Blueberry Crumb Cake

I love wild blueberries.  I mean regular blueberries are good but wild blueberries are awesome.  The fresh blueberries here are way too expensive and look sad but I can get frozen wild blueberries so I buy those and use them.  Since Spring is around the corner, well for us anyways.  I know many people in the states it has been unseasonably warm already but for us in Japan it is still cold and jacket weather.  I decided to make this blueberry crumb cake.  As it was baking in the oven all I could think about was eating a nice big slice of this cake with a Grande Soy Carmel Macciato.  I don't have coffee in my house anymore since giving up dairy because what's a cup of coffee without half and half?  My wonderful husband voluntarily gave up coffee as well since he knew how much I loved it and how hard it was for me to do.  I watched everyone in my house eat this cake for two days while I patiently waited for my Starbucks drink.  Today was finally that day.  After a trip to the doctors office with my kids I found a parking spot next to Starbucks.  That sounds easy but here there is no parking, parking is a thing nightmares are made of.  Even here on the Navy base, parking is non-existent.  With sick kids I can't just walk and get my coffee but I snatched up that spot and had to carry my sleeping 2 year old into Starbucks to get us all some drinks before heading home and heating up that amazing blueberry cake.  It was well worth the wait.  This cake is amazing, especially the topping with the layer of sugar sprinkled over the top.

1/2 stick non-dairy butter (or regular)
1 Tablespoon (additional) non-dairy Butter
3/4 cups Sugar
1 whole Egg
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 cups All-purpose Flour
2-1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cups Almond Milk (or whole milk)
2 cups Fresh or frozen Blueberries


FOR THE TOPPING:
3/4 sticks non-dairy Butter (or regular)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, baking powder, and a salt. Stir and set aside.

Cream 1/2 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter with cinnamon and sugar. Add egg and mix until combined. Add vanilla and mix. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until totally incorporated. Do not overbeat. Stir in blueberries until evenly distributed.  Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Pour in batter.
In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients and cut together using two knives or a pastry cutter. Sprinkle over the top of the cake.  Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp. of sugar over the top.  Bake cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve with softened butter.

Midnight Sin Chocolate Cupcakes with FakeOut Buttercream Frosting

I didn't really have a good reason to make cupcakes yesterday other than I wanted them.  Every time I go to the grocery store I see all the baked goods that I can't have because of dairy.  I've yet to try making a 100% dairy free cupcake with frosting and decided yesterday was the day to give it a try.  These actually turned out so good you wouldn't even realize they were dairy-free.  Of course if you can have dairy I suggest using it but for us non-dairy goers this recipe was awesome.  I found the cake recipe at Not So Humble Pie and the frosting recipe was just an altered version of a Wilton recipe.  The original recipe was called Midnight Sin Chocolate Cake.  It was good but I'm thinking the original recipe would have been magnificent.  If you can have dairy I'd definitely check out the original recipe that includes a chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganache topping.  It does definitely look sinful.   And of course anything dessert in my house gets a healthy dose of sprinkles because my kids think that is the perfect finishing touch to our masterpiece!       

Midnight Sin Chocolate Cake

2 3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup boiling water

1 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons instant expresso powder

1 3/4 cups, spooned and leveled unbleached all-purpose flour

4 large egg yolks

2 large eggs

1/4 cup almond milk (You can also use buttermilk)

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and set a baking stone on it. (The stone helps the cake bake evenly and prevents humped tops. If you don't have a stone, the cake will survive don't worry. Just be prepared to trim any uneven tops and make sure the cake gets an adequate amount of time in the oven to fully cook.)

You'll need two 9" or two 8"cake pans for this cake or muffin tin. Spray the pans with non-stick spray oil and then line them with parchment (sides and bottom--this is a sticky cake) then spray the parchment with even more non-stick spray. 

