Cakes and Frostings

Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 20 Comments

My life has been chaotic for the last six months and now that the dust has started to settle I’m trying to get myself back on track. One of the ways I see myself doing that is trying to post more often on my blog. I missed not doing my regular posts but dealing with health care issues was so much more important. Now I am trying to put one foot in front of the other in an attempt to establish my new normal and begin to incorporate some of the things that brought joy into my life before everything started. This blog is certainly one what to do that.

I made this recipe the other day and posted some pictures on Instagram and Facebook and got so many comments about sharing the recipe that I felt compelled to blog it faster than I thought I would. I made this recipe mainly because I had a ton of blueberries that I needed to use (Lord only knows why I bought so many) and I also had several bars of cream cheese.

I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised at the outcome. What I liked the best about this coffee cake is the addition of the cream cheese layer. It provides a nice moistness to the cake and really kicks the cake over the top. So let’s talk blueberry cream cheese coffee cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – This cake requires you to be organized: This cake has 3 separate processes, that being making the cream cheese filling, making the cake batter and making the streusel topping. It requires a little more equipment to get the coffee cake put together. I recommend you use a separate hand mixer and bowl to make the cream cheese filling. Then I recommend making the streusel topping so you are ready to top the cake once you’ve assembled the layers. Use your stand mixer to make the cake batter. Try to measure everything out for all three processes before you begin. That way the processes will run smoothly. It really isn’t a hard cake to make. It just has a few more steps than most.

Lesson Learned 2 – The cake batter is thick: This batter creates a nicely dense cake that is balanced out by the cream cheese layer. But a dense batter can be a challenge to spread around when it comes time to put it in a pan. I’ve learned over time that when you work with a dense batter it’s better to drop it in the pan in spoonfuls all around the pan. That way when it comes time to spread the layer most of the batter is already in place and you can spread the batter around more easily.

Lesson Learned 3 – Vanilla bean paste versus vanilla extract: When I’m making a recipe where I want to really kick up the vanilla flavor I use vanilla bean paste. The paste has a syrup-like consistency and it measures out the same way as vanilla extract. Vanilla bean paste is richer and more flavorful. It is also much more expensive. But if you can afford it I highly recommend using it. But only use it for special recipes. Using it in things like cookies doesn’t really make a difference. But using it in something like this recipe or a creme brulee really enhances the flavor of the dish.

Lesson Learned 4 – Arranging the blueberries in the layers: This cake requires two blueberry layers, one on top of the cake batter layer and one on top of the cream cheese layer. When putting in both layers be careful to not let any of the blueberries touch the sides of your spring form pan. If you do you’ll find it difficult to clean the sides of the pan after baking. If you don’t you can still clean the sides of your pan, it’s just a little more difficult even though the pan has been greased.

Lesson Learned 5 – Depending upon your oven, you may have to cook the cake longer than the allotted time: Now as you know I live in high altitude so everything tends to have to cook for longer periods of time and/or higher temperatures. This recipe calls for the cake to cook for 45 minutes. I had to cook mine for 1 hour. Just keep an eye on it after 45 minutes and you should be fine.

Lesson Learned 6 – Someone asked me if you could substitute raspberries for blueberries: I don’t see why not. Raspberries tend to cook just like blueberries. They release their juices in a similar way. So try it with raspberries. I bet it will be delicious.

And that’s it. I guarantee you will love this cake. Try it and let me know what you think…

Cake Layer

First Layer Of Blueberries

Cream Cheese Layer

Second Layer of Blueberries

Cake With Streusel Topping

Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake...

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

Cream Cheese Filling:

1/4 sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 egg white

1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (you can substitute vanilla extract)

1 1/4 cup blueberries, divided

Coffee Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. table salt

5 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

3/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

3 Tbs. butter, very cold and cut into chunks

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven for 350. Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper and grease the sides of pan. Set the pan aside.

Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Add egg white and mix just until combined. Set aside.

For the streusel topping combine sugar, flour and chilled butter in a bowl. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly and and the crumbles are pea sized. Set aside.

For the cake batter, stir together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg, egg yolk, sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined. Slowly combine the two mixtures beginning with part of the flour mixture alternating it with the sour cream mixture, then the flour mixture followed by the sour cream mixture finishing with the flour mixture. Take a spoon and transfer this batter in spoonfuls around the base of the pan. Smooth the batter around the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of blueberries over the batter. Spread the cream cheese filling on top of the blueberries (drop in spoonfuls just like the cake batter and spread) and top with the remaining blueberries. Sprinkle the streusel on top of the blueberries. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top starts browning too quickly cover the pan with aluminum foil.

Put the pan on a cooling rack and run a knife around the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes and then loosen the ring of the spring form pan. Remove the ring and let the cake continue to cool.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in remaining cake in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

Lemon Ricotta Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

No one will deny that we are currently living in unprecedented times. With the country being ravaged by the coronavirus and people scrambling to figure out how to shelter at home without losing their minds, it comes as no surprise that many people are turning to cooking. Cooking (and eating) has always been associated with comfort. And at this point in time we need all the comfort we can get.

We are under a stay at home order here in Colorado so venturing outside can only be done for essential things, like going to the grocery store. When I last visited my grocery store I found it fascinating that the baking isles were heavily picked over. It was hard to find flour or eggs. I laughed when I saw there were hardly any boxed cake mixes on the shelves. And try to find flour tortillas – well I guess people are indulging their taste for Mexican food during quarantine.

I’ve been trying to limit my trips to the store as much as possible so sometimes I buy larger containers of things that will last a longer period of time. The other day I was planning on making some stuffed shells (that recipe soon to be posted) and so I purchased a large container of ricotta cheese. I did not anticipate the amount I would have left and began thinking about how I could use the remaining ricotta. And this is how I used it…

So let’s talk lemon ricotta cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – Beat the ricotta into the butter/sugar mixture really well: Ricotta is rather thick and when using it in baking it can cause lumps unless you beat it well. I found that using whole milk ricotta is the best for this cake. Make sure you beat the mixture for at least 3 minutes or until you see the mixture is smooth and creamy. Also make sure you scrape the sides and bottom of the the mixing bowl. I found when using a stand mixer that a very small portion of ingredients tends to clump right at the very base of the beater. Don’t forget to scrape there as well.

What the ricotta batter should look like

Well Mixed Ricotta Batter

Lesson Learned 2 – Grease the sides and bottom of a spring form pan with butter and dust it with powdered sugar: I read about this trick online and it is a great way to add some additional sweetness to the outside of the cake. Even though you use 1 1/2 cups of sugar in this recipe the cake does not taste overly sweet. The lemon juice and zest balance out the sweetness quite nicely.

Lesson Learned 3 – Don’t make the mistake I made: Every cook makes mistakes, even the most adept ones. I went about making this cake the way I normally bake or cook, prepping all of the ingredients first and then following the process. I did really well until I put the batter in the prepared pan and then realized I didn’t incorporate the baking soda into the batter. UGHHH!

In my mind I had three choices – 1: Start all over again (which I did not want to do) 2: Bake the cake without the baking soda (baking soda is a leavening agent that makes the cake rise so I didn’t want to do that) or 3: Figure out a way to incorporate the baking soda (it was only a half of a teaspoon so I sprinkled it all over the top of the batter and mixed it in with a spoon stirring it well but being careful not to touch the sides or bottom of the prepared pan. To my amazement it worked beautifully). So keep in mind that even the best of cooks need to improvise when they make a mistake. Not all fixes turn out as well as this one did. I was lucky this time.

Lesson Learned 4 – Try using vanilla bean paste: I was made aware of vanilla bean paste during a cooking class and I love it. I don’t use it all the time as a jar can be quite expensive ($20 or so) but in dishes where I want a richer vanilla flavor I use the paste. I wouldn’t use it for making cookies but for cakes or custards it adds much more depth of flavor. It measures just like vanilla extract (a teaspoon for a teaspoon) but it gives a much richer vanilla flavor than extract. If you can afford it try it sometime.

And that’s it. Making the cake is very easy. The cake is creamy and not overly sweet. It’s great as a dessert or a breakfast treat. I know you will enjoy this one…

Lemon Ricotta Cake...

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

1 large lemon, juiced and zested

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups flour

Powdered sugar for dusting the pan and the top of the cake

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a spring form pan with butter and dust the bottom and sides with powdered sugar. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer (you can use a hand mixer) cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the ricotta cheese and mix until smooth and creamy, at least 3 minutes or more.

Mix the eggs in one at a time. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix to combine. Stir in the baking soda and salt. Add the flour and mix until just combined (you can add all the flour in at once).

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before removing it from the pan. Let the cake cool completely before dusting it with powdered sugar.

Right Out Of The Oven

Blueberry Muffin Breakfast Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

I had a large container of blueberries just sitting in my refrigerator. Isn’t it funny how what we have in our refrigerators and don’t want to waste often drives what we make? I had blueberries and I had to find a way to put them to great use.

I don’t know about you but I find making cakes in springform pans to be much easier. I like the idea that once the cake first begins to cool you can simply unhook the pan and the cake is released. I also like the fact that you can firmly attach a piece of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan before you add the batter and once the cake has cooled you simply pull the paper out from under the cake and it is safely on whatever plate you want it to be. I find this all very convenient.

But above and beyond the convenience of a springform pan, this cake is delightful and I can tell you having a piece of it with your morning coffee is utter heaven. So let’s talk blueberry muffin breakfast cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – My quest for the perfect crumble: I have to admit I’ve struggled with making a crumble that I truly enjoyed. I found most suggestions for making crumbles to be, for lack of a better term, yucky. More often than not I’ve felt that the crumble tasted too much like dried out lumps of flour. Have you experienced that as well? Well, no more. This combination for a crumble topping is the best yet. In my mind it balances the right amount of fat, sugar, flavoring and flour to give a sweet, but not overly sweet, topping for the cake that in no way tastes like flour. I suggest you use it on other cakes that you make with crumble toppings. I think I’ve finally found the right combination of ingredients for a crumble.

Lesson Learned 2 – The secret to making glaze: The secret to making glaze is there is no secret. I was watching the Pioneer Woman the other day and she and while she was making a glaze she admitted that there is no hard and fast recipe for one. It’s all done by eyeballing and consistency. The important thing to keep in mind is you can’t ruin glaze. Just remember if the glaze is too thick you add a little more liquid and if the glaze is too thin you add a little more powdered sugar. For this particular recipe I opted for a somewhat thicker glaze.

The other thing to remember with glaze is there is no correct consistency. There may be times when you want a thinner glaze and there may be times you want it thicker. And you can control that by adding less liquid for a thick glaze or more for a thin one. It’s as simple as that. So don’t fret over making glaze. It’s probably one of the most forgiving things you can make in the baking world!

Other than these few tips this recipe is pretty standard but it makes an over the top breakfast cake. Try it and let me know what you think…

Blueberry Muffin Breakfast Cake...

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 extra large egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup whole milk

2 cups blueberries (approximately 1 pint)

Baking spray

Crumble Topping:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. heavy cream or whole milk

1/4 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper and clasp the top part of the pan shut. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, put in all the crumble ingredients and cut together with a pastry cutter until the mixture is all combined and resembles clumps of sand. Set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and combine. Add the vanilla and combine. Add one half of the flour mixture and combine. Add the milk and combine. Add the remainder of the flour mixture and combine until totally incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries making sure they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Spray the springform pan with baking spray including the bottom with the parchment paper (I use the one with flour). Pour the batter into the springform pan. Sprinkle the crumble all over the top of the batter. Use all of the crumble.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (it may have some blueberry on it, but that’s ok). Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. (Some of the crumble may seem a little wet due to the amount of butter in the crumble. That’s ok).

After it has cooled for 15 minutes, slide a knife around the edge of the pan and remove the outside of the springform pan. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing the parchment paper underneath the cake.

When the cake is completely cooled you can remove the bottom parchment paper and slide the cake onto a serving plate. Combine all of the glaze ingredients together and drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.

Serve or store in an air tight container.

 

 

Raspberry Riccota Coffee Cake…

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Rasberry Cheese Coffee Cake

There’s nothing like the taste of a good coffee cake with your morning cup of Jo, or at least that’s how I feel. And I am particularly fond of baking with raspberries. Not only are they colorful but I also like their tartness which I feel balances the sweetness of a cake batter beautifully.

My husband is a sweets fanatic. He’s one of those that can eat sweets and not put on a pound, although I have to say he’s also very good at moderating what he eats. So I guess I can’t fault him for being good about what he eats and still including sweets in his diet.

Because of his sweet tooth, I like experimenting with things I bake to see what will interest him the most. This recipe got a thumbs up from him (with qualifications regarding the amount of raspberries which I will explain in lessons learned) and will definitely be something that I make again and again.

So let’s talk Raspberry Ricotta Coffee Cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – The batter in this recipe is thick: And I mean VERY THICK. I have to say I was a little surprised at how thick the batter was. I feared the cake would be a dried out mess, but I was wrong. I think the ricotta cheese, the cheese used in this recipe, makes the batter thicker but also makes the cake light and moist. I was pleasantly surprised.

The Thick Batter

Working with batter like this can be a challenge. This is the kind of recipe where you layer part of the batter in the pan, add the raspberries and then cover them with the remaining batter. I recommend you make this division close to half and half and here’s why. I had a hard time smoothing out the batter, especially the top layer. You will need as much batter as possible to get the job done. Dividing the batter in half did the trick.

I recommend taking the batter for the top layer and putting it in clumps all over as seen in the picture below:

That way it will help in the spreading out process. But even with this, spreading was still a little bit of a challenge. The raspberries underneath did not want to stay in place while I was attempting to smooth out the batter. Finally I just decided to wash my hands thoroughly and use my hands to press the batter down and out. That seemed to work a little better. Once the top was sufficiently covered I used my frosting spreader tool and smoothed out the top as seen below:

It really helped to start off with the clumps of batter spread out as much as possible over the top. I highly recommend you do that. Although getting it spread out was a little bit of a challenge it was much easier with the batter in various places versus trying to work from just one place.

Also make sure you use a stand mixer for the recipe. A hand mixer won’t work with the thickness of this batter. And mix the batter on low, otherwise you might face burning out the motor on your mixer. Yes, the batter is that thick, but no problem when you mix it on low.

Lesson Learned 2 – Really cover the center of the cake with raspberries: The recipe I based this on called for a heaping cup of raspberries, using 2/3 for the center and 1/3 for the top. In doing that the center of the cake looked like the picture below:

The Center Of The Cake

This was not nearly enough raspberries. Once the cake was baked it seemed like there were only a few raspberries in the center. Some slices did have a few more, but some seemed to have hardly any. Next time I make this I will add even more raspberries – so at this point I will recommend a heaping cup and quarter of raspberries with the greater majority being placed in the middle layer of the cake. The raspberries are what give the cake a special taste – that great balance of tart and sweet –  and I felt they should be more predominant in the cake. Baking it this way the cake turned out fine – but I will definitely add more raspberries the next time.

Lesson Learned 3 – Try adding a dollop of Cool Whip on the cake: My husband discovered this on his own. He thought the Cool Whip was a great addition to the cake. And yes, of course, you could always make some fresh whipped cream, but if you’re in a hurry a little Cool Whip will do just fine and will send the flavor over the top.

Lesson Learned 4 – The valuable lessons I’ve learned: Since the very beginning of writing this blog I’ve used the tag line “From The Cook Who Never Could…” and that, for a long time time, was so very true of me. I never had success in the kitchen because, first of all, I had no frame of reference. My mother was not a cook. Her idea of a meal was to overcook meat, have some kind of potato with it and open a can of corn or peas. Mind you, I am not knocking my mother here. She was a working mom at a time when most women were still staying at home and she had to figure out how to balance a job on the night shift with a husband and two children at a time when hardly anyone else was doing it. My dad helped a little, but his specialty was making bacon and eggs and oatmeal (he normally was in charge of the breakfast detail). So there was not a lot of opportunities for me to learn about cooking at home.

Once I became interested in cooking I found the hardest thing for me was bouncing back after my failures. I always expected things to turn out perfectly the first time and when they didn’t I blamed it on my lack of skills and became very disheartened. It’s only as I got older and began to really learn about the art and science of cooking and baking that I became much more forgiving of myself when things did not turn out as planned.

There is always something you can learn when you cook or bake something. And I hope you know that even the best of cooks don’t always get it perfect the first time around. That’s a lesson I learned the hard way.  So even with this recipe, when the concentration of raspberries was not what I would have wanted, I realized the cake in itself was still quite good and not a failure. It just needed, in my estimation, a little improvement.

Don’t make my mistake and blame yourself or your skills if something does not turn out the way you planned the first time.  And certainly don’t give up on yourself. Use what you learn and continue to improve your skills. It’s all part of the process.

So I hope you make this one – and I will write the recipe adding more raspberries. It’s a lesson I learned making this cake – one of many lessons I am sure I’ll continue to learn in the future. Enjoy!

Raspberry Ricotta Coffee Cake...

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

Coffee Cake:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder (1 tsp for high altitude)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 heaping cups of frozen raspberries

15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese

Baking spray with flour

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1 – 2 Tbs. milk or water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325  (350 for high altitude). Line the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (several minutes). Add the eggs one at a time and beat until well incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the ricotta and blend until smooth. Add another 1/3 of the flour and beat on low until incorporated (due to the thickness of the batter it is important to only beat this on low). Add the remaining ricotta and blend until combined. Beat in the remaining flour on low until incorporated. Make sure the batter is well mixed.

Spray the springform pan with the baking spray. Pour in 1/2 of the batter and smooth out around the pan. Add 1 heaping cup of frozen raspberries and arrange evenly over the top. (If the top doesn’t look sufficiently full of raspberries add a little more from what you have remaining).

Spoon out the remaining batter in clumps over the top of the raspberries. Spread the batter out to cover the top. (NOTE: If using a spreader becomes too difficult, thoroughly wash your hands and use them to press the batter down and out). Smooth out the batter to evenly cover the top of the pan.

Take the remaining frozen raspberries and using your hands press them down across the batter on top.

Bake for 60-75 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool at least 20 minutes before removing the cake from the pan.

Once cooled drizzle the glaze over the top. Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar with the almond extract and milk or water. Use one tablespoon of liquid initially and check the consistency of the glaze. If the glaze it too thick add more liquid.

Cake Right Out Of The Oven

Rasberry Cheese Coffee Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lemon Crumble Cupcakes…

youbetchcanmakethis 6 Comments

Recently we experienced quite a blizzard here in Colorado. Knowing that this storm was coming I decided to use the day I would be trapped in my house to get some serious cooking and baking done. I did three recipes in my test kitchen that day, and this was one of them.

I always like to have a few draft recipes in the queue so that I can maintain my goal for posting a new recipe every week – sometimes every other week but no longer than that. So this recipe was one I had in the back of my mind that I was waiting to try. After I made it my only thought was what the heck was I waiting for?

There are two main reasons why I really like this recipe. First and foremost the cupcakes taste divine – and isn’t that always the best reason The sour cream gives these cupcakes a luxurious texture. Second and equally as important to me, this is a smaller portion recipe yielding approximately 8 cupcakes and since there is only my husband and myself, I like recipes that cater to smaller portions – less waste, if any.

So let’s talk lemon crumble cupcakes…

Lesson Learned 1: Making the crumble: I’ve found that many recipes really overdo it when it comes to the amount of flour used in making a crumble. In my opinion, when there is too much flour it overpowers the sugar and butter and you’re left with a flavorless crumble. So when I make a crumble I tend to err on the side of a little less flour. So keep in mind that’s what I am including in this recipe. So if you’re anything like me, my advice is don’t mess with the flour proportion – it has already been adjusted to the lighter side.

Lesson Learned 2 – Don’t expect the crumble to get overly browned: You want a nice beige color to the crumble. If it gets too brown the crumble gets too hard. The picture below shows the way the crumble should look when you take the cupcakes out of the oven.

Lesson learned 3 – Always used fresh squeezed lemon juice when you’re baking: If a recipe calls for lemon juice, please freshly squeeze it. There is a noticeable difference in flavor between the juice of a fresh lemon and lemon juice you get in a bottle. Take a few extra seconds and get your juice from fresh lemons. In a pinch you can always used the bottled stuff, but I believe in using clean ingredients as much as possible when I cook and bake. It pays off in flavor, and in the long run it pays off in your health. And don’t forget to zest the lemon before getting the juice.

Other than these few tips this recipe is pretty standard. But I can assure you, there is nothing standard about the taste of these cupcakes. And if you want more than eight, simply double the recipe. Anyway you make them they will be a hit!

Lemon Crumble Cupcakes...

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

Crumble

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup flour

2 Tbs. sugar

2 Tbs. brown sugar

Cupcakes

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 lemon, zested

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (1 tsp. high altitude)

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sour cream

Glaze

6 Tbs. powdered sugar

1 – 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 (365 for high altitude). Line a cupcake pan with 8 liners and set aside.

Make the crumble by first melting the butter. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add the melted butter. Use a fork to blend together until small pieces remain. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. (I recommend using a hand mixture for such a small amount but if you double the recipe you can certainly use a stand mixer). Add the egg and fully combine. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and juice and mix until fully combined.

In another bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. By hand, fold in the sour cream until no streaks of sour cream can be seen.

Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full with the batter. Generously coat the top of each cupcake with the crumble.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for about 10 minutes and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cupcakes are cool, make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Start with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and determine from there if more juice is needed. You want your glaze to be on the thicker side.

