So I did. Results? It was really, really good. There are some things I will do differently next time, but all in all this is awesome. One thing I will do differently is to make homemade whiskey sour base instead of buying it. I know!  I bought the mixer because I was experimenting, if you have a good whiskey sour base recipe use that. The ratio is 1/3 cup Bourbon to 2/3 cup mixer. I tried it 1/4 cup to 3/4 cup and it was a little weak. There are also two ways to add the bourbon. You can add it raw if you aren’t worried that a few molecules of alcohol will get through the heat of the oven, or you can simmer it for a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol. If you simmer be sure to cool it before using.

Please note that there were only two eggs when I took this picture…the hens were lazy. Because the liquid used is not milk I added an extra measure of butter for the fat. This made the cake absolutely moist and tender. Be sure to cool it the recommended time because it will fall apart if it is too warm.

Once the cake was done I soaked it in a simmered whiskey sour syrup. This was really good, IF you like Whiskey Sours. It probably isn’t something you are going to want to take to the church picnic, or have on a weekly basis but if you are looking for unique you may have found it here.

Whiskey Sour Bundt Cake

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup butter, room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup whiskey sour (1/3 cup bourbon to 2/3 cup mixer)
• zest from one lemon
• 1 cup coarsely chopped maraschino cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray or butter and flour a nonstick bundt pan
2. sift dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
4. Add vanilla and then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
5. Add flour and whiskey sour mix alternately, beating well after each addition
6. Add zest and cherries, fold in
7. Spoon into a bundt pan and bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until done
8. Allow to cool on counter for 10 minutes  and then remove from pan
9. Prick the hot cake with a fork and pour the syrup over the top
10. Dust with confectioners sugar

serves 12-16

Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup whiskey sour

Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat

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Yeah. You want this cake.

Now that you know how easy it is to roast your own pumpkin you can create magic in the kitchen with this recipe.  And…did you know…Pumpkin and vanilla are supposed to be very…VERY attractive scents to men…you must keep that in mind and use this recipe responsibly.

This is super moist and will serve 12-16 easily. You can serve it as is, add some vanilla ice cream, or maybe a soft whipped cream. It is incredible in the afternoon with coffee or tea, and if there had been some left I could have told you it was good for breakfast, too.

All right. First, let’s spice it up…

I love the smell of cloves!

Ginger? Yes please!

Freshly grated nutmeg has so much more flavor. Just try it!

Spice are important. They have more flavor the fresher they are. I buy mine in bulk at a local store and they are so fresh sometimes the entire kitchen will smell like a Moroccan market when I bring them home. Nutmeg should always be freshly grated. Really, there is no good excuse not to. It is easy as long as you keep your fingers out of the way…

Always mix the batter gently so that the flour doesn’t develop gluten. That is what makes it tough. Just get all the ingredients mixed in.

Gently! Gently! Gently!

I think that the cooking sprays with flour work the best on my bundt pan. You can use whatever you want to grease the pan but I have had the very best results with cooking spray with flour added. Spoon the batter in to the pan lightly and then drop it on the counter once to get the bubbles out. You want this cake to be a little dense…(I will not make a blond joke here…)

Make sure the bundt pan is well greased.

This will cook for about an hour. Start checking it at 50 minutes though. There will be just a few moist crumbs clinging to a toothpick that is stuck halfway between the side of the pan and the center tube.

Yummy....

This has a moist, velvety texture.

Browned Butter Pumpkin Bundt Cake

• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and allowed to turn golden brown then cooled
• 2 1/4 cups organic all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups  pumpkin
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2  teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Grease pan
3. Mix dry ingredients together and set aside
4. Beat cooled butter and sugar until well mixed. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Beat in vanilla
6. Fold in pumpkin
7. Add flour and buttermilk alternately and mix until smooth
8. Spoon into baking pan
9. Bake at 350F until done, about 50-65 minutes
10. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and then remove from pan to cool

Brown Butter Glaze

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted and allowed to turn golden brown
• About 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar, or enough to make a thick glaze
• 1 tbs bourbon if desired
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients until smooth. Spoon over warm cake. Sprinkle on almonds if desired.

Serves 12-16

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I used her Double Apple Cake as the basis for my cake. It was moist and full of autumn flavor: apples and spice. Among the other changes I made I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins called for. I think for best flavor you should use an heirloom type baking apple or a granny smith. Something with a tart, apply flavor. Make sure to let the cake stand, well wrapped, overnight because the flavors really do change. I served it with a smear of dulce de leche, sliced granny smith apple, and a sprinkling of pecans and dried cranberries. Vanilla ice cream or a nutmeg spiced whipped cream would be nice as well.