In a medium sauce pan, combine the sugar, dutch processed cocoa, salt and baking soda. Stir with a whisk until combined and then slowly add the boiling water while whisking. This will bubble up a bit while the baking soda reacts with any remaining acidity in the dutch processed cocoa. Once thoroughly mixed, place the sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring back to a boil. Then remove from heat and allow to stand for a minimum of 10 minutes. This step makes the dutch processed cocoa even more alkaline, so our cake will be nearly black. 

While waiting on the chocolate mixture, get your mise en place goin' on! Measure out the flour, almond milk and add lemon juice to that, and separate the eggs.   Add the oil and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment (this can also be done by hand with a wooden spoon). 

When the chocolate mixture is ready, stir in the instant espresso powder. (This won't make the cake taste like coffee, rather it enhances the chocolate flavor of the cake. Dutch processed cocoa has great color but it isn't quite as flavorful as it's light-colored acidic cousin, natural cocoa.) Add the chocolate mixture to your stand mixer and mix on low speed for about 20 seconds. Add the flour and continue to mix on low until combined. With a minimum amount of beating, add the egg yolks, eggs, vanilla and milk. The batter will be very thin. 

Divide the batter between your two pans and place in the oven on your baking stone.  Bake for 25-30 minutes (for 9" rounds. Add 5-7 more minutes for 8" rounds) until the center of the cake springs back when you touch it.  For cupcakes it takes about 18-20 minutes.  Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake to loosen and invert onto a flat dish lined with parchment.   Allow to cool completely then wrap the rounds individually in plastic and place in the refrigerator to chill before assembling.

FakeOut Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup non-dairy butter substitute, softened

3/4 cup cocoa 

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

3 tbsp. almond milk

This makes about 3 cups of frosting.  In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

Pumpkin Jelly Roll

Ok so I think my family is getting sick of pumpkin desserts at this point.  Not so good for me since we haven't even made it to Thanksgiving yet!  How can they be sick of it?!  Pumpkin is sooo good!  I've never made a pumpkin roll before or any roll cake before so decided to give it a try. I was surprised that it turned out really well and I didn't even have difficulty with cracking as many people do.  This is a really basic recipe directly from Libby's Pumpkin website.   

Pumpkin Jelly Roll

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Filling:  
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional for decoration) 
 
Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.  Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

Filling:

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Happy Birthday Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

My baby girl just turned 4!  I can't believe it!  She is growing up so fast and as wonderful as it is to see her growing and exploring the world and making friends, it is bittersweet as she isn't my itty bitty tiny baby anymore.  She is a bit spoiled I must say.  We brought cupcakes and party stuff to her school for a party, the next day we went to Disneyland Tokyo, and the following day we invited her best friend over and did cake and presents.  

She wanted a pony cake and requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  That's my girl, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.  I made the cake up and thought it was too plain so decided to make some pink and purple splatters to give it more color.  Not the best idea, especially last minute.  My splatters melted because it was too hot and humid here and they were a bit runny but in my head it seemed like such a cute idea.  But the cake tasted amazing and she loved it.  That's all that matters.  This frosting is probably the best chocolate frosting I've ever made and I think this cake recipe will be my new "go to".  It was unbelievably rich and that's what I like.  I did double the recipe when I made it because I needed 4 cakes for the cake I was making but this recipe below makes two standard 9-inch cakes.   

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. sugar

3/4 c. cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Birthday Girl!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by rubbing with butter, sprinkling with flour and tapping out extra. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon then set aside. In small bowl combine eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat well with hand mixer. Slowly add boiling water and mix. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and fold and stir until smooth. Pour batter into pans, dividing evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove cake from pans and cool on racks.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Peyton in front of Goofy's house.

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
3-4 tablespoons milk

Makes about 3 c. frosting 

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

This is a Wilton frosting recipe and I believe an Ina Garten chocolate cake recipe but I had it written down from a while ago so can't be positive. 