Store the cupcakes not immediately eaten in a airtight container.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full

Generously cover each cupcake with crumble

Double Chocolate Sour Cream Sheet Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 3 Comments

What can I say – my husband loves chocolate. Whether it be truffles, cookies, pies, cheese cake or simply semi-sweet morsels right out of the bag, if something contains chocolate chances are he’ll love it. So that means I’m always looking for variations on chocolate sweets, especially cakes and sweet breads.

So here is another chocolate cake recipe. I like this recipe for a variety of reasons. First it’s very simple and quick to make. Second adding the semi sweet morsels sends the cake over the top. Third the frosting is not overly sweet and so it compliments the cake beautifully.

So let’s talk double chocolate sour cream cheese cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – Never stray from the basics on this: By that I mean a couple of things. First, make sure whenever you bake your eggs are at room temperature. The reason is simple. Room temperature eggs blend more completely in the batter which results in a better texture for the cake. Don’t have the time to do this? Oh yes, you do – just follow my simple tips and tricks. Second, coat the semi-sweet morsels with a teaspoon of flour. By that I mean put the morsels in a bowl, pour the flour on top and mix the flour into the morsels until they are all lightly coated. When you add chocolate morsels or fruit like blueberries to cake batter they all sink to the bottom of the cake when it is baking. This little trick will help you get your morsels more evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Lesson Learned 2 – Less is more when making the frosting: Always be aware that if you add too much liquid up front when making frosting it can become too runny. With this recipe I would add 1 Tbs. of milk at a time until you get the desired consistency. Be aware that you will really need to mix this frosting well after you add any liquid. I used a stiff whisk and at first I did not think the frosting would achieve the consistency I wanted. But as I kept whisking I found that it turned out great. I only used 2 Tbs. of milk but with frosting you never know. The main point here is to make sure you mix the frosting ingredients thoroughly before adding any additional milk.

Ready To Go Into The Oven

I wish I could say I had a ton of lessons learned about this recipe but bottom line it’s a very traditional method of making a sheet cake so other than following the basics as I’ve listed above the rest is just a matter for following the directions.

Out Of The Oven

This is a great cake to make when you need something quick. It’s easy but totally decadent. You can serve it with sliced strawberries or if you really want to take it over the top add a little whipped cream or ice cream. This is a great cake to make for a party or just simply for the family. If you’re like me and want a go-to cake recipe, this is the one for you. Try it and tell me what you think…

Double Chocolate Sour Cream Sheet Cake...

  • Servings: 15
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS

CAKE:

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup dark cocoa powder

3/4 cup water

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs, room temperature

1 3/4 cups flour + 1 tsp.

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda (1 tsp. high altitude)

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup sour cream

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

FROSTING:

6 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 – 3 Tbs. milk

Baking spray

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the butter, cocoa and water into a medium size saucepan over medium heat and whisk until the cocoa is dissolved and the butter melted. Pour into a mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.

Once slightly cooled mix in the sugar, the eggs (one at a time) and the vanilla. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. With your mixer (you can use a hand mixer) on low beat in the flour mixture until combined. Do not over mix.

Fold in the sour cream and chocolate morsels by hand.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray (the one with flour). Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes (check the cake at 30 minutes). The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Frosting: In a small saucepan melt together the cocoa powder and butter. Pour the mixture into a small bowl and let it cool slightly. Beat in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of milk until the desired consistency is reached. Frost the cooled cake.

 

 

 

 

 

Cranberry Upside Down Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 4 Comments

There’s nothing that screams the holidays like cranberries. Did you know that 20% of cranberries grown are consumed over the holidays? The fresh ones are only around this time of year and their bright red color makes you want to burst into a Christmas song. And because I love them so much, I’m always looking for new ways to cook or bake with them. This particular recipe hits the jackpot as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve seen various iterations of upside down cakes but this one, in my estimation, surpasses them all. It is so much fun to take this cake out of the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes, and then turn it over and see this gorgeous burst of holiday color decorating the top of the cake. This cake will stand out on any holiday dessert table. And besides looking fabulous, it tastes fabulous! And it isn’t that difficult to make. You just need to follow a few tips and the cake will turn out perfectly. This is the very first time I made this cake and just look at it – holiday perfection! So let’s talk cranberry upside down cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – Grease the bottom and sides of the pan generously: If you don’t do this you’re dead in the water. The cake will never come out clean. Now by generously I don’t mean you need a build up of grease in the pan.  Just make sure your pan (and this recipe calls for one 9 inch round cake pan) is thoroughly greased on the bottom and the sides. And make sure you only use butter to grease the pan, nothing else.

Lesson Learned 2 – Can you make this in an 8 inch round pan: The answer is yes and no. This recipe makes a lot of batter and really calls for a 9 inch pan that is at least two inches high up the sides. Once you put the cranberries in the entire batter will come close to the top if you use it all. I wound up leaving a small amount of batter out as I was afraid the cake would spill over the sides of the pan. I left a little less than 1/2 inch of space along the sides.

I’m glad I did. The picture below shows what the cake looked like right out of the oven. You can see the cake is all the way up to the top of the sides of the pan. Next time I make the cake I may add a few less cranberries (the original recipe called for 12 ounces of cranberries – I did not use that either. I used about 10 ounces of the 12 ounce bag). The key to getting a nice top is making sure the cranberries are evenly spread over the brown sugar and butter base. Piling the cranberries slightly on top of each other also results in a few cranberries rising with the cake and creating some nice color throughout the cake, which I liked.

I think you could use an 8 inch pan but keep in mind you will need less cranberries and you will have more batter left over. Either way, leave yourself a little less than 1/2 inch of space along the sides so your cake does not flow over the sides of the pan.

Lesson Learned 3 – Don’t let the cake cool in the pan longer than 10 minutes: You want the cake to rest for a short time when it comes out of the oven. But you also want to make sure you can get the cake out of the pan. Remember what you have on the bottom is really sticky. Cool the cake for no longer than 10 minutes. Then take a butter knife and run it all along the sides of the pan. If you do this, your cake will come out easily. Mine did and it looked gorgeous. Let the cake cool in it’s “upside down” form.

If you follow these simple lessons you should have no problem making this cake. And as always I will include sea level and high altitude amounts for the baking powder. I know you will love this one!

Cranberry Upside Down Cake...

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

Base:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

4 Tbs. unsalted butter

10 ounces of fresh cranberries (you will not use an entire 12 ounce bag)

Cake:

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder (1 tsp. for high altitude)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Very small pinch of ground cloves

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 Tbs. orange zest (the zest of a large orange)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch round cake pan. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and brown sugar for the base. Make sure they are mixed well. Pour this mixture into the bottom of the cake pan.

Spread the cranberries evenly over the butter/brown sugar mixture. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

In another bowl beat the butter for the cake until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly. Add the eggs in one at a time and mix until combined. Stir in the orange zest.

Mix 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the butter/egg mixture. Once combined beat in 1/2 of the sour cream until combined. Beat in the next third of the dry mixture until combined. Add the remaining half of the sour cream and beat until combined. Add the last third of the dry ingredients and beat until combined. Finally add the milk and beat until combined.

Pour the batter over the cranberries making making sure to leave a little less than 1/2 inch of room from the top of the pan.

Place in preheated oven and lower the temperature to 325 degrees. Bake anywhere from 55 minutes to 70 minutes. (mine took 70 minutes – it will depend on your oven and your altitude). Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife all around the edges of the pan. Place a plate on top of the pan and invert it. Let the inverted cake cool on the plate.

 

 

Cranberry Orange Cake Topped With Fresh Plums…

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Those of you who followed my blog over the years know that early on in my cooking/baking days I was heavily influenced by the Food Network. The early shows they produced were more about learning to cook and less about cooking contests and road shows. I miss those days. Remember Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee? I really liked that show. I felt Sandra showed people how to take a few simple ingredients, add it to something store bought and make it into something special without all the muss and fuss. In today’s world that is such a gift for the busy cook.

Well, that is what this recipe is all about. I wish I could take credit for this but I can’t. I was at the grocery store looking for something to make, like a quick bread or muffins and I picked up this box of Krusteaz Cranberry Orange Muffin Mix. I looked on the back of the box to see if I could use this to make a quick bread and lo and behold on the bottom right hand corner was the recipe for this cake. All it required was a few extra ingredients, namely almond extract and fresh plums. The picture of the cake looked so good I just had to try it. Needless to say, it was fabulous and very easy to make so I felt I had to share it with all of you. Nobody has to know that this cake is semi-homemade.

So let’s talk Cranberry Orange Cake Topped With Fresh Plums…

Lesson Learned 1 – Pick plums that are not overly ripe: You want plums that are hard. Hard plums are easier to slice and cook beautifully in the oven. It’s very difficult to get good slices with soft plums, even if you have a very sharp knife. The pieces tend to get mushy. So be aware of that.

Also when you cut the plums, cut them like you would an avocado. I found it very hard to get the stones out of the plums. But if you cut the plum all around at the center and twist the two halves in the opposite direction, just like you do with an avocado, the plum halves will separate easily. You may have to dig a little with a sharp knife to get the stone out of the one half (be careful) but the harder the plum the easier that will be.

Lesson Learned 2 – Create the plum arrangement you want on top of the cake on a paper plate first: I found I had to play with the plums a little to create the arrangement I wanted. You don’t want to be doing that on top of the batter. I took a dinner size paper plate and created my plum arrangement on that. When it came time to put the plums on top of the batter I simply moved them from the plate to the cake just like I arranged them. It was a piece of cake, no pun intended!

Lesson Learned 3 – You could also add chopped nuts to this recipe: I did not make it with nuts this time but you could add 1/2 cup chopped nuts to this cake as well. It’s all up to you!

And the rest is easy. Just follow the directions on the box. I’ll write out the recipe here just in case the packaging gets changed. This is a quick, impressive and delicious semi-homemade recipe. I will definitely make this one again. Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Cake Topped With Fresh Plums...

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

1 box Krusteaz Cranberry Orange Muffin Mix

2 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup water (plus 2 Tbs for high altitude)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 can cranberries (included in the box), undrained

2 under ripe plums, sliced

baking spray

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350. Mix well the muffin mix, eggs, water, vegetable oil and almond extract. Fold in the cranberries.

Spray a 9 inch springform pan with baking spray. Spoon the batter into the pan. Arrange the plum slices evenly over the batter.

Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing.

 

 

Apple Cake With Praline Glaze…

youbetchcanmakethis 5 Comments

There are many reasons why Fall is my favorite time of year. First, I love the crisp Fall air with its milder temperatures. Second, I love the spectacular bursts of colors the trees and bushes provide.  And third, I love Fall cooking and baking. The aromas in the kitchen at this time of year are like no other, from the smell of the first pot roast braising in the oven to the sweet smell of baked apples providing that warm feeling of comfort and home. Fall is definitely the best season of the year.

So let’s start out the season by focusing on Fall baking! I chose this particular recipe because it embodies everything I love about Fall – apples, cinnamon, cream cheese, vanilla… need I go any further. The ingredients scream Fall and the smell of this cake when it’s baking in the oven beats any apples and cinnamon air freshener you could ever buy.

So let’s talk apple cake with praline glaze…

Lesson Learned 1 – Be organized when you make this recipe. This recipe has several components and the best way to make it is to be organized. First, that means reading the recipe thoroughly. Second, and I know this may sound silly, is to create a strategy for putting everything together. When I made this I did things in stages to stay on track and to keep the kitchen from being turned upside down.

The first thing I did was shred the carrots. (If you can find carrots already shredded at your local store you can certainly use them). I used my food processor for that. Make sure you used the shredding disc as shown below.

Cut the carrots and put them into the processor’s feeding tube.

With the processor on, push the carrots down the feeding tube using the round plastic tool that comes with the processor. You will wind up with shredded carrots as seen below.

I am going into such detail about this for a couple of reasons. First to show the correct disc to use to get shredded carrots. You don’t want to use the processor’s main blade for this. Second because this step takes up time and space. I found the best way to stay organized when making a recipe is to see if there are any components that require a machine other than a mixer and determine how using that machine may affect your work space.

Once I shredded the carrots I put them in a bowl, washed my food processor and put it away. If you’ve ever worked with a food processor you know it’s comprised of several pieces and all those pieces needed to be washed. Washing them, reassembling the food processor and putting it away freed up a lot of work space for me – space that I could use to comfortably assemble the other components of the cake.

After using the food processor I put together the cream cheese filling and set it aside, assembled the wet and dry ingredients, greased and floured the bundt cake pan, measured out the pecans (I purchased pecan pieces so I didn’t have to worry about chopping them) and lastly I cut up the apples. I saved the apples for last because I wanted as short of a period of time between when they were chopped and when they were incorporated into the batter. Apples, when cut, will oxidize meaning they will start to turn brown the longer they are exposed to the open air. By cutting them last I still had nice light green apple pieces to put into the batter. There are altogether seven major components of this cake and so the more organized you are the smoother the process of making the cake will go.

The Seven Major Components Of The Apple Cake

Lesson Learned 2 – Check each egg before putting it into the batter: There are four eggs in this recipe and each one should be checked separately by cracking it into a small dish before adding it to the batter. You don’t want to add them all at once just to find you have one bad egg and then have to throw out all the batter. It only takes a few seconds to ensure that all the eggs you’re using are good.

Lesson Learned 3 – For high altitude baking decrease the baking powder by 1/4 teaspoon. The baking soda amount can stay the same.

The major point to consider when making this recipe is being organized. Otherwise everything is relatively simple. I can assure you this cake is delicious. I gave some to a neighbor who said it was so delicious that she wanted the recipe. I’m sure you’ll want to print this recipe and keep it as part of your Fall lineup of baking…

Apple Cake With Praline Glaze...

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Easy To Medium
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

CAKE

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups sugar, divided

4 eggs, divided

1 cup canola oil

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 generous tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

2 cups green apples, peeled and chopped (2 medium size granny smith apples)

1 cup shredded carrots (2 large carrots)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

PRALINE GLAZE

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup butter, cubed

2 Tbs. milk

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a 10 inch fluted bundt pan. Set aside.

In a small bowl beat the cream cheese and 1/4 cup of sugar until smooth. Beat in 1 egg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Whisk together until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat together the oil with the remaining sugar and eggs until well blended. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the oil mixture until blended. Fold in the apples, carrots, and pecans.

Put half of the better evenly around the bundt pan. Put the cream cheese mixture on top. Add the remaining batter on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the bundt pan before removing the cake from the pan.

To make the glaze – in a large saucepan bring the brown sugar, butter and milk to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the confectioners sugar and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake. Sprinkle with pecans.

 

 

Frosted Blueberry Muffins…

youbetchcanmakethis 9 Comments

This time of year brings an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables to your table. Sometimes its hard to pass them up, especially when the prices are low and the quality is high. And because of that, sometimes I find I buy more than I can actually use. Or sometimes I’m positive I don’t have what I want at home only to find after I buy it I have more than enough in the refrigerator already.

Such was the case the other day when I looked in my refrigerator and found and I had pints of blueberries – way too much for me to use by myself before they spoiled. My solution was to make frosted blueberry muffins…

I have to say I really like this recipe. The muffins are just the right texture and the cream cheese frosting is the perfect compliment to the tart blueberries. So let’s not waste any time and start talking about blueberry muffins…

Muffin Ingredients

Lesson Learned 1 – This recipe make A LOT of muffins: If you’re making muffins for a crowd or have large family the proportions in this recipe will be perfect for you. This recipe can make anywhere from 36-40 muffins, which for me with only two people in my household, was way too much. I didn’t realize how much the recipe made until I started filling the muffin cups. OOOPS!

But the good news is you can easily cut the recipe in half and have a more manageable amount of muffins for a smaller family. Either way, they will still come out tasting delicious.

Lesson Learned 2 – This recipe would also be good using fresh cherries: I chose blueberries for this recipe because they are more readily available during the course of a year and I had some I need to use. But you could also use fresh cherries. All you would need to do is make sure the cherries are pitted and chopped. For the full recipe I would add 4 cups of cherries.

Lesson Learned 3 – I recommend frosting these muffins: The frosting is a great compliment to the tartness of the blueberries. And although you can leave them plain the frosting, in my opinion, takes them over the top.

Lesson Learned 4 – You can also make jumbo muffins: If you’re worried about the amount of muffins this recipe makes try making jumbo muffins. You can make approximately 18-24 jumbo muffins from this recipe. The only difference will be in the baking time. Bake the jumbo muffins for approximately 25-30 minutes.

Other than that this recipe is pretty standard in terms of how it is structured. As always you need to use less leavening for high altitude (cut the baking powder by 1/2 Tbs.) but other than that you mix the ingredients, fill the muffin cups three quarters full and bake.

Since I had so many of these I brought some to hour community happy hour that we have each week. People raved about them. One person told me she only took one home with her and in retrospect she wished she had taken many more. I guarantee this will be a hit when you serve it. Or better yet, just keep them to yourself as a guilty pleasure. Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins...

  • Servings: 36-40 muffins
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

Muffins:

4 1/2 cups flour

2 Tbs. baking powder (1 1/2 Tbs. for high altitude)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

4 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Zest of 1 lemon

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

3/4 cups milk

2 cups sour cream

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 pint fresh blueberries, washed and drained

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 – 8 oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375. Put paper liners into the muffin tins.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Whisk until combined. Set aside.

Put butter, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, lemon zest, lemon juice, milk and sour cream into a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until blended. (You can use a hand mixer for this).

Add the dry ingredients and mix by hand until combined. Fold in the nuts and blueberries. Do not over mix.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling them 3/4 full. Bake for 15 – 18 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Let muffins cool on a rack before frosting.

To make the frosting, combine the butter, cream cheese and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. Gradually add the sugar beating until smooth.

 

 

 

Easy Chocolate Ganache…

youbetchcanmakethis Leave a comment

My husband has an incurable sweet tooth. The other day he informed me we had nothing sweet in the house to eat and I was not in the mood to whip up something from scratch. I looked in the pantry and found a box of Duncan Hines decadent chocolate cake mix and told him I would make that. Unfortunately I opened my mouth before carefully reading the outside of the box. Staring me right in the face in clear letters on the front of the box were the words “frosting not included”. Now what… Luckily I thought I might have the ingredients for making chocolate ganache (which I did) so I thought ok, now’s the time to tackle your fears and make it. I had not other choice.

I’m not quite sure why I was afraid to make ganache but I always thought it was difficult and tricky. To my surprise it was unbelievably easy. So I thought I would dedicate this blog to a very simple way of making ganache that turns out silky, luscious and ever so decadent looking, not to mention absolutely incredibly delicious.

So let’s talk making chocolate ganache…

Lesson Learned 1 – There are many ways to make ganache: I am going to share with you the simplest way. The ratio is easy to remember 1:1. Use as many ounces of heavy cream as semi-sweet chocolate. It couldn’t be easier.

Lesson Learned 2 – Cut the chocolate squares into very small pieces: I used a 4 ounce box of Bakers semi-sweet chocolate. With my chef’s knife I cut off pieces and chopped them into small bits. If you decide to go the chip route, I would use the mini semi-sweet chips. You need the hot cream to melt the chocolate and if the pieces are too big that won’t happen.

Chocolate Covered In Hot Heavy Cream

Lesson Learned 2 – You can warm your heavy cream in the microwave: In order to get the desired consistency of the ganache, the cream has to melt the chocolate. So you have to get the cream hot enough to do that but you don’t want to scald the cream. That won’t work either.

Many recipes that I looked at recommended warming the cream on the stove. You can certainly do that especially since it gives you slightly more control in determining when the cream is hot enough. And you can certainly do that with this recipe, although I didn’t. I heated my cream (4 ounces) in the microwave for 45 seconds. After that time I found it still wasn’t hot enough. I heated it for an additional 15 seconds and it was bubbling. I was worried that I’d scalded the cream but I think what happened was the cream had just started to bubble, so I was still ok. The next time I think I’ll just nuke it for 50 seconds straight and go from there.

If you use a larger 1:1 ratio you will need to nuke the cream for a longer period of time. With this you’ll simply have to keep checking it. With 4 ounces I recommend 50 seconds. For larger amounts I would start checking at 1 minute and go from there.

Lesson Learned 3 – Let the chocolate and heavy cream sit for at least 3 minutes: Once you add the hot heavy cream you may be tempted to start whisking the mixture right away. Don’t. The cream has to melt the chocolate in order for you to get the desired consistency of the ganache. Be patient and let the cream do it’s work. I guarantee you it’s worth it.

This recipe makes enough to generously frost one bundt cake, one 9 x 13 sheet cake or one 9 inch round layer cake. So next time you need some frosting try this instead of buying the canned stuff. It looks impressive and it tastes divine!

Easy Chocolate Ganache...

  • Servings: 1 Bundt Cake
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate squares cut into small pieces

4 ounces heavy cream, heated

DIRECTIONS

Chop up the chocolate into very small pieces. Heat the heavy cream in a microwave safe dish for approximately 50 seconds. Test with your finger to make sure it is sufficiently hot to melt the chocolate. If not, microwave at additional 5 second intervals until cream is hot but not scalded.

Pour cream over chocolate pieces. Let the hot mixture sit for at least 3 minutes. Whisk mixture until cream is incorporated and the chocolate is dark and smooth. Drizzle the chocolate over the top of your bundt cake. Let ganache set for at least 15 minutes before serving.

