Linda's Strawberry Nostalgia Cake

Today's was Linda's five year anniversary at our company. She's currently the office admin for our team, which is at least 200+ people. Today, we "surprised" her (I think she knew what was going on) by having a little party to acknowledge her career milestone and for all of us to say thank you for being so awesome.

To make Linda's anniversary even more special, one of the other admins, Rebekah, very cleverly found out her favorite dessert. Linda went into great detail about how when she was a little girl, she would get super excited when she would see an angel's food cake tin cooling upside down on top of a bottle. She said she knew her mom was making this cake. It's very simple, but the best desserts usually are.

I was a little nervous to make such an iconic cake from her childhood, but when she saw it waiting for her on the conference room table, she knew exactly what it was! She could hardly wait until she could get a bite. After she had a piece, she said she had to hold back the tears because it made her think of her mom, those many years ago. That's when I started to get all verklempt!

Strawberry Nostalgia Cake
1 Angel's Food Cake (here's my favorite scratch recipe, from a box mix, or store bought)
1 to 2 pints fresh strawberries (I highly recommend getting them organic and locally grown. The flavor is just so much better!)
1 tablespoons granulated sugar (optional)
1/4 cup of water
1 pint whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons powdered sugar

Wash and hull the strawberries. Dice 12 to 18 smallish ones and store in the refrigerator. Mash the remaining strawberries into a small bowl using the back of a fork, sprinkle with 1 tablespoons of sugar if desired. Give it a good mix, cover and leave them on the counter. Let them macerate at least an hour.

Make/buy an angel's food cake. Trim off any "skin" (this is what I refer to is the thin, light brown outermost layer of the cake. It should just roll off or might need some coaxing with a knife.) You should have a pretty, mostly white cake. Using a serrated bread knife, cut the cake in half vertically. Set the top aside.

Using a small paring knife or your fingers, cut or dig a tunnel around the perimeter of the cake, about 1/4 away from the sides (if you cut it too close to the sides of the cake, your filling will not only ooze out, but it will weaken the sides and the cake could fall). Discard/eat the little pieces of cake. Repeat process with top layer if you want, but don't cut too deep. Set the cake side.

In a chilled bowl (I prefer metal) using chilled beaters or whisk attachment, whip the cream on the highest speed until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla and sugar and mix again until stiff peaks just start to form. Scrape down the bowl. Remove 1/2 cup of whipped cream, cover, and refrigerate. On medium speed, add a tablespoon of the mashed strawberries and mix until cream turns pink. Add another tablespoon, mix again and repeat 2 more times. You probably won't use all the strawberries making the strawberry whipped cream. The goal is to get the whipped cream pink and strawberryish, without deflating the cream.

Put the bottom of the cake on a cake board or serving platter. Fill the tunnel with strawberry whipped cream. Just fill it enough that there is a layer of cream, but you should still be able to see the cake peaking through. Fill the tunnel again, but this time with the diced strawberries (if you have extra slices that didn't fit, just toss them into the mashed strawberries and save it for when serve the cake). The top of the strawberries should be even with the top of the cake, or just slightly below. Top with more strawberry whipped cream. Put the top of the cake back on top.

Frost the cake with the whipped cream, being sure not to forget the center of the cake and refrigerate immediately. Wait at least 20 minutes or enough time for the whipped cream to set. Remove the cake from the fridge again and frost just the top of the cake with the reserved plain white whipped cream. Store in the fridge overnight and try to keep it there until you're ready to serve. Serve with any left over strawberries.

Yield: Depending on large you cut the slices, you could serve 8 to 16.
Would I Make This Again: Yes! It was so pretty, light, and summery. The cake didn't get too soggy and had a not-too-sweet, nostalgic quality to it. I would love to make this for a dessert to serve to guests after a BBQ or in the dead of winter (using frozen berries) when I'm really longing for summer. I'd also like to try this with other fruit, or a combination of a few. 4 out of 5 stars.

Julia's White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

When Julia said her favorite dessert was white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Cheesecake? Really? I don't know what it is about cheesecake but the thought of making it always terrifies me! I always think that it's going to a disaster. It will burn, crack in half, be grainy and dry, or taste like a flavorless hunk of cream cheese. But this time, I had an attitude adjustment. After all this was for her birthday. I could do this and without any whining, dammit!