My Cinderella

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

I love, love, love pumpkin.  Anything and everything you can make with it, I'll eat it.  I love the pies, cakes, pancakes, puddings, donuts, all of it.  This is one of my favorites that I like to make.  This cake is so moist and delicious.  I love the smell of the pumpkin and cinnamon throughout my house while it bakes.  These work great as muffins too, though I usually just use a bundt pan because it is pretty.  A few years ago I found a recipe in a magazine for a spiced cake and I changed it around and added what I liked, took out what I didn't and just made it more into my own.  I love using orange juice in the glaze, it just really gives it this extra tangy flavor that works so well with the cake.  

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

1 ¾ c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ c. sugar
½ stick melted butter
1 can of pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. grated orange peel

Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and baking powder in a bowl and whisk to remove all lumps and combine.  In a seperate bowl combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, ginger, orange peel and sugar.  Whisk in the melted butter.  Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just combined.  Pour into a sprayed prepared dish like a bundt pan and bake 45-55 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

While cake is cooling whisk together the powdered sugar, half and half, vanilla and orange juice until combined.  If it is too thick add a splash more of orange juice or too thin add a bit more powdered sugar.

Pour over cake and allow glaze to set before serving. 


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Spiced Orange Glazed Mini Donuts

I recently bought a mini donuts pan from the mall and was so ready to try out making baked donuts!  My daughter loves donuts, what kid doesn't!  So making a version that wasn't fried was exciting for me.  I added in some of my favorite flavors and made a spiced doughnut flavors like ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice (though the pumpkin pie spice has in nutmeg and ginger I added a bit more of it into the donuts than just what the pumpkin pie spice contributed) and made a glaze using orange juice and powdered sugar.  It turned out really nice.  My daughter loved them and didn't even notice they weren't fried, though she did request chocolate next time.  This recipe was adapted from Cats and Casseroles. 


Spiced Orange Glazed Mini Donuts

2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. whole milk
2 extra large eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. vegetable oil


Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. orange juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly coat doughnut pan with a non-stick spray.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add in milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil. Whisk until well combined. Spoon batter into wells of doughnut pan, filling each 3/4 of the way. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for a few minutes and then move doughnuts to a cooling rack.  In a bowl whisk together powdered sugar and orange juice. Add a bit more orange juice if glaze is too thick or a bit more powdered sugar if it is too watery. Dip doughnuts in glaze and place back on the cooling rack and allow glaze to set.

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

I'm not sure if I love cupcakes or frosting more.  I think maybe the cream cheese frosting but you can't just eat that by itself, you gotta make the cake too, right?  Anyways,  I went to a birthday party over the weekend and there were red velvet cupcakes there.  My daughter loves cupcakes, what kid doesn't.  As soon as we got home she started asking when we could make cupcakes.  So the next day I went out and grabbed a few ingredients and we got to work.  She had so much fun filling the pastry bag with frosting and frosting her own cupcakes.  It was hard to convince her of why she could only eat one cupcake.  You would think a little 4 year old girl couldn't eat more than one in a day but I tell you what, I bet she could eat an entire dozen if I let her!  She was so impressed with her frosting abilities that when I started taking pictures for my blog she asked if she could take pictures of her cupcakes and put them on my blog too.  How can I deny such a request?  So below is not only a picture of the two cupcakes she frosted, but she also took the picture herself just for my blog.   

 Red Velvet Cupcakes

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

3 eggs

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons red food coloring

1 1/4 teaspoons white vinegar

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 cup water

Cream Cheese Frosting * recipe below

The cupcakes my daughter frosted herself.

Preheat oven 350 degrees F.  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a bowl and set aside.  In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix oil, sugar, and buttermilk until combined. Add eggs, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and water and mix well. Add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time and mix on low, scraping down sides occasionally, and mix until just combined. Be sure not to over mix, or the batter will come out tough. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners, scoop the batter into the liners and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.   

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 sticks melted butter

6 c. powdered sugar

8 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt butter and add to a mixer with paddle attachment with room temperature cream cheese and mix to combine.  Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar.  If too thick add a splash of milk, if too thin add more powdered sugar.  Mix until well combined and lump free.  

