dose of Haagen-Dazs vanilla bean ice cream. Joyous!

The cake is a perfect combo of dense and fluffy! It’s the baking powder that does it! Hope you love it too…and I hope that you get to channel some summer in your home.

07 Oct

Prune Bundt Cake

why do prunes have a bad rap?

Spiced Prune Cake from this month’s issue of EVERYDAY FOOD:

-2 cups all purpose flour (spooned & leveled)

-1 cup pitted prunes

-2 cups sugar

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1 cup of vegetable oil

-1 teaspoon ground cloves

-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 cup plain yogurt (recipe called for buttermilk, but i used yogurt instead)

-3 large eggs

-1 cup coarse chopped walnuts

-powdered sugar for dusting.

Oven Temp: 325 degrees

Butter & Flour a nonstick Bundt Pan (12 cup capacity). Add some flour to cover- tap out excess.

Boil some water-pour over the prunes to cover & let sit for 10 minutes. Drain & chop. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour/sugar/cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg/salt/baking soda- Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk oil/eggs/yogurt & eggs.

Add wet contents to dry contents. Add the prunes & walnuts.

Spoon into pan- bake until toothpick is clean. (1 hour 45 minutes- 2 hours).

Immediately invert onto baking rake. Dust with powdered sugar when cooled.

***this was delightful! A wonderful Autumn treat. I think it would be great paired with vanilla ice cream & a caramel sauce. My husband ate a piece while sipping his Honey Rum we got in the Canary Islands. Don’t hate prunes. They didn’t kill anyone.***

26 Aug

Pear Upside Down Cake

i was complaining to my neighbor about all the leaves I have to rake on my front lawn. “It’s August!! Why are there so many leaves??!!” I even convinced myself that there’s something wrong with the tree. “It’s not healthy. It’s diseased. This shouldn’t be happening!”

I woke up yesterday morning to that haze you only get in the Bay Area when it’s Fall. I knew that it was stupid for me to complain. Fall is coming, and I can’t deny it. There’s that subtle chill in the air…. It’s not scorching hot anymore…..and Martha Stewart’s Halloween decorations are at Michael’s.

This summer at our house was wonderful. I’ll have to refer back to those days of sitting on the patio drinking coffee & grilling in the evenings in my summer dresses when I’m bundled up on the couch sipping tea in a turtleneck. Goodbye open-toed shoes & skirts…hello turtlenecks & boots!

this past week i:

got a new purse! (i’m really into it so far)

reorganized my desk (i got my cards in the mail from lisa congon’s etsy shop!)

thought a lot about the cupcake tasting I had with Melisser & Whitney on Thursday:

made pear upside-down cake from this month’s issue of Sunset Magazine:

Pear Upside-Down Cake- Sunset Magazine September 2007

-3/4cup unsalted butter, plus more for pan
-2 Bosc pears, cored, peeled, and cut into 1/4-in.-thick slices
-1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
-1cup chopped pecans, divided
-1/3cup bourbon
-1 teaspoon salt, divided
-1/2cup firmly packed light brown sugar
-3 eggs
-2teaspoons vanilla
-1 1/2teaspoons baking powder
-1/2teaspoon baking soda
-2cups flour
-3/4 cup plain whole or low-fat yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Generously butter a 9-in. cake pan and arrange pear slices in a pattern on the bottom of pan. Set aside.
2. Bring 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a 10-in. frying pan (not nonstick) over medium-high heat. Lower heat to maintain a steady simmer and cook, undisturbed, until mixture starts to brown (swirl pan to help mixture brown evenly). When mixture turns a medium amber color, add 1/2 cup pecans and cook until fragrant but not burning, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and slowly stir in bourbon and 1/2 tsp. salt. Pour over pears in buttered pan.

3. Put 3/4 cup butter, the brown sugar, and remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl. Beat until smooth and a bit fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt. Add half of the flour and beat until combined. Then beat in half of the yogurt. Repeat with remaining flour and yogurt. Stir remaining 1/2 cup pecans into batter (it will be thick).

4. Drop spoonfuls of batter over pears and sauce and spread evenly. Bake cake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool on a rack 15 minutes. Run a knife between cake and pan sides and invert cake onto a plate or serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*** It was delish! It took forever to make the caramel sauce, though!****