Since this is an easy, make-ahead dessert it is perfect for making on the weekend and having during the week. It is very sweet so a few slices of a tart apple on the plate are a welcome garnish.

Moist Double Apple Bundt Cake

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp  cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (seriously, grate your own…it is easy and it makes a huge difference in flavor)
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 tbs butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1 tsp maple flavoring
• 1 cup apple butter
• 2 apples grated – don’t peel if they are organic
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Grease and flour a bundt cake  pan
3. Sift the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together. Set aside
4. Beat the butters and sugar at medium speed about 3 minutes.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time beating for a minute or two after each addition
6. Add the flavoring and switch mixer speed to low
7. Spoon in the apple butter slowly, mixing all the while
8. Add in the grated apple
9. Still on low mix in the sifted dry ingredients mixing only until blended
10. Fold in the pecans and cranberries carefully.
11. Spoon into bundt pan, smooth the top and back for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted between the metal tube and the outside edge comes away clean. Time will depend on moisture content of the apples. My cake took 70 minutes to bake
12. Allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes, turn out and finish cooling completely
13. Wrap tightly and hold overnight

Serves 10-12

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The frosting is very thick and has a creamy fudge-like consistency. It is best just to spoon a dollop on the top rather than trying to spread it. You wouldn’t believe how amazing the house smells while these are baking.

Oh, as with all things banana, the more ripe the banana the more flavor you will get from this. The cake itself is not intensely sweet but it is a good backdrop to the penuche. The cake is moist and a little sticky, with flavors of sweet banana and rum. The penuche is intensely sweet with a rich flavor and texture. The whole package is about as addictive as a cupcake can get – at least they didn’t last long here.

Of the cupcakes I have made  I think these and the Red Velvet and Cheesecake Marble are my two favorites.

Browned Butter Banana Rum Cupcakes

Makes 16

• 2 cups of flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp rum flavoring or substitute  1/4 cup of the milk with 1/4 cup of rum
• 1 cup milk
• 2 ripe bananas mashed

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325, place cupcake liners in muffin tins
2. Mix dry ingredients and set aside
3. Heat butter on the stove until it melts, stirring constantly. Continue to stir and cook until it becomes a dark golden brown. Strain and cool
4. Mix eggs and sugar until well blended
5. Add browned butter and beat until smooth
6. Add vanilla and rum flavoring
7. Beat in the banana
8. Add the flour in three parts, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour
9. Spoon into muffin tins and bake until done, about 20 minutes
10. Cool and frost with Browned Butter Penuche Frosting

Browned Butter Penuche Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• About 1/4 cup buttermilk, heated
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 cup coconut

1. Melt butter in pan until it becomes a golden brown
2. Add brown sugar and stir until sugar melts and mixture comes to a boil
3. Remove from heat
4. Stir in hot buttermilk until smooth
5. Let cool
6. Beat in confectioners sugar and vanilla until smooth
7. Stir in coconut and pecans, use a little more buttermilk or confectioners to get the right consistency
8. Add a spoonful to the top of each cupcake and press in a pecan half. Sprinkle with coconut

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Root Beer Floats are one of my guilty addictions. I have loved them since I was small. I like classic root beer floats but also love them with coffee or chocolate.  The trick to it is to get good root beer, hard to find nowadays. If you can get the real stuff from the health food store, or better yet make your own, you are on your way.

You can also get root beer flavoring at most grocery stores. You can certainly get it on line. The flavoring allows you to make root beer anything.  A while back I posted a recipe for this Root Beer Float Marble cake and I thought that today you would not mind me reminding you of it.

Here is the recipe for root beer float cake.

image:Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

It was a landslide. Then I just needed to figure out how I wanted to do it. I wanted a delicate coffee flavor that revealed itself in layers, chocolate but just a hint..and a little cinnamon. I would have loved to put orange peel in it but didn’t have any.

Looking through all the cake recipes I have from all of my vintage and new cookbooks PLUS the family recipes hand written on scraps of aging paper I was overwhelmed with the variety. And none of them had liquid added, and I wanted to use coffee not coffee powder. Finally I found Dorie Greenspan’s Rum Drenched Vanilla Cakes in the Baking From My Home to Yours book…it had many of the components that I was looking for so I decided to base the formula for the cake off of that one.