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Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

My birthday was the 31st and I wasn't in the mood for just a regular cake.  I never make cheesecake because my husband doesn't care for it.  I figured the perfect time to make a dessert that I wanted was for my birthday and I didn't care if anyone else liked it.  This is actually my very first time making a cheesecake.  I love cheesecake, I just never make it because then I'd have an entire cheesecake that I'd have to eat all by myself.  So to keep my girlish figure, I say no to cheesecake.  But, not today!  This recipe was awesome.  It was super rich, a small slice was more than enough and went a long way.  It was creamy and delicious.  It is so unbelievably hot and humid here in Japan that the second I took it out of the fridge my ganache topping instantly started sweating so it was next to impossible to take a picture as it looked like my poor cheesecake had been rained on, so I had to just use the first one I took.  This cheesecake was totally worth making and I'd definitely eat it again.  My husband even really enjoyed it, though he didn't go back for seconds like he normally does.    

Crust: 

Cooking spray, for greasing
1 package chocolate stuffed oreos
1/2 stick melted butter

Filling:

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. cocoa powder
4 (8-oz.) packages room temp. cream cheese

4 eggs

1/2 tbsp. prepared coffee (*optional)

Glaze:

3/4 c. heavy cream
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tsp. honey
1 tbsp. prepared coffee(*optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with cooking spray.

For the crust: In a food processor, grind the cookies until finely ground. Add the melted butter and process until well blended; it should be the consistency of wet sand. Press the crumbs evenly onto the bottom (not the sides) of the prepared pan. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake just until set, about 5-6 minutes. Allow it to cool while preparing the filling. 

For the filling: Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until melted, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring every minute until the chocolate is completely melted.  Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar and the cocoa powder together, smoothing out any lumps of cocoa powder. In a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, and then add the sugar-cocoa powder mixture. Add the prepared coffee at this time, if using. Beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides and bottom with a rubber scraper when necessary.  Blend in the eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in the lukewarm chocolate and stir until combined.  Pour the filling over the cooled crust, tap the pan on the table top to remove any air pockets, and then smooth the top to even out. Bake until the center is just set and looks just dry, about 1 hour, rotating halfway. Cool 5 minutes. Run a knife around sides of the cake to loosen, but do not remove from the springform pan. Chill the cake in the refrigerator overnight. 

For the glaze: Stir the heavy cream, chopped chocolate, honey and prepared coffee in a heavy, medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cool slightly. Pour over the center of the cheesecake, spreading to within 1/2-inch of the cheesecake's edge and filling any cracks. Chill until topping is set, about 1 hour.  Transfer the cheesecake to a platter and release from the springform pan. Serve cold, or allow to come to room temperature, about 2 hou

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Today is my little boy's 1st birthday!  We did celebrate it 2 days early though because of my husband's work schedule but I just can't believe Nathan is 1 already.  I baked a cake for him and a separate one for us.  Gotta have the "smash cake" for the first birthday. I have a couple of chocolate cake and chocolate frosting recipes I've used before but wanted to try a new recipe this time.  The cake and frosting were both really good just lighter than what I normally make.  That isn't a bad thing I suppose I just have an insatiable sweet tooth and always find the sweeter the better.  The frosting was creamy and silky but again I like my sweeter chocolate buttercream made with powdered sugar.  This was one of those recipes that I liked but have others I like better.   Also this recipe makes a TON of cake.  It is an Ina Garten recipe and is used for a three tier cake.  I did two small cake pans and two 8 inch cake pans and it easily made all four of those and I had more than enough frosting for it all too.  I'm not the best with cake decorating (and by not the best I mean I'm quite terrible at it) but tried to make it pretty enough to be smashed to pieces!    