After a bit of searching, I found the recipe that follows on Epicurious. It had rave reviews and it didn't seem too complicated. No only was it as good as the reviewers said it would be, but it was a dream to make! As long as you take your time, it will come out great. Plus, if you don't like raspberries you could easily substitute strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or any berry and it would still be fabulous. If you've never made cheesecake before, this is a great recipe to try.

Now... if I could just learn how to cut a cheesecake properly....

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Adapted from Bon Appétit, February 1994

Crust
18 graham crackers
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup of unsalted butter, melted

Filling
4 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 large eggs
3/4 cup fresh raspberries or frozen unsweetened, thawed, drained

Topping
1 8-ounce container full fat sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 8 or 8 1/2 inch spring form pan. Put graham crackers and sugar into a food processor and pulverize until very fine. Add butter and blend until mixture forms very moist crumbs. Using plastic wrap as aid, press crumbs firmly onto bottom of the pan. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.

For Filling:
Melt white chocolate in a bowl set above pot of gently simmering water until smooth, stirring often. Remove from over water and set aside to cool. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and peel in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined. Beat in white chocolate.

Spoon half of batter into crust (for me it was about 2 cups). Top with 3/4 cup berries, being sure to evenly stagger the berries evenly. Carefully spoon (don't pour!) remaining batter over the berries and smooth out the surface. Bake until edges of cake are set but center 3 inches still moves when cake is shaken, about 45 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Maintain oven temperature. Using fingertips, press down gently on edges of cheesecake to flatten slightly.

For topping:
Whisk sour cream, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Spoon over cake, spreading to edge of pan. Bake 5 minutes. Transfer cake in pan to rack. Run small knife around sides of cake. Cool completely. Chill cake overnight.

Carefully remove the outer ring off the cheesecake. Transfer cheesecake to platter. Bring jam to simmer in small saucepan, stirring often. Gently pour over the cake. Can be served right away or prepared up to 3 hours ahead; (be sure to chill it before serving.)

Yield:The recipe says 8, but those would be some seriously big pieces. I was able to get about 15 pieces of varying sizes out of an 8 1/2" cake.
Would I Make This Again? No doubt about it! This is a great recipe. Everyone who had a slice loved it! It looks so impressive, people will think you're a rockstar for making it. 5 out of 5 stars!

Jeff's Behemoth Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I learned it was Jeff's birthday during our weekly Monday morning meeting. Honestly, I hear the word "birthday" and its hard for me to focus after that.

When the meeting was over, the first thing I did was send him an email to find out what special birthday treat he wanted; but he said he wasn't picky and I could surprise him. Yikes!

I talked it over with a few coworkers and although one of the suggestions was to make Raisin Bran Muffins (Jeff often eats the cereal for breakfast and lunch), we knew it had to be something rich, involving chocolate, and extremely caloric. It was then when I remembered a brief conversation I had last Friday when my coworker Peter, who told me I should check out "this amazing giant chocolate chip cookie cake on the Martha Stewart website". I'm so glad I did because it turned out Jeff really wanted chocolate chip cookies!

Don't be fooled by the pictures, this cake was HUGE! It weighted about 5 lbs and was close to 6 inches tall!

Behemoth Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart Online
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Filling - Plain
4 8oz packages of full fat cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar

-or-

Frosting Variation - Peanut Butter and Nutella - (thanks to Jeff who left a comment)
3 8 oz packages cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1.5 cups confectioners' sugar
3-5 spoonfulls peanut butter (or more to taste)
3-5 spoonfulls nutella (or more to taste)

If you have a Silpat mat: Trace an 8 inch circle on a piece of parchment paper using a thick pencil. Place it face up on a cookie sheet. Place your Silpat mat face up on top of the parchment. You should be able to see the circle you drew peeking beneath the Silpat. If you don't have a Silpat mat, flip the parchment paper face down on the cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put butter and brown and granulated sugars into mixer bowl and mix on medium until well combined (it will look very dry and not fluffy at all). Mix in vanilla, eggs, and yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the cream. Stir in chocolate chips.
For each of the 5 layers, drop 1 level cup batter + plus a little extra onto center of a baking sheet lined with parchment (I used about 1 and 1/4 cup of batter per cookie. I measured out 5 separate cups and then divided the rest of the left over batter evenly). Keep unbaked dough refrigerated while the other dough is baking. Using a small offset spatula, spread into an 8-inch circle, or as close as you can get it.