 

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Chocolate Cherry Cream Cheese Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 6 Comments

What can I say about this one. It is simply over the top. Not only does it taste divine but it’s gorgeous. What more can you ask for from a cake? Now I’ll admit this cake takes a little more work than most but the result is breathtaking. This is possibly the most professional looking cake I’ve ever made. And we know looks are important but bottom line it has to taste good. Well let me tell you in the taste department I would consider this to be divine. I mean what’s not to love – chocolate, flavorful cream cheese, cherry pie filling, vanilla glaze – it just doesn’t get much better than that.

So let’s talk chocolate cherry cream cheese cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – Be organized when you make this cake: Really you should be organized when you make any cake but this one has so many components to it that your experience making it will be so much more delightful if you plan this out before you make it. Think about this one in stages.

  1. Get everything out in plenty of time that needs to be room temperature. In this recipe that means the eggs and sour cream. No need to worry about the butter because you melt that.
  2. Get the oven preheating. I believe it is better for your oven not only to be preheated but to be at the desired temperature for at least 5-10 minutes so that once you pop the cake pan in you can count on the oven truly being the correct temperature all throughout.
  3. Put together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, kosher salt and baking soda) and set them aside.
  4. Measure out all of the remaining ingredients. I use little bowls to organize what needs to be measured. That way when you come to a certain juncture in the process you are all ready to go. This includes opening up the can of cherry pie filling and measuring out the amount needed. As you do that, try to opt for more cherries than filling as some fillings tend to be more juice and less cherries.
  5. Count out, drain and rinse your maraschino cherries. For my pan I needed 16 cherries, so a small jar of cherries will work just fine.
  6. Assemble the chocolate mixture.
  7. Make the batter by combining the chocolate mixture with the dry ingredients. Now you’re ready to go.
  8. Wait to spray your bundt pan until the very end. For this recipe I recommend using a baking spray with flour. Coat the bundt pan liberally. You want it to be glistening all over before you begin assembling the cake.

Because there are so many components to this recipe I guarantee you will be a lot happier and have more fun making this cake if you organize yourself.

Lesson Learned 2 – Making the glaze: Making glaze for any type of cake or pastry couldn’t be easier. All it requires is some confectioners sugar, some liquid and perhaps some sort of additional flavoring. You can use water, milk, or heavy cream for your liquid and you can use a little extract, juice or zest to enhance the flavor of the glaze. More often than not I use milk as the liquid and in this particular recipe I used a little vanilla extract to enhance the flavor.

Keep in mind you need very little liquid to create a glaze. Normally it works out to about 1 cup of confectioners sugar to about a tablespoon or so of liquid and then, if using a liquid extract, only about 1/8 teaspoon of that. But don’t get bogged down in the measurements. If your glaze is too thick just add a little more liquid to thin it out. If it becomes too runny, add a little more confectioners sugar. Glaze is very forgiving and can be made to the correct consistency with some easy minor adjustments.

One caveat – don’t use the additional flavoring to thin out a glaze. The flavor can become overpowering if you do that. And lastly, I don’t always have heavy cream around the house, but when I do I use it as my liquid. That is when you get the richest flavor. I just can’t convince myself to buy a pint of heavy cream for the needed tablespoon I will use in a glaze. But it’s all up to you.

This cake is so good and so worth the effort. Try it – I just know you will like it!

Chocolate Cherry Cream Cheese Cake...

  • Servings: 12-14
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup water

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 Tbs. espresso powder

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

2 eggs, room temperature, slightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

16 maraschino cherries, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup cherry pie filling

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

2 – 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 Tbs. flour

1 egg, room temperature

GLAZE:

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 – 2 Tbs. water, milk or heavy cream

1/8 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cream cheese filling by beating together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add the flour and egg and beat until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Whisk until thoroughly blended. Set aside.

In a saucepan melt the 3/4 cup butter. Add the water and stir to blend. Add the cocoa and espresso powder and whisk until there are not lumps. Add the chips and stir until they are completely melted and the mixture is smooth.

Add the chocolate mixture to the dry mixture and whisk until combined. Blend in the sour cream. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Spray a 10-12 cup bundt pan thoroughly with baking spray with flour. Melt the 1 1/2 tsp of butter and pour it evenly into the bottom of the pan. Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the melted butter. Place two cherries on top of the brown sugar in each of the larger grooves of the bundt pan.

Fill the bundt pan with half the chocolate batter. Spoon in the cream cheese filling on top making sure not to have the filling touch the sides. Spoon the cherry pie filling on top of the cream cheese, making sure the filling does not touch the sides of the pan. (You may have some leftover cream cheese and cherry pie filling). Pour the remaining batter evenly on top making sure to cover the cream cheese and the cherry pie filling completely.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Put a plate over the bottom of the pan and flip the cake out of the pan onto the plate and let cool completely.

Mix together all of the ingredients for the glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake.

Pour the melted butter evenly over the bottom

Put the brown sugar on top of the butter

Place the cherries in the larger grooves

Layer the ingredients

The cake right out of the oven

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Marble Pound Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 4 Comments

I love this recipe not only because it produces a moist, flavorful cake but also because it’s a ton of fun to make.  And the finished product looks as good as it tastes.

I like experimenting with different cakes and when I read about the process for this one I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve made swirl cakes before where you basically have one little cinnamon swirl going through the cake but this way of making a swirl cake is much more dramatic. You create the dramatic swirls by dividing the batter and making one half chocolate and keeping the other half as is. Then you spoon in the batter alternating the colors and use a knife or another similar object and swirl them together. It was great fun (I know I need to get a life…). And the result, as you can see from the many pictures in this blog is a more dramatic density of swirls. It is a fun cake to make and eat.

So let’s talk marble pound cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – The easy way to grease and flour a bundt cake pan: If you’re like me you love the way a bundt cake looks but you dread greasing and flouring the pan. Well I’ve found a way to make that process somewhat easier. First there’s no getting around it you need to grease the pan and pay attention to getting the grease into the many crevices. I usually use shortening to do that. I think I actually use less grease with shortening than I do with butter.

Then comes the flouring part and that was always a challenge because you need to get the flour up as high as you can and with the wide opening of the pan you can get flour all over the place if you’re not careful. Well, no more. All you need do is take some good cling wrap (and I mean the stuff that really clings – we buy ours at Costco and it is restaurant quality grade). Cover the top of the pan as shown in the picture below.

Once you do this you can turn the pan completely upside down and shake it all around and spread the flour easily throughout the entire pan. See for yourself…

After that you simply turn the pan upside down on the counter and tap the sides of the pan with a wooden spoon all the way around. I would do that a couple of times. Then remove the cling wrap from the sides of the pan, lift the pan up and you’ll be left with all the excess flour all on the cling wrap as seen in the picture below…

Then all you need to do is fold up the edges of the cling wrap and toss it with the flour inside. Believe me, this little trick saves a lot of time and mess. You’ll love it.

Lesson Learned 2 – Add the eggs individually and beat each of them for a long time: There is no leavening in this recipe (baking powder, soda). Leavening is traditionally used to make a cake rise in the oven. The only leavening agent in this recipe is the eggs.

Think of an egg as basically having three qualities – fat, foam and fat & foam. The fat is the yolk which primarily serves as a binder. It helps to make batters smooth and moist. The foam is the whites. Beat them into submission on their own and you get light stiff peaks that can be used for airiness in a recipe or to make a meringue.

The particular recipe relies on the fat and the foam. When mixed with sugar (like in a cake or cookie batter), eggs help trap and hold air — not quite as well as whipped egg whites, but enough to give the finished product some lightness and lift. And that’s what you are needing in this recipe. That is why it is important to make sure each egg is blended thoroughly. Do not add all the eggs in at the same time. It never mixes as well as you think and could affect the cakes ability to rise.

Also don’t crack the eggs directly into the batter. Since you are using so many eggs you don’t want to get to the fifth or sixth one and then find out you have a bad one as it drops in. Your batter will be ruined. In order to prevent this, crack each egg into a small dish before you add it to the batter. That way you can make sure you’re not adding a bad egg. I’ve only had this happen to me a couple of times, and it’s not fun. Believe me you don’t want to put yourself into a position of having to toss out all of those ingredients and start all over because you had one bad egg.

Lesson Learned 3 – Alternating the batters in the pan: I think I had the most fun with this part of the process. Once you create the two batters you alternate them by large spoonfuls in the pan.

After that you swirl the batters together being careful not to touch the edges or the bottom of the pan. I used a skewer that I used to grill vegetables. It was long enough and thin enough to give me control and to create some great swirls. Judge for yourself…

You add another layer of alternating batters, swirl again and you’re ready to pop the cake into the oven.

Lesson Learned 4 – Use instant espresso powder to enhance the flavor of the chocolate: In any recipe that includes chocolate I’d recommend adding at least a quarter teaspoon of espresso powder. It brings out the chocolate flavor so much more. Try making a chocolate recipe without it and then make the same recipe with it. You’ll be amazed at how much it enhances the flavor of the chocolate.

What I really like about this cake is it looks as good as it tastes. And I found it fun to make. I loved making the swirls! So try this one and tell me what you think. I just know you’ll love it.

Marble Pound Cake...

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs, room temperature

3 cups flour

2 tsp. kosher salt

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. espresso powder

1/3 cup hot water

powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan. Set aside.

Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar for approximately 5 minutes. The mixture should be light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs one at a time and combine each thoroughly. Add the vanilla and combine.

Mix together the flour and the salt. Add the flour a few large spoonfuls to the batter at a time until combined.

Whisk together the cocoa, espresso powder and hot water. Take half of the cake batter and stir it into the cocoa mixture.

Drop dollops of batter into the bundt pan alternating the chocolate and vanilla batters. Swirl the batters together being careful not to scrape the bottom or sides of the pan. Repeat the same process. (You should get two layers of alternating batter).

Bake for 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.

Cool for 30 minutes before inverting the cake onto a serving plate. Dust the top with powdered sugar.

 

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Sour Cream Coffee Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 4 Comments

I belong to a book club in our condo community and at the last meeting I came across this recipe. The hostess served this cake but I didn’t eat any of it. As I was leaving she asked if I would like to bring a piece to my husband. I said sure. Well my husband raved over it so much I had to get the recipe and make it myself. OMG this has to be one of the lightest, moistest and most delicious coffee cakes you’ll ever make. I actually think this recipe is foolproof as I didn’t even need to adjust it to high altitude.

I think the cake gets its moistness from the 2 cups of sour cream you add to the batter. Regardless it is one of the best coffee cakes I’ve ever made. So let’s talk sour cream coffee cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – You need a specific cake pan for this recipe: When I got a copy of this recipe it called for it to be made in a 10 cup flute pan (angel food cake pan). I did not have that but I had a 10 cup bundt pan so I used that. It worked just fine. The only difference is if you want your cinnamon and nut mixture to be on the top of your cake use a flute pan. If you use a bundt pan it will be on the bottom of your cake – I’m not sure that really matters one way or the other. It still tastes great!

If you use a flute pan you only need to grease the sides and the bottom of the pan due to its flat surfaces. If you use a bundt pan I would recommend both greasing and flouring the pan. That way the cake will release easily from all of the crevices in a bundt pan.

Lesson Learned 2 – Be systematic in how you prepare this cake: I’ve found whether in cooking or baking your results are much better if you systematically approach the recipe and organize yourself. Here’s what I recommend (and this applies to almost all baking):

  • Take your eggs and butter out of the refrigerator at least a couple of hours before you begin making the cake to get them to room temperature
  • Make sure you dust your cake pan and your mixing bowl(s) with a cloth before your begin anything – they are not immune to attracting dust and you certainly don’t want dust on your cake or in your batter
  • Take the time to thoroughly grease and flour your pan – if using a bundt pan make sure to get the flour in all the crevices but also make sure you remove as much excess flour as possible – I normally do that by holding the pan over the garbage can and banging it all over with a wooden spoon to remove the excess
  • Preheat your oven first thing – it’s always better to have your oven sit at the desired temperature for a while versus putting the cake in just as it reaches the correct temperature
  • Put together the dry ingredients and either sift them together or combine them with a whisk
  • Put together the ingredients for the topping and set them aside
  • Don’t be afraid to take some time to combine the butter and sugar (4 – 5 minutes) – the fluffier that mixture the better your cake batter will be
  • Make sure you mix your eggs in one by one – they will not combine thoroughly if you put them all in at the same time; the same applies to your dry ingredients – don’t add them all at once but in stages – this will ensure everything is thoroughly combined

Lesson Learned 3 – This cake freezes beautifully: This recipe produces a large cake that really only stays fresh for a couple of days. If you’re not making it for a party or to bring to work I suggest you take what you don’t think you’ll eat in a couple of days and freeze it. I wrapped mine in 2-slice portions. Make sure you wrap the pieces tightly in plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer bag(s). Let as much air out of the freezer bag as you possibly can. By doing this you’ll have fresh moist cake for a month!

I’m not kidding when I say I think this cake is foolproof. It is one of the few recipes that I did not have to adjust for high altitude. My husband loves this cake and I know you will too!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake...

  • Servings: 12-14
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 cups of sugar, divided

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups sour cream

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine the walnuts, cinnamon and 3/4 cups sugar. Set aside.

Grease a 10 cup tube pan or grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan. Set aside. Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and soda) and set aside.

Using a stand mixture, mix together the butter and 1 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs in one at a time. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat to combine.

Add the dry ingredients in portions and beat until well combined.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the nut mixture on top of the batter. Add the remaining batter on top. Sprinkle with the remaining nut mixture.

Bake for 60 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the side of the pan. Cool the cake in the pan for about 15 minutes and then remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

 

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Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake Pt 2…

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

This time of year with all of the Fall/Winter holidays approaching just screams to me cranberry and orange. As a matter of fact I love that flavor combination so much this is the second variety of cranberry orange coffee cake that I’ve posted on this site. To see the original post just click on “recipe”.

There are slight variations to the two of them and both are equally delicious. One you make in a spring form pan with the traditional leavening agents of baking powder and soda and that produces a taller, airier cake. This particular recipe does not use any type of leavening. Rather the eggs and sugars are beaten for an extensive period of time to create a mixture that doubles in size and provides the needed lift for the cake. This particular cake is denser and moister.

Both cakes are equally good, although my husband liked this particular recipe better. Whenever he monitors how much of a finished product I bring to work and how much I leave at home, I know the recipe is a hit. This time he made me bring much less of the cake to work than usual.

So let’s talk Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake Pt. 2…

Lesson Learned 1 – Be organized when you bake: I found the experience of baking much more pleasurable if I do it in an organized fashion. By that I first get out any ingredients that need to be room temperature in plenty of time for them to reach that desired state. Then I read the entire recipe to see what I’m up against. I preheat the oven and prep any pans that require prep. After that I figure out how to organize the assembly process (as in this recipe I recommend making the crumb topping first as you will read below). Then I get all my ingredients out and ready. That usually means getting the dry ingredients together and combined and then moving on to the wet ingredients. After that, everything seems to fall into place.

What you are trying to avoid is stopping to find things and taking time to mix things while other mixtures sit and wait for a long period of time. Think about how making the recipe can flow and organize yourself to make the process go that way.

Lesson Learned 2 – The importance of beating the eggs and sugar for a long time: As mentioned above this recipe does not use traditional leavening agents like baking powder or soda so you need something to provide the lift to the batter. That lift is produced by beating eggs and sugar into submission. By submission I mean you need to beat them for at least 5-7 minutes. That’s why I recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe so you’re not left with holding a hand mixer for that length of time.

I would also time the process and not leave it up to your memory. You will actually see the mixture double in size and become more thick when you beat it for that length of time. That’s what you’re looking for. Be careful. Don’t try to shortcut this part of the process. If you do you will be left with a somewhat flat coffee cake.

Lesson Learned 3 – This cake may need to bake for much longer than the recipe suggests: I was originally thinking this would take between 45-50 minutes. It actually took me 65 minutes, but then again I live in high altitude where everything takes longer to make. The key with this cake, as with all cakes, is having a toothpick inserted in the middle come out clean. If you have some redness from the cranberries on your toothpick that’s ok. But it should be clean of everything else.

Lesson Learned 4 – Make the crumb topping first: I found the entire process of making this cake went much more smoothly if you made the crumb topping first. Other than beating the eggs, this is the most labor intensive part of the recipe. If you make the topping first than everything else seems to go like clockwork.

As with making any type of crumb topping, use very cold butter and a pastry cutter to cut the butter into flour and sugar. The desired result is coarse crumbs as seen in the picture below.

The Desired Consistency Of The Crumb Topping

Lesson Learned 5 – The importance of room temperature eggs: In my baking recipes you will see that I always call for room temperature eggs. Why? The answer is simple. Room temperature eggs blend much more thoroughly into the batter. And that is the ideal. Quite often I hear the reason one doesn’t use room temperature eggs is they don’t have the time to get them to room temperature. Never fear, I have a quick and easy trick for you so you will always have room temperature eggs when you need them. Just click on “tips”.

Otherwise every other step of the process is what you normally expect when you make a cake. This cake, although delicious anytime, is a great recipe for the Holidays. And I guarantee you it won’t be around your kitchen for very long. Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Cake Pt. 2...

  • Servings: 20-24
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

CRUMB TOPPING:

3/4 cup flour

6 Tbs. brown sugar, packed

6 Tbs. butter, unsalted and chilled

CAKE

3 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1- 12oz. pkg. of fresh cranberries

Zest of 1 large orange, divided into 3/4 and 1/4 portions

GLAZE:

1 cup powdered sugar

Juice from 1 orange (approx. 4 Tbs)

1/4 of the orange zest already grated for the cake

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl combine all the topping ingredients. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture forms into coarse crumbs. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugars for about 5-7 minutes until thick and doubled in size. Add the butter and vanilla and mix for an additional 2 minutes. Stir in the flour until just combined. Fold in the cranberries and the 3/4 portion of the orange zest.

Put the batter into a greased 13 x 9 pan. Spread the crumb topping on top of the batter.

Bake 45 – 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool completely.

Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over the cake.

 

Glazed Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies…

youbetchcanmakethis 6 Comments

Lately I seem to be on a “sweets” kick with my posted recipes and even though I do have some savory ones in the queue I moved this one to the top simply because it it just too good. Many of you know that I bake a variety of cookies at Christmas time so normally during the year I don’t venture a lot into cookie making. But I had to try this one and it was so good that my husband would not even let me give any away. I had to freeze them so he could eat them all.

When I make cookies over the holidays I have an unwritten rule that I try one new recipe every year and phase out one recipe. That way I always experiment and I keep the cookie making manageable. I am definitely adding this recipe to the 2017 list but will still have to find another recipe to be the “new” one since technically this one is no longer new. But I am really excited about the recipe.

The thing that I love the most about this cookie is how the tartness of the blueberries balances out the sweetness of the cookie. I also like how simple this recipe is to make, you can do it with a hand mixer and a wooden spoon. But there are some specific things you need to be aware of when you make them that will help you be successful so let’s get right into my lessons learned…

Lesson Learned 1 – Be gentle when mixing the blueberries into the dough: You don’t want the blueberries to break. If they do you will wind up with blue cookies. So be careful when folding them into the dough. Do that at the very end. I also suggest adding the blueberries in a couple of batches. The dough is pretty dense and if you pour the blueberries in all at once chances are you won’t get them incorporated into all of the dough and wind up with some cookies without blueberries. Fold them in carefully and in a couple of batches and you should be just fine.

The Cookie Dough

Lesson Learned 2 – These cookies really spread: Don’t roll the dough in too big of a ball as these cookies really spread. And make sure you have enough room between each one so they don’t bake on top of one another. I would roll them into about a 1 inch ball and put two inches between each ball on the baking sheet.

Give the cookies room to spread

Lesson Learned 3 – Remember blueberries stain: Blueberries are wonderful but they will stain and when they do it is virtually impossible to get rid of the stain. So here are a couple of tips to prevent any staining. First line your baking sheet with parchment paper. That helps in two ways. These cookies are very gooey and will stick to your baking sheet. Not a problem with parchment paper. Also when blueberries bake they pop and the parchment paper prevents them from staining your baking sheet.

Also be careful when you are cooling the cookies and the blueberries may still be “leaking”. I cooled mine on a wire rack and then transferred them to a paper plate. That way I didn’t have to worry about staining any dishes as well.

Lesson Learned 4 – These cookies take a long time to bake: On average these cookies take about 14 minutes to bake depending upon how big you make them. In my first batch I rolled the dough into somewhat larger balls and that batch took about 20 minutes to bake (keep in mind I also live in high altitude and everything takes longer to cook here). Once I got the size of the balls down pat it took anywhere from 14-16 minutes, which is a lot for a cookie. You know the cookie is done when you see it begin to lightly brown around the edges. The center of the cookie may still look pale, but that’s ok. Don’t over bake this cookie. If you do you the cookies will be way too crunchy.

Lesson Learned 5 – Let the cookies somewhat cool on the baking sheet: These cookies will be very loose when you take them out of the oven. If you immediately try to put them on a cooling rack the cookies will break apart. Give them about 4-5 minutes to cool on the baking sheet before you put them on the cooling rack. The cookies will need to set a little before you can move them. Don’t worry about doing this. Since your baking sheet will be lined with parchment paper the cookies won’t stick and will transfer easily to the cooling rack once they’ve had a chance to set.

