Tag-Archive for ◊ cake ◊

16 Oct 2010 Pumpkin Chocolate Cake
Author:  |  Category: Cakes & Cupcakes, Holidays & Events, Sweets  | Tags: , , , , , , , ,  | 2 Comments

I took twelve slices of this cake to my clay class yesterday.  I think it made everyone very happy.  The class was certainly more social than usual!

I’ve had a request to post this recipe, so here it is, just in time for Halloween and Thanksgiving. It looks great, doesn’t it? This is truly a special event cake.  The pumpkin doesn’t really add taste, but it sure enhances the chocolate and keeps the cake moist.  The cake tastes sooo good. The frosting is cream cheese, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and a bit of cinnamon. YUM! (I think the frosting is the magic of this recipe) To gild the lily (I think that’s the right expression) the whole thing is glazed with bittersweet chocolate.  How can this be anything but good?

You can do this! My instructions are pretty explicit so if you have trouble with them, let me know! This has been Abby’s signature cake for a few years now, and a couple of her friends request it for their birthdays (even August birthdays!). This recipe is from a 2007 “Country Living” magazine.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

For the Cake:

1 ½ c. flour
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey’s Special Dark is good)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ c. buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
¾ c. butter, softened
1 c. dark brown sugar
1 c. sugar
3 eggs plus one egg yolk

Preheat oven to 375º. Line the bottoms of two 9″ cake pans with parchment paper and lightly butter (or spray with Pam for Baking). Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. In another bowl stir together the pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and then the egg yolk. Reduce speed to low and beat in 1/3 flour mixture, and then 1/3 pumpkin mixture. Repeat until all ingredients are used. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until cake passes the toothpick test, about 35 minutes. Cool, frost and glaze as directed below.

For the Frosting:

6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
¾ stick butter, softened
1 (16-oz.) box powdered sugar
3 T. cocoa powder
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
Maybe, 2 – 3 T. cream (you might not need ANY…)

orange paste food coloring, optional (the orange color, with the cocoa, makes for a sort of rust colored frosting.  I like it, but it’s purely optional.  There is no food coloring on the top, whole cake picture.  The second picture, the fuzzy close-up one, does have some orange food coloring in the frosting.)

Beat cream cheese and butter together until well blended. Stir in powdered sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla, orange color, if using, and enough cream (IF needed) to make a stiff spreading consistency. Spread 1 cup frosting between the two layers, and use the remaining frosting for the tops and sides. Chill cake for a minimum of 30 minutes before glazing.

For the Chocolate Glaze:

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 T. butter
3 T. corn syrup
½ c. heavy cream

Place chopped chocolate, butter, and corn syrup in a small bowl. Heat heavy cream until boiling. Pour hot cream over chocolate mixture in bowl. Let sit for 3 minutes then blend with whisk until smooth. Let glaze sit for 15-45 minutes to thicken slightly. Pour the glaze on top of the chilled and frosted cake. Smooth out glaze to edges, and then let drip down the sides. Refrigerate to set glaze.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today. This is one of my “signature” cakes.  You have to make it at least once this Fall.  Send me a picture when you do!

07 Sep 2010 Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Author:  |  Category: Cakes & Cupcakes, Seasonal, Sweets  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment

Hannah says it’s the best chocolate cake she’s tasted. I think that’s stretching it a bit (Chocolate Mint Layer Cake RULES!), but this cake is quite moist, very tasty and somewhat good for you–as cake goes–with the 2 cups of zucchini, some applesauce in place of oil, and no frosting. Plus, the orange undertones are an unexpected delight. Be sure to tell people there is zucchini in the cake, imagine the horror if they mistake those little pieces of grated green zucchini for mold!

Make this quick, summer is almost over!

This recipe was first published in Bon Appetit in November 1995, which is where I found it. I have changed it a bit, of course, but I’ve forgotten exactly WHAT it was I changed…?!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar (can use all white sugar, or half brown and half white)
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tablespoon orange extract (OR 1 teaspoon vanilla extract with grated rind of one large orange)
1/2 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt (freeze any leftover buttermilk to use in the next cake!)
2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (S-qu-e-e-z-e the zucchini to release excess water before measuring)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cup chocolate chips (divided use)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare at 13x9x2 inch baking pan (grease and dust with cocoa powder) and set aside. With an electric mixer beat butter and sugar together until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange extract (or the vanilla). In another bowl stir flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together and aerate slightly. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and beat to blend. Then add 1/2 buttermilk and beat to blend and repeat–add 1/3 more of flour mixture, then last half of buttermilk, then last third of flour–beating well after each addition. Stir in drained zucchini, applesauce, orange peel (if using) and 1 cup of chocolate chips to blend. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Bake at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes or until cake springs back on touch. ENJOY!

Thanks for dropping off your extra zucchini today!  YUM!!