Bake until edges are pale golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Use offset spatula to reshape circle.(Here's an alternative approach - I used the frame of my 8.5 inch spring form pan. I very carefully coaxed the undercooked cookie inside the buttered pan. I then returned the cookie and the pan to the oven to cook for the remaining 8 minutes. You could just bake this in a spring form pan but if you do that, the edges of the cookie will bake up high and cake like. I prefer the uneven cookie like edge.) Return to oven; bake until edges are golden brown, 7-9 minutes (DO NOT OVER COOK! Remember you're going to have to cut through all 5 cookies. Slightly under-cooked cookies is what you want. Transfer to wire rack; let cool. Can be stored airtight up to 1 day.

Frosting (both Plain and PB & Nutella) - Mix cream cheese, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar in clean mixer bowl on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Original - Divide into 4 separate equal portions and spread onto 4 cookies. (I reduced this from 5 8oz blocks to only 4, but after I made this and I watched people eat around the massive amounts of frosting, 3 blocks might be better. It looks pretty to have lots of frosting in between the layers, but it's a bit of overkill in my opinion.)

Variation - Divide frosting into 2 bowls. Add 3-5 spoonfuls of peanut butter to one bowl and 3-5 spoonfuls of Nutella to the other and mix until well blended. Spread half of the peanut butter frosting on one cookie, top with another cookie and spread half the Nutella flavored frosting. Repeat with remaining two cookies.

Stack cookies onto a cake board or platter, placing unfrosted cookie on top. Refrigerate until frosting is set, at least 20 minutes or overnight. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: I was able to get 16 slices out of the cake but they were so big and rich that I ended up splitting them in half (except for Jeff's slice!) which yielded about 30+ servings.
Would I Make This Again? Definitely! I LOVED watching everyone's reaction to the cake. I just left it on my desk and as people walked past me, they'd see the cake, do a double-take, and get this huge little kid like smile on their face. Those smiles, those "oohs!" and "aahs!" is why I bake. I feed off that, so yes, this recipe will be made again, probably many times. 5 out of 5 stars!!

30 Calorie Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

Please allow me to present the thirty calorie cookie... you know you want one, don't you? Go ahead, indulge! The best part of this cookie aside from the fact that they taste heavenly, is that you don't have to feel guilty eating them. Say goodbye to the hard, styrofoamy meringue cookies that scrape the roof of your mouth when you eat them. These babies bake up with with an unassuming smooth and dry outer shell but inside but oh, the inside is where all the action is! There you'll find a flossy, lightly toasted marshmallow like center, with slightly melted chocolate chips just waiting for you to indulge.

30 Calorie Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

4 egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups mini chocolate chips
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (optional)

Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with a Silpat mat. Preheat oven to 300F.

In a medium mixing bowl with whisk attachment bowl, beat egg whites on super high speed until soft peaks form. Add cream of tarter and vanilla and mix again. Scrape bowl. Return on high speed and add sugar 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time (I measure the sugar into a 8oz glass then slowly pour the sugar a little at a time into the meringue. I find the glass easy to grip and less messy).

If you want cocoa flavored cookies, add the cocoa now (I highly recommend it!). Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop mixture by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet (I like to use my 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop. It makes the cookies look very pretty and even). Bake the cookies in the oven for about 20 minutes or until firm and the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let them cool.

Approximate Nutrition Facts per cookie: 30 calories, 1 g total fat, 3 mg sodium, 5g carbo, 0g fiber, 0 pro

Yield: One batch makes about a lot of cookies! 5 1/2 dozen
Would I Make This Again? Yes, these are awesome and a perfect treat for someone that's watching their diet. Next time I make them, I'd like to try using a pastry bag with a tip to make them look just a little bit prettier.

Triple-Chocolate Penuche Brownies

Originally I intended to make brownies that were covered in gooey caramel, that when cut would ooze with golden threads of sticky goodness. However, when I searched for a good recipe, they all called for store bought caramel which I really dislike, so I decided to make my own. How hard could it be?

