A Chocolate Challenge

Posted on February 9, 2011 by

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate… Who doesn’t love chocolate cake? I love eating it, but making it has always been fun for me.

Recently, a colleague of mine did something incredibly nice for me.  It was one of those over-the-top, unnecessary and truly awesome acts that I’m thankful for daily.   As a show of gratitude, I asked him to tell me his all-time favorite dessert so I could make it for him.   As he started to utter the words chocolate chocolate cake it felt like a scene from a tense action movie – ominous music playing in the background, sounds and speech in slow motion! I’m no chef, but I make a lot of things well.  Chocolate frosting has never been one of them.

Chocolate chocolate cake was my nemesis coming out of the shadows and challenging me to a dual!

I’ve tried on several occasions to make the traditional chocolate butter cream frosting and several times, I’ve failed.  Now here I was facing a public battle with this chocolately goodness that I could not turn down.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

I immediately began reading recipes online and combing cookbooks for the solution.  Leave it to the guru of simple baking, Ina Garten to swoop in and save the day!  I found a recipe she created that is similar to the red velvet recipe I use and love so much, so I knew it had promise.  A few tweaks of my own and it turned out amazing! Enjoy!

For the cake:

  • Butter, for greasing the pans
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cups good cocoa powder (I like Valrhona)
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup freshly brewed extra dark French pressed coffee

Ingredients are important.  Don’t skimp.  I love the New York Cake and Baking Center on 22nd Street in New York City.  It’s a baking nerd’s heaven.  You don’t have to find a specialty store to find good chocolate and good cocoa powder these days.  I used a dark, rich Valrhona cocoa powder in my cake.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans and line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.  Or line 2 12-cup muffin tins for cupcakes.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and whisk together.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.  If you are making cupcakes instead, bake for 20 minutes.

Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting.

Chocolate Frosting:

  • 6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tsps extra dark French press coffee

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy.  Microwave the fresh coffee until its fairly hot. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended.

Spread on the cooled cake and voila!

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Ed’s Double Crust Apple Cake

Posted on January 3, 2011 by

It’s officially 2011 and I STILL haven’t posted about the most delicious Applecake of 2010!  Too many delicious moments have kept me away but here it is, finally!  Enjoy.

Nothing says Thanksgiving like a delicious sweet and tart apple dessert with a crispy topping.  There are a million styles and varieties to choose from and none ever seem to go out of style.  My favorite, hands down, is Great Aunt Selma’s Apple Cake.  Even though the recipe is Aunt Selma’s it was my Step Dad who made it year after year.  In fact, it’s the only thing I ever remember him making in the kitchen, ever.

This year, in his honor, FCM (Favorite Cousin Mindy) and I set out to make it together.

Here’s the cherished recipe and a peek at just how delicious it turned out

Aunt Selma and Ed’s Favorite Apple Crumb Cake

Preheat oven to 350°

Ingredients:

  • 6 large apples peeled and sliced thin (McGowan, Cortland, MacIntosh, Granny Smith)
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ lb (1 stick) butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Peel and thinly slice 6 large apples, set aside.

Sift together flour and baking powder.  Cut the butter into ¼ inch cubes and crumb together with the flour mixture.

Beat the egg together with the vanilla and add to the flour mixture – stir in lightly, do not mix completely. Grease a 9×9 square oven safe pan and pat 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Toss the sliced apples with cinnamon and ½ cup of sugar, add to pan on top of the packed crumb layer.

Dot the apples with butter.

Sprinkle the remainder of the crumb mixture on top.

Bake in the center of the oven at 350° for 50-60 minutes.  The top should be brown and the apples soft when finished. Cool on a rack uncovered. Voila!

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1st Birthday Cake

Posted on November 30, 2010 by

I can still taste the birthday cakes from my childhood.  Grandma Bea almost served the same style cake which, if memory serves, came from Don’s Bakery in Livingston, New Jersey.  It was the only time I remember that she didn’t bake herself.  The cake was almost always vanilla cake with white butter cream frosting and rich, sweet flowers made of  icing. Each time she served it, I just had to have a slice of cake that included a flower!

So you can imagine that when it came time to make Little Bea’s 1st Birthday cake, it was a mission I took very seriously.