I can’t say enough about how delicious these cookies are. I know if you make them they will become a household staple. You’ve got to try these cookies. And as always, please let me know how they turned out for you. Enjoy!

Glazed Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies...

  • Servings: 2 Dozen
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup blueberries

GLAZE:

1 cup powdered sugar

juice of one small lemon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars. Beat thoroughly until very creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla.

With a wooden spoon add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir to combine. Add the oats and stir to combine. Last fold in the blueberries in a couple of batches being careful not to break the blueberries.

Roll the dough into one inch balls and place on the baking sheet, leaving approximately two inches between each ball.

Bake for 14 minutes or until the edges start to turn brown (the center of the cookie may still look light and that is ok). Remove the cookies from the oven and let them set on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet to a wire rack to finish the cooling process.

Combine the ingredients for the glaze. You may find you need a little more powdered sugar depending on how thick you want the glaze. If the glaze is too thick add a little more lemon juice until you get the desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over completely cooled cookies and let the glaze harden. Store cookies in an air tight container or freeze them.

Glazed Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 3 Comments

One of the great things I love about the holidays is all the recipes you can make with cranberries. And when you pair them with orange juice, zest or both, well you have what I call a killer combo! But thanks to the frozen food isle, cranberries are not just for Christmas anymore. You can make great cranberry recipes all year long. And this is definitely one of them.

This recipe is a little time consuming as you basically have three separate components to prepare in order to assemble the coffee cake. But believe me, it’s worth it. Normally I give most of my baking to neighbors or co-workers, but this time my husband ate the bulk of it. He absolutely loved it, and so will you.

So let’s talk cranberry orange coffee cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – Prepare all three components first and then assemble the cake: I found this the easiest way to make this coffee cake and once all three components, the cake, the filling and the topping are made, assembling the cake is a breeze. I made the cake part first, then the topping and finished by making the cream cheese filling. I chose that order because both the cake and the topping take a little bit more time to assemble but the cream cheese filling can be made in a snap.

The cake mixture

The topping mixture

The cream cheese filling

Lesson Learned 2 – Cube the butter first and put it back into the refrigerator: The topping needs really cold butter to create the crumble and even if you start out cubing it when it’s cold it will start to warm up. I found that if you cube the butter and then put it back into the refrigerator until you need it you will have nice cold butter when it comes time to make the topping.

Lesson Learned 3 – Be patient when making the topping mixture: This is a traditional crumble topping mixture that requires you to cut cold butter into flour and sugar. I have a pastry cutter and I’m always struggling, at least initially, with the butter sticking to the pastry cutter. I find myself constantly scraping the butter off of the cutter. But don’t worry, as the butter starts to become more incorporated with the flour you will not have to do that anymore. It just takes a little time, so be patient and scrape the butter when necessary.

Lesson Learned 4 – All ovens are not created equal: I’ve said this many times but it bears repeating. For me living in a high altitude environment I find things always take longer to bake. That might not be the case for you. So normally I post sea-level cooking times, but keep in mind that this is just a gauge. Start looking at your cake at 70 – 75 minutes. The important thing is to make sure the cream cheese filling has set. If it is too jiggly the cake is not done. If you touch the center and it feels firm but slightly jiggly, you are good to go. (Do you love how technical this is?!)

Right Out Of The Oven

I think you will find this coffee cake is more than worth the work involved. And don’t let me scare you away from this, the work really isn’t that much or that complicated. Try it and let me know what you think…

Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake...

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS

Coffee Cake:

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 egg, room temperature

1 Tbs. orange zest

3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup melted unsalted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Cream Cheese Filling:

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cubed

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl whisk together the flour sugar baking powder and soda. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the egg, orange zest, orange juice, melted butter and vanilla until blended. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Fold in the cranberries and set aside.

For the topping mix the flour and sugar in a small bowl. With a pastry cutter or two knives cut the butter into this mixture until the mixture looks crumbly. Set aside.

For the cream cheese layer, beat the cream cheese and sugar with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on a low speed until just blended.

Transfer the coffee cake mixture into a greased or sprayed 9 inch springform pan. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the top and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the toping mixture all over the top.

Place the pan on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 70-75 minutes (in high altitude it can take up to 15 minutes more) or until the top is golden brown and the cream cheese mixture set.

Cool in the springform pan for 15 minutes before removing the coffee cake. Refrigerate any leftovers.

The Moistest Banana Cake You’ll Ever Make …

youbetchcanmakethis Leave a comment

There’s nothing like a cake that is so moist it melts in your mouth. But baking a cake from scratch and getting it that moist can be a challenge, especially living in high altitude like I do. Well, fear no more. I stumbled upon a baking method that produced one of the moistest cakes I’ve ever made.

Now I have a couple of different recipes for banana bread on this site, but this one hands down is the most moist and flavorful. The difference between this recipe and the others is how you bake the cake. In this recipe you preheat the oven to 350 and once you put the cake in the oven you turn the temperature down to 300 for the remainder of the baking process. I never tried a process like this before and the result was my husband saying this was the moistest cake I ever made.

So let’s talk about the moistest banana cake you’ll ever make…

ripe bananasLesson Learned 1: Make sure your bananas are really ripe: and by really ripe I mean the peels are really dark, dark brown as in the picture to the right. You don’t want a lot of yellow on your banana skins and you definitely don’t want any green. Most of the time the bananas you buy in the store are under ripe, mainly green and yellow. Those bananas have not reached their full peak of flavor. The skins need to look pretty dark. As the banana ripens it releases more sugar and becomes more flavorful. And as they ripen the skins turn darker. If you want the best tasting cake you need to use bananas with dark skins.

Now if you want to make this cake today but only have yellow and green bananas, there’s a way to ripen them on the spot. Just click on this link for my banana bread recipe and you’ll find a neat little trick that gives you ripe bananas anytime you want them.

Lesson Learned 2 – Beat the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until velvety: The picture below shows the correct consistency for this standard blend of ingredients for many recipes. The more velvety these ingredients, the better the rest of the ingredients will combine with it. Most people err on doing this process way too fast. I say beat the living daylights out if it. You’ll be pleased with the end result if you do.

Creamed butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla

Lesson Learned 3 – With this recipe baking time will vary: The recipe that I based this on stated that it took 60 minutes for the cake to bake. It took my cake an hour and a half. Now I know a lot of that had to do with me living in high altitude, but this is definitely a cake you will need to keep your eye on. Not only is the atmosphere a factor in the cooking time, but also all ovens vary and your oven may take a shorter amount of time to bake this cake than mine. I started checking mine at 55 minutes and could tell right away it needed a much longer cooking time. In the end, the most sure fire way to determine if it is done is to insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. The picture below shows what the cake looks like when it is done.

completely cooked cake

Lesson Learned 4 – This recipe makes more than enough frosting: Next time I make it I’m planning on cutting the frosting amount to 75% of what I will list here. With what I list I was able to put a thick amount of frosting on the cake (as seen below) and I still had some left over. Some people don’t like a lot of frost on their cake, and you certainly don’t want to minimize the flavor of the cake by overpowering it with frosting. You need to make the frosting based on how you like a cake frosted. So use your judgement on this one.

frosted cake

I was really pleased with how this cake turned out. I shared some with my co-workers and also with my neighbors and the consensus was this recipe is a winner. So try it and let me know what you think. You betcha can make this!

The Moistest Banana Cake You'll Ever Make...

  • Servings: 20-24 Squares
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3-4 bananas)

2 1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, divided

1 1/2 cups whole milk

3 cups flour

1/2 Tbs. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

FROSTING:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

zest from 1 lemon

1 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour or use cooking spray and prepare a 9 x 13 pan.

Take 1 1/2 Tbs. of lemon juice and combine with the milk. Set aside.

Mash the bananas and mix with 1 Tbs. lemon juice. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk for a minute to combine. Set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in one egg at a time. Beat in the vanilla, until the entire mixture is smooth and velvety. Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk mixture beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Do not over mix but make sure everything is fully incorporated. Gently fold in the bananas. Pour mixture into the prepared 9 x 13 pan.

Put in oven and reduce the temperature to 300. Bake at least 55 minutes. (Do not open the oven for any reason during the first 55 minutes). At that point check the cake for doneness. If a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, it is done. If not, continue baking. The baking process could take as much as 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely before frosting. To make the frosting place all of the ingredients in a medium size bowl and beat until creamy.

Banana Cake

Moist Banana Cake

Moist Banana Cake

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

There’s a lot going on in my life right now so over the next few months I may not be able to meet my weekly goal of publishing a new recipe. I will try to publish as often as I can but rest assured I will get back to my weekly postings asap. I do have some time to post today and so I chose a recipe that my husband went bonkers over. When your husband turns to you and says, “Hon, this cake is really, REALLY good” you know you hit the jackpot!

I never tried making a coffee cake before so I was a little leery. But judging by the results I will certainly be making one again soon. There were a few tricks in getting this right and I’ll share them in my lessons learned. So let’s talk apple cinnamon coffee cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – The hardest part of the recipe is spreading the batter in the pan: The first layer of batter you spread over the bottom of a springform pan lined with parchment paper. It was an interesting trick trying to keep the parchment paper in place while spreading the batter. What I wound up doing was dolloping the batter in various spots over the parchment paper and spreading it with my right hand while holding the parchment paper down near one of the edges of the pan with my left index finger. After a while I got the hang of it but just be warned it may be an interesting journey starting out.

Then the next hardest part is spreading the second layer of batter over the apples and crumble. My advice is to make sure you dollop batter all around the pan versus putting all the batter in the center and then trying to spread it out. Remember on the second layer you will get part of the crumble mixed in with the batter. Don’t worry about that. You can’t avoid it.

Lesson Learned 2 – A little bit of batter goes a long way: This recipe does not have a lot of batter. When you spread the batter on the bottom it creates a very thin layer. But the combination of the batter, apples and crumble creates a substantive cake. Just be forewarned that the layer of batter on the bottom will be thin so don’t worry about that.

Slice the apples in small chunksLesson Learned 2 – Cut your apples into small pieces: You want to make sure that the apples cook and so you need to slice them in small pieces. I normally do this part of the recipe first. Then in order to prevent the apples from oxidizing while I get everything else ready, I squeeze just a little bit of fresh lemon juice over them and make sure all the apples are lightly coated with the juice. By doing this the apples will retain their color until you are ready to add them into the cake.

Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paperLesson Learned 4: Make sure you prepare the pan so the cake can be easily removed once it has cooled: You need to do a couple of things to prepare the springform pan. First you need to grease the sides and the bottom. Second you need to cover the bottom with parchment paper. I start out by opening the latch on the pan and removing the bottom. I normally take a piece of parchment paper, put it over the bottom part and trace the outline of it onto the paper. Then I just cut out the what I outlined. I do that first before greasing the pan. Then I reassemble the pan, grease the bottom and sides and then put the parchment paper in place to cover the bottom.

Lesson Learned 5 – The layering of the cake is a process: Let me show you that process in the pictures below…

The first layer with the batter and diced apples

The first layer with the batter and diced apples

The first layer completed with batter, apples and crumble

The first layer completed with batter, apples and crumble

The second layer of batter on top of the crumble

The second layer of batter on top of the crumble

Ready to go into the oven

Ready to go into the oven

The finished coffee cake

The finished coffee cake

Assembling this may be a little tricky but I guarantee you the end result is worth it. Try it and tell me what you think…

APPLE CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE

  • Servings: 16
  • Difficulty: Medium
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INGREDIENTS

Crumble:

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 small granny smith apples, peeled and diced small

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup sliced almonds for the very top (not added to the crumble mixture)

The Batter:

4 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 extra large egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

The Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1-2 Tbs. heavy cream (use the smaller amount for a thicker glaze)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8 inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside. Peel and dice the apples. Pour the lemon juice over the diced apples and stir until all the pieces of apple are coated. Set aside.

For the crumble, whisk together all of the dry ingredients except the sliced almonds. Add the melted butter and vanilla and stir until combined. Set aside.

For the batter, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat the mixture until well combined. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.

Dollop half the batter around the bottom of the springform pan and spread to evenly distribute. Distribute the apple chunks evenly over the batter and sprinkle about 1 cup of the crumble on top of the apples. Spread the remaining half of the batter over the top of the crumble (it will be easier if you dollop the batter around the pan before spreading). Spread the remaining crumble over the batter. Distribute the sliced almonds evenly over the crumble.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edges of the cake before unlocking the springform pan.

Let the cake cool completely before adding the glaze. To make the glaze combine all of the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Drizzle the glaze all over the cake. Slice and enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 7 Comments

Sometimes when you’re grumpy the only thing that will bring you out of it is chocolate. Such was the case with me this week. For some reason I’ve had a major grump on lately and so finally I decided to do something about it – hence this recipe.

I’m a big fan of chocolate cake but I’m not a big fan of overly sweet chocolate cake. I find the cake mixes you buy in the grocery stores are borderline sickeningly sweet so I prefer to make homemade. This cake is full of chocolate flavor and not overly sweet. The flavor and texture remind me of a flourless chocolate cake. This cake is so good that once my husband and I took a bite of it we both agreed I needed to bring it to work otherwise we knew we would devour the whole thing in short measure all by ourselves. Better to let my co-workers devour it. And devour it they did.

So let’s talk chocolate sour cream cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – I found a neat trick for flouring a bundt pan: I don’t know about you, but I’ve always struggled with flouring a bundt pan once I’ve greased it. And especially with bundt pans, you need to make sure that the grease and flour hug every curve of the pan otherwise you’ll never get your cake out. I used to put flour in the pan and then stand over the garbage can and rotate it while tapping the sides. I knew I had to get the flour all the way to the top of the pan and I didn’t want to get flour all over the floor.

Then I read somewhere  an easier way to flour a bundt pan. Once you grease the pan and add some flour to it, cover the pan with plastic wrap. Then you can tap away to your heart’s content, get all of the sides floured and not worry about making a big mess. It was so much easier flouring the pan this way.

Lesson Learned 2 – The chocolate mixture will be thin and runny: This recipe calls for cooking the butter, cocoa powder and salt with some water. This combination makes a very runny mixture as evidenced in the picture below. Don’t worry about that. I found that providing the chocolate component to the recipe this way resulted in a somewhat thinner batter but an extremely moist cake. People were gushing as to how moist this cake is.

IMG_0165

Lesson Learned 3 – This cake does not rise a lot so use a smaller bundt pan if you want a taller cake: I used a 12 cup bundt pan and the cake was a nice size but not as tall as some bundt cakes I’ve made in the past. The only leavening you use in this recipe is 1 teaspoon of baking soda so the cake does not rise very high. The cake was still super moist and I preferred this portion size, but if you’re a fan of a taller bundt cake you can use a 10 cup pan to achieve that effect.

IMG_0284

Lesson Learned 4 – The frosting in this recipe is to die for: I approached the frosting differently and was genuinely pleased in both the flavor and consistency. The frosting in not overly sweet and has a nice thick texture to it. This frosting does not contain any confectioners sugar. It is a combination of chocolate, corn syrup (I used an organic light corn syrup with organic vanilla flavor), heavy cream and a touch of sugar. It was fabulous!

IMG_0210

I think this will become my go-to chocolate cake recipe. My husband loved it and my co-workers devoured it. I hope it becomes your go-to chocolate cake recipe as well!

CHOCOLATE SOUR CREAM CAKE…

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: easy
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CAKE INGREDIENTS Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

1 cup unsalted butter, plus butter to grease the pan

1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup water

2 cups flour, plus some for the pan

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

FROSTING INGREDIENTS

2 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 Tbs. corn syrup (I used organic light corn syrup with organic vanilla flavor)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 Tbs. sugar

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels, for decoration (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup bundt cake pan and set aside.

In a small saucepan combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt and water and melt over medium heat. Continuously stir the mixture until everything is melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar and baking soda. Add half the melted butter mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until blended. Add the remaining butter mixture and stir until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until each is completely blended. Add the sour cream and vanilla and whisk until combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes (my cake was done at 42 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then invert the pan to remove the cake. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

Put the chopped chocolates and the corn syrup in a bowl and set aside. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan and, over medium heat, stir until the cream is hot and the sugar has dissolved. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Pour the frosting over the cake. Decorate the cake with the chocolate morsels.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

Holiday Raspberry Walnut Bars…

youbetchcanmakethis 6 Comments

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while. The holidays have been crazy and I haven’t had my usual time to experiment in the kitchen. But to keep in the tradition of trying to post at least once a week, I am going to share a cookie recipe from back in the day.

This is a reprint of a blog I did a couple of years ago. It is such a great holiday recipe that I wanted to give it some prime time, especially now that I have more readers and subscribers. I guarantee you, you cannot go wrong with this recipe. It will be a hit in your holiday cookie baking arsenal!

Raspberry Walnut Bars

Raspberry Walnut Bars

There’s a lot of reasons for this recipe being so popular. First, and probably foremost, it looks so darn delicious. Second, and not known by those requesting the recipe, it is sinfully easy to make. And third, the recipe turns out perfect first time, every time. I can’t take credit for the recipe, it was one I found a few years ago, I simply can’t remember where I found it. So up front I apologize to whomever I am not giving credit to for the actual recipe.

Lesson Learned 1: The hardest thing about this recipe is preparing the pan. The recipe calls for lining a 8 inch square pan with parchment paper allowing some overhang on both sides. Trying to keep parchment paper from popping back out of the pan when you allow for overhang can be tricky. I found the easiest way to make the parchment paper behave is to take two heavy cans of anything and weigh down the paper in the pan while making the dough. That way when it’s time to spread the dough out on the bottom the paper has been somewhat trained and doesn’t jump around as much.

Lesson Learned 2: It is important to follow the directions of using the parchment paper, having the overhang and spraying the parchment paper with cooking spray. I can’t image what you would wind up with if you didn’t. But if you take the time to do it, it comes out of the pan easily and absolutely nothing sticks to the parchment paper.

Lesson Learned 3: This recipe gives you plenty of dough so don’t worry about using it to fill up the bottom. It says to use two thirds of the dough for the crust and one third to dot the top. I found that gave me way too much dough for the top. You need a lot less dough to dot the top then you think, so don’t be afraid to use more than two thirds of the dough for the crust.

Lesson Learned 4: Avoid the temptation to use too much raspberry jam. A nice even thin coat is all you need. Stick to the amount called for in the recipe.

Lesson Learned 5: Depending on how many bars you want to give out, you may have to make this recipe a couple of times. You can make the bars big or small, but the most you’ll probably get out of this recipe is 24 small bars.

I guarantee these bars will be a hit with your family and friends. You simply must try them!

Raspberry Walnut Bars…

  • Servings: 24 Small Bars
  • Difficulty: Easy-Medium
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

Non stick baking spray

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 cup raspberry jam

1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang on both sides. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray. (I do this right before I am ready to put the dough into the pan).

In a medium bowl whisk the flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. (This does take a little time, most people do not do this thoroughly enough so make sure to take the time to make the mixture fluffy). Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture until combined. Do not over mix. Transfer two thirds of the dough into the prepared pan and press down evenly. Spread the jam on top. Crumble the remaining dough and dot it over the jam. Sprinkle the top with the walnuts. Bake until golden 35-45 minutes. Cool completely in the pan. (this is very important).

Holding both sides of the parchment paper, lift out of the pan, transfer to a cutting board and cut into rectangles. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Raspberry Walnut Bars

Maple Pear Walnut Skillet Cake

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

I have to admit I made this a few weeks ago, but it’s a pretty busy time of year and I made several recipes in one week so that I could keep up my goal of doing weekly posts on this blog. This is a great cake on a variety of levels. First, it’s a heck of lot easier to make than it looks, second it takes no time to put this together (most of the work involves pealing and slicing the pears) and third you wind up with a cake that looks professionally made.

So let’s talk maple pear walnut skillet cake…

PearsLesson Learned 1 – The right amount of pears to use is not an exact science: This recipe is made in a ten inch cast iron skillet. When I made it I used pears from my neighbor’s tree which were smaller than ones you buy in the store. I think I used about 6-8 pears for the decorative top. If using larger pears, I think you could get away with using no more than three. I would err on the side of too much rather than too little. If you have four pears on hand and you only need three you have one to enjoy later. And remember, if the pears look like they’re starting to oxidize and turn brown before you put them in the pan, just sprinkle a little lemon juice over them and that will help keep them looking good.

Lesson Learned 2 – Even with a seasoned cast iron pot a few pears might stick to the pot when it comes time to invert it: No worries here. Even though a couple of my pears stuck, they easily peeled off the bottom of the pan and I could place them back in the spots they’d vacated on the cake. Judging by the pictures you’d never know that happened. I just felt compelled to let you know that even the best of cooks have to make these types of adjustments from time to time. As Julia Child used to say, “Whose to know…”

Maple Pear Walnut Skillet CakeLesson Learned 3 – Always remember, cast iron retains heat for quite some time: When you go to invert the cake, the cast iron skillet will still be very hot! Remember to use oven mitts when you do this part of the process. You will not be able to handle the skillet without some type of protection from the heat at that point.

This cake couldn’t be easier, especially for how dramatic it looks. You layer the pears on the bottom of the pan, spoon the cake mixture over the pears and carefully spread it out to the sides of the pan making sure not to disturb the pears in the process. Then you bake it, flip it, (do any final fixes if you need to) and you’re done. Take a walk on the wild side and try this one. Even though it may look intimidating, it really is easy and oh so delicious!