Smart move.

The cakes (for yes, there were two) came out fragrant and moist, with a tender even crumb.  They smelled like coffee, but the coffee flavor was not overpowering. It was just what I was looking for. I sprinkled one with grated chocolate and covered one in a thin bittersweet ganache. Both were good..just depends on what you are in the mood for.

Although we had ours plain I would suggest a scoop of coffee ice cream over the top of a slice, followed by some hot fudge.

Also, as I said, I would add the grated zest from 1/2 a large orange. I didn’t have one but I will get one next time.

Cappuccino Pound Cake

• 2 2/3 cup all purpose (organic) flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2  cups sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 6 large eggs
• 1/3 cup strong espresso
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 lb unsalted Plugra, or regular butter (Plugra will make this richer), melted and cooled

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Grease and flour two loaf pans
3. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together
4. Whisk sugar and eggs until light.
5. Mix in vanilla (and orange peel if using)
6. Beat in the espresso and the cream
7. Add the flour mixture gently
8. Fold in the melted butter
9. Pour into the pans and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until it tests done

Meanwhile….

Espresso Syrup

• 1/4 cup strong espresso
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Bring to a boil, stirring and boil for one minute.
2. Cool

Remove the cakes from the oven and cool for five minutes. Remove from pans and poke holes in the cakes with a meat fork. Put back in pans and pour the syrup evenly over the cakes. Allow the cakes to soak up the syrup before removing from pans.

Garnish with chocolate shavings or bittersweet chocolate ganache.
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They weren’t. I had made red velvet cake with both items before but never at the same time, with the same recipe. The beets made the chocolate more brown but it was drier. The red food dye did what it was supposed to do. For both of the recipes I adapted the Red Velvet Cake recipe in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.  So, much as I want to say that natural is better… I can’t. If you want red velvet cake, and you want it to be red and good..you are going to need to do the old fashioned thing and go with dye.

Now, the rest of it…imagine biting into rich red velvet cupcake and finding orange cheesecake. The combination of chocolate and orange is fantastic anyway, and the tangy citrus and cream cheese cuts the sweetness of the cream cheese frosting and red velvet cake perfectly. I loved these. My family loved these. You are going to love these!

Be careful not to overbake. You want the cheesecake to remain creamy…and it will cook for a little bit as it cools.

I usually use silicone baking cups, but since I was doing a double batch I didnt have enough. I used paper ones…but I turned the water off when I brushed my teeth and  I didn’t rinse…so it evens out.

The list of directions looks long, but it is really quick and easy. These are so awesome and they take no more time than a regular cupcake. Yum!

Red Velvet & Cheesecake Marbled Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 325F and put muffin papers or silicone cups in 12 muffin cups.

Orange Cheesecake

• 1 four oz package of cream cheese (not low fat)
• 2 tablespoons of  freshly grated orange peel
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Beat together until creamy and well blended. Do not whip because you don’t want to incorporate air.

Red Velvet Cake

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
• 4 tablespoons food grade red food color
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup whole milk buttermilk (do not get skim or low fat)
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white  vinegar (it has less flavor than any other type)

1. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.
3. Use a rubber scraper to pull any remaining butter mixture off the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Mix again until well blended.
4. In a separate bowl mix the food color and the cocoa until it makes a paste.
5. Add the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture and mix until it is evenly blended. Spoon through to check for streaks.
6. Add 1/4 cup of the buttermilk and beat on low speed until blended.
7. Add half of the flour and blend.
8. Add the remaining buttermilk, blend and then add the remaining flour. Now stir in the baking soda and vinegar until blended.

Assemble

1. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 the way with the red velvet batter.
2. Add a tablespoon or so of cheesecake batter to the top.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cupcakes are firm to the touch. Don’t overbake.
4. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/3 cup  unsalted butter
• 8 oz cream cheese
• Pinch of salt

1. Mix butter, salt, and confectioners sugar until cumbly.
2. Add the cream cheese and beat until creamy, add a little cream if you need to to get the right consistency.
3. Swirl a good layer atop the cooled cupcakes.
4. Sprinkle with cocoa, edible glitter, or orange zest.
5. Keep any remaining cupcakes (as if!) in the refrigerator.

