Archive for the ‘Cake’ Category

Passover has come and gone once again, but at least this year I was able to leave a lasting impression with dessert! I know this is a bit late, but better late then never….especially with this dessert! Passover desserts can be tricky and can become a bit redundant because there tends to be a few standbys that most people turn to. On top of that, no one really likes to bake in Greg’s family so I challenge myself to always make a wonderful dessert to bring, especially for Passover. The past couple of years I have just thrown together simple things last minute, but this year I really wanted to find a great recipe. All I can say is that Cooking Light has come through for me once again. I had been eying this beautiful lemon curd cake for a while and decided to finally make it sine it was Passover friendly.

This cake was AMAZING!! Everyone raved over it. Halfway through serving it Greg’s cousin started rationing the pieces and then horded the remaining bits for herself and practically licked the plate clean. It not only looked pretty but it was lemony and refreshing with a touch of cake. I will definitely make this recipe again and it will not be stored away for just Passover, as the matzo cake meal can easily be switched out with whole-wheat flour. It is perfect for any spring or summer gathering.

Lemon-Almond Cake with Lemon Curd Filling

Courtesy of Cooking Light
Cooking spray
2 tsp. matzo cake meal (I ground up matzo meal)
4 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup matzo cake meal
1 1/2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup blanched almonds, ground
4 large egg whites
1 cup Lemon Curd (recipe follows)
2 cups fresh raspberries (I garnished with fresh strawberries)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat a 9-inch spring-form pan with cooking spray. Dust pan with 2 teaspoons matzo cake meal.
Place the egg yolks in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at high speed for 2 minutes. Gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating until thick and pale (about 1 minute). Add 1/4 cup matzo cake meal, 1 1/2 teaspoons water, 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind, fresh lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; beat just until blended. Fold in the almonds.

Place egg whites in a large bowl. Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg whites into egg yolk mixture; gently fold in remaining egg whites. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until golden brown and set. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Run a knife around edge of cake. Remove cake from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. (Cake will sink in center as it cools.) Spread 1 cup Lemon Curd in center of cake, and top with raspberries (or whatever berries you prefer). Cut cake into wedges using a serrated knife. Serve immediately.

Lemon Curd

1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place sugar and eggs in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Gradually beat in rind and juice. Spoon mixture into a heavy-duty saucepan over medium heat. Add butter to pan; cook 5 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly (do not boil). Spoon mixture into a bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Chill thoroughly.

Yields: 8 servings

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/8 of cake
Calories: 238
Total Fat: 6.6 g
Cholesterol: 149 mg
Sodium: 123 mg
Carbohydrates: 41.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.7 g
Protein: 5.9 g

Back in January we had Greg’s mom and grandparent’s over to celebrate his mom’s birthday as well as mine. The thing is, my mother-in-law and I share the same birthday, January 7th (Greg and my sister also share the same birthday-Oct. 12th). I know, it is strange. Anyway, since Greg took me out to dinner on my birthday, we wanted to do something for his mom the following weekend.

To our happiness, this “family” dinner with his side was also a success. Of course my main concern was the dessert. With the holidays just coming to a close, I was really tired of all the heavy desserts and was looking for something lighter, almost summery. When I found a Tyler Florence recipe for Lemon Pudding Cake with Fresh Mixed Berries, I knew that would be perfect. I also thought it would be fun to have individual servings of dessert, which this recipe was designed for, so it worked out great.

This recipe is so light and refreshing. I will definitely be making it again as spring and summer approach. It is a fairly easy dessert to put together but it really has the “wow” factor. It looks like you spent a lot more time than you actually did, but that can be your little secret. ;o)

Lemon Pudding Cake with Fresh Mixed Berries

courtesy of Tyler Florence and Food Network
1 tbs. unsalted butter
2/3 cup superfine sugar
2 eggs, seperated
2/3 cup reduced fat buttermilk
2 tbs. lemon juice
1 tbs. lemon zest
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Garnish:
Feel free to switch out the berries with whatever kind you choose. I used strawberries and blueberries.
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh blackberries
2 tbs. confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and lightly sugar 4 ramekins (about 1-cup size).