30 Aug 2010 Peach Crumble Bars
Author:  |  Category: Cookies & Bars, Seasonal, Sweets  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 5 Comments

Peaches are really good this year, which is good news after a few disappointing crops the last few years.  I’ve enjoyed some delicious, chin dripping peaches this summer.  Topping that, I’ve also had success with two new recipes using fresh peaches.  Here’s the first.  Move over brownies.  Move over lemon bars.  There’s a new kid in town: Peach Crumble Bars.  I like this recipe becasue the peach layer is composed of fresh peaches, not canned, not peach jam, real fresh peaches!  The crumbly cakey layer is light and buttery (whoa…light and buttery?  LOL…yes!).  Next time I would like to add some vanilla into the crumb layer; I don’t think vanilla extract will work, so it would have to be vanilla bean or vanilla paste.  Even without the vanilla, this recipe is a winner, juicy, chin dripping, peaches, with cake, in an easy-to handle bar.  What could be better? According the websites I consulted, this recipe can also be made with blueberries and raspberries, so it’s a versatile recipe, too!

I found this recipe at Annies-Eats and she found the basic crumb bar recipe at Smitten Kitchen.  Both sites have better pictures than I do…  One of these days I need to either find a photographer or take a food photography class.  I think I had better start looking for a friend who wants to photograph food–payment being the food that’s being photographed!

Peach Crumble Bars

1½ cups sugar, divided use
1 tsp. baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
Zest of half a lemon
16 tbsp. (2 sticks….ouch) cold, butter cut into small pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten
5 cups peeled, chopped peaches (about 5 peaches)
5 tsp. cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste (I used about 1/4 of a whole nutmeg)

Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Grease a 9 x 13? pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and flour.  Mix in the salt and the lemon zest, and stir together with a fork. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the largest chunks are about pea-sized.  (I grate the butter, with a cheese grater.  Roll the butter in the flour mixture, grate, roll butter in flour mixture again if butter gets too soft to grate easily).  Combine well.  Stir in beaten egg. The resulting mixture should be crumbly without much loose flour.  Spread a bit more than half of the dough mixture in an even layer over the bottom of the prepared pan and press down firmly to form the bottom crust.

In another bowl, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and nutmeg. Gently mix in the peaches with a rubber spatula until combined.  Sprinkle the fruit mixture evenly over the crust.  Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the peaches.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown.  Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving. Eat within 48 hours, which shouldn’t be too difficult.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  I love your visits!

14 Jul 2010 Polly’s New “Signature” Chocolate Cake!
Author:  |  Category: Cakes & Cupcakes  | Tags: , , ,  | 2 Comments

You know how I have been wanting to find a “signature cake”? I imagined it would be a bit intricate, a few layers, a filling, a frosting, and a fabulous taste. Well, I have found my signature cake and it’s nothing like that. It’s one layer. Rustic looking. Uneven. No frosting. No filling. One flavor. Fabulous. FAB-YOOO-LICIOUS. The outside is lightly crispy, lightly crunchy. The inside is soft, creamy, and rich. One tablespoon of flour holds the chocolate, sugar, eggs and butter together. It’s a slice of candy more than a slice of cake. And it makes everything right with the world.

The notes say this cake IMPROVES by freezing. So it’s a make-ahead cake to boot! I think I’ve found the world’s best “signature cake”!

The recipe for this cake can be found on page 312 and 313 of Molly Wizenberg‘s novel, “A Homemade Life” (her recipe was adapted from Je veux du chocolat!, by Trish Deseine). The book is good, a sweet read, with lots of recipes. It might be a good gift for the food loving, book reading cooks in your life. Think birthdays, think stocking stuffers! The given name of this cake is “The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake”. I find that a bit cumbersome. I much prefer the name I have chosen for it, “Polly’s New One Tablespoon of Flour “Signature” Chocolate Cake”!

Molly Wizenberg’s The Winning-Hearts-and-Minds Cake

7 oz of good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (like Scharffen Berger, or Ghirardelli 60% chips also work well, VERY well)
7 oz unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
lightly sweetened whipped cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the chocolate and the butter in a microwaveable bowl and zap for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until mixture is smooth. Add sugar, and stir well. Set batter aside to cool for 5 minutes. While the chocolate is cooling, prepare a high sided 8-inch round cake pan (not a layer cake pan, you’ll need a pan with at least a 2.5 inch depth-cake rises and falls) for baking. Butter the pan. Line the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper cut to fit, then butter the paper, too. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the chocolate mixture, stirring well after each addition. Add the one tablespoon of flour and mix well. The batter should be dark and silky. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes. This is important: CHECK THE CAKE CAREFULLY! The top should be lightly crackled, the edges puffed, and the center JUST set. Remove the properly baked cake from oven and cool on rack, in pan, for 15 minutes. Carefully tip cake out of pan, and then tip again, so the top side faces up, onto a serving plate. Cool completely. Serve small slices with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Sigh and moan. Repeat.

NOTE: Cake can be kept at room temperature, sealed in plastic for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days. (Bring to room temperature before serving.)

TO FREEZE: The taste and texture of this cake are actually improved by freezing. Try to make the cake far enough in advance that you can freeze it for a day or more, and then allow another day for the cake to defrost and to be brought back to room temperature before serving. To freeze, wrap cake in plastic wrap and then in foil. Cake will keep, frozen, for a month. Allow to defrost, fully wrapped, for 24 hours before serving.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today (it was worth it, wasn’t it?!)

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