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Showing posts with label spices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spices. Show all posts

Sunday Night Cake - Baked Explorations

Sunday Night Cake (Baked Explorations)
Sunday Night Cake

It's Friday. I need to bring dessert to a dinner party...so I pull open the Baked Explorations cookbook by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

Sunday Night Cake sounds delicious. A lightly spiced cake with a chocolate pudding-like frosting. And so what if it's Friday night? I'm a rebel like that.

Sunday Night Cake collage 1
This is a simple cake made with cake flour, sour cream and butter. The recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, but I added 3/4 teaspoon. See, I am a rebel in the kitchen. :)

The pudding frosting is so easy! It's my new favorite frosting. Sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and unsweetened chocolate are melted with some boiling water and heated until thickened. I only had half the needed unsweetened chocolate so I added dark 72% chocolate and reduced the sugar a bit. After the pudding is thickened, you beat it with a paddle mixture until it gets to room temp, then toss in some butter. Easy peasy!

Sunday Night Cake (Baked Explorations)
I'm totally an anti-frosting person. However, because this frosting is lighter than a regular buttercream, I was pretty much all over it. I can't wait to try it on top of a cupcake!

Sunday Night Cake (Baked Explorations)
Win a copy of the book as part of my celebration of National Library Week! I hope you enjoy the recipes from this book. Find a copy in your local library on WorldCat!

Recipe:
Sunday Night Cake 

1 3/4 cups cake flour (I used 7 1/2 ounces cake flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I used 3/4 teaspoon)
1 1/4 stick or 10 tablespoons or 5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream

Frosting
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (I only had 1 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate in the house so I used that and 1 1/2 oz dark chocolate 72%. I reduced the sugar to 140 grams)
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prep a 9" square baking pan. I line mine with parchment paper and spray it with Pam Flour.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl. Add eggs one at a time and mix until blended. Scrape down the bowl again.
4. Add the flour in three batches, alternating with scoops of the sour cream. The last addition should be flour. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix a few more times to incorporate but don't overmix.
5. Pour batter into pan and bake 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool at least 20 minutes on a wire rack. Invert and let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting instructions:
1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and cocoa powder. Add the chopped chocolate. Pour 1 cup boiling water into the pan, wait 30 seconds, then whisk until mixture is combined and the chocolate is melted.
2. Turn the heat to medium-high and whisk continuously for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken. (Once pudding begins to thicken, it will come together very quickly.)
3. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high until the steam escapes and the mixture is room temperature. Add the butter and mix for an additional 2-3 minutes, until the frosting is light and pudding like. If you prefer a fluffier, more spreadable frosting, continue to mix for a few minutes longer.
4. Frost the top of the cake, allowing a little of the frosting to drip down the edges. (I frosted the edges too). Chill for 5 minutes to set the frosting. Serve immediately.
5. The cake can be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring it back to room temperature before serving.

Baked Explorations 
WorldCat or Amazon

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Spiced Cranberry Bundt Cake - Day #13 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 3

Spice Cranberry Bundt - I Like Big Bundts 2011
Spiced Cranberry Bundt
I Like Big Bundts - Day #13

Happy Saturday! It's Day #13 of I Like Big Bundts...my crazy marathon of 30 Bundts in 30 days! I hope you celebrate National Bundt Day on November 15th!

Today's Bundt is really special! It's Dorie Greenspan's Spiced Cranberry Bundt. I made it with Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet when I visited her earlier this month in Connecticut (see my BlogMary post here). It's fitting that we made a Dorie Greenspan recipe because Dorie, without knowing it, brought Mary and I together!

In 2008, Mary and I were both in the online group Tuesdays with Dorie...baking our way through Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook. Mary wrote me an email starting with "I'm in Tuesdays with Dorie too..." asking for Los Angeles restaurant recommendations...and a friendship was born. Thanks Dorie for not only your delicious recipes and wonderful cookbooks, but for helping two people named Mary meet!