In a mixer, add egg yolks, buttermilk, lemon juice and lemon zest and beat until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and sift in flour, sugar and salt. Continue to mix until combined. Beat egg whites until you get stiff peaks then combine the 2 mixtures by gently folding them together, a little at a time. Divide evenly amongst ramekins then bake in a water bath – set ramekins in a roasting tray and fill with water halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 60 minutes until the top springs back when gently pressed and the cakes have a nice golden brown color. Allow to cool slightly, then carefully invert onto a plate. Serve with fresh berries and dust with powdered sugar.

Yields 4 servings.

As I mentioned in my last entry, we hosted a birthday dinner for my dad. I really wanted to make it special since not only was it his birthday, but it was the first time I had that side of my family over for a real dinner. I love to bake, so that is usually my favorite part of a meal. I was so excited about making him a cake.

I had seen a few posts on the What’s Cooking board for a Cookies n’ Cream Cake. When I originally saw it I bookmarked it because I didn’t really have a reason to bake a cake at the time. When I decided to host the birthday dinner I knew that the Cookies n’ Cream cake would be THE cake.

Greg admitted after the fact that he never thought I could pull it off. HA, I guess I showed him! He was very impressed, not to mention the reaction I got out of my family. Everyone loved it!

Cookies n’ Cream Cake

courtesy of Just2Good, cake and frosting originally from Hershey’s.
Cake:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Filling:
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/8 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
10 chocolate sandwich cookies, chopped

Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two 9 inch round baking pans.

In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be very thin). Pour batter into round baking pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Once removed place on baking racks until completely cooled.

To make the filling, combine cream, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low until sugar is incorporated, then beat on high until stiff peaks form (do not over beat). Gently fold in chopped cookie pieces.

To make the frosting, melt butter in a medium bowl. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add confectioners’ sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. If needed, add additional amount of milk. Stir in vanilla.

To assemble the cake, place one layer of cake on a cardboard circle. Pipe a border of frosting along th rim of the cake. Spread a thick layer of cookies n’ cream filling inside the circle. Top with the other layer of cake. Frost the side of the cake with the frosting. Pipe a decorative border of chocolate frosting along the border of the cake. Fill the inside of the decorative border with a thick layer of cookies n’ cream filling. Garnish with cookies and frosting as desired.

While my mom and stapdad were visiting over Thanksgiving weekend, there was a lot of cooking going on! I was determined to make a Pumpkin Roll since my mom and I love pumpkin and I saw it so many times on the What’s Cooking board. I made that for Thanksgiving day and to my happiness, it was a success. The thing is, my stepdad and Greg do not like pumpkin; I know what a shame. My stepdad had mentioned how he loved jelly rolls. So one evening I decided to find a jelly roll recipe and make him a dessert he would eat.

My stepdad is a southern boy so when I came across a recipe by Paula Dean, I knew I couldn’t go wrong. I just happened to have all of the ingredients, so I threw it together. It was quite delicious and everyone loved it.

Old South Jelly Roll Cake

courtesy of Paul Dean and Food Network
4 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs. vanilla
3/4 cup cake flour, sifted
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup jam or jelly, stirred well
whipped cream (for topping)
confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff but not dry and set aside. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks until light. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla, and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the sifted flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture. Fold the egg whites into the egg mixture and pour the batter into a 15 x 10 x 1 inch jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cake is golden brown.

Loosen edges of cake, invert cake onto a towel dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Gently peel parchment paper off cake. Trim 1/4 inch of hard crust off each long side of the jelly roll cake. Begin with the narrow side and roll the cake and towel up together. Cool cake on rack, seam side down, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Once cake has cooled, gently unroll and spread cake with jam or jelly and re-roll (without the towel). Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar or cover with whipped cream.

Yields 8 to 10 servings.

Lately my whole family has been trying to watch what they eat in hopes of taking off a few pounds. Nowadays who isn’t, right? A few weeks ago I came across this recipe on cookinglight.com and was hoping to find a reason to try it. This past weekend we celebrated my mom’s birthday and of course I volunteered to make a cake. I am always looking for a valid excuse to bake but not have to keep it in my house. ) I remembered this cake and of course it took me forever to find the recipe again. Finally I found it and went to work on creating my masterpiece. It was fairly easy to make and it was oh so good. My mom later told me that my step-dad raved over it, she had to send a second piece home with my sister’s boyfriend and she herself snuck back out to the kitchen in the middle of the night to have a second piece. I guess it was a hit! The plus side is that it was a tad bit healthier than your typical cake. The recipe was originally for a Raspberry-Almond Torte but when I saw the price for the almond paste I quickly decided to make it Raspberry-Vanilla instead, lol. I was planning on taking a picture of a cut piece but I completely forgot once we got to my parent’s house. Sorry, but this is the only crummy picture that I have. If you click on the link for the cooking light recipe you can see the pretty picture that they have.