 Chocolate Birthday Cake: 

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs, at room temperature
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/4 cup brewed coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter two 8 inch cake pans and two 3 inch cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter and flour the pans. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on high speed until light, approximately 5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Combine the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. On low speed, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture alternately in thirds, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix the batter only until blended. Divide the batter between the three pans and smooth the tops with a spatula. Bake on the middle rack of the oven approximately 25-30 minutes for the small pans and 30-35 minutes for the 8 inch pans or until a toothpick comes out clean . Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes each on a cooling rack, carefully remove from the pans and allow to finish cooling.  Once cool frost the top and sides of that layer with buttercream. Spread any remaining buttercream over the cake evenly. 

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1 pound bittersweet chocolate
12 ounces semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup egg whites (4-5 large eggs), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

 
Chop the chocolates and place them in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan simmering water. Stir until melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature. Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Place the bowl of egg whites over the pan of simmering water and heat the egg whites until they are warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Return the bowl to the electric mixer and whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, or until the meringues cool and holds a stiff peak. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl, add the melted chocolate, vanilla and mix for 1 minute or until the chocolate is completely blended in. If the buttercream seems very soft, allow it to cool, and beat it again.

Red, White & Blue Cake

 I'm a bit late with this but since I was unable to make anything patriotic for Memorial Day or the Fourth of July because of moving to Japan and not having my stuff and all I felt like I had something to make up for.  This is my Red, White & Blue cake.  My husband thought it was a bit clownish but I felt it had just the right amount of patriotism added to it!  I found a recipe that was similar to this one but it was boxed cake and melted whipped frosting from a can and I don't like either.  So I decided I'd make the cake and frosting from scratch.  Granted the frosting didn't really look the way the original picture I was shooting for in thin drizzly lines but that's because I decided to make a buttercream frosting instead of a whipped frosting.  My daughter loved helping me with all the colors in the cake and frosting, especially since I very rarely use dye in my food.  I'm not big on dye but I made an exception. 

I think I over did it on the frosting just a tad though because it was hard to taste the cake over the insanely sweet layers of red, white and blue buttercream, but I'll never complain about something being too sweet.  Here in Japan the desserts simply aren't sweet.  Every time I eat one I feel like they must have forgotten to add the sugar.  But, hey that is part of what I love about being an American, I can use as much sugar as I want!  

Classic White Cake:

1 c. room temp. milk
6 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. all-purpose unbleached flour (or cake flour)
1 3/4 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. (6 oz), softened
Red & Blue food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease a bundt pan with vegetable shortening and flour the pan. Combine milk, eggs whites and extracts in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in an electric mixer and mix at slow speed with a paddle attachment. Add butter. Continue beating at slow speed until mixture looks like wet sand Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Do not overmix.  Divide batter evenly in three separate bowls.  Leave one white, add red dye to the other and blue dye to the third.  I actually needed the entire bottle of red and blue but mine were mini-sized bottles.  Bake 45-55 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.  

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting: 


1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. room temp. butter
2-3 tbsp. half and half
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Red & Blue food coloring


Add all ingredients into a mixer with whisk attachment and beat on low speed until combined.  Then turn to medium low and beat until fluffy and desired consistency.  Separate into three bowls, add red & blue to two bowls until desired color.  I spooned mine into a zip lock baggie and cut the corner to get a stream of frosting for easier application to the cake.

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Cake Batter Pancakes

Last week on Whisking Wednesdays Sweet Luvin in the Kitchen linked up a cake batter pancake recipe.  The second I saw it I was drooling!  So I went out today to pick up the boxed cake mix to make this since I don't normally have that kind of thing on hand.  I don't think I've actually bought or used a box cake mix in years.  This was so totally worth it and made me so happy I went out and bought that cake mix.  I bought funfetti cake mix since it already has sprinkles in it and then just bought some extra sprinkles to sprinkle over the top.  It was amazing!  I definitely will be making this again and again!  I made just a few minor modifications to the recipe went I threw it together today.  I seem to just start throwing things into a bowl and write it down later what I did.  I'm not overly big on measuring at times!  So this recipe is definitely worth trying, it won't disappoint.  

