Category Archives: Cake

The Quest for a Great Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

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Since cupcakes are all the rage right now and I have been assigned dessert for Easter dinner, I decided that’s a good excuse to try out some new cupcake recipes.  Who doesn’t love a good cupcake, right?  They’re pretty, easy to serve and provide a great excuse to buy a new cake plate (tee hee).  And what’s even better is that I can make them ahead and freeze them.

Martha Stewart One Bowl Brownies

I  have Martha Stewart’s “Living” (from February) still sitting out in my baking station – waiting for a great excuse to make cupcakes.   So I broke it open and got to work.  That issue, by the way, has a number of fabulous cupcakes with amazing Martha pictures and recipes.  If you missed the issue, check for it at your local library.  It’s a good one.

Since I already have a great “go to” recipe for white cupcakes (found here: White Cupcake Recipe), I decided to try to perfect the chocolate cupcake.  I have a few chocolate cupcake recipes I like but none that I LOVE.
So the first cupcake recipe I tried was the “One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes”. This recipe has received a lot of fanfare on the Internet.  It has been listed by many cooking bloggers as their favorite chocolate cupcake.  Needless to say, that was enough for me to try it out.

Martha Stewart One Bowl Brownies

The recipe went together pretty quickly and is amazingly easy for a Martha recipe.  The batter was really runny but pouring it into a measuring cup with a pouring lip made it easy enough to pour.  They baked up quite well and are pretty little specimens.

Now for the taste test…As much as I hate to admit this, I am not a huge fan of these cupcakes.  I would go so far as to say that I have made many cakes from a box that I liked better (gasp!).

Now, in Martha’s defense, I should note that I have read that there are many variations of this recipe floating around.  The recipe in the magazine is supposed to be different from the one in her baking book…which is not the same as the one she has in another cookbook.

And I may not have loved them but my son and his dorm buddies thought they were mighty tasty!  Wow, I can beat cafeteria food!

If you would like to give these a go, you can find the recipe at Martha’s site: Martha Stewart’s One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes.

Do you have a chocolate cupcake recipe I should try?  Any favorites?

Quick Cinnamon Coffee Cake

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We have been doing the whole “Weight Watchers” thing around here for about the last two months.  I am happy to say that the hubby and I are just about to our ideal weight.  Yay!

One thing I always realize when I am trying to be more conscious of my intake is that I LOOOOVE breakfast pastries.  Give me a danish and I am a happy girl.  Same goes with muffins, scones, coffee cake…

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While I have been trimming the fat so to speak, I have been making an effort to feed the rest of my family as I at any other time.  So I bake here and there and portion it into freezer bags.  The teenagers seem to have inherited my love of cake for breakfast so I made this quick little number yesterday.

ready-to-bakeAs you can see, it’s a smaller sized coffee cake.  I made it in a 9″ round cheapo pan and that worked very well.  I did turn the temperature down to 350 though and it took a few extra minutes to get done.

baked-with-sugarNext time I will probably cut back on the cinnamon/sugar as it was still very “sandy” on top and the topping was loose.  There was plenty in the middle too so cutting back on the amount to sprinkle on top might be a good idea.

Quick Cinnamon Coffee Cake

[print_link]

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar (divided)

1 2/3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

Grease a 9″ cake pan.  Mix cinnamon and 2 Tbsp. sugar and set aside.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Add sugar, milk, egg and melted butter.  Mix well.  Spread 1/2 batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon and sugar mix. Spread remaining batter on top (spoon into mounds all over to make it easy to distribute).  Using a knife or spatula, carefully spread batter to cover middle cinnamon/sugar layer.  Sprinkle remaining cinnamon and sugar mix on top.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Cake – Hold the Flour

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Last month I decided to join a cooking group called “The Daring Bakers”.  Basically, it’s a group of people who all bake one recipe in each month – all the same recipe (with their own twists and creativity) and then we post the outcome on a certain day.  That day happens to be today so here’s what we did…

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This month’s challenge was perfect for February.  I made it for dessert on Valentine’s Day.

This recipe is interesting in that it contains no flour.  Actually, it contains just three simple ingredients – chocolate, eggs and butter.  Really, does it get any better than that?

I decided to use milk chocolate and my dessert seems to have a lighter color than some of the other bakers.  The taste was superb.  It is like a fudgy dense brownie.

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I baked mine in a square cake pan.  I was hoping to find a heart shaped pan to bake it in but couldn’t find one that was worth buying (all too thin).  So before baking, I melted some white chocolate and made a heart on the top of the batter.  Not quite the same but it impressed the kids :) .

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time:  20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

White Almond Sour Cream Cake

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I know, some love her and some hate her.  Myself, I am a huge fan.  I’m talking Martha Stewart.  As big a fan as I am, you would think I would be a huge fan of her magazine “Living” .  But I’m not.  I have tried (had a subscription a few different times, have purchased it at the grocery again and again).  I just don’t love it.

This month, however, has the best looking cupcakes on the cover for Valentine’s Day.  And the issue looked really good while I was waiting in line at the grocery.  So I bought it again.  And this time I was thrilled.  There are a LOT of recipes in there that I will be trying.  And some really great cupcake recipes too!

So. inspired by the cover on “Living” this month, I decided to make some cupcakes. I did not use Martha’s recipe yet.  I actually used the recipe below as it has been on my list of things to try for some time and I already had the ingredients on hand.