I Like Big Bundts 3
The submission info can be found here! Just submit by November 24, 2011 and I'll send you a button for baking along with me!

Spiced Cranberry Bundt collage
We made our cake by pulverizing some slivered almonds for the almond flour, and toasted some almonds for the batter. East Coast Mary had a bag of cranberries in the freezer (something I must do this year) so we had frozen cranberries and dried cranberries. This bundt has a delicious combo of spices: Chinese five-spice powder, ground ginger and ground cinnamon.

Spice Cranberry Bundt - I Like Big Bundts 2011

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze
Day #4: Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Day #5: Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt
Day #6: Maida Heatter's Budapest Coffee Cake Bundt
Day #7: Dark Chocolate Bundt
Day #8: Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt
Day #9: Apple Spice Bundt
Day #10: Pumpkin Spice Bundt
Day #11: Doll Bundt Cake
Day #12: Light Chocolate Bundt with Coffee Glaze

Recipe: Click here for recipe on Bon Appetite site

Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan
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Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze - Day #4 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 2011

Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
I Like Big Bundts - Day #4

Whoo hoo! I'm up to Day #4 of I Like Big Bundts. Only 26 more to make! Eeck! I'm crazy about the Bundt and am always looking for recipes and inspiration. This year, I decided to reach out to my baking teacher, Carol Cotner Thompson for a recipe.

Carol Cotner Thompson teaches professional baking and cooking classes at the New School of Cooking in Culver City, California. I took the Pro Baking I classes in 2009 and loved it! Carol has over 20 years of culinary education experience (yeah, she started when she was a child) and is a thoughtful instructor. Funny, relaxed and filled with insight of the baking and culinary world. Carol has a blog with recipes and you should definitely check it out!

I Like Big Bundts 3 Logo by JustJennDesigns
I hope you bake a bundt on National Bundt Day (more like International Bundt day with the number of different countries that participated in the last two years) on November 15th. Let's all spread some bundt love around...and Carol's is the perfect recipe to do just that! (Submission info will be posted next week)

Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Carol spices up this bundt with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Butter and cream cheese are used in the cake. And the glaze? Awesomeness! You brown some butter and mix it with vanilla beans (I used vanilla paste), milk and powered sugar. Brown butter is so amazing. The combo of the brown butter bits and vanilla bean seeds is subtle-looking but gives the glaze a great flavor.

Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
There's nothing like pulling a yummy bundt from the oven!

Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Be sure to stop by Carol's blog to see more recipes, and if you are in the Los Angeles area, check out New School of Cooking for some fun professional and recreation classes in both pastries and savories. You can read a series of posts about my 2009-10 Pro Baking Classes here.

Thanks so much Carol for the recipe and your support of my baking adventures. :) - mary

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze

Recipe: Click here for recipe on Carol Cotner Thompson's blog

Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan
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Apple Snacking Spice Cake - Flour Bakery

Apple Snacking Cake - Flour Bakery
Apple Snacking Spice Cake from Flour Bakery Cookbook

Last week was crazy busy. Day trip to San Diego, sickness and a garbage bag full of baked goods that never made it to their destination (um, don't want to be known as Typhoid Mary), and just the usual 75 degree winter weather of Los Angeles. :)

However, I did manage to make this yummy cake from my latest obsession, the Flour Bakery cookbook. 

AppleSnackingCake_1
When I drank coffee in college (I don't drink much caffeine now...gives me a headache), I would be the person who had a bit of coffee with my milk and sugar. This cake has a bit of batter with lotsa apples, pecans and raisins. The batter is superthick but all comes to together in a yummy cake. You'll need a 10" round cake pan for this delicious snacking cake.

Apple Snacking Cake - Flour Bakery
A sprinkling of powdered sugar is all this cake needs. Another winning recipe from the Flour Bakery cookbook! Yum!

Recipe:
Flour: spectacular recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang (page 64 ): Available on Amazon, your local bookstore, or in your library

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