Maple Pear Walnut Skillet Cake

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

Pear Topping:

4 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup good maple syrup

Pears (3-4 large, 6-8 small)

1/2 – 3/4 cup walnut pieces (this will be your preference)

Cake:

1 1/4 cup flour, plus 1 Tbs. for high altitude

1 1/2-2 tsps. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup good maple syrup

2 extra large eggs, room temperature

DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a seasoned ten inch cast iron skillet, melt the 4 Tbs. of butter. Spread the butter out to cover the skillet making sure to include the sides of the skillet. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and arrange the pears on top of the butter-sugar-syrup mixture. Sprinkle with walnuts and set aside.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In another bowl mix together the yogurt and vanilla. Set aside. Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add maple syrup and mix until combined. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and the yogurt mixture, alternating between the two and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix.

Carefully drop the batter by large spoonfuls all over the pears. Spread batter out to the edges of the pan being careful not to disturb the pears.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. Cool the cake for 10-15 minutes on a wire rack.

Run a knife along the edges of the skillet. Carefully invert the cake on to a plate. (Be careful, the cast iron skillet will still be very hot). If any pears stick to the bottom of the pan, peel them off and place them back on top of the cake.

The Pears And Walnuts At The Bottom Of The Skillet

Pears And Walnuts Arranged At The Bottom Of The Skillet

Drop The Batter In Large Balls On Top Of The Pear Mixture

Batter Dropped In Large Clumps Over The Pear Mixture

Spread The Mixture Over The Pears

Batter Spread Over The Pear Mixture

Right Out Of The Oven

Right Out Of The Oven

Maple Pear Walnut Skillet Cake

Maple Pear Walnut Skillet Cake

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

Just about everyone has their favorite chocolate cake recipe. I like to experiment with various recipes, give them a spin of my own, and this time I think I really hit the jackpot. If you want an easy to make, moist – and I do mean moist – dark, luscious and oh so chocolatey cake, this is the recipe for you. And it’s perfect for your holiday table!

I can’t take credit for the frosting. I stole it from Ina Garten and want to make sure she gets full credit for it. I wanted a buttercream frosting, but I can see this cake being equally delicious with a chocolate ganache.

So let’s talk about the ultimate chocolate cake…

Lesson Learned 1 – The batter will be thin: I am used to a somewhat thicker batter and so I was surprised that this batter was thin, almost runny. Don’t let that worry you. Just bake it until the top is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.

The Cake Right Out Of The Oven...

The Cake Right Out Of The Oven…

Lesson Learned 2 – Using coffee to enhance the flavor of chocolate: I found out that just a little bit of coffee added to a chocolate recipe really enhances the flavor of the chocolate. Whether it be brewed coffee, espresso powder or instant coffee granules, using coffee as an ingredient kicks up the chocolatey flavor in baking. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of brewed coffee. Just make sure that coffee is either just slightly warm or room temperature. If you add hot coffee to the batter you’ll scramble the egg and you don’t want to do that.

Lesson Learned 3 – Baking with cocoa powder: I don’t know about you but my cocoa powder always seems to have big lumps in it making it difficult to get a smooth batter once it is incorporated This time I sifted the cocoa powder before adding it in and that did the trick. It was a lot easier to get a smooth batter.

Good quality chocolateLesson Learned 4 – Thoughts on buttercream frosting: As I mentioned earlier, I used Ina Garten’s recipe for the frosting. Ina always says the better the ingredients you use, the better the flavor. It’s so true. If you use this particular frosting recipe, make sure you use good quality semi-sweet chocolate. I used Ghirardelli chocolate in the frosting. The frosting was divine.

Also, keep in mind that the main ingredient in buttercream frosting is butter. When you make it, the frosting will be soft and smooth. If you choose to refrigerate the frosted cake, the frosting will get harder, just like butter does when it’s put back into the refrigerator. And since there is so much butter in the frosting you’re going to want to refrigerate anything that doesn’t get eaten immediately. So, if you’re planning on serving cake that has been stored in the refrigerator, you can take it out and let the frosting soften up a little. Or you can serve the frosting cold. The frosting is so good it’s delicious either way.

The Frosting...

The Frosting…

 This recipe would make great cupcakes as well. You’ll never make a more moist or chocolatey cake. Try this recipe and see what you think. Enjoy!

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake…

  • Servings: 16
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

Cake:

1 extra large egg, room temperature

1 cup sugar

6 ounces vanilla greek yogurt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup brewed coffee, warm or room temperature – not hot

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Frosting:

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup + 1 Tbs. granulated sugar

1 Tbs. instant coffee granules (I used hazelnut granules)

2 tsp. hot water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 x 9 baking pan and set aside.

In a large bowl combine egg, sugar, yogurt and vanilla. Whisk until smooth and combined. Sift the cocoa powder and add it in along with the brewed coffee. Whisk until smooth and free from lumps.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Combine with the wet ingredients and whisk together until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cake cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: In a microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate on high power in 30 minute intervals, stirring until the chocolate is melted. (The chocolate will probably come out of the microwave with a few softened pieces still intact, but stirring will get them to melt. You want to be careful not to overheat the chocolate, so make sure you try to make the stirring complete the process.) Set aside to cool a little.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat for an additional minute. (Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.) Add the confectioners sugar and slowly beat until combined. In a small bowl dissolve the instant coffee granules in the hot water. Slowly beat the coffee and chocolate into the butter mixture.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake

Cinnamon Roll Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 4 Comments

I like to dabble with baking, trying new and interesting ways of creating sweet delectable treats. And let me tell you, where that’s concerned this recipe takes the cake (pun intended)! Every bite of this cake tastes exactly like a cinnamon roll. It is unbelievably good. I took some of this to work and one of my co-workers said it was an absolutely wicked treat. You must try this one.

So let’s talk about making this cake..

Lesson Learned 1 – The ingredients for the cake are a bit untraditional: Most cake recipes use a combination of baking soda and baking powder, usually a teaspoonful or less of each, as leavening agents for the batter. This particular cake recipe uses 4 teaspoons of baking powder and no baking soda. It seems like a lot of baking powder, but what that amount actually does is create a yeasty bread-like quality for the cake. You can see in the picture below the bubbles created by using the large amount of baking powder. It was interesting to see its affect on the batter. And when you think about it, cinnamon rolls tend to have a texture that’s more like bread than cake, so using the larger amount of baking powder to create that consistency makes sense.

Bubbles In The Batter

Another somewhat non traditional aspect to making the batter is adding the melted butter. Once you’ve combined all the ingredients together, you slowly add the melted butter into the batter. It is important to add it slowly so that the butter fully incorporates. I poured a little in at a time, mixed it in, and repeated that process until all the melted butter was fully incorporated into the batter. It gave the batter the luxurious consistency you see below.

The Cake Batter

Before adding the melted butter the cake batter will look a little lumpy. As you slowly add the melted butter the lumps will disappear.

Lesson Learned 2 – The cinnamon topping will be thick in consistency: A lot of cinnamon cake recipes have more of a streusel-like mixture that you incorporate into cake batter. The topping for this cake is thicker and more frosting-like as you can see from the picture below.

The Cinnamon Topping

When preparing this mixture it’s very important the butter be as soft as possible without melting it. I put the butter in the microwave and kept nuking it in 10 second increments until it was slightly runny along the edges. You can see from the picture below how soft the butter was before I mixed it with the other topping ingredients.

The Topping Ingredients

Lesson Learned 3 – How to combine the cinnamon and cake batter: Many recipes similar to this require sprinkling the topping on the batter and using a knife to swirl it down into the cake. You don’t need to do that with this recipe. All you need to do is dollop the cinnamon mixture on top and use a knife and spread it around. The cinnamon will permeate the batter while it bakes. Try to spread the mixture as close to the edges as possible. That way the end pieces will have some cinnamon in them as well.
Swirled Cinnamon Mixture

Dollop The Cinnamon On Top Of The Batter

Lesson Learned 4 – Add the glaze when the cake is still warm: Most of the time you wait for a cake to cool before you add glaze. With this recipe you add the glaze while the cake is still slightly warm. That way it seeps into the cake as well as stays on top. I prefer to make thicker glazes for this type of recipe so I combine heavy cream and milk with the vanilla and powdered sugar to get a rich, thick glaze.

Thick Rich Glaze

I hope you decide to try this recipe. It is sinfully delicious and keeps well in an air tight container. I got two thumbs up on this on this one from my co-workers and my husband!

Cinnamon Roll Cake…

  • Servings: 20-24 Squares
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:
CAKE BATTER:

Cinnamon Roll Cake

3 cups flour (plus 2 Tbs. high altitude)

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar (7/8 cup high altitude)

1 1/2 cups milk

3 tsp. vanilla extract

2 extra large eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted.

CINNAMON TOPPING MIXTURE:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 Tbs. flour

2 heaping Tbs. cinnamon

1 cup very soft butter

GLAZE:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 Tbs. heavy cream

2-3 Tbs. Milk

1 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all of the ingredients for the cinnamon topping and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together all of the cake batter ingredients except the melted butter. After everything is combined, slowly add the melted butter in small amounts making sure it is thoroughly combined before adding more. Continue with this process until all of the melted butter is incorporated into the batter.

Spray a 9 x 13 dish with cooking spray. Add the batter to the dish and smooth until evenly distributed. Dollop portions of the cinnamon mixture on top of the batter. Using a smooth edged knife, swirl the cinnamon mixture all over the top of the batter getting the mixture as close to the edges of the pan as possible.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Mix together all of the glaze ingredients. While the cake is still slightly warm, pour the glaze all over the top of the cake. The cake keeps best when stored in an airtight container.

The Cake Right Out Of The Oven

The Cake Right Out Of The Oven

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

I’ve just been loving how plentiful the strawberries are this year. And the quality of them has been outstanding. I love to bake with strawberries, but they can be tricky. Strawberries, like blueberries, have what I call the exploding factor. They explode moisture during the baking process. So, if you use too many of them or if they overly ripe you cake will fall it on itself. After a few disasters I’ve learned out to outsmart the pesky fruit and now I bake with them quite frequently.

The flavor of strawberries in a cake like this is more subtle. A co-worker even asked me what kind of fruit was in this cake. Baking them this way gives them a slight tartness that compliments the sweetness of the cake batter – a great combination. So, let’s talk about fresh strawberry yogurt cake…

StrawberriesLesson Learned 1 – Ripe strawberries are not the best for baking: Because of the exploding factor I alluded to above, ripe strawberries are not the best to bake with simply because they hold more water. In baking it’s really best to use strawberries that are only somewhat ripe. That way they release less moisture, your cake will not fall in on itself and you’ll still get that great strawberry flavor. But if your strawberries are ripe, simply use less of them. Cut them in small pieces and discard any piece that may be overly soft. When I made this recipe my strawberries were pretty ripe so I only used about 8 ounces in the cake. If you have less ripe strawberries you can use as much as 12 ounces.

And don’t use frozen strawberries with this recipe. If you do, you can be sure your cake will be a gooey mess.

IMG_6028Lesson Learned 2 – Make sure your cake is completely cool before icing it: I don’t know about you but I’m always in a hurry to put the icing on the cake. I rationalize that if it’s only slightly warm it will be ok. Wrong – o! Even if the cake is slightly warm, the icing will melt into the cake. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if you want your icing visible be patient and wait until the cake has cooled. The cake will taste great and you will be awarded visually as well!

I took this cake to work and the slices were gone in less than one half hour. This is a very moist and flavorful cake. Try it and let me know what you think.

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake...

  • Servings: 16
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

2 1/4 cup flour, (add 1 Tbs. for high altitude)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (you’ll need 2 lemons for this recipe)

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

3 large eggs, room temperature

8 oz. vanilla Greek yogurt

8 – 12 oz. fresh strawberries, sliced small (use lesser amount if strawberries are ripe)

Vegetable shortening and flour to prepare the Bundt pan

ICING:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest (I used the zest of one small lemon)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan. Set aside. Zest and juice the lemons. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Using a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about five minutes. Add the eggs one at a time until each is thoroughly incorporated. Add the lemon juice and zest and beat for another minute.

Add the dry ingredients and yogurt to the mixture, starting out and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. (Scrape the sides of the bowl and under the beater blade to make sure everything has been combined).

Gently fold in the strawberries. Pour into the prepared ban. Reduce the heat in the oven to 325 and bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the Bundt pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

 Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Lemon Crumb Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 4 Comments

Sometimes you just want something quick and easy. This is that kind of recipe. I don’t know about you but there are days when I just don’t want to drag out all the paraphernalia in order to make something that looks and tastes good. This particular recipe requires no stand mixer, food processor, or blender. Just a bowl for the dry and wet ingredients and a small pan to melt butter.

Let’s talk Lemon Crumb Cake…

Perfect Crumble ConsistencyLesson Learned 1 – The crumb topping: Only three ingredients make the topping – flour sugar and melted butter. I found the best result for making the topping is to add 1 additional tablespoon of flour to the 1/3 cup called for in the recipe. That way you get a nice crumble without the mixture being too moist. The crumb topping is easy to do. Just melt the butter and combine it with the flour and sugar. If the mixture looks too dry, add a tiny bit more melted butter. Make sure nothing is dry in the crumble. The picture here shows the perfect consistency.

Add Wet Ingredients To Dry IngredientsLesson Learned 2 – Mixing wet and dry ingredients: The rule of thumb when making a batter you mix by hand is to add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Take a wooden spoon or a spoon/spatula and mix until just combined. Make sure to check at the bottom center of the bowl – that’s were unincorporated ingredients tend to hang out. Once everything is combined, STOP. Over mixing will create a tough cake.

Lesson Learned 3 – Watch the time on this cake carefully: Ok, I’ll admit it – I had to make this cake twice to get it right. This cake, depending on your oven and what part of the country you live in, can bake from 50 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes. And let me tell you, it can go from moist to dry rather quickly. So keep an eye on it. I use a professional grade loaf pan and so my cake baked in 50 minutes. The time you need will depend on your oven and the bakeware you use. Keep an eye on it starting at 50 minutes.

Right Out Of The Oven

Lemon Crumb Cake…

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

Topping

1/3 cup plus 1 Tbs. Flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbs. melted unsalted butter

Cake

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 5 oz. can evaporated milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. lemon zest

2 large eggs

Glaze (optional)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour the bottom and sides of an 8 x 4 loaf pan (if using a nonstick pan you only need to prepare the bottom of the pan). In a small bowl mix together topping ingredients making sure all the flour is coated with the melted butter. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl whisk together the eggs, evaporated milk, oil and lemon zest. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the crumb mixture. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check the cake at 50 minutes. You do not want to over bake this cake.

Cool the cake for 15 minutes in the loaf pan. Remove from loaf pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. The glaze is optional. The cake is delicious with or without the glaze.

Lemon Crumb Cake

 Lemon Crumb Cake

Cheesecake With Strawberry Sauce…

youbetchcanmakethis 3 Comments

I promise I haven’t gone all cheese-cakey on you but every once in a while I find a recipe that I post that is not my own, nor have I adapted that is absolutely fabulous. This is one of them. It is is so good and so easy that I just had to share and give credit where credit is due.

I’ve mentioned before that over the years I’ve become a Food Network junkie. I have to admit I was more enamored with the programming several years ago, but there are still some shows that I like to watch. Trisha Yearwood’s show is one of them. I’ve tried several of her recipes and enjoyed them, but this one is just over the top.

Cheesecake With Graham Cracker CrustI happened to be watching her show recently right after I made my Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars. On the show she was making a cheesecake. It has been years since I made a cheesecake and for some reason I had it in my mind that it was labor intensive and hard to make. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. After I watched her show I decided try it again.

All I can say is that it was surprisingly easy and turned out perfectly the very first time. How often can you say that about the recipe? And if you look at my pictures and the pictures on the Food Network site, the cake looks exactly the same. Perfection!

I’ll write out the recipe for you here, but will also include a link to it on the Food Network site because I need to give credit where credit is due. But I did have a couple of good lessons learned while making this, and these I will share. Enjoy this one.

Line the outside of the pan with foilLesson Learned 1 – The importance of the water bath: What do I mean by a water bath? In order to avoid having cracks in the top of your cheesecake you need to bake it in a water bath. Once you prepare a springform pan, create a bed of foil around the bottom of the pan as shown in the picture to the right. After you’ve filled the spring form pan with the cheesecake mixture, place it either in a lipped jelly roll pan or any lipped pan that is bigger than the spring form pan. Carefully add about a half inch of water to the lipped pan and cook the cheese cake in that water bath. The foil will prevent any water from getting into the cheesecake and the water will prevent any cracks from occurring on the top of the cake.

The top of the cheesecake with no cracksI used a lipped jelly roll pan that I filled with water half way up the side and found that about three quarters of the way through the baking process process the water had entirely evaporated. I added a little more making sure the pan had water for the entire baking time. It worked beautifully.

I recently had a conversation with a woman who was bemoaning the fact that she could never make a cheese cake that wasn’t all cracked on the top. She’d never heard of a water bath. When I showed her pictures of my cake and told her this was the first time I made one in years she was sold. I promise the water bath does the trick, and my pictures prove it!

Strawberry Sauce Ingredients

Strawberry Sauce Ingredients

Lesson Learned 2 – Definitely make the strawberry sauce: The cheesecake on its own is divine but I think it needs a little extra added something. The strawberry sauce in this recipe is a perfect accompaniment to the cheese cake. I especially like using lime zest in the sauce. I felt it really brought out the flavor of the strawberries. Of course this is not the only thing you can use to add to the cake, but this sauce took very little effort and was divine, that’s why I like it.

I just used my mini food processor and mixed all the ingredients together. You don’t need to strain the sauce as you would if you were using raspberries. The sauce is best served cold so make sure you refrigerate it for at least an hour before serving.

Keep the cheesecake in a cooling oven for an hour

Lesson Learned 3 – Keep the cheesecake in the oven for an hour after it’s done baking: Once the cheesecake is done baking, turn off the heat and leave it in the oven for an hour with the oven door partially open. This helps to finish it off and is necessary for the cheesecake to set. So don’t be over anxious and take your beautiful cheesecake out of the oven right away.

As I mentioned earlier, I did not have to change a thing in this recipe nor did I have to adapt it to high altitude (and what a joy that was!). So here is the recipe and I’ve also provided a link to it on the Food Network site below. Enjoy!

Cheesecake With Fresh Strawberry Sauce...

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Medium
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INGREDIENTS:

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs (about 9 sheets)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup non-salted butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling

32 oz. (four 8 oz. packages) room temperature cream cheese

2 cups sour cream (you can use light sour cream)

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch

2 tsp. vanilla

Strawberry Sauce

1 1/4 cup fresh strawberries, halved

1/4 cup sugar

1 small lime, zested

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make a parchment paper cutout for the bottom of a 10 inch round springform pan. Take foil and wrap it entirely around the base and slightly up the sides of the pan. Spray the bottom of the pan with cooking spray. Put the parchment paper in the pan and spray it as well. Set aside. (I did this at the very end and prepared the crust and filling and then put it all together at once).

In a food processor, combine the the graham crackers and sugar. Pulse and then process until thoroughly combined and the crackers have a consistency of fine crumbs. Pour in a bowl and set aside.

Using a stand mixer, beat the room temperature cream cheese and sour cream for about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat each time until thoroughly combined. (Make sure you check the bottom of the bowl occasionally to scrape up anything that may have collected down at the bottom to make sure it is all combined). Add the sugar, cornstarch and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Melt the butter. Add the melted butter to the graham cracker crumbs and mix until the crumbs take on the consistency of wet sand. Press the graham cracker mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan and up the sides.

Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Set the foil wrapped pan into a large lipped pan and carefully pour about 1/2 inch warm water into the large pan to create the water bath. Place in the oven and bake for one hour. Turn off the oven, open the door and let the cheesecake stand in the opened oven for one hour. Remove from the oven and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. (I refrigerated mine overnight).

For the sauce, put the strawberries, sugar and lime zest into a small food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Here is the link to the recipe on the Food Network site: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/joes-say-cheese-cheesecake-with-fresh-strawberry-sauce.html

The Graham Cracker Crust

The Graham Cracker Crust

Pour In The Filling

Pour In The Filling

The Cheesecake

The Cheesecake

The Inside of the Cheesecake

The Inside Of The Cheesecake

Cheesecake With Fresh Strawberry Sauce

Cheesecake With Fresh Strawberry Sauce

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars…

youbetchcanmakethis 3 Comments

If you want a truly delicious and decadent sweet treat, this one’s for you. I haven’t made anything like a cheesecake for a long time, and I didn’t want to do the full blown thing, so I decided to make cheesecake bars and and am I ever glad I did. Plain and simple, this recipe is divine! There are few recipes I have on this blog that I think outshine the rest. For example, my recipe for Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza, or my Best Ever Meatballs, or my Iced Cinnamon Chip Cookies… (actually there are many more, but I don’t want to bore you with a long list). But this one goes straight to the top!

Not only is this insanely delicious, it is gorgeous to look at and simple to make. You can’t beat that. And so, without further adieu, here are a few lessons learned and the recipe.