These cupcakes did not disappoint either.  I think Martha would be proud ;) .

I decided to line my cupcake pans with the standard blue liners. Don’t you just love the blue and the steel gray together?  That is quickly becoming my favorite color combo.

I made the recipe and it made almost 36 cupcakes.  I filled the cups with a cookie scoop (such a great tool for this) and filled them about half way.  As you can see. they did not dome like standard cupcake mixes do.  I like that.  It made them very easy to frost.

Here is an inside shot so you can see what great texture it has.  The cupcake itself is a very moist cake with a bit of weight to it.

I was not wild about the buttercream I made for these so I am not including the frosting recipe.  I’m sure you have a better one – trust me!

White Almond Sour Cream Cake

adapted from a recipe found on the Internet (a long time ago and sadly without a source)

1 box white cake mix (Betty Crocker or Pillsbury)

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/3 cups water

1/8 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup sour cream

4 large egg whites

Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together with a whisk.  Add remaining ingredients and beat on medium for 2 minutes.  Pour into greased and floured cake pans or cupcake tins.  Fill about half way full.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven until tests done.

Spectacular Almond Bundt Cake

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I am suffering from a bad case of baking withdrawal.  The hubby and I are trying to shave off a few pounds so I have not been doing a lot of baking.  Enter Super Bowl Party!  The perfect excuse to bake something (read other people who eat).  I never thought I could be so excited about football.    So, over the weekend I decided to make an Almond Sour Cream Bundt cake.

The recipe goes together in a strange order but I followed it as listed.   The batter was rather thick going into the pan.  It REALLY filled up my 12 cup Bundt pan.  Here’s how it looked after baking (the timing within the recipe was exactly how long it took to bake for me by the way).  You can see that the pan is very full.

When it was done baking and I took it out of the pan, I immediately declared this to be the prettiest cake I have ever made.  And I have made a LOT of cakes.  The cake popped right out of the pan and, as you can see, it did not stick in one single spot.  Gorgeous!

I did not see any reason to slather this with icing and decided to make a simple chocolate glaze instead.  It really would be good with just powdered sugar too.

I found the cutest vintage cake plate at an antique mall.  Here’s a pic which really shows off my new plate.

And I have saved the best for last… this cake is unbelievably good!

crumbThe outside has a slight crunch to it, almost a very thin sugary crust.  It is really thick, dense, and soooo good.  The glaze was a great alternative to icing the cake and I am glad I did that.  The chocolate was a great pairing.  If you used the orange extract, an orange or lemon glaze would also be fabulous.

Almond Pound Cake Recipe

adapted from Paula Deen

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, plus more for pan (I used Baker’s Joy spray)

3 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract (original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. orange extract and no vanilla)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.   Butter and flour a tube pan and set aside.   In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and sugar together and then add sour cream.   Sift flour and baking soda together.   Add to creamed mixture, alternately with eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.   Add extracts and stir to combine.   Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.   Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes and then unmold and cool completely on a wire rack.

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut…

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I recently found this recipe online and decided I would have to give it a try. The real reason I wanted to make it is because I have seen the Almond Filling in the supermarket so many times but had no idea who used it and what he/she would use it for. Kind of like Nutella…

The almond filling is found in the baking aisle with the canned pie filliings (at least that’s where it is in here in Ohio). It’s a smaller can as far as size goes. And it was towards the top of the shelf – giving me another reason to wonder who uses this stuff.

When I opened the can I was surprised. I had envisioned this stuff as being a pale tan paste. It is much different. It is more of a pecan pie filling kinda thing – except with ground almonds. And it REALLY smells like almonds… and playdough. Yes, playdough. It smelled so much like playdough that I had a hard time taking a swipe of the batter to see what it tasted like. I did finally taste it (who can go without tasting the batter?) and it was really nice – great flavor. And the finished product is missing that smell so no fears.

I am a sucker for recipes that come off the label – and this one is inside the label on the can. How do they actually expect someone to make something off the in side of the label when you have no idea what other ingredients you will need to buy… that’s something a market specialist should really analyze.

I was lucky enough to know what was in the recipe before going into the store so I was able to make this today. The recipe was easy to follow. Nothing was complicated at all.

The cake pops right out of the pan and did not crumble.

The glaze (I made chocolate) was a nice consistency and it held onto the cake before pooling on the plate.

And, best of all, this cake is soooo good! It is moist and heavy, almost like a pound cake. It holds together really well and looks pretty on the plate. You can really taste the almond. Note to future makers of this cake: it really tastes like almond extract.  If you are not an almond fan, you will not like this cake.  The flavor is a bit strong but it’s a great flavor.  It’s a keeper in our house.

It’s been two days since I made this and it is even better today than it was when I baked it.  The flavors seem to have melded a bit more and the almond is not as pronounced but still quite tasty – and still moist as can be.

Solo Almond Bundt Cake

10 to 12 servings

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can Solo or 1 jar Baker Almond filling
1/4 cup milk

Chocolate Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 Tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons buttermilk or low-fat milk

or

Almond Glaze
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons light cream

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.

Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond filling until blended. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt until mixed. Add to almond mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat until blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

To make glaze, combine ingredients in small bowl, and stir until blended and smooth. Spoon or drizzle over top of cake. Let stand until glaze is set.

Or top with fresh fruit and whipped cream!