I don't know if it was my stove, the barometic pressure, or the phase of the moon, but I made 3 different caramel recipes and none of them came out right. First I tried to make homemade, duche le leche in my oven (boiling a can scared me!) but it just curdled and didn't resemble caramel at all. Then I tried a caramel recipe out of an old cookbook. This recipe actually looked like caramel, but unfortunately tasted bitter and burnt. This led to another cookbook recipe that I should have known from the start wasn't what I wanted, but I tried it anyway. Let's just say it involved flour - yeah, gross.

So finally I just went back to what I know and made the recipe that follows. Now granted the texture of the caramel was not what I originally intended, but the combination of penuche and fudge brownies was just devine.

Triple-Chocolate Penuche Brownies
Adapted recipe from Gourmet Magazine, 1992

6 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (chips are okay)
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Penuche Frosting
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk

Prepare a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper or tin foil so that the sides and bottom are covered. Spray with Pam or butter the surface of the paper/foil. This will make it super easy to remove the brownies later. If you don't have parchment paper or tin foil, just thoroughly butter and flour the pan, paying extra attention to the corners.

In a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the bittersweet chocolate and the unsweetened chocolate with the butter, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. Stir in sugar and vanilla.

Preheat oven 350F.

Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk with a fork, scrambled egg style. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl, a little at at time, stirring well after each addition.

Stir in the salt and the flour, stirring until the mixture is just combined. Add the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the pan, smooth out the top, and bake the mixture in the middle of a preheated 350F oven for 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Remove from the oven and wait 5 minutes for it cool slightly. Remove the brownies from the pan using the paper or foil and place on a large cutting board or larger cookie sheet.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. When it's fully melted, add the brown sugar and continue to mix constantly. When the mixture is well combined, add the milk and continuing stir. Increase the heat to medium-high, all the while, stirring the caramel. Let the mixture come to boil for 3 minutes.

Hover the saucepan a bit high over the brownies so that you get a long ribbon of caramel flowing from the pan. Slowly pour the mixture over the brownies in a zig-zag fashion, working from one side to the other, being sure not to cover the entire surface of the brownies with the caramel (you want to see some of the chocolate brownies peeking through the surface).

Let the brownies and penuche cool completely before cutting.

Yield: 24 brownies, although it really depends on how big you cut them
Would I Make This Again? Yep and I'm a little surprised by that answer. When I first made them, I was so upset that the carmel didn't come out the way I wanted, that I almost threw them away! But my husband told me I was nuts and to bring them to work anyway. Within a few minutes of delivering them to the masses, people were coming back for seconds, thirds, and fourths! It turned out to be wonderfully happy accident. 4 out of 5 stars

Mark's Coconut Banana Whipped Dream Trifle

That's not a typo, this dessert really was a "whipped dream". I made this trifle for Mark because he graduated with his MBA last week and I wanted to make him something special to celebrate his acheivement. When I asked him what sweet treat he wanted, his eyes lit up and big smile came across his face. He wanted a coconut pound cake with bananas in between the layers and coconut frosting. I knew I could do that, but then I got inspired to come up with something a bit different. I ran it past him first and he told me to go for it.

This dessert is comprised for 4 separate layers, repeated twice, in the following order: Coconut Pound Cake, Coconut Simple Syrup, Banana Curd, and lastly, Coconut Whipped Cream. I put it into the fridge overnight to macerate, but it could also be served right away too (I made a mini version for my husband to try right after I made it and he loved it). It's dreamy either way.

Coconut Pound Cake
adapted from a McCormick's recipe

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar
5 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk (coconut milk would be good here too!)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, loosely packed
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Greased and flour 10-inch Bundt pan pan.

Beat butter, shortening and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add both extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift flour with salt. Gradually add to butter mixture alternately with milk, being sure to scrape down the bowl. Add coconut and give one last final last good mix for 30 seconds on low. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 70 to 80 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove cake oven. Let it cool for 10 minutes in pan. Invert onto wire rack.

Coconut Simple Syrup

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

Bring the water to a boil. Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water. Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat, add extract and stir. Allow to cool completely.