I’ve found that most vanilla cake recipes produce very dry results, literally.  After a lot of research, I settled on a classic vanilla sponge cake recipe that I found in my William Sonoma Cakes book.  The recipe is here.

I baked it in this perfect 1 mold that I found at my favorite secret place where I love to geek-out about baking, New York Cake & Baking Center. They have everything you never knew you needing for baking and more.

The secret with sponge cake lies in the egg whites.  It’s all about achieving perfectly stiff glossy peaks before you fold.

and carefully folding your beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture before adding the flour a little bit at a time.

The lightness of the eggs is what makes this cake light, fluffy and moist.  It’s perfect for making a memorable birthday cake, especially topped with a sweet icing and of course, flowers.


 

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Testing 1,2,3… Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes, Good Enough For Thanksgiving?

Posted on November 2, 2010 by

The Fall is all about pumpkins.  Pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving, pumpkin muffins and today, Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes!

I have been so busy that I hadn’t started to think about pumpkin recipes until last week when my colleague forwarded me a recipe for pumpkin muffins with a note asking “can you make me this?”

It got the wheels turning.

I am not a chef or a pastry chef or anyone with any official expertise in baking other than time spent doing it, reading about it, talking about it and now writing about it.  When a recipe isn’t mine, I’ll always give credit where credit is due.

I adapted the following recipe from epicurious.com turning cake into cupcakes with a more simple frosting that is the perfect mix of sweet and spicy Fall flavors in one little package.

Start by whisking together

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

And then add the spices:

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Using electric mixer, beat together 1 15oz can pumpkin, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and 1 1/4 cups of vegetable oil in another large bowl.

Whole Foods Market makes a great canned pumpkin.

Add 4 large eggs 1 at a time, beating to incorporate between additions. Add flour mixture; beat on low speed just to blend and then pour into paper lined cupcake trays.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes until golden brown on top and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

The icing is simple.

1 8oz package of cream cheese, 1/2 stick of butter, 2 to 4 cups of powdered sugar depending on the consistency you like and a couple of table spoons of low fat milk.

The secret to beautiful icing, let the cream cheese and butter sit out on the counter until they are very soft before blending all the ingredients in the mixer.

As always, let the cupcakes cool completely before you frost.

These cupcakes were delicious.  The cake is moist and rich without being too dense and the icing is creamy and sweet.

The recipe was a test for a potential Thanksgiving dessert. I shared them with friends all over the city to get a full set of reviews before I commit to making them for my favorite holiday. We’ll see what the critics have to say…

Have a favorite pumpkin recipe? Tell me what it is!

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100 Butterflies

Posted on October 22, 2010 by

Simple iced sugar cookies are sometimes all the magic you need.   This recipe is a delicious canvas for customization, which makes these perfect cookies for celebrating someone special.

Every year I make my niece her name in elaborately iced sugar cookies to celebrate her birthday, a ritual our whole family enjoys.   This year, I helped celebrate the naming of my adorable God Daughter the same delicious way.

So this weekend at the fabulous celebration my family has organized for Little Bea, it’s only fitting we have custom cookies, just for her.  Most of the party will be catered but all 100 of Little Bea’s butterflies had to come from my kitchen.

If you want to make your own cookie adventure…

Start by whisking together

3 ¼ cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Cream together 2 ½ sticks butter and 1 cup sugar until it’s nice and fluffy.

Add 1 large egg, 1 ½ tbsp milk and 2 ½ tsp vanilla before slowly adding in the flour mixture. After you’ve added in the flour, the dough should be smooth and sticky but may not look totally together.  Take it out of the bowl and knead it like bread to finish it off.

Divide it into two sections, roll each one out to ½ inch thickness and refrigerate for about a half hour. When the dough is firm, it is much easier to cut out your shapes.

Place your cookies about an inch apart on a non-stick tray and bake at 375 for 11 minutes. Let them cool completely before you ice them.

Making icing is as easy as 4 cups of powdered sugar and a couple of table spoons of water.  Add a few drops of food coloring to get the shade you need.

I found these tiny squeeze bottles make the perfect icing dispensers!  And a little extra sugar is essential for some bling.