IMG_5396Lesson Learned 1: Tips about the raspberry swirl: It couldn’t be easier to make the swirl. Just pop the raspberries and sugar in a food processor and voila, you have it. Be aware that you don’t need a lot for the top of the cheesecake. Less is more in creating a beautiful design. You can easily get away with only a 1/3 cup raspberries to create the design on top. I used 1/2 cup so I would have some extra to drizzle on the plate when I served the cheesecake.

IMG_5418Since you only need a small amount, don’t use a blender for this. If you have a mini blender or food processor, use that. Also you will want to strain the raspberry sauce.  There are tons of seeds that you will not want to have in your cheese cake. Use a spatula and press the juice through the strainer. It is a little bit of work but you get an incredibly smooth glistening sauce that you can use not only for the top of the bars but for serving as well.

Once you’ve made the cheesecake filling, all you have to do is dot the top with a little of the raspberry sauce as shown in the picture below. Take a sharp knife and gently swirl the sauce into the cheesecake mixture. It’s that simple. You can easily create a gorgeous design with no effort at all.

IMG_5421

IMG_5429

Lesson Learned 2 – Line your pan with parchment paper: I am not a big fan of using cooking spray on my good pans. I find it leaves a residue that bakes on the pan and after a while can ruin the finish. I prefer greasing and flouring pans or using parchment paper. This time I chose parchment paper. I lined the bottom and left some hanging over the side. Doing that gave me handles to pull out the cheesecake once it set. (I had to use a knife on the sides that did not have parchment paper to loosen them slightly before I lifted the cheesecake out of the pan).

IMG_5380Lesson Learned 3 – Graham Cracker Crusts: They couldn’t be easier to make. The consistency of the crust should look like wet sand as seen in the picture. Spread it evenly on the bottom of the pan and press it down flat. Also, after it is baked, make sure it’s cooled completely before pouring the cheesecake mixture on top of it.

Lesson Learned 4 – The cream cheese must be at room temperature and beat it longer than you think: You will get a lumpy cheesecake if the cream cheese is not room temperature when you beat it. And beat it for a long time. I beat the cream cheese for at least five minutes. And after that as I added each individual ingredient I beat it some more. That’s the only way you’ll get a smooth consistency to the batter.

That’s it! The hardest part of making this is the clean up. I used both my small and large food processors as well as my stand mixer so that wound up being most of the work. But was the work ever worth it. I still can’t get over how good this one is. My husband says this recipe is insanely good. Enjoy!

Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars…

  • Servings: 12-14
  • Difficulty: Easy
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IMG_5449INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

9 graham cracker sheets (1 – 1 1/4 cups)

4 Tbs. butter, melted

2 Tbs. sugar

The Filling:

2 eight ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 small lemons, juiced and zested

Raspberry Swirl

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

1 Tbs. sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line bottom of 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper, using enough paper so it can hang over the sides. (You can also use baking spray). Set aside.

Put graham crackers into a food processor. Process until you have fine crumbs. Add the sugar to the cracker crumbs. Melt the butter and add it to the mixture, stirring until the mixture resembles coarse wet sand. Take the crumbs and spread them out evenly across the bottom of the pan. Press firmly. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Place the raspberries and sugar into a small processor and beat until smooth. Put mixture into a strainer and strain until the raspberry seeds are removed from the juice. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, at least 5 minutes. Add in the sugar and beat until combined. Add in one egg at a time and beat until completely incorporated. Add the lemon juice and zest and continue to beat until completely incorporated.

Pour the cheesecake filling on top of the cooled graham cracker crust. Using a spatula, make sure it is spread evenly over the crust. (You might even want to take the pan and, raising it up slightly, drop it back down on a hard surface to ensure the batter is evenly distributed). Spoon the raspberry mixture in dots over the top of the cheesecake mixture. Use a sharp knife to make swirls all over the top of the batter.

Bake for 35 minutes. Let the cake cool completely and refrigerate for at least three hours or over night. Cut into squares and serve.

IMG_5437

The Desired Texture Of The Cheesecake…

IMG_5462

Apple Cream Cheese Cake…

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I know it’s not apple season but I had the desire to bake something with apples in it and decided to make this cake. It has a combination of some warm spices, namely nutmeg and allspice, and a heavenly cream cheese filling that compliments the flavor of the cake. And if that isn’t enough for you, once the cake is cooled you drizzle on a thick and luscious praline frosting. That’s more than enough to satisfy anyone’s sweet tooth!

Cake ingredients...

Cake ingredients…

Lesson Learned 1 – Make sure the eggs are room temperature: This recipe produces a very thick batter that is mixed by hand. You can use a mixer for the cream cheese filling but I highly recommend mixing the batter by hand. That way you are less likely to over mix and wind up with a tough cake. Room temperature eggs incorporate themselves more completely into a batter and you’ll want to ensure that when mixing by hand. Also for ease of mixing, the eggs should also be slightly beaten before putting them into the batter.

Lesson Learned 2 – After you chop the apples sprinkle a little lemon juice on them to avoid browning: I am amazed how many recipes I come across that require chopped apples and don’t address what can happen to an apple once it’s peeled and cut. When an apple is cut open, an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase is released from the cells of the apple and reacts with the oxygen in the air causing the fruit to brown. Lemon juice helps keep apples from browning because it’s full of ascorbic acid and it has a low pH level. Ascorbic acid works because oxygen will react with it before it will react with the polyphenol oxidase. I know this may sound like chemistry class but it helps to explain why you need to used a little lemon juice to keep the chopped apples looking fresh until you add them into the batter. If you chop the apples right before adding them to the batter you may not need lemon juice, but I would err on the side of caution.

I used two gala apples in this recipe. That produced 3 cups of chopped apples. It takes some time to peel, core and chop the apples. Even if you plan on adding them immediately, the first pieces you chopped may still start to turn brown. The browning process can happen rather quickly. Better to sprinkle a little lemon juice over the apples so you don’t have to worry. Besides lemon juice, lime juice or cranberry juice can also generally be used to stop browning. But be aware of the flavors you might be adding into your cake. For this recipe lemon juice is the best flavor choice.

Also be aware that sprinkling lemon juice on apples will not eliminate the browning process completely. Once the lemon juice has evaporated, the apples will begin to brown as the oxygen will then begin to work on the enzymes the apple produces once it is cut. Adding a little lemon juice is designed to be a short term but very effective fix. (I used about half the juice from half a small lemon on the chopped apples).

cakecollage

Lesson Learned 3 – Do not make the frosting until the cake is completely cooled: I have to admit this is very delicious frosting. It’s really more of a thick glaze. The downside is the frosting sets very quickly. So, don’t make the frosting until you are ready to immediately drizzle it over the cooled cake. That way the frosting won’t set and too quickly you’ll get the results you see in the picture below.

IMG_5250

Lesson Learned 4 – For more flavor, you can toast the pecans before adding them to the batter and on top of the cake: Just place them in a non stick pan on the stove and heat them. Remember, nuts can burn quickly so as soon as you smell them take them off of the heat.

My husband almost single handedly ate this entire cake. He loved this one. Try it and let me know what you think…

Apple Cream Cheese Cake…

  • Servings: 12=14
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:IMG_5284

Cream Cheese Filling

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. vanilla

Cake

1 cup finely chopped pecans, plus some for garnish

3 cups flour, plus 2-3 Tbs. to dust the pan

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. allspice

3 large eggs, room temperature and slightly beaten

3/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups finely chopped apples (gala or granny smith)

1 tsp shortening to grease the pan

1/2 lemon squeezed for its juice to put on the chopped apple pieces

Praline Frosting

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3 Tbs. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. Set aside. Peel core and chop the apples into small pieces. Squeeze the lemon juice over the apples as you put them in a bowl. Stir to redistribute the lemon juice every time you add more chopped apples to the bowl. Set aside.

Using a non stick pan, heat the pecans on the stove until they become fragrant. Take off the heat and set aside.

To make the filling: Beat together the cream cheese, butter and sugar until well combined. Add the egg, flour and vanilla and beat until just combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and allspice. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Stir just until combined (the batter will be thick). Fold in the pecans and apples.

Spoon half the batter into the prepared bundt pan, evenly distributing the batter around the pan. Top with the cream cheese filling, leaving an inch border around the edge of the pan. Top with the remaining batter.

Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, invert the cake onto the wire rack and allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting: Combine the brown sugar, butter and milk in a saucepan. Over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil whisking continuously. Boil for 1 minute (keep whisking). Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Whisk the powdered sugar in a little at a time until the frosting is smooth. Immediately drizzle over cooled cake. Garnish with pecans.

IMG_5284

IMG_5317

Blueberry Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake…

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I needed something quick and easy that would use the blueberries I recently purchased. How about a coffee cake? I looked through various recipes in search of what I could adapt and found one that used ingredients I already had in the house. As with most baking recipes, I had to adapt the ingredients for high altitude (and I will include that in the recipe) but I also decided to add a cinnamon streusel topping to the coffee cake, and I can tell you that was the best accompaniment to the recipe. This coffee cake takes no time to put together and judging by how it was devoured when I took it to work, it’s a great way to have something homemade, sweet and delicious without a lot of fuss.

Here are my lessons learned when making this:

The correct consistency of the batter...

The correct consistency of the batter…

Lesson Learned 1 – Don’t be afraid to trust your gut: As I mentioned earlier, I adapted this from a recipe I found in a Taste Of Home magazine. I new I would have to adapt the recipe for high altitude, but I also think there may have been a misprint in the recipe as it did not, in my estimation, include enough milk. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of milk. When I added that, along with the butter and egg mixture, the batter was still very dry and even slightly powdery. I knew that wasn’t right. So I began adding more milk and testing the consistency of the batter. I suggest at sea level you start with 3/4 cup of milk and check the consistency of the batter. You can always add a little more but you can’t take it away.

Because I added 4 additional tablespoons of flour (2 for each cup, a standard high altitude adjustment) I knew I might have to add a little more milk. As it was I had to double the amount of milk (I used 1 cup) and that shouldn’t be the case. So I am writing the recipe with the suggestion of using 3/4 – 1 cup of milk. As you can see the cake turned out beautifully, but would not have if I didn’t make the adjustment and trust my gut. So don’t be afraid to adjust the milk if you think the batter doesn’t look right.

IMG_5071

The butter, sugar and egg mixture…

Lesson Learned 2 – The egg, milk and butter mixture will look lumpy, and that’s ok: I am including a picture of what the egg, milk and butter mixture looks like before you add it to the dry ingredients. It looks lumpy and that’s the butter. Don’t let that bother you. It is supposed to look that way. If you don’t want to drag out your hand mixer, you can actually combine all of these ingredients at one time by hand using a whisk, which is what I did. Just make sure the butter is at room temperature before you combine all of them. It won’t work if the butter is not soft. If you choose to use a hand mixer, beat the butter and egg together first and then add the milk. Either process will work.

The consistency of the streusel

The consistency of the streusel…

Lesson Learned 3 – Making a streusel: I’ve always struggled with making a streusel. Most recipes say to either use a pastry cutter and cut the cold butter into the flour, or use two knives and do the same thing. I’ve never mastered it with knives and it seemed that every time I used the pastry cutter the butter would just stick to the blades. What I learned this time is, with patience, (what a concept) the pastry cutter actually works. The first few times I had to scrape the butter off the blades, but after a short while the butter became more incorporated into the flour and soon I was cutting the butter into the flour and got the desired pea-sized consistency necessary for a good streusel. So be patient. It actually works.

If you want something sweet that is quick and easy to make this is the recipe for you. Enjoy!

Blueberry Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS: 

2 cups flour (plus 4 Tbs. for high altitude)

3/4 cup sugar (2/3 cup for high altitude)

2 Tbs. baking powder (1 Tbs. for high altitude)

1/4 tsp. salt

1 extra large or jumbo egg, room temperature

3/4 – 1 cup milk (start with smaller amount and add more if needed)

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2/3 cup fresh blueberries (if using frozen add to batter frozen)

2/3 cup pecans, chopped

Vegetable shortening to grease the pan

1/2 tsp. flour for dusting the blueberries (if using fresh blueberries)

CINNAMON STREUSEL TOPPING:

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbs. ground cinnamon

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup cold butter, cubed.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 9 x 9 baking pan with shortening. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Slowly add small portions of additional milk to the batter if the the consistency of the batter appears too dry.

Dust the fresh blueberries with a small amount of flour and stir until the berries are slightly coated. Fold the blueberries and pecans into the batter. Spread batter into the prepared pan.

For the streusel, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon into a bowl. Cube the cold butter and cut it into the flour/sugar mixture until the mixture reaches a pea-sized consistency. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter.

Bake 35 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for at least one half hour. Cut and serve.

Coming out of the oven...

Coming out of the oven…

Blueberry Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake...

Blueberry Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake…

Servings suggestion: With a dollop of whipped cream dusted with cinnamon sugar...

Servings suggestion: With a dollop of whipped cream dusted with cinnamon sugar…

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 8 Comments

Ok, I promise I won’t inundate you with bundt cake recipes, but since I’ve not had a bundt cake pan for years and just recently bought one I simply had to have one more go at it right away. This time I tried to make a chocolate cake, not only to test the pan again but to also foray into the world of making chocolate ganache. I learned some really interesting things along the way making this recipe and I want to share them with you.

Bundt pan dusted with cocoa powder...

Bundt pan dusted with cocoa powder…

Lesson Learned 1: Dusting the bundt pan with cocoa powder instead of flour: As I mentioned in a previous post, it is imperative to take the time to grease and flour a bundt cake pan in order for the cake to come out cleanly and beautifully. You cannot skimp on this step. When I grease a bundt pan I use unsalted vegetable shortening but this time instead of dusting it with flour I dusted the pan with cocoa powder. To be honest, I’m not sure I would do it again for a couple of reasons.  First, I found it very difficult to remove the excess cocoa powder from the pan much more so than removing excess flour. It seemed like not matter how hard I tapped the pan or slightly dropped it on my butcher block the cocoa powder would not dislodge to the degree I wanted. It definitely left a heavier coating in the pan. That’s not necessarily bad, but remember cocoa powder on its own has a bitter taste and that dusting will somewhat remain on the outside of the baked cake. If you dust the pan with cocoa powder you should frost the cake. That way none of the taste of raw cocoa powder will come through. If you decide to finish off your cake by sprinkling the top with powdered sugar then dust the bundt pan with flour.

Baked cake from pan dusted with cocoa powder...

Baked cake from pan dusted with cocoa powder…

Second, I’m not sure I liked the look of the cake when I removed it from a pan dusted with cocoa powder. As you can see from the picture, the cake had, at least it seemed to me, an odd sort of matted look. I’m thinking that if I dusted the pan with flour, the cake would have looked more chocolatey brown versus looking like it had been sprayed with a light dulling lacquer. Also when I touched the cake, a darkish film would come off on my finger – I’m thinking that was a result of the combination of shortening and cocoa powder. I was not too fond of that. But, don’t get me wrong, none of this affected the tasted of the cake. The frosted cake was delicious and you could not taste the cocoa powder in anyway. I just thought I would try something a little more out of the ordinary, and though I was not 100% delighted with dusting the pan with cocoa powder, I still think this was one of the best chocolate bundt cakes I ever made!

Lesson Learned 2 – This recipe makes a lot of batter: This recipe is designed for a 15 cup bundt pan so be prepared for that. If you don’t have that large of a pan (mine is a 12 cup pan) then you will need to think of other ways to use the remaining batter. Because this recipe uses 5 eggs it rises a lot, so don’t fill your pan more than three quarters full or the batter will drip over the sides. You can do a couple of things with the rest of the batter. You can make cupcakes or you can make a small loaf cake. I chose to make a small loaf cake putting the remaining batter in a 5 x 3 x 1 mini loaf pan. I just sprayed that pan with baking spray and baked it with the bundt cake. The cake took 70 minutes to bake (remember I am at high altitude so it takes longer sometimes – at sea level you can probably bake it for 60-65 minutes) and the loaf pan took 45 minutes.

IMG_4871Lesson Learned 3 – Making chocolate ganache: This was my first attempt ever at making chocolate ganache and I have to admit I should have researched it a little more before I made it. I found a process in one recipe and used it. And although the ganache turned out ok, it was not as silky as I would have wanted it. Then someone suggested I check out YouTube and I found a process I thought was better. I made my ganache over a double boiler, melting the chocolate and butter together and then adding heavy cream that has almost come to a boil and then combining the ingredients. The result is what you see in the pictures.

The Ganache...

The Ganache…

Next time I make ganache I will use the process I learned on YouTube. It is very simple. Just put your chocolate in a bowl and heat heavy cream until it’s just about ready to boil. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate and let the chocolate and cream sit for two minutes. Do not touch it. After 2 minutes stir to combine. Then add about a tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt. Stir and then frost. I think the texture will be smoother and silkier making the ganache that way.  I think my ganache was a little too thick but considering it was the first time I ever made it I think I did ok. It tasted wonderful, I just wanted it to be more glaze-like and smooth. And if you have any ideas on how to make the perfect ganache, I am all ears!

Lesson Learned 4 – Never quit trying: I almost didn’t post this recipe because I was not pleased with the way the ganache turned out. And then I thought, wait a minute, isn’t this blog not only about recipe successes but also things I learned along the way while making recipes? From my experience, the only way you learn is by trying. I don’t know of any cook or baker who has not had failures in the kitchen. And although the ganache wasn’t exactly a failure, it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. But hopefully what I am sharing when I post recipes will help minimize any slips ups you have when trying them and get you to success a lot quicker. To me, that is the purpose of this blog – to help those, like me, who never had anyone to mentor them and had to learn many things in the kitchen the hard way. And I have a feeling there are a lot of people like us out there, but just afraid to admit it.

Since I made two bundt cakes within the timeframe of one week I had a lot of cake around the house. So I brought most of this cake to work yesterday. Within a couple of hours it was gone. Only a few chocolate crumbs remained on the plate in the break room. So no matter if your ganache is beautiful or not, in the end the only thing that really matters is the taste. And I’ll clue you in on a little secret – this cake tastes divine!

Here is the recipe as well as the adjustments I had to make for high altitude. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake…

  • Servings: 12-16
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:

1 cup cocoa powder, (more if you dust the pan with it – otherwise use 1 Tbs. of flour)

1 Tbs. unsalted vegetable shortening for greasing the cake pan

7 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped finely

1 cup boiling water

2 1/4 cups flour (plus 4 Tbs. for high altitude)

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda (1 tsp. for high altitude)

1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar (2 1/8 cups for high altitude)

5 eggs, room temperature and slightly beaten

1 Tbs. prepared coffee, room temperature

4 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup high altitude)

1/8 cup flour for coating the chocolate chips

Ganache:

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

1 Tbs. butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

A pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour the bundt pan. Set aside.

Combine the cocoa powder and chocolate. Add the boiling water and whisk until blended and smooth. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (at least one minute). Add the brown sugar and beat until blended. Increase the mixer speed and beat until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time and beat until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and coffee and beat until combined.

Reduce the speed of the mixer and add the flour and sour cream in three additions beginning and ending with the flour. Pour in the chocolate, cocoa mixture and beat until the there is no light color in the batter. Combine the flour and chocolate chips and, by hand, fold the chocolate chips into the batter.

Pour the batter into the pan being careful not to fill it more than 3/4 full. Bake for 60-70 minutes (70 minutes high altitude) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 15 – 20 minutes (I cooled mine for 20 minutes). Invert the pan onto the wire rack and lift off the pan.

Let the cake cool for at least 1 hour before frosting.

FROSTING:

Put the chocolate chips into a heat resistant bowl. Heat the heavy cream until almost boiling. Pour the heavy cream over the chips and let that mixture stand without touching it for two minutes. After two minutes stir the mixture until the chocolate and cream are combined and smooth. Add the butter and salt and stir to combine. Immediately pour over the cooled cake.

The cake batter...

The cake batter…

The cake right out of the oven...

The cake right out of the oven…

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake...

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake…

Cherry Vanilla Yogurt Bundt Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

I haven’t made a bundt cake in a long, long time. Every time I think of a bundt cake, I remember the scene from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” when the Millers bring a bundt cake to the Portocalus family dinner and Toula’s mother Maria doesn’t have a clue what “bundt” means. That was some pretty funny stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPvO53JHnmY

IMG_4659What I like about bundt cake molds are their artistry. They give a professional look to any recipe with very little effort. In recent years they’ve gotten fancy with bundt molds, from rose designs to vertical swirls, to picture cut outs that can define the top of the cake. I personally prefer the traditional bundt mold as its designed to allow glaze to fall down the sides of the cake in beautiful uniformity. With the newer molds if you glaze them you basically cover up the design. So all you can put on them and still see the design is powdered sugar. Dusting a cake with powdered sugar is fine, but I like to have a couple of options for decorating rather than being held to just one. 

This recipe is adapted from one I found on Pinterest. I had to adapt it to high altitude (and I’ll include both sea level and high altitude instructions). I also used frozen cherries instead of fresh (as cherries are not in season yet) and will explain what I discovered about doing that in my lessons learned. I have to admit I was surprised at how beautiful the cake turned out. I haven’t made a bundt cake in a long time. But I will definitely be making more in the future. Try this one, I think you will really enjoy it!