Banana Curd
adapted from a RecipeZaar recipe

5 ripe bananas (still yellow and slightly soft)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
juice of one room temperature lemon that's been strained
2 eggs
4 egg yolks

Mash up the bananas either with a fork or run them through a food processor.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the lemon juice and bananas and mix well. Cook over medium low heat for 15 minutes, being careful not to boil.

In a separate bowl, whip all whole eggs plus the egg yolks together until foamy with a folk or whisk.

Remove 1/4 cup of the hot banana mixture and put it into a separate bowl. Slowly add 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture to the bowl, whisking vigorously for 30 seconds. Repeat this process two more times. After each tablespoon, watch and make sure the egg doesn't become scrambled. If it does, throw it away and start over.

Add the banana and egg mixture to the saucepan and continue whisking. Then slowly pour the remainder of the eggs directly into the saucepan, whisking briskly the entire time (it helps to have someone either pouring or whisking. It also helps to pour high above the saucepan as this helps to get a long thin ribbon of eggs instead a few big blobs.) Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool at least 20 minutes. The curd will continue to thicken as it cools.

Coconut Whipped Cream

2 cups whipped cream that's very cold
1/4 cup white sugar, to to taste
1 teaspoon coconut extract*
1/3 sweetened flaked coconut, loosely packed*

Add the cream to the bowl and whip on high speed with a wire whisk until the cream is slightly thickened. (It helps to put the whisk attachment and bowl into the freezer for about 5 minutes before you start).

Add the sugar and the extract. Continue to whip until cream forms soft peaks.

Add the coconut and mix on low just until it's mixed.
*Note: you can make this plain if you wish, just omit the flaked coconut and replace the coconut extract with vanilla extract (clear-colored if you can find it).

Assembly

Before you start, pick a dish of your choosing to serve this dessert in. I used an oval pan with 3 inch sides. The size and depth of the pan will determine how many layers you will need. The following steps are written for two layers, but this could easily be adapted to as many layers as you want.

In a glass dish or trifle bowl of your choosing, spoon about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the banana curd into the dish, just enough to get the bottom of the dish wet.

Slice up the cake into 1/2 in slices (it doesn't have to be perfect) and line the bottom of the pan. Try to get the layer even. Feel free to cut up the pieces into different shapes to fit the pan. I do suggest keeping the edges of the cake pointed toward the center. This helps to make the side view through the glass consistently colored and looking pretty.

Lightly brush with the exposed cake with the simple syrup. ( you will have extra simple syrup).

Top the cake with enough banana curd to cover the cake.

Cover the banana curd with enough whipped cream to cover the banana curd.

Repeat with cake, then simple syrup, and then banana curd (the last layer should be whipped cream). Cover with cling wrap and store in the refrigerator over night. (I made a mini one serving version of this dessert for my husband that didn't macerate overnight and it was still super yummy so you don't have to store it overnight, but it only gets better the longer it sits in the fridge).

When you're ready to serve, scatter enough flaked coconut over the banana curd (optional), then top with the coconut whipped cream. I put it into a big plastic zip bag and piped out the border and "MBA", but you could just spread whipped cream over the top with a rubber spatula.

Yield:The pan that I used served about 20-30 smaller servings, but under normal circumstances I bet this would serve about 8-12 good sized servings.
Would I Make This Again?Yes. The banana curd was fun and I could see just making that by itself to serve as a jam or with pancakes. The pound cake had the classic pound cake great texture and was very moist. However next time I will use coconut milk instead of whole milk, just to see what that did to the flavor. Overall it was a fun dessert and a successful experiement. My only complaint is that it was a bit too rich for me but if I knew anyone that liked coconut and banana together, I'd wouldn't hesitate to make this again. 4 out of 5 stars.

Butterscotch Sidewalk Cake with Butterscotch Frosting

I woke up yesterday morning with a little spring in my step. I was to bake a butterscotch cake for my friend Danielle's housewarming party. I hadn't seen Danielle in a long time and I wanted her cake to be extra special. I even bought a new 6 inch cake pan just for her cake.

When she said she wanted butterscotch, the first thing I thought of was cold butterscotch pudding that I had as a kid, but was that the flavor she wanted in her cake? What exactly is butterscotch anyway?