Cake Batter Pancakes

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. yellow cake mix
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine flour, cake mix, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla and whisk until just barely combined, allowing lumps to remain, don't overmix.  You want the batter to be just like regular pancake batter, add more milk if it is too thick.  Allow the batter to rest 10 minutes.  Pour onto hot griddle by 1/4 c. measuring cup.  You can add sprinkle to your batter if you wish.  Cook each pancake until you see bubbles starting to form on top and then flip and cook on the other side for a few minutes.  Top with syrup and more sprinkles.

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The Sweet Detail

Chocolate Cupcake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Who doesn't love cupcakes!?  My daughter decided that we couldn't have just regular cream cheese frosting that we needed colors so we had to do greens, blues, and pinks for her with sprinkles of course.  This is a great chocolate cake recipe too.  Super moist and delicious and I love the combination of chocolate and cream cheese.  This is a recipe that I've used quite a few times and this particular time my husband and daughter made these together for me for Mother's Day it has just taken me a while to upload the pictures and post it.  These turned out really good.  He doesn't bake and usually doesn't follow directions very well so the fact that they turned out with him reading and following my directions was awesome!  

Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting  

2 ½ c. flour

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ sticks room temperature butter

2 c. sugar

3 ½ oz. dark chocolate

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 ½ c. cold water

Melt chocolate over double broiler then set aside to cool.  Beat butter and sugar together until creamy.  Add in eggs one at a time, then vanilla and cooled melted chocolate.  Slowly add dry ingredients and water rotating between the two starting and ending with dry ingredients.  Place wax paper on the bottom of your round cake pans and cut in a circle to fit bottom, spray sides with a non-stick spray such as Pam.  Pour cake evenly into pans.  Bang on counter a couple times to allow air to escape and to settle cake.  Bake 350° 35-45 minutes or until knife is inserted and pulls out clean.  If doing cupcakes bake for about 18-23 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  Let cool completely before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:


2 sticks melted butter
6 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Melt butter and add to a mixer with paddle attachment with room temperature cream cheese and mix to combine.  Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar.  If too thick add a splash of milk, if too thin add more powdered sugar.  Mix until well combined and lump free.  

Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Frosting

This week was mine and my husband's 8th wedding anniversary.  So of course I wanted to make a dessert we didn't have every day but nothing overly fancy.  I did a simple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  They were both absolutely delicious, but when is chocolate cake not!  The chocolate frosting is a really good frosting but I'm looking for something better.  I don't know what but figure when I find it I'll know.  This is my standard go-to frosting recipe.  I've asked a friend for a few of her go-to chocolate frosting recipes and hope to start playing with them and trying them out in the near future so I can find one that is truly magnificent.  Granted making a bunch of frosting sounds like I'll be eating way too much frosting and I'm pretty sure that isn't what I need so I think I'm going to have to spread this out over time to make sure I don't end up turning into a cake myself! 

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. sugar

3/4 c. cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temp.
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. fresh brewed coffee

Frosting:

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
2/3 c. cocoa
3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans.  Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. 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 30 to 35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

For the frosting melt the butter. Stir in cocoa, powdered sugar and vanilla. Ad in the milk beating to spreading consistency.Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Makes about 2 cups of frosting.

Lemon Pound Cake

So I've been on this lemon kick and have made all sorts of lemony delicious desserts in the last week or so.  I got this lemon pound cake recipe from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook I have.  This is the first pound cake I've made.  It turned out fantastic.  I'd say out of all the lemon desserts I've made in the last week or so this one by far was the best.  The cake was super moist and had such a great tartness to it from the lemon. I'd say the level of lemon in it from the cake itself to the glaze and icing was perfect.  My husband gets lemon pound cake everywhere we go that has it as it is one of his favorites.  He said this one was by far the best he has ever had.  So this will definitely be something we make again in this house.  The only real thing I changed from the recipe was the recipe said this made 2 separate cakes but I added it all to one pan and felt the size was perfect.  I think adding it into two separate pans the cakes would be too thin.  