Makes 12

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Post from: Baking Delights

Making the food for the shower was a family thing, for the most part. Matt, Ethan, and Shiloh were my assistant chefs, and the littler kids helped with the go-fer-ing. I had to smile listening to SHiloh and Matt talk as SHiloh was making truffles and Matt was doing dishes.  Matt said that the cool thing about being in our family is everything was catered…He looked around and said, “This is like a 1500.00 catering job mom!”

He is right. Matt and Shi will be serving at the shower. They will make sure that the tea is full, the coffee is hot, and the trays are filled. They will be answering questions intelligently and respectfully. Some day, if they ever apply for a job in a kitchen, or with a caterer that person would be wise to hire them.

Anyway, I have about a million posts to post, both here and Kettle and Cup..but it will have to wait until tonight. After the shower I am headed to Evil Shenanigan’s house to partake in a locavore feast. Have an awesome afternoon…You know I will. Oh and here is a preview pick of the cake….shhhhhh..Dont tell Erin.

I am pretty happy with how it came out.  The top tier is a streusal butter cake and the bottom tier is 4 layers of almond white cake, with alternating cherry buttercream and Mate green tea buttercream. I will get more pictures at the shower.

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I did make a few changes.  I did not like the flavor of the filling as written at all so I added a little cream cheese to give it richness and creaminess.  I used a bittersweet chocolate ganache without corn syrup.  And..I used Hershey’s Dark Cocoa for the cocoa in the recipe…And I added coffee for part of the buttermilk because I find that coffee makes chocolate taste more chocolatey.

You will need to make sure that you get enough filling deep in the cupcake.  The recipe calls for going from the top, which I did, but I think going into the side might be better.  I had to double the filling recipe to get enough.  With my changes I liked this recipe better than the kind you get at the store.

Cupcakes:

• 2 c flour
• 1 cup Hershey’s dark cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 c buttermilk
• 1/4 c strong, cold coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 3 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Place silicon cupcake liners in 18 muffin cups (they got 24, I only got 18)
2. Combine the dry ingredients, sift three times,  and set aside.
3. Combine the buttermilk, coffee, and vanilla and set aside
4. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamed.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
5. Add the flour and milk mixtures in alternating batches, beginning and ending with the flour.
6. Spoon into muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  This will take about 15-20 minutes.
7. Cool completely.  If using the silicon cool for five minutes and then remove from silicon cups.

Filling

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese,softened
• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/3 cup cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy.
2. Add in the vanilla and beat well.
3. Gradually add the confectioners sugar.  Add the cream a little at a time until a soft, creamy consistency is reached.  Beat until light and fluffy, about five minutes.
4. Place the filling in a pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip.
5. Push the tip into the cooled cupcakes and gently squeeze in the filling.
6. Save a little for the swirl on the top.

Ganache

• 1/3 heavy cream
• 1 cup coarselychopped bittersweet chocolate

Bring the cream to a simmer.  Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until melted and smooth.  Dip the filled cupcakes in the chocolate.  Let set and then add the swirl with the remaining filling.

Makes 18-24

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Before you send me to the tar and feathering room, though, take a look at this recipe for the frosting. You can do it two ways, one is sweet and the other is less sweet but more creamy like traditional buttercream.

I made this frosting with an infusion of the Tazo Vanilla, Apricot and White Tea. It has a mild tea flavor, with delicate notes of apricot held together with faint nuances of vanilla. Erin loves tea so this seemed to be the perfect flavor for her cake. You could do an apricot filling for this but I think it would overpower the other flavors. The flavor does develop over the course of a couple of hours so make it at least two hours ahead of time or make the frosting the day before.

The Confectioner’s based frosting is best if you are going to be decorating the cake and the traditional buttercream is best if you want something less sweet and more European. Either way it is delicious.

For the Confectioner’s Frosting (sweet)

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 bags Vanilla Apricot and White tea

Bring the cream to a simmer. Add the teabags and set aside for at least 5 minutes, 10 is better.

Beat the butter until creamy. Add the vanilla.

Add the confectioners until you have a stiff frosting. You may need more.

Squeeze out the tea bags and strain the heavy cream to remove and stray leaves.

Add the cream to the frosting with the machine running. Whip until you get a soft, creamy consistency.

Frosts 3 layer cake

For Buttercream (creamy)

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup boiling water
2 Vanilla Apricot White Tea tea bags
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place tea bags in boiling water and set aside.

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the tea, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside until you are ready to frost your cake. Refrigerate for longer storage.

Enough to frost 3 layers. You may need to double this for filling, depending on how thick you like it.

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Post from: Baking Delights