I did a bit of research and found that pretty much every type of caramel I have had is actually butterscotch! The difference between butterscotch and caramel is that butterscotch is made with brown sugar and caramel is made with slightly burnt white sugar. Go figure!

I had a heck of a time finding a real butterscotch cake recipe. Most that I could find involved a cake mix and a box of butterscotch pudding mix. Now I'll be the first to admit that sometimes cake mix based recipes can be pretty amazing, but for this gift, I wanted something better. I found a few that looked okay but in the end creating a new one of my own. But wait, what's with "sidewalk" reference? Well, I think it might be best to allow my husband to explain...

"We found Danielle's house, and saw the sign in the front door window, saying "Continue around to the back". Julia insisted on carrying both the cake and her purse, but her purse was slung over her opposite shoulder, so it wasn't much of a factor. As she was walking along the sidewalk toward the back, the heel of her left flip-flop snagged on a crack in the sidewalk. From behind her, I saw the whole thing in slow motion. I didn't have the superhuman speed to try to catch her from behind; I could only look on in helplessness as she went down with those big limb-on-sidewalk thuds.

When it was all over, all I knew was that she would be hurting, but the cake had not fallen on the ground. She did indeed have some slight concrete shred-wounds. As I reflected on the event later, it occurred to me that it didn't matter how many of her limbs ended up bleeding at the end of this fall so long as the cake ended up safe. However, as you can see, even the cake didn't escape entirely without injury."

And thank goodness! The cake did suffer a bit but it could have been so much worse. I was just SO relieved that the cake didn't splat on the ground and that I took a few pictures before we got there. :-)

Butterscotch Cake
2 cup cake flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 medium eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8-inch pans.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, blend the butter and brown sugars on medium speed together for about 2 minutes (scrape the bowl at least once) until very light brown and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time mixing on low until its well incorporated, then raise the speed to medium and mix for about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl.

Add the vanilla to the milk. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix slowly until the flour is absorbed and scrape the bowl. Add half the milk to the mix and mix again on slow speed until its well incorporated. Add the rest of the flour, scrape the bowl again and add the remaining milk. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl at least once. The batter should be really fluffy.Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is fully cooked. Let the cakes cool for at least 20 minutes before removing from the pan. Transfer the cakes to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Butterscotch Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow creme
1/4 cup butterscotch-flavored ice cream topping
3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup of whipping cream

Blend together half the butter and marshmallow cream until well combined. Scape the bowl. Add the butterscotch sauce. Add the powdered sugar in batches and mix together well, being sure to scrape the bowl. Add half the cream, as needed to get the desired consistency. Note: To get enough frosting for my four layer cake, I made the recipe just as it is above, but added another stick of butter, another 1/4 cup of butterscotch sauce, and another cup to two cups of powdered sugar.

For decoration I put a handful of little amber colored butterscotch hard candies in the food processor and pulverized them until they turned into powder.

Yield:I made one 9" square cake (used a brownie pan) and one 6-inch round pan and although I didn't cut it up and count the slices, I'd bet this recipe would feed at least 10 people.
Would I Make This Again?Yes! I LOVED the flavor and the texture of the cake. The batter tasted almost as good as the frosting! The frosting is what frosting is suppose to be too. It was sweet and creamy and had a delicate flavor. I can't wait to experiment with it more. It was an overall winner and totally yummy. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Frito Bark

So say you need to make a dessert in a jiffy but all you have in the house is a bag of chocolate chips, butter, brown sugar, and a bag of Fritos (it could happen!). What do you do? You whip up a great little treat that everyone will love.

I got inspired to make this little ditty after reading Anna's recipe at Cookie Madness a long time ago. Her recipe has pretzels, Fritos, and peanut butter cups in it, which I'm sure if super yummy but I wanted to go even simpler (and avoid anything with nuts). The combination of the salty Fritos and the sweet caramel and chocolate is sublime. Plus its really fun to watch people eat it and try to figure out what's the crunchy part is.

Frito Candy

Half a bag of regular flavored Fritos (9.75 oz)
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar, packed (light or dark)
1 12oz bag of chocolate chips (milk or semi sweet)

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400F.