Lemon Pound Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp.
2 1/2 c. sugar
4 large eggs, room temp.
1/3 c. grated lemon zest (6-8 large lemons)
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 c.  freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
 

Simple Syrup:

1/2 c. water

1/2 c. sugar

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
3 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. You may also line the bottom with parchment paper.  I did because I have sticking problems if I don't.  Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cake is done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and set it on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan.  Poke holes all over it with a skewer before pouring syrup to allow the syrup to get into the cake.  Just don't poke the holes through the cake completely.  Spoon the lemon syrup over it. Allow the cake to cool completely.   For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the cake and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

Gooey Chocolate Pudding Cake

I saw this recipe on that new show on Food Network Dessert First over the weekend and just had to try it.  It looked so gooey and chocolately.  I didn't have any ice cream to serve mine with so had to settle for just whip cream but it really was good and super simple to throw together.  Everyone really liked it.  If I had it on hand I'd use the Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cocoa instead because I think that'd make it even richer and I'm all about richness in a dessert, especially a chocolate one!  I'm already thinking of ways to play with this recipe and make it even better so will have to update once I do that.



Gooey Chocolate Pudding Cake

Pudding Cake:

3/4 c. sugar

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. milk

1/3 c. butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping:

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1 1/4 c. hot water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the cake: Whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk in the milk, butter and vanilla. Stir together until smooth with a wooden spoon or spatula. Pour the batter into an ungreased 9-inch square baking pan. Use an offset spatula to level into pan. For the topping: Whisk together the sugars and cocoa and sprinkle it evenly over the batter. Pour the hot water over the top, resist the temptation to stir it into the batter. Bake about 20-25 minutes, you want the center to bubble and look almost set, almost like an undercooked brownie. Take out of the oven and let stand 15 minutes. Serve in dessert dishes, spooning sauce from bottom of pan over top. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

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Lemon Yogurt Cake

This is the first time I've made this cake.  I've been craving lemony things the last few days so wanted to try some new lemon desserts.  I wanted something similar to a pound cake but without all the butter and figured with yogurt this would be a better option. It was awesome though I would do things a bit different next time.  I jumped the gun totally and didn't allow the cake to cool before trying to cut it.  What, I was hungry!  So not only did it fall apart but that ruined basically all pictures I could take of it too.  Once I allowed it to cool though the rest of it cut nicely.  So I'd suggest to wait until this cake cools completely before digging in. Plus I ran out of parchment paper so I just greased my pan.  The bottom stuck and ripped parts off.  Next time, I'd make sure I had the parchment down to prevent that since this is quite a sticky cake.  The glaze didn't get into the cake enough either so I'd use a skewer and put some holes all throughout the top next time before pouring the glaze over.  I used canola oil instead of vegetable oil just because canola oil is a healthier oil for you.  I had low-fat plain yogurt on hand so that is what I used, but you can certainly use whole milk yogurt if you rather.  All in all, really tasty.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

1 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. plain yogurt 

1 c. sugar 

3 large eggs

1 tbsp. lemon zest (3-4 lemons)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. canola oil

Simple Syrup:

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. lemon juice

Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.  Then make sure to grease and flour the parchment paper and rest of the pan.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 c. of sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil.  Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet.  Pour the batter in the loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until a knife is inserted and comes out clean (sharp knife or skewer not a butter knife).  Set the cake aside to start to cool while making the simple syrup consisting of 1/3 c. of lemon juice and 1/3 c. of sugar.  Heat on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup starts to look more clear.  Take the cake out of the loaf pan and place on a serving platter or cooling rack and use a skewer to poke holes in it so the syrup will penetrate more of the cake.  Don't poke through the cake, just into it. Then pour over the syrup.  Do this 10-20 minutes after the cake comes out of the oven, when it is still warm but not too hot.   Once cooled completely pour the glaze over the cake.  Just combine the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp. of lemon juice and pour.  

Enjoy!  

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