Coconut Cake!
Lots to report from this past weekend-
Let's start with the cake first even though it was the last thing I did.
My neighbor and I made little nests that were chocolate covered chow mein noodles fashion from a mini muffin tin. Totally cute huh? I decided to put them on top of the cake and plop some Robin's Egg candies in them. I also bought this edible grass from Target. It was apple flavor & yummy!
here's the insides:
It was my first time making this 7 minute frosting and I was impressed! It's incredibly light & fluffy and somewhat guilt free.
The cake was a hit! I had two pieces on Easter night (shhh! don't tell)
It's really fluffy and light. It's like eating coconut clouds.
Coconut Layer Cake
Print This Recipe
recipe from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
Cake:
-1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-2 cups sugar
-4 large eggs, at room temperature
-1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
-1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
-3/4 cup milk
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
-1 seven-ounce package sweetened, shredded coconut
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
-3 egg whites
-1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1/2 cup cold water
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-1/4 plus 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
(for the cake)
1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease and lightly flour three 9 x 2-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with waxed paper.
2. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. Divide the batter among the cake pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.
(for the filling)
1. In a medium-size saucepan, whisk the milk with the sugar and the flour until thoroughly combined. Cook and stir constantly over medium-high heat (about 5 minutes) until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and add the coconut. Stir in the vanilla extract. Cover and cool to room temperature.
2. When cake has cooled, spread half the filling between the first two layers of cake, then the other half between the second and third layers. The cake should be assembled so it can be iced as soon as the frosting is completed.
(for the frosting)
1. In an electric mixer bowl, combine the egg whites and the vanilla extract and set aside. In a medium-size saucepan over high heat, combine the water with the sugar and the cream of tartar. As mixture begins to bubble at edges, stir once to make sure the sugar is dissolved completely, then let come to a rolling boll (about 2 to 3 minutes) and remove immediately from heat.
2. Now, in a medium-size bowl, on the medium-high speed of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and the vanilla extract with the whisk attachment until foamy, about 1 minute.
3. Without turning off mixer, pour the sugar syrup into the beaten egg whites in a thin, steady stream. Continue beating constantly, on medium-high speed, for about 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form but frosting is still creamy. Frost top and sides of cake immediately. Generously sprinkle top with shredded coconut.
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Also this weekend.....
We worked on our vegetable garden!
We are growing the following tomatoes:
-Sun Gold
-Heartland VFN
-Better Boys
Herbs:
-Sweet Basil
-Thai Basil
-Thyme
It's the first time I've had my own vegetable garden and I am pretty stoked. I really hope it does well! I can't wait for all of the caprese salads this summer! And maybe I'll make some Thai Basil Chicken too!
Wish me luck!
While Casey worked on the planting box, I grilled us some sandwiches.
Hot Italian Sausage with Grilled Onions, Eggplant, Zucchini, Provolone, Basil & Mustard. It was a well deserved treat for all the work.
We had Easter dinner at my parents house:
And Cooper celebrated his first Easter! He's 6 months old now!!!!
He celebrated by making out with his Easter Duck
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I know I did.
Magnolia Bakery’s German Chocolate Cake
Happy Birthday to Casey!
This year I decided to try something new for Casey's Birthday. I made him his second favorite kind of cake--German Chocolate!
What you see here is my first attempt! It turned out SUPER good. Very light and fluffy- So light that it didn't hold it's shape like a regular cake might. But when it gets into your mouth who really cares? My 4 year old nephew even chimed in "So good when it hits your lips." ha!
This cake is a show stopper. Soo rich! Soo gooey! I think I caught a few people in my kitchen putting swiping their fingers up against the frosting for a taste!
We had some for breakfast this morning and it didn't disappoint! I am currently suffering from a sugar coma. So shocked I am able to type this!
and here's a little peak of our breakfast this morning!
Magnolia Bakery's German Chocolate Cake
For the Cake:
-4 oz Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate, broken into squares
-1/2 cup water
-2 cups all purpose flour
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
-1 cup butter, softened (two sticks)
-2 cups sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 cup buttermilk
For the Frosting:
-1 1/2 cans evaporated milk
-6 egg yolks
-2 cups sugar
-1 cup butter, cut into small pieces
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-4 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
-2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease and flour 3 9x2 inch round cake pans, then line bottoms with wax paper.
3. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate with the water, stirring to melt the chocolate, and blend well. Set aside and cool for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, the baking soda, and the salt. Set aside.
5. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks, about 1 minute.
6. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
7. Add the egg yolks, beating until well combined.
8. Add the chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract.
9. Add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with he buttermilk, beating after each addition, until smooth.
10. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on the high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter.
11. Divide batter among the prepared pans.
12. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake, as this cake has a different, lighter texture than most.
13. Let cake cool in pans for 10 minutes.
14. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.
15. In a large saucepan, beat together the evaporated milk and the egg yolks.
16. Stir in the sugar, the butter , and the vanilla extract.
17. Stir over medium heat about 15-18 minutes or until thickened and bubbly and golden in color. Remove from heat.
18. Stir in the coconut and pecans.
19. Transfer to a large bowl and cool until room temperature and of good spreading consistency (about 2 hours.)
20. When cake has cooled, spread frosting between layers and over top of cake.
***I had a hard time frosting the sides because the frosting turned super gooey. I just popped the bowl in the fridge and let it cool for about 20 minutes and it was perfect for spreading!***
a happy belated valentine’s day
Hope you all had a sweet Valentine's day!
I shared the sweetness with my husband's family with a batch of mini Vanilla Bean cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. mmmmm.
Still on a sugar high....
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...
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 9x2 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....
Gingerbread Cake Mix
Favorite Trader Joe's Item #12: Gingerbread Cake Mix
The combo of these four main ingredients
made these wonderfully scrumptious babies (Gingerbread Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting)
I had to make cupcakes for a dinner party this Saturday. I figured I'd whip out some cupcakes with the box of Gingerbread cake mix I recently bought from Trader Joe's. The directions on the box did not specify how long the baking time would be for cupcakes. I started with 15 minutes and worked my way up from there. I think the total baking time was in the 25 minute range.
Here they are fresh out of the oven. The mix made only 10 of them. Fortunately that was 4 more than I needed to bring:
While I was making my cream cheese frosting I got the idea to put pumpkin butter in the mix. That cute little jar was sitting there on my counter teasing me to use it. So I thought--- why not??? I ended up putting like 5 heaping tablespoons in total. I had to add some pumpkin spice mix just cuz I'm waaaaay into spice. It is that time of year after all.
I think seeing bits of cinnamon and nutmeg is actually pretty. Kinda reminds me of vanilla bean specks:
Here's my work in progress:
Because the pumpkin butter thinned the frosting out a bit, I had to play around with the powdered sugar level to make it thicker. I had every intention to write how many cups I used, but the shear stress of trying not to get powdered sugar everywhere distracted me.
I ended up having frosting that was slightly runny, but it made for a neat effect. I probably should have chilled it*slightly* before I frosted the cupcakes.
For the final touch, I topped them with the uncrystallized ginger......
They packed TONS of flavor :) I'll definitely make them again. Perhaps next time I'll fill them with the pumpkin butter and just have plain cream cheese frosting......I still have some frosting left!!
Lemon Cookies with Cream cheese frosting
i ripped this recipe out of the magazine a LONG time ago-but it wasn't until i saw Christine's post that I remembered I wanted to make them! I had leftover cream cheese frosting from the coconut cupcakes so I decided to make sandwiches. Delish. My house smells like lemons. Yum.