Voila! 100 Butterflies…

While you don’t need to be a pastry chef to make these cookies in any shape and size you want, you do need some time.  Set aside at least a couple of hours for the whole process and get the whole family involved. Decorating can be a team sport.

 

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Nanna G’s Honey Cake

Posted on October 17, 2010 by

Inspired by the idea of sharing a little bit of Grandma Bea with you, I pulled out her recipe box and started thumbing through the cards.

Grandma's recipe box

The cards are worn, stained and nearly all hand-written. It was like combing through an album of my childhood, delicious flavor by delicious flavor.

I stopped when I got to the recipe for Nanna G’s honey cake. Nanna G was Grandma’s mother-in-law, my Great Grandmother.  She was a no nonsense kind of lady that ran a really tight ship and according to my mother, knew her way around the kitchen. Honey cake was one of her staples.

Feeling a little intimidated by the lack of detailed instruction on the recipe card,  I thought I would give it a try.

honey cake recipe card

This is ALL the card says:

Grease pan – line with parchment and grease again

Beat together

  • 1 ¼ cups of honey
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups hot coffee
  • 2 cups brown sugar

beat in:

  • 5 eggs
  • juice of ½ a lemon
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon clove

add

  • 5 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • bake at 325 for 60 to 75 minutes.

I used my Kitchen Aid mixer from start to finish adding each ingredient in the order listed. The batter came out smooth and very fluid.

batter

And into the oven at 325 for 75 minutes exactly!

Just out of the oven

By the time it finished baking our apartment smelled a little like Thanksgiving with a sweet clove aroma.   It’s a dense cake that’s very moist, sweet and spicy all together.

a slice of honey

I tasted a piece plain right out of the oven and then a piece topped with some salty butter. Delicious!

This recipe made a huge cake. It could have easily been made into 2 or 3 small loaf pans instead of one large cake or 2 nine-inch rounds.  With its spicy fall flavors its a perfect dessert to bring to Thanksgiving or a holiday party.

Just don’t forget to line your pan with parchment paper and butter again before you pour in your batter to avoid a sticky situation…

cake crash!

 

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Special Delivery!

Posted on October 15, 2010 by

Homemade desserts are becoming increasingly rare, at least among the people I know. In New York City there is no shortage of incredible places to buy a scrumptious sweet on a whim, from ButterCup to Crumbs and beyond. Perhaps that’s why something homemade just seems that much more magical.

On a gorgeous fall day in the North East there is no better magic than apple pie.

This apple adventure started when our dear friends M&K invited us out for their annual apple-picking adventure at Outhouse Orchards in Brewster, New York. It was little Bea’s first time and my enthusiasm got the better of me. A few hours and 40lbs of delicious Macintosh apples later, we were on our way home.

A week passed and that big bag of apples was just staring at me begging to become something sweet.

I rarely bake without a destination for the dessert in mind so as I deliberated over the fate of my apples, I also thought about who was in line for a sweet surprise. It made the decision that much easier.

I thought about my recent birthday weekend and how the talented team at INsider New York, a fabulous group of women who can make ANYTHING happen in a pinch, used their inside connections to get me into some of Las Vegas’ top restaurants. A reward was definitely in order.

Their lead by a dear friend who is a brilliant businesswoman with a terrific sense of humor and a very serious take no prisoners attitude. A classic apple pie just wouldn’t fit the bill.

Spicy Apple Cake is much more appropriate.

This recipe is from William Sonoma. I used it over and over and I love it! My husband does too! You can use any type of apples in season. It worked really well with Macintosh. I skip the raisins and use a little less allspice than the recipe calls for to keep it spicy but not too spicy!

The best part… delivering it to the team at INsider and hearing how much they enjoyed it.

Ingredients:
• 3 apples
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2 Tbs. granulated sugar mixed with 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat an oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan.

Core and thinly slice the apples, leaving the skin intact. In a bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, butter and egg. Stir in two-thirds of the apple slices.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture along with the raisins, stirring until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Arrange the remaining apple slices in a pattern on top, pressing them gently into the batter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake until the cake is golden and springy to the touch, about 50 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake stand in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into wedges to serve. Serves 8 to 10.

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