Raspberry-Vanilla Torte with Chocolate Ganache

adapted from cookinglight.com
Cake:
Cooking spray
6 tbs. butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
3 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 large egg whites

Filling:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 (10-ounce) jar seedless raspberry jam
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Ganache:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1 (4-ounce) bar semisweet chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray (it took me a little while to realize that this was basically a cookie sheet); grease the pan and then line bottom with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper with cooking spray.

To prepare cake, place butter and vanilla extract in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until blended. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, beating until well blended (about 3 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating just until combined.
Place the egg whites in a large bowl. Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter; pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350° for 18 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly. Cool. Invert cake onto a wire rack. Remove parchment paper. Cut cake into 4 (10 x 3 3/4-inch) rectangles.

To prepare filling, combine juice and raspberry preserves, stirring with a whisk. Add powdered sugar, stirring until smooth. Reserve 3/4 cup raspberry mixture. Place 1 cake rectangle on a cake platter; spread with 1/4 cup raspberry mixture, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Repeat procedure with remaining cake and 1/2 cup raspberry mixture, ending with cake.

To prepare ganache, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, cocoa, and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and add chocolate, stirring until smooth. Spread ganache evenly over top and sides of cake; let stand 20 minutes or until set. Serve reserved raspberry mixture with torte.

I decided to make a red velvet cake for Father’s Day this year (I’ll blog about it as soon as I get the pictures from my mom). The recipe called for buttermilk and as I went shopping for the ingredients I found out that I couldn’t buy just a small container of buttermilk, I had to buy a whole liter. Now what do I do with the 3 cups of buttermilk I have left in my refrigerator?? I went to the ladies on the What’s Cooking board to see if they had any tried and true recipes that call for buttermilk. I received four or five recipes that all sounded great so I then had to figure out which to make. Since I would be making this on a weeknight after work (which means I will be exhausted) I decided to go with one that would be the least messiest and the least amount of work. I went with a pound cake. Thanks to thatgirlang I ended up with a great cake that was a crowd pleaser at work. Thanks Angie! This also gave me the opportunity to use a pretty bundt pan that I received as a bridal shower gift and completely forgot I had.

I have been trying to experiment and be more creative in the kitchen rather than always following recipes word for word, so I took her base recipe for the cake and modified it a tiny bit. Since the cake had lemon extract in it I decided to add some lemon zest as well. I also seem to find that pound/bundt cakes can be a bit bland for my taste so I chose to add a cream cheese glaze to it. I crossed my fingers that it would all turn out okay in the end and luckily it did. I was also so excited that my cake came out of the pan perfectly! I was a little worried because of the design aspects of the pan but I guess all of the greasing and flouring paid off, whew!

It was a delicious cake; very moist and tasty. It is a perfect cake to serve during breakfast or brunch because it isn’t terribly sweet. Everyone kept complimenting on how beautiful it was. I couldn’t take much credit on that though…the pan did all of that work, lol. ; )

Buttermilk Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

adapted from Angie’s recipe at Angie’s Simple Cooking
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
zest of 1 lemon
cream cheese glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour one 9 or 10 inch tube pan. Mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar. Mix in the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon and the vanilla extracts. Gently mix in flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in the lemon zest. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 90 minutes. Keep an eye on it though because mine was done in 75 minutes. Do not open oven door until after one hour. When cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan it is done. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Note: I ended up moving the oven rack to the notch just under the center because as the cake started to rise it got a little too close to the top of the oven and I was afraid it would burn.

Cream Cheese Glaze

adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
1 tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice (I added an additional 1/4 tsp.)
3 tbs. milk
1 tsp. lemon zest (about 1/2 of a lemon)

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and salt until all is incorporated. Add the lemon juice and milk, mix well. Stir in the lemon zest. Pour over the cooled cake.

Note: If the glaze is too think, add milk 1 tsp. at a time.