IMG_4577Lesson Learned 1 – What to think about when using frozen fruit: I’ve used frozen fruit before in recipes and normally if they’re smaller in size, like blueberries, I add them frozen. That way you don’t have to mix them with flour to ensure they will evenly distribute throughout the batter. But this particular recipe originally called for fresh cherries pitted and diced. Cherries are not in season now so all I had to work with were frozen ones. If you use frozen cherries, dice thaw and drain them first. Otherwise you will have huge pieces in the cake. Make sure you drain them well as they give off a lot of moisture. I would do this about an hour or so before making the cake to ensure you are getting out as much moisture as possible before putting them into the batter. Dice them while they are frozen and let them drain after that. It worked great as you can see by the pictures.

Lesson Learned 2 – Adapting for high altitude: This may not apply to many of you, but living in an area over 5,000 feet I’ve learned a few tricks, out of necessity, to make sure baked goods turn out as intended. In high altitude the air pressure is lower. The lower pressure causes baked goods to rise more easily and liquids to evaporate more quickly. If adjustments are not made to recipes, cakes can turn out dry or fall in on themselves due to the cell walls of the cake stretching (due to the lower pressure) until they burst. I can tell you from experience, I’ve had many, many disasters related to baking in high altitude.

In high altitude, flour acts as a strengthener in cakes. So I normally use only high altitude flour and add 1 – 2 tablespoons of additional flour per cup. In this recipe I only had to use 2 additional tablespoons of flour total. Sugars and fats act as tenderizers and need to be slightly reduced in recipes. Normally I reduce sugar by 1 – 2 tablespoons per cup, which I did in this case. And I always use extra large to jumbo sized eggs as they add strength to the batter. Sounds complicated I know, but once you’re faced with doing it on a regular basis you get use to it and to the point where you can eyeball a good batter consistency.  This particular cake turned out beautifully by adding 2 additional tablespoons of flour and reducing the sugar by 2 tablespoons per cup.

IMG_4601Lesson Learned 3 – The importance of greasing and flouring the bundt pan: Take the time needed to thoroughly grease and flour the bundt pan. This is a little more time consuming than it might look as there are more nooks and crannies than you may think. But take the time, make sure every area is well coated with grease (I used unsalted vegetable shortening), wipe away the excess and flour the bottom, walls and inside flute completely (as seen in the picture). Once I finished I took the pan and held it about an inch over my butcher block and dropped it. I repeated this process a couple of times. By doing this I was able to dislodge and discard any large amounts of flour remaining resulting in a nice even coating of shortening and flour. The cake dislodged beautifully (and easily) as you can see. This is a very important step so don’t skimp on this process.

Lesson Learned 4 – Using heavy cream in a glaze: Many glaze recipes are made with milk, water or juice. I like to add some heavy cream to the glaze. I find it gives the glaze a richer consistency. With this glaze I used 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of milk. That may sound like a lot, but the heavy cream does not dilute the sugar in the same way as milk. I needed to add a little more milk the get the consistency I desired. Start out by using only 1 tablespoon of milk and check the consistency of the glaze before you add more.

I was so pleased with how this cake turned out. It not only tasted good but looked like it had been made by a professional baker. So if you want a great cake and want to impress your friends as well, this is definitely the one to make!

IMG_4695

Cherry Vanilla Yogurt Bundt Cake…

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups of flour, divided (add 2 additional Tbs. for high altitude)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups sugar (reduce by 2 Tbs. per cup for high altitude)

3 extra large to jumbo eggs, room temperature

1 Tbs. vanilla

8 ounces vanilla Greek yogurt

8 ounces frozen cherries, diced, thawed and drained

ALMOND TOPPING:

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 tsp. sugar

1 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

GLAZE:

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbs. heavy cream

1 Tbs. milk (may need more depending on consistency)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease and flour a 10-12 cup bundt cake pan. Set aside.

Sift together 2 1/2 cup flour, baking soda and salt. Using a stand mixer beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and incorporate completely. Beat in the vanilla.

Alternate adding the flour and yogurt to the butter mixture, starting and ending with adding flour. Do not over mix. Take cherries and toss with 1/4 cup flour. Gently fold the cherries into the cake batter until evenly distributed.

In another small bowl, stir together the almonds, sugar and melted butter. Scatter this mixture evenly on the bottom of the bundt pan. Pour the cake batter over the almond mixture dispersing it evenly in the pan. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake for 15 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and cool completely.

Mix together the glaze ingredients until smooth and drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.

The Consistency Of The Batter With The Frozen Cherries Incorporated...

The Consistency Of The Batter With The Frozen Cherries Incorporated…

Put The Almond Mixture Evenly In The Bottom Of The Pan...

Put The Almond Mixture Evenly In The Bottom Of The Pan…

Distribute The Batter Evenly In The Cake Pan...

Distribute The Batter Evenly In The Cake Pan…

Cool Completely Before Glazing...

Cool Completely Before Glazing…

design

Strawberry & Raspberry Crumb Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 4 Comments

I am loving the fact that I’m at the point where I’m not afraid to experiment with recipes or afraid to make changes in them if something just doesn’t look right. And that is the story of this recipe.

I had some strawberries that were in my refrigerator for a while and I wanted to use them before they went bad. So I started researching recipes and found one for strawberry crumb bars. I basically had all of the ingredients so I decided to try the recipe.

The original recipe called for 4 cups of chopped strawberries. After chopping up what I had I found I only had 3 cups. My initial thought was to go to the store to get more strawberries. Then I remembered I had a container of raspberries in the refrigerator as well. So I thought, maybe I’ll just chop those up and combine the two berries.

Image

Now this may sound silly, but this was a big leap for me. In the past I’ve not been one to stray from recipes or tweak them in any way. But I thought, what the heck. I cooked with raspberries before. What harm could it do to combine the two. And so I did.

The original recipe also called for only one beaten egg when making the crust/crumble. When I added one beaten egg, the dry mixture still resembled dry dusty flour. I knew the consistency of crust/crumbles should be dough-like and should somewhat hold together when you squeeze it in your hand. No such luck with only using one egg. So I added another beaten egg and the consistency still wasn’t right. I added a third and finally got the correct consistency. Doing this was huge for me. In the past I would just have gone along with the recipe and wound up with a baking disaster. This time I followed my gut and my baking knowledge and wound up with a great result. So here are my lessons learned on this fabulous recipe:

Lesson Learned 1 – Trust Your Gut: As I mentioned earlier I would always follow recipes to the letter and never deviate even if something did not look right. Now I have to put in a big caveat here. Baking is very different from cooking. Your chances of making a mistake when playing around with the ingredients when baking are much higher but in this case, especially with the crust/crumble, I knew that if the dough did not somewhat stick together when I squeezed it, it would not produce the desired results. But I was also careful. I only added in one beaten egg at a time and with the third egg I put it in a little at a time just to make sure that I wasn’t adding too much. My advice on this recipe is to use two extra large to jumbo sized eggs or three regular sized eggs. Don’t dump them in all together. Put them in one at a time and check the consistency of the dough before you add more. Once the dough somewhat sticks together when you squeeze it, you’re done.

Lesson Learned 2 – This Recipe Can Be Made With Various Berry Combinations: In my case it was strawberries and raspberries but you can make this with raspberries and blueberries or strawberries and blueberries or blackberries and strawberries or whatever combination of berries you have on hand that can be baked. Just make sure you have four cups of berries because you’ll need that amount to adequately cover the top of the cake. Also make sure to try to cut the berries into equal sized pieces. And use caution when combining them with the sugar and cornstarch. Use a folding technique rather than a stirring technique so you don’t overly bruise or rip apart the berries.

IMG_4480Lesson Learned 3 – The Importance of Using Cold Butter: In order to get a flaky crumb crust/crumble the butter needs to be very cold when mixing it with the dry ingredients. Many recipes will tell you to use a pastry cutter or two knives and cut the butter into the dry mixture until the butter is a pea-shaped size. I never seem to have any luck with that process so what I did was put the dry ingredients in a food processor add the cold butter pieces and pulse all of it together to get the consistency you see in the picture to the right. Two things to keep in mind – 1: Cut the butter the very first thing and put it back into the refrigerator while you prepare the berries and dry ingredients. That way the butter will be as cold as it can possibly be when you cut it into the dry ingredients. 2: If using a food processor to incorporate the butter, hold a towel over the opening so that as you pulse you don’t get a cloud of flour coming out the top of your food processor.

Other than these few lessons learned this recipe couldn’t be easier to make and the end result is one truly delicious crumb cake. Enjoy!

Strawberry & Raspberry Crumb Cake…

  • Servings: 16
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sugar for the dough

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cold butter cut into pieces

2-3 beaten eggs (extra large or jumbo size start with 2)

4 cups berries cut in evenly sized pieces (I used 3 cups strawberries & 1 cup raspberries)

1/3 cup sugar for berries

4 tsp. corn starch

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease  9 x 13 pan and set aside. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a food processor. Hold a towel over the opening of the processor and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter pieces and pulse the mixture until the butter is the size of peas. Remove the mixture from the food processor and put into a large bowl. Add a beaten egg one at a time and stir it into the mixture. (If the consistency is correct after adding two eggs, don’t add a third). The dough is of the right consistency if it sticks together when you take a handful and squeeze it.

Take half of the dough and put it in the bottom of the prepared pan and pat it down. Carefully fold together the berries, sugar and cornstarch. Spread berries on top of the dough. Crumble the remaining dough on top of the berries.

Bake for 45 – 50 minutes. Let cake cool before slicing.

Cut The Berries Into Evenly Sized Pieces...

Cut The Berries Into Evenly Sized Pieces…

Press Dough Into The Bottom Of The Pan...

Press Dough Into The Bottom Of The Pan…

Spread The Berry Mixture Over The Dough...

Spread The Berry Mixture Over The Dough…

Crumble The Remaining Dough Over The Berries...

Crumble The Remaining Dough Over The Berries…

Bake And Enjoy...

Bake And Enjoy…

Cranberry Christmas Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 5 Comments

I know we still have three weeks until Thanksgiving, but I am already testing some recipes for the holidays. I was intrigued by tIMG_1508his one because it only has 6 ingredients and the most labor intensive part of making it is beating the eggs and sugar for 5-7 minutes. I can handle that. Plus the cake uses one of my all-time favorite holiday ingredients, cranberries. This recipe is perfect for the novice baker who may not have confidence in the kitchen but wants to make a lasting impression with his/her confection creating skills. You can’t fail with this one, trust me!

Recipe Rating: A+ This recipe is so easy to make and so delicious. It reminds me of a cranberry coffee cake. I actually was going to take the entire 9 x 13 pan with me to work, but my husband wouldn’t hear of it. He suggested that I only take such a small portion of it that I decided just to keep the whole cake at home. Needless to say, half of it was gone in the first day and I didn’t have one bite. It must have been those darn Christmas elves raiding the kitchen again!

The consistency of the sugar and eggs...

The consistency of the sugar and eggs…

Lesson Learned 1- Beat the sugar and eggs for 5-7 minutes: Don’t skimp on the time – this step is very important. You will notice that there are no “traditional” leavening agents in the ingredients. In this recipe the eggs act as the leavening agent so it is important to beat them with the sugar for a long time. I actually thought I got the desired consistency at about 6 minutes but I let the mixer run for an additional minute just to make sure. The mixture should actually double in size and form ribbons when you lift the paddle out of it.

Lesson Learned 2 – Weighing the flour: One cup of flour is 125 grams. I have taken to weighing flour in my baking as I’ve found that I use too much when I don’t, even if I aerate it before I scoop it out. If you don’t have a kitchen scale just make sure you at least aerate the flour before you scoop it. Flour can compact when it settles and if you don’t weigh or aerate it you will wind up using far too much resulting in a tough cake. For this recipe I used the high altitude trick of adding two additional tablespoons of flour to the called-for amount. The batter baked perfectly. If you are not at high altitude, don’t add the additional flour.

The Finished Batter

The Finished Batter

Lesson Learned 3 – The batter will be thick: The consistency of the batter will be quite thick making it slightly challenging to spread evenly throughout the 9 x 13 pan. Once you’ve spread it, take the pan over a hard surface (I used my wooden butcher block for this – if you don’t have a wooden surface you should consider using a dishtowel over another hard surface to soften the impact so as not to crack your dish) and lift it up about a half inch (not any more – you don’t want to break the pan) and drop it. Do this a couple of times. This will help the batter settle and even out any areas that you may have missed.

Lesson Learned 4 – Dust the cranberries with a little bit of flour: Even though this cake isn’t very thick, you still want to dust the cranberries with a little bit of flour before putting them in the batter. Doing this helps the berries to distribute evenly in the baking process versus all of them falling to the very bottom. Just take about a tablespoon of flour and put it on top of the cranberries. Then with your hands mix the flour throughout. You will wind up with some flour on the bottom of the bowl. No need to add that into the cake. Just make sure all the cranberries have a light dusting. If you use frozen cranberries you can skip this step. Just don’t thaw them before adding them to the batter.

IMG_1539

In my estimation this is the perfect holiday recipe. Not only does it exude the colors of the season it is so simple to make. You don’t even have to cut up the cranberries. The longest part of the preparation is beating the eggs and sugar. And with little effort you get a delightfully delicious cake. You can certainly make this any time during the year, but for me this one screams Christmas. ‘Tis the season! Enjoy.

IMG_1662

Cranberry Christmas Cake

  • Servings: 24 Small Squares
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups of sugar (slightly less for high altitude)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups (250 grams) of flour (plus 2 Tbs. for high altitude)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 12oz package of fresh cranberries (if using frozen cranberries do not thaw)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. With a mixer beat the eggs and sugar for 5-7 minutes until slightly thickened and light in color. (the mixture should almost double in size). Add the butter and vanilla and mix for another 2 minutes. (It is important to try to get the butter to blend as smoothly as possible. There may be some very small lumps and that is ok but beat out the large ones (this is why it is so important to have the butter completely softened before doing this part of the process).

By hand, stir in the flour until just combined. Add the cranberries and stir until they are dispersed throughout the batter.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake is lightly browned.  Cool completely before slicing.

Right Out Of The Oven...

Right Out Of The Oven…

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Apple Walnut Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis Leave a comment

Well, apple season is just about over for me. By that I mean I am no longer getting bags and bags of apples from my neighbor. All in all it’s been a great season. During it I finally made a decent apple pie, ventured into making my first batch of homemade applesauce, and had fun experimenting with some different apple desserts.

My final apple recipe for the season is an apple walnut cake. I found a basic recipe that I edited for my tastes and wound up with a delightful loaf cake.

The batter...

The batter…

Recipe rating: A- This is a very flavorful cake. I gave it a minus because I had to adjust the baking time to two times longer than what was called for in the original recipe. I read some of the reviews of the original recipe online and decided, as one person mentioned, to bake this in an 8×4 versus a 9×5 pan. There was no mention that doing this significantly changed the baking time. The person writing the review said she wanted a more compact loaf that would give taller slices. That’s what I wanted as well. The only other adjustments I made was adding some additional cinnamon and some walnuts. I was really surprised that it took so long to bake (an hour). Just keep that in mind if you decide to make this. Is it worth the baking time? Definitely, yes!

Lesson Learned 1- Cut the apples into small chunks: This recipe calls for only one apple so make sure you either get a decent sized one or you can use two small apples. I used a medium/large granny smith apple when making this recipe and I had more than enough. You want to cut the apple into small chunks so they will cook completely. I drizzled a little bit of lemon juice over my apple chunks to keep them from turning brown before I could add them to the cake batter.

IMG_1204Lesson Learned 2 – Get down and dirty when you swirl the batter: The process for making this recipe is similar to any boxed sweet bread you buy, that being you add half the mixture to the bottom of the pan, add the apples and brown sugar mixture, add the rest of the batter and put the remaining apple and brown sugar mixture on top. Then you’re supposed to either swirl the batter with a knife or your finger. Forget the knife – it will not do the trick. Stick your finger (clean of course) down deep into the batter and really swirl it around. The apples require a little elbow grease to move them. I have struggled with this swirling technique with many cakes and finally using my finger, going deep into the batter and using a little bit of strength I finally got the results I wanted. Don’t waste your time with a knife. Use your finger and don’t be afraid to really get down into the batter and swirl it.

Lesson Learned 3 – Don’t be afraid to adjust the amount of cinnamon: I really like the flavor of apples and cinnamon and I really like the cinnamon flavor to be pronounced. The original recipe called for 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. I used two and it tasted divine. You wind up swirling the cinnamon and brown sugar through the cake at the end. I just don’t think 1 teaspoon is enough to get a nice blend of cinnamon throughout the entire cake.

This is another great Fall apple recipe. It is very easy to mix – just be aware that it may take longer to bake then anticipated. As with any other cake, it is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy this one!

Apple Walnut Cake

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 extra large room temperature eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1 3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 large apple peeled and chopped

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8 x 4 loaf pan. (If using a professional grade non-stick pan like I do there is no need to do this). Mix brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside. Peel and core the apple. Chop into small pieces. Drizzle pieces with a small amount of lemon juice and stir to make sure all pieces are coated. Set aside.

Beat sugar and butter together until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla extract.

Sift together flour and baking powder. Stir into butter mixture. Add the milk and mix until the batter is smooth. Stir in the chopped walnuts.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Put half of the apple pieces on top and pat them into the batter. Sprinkle with half of the brown sugar mixture. Pour in the remaining batter and top with the rest of the apples and brown sugar mixture. Using your finger, swirl the apples and brown sugar mixture throughout the batter making sure to go deep into the pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

 IMG_1247

acake

Apple Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

youbetchcanmakethis Leave a comment

The other day I opened my front door and lo and behold a bag of apples magically appeared on my porch. My neighbor across the street has apple trees in his backyard and was nice enough to share a bag of them with us. I had no idea what type of apples they were but when I tasted one I knew it would lend itself to baking. But what to make – applesauce, apple crisps, apple streusel – the possibilities were endless.

IMG_0273I decided to make an apple cake that is really a combination of two recipes that I found on Pinterest. One intrigued me because of the spices and the other because it included pecans. So why not just take the best out of both recipes and make a new one, right? Well, surprisingly it worked out even better than I thought it would.

RECIPE RATING: A+ The cake came out great. The apples were moist but not mushy and the spices complimented the apples perfectly. The next time I make this I may add a little more cinnamon but as written it is still a fabulous cake. I took most of it to work and it was gone in less than an hour. The cream cheese frosting was a great compliment to the cake.

It’s Fall, there are plenty of apples out there – so don’t wait – you’ve just got to try this one!

LESSON LEARNED 1- Don’t be afraid to experiment: I say this with a caveat. Remember that baking is not like cooking. The amounts need to be relatively exact for the end result to be good. Eyeballing it is simply not recommended for baking. You must measure your ingredients. Experiment wisely.

That being said, when I was searching for recipes I found two apple cake recipes that basically had the same proportions for the main ingredients (flour, sugar, oil) but had different spices. I decided to used the main ingredients from one (it used two eggs instead of three) and I also added the spices from the other (cinnamon and allspice). One of the recipes only had vanilla as a spice and I just could not imagine baking apples without cinnamon and allspice. So I borrowed the spices from one recipe and incorporated it into the other while eliminating the vanilla (although I imagine you could put that in as well). It worked like a charm.

IMG_0277LESSON LEARNED 2 – Cut the apples into small pieces: I learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago. If you cut the pieces too big they won’t cook and the cake won’t taste as good. Cut them into nice small pieces and they will cook beautifully, moist but not mushy, within the allotted time. Also, make sure you peel the apples. Tough apple peels in a cake just don’t cut it in my estimation.

LESSON LEARNED 3: Use lemon juice to keep your apples from turning brown: This recipe calls for three cups of diced apples which takes a little time to prepare. During that time if you don’t sprinkle them with some lemon juice they will begin to turn brown. In order to avoid that take either some fresh or bottled lemon juice and sprinkle it sparingly on top of the apples. Stir the apples so that the lemon juice is incorporated thoroughly. You may have to do this process a couple of times because of the amount of apples but you need just a little lemon juice to keep the apples from browning.

LESSON LEARNED 4: Keep your nuts fresh by putting them in the freezer: Let’s face it nuts are expensive. Rarely do I finish a package of nuts in a recipe. I used to keep the leftover package in my pantry until the next time I needed them and then wondered why they tasted funky when I went to use them. I found out along the way that nuts have oil in them and if you don’t freeze them they will become rancid. Freezing leftover nuts makes them last much longer. And because they are frozen you don’t have to be dust them with flour in order to incorporate them throughout the batter.

IMG_0291LESSON LEARNED 5 – The batter will be thick:  I was actually surprised to see the thickness of this batter. You will need to spread it to fill a 9×13 pan. Make sure you spread it evenly and get it into all the corners.

This is a perfect Fall recipe. The cake is moist and flavorful and the cream cheese frosting is to die for. One of my co-workers said that he could just eat the frosting it was that good. If you try this one I’m sure it will become a Fall staple in your home.

A friend of mine also gave me a recipe for apple chips. I think I may try that as well. What is your favorite apple recipe?

 

[recipe: title=”Apple Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting” servings=”16-20″ time=”75 Minutes Including Prep” difficulty=”Easy”]

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice

3 cups chopped apples

1 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp. vanilla (optional)

lemon juice to coat the diced apples

FROSTING:

1 package cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla

dash of heavy cream (you can substitute with milk)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan (you can also use cooking spray). Peel and dice apples. Put a dash of lemon juice on them to prevent browning. Combine oil and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. Add vanilla if desired. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Add dry ingredients incrementally into wet ingredients until combined.