Pour the Fritos into the prepared pan and crush slightly with the bottom of a glass or heavy bowl. Push the chips and chip fragments together so the there aren't any bare spots.

In a pan, over medium high heat, melt the butter and brown sugar together, mixing constantly with a wooden spoon. Bring to a slow boil for 3 minutes, continuing to stir constantly.

Slowly pour the molten caramel over the chips, evenly covering all the chips as best you can.

Put the pan into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. You should see the caramel bubbling up through the chips.

Turn off the oven. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the chip and caramel. Wait a few minutes and spread the chocolate around the surface, being sure to get evenly coat the surface. If the chocolate chips are stubborn and won't melt evenly, put the pan back into the oven for a minute or two to soften the chips.

Put the pan into the fridge (or the freezer if you're really in a hurry) until set. Remove the candy from the parchment paper and put the whole thing onto a cutting board. Cut it with a heavy, sharp knife and serve.

Note that this does get a bit soft at room temperature, so be sure to keep cold.

Yield: Enough to feed about 10-12 people, with lots left over. It really depends on how big you cut the pieces.
Would I Make This Again? Yep! It's a little ghetto but sometimes that's just want is needed. It's a fun, low cost dessert that makes people happy. What's not to love? I bet this would be great sprinkled over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. 4 out of 5 stars!

First Time with Fondant: Red Sox Cake

Yesterday was my son's end of season baseball party and I volunteered to make the cake. I've been itching to have an excuse to play with fondant and I had grand ideas on how I could use it in a baseball theme. Well, working with fondant was a lot harder than I ever thought it would be But, you have to start somewhere, right?


It cracked pretty much the moment I put the fondant on the cake and making the logo too FOREVER. Seriously, the amazingly talented artists on Ace of Cakes make it look so easy!

I didn't really care for the buttercream frosting I made (I'll spare you the recipe), but overall the vanilla cake was good. It had a the delicate wedding cake texture I was looking for and the flavor was great. The Wilton fondant I used left much to be desired. It tasted terrible. Does all fondant taste like that?

It's a little hard to see but the cake had four layers (I split the two layers I made). I alternated mini chocolate chips and strawberries between each one. I should have ditched the chocolate chips and just did strawberries throughout. They were yummy!

Although this cake wasn't perfect and it didn't look anything like I had intended, it put a smile on a lot of people's faces and that warmed my heart. I have A LOT to learn about fondant but I'm not giving up yet...

Yield: I doubled the recipe and made a double layer-half sheet cake. I was able to get about 50+ pieces.
Would I Make This Again? I would use the cake recipe again. I loved the flavor and the texture. It was great! 4 out of 5 stars. I do need to find a better buttercream and better fondant. Suggestions welcome!

Dorie Greenspan's Cinnamon Bars

One of my husband's all time favorite desserts from his childhood is chocolate cinnamon bars. Not this recipe, but one his mom made, especially around the holidays. My mom-in-law's recipe is very simple and more of a cinnamon blondie with chocolate chips sprinkled across the top (due to the number of requests I've received for this recipe, I've added it to the very bottom of this post). I imagine she probably found it on the back of a bag of chocolate chips or something.

About two weeks ago I purchased Dorie Greenspan's glorious book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. On the day I received it, I started reading it like it was a novel. I brought it to bed and read it until my eyes felt heavy with the urge to sleep. However, I perked up when I turned to page 210 and saw this recipe. I knew instantly this was one the hubby would love. It was like chocolate cinnamon bars 2.o!

In my last post, I mentioned how I made a cake for the baseball parents as a "thanks for being here no matter what" gift. Well, that day our team won and one of the moms said it was because of my cake and I need to keep it going. I couldn't let the team down, now could I? After all it's the playoffs! So, I decided making this cake would be both a perfect choice for the spectators and a great way for my hubby to get a slice (or two, or three).

Looks like I'll be making something for the game on Friday... we won again!

Cinnamon Bars
by Dorie Greenspan

Cake:
1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee/espresso powder (if you don't have this, skip it. It will still be yummy without it)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Frosting:
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, soft

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 8-inch square cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Place the pan on a baking sheet and set aside.

In a small bowl or glass, combine 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and the espresso powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, remaining cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture over the flour mixture and gently whisk until you have a well combined homogeneous batter. