tricolor treat

Since we boozed it up earlier and last year with the Irish sweets, this is more akin to spring and a cutesy representation of the Irish flag. I also thought that after several servings of stout with a side of corned beef, people's stomachs might want something light, if there is room for anything at all.

Carrot Cake, the Lighter Side

adapted from Cook's Country
Yield: 24 cupcakes, 1 9x13-inch cake or 1 8-inch two-tiered cake

INGREDIENTS
cake
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t ground cloves
1/2 t salt
2 large eggs
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 4-oz jar carrot baby food
1 C packed dark brown sugar
1 lb carrots, peeled and shredded

cream cheese frosting
1 8-oz package of Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
1 C marshmallow cream
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/4 C confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS
cake
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and line your 12 cup muffin pan, 9x13-inch pan or 2 8-inch round pans.
1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl mix the eggs, baby food and sugar until smooth and creamy. 3. Slowly add the oil to the egg mixture, while still mixing. Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
4. Add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing until nearly smooth. Fold in the carrots.
5. Spread the batter in the prepped pan and bake until a toothpick comes out almost clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

cream cheese frosting
1. Beat together the cream cheese, marshmallow cream and vanilla. Add the sugar and mix till smooth.


Nutrition (per cupcake):  166cal, 7g fat, 202mg sod, 25g carb, 13g sugar, .5g fiber, 2g protein

buttered up with lurve

V-Day (not this one though it would be much better to have something donated to this than a box of chocolate donated to my hips) is approaching. It is difficult to avoid the onslaught of chocolate, hearts and unnaturally winter-grown  flowers. Valentine's Day is a nice reason to have something to look forward to in the oppressive static of winter (have I complained about this enough yet?) and it doesn't have to be some massive smorgasbord of diamonds and puppies and retail therapy. I would like to say that I ignore it altogether and my husband would be thrilled that the "corporate holiday" did not manage to grasp me in its clutches. However, as mentioned numerous times, my family celebrates everything and my parents always seized an opportunity to include us on this day of lurve. From a mini My Little Pony with a heart on its bum to a sweet sentiment of a heart-shaped box that was my mother's, the day was marked as something special for everyone, not just the couples. This year I am most looking forward to being at an elementary school during the festivities. Remember the days when you would make a giant heart envelope and taped it to the end of your desk to receive valentines with Transformers or Care Bears on them? When I was in first grade I even got one with a phone number on the back, quite daring for even some people I know now...

It cannot be denied that sweets are as much a part of this day as the hearts. As a little precursor I whipped up this batch of pink peppermint to spread on dark chocolate cupcakes and am sending a batch out to some much-loved people who have had a bit of a rough start to the year. I think Torren would rather I showered the love of the Hallmark holiday elsewhere anyway.

Boiled Buttercream

Yield: 24 servings
*Warning: this is not a frosting that will hold up well on hot days.

INGREDIENTS
1 C milk
1/4 C all-purpose flour, sifted this is important or it will be lumpy!
1 C unsalted butter, room temp.
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
2 t vanilla extract for altering the flavor to mint almond or otherwise, I reduce the vanilla to 1 t and add in 1/4 t of the additional extract

DIRECTIONS
1. In a medium saucepan, continually whisk together the sifted flour and milk on medium heat until the mixture thickens to a spreadable paste. Stir in extracts. Let cool completely.
2. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fully combined.
3. Beat in cooled flour mixture starting on medium speed. Then beat on high until the frosting is light, almost like a whipped cream, about 3-5 minutes. Decorate to your liking.

Just to know, this frosting is less sweet than buttercream with confectioners sugar and has a slightly more granulated texture due to the sugar used.

Nutrition: 117 cal, 7g fat, 0mg sod, 13g carb, 12g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein

and on the snow day, we bake

 The latest dumping of snow left me with yet another a day off from school and I felt compelled to crank up the oven, toast my house and lick some batter off of a spoon (one of these days my Mommy Dearest will be proven right and I will get salmonella but I am willing to risk it). Inspired by the ever trendy shade of "winter sludge grey" that was piling up outside my windows from the plows, I decided to work on a dark chocolate cake with bright white frosting while trying to replicate that Oreo® taste.

Basically, the filling of an Oreo® is sweet without a defining flavor, not even much vanilla, and the cookie is very dark with little else than cocoa powder and sugar. I knew it would take a rich cocoa powder and plenty of it to replicate the color. After much trial and error, this is the most similarly tasty version without sacrificing moisture, a problem that chocolate cakes often present.

Oreo Cake

Yield: 24 cupcakes, 1 two or three layered cake

INGREDIENTS
cake
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
2 C all-purpose flour
1 C cocoa powder love my Hershey's® Special Dark, it really created the Oreo® taste
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 C butter milk any fat content, I made my own with skim milk
3/4 C butter, melted and cooled
1 C boiling water

frosting
3 C confectioners' sugar
3/4 C shortening (not butter)
1/2 T vanilla
2 T milk
crushed Oreos® optional
DIRECTIONS
cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Fill two standard sized 12-space cupcake tins with liners. If making cake, you can either grease two 9-inch cake pans or three 8-inch cake pans.
1. Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Whisk (do not use an electric mixer) in all wet ingredients except boiling water until just combined.
3. Stir in boiling water, batter will be thin.
4. Pour batter into tins or pans. For cupcakes, bake for 20-25 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. For cake, bake for 30-35 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before removing to frost.

frosting
1. Beat shortening, with electric mixer.
2. Slowly add confectioners' sugar until combined.
3. Beat in vanilla and milk.
4. Spread frosting over cooled cake and sprinkle with crushed cookies if you desire.

Nutrition (per 1 cupcake or 1/24): 283 cal, 12g fat, 106mg sod, 41g carb, 31g sugar, 1g fiber, 2g protein

in with the new

People are bidding adieu to 2010 and sending a "hollllaaaa!" to 2011 all over the place.    Looking back to a year ago I was waffling over life decisions and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with myself by pinning no less than twelve career possibilities up on our living room wall. Fortunately, many (literally) did not stick and I think I am truly enjoying what I am doing right now. I just need to curb the procrastinating and finally wrap up some loose ends.

I figured I should post something that is a fresh start to the year and has been a recipe that I have long wanted to do but has made me a little wary. These Venetians or Neopolitans or Seven Layer Cookies as sometimes called elsewhere, are an easy segue into a petit four and I think I'll be able to tackle the real thing soon enough. These take a little while due to the baking of the layers and a lack of multiple 9x13-inch dishes but the prep and assembly was surprisingly easy and I will definitely make these again.

Happy 2011 and here's to tackling something new and perhaps a little daunting!

Venetians

adapted from Good Housekeeping
Yield: 56

INGREDIENTS
7 oz. macaroon or almond paste
1-1/4 C butter or margarine, softened
1 C granulated sugar
4 large eggs (separated)
2 C sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 T almond extract
1/4 t salt
20 drops red food coloring
20 drops green food coloring
1 (12 ounce) jar apricot or peach jam
4 oz. semi or bittersweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS
Grease three 9x13-inch baking pans. If you are not blessed an abundance of space and bake ware (like me) to own three, you will just have to take a little extra time and prep the dish three times. Line with wax paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Combine almond paste, sugar, butter, egg yolks and almond extract. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in flour and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. With a wooden spoon, fold into the almond mixture.
3. Divide dough into three 1-1/2-cup portions. Fully stir red coloring to one of the portions, green to another and leave the last colorless. Spread the batter in the three separate prepared pans (keeping the colors separate). If you are using less than three pans, cover the extra dough with plastic wrap so it won't dry out. Bake for 15 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. (Each layer will be 1/4 inch thick). Remove cakes from pan immediately. Cool thoroughly.

assembly
1. Stack layers in a 9x13 inch pan, spreading the fruit jam between layers (no jam on top layer).
2. For the record, I skipped this step due to time constraints and lived to tell the tale. If you have the time though, it would be ideal. Place second 9x13-inch pan or baking sheet on top layer and weigh down with two 5 pound bags of sugar or flour. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Melt chocolate in a double boiler and spread over cake. Allow to set. Trim edges and cut into 1-inch squares. Again, I actually cut the squares shortly after spreading the chocolate while it was still soft. This prevented any cracking of the chocolate, something I suspected might happen if it were cold.

Nutrition: 122 cal, 6g fat, 18mg sod, 16g carb, 7g sugar, 0g fiber, 1.5g protein

plain, simple, perfect

My birthday senses are heightened around this time of year mostly because my own is looming around the corner.  Growing up, however, the only other person near and dear to me who was born in the heat of the summer was my little Tesswich, exactly seven years and 51 weeks after me.  I guess my mother is either a masochist or a victim of poor planning.  I figure for those who can help it, they do their best not to balloon an extra thirty pounds and bring a new life to the planet in the dead humidity of summer but then again, it may be a little anal retentive to worry about such things.  I suppose you could have a baby in the middle of a snowstorm {cough}Grandma{cough}.

Recently I realized that more people in my life are summer babies which means cakes to bake and hold up in the melty heat.  Cupcakes can usually make it but cakes need to hold up at least twelve servings on their little spongy shoulders. Sometimes you just want to bring one, solid treat, you know what I mean?  Fortunately, this cake is meant to be baked easy peasy in a 9 x 13-inch pan.  However, if you want to test its weight lifting powers, I have successfully baked it into a two-tiered cake with 8 or 9-inch pans and a three-tiered cake with a 6-inch pan with time adjustments.

This cake recipe is wonderful in its rich, chocolaty simplicity.  No sour cream, mayo, avocado or beer to steal the spotlight.  The usual complaint about chocolate (and white for that matter) cake is that it's too dry.  That shouldn't be a problem with this one and I have a feeling it has a lot to do with the lack of cocoa powder and the addition of solid baking chocolate. 

This cake should be loved be even the pickiest eaters.  With that I will wish a happy 2-6 to Nick McNeil, the pickiest of them all.  Even though you only love burgers and pulled-pork, you are still fantabulous (and you better like this cake, HA).

Mountain Meadow Chocolate Fudge Cake (or the best chocolate cake ever!)

adapted from Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey
Yield: 15 servings

INGREDIENTS
cake
2 C all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 C boiling water
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 C  brown sugar I used brown sugar for even more moisture!
1/2 cup buttermilk I never buy it, I just do 1 T apple cider vinegar to 1 C milk and let it sit for 5 min.
2 large eggs
1 T pure vanilla extract

your favorite chocolate frosting
I'm still finding my "all-time favorite chocolate frosting recipe" but I had all of that unsweetened chocolate so I went with Baker's One Bowl Chocolate Frosting recipe. Anything that can be mashed together and only dirty one dish is a definite plus on my list. Even though the icing looked oily at first, it frosted and piped without a problem and I was able to stick it in the fridge and reheat it a few times since I wasn't able to make the cake in one fell swoop. It has a nice sheen and is holding up well!

DIRECTIONS
cake
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Brush a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with melted butter or line with nonstick foil.
1. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Combine the butter, boiling water, and chocolate in a saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk gently until the butter and chocolate are melted and the mixture is smooth.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the sugar.
4. Quickly whisk in the buttermilk and then the eggs and vanilla.
5. Using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined and a smooth batter forms, about 1 minute.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.
7. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and frost according to the icing directions. Some cakes need to be warm for a poured icing and some need to be cooled for a traditional buttercream.

Nutrition (just the cake): 313 cal, 16.5g fat, 111mg sod, 38g carb, 25g sugar, 1g fiber, 4g protein

bring the island vaca to you

Keeping with the tropical inspiration of the last post, I am going to grace you with a cake that I have been wanting to make for a while now. {Gasp} it is not slathered in frosting, as you might expect from me. It does not involve various tiers and cutesy decorating, also something you may expect to come from me. This is not chocolate (believe it or not, I am not a huge chocolate fan, I just know several people that are) nor is it marshmallow filled. It is another lovely answer to the ripe banana quandary (or blessing). It's the very adult and flavorful Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake from my personal bible of Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. Listen, I'm sorry if you're sick of hearing about it but I am dying to tackle many if not most of the recipes in this cookbook and it's layout is just too damn cute for me to pass it up. Of course, you'll probably need a coronary bypass after trying much of what is in there but I'll try to sprinkle some anecdotes about lettuce and stuff, too.

Anyway, this is great if you are hoping to serve many (or few for an extended period). It definitely suits the "adult" palate of those who may not love to smother themselves with frosting (I can't believe you people exist but I will take one for the team) and prefer the ease of having their cake and drinking their drink, too.

Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake

from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey
Yield: 24 servings
I am telling you, the book says 10 servings. That's just mad. It would be almost 1,000 calories per serving! Go ahead and eat that much but I warned you about the impending cardiac surgery.

INGREDIENTS
cake
1 1/2 C chopped pecans, toasted other nuts like walnuts would be delish, too
1 1/2 C (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 C granulated sugar
1 C firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temp
1 C mashed, very ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
2 t pure vanilla extract
3 T dark rum (or a t of rum extract)
3 C bleached all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
3/4 C sour cream I use low fat or fat free without an issue

dark rum glaze
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 C water
1/2 C firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C quality dark rum

DIRECTIONS
cake
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F Spray a 10-cup tube or bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, then flour, tapping out the excess flour. The pan needs to be well-greased, or the cake will stick to it.  Sprinkle the nuts in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Beat in the mashed bananas, vanilla, and rum (or rum extract).
4. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt over the batter and fold in using a rubber spatula, just until no streaks of flour remain. Fold in the sour cream.
5. Spoon the batter over the nuts in the pan and spread to the edge of the pan using the back of a rubber spatula.
6. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 60 to 80 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes.

dark rum glaze and cake assembly
1. While the cake is baking combine the butter, water, and sugars in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Immediately reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Set aside and keep warm.
4. Use a wooden skewer to poke holes all over the cake and pour 1/4 C of the warm glaze over the cake. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes more.
5. Place a serving platter over the pan and invert to release the cake onto the platter. Spoon the remaining glaze over the cake, a little at a time, and let stand until the glaze is completely absorbed into the cake. If the glaze starts to pool at the base of the cake, use a small metal spatula to spread it up and around the sides of the cake. It will look like you have too much glaze, but don’t worry, within a few hours the cake will absorb all of it.
6. Let the cake cool completely before cutting into wedges and serving. This cake will last 2 to 3 days if covered well.

Nutrition: 340cal, 16g fat, 217mg sod, 44g carb, 30g sugar, 0g fiber, 3g protein