Fold in pecans and apples. Spread in prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before adding frosting. (about 2 hours).

For the frosting: Sift powdered sugar. Beat sugar and cream cheese until combined. Add dashes of heavy cream until you get your desired consistency. (I prefer heavy cream to milk and I feel it gives a thicker, more lush frosting). Spread on top of cake. Enjoy!

[/recipe]

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Lemon Raspberry Loaf Cake

youbetchcanmakethis 2 Comments

August was quite a busy month with a lot of traveling and so I wasn’t able to make my goal of one new recipe a week last month. Now things have settled down a bit and I’m back in the saddle. This recipe I found on (you guessed it) Pinterest and it intrigued me especially since our local grocery store had quite the deal on fresh raspberries. The combination of lemon and raspberries is killer in my estimation and that made the choice even easier. So here is my recipe rating for a lemon raspberry loaf cake and lessons I learned while making it.

IMG_0135Recipe Rating – I’m conflicted so I will give it a range of B+ to A+. I know it’s a strange rating but I had to make this twice in order to get it right. The reason for the range is that I am just not sure whether the issue is how the recipe was written or the the challenges related to baking in high altitude. I will explain in my lessons learned.

Lesson Learned 1 – The flavor of this cake is awesome! The loaf fell in on me the first time I made it but I was determined to perfect the recipe because of the flavor. The cake is super delicious and I’m not kidding. If you love the flavors of raspberries and lemon you have to try this one. It is to die for!

The first try produced a caved in cake...

The first try produced a caved in cake…

Lesson Learned 2 – Cooking with raspberries (and blueberries for that matter) is tricky: I’m not sure whether this is a high altitude or a berry thing but with this recipe (and also with my lemon blueberry pound cake recipe), when I used the amount of berries called for in the recipe my cake either became a mushy mess or sunk in in the middle. Both times I had to reduce the amount of berries in order for the cake to turn out perfectly. Both types of berries tend to get wetter and mushier when you bake them so I am thinking that the proportion of berry to batter is really important in order for the cake to hold its shape and not cave in. If any of my readers have any insights on this, I would certainly appreciate it. The first time I made this cake I used one cup of raspberries as called for in the recipe and the cake fell apart in the middle. The second time I used 3/4 cup and the cake did not cave in. Hmmm……

Lesson Learned 3 – Adding some additional flour: When I use box mixes (which has become less and less these days) I always add two tablespoons of flour to adjust the mixture for high altitude. I did the same for this recipe and I think that along with adding slightly less raspberries prevented the cake from falling in.

Lightly flour the raspberries to prevent them from all falling to the bottom

Lightly flour the raspberries to prevent them from all falling to the bottom

Lesson Learned 4 – Flouring the raspberries: Shame on the original recipe. It did not tell you that you have to slightly flour fresh raspberries in order for them to evenly distribute themselves in a batter. If you don’t they’ll all sink to the bottom. If you use frozen raspberries you don’t need to flour them, but it is a must with fresh berries. This was the only flaw in this recipe but the flavor of the cake more than made up for it.

Lesson Learned 5 – Adjusting batter for the size of the loaf pan: Maybe part of my problem was that I used my 8×4 loaf pan when the original recipe called for using a 9×5 pan. I googled the adjustments and it was suggested that the 8×4 pan only have 4 cups of batter put into it a opposed to 6 cups of batter for a 9×5 pan. This recipe makes 4 cups of batter so I’m not sure the amount of the batter was an issue in this case. I definitely had to bake the loaf longer, an additional 15 minutes to be exact. The additional baking time did not hurt it and produced a nicely browned top.

IMG_0153Lesson Learned 6 – The wonder of lemon zest: Zest is one of the best ways to add flavor to a recipe. Lemon zest happens to be my favorite. Not only does it produce a rich lemony flavor but also a great lemony smell. Just make sure you are careful not to zest the lemon down to the white part, the pith, as that will give you a sour zest. To avoid that just move your zester two or three times over an area of the rind and then move on to another yellow part of the rind. Continue until you zest the entire lemon. In this recipe lemon zest provides flavor not only to the cake but to the glaze as well.

Lesson Learned 7 – The technique of folding: This recipe calls for folding in the greek yogurt and then gently folding in the raspberries. Folding is a technique whereby you use a large spoon (I use a wooden spoon) and gently turn over the batter from the bottom to the top, continuing that process in a circular motion until you’ve combined the ingredient(s) you need to fold into the batter. The purpose of folding is to gently combine ingredients and in some cases not to deflate the air out of an ingredient (such as a whipped cream or meringue). If you are not gentle with the raspberries they will break apart and you will wind up having a pink cake versus a white cake dotted with raspberries. Be careful at this point not to break up the raspberries but make sure they are evenly distributed throughout the batter before pouring the batter into the baking pan.

Even though this recipe took me two tries I would highly recommend it. The combination of lemons and raspberries produces a fabulous flavor and the use of lemon zest in the glaze punctuates it. Just beware it may not turn out right the first time and be comfortable with that.  I guarantee you, the flavor is worth getting it right. Let me know how yours turned out and any adjustments you needed to make to get it right. Enjoy!

Lemon Raspberry Loaf Cake

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

IMG_0225Loaf Cake:

1 1/2 cup flour (plus two heaping TBS. for high altitude)

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (reduce to 1 tsp for high altitude)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cup sugar (reduce by 1/8 cup for high altitude)

1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened

2 eggs, room temperature

3 TBS. lemon juice (you will need 2-3 lemons for this recipe depending on size)

1 heaping TBS. lemon rind

1/2 cup greek yogurt

3/4 cup fresh raspberries

Glaze:

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

3 TBS. lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind

A splash of heavy cream (you can use milk as a substitute)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease an 8×4 loaf pan and set aside.

In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar for at least 3-4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat until fully incorporated. Mix in lemon rind and lemon juice.

By hand, mix in the dry ingredients (do not use the electric mixer for this). Once combined, fold in the greek yogurt. After that, gently fold in the raspberries.

Bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cake stand in pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice, and heavy cream to make the glaze. Drizzle on top of cooled cake.

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Lemon Raspberry Loaf Cake

Lemon Raspberry Loaf Cake

 

The Saga of the Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 1 Comment

Let me start off by saying that even the most proficient of cooks isn’t always successful when trying new recipes. In this blog I prefer to post my recipe successes but there have been failures along the way, more than I can count I assure you. So I thought I’d dedicate this blog to a recent failure that eventually turned to triumph.

IMG_9293The nice thing about honing your skills as a cook is that your successes come more frequently. But every once in a while an attempt at making something is botched and you recognize it’s never good to get too smug about your culinary skills. Just this past week I botched a recipe – BIG TIME – and thought I would share that escapade with you. I call it the saga of the lemon pound cake.

It all began simply enough with my usual quest for that one new recipe I would make this week. Flipping through the various posts on (you guessed it) Pinterest I came across a recipe for lemon blueberry pound cake. I already have a recipe on this site for a lemon blueberry yogurt loaf  but thought I’d try this one as I had never made a pound cake before. The recipe seemed simple enough, the only difference being that it was written to make two loafs instead of one. Great, I thought, I can have one loaf for home and give one as a gift to an unsuspecting neighbor. I liked that idea. I had to purchase some disposable foil pans as I don’t have two professional grade loaf pans. No biggie, they’re certainly cheap enough. This should be a no brainer. WRONG!!!

The blueberry disaster...

The blueberry disaster…

OMG – that’s all I can say. The end result was awful on so many levels. My husband suggested that I take a picture of the disaster and post it in the blog for all to see. So here it is to the left – can you even believe it? It looks like a blueberry explosion! Of course in the picture the cake is upside down, but right side up it was no prize either. The cake never fully cooked, the blueberries took over the entire cake and to add insult to injury they all congregated at the bottom.  On top the cake had risen onto itself and created what I call a lap over effect on the edges as can be seen in the picture below . I’m not sure what causes that but I never get that effect when I use my good loaf pan. It must have something to do with the evenness of the temperature during the cooking process and the quality of the pan.

The distorted top with the cake folding over itself on the top and bottom edges

The distorted top with the cake folding over itself on the top and bottom edges

Needless to say, it was a total disaster. I haven’t had one this bad in a long time – just enough to keep me from getting too smug regarding my baking skills. I wound up having the throw both cakes away – they just were not salvageable. So why, you might ask, would I even try this recipe again? To be honest, although it looked bad and did not cook all the way through the part that did cook actually tasted pretty good. So I thought this actually could be a keeper recipe but it definitely needed an overhaul. I guess I wanted to see if I could fix what obviously was a broken mess. So the next day I put my delicate baking ego on the line and tried my hand at making the pound cake once again.

The second time I was successful but it took some manipulation of the recipe to achieve what was intended. In deference to the author of the recipe I will not mention the site where I found it. The recipe as originally written was horrific and, regardless of altitude considerations, I find it hard to believe that the proportions as written are correct (especially where the blueberries were concerned). What I decided to do was adjust the proportions to make one pound cake instead of two. I also significantly adjusted the amount of blueberries used in the loaf and the end result is I think what the author had intended when writing the recipe. So here are my lessons learned and recipe rating.

Recipe Rating: I have two ratings for this recipe, one for the original version and one for the version I created. The original version gets an F+. Although the overall flavor combinations were very good (meriting the + in the grade) there were far too many blueberries called for in the recipe. Blueberries expand and burst during the cooking process and the original amount created a blueberry nightmare (as can be seen in the picture above). My version created a cake that was nicely integrated with blueberries but was still primarily a cake and not a blueberry compote. My version gets an A.

Lesson Learned 1 – You only get what you pay for: My advice to anyone wanting to be successful in the kitchen is to use good kitchen equipment. From pots and pans to knives to baking sheets and loaf pans, I can tell you from experience you only get what you pay for. Professional grade equipment consistently produces professional results. My professional grade loaf pan cooks cake batter evenly, does not produce a batter layover effect and generally cooks in the allotted time or slightly less than the allotted time. I don’t have to use sprays or worry about greasing and flouring the pan, the cake always comes out cleanly after it has rested for 15 minutes. Do yourself a favor and invest in good kitchen equipment, it’s worth it!

IMG_9475Lesson Learned 2 – How to bake with blueberries: As I mentioned earlier, the original recipe for this pound cake called for way too many blueberries – 3 cups for two loafs to be exact. When I was measuring it I thought it was a lot, but I know that baking requires precision in order to be successful and so I followed the recipe as written. Big mistake. The cakes became 95% blueberries and 5% cake – the blueberries just took over.

And even though I dusted the blueberries with flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake, they still did. I think the amount of blueberries contributed to that. There simply was too many of them. Just keep in mind when baking with any fruit like blueberries, you need to coat them with flour so they evenly distribute themselves and don’t all sink the the bottom of the cake. I also read that if you use frozen blueberries (which in this case I did not) and incorporate them at the very end right out of the freezer they will evenly distribute as well without the use of flour. I’ll have to try that sometime and see if it works.

In this case, the smaller amount of blueberries dusted with flour before incorporating them into the batter did the trick. In my second attempt, the blueberries evenly distributed in the pound cake. The last tip with baking with blueberries or other fruit is to make sure you add them at the very end, right before putting the batter in the pan. Fold them in gently so that they don’t burst and create a blue cake. If you follow these simple tips you will be just fine.

Lesson Learned 3 – Creaming the butter and sugar – a common baking mistake: Most people do not cream the butter and sugar when baking, they simple combine them. Creaming takes a little more time than you would think and the end result is a mixture that is light in color and very soft and fluffy. Doing creaming correctly allows for all the added ingredients to incorporate themselves more completely and also creates a fluffier, moister cake. So next time spend an extra few minutes and do the creaming process correctly.

Creaming butter and sugar should produce this consistency...

Creaming butter and sugar should produce this consistency…

Lesson Learned 4 – The glaze: I’m not a big fan of glazes. For some reason they just don’t do it for me. But I like the glaze in this recipe. It complimented the cake and did not overpower it. I also felt the use of lemon zest as well as lemon juice made the flavor richer.

Even though the initial attempt to make this cake was a disaster, the second version was a big hit. After a few days there was absolutely none left. So try my version and see what you think. You can always double it to make two loaves, but be I would be careful about doubling the amount of blueberries. I would err on the side of caution and use less instead of more. You certainly don’t want to be left with a blueberry explosion!

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:IMG_9458

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

zest of half a lemon

1 extra large egg at room temperature

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 1/4 cup flour + 1 tsp. to dust the blueberries

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

LEMON GLAZE:

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs. lemon zest

1 Tbs. milk

1/4 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest. (3-5 minutes). Add egg and vanilla and beat an additional minute.

In a separate bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk to the butter mixture. Start and end with the dry ingredients and combine each addition thoroughly. Dust the blueberries with flour. Fold them into the batter until incorporated.

Grease and flour an 8 inch loaf pan if the pan is not non-stick. Pour in batter and smooth the top with a spatula.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (there may be some blueberry moisture on the toothpick). Let the loaf cool for 15 minutes and then remove it from the pan. Cool completely before adding the glaze.

To make the glaze: whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

Right Out Of The Oven

Right Out Of The Oven (notice no fold-overs)

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

 

 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake…

youbetchcanmakethis 1 Comment
Almost ready to go into the oven...

Almost ready to go into the oven…

So I was bored and thought, gosh I haven’t baked in a while. Let’s see what I already have in the house and make something. I got a new spring form pan for Christmas and hadn’t christened it yet. What’s the matter with me? Time to figure out a baking project…

So I perused my pantry and refrigerator and went off seeking the help of my trusted friend Pinterest and voila, it was decided – I’m making a strawberry cream cheese coffee cake. I found a recipe from a blog called joansfoodwonderings on blogspot. I had everything to make the cake and so I proceeded on my baking adventure. Here are my lessons learned along with my recipe rating.

Rating: A – this is a great recipe, a little time consuming to make but well worth the effort. It is not overly sweet and yet very flavorful. The dough reminded me of chocolate chip cookie dough as I could had eaten raw by the spoonfuls. Great recipe, a must try.

A slice - obviously in need of adjustment for high altitude but still delis...

A slice – obviously in need of adjustment for high altitude but still delish…

Lesson Learned 1: I have to get off my butt and get more proficient at high altitude baking. For some reasons some recipes I have mastered but when it comes to a few I just fail miserably. My failure on this one was not horrible – it’s just that I really need to get more proficient at adjusting these types of recipes for high altitude so my cakes don’t fall in. I know the basic rules namely decrease the leavening (baking powder), decrease the sugar (it weighs the mixture down, ergo the fall-in) and increase the liquid. I tried this recipe as is and it wound up falling in (as you can see from the picture to the right). Not sure why I didn’t try to adjust it but I’ve already decided that my next baking venture is going to be a cheesecake so I will definitely do some adjusting on that and see what happens. The challenge with high altitude baking is it can be such a guessing game from recipe to recipe and that gets a little frustrating. But it’s my reality. I will definitely try this one again with a few adjustments. Thank goodness it still tastes good – just not as pretty as I would like it to be. My goal is to adjust this recipe so it the cake continues to look the same way it does when it first comes out of the oven (see picture below). I know I can do it! The recipe I will give you is not adjusted for high altitude but provides some high altitude tips.

Lesson Learned 2: Make sure the strawberries you use are ripe. Mine were a little less ripe and I think that affects the overall sweetness the strawberries provide. You do add sugar to the strawberries when you cook them, but I think the sweetness of them would have been even richer had they been just a tad riper.

Lesson Learned 3: I seem to have a hard time creating a good crumb topping. I know you need to use cold butter and use either a pastry cutter or some other sharp utensil to cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture turns into course crumbs. For some reason I can’t seem to get the butter incorporated to the point that my mixture looks consistently like coarse crumbs. Some parts of it does, the other parts simply look like flour. I wound up not putting the entire mixture on top of the coffee cake, just the parts that resembled coarse crumbs. I’m glad I did. Otherwise the top of the cake would have had a large dusting of flour on it instead of a crumb topping. I have to figure out how to get better at this as well. Next time I think I’m going to try to do the combining in the food processor and see if that helps. If you have any tips, let me know as this has been a perennial issue for me.

Fresh Out Of The Oven

Fresh Out Of The Oven

 

As you can see from the picture above, the finished product (if it doesn’t fall in) is really a site to behold. I like this recipe because it is not overly sweet. Be careful not to overcook. The recipe called for baking from 50-55 minutes. I did 55 and the cake part was slightly overdone – again not awful but next time I’ll do 50 minutes. This recipe requires a lot of dishes to put together, but in the end I think it is worth it.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour

1 cup + 3 tsp. sugar, divided (high altitude consider using a light measure – i.e., not all the way to the top of the measuring cup)

1 stick cold butter

1/2 tsp baking powder (reduce for high altitude to 1/8)

1/2 tsp baking soda (reduce for high altitude to 1/8)

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup full fat sour cream

2 extra large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz. room temperature cream cheese

2 cups fresh strawberries cut into pieces

3 tsp water for slurry (high altitude consider adding 2-3 TBS of water – 1 TBS to the cream cheese mixture and 2 TBS to the cake batter)

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Begin by making the strawberry filling. Cut the strawberries into small pieces, put in a pot and add sugar. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes until strawberries release their juices. In the meantime combine 3 tsp. of water with the cornstarch and make a slurry (make sure you get the cornstarch completely combined with the water). Add to the strawberry mixture and continue to cook until the mixture thickens (a couple of minutes). Take off the stove to set aside and cool.

Next, make the cream cheese filling by first beating the cream cheese for about a minute until it becomes fluffy. Add 1/4 cup of sugar, egg, vanilla and 1 TBS water (only in high altitude). Beat until combined. Set aside.

To make the cake, combine the flour, 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup cold butter sliced into cubes. (I use a pastry cutter to initially slice the butter and it works very well). Cut the butter into the flour and sugar mixture (try using a food processor for this so that the mixture becomes more evenly combined) until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Take 3/4 cup of this mixture and set aside for the topping.

In a separate bowl beat the egg, sour cream and vanilla (and for high altitude add 2 Tbs. of water) until smooth. Using a spoon, combine the sour cream mixture with the remaining flour mixture until well combined. The batter will be thick and maybe slightly lumpy.

Line the bottom of a 8 inch springform pan with parchment paper. Spread the batter in the bottom of the pan and create a well by pushing the batter up 1/2 inch all around the edges of the pan. Pour the cream cheese mixture in the center of the well making sure that it does not go over the side of the batter edges. Spread the strawberry mixture on top of the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle the remaining crumble over the top of the cake.

Bake for 50-55 minutes. Let cake cool for at least a half hour before removing from the pan. At that point the cheese center will still be warm. Let the cake set for at least another hour before serving or put in the refrigerator to chill.

 

 

 

 

Mock Whipped Cream Frosting and Easter…

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Easter is such a strange holiday. I think it has an identity crisis. It doesn’t happen on the same date every year like other holidays, it can’t hold a candle to Christmas and it quite often gets lost in the shuffle of spring break. And for the life of me I can’t figure out why, but some of my most treasured memories are centered around Easter. My grandmother sitting on the back porch with windows wide open grating homemade horseradish, tears running down her face from the pungent root. The smell of vinegar as we prepared to color the Easter eggs. My grandmother bent over her sausage making machine attaching casings to it and using her breasts to push the lever that forced the sausage mixture into the casings. Peas and carrots sauteed in butter and cream and homemade bread, loaves with and without raisins.

Precious memories really but time marches on and traditions change. When my grandmother passed so did the days of homemade horseradish and sausage. The family grew older, spouses appeared on the scene and new traditions were born. And for me, the single most memorable new tradition became the making of the lamb cake. With an expanded family we now had two family dinners to attend and two lamb cakes were needed. They were lovingly made the day before, consisting of a boxed pound cake mix to construct the body and homemade mock whipped cream frosting for the lamb’s wool. The lamb was then dotted with coconut, adorned with a pink ribbon collar and placed on a beautiful platter surrounded by green Easter grass and multi-colored jelly beans. With my family it was given a place of honor on the table and was ceremoniously cut at dessert time. At my husband’s house, it was the battle of who could sneak in first and bite the head off the lamb. Initially I was appalled at the barbaric ritual but I eventually got used to the tradition and soon reveled in it.

Pound cake with mock whipped cream frosting

Pound cake with mock whipped cream frosting

And time continues to March on. Now our families are spread out all across the country and Easter for me has become a dinner for two. No need to make the lamb cake but I still wanted some of that tradition. So now, instead of a lamb we have a loaf cake but it’s till covered with that same homemade mock whipped cream frosting and dotted with coconut. Different package, same wonderful dessert treat. Whenever I post pictures of the cake, I am always asked for the recipe for the frosting. So here it is, enjoy and who knows, maybe it will become an Easter tradition in your family as well.

Mock Whipped Cream Frosting

  • Servings: two 9 inch loaf pans or one 8 inch cake pan with border
  • Difficulty: Easy
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INGREDIENTS:

3 Tbs. corn starch

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup shortening (preferably butter flavored)

1 cup sugar

3 tsps. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Combine corn starch and milk in a saucepan. Cook, stirring until thick. Remove from heat, stirring occasionally until cool. Combine butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla and beat until creamy. Add cooled mixture and beat until like whipped cream. This recipe will cover an 8″ cake with one border or two 9 x 2 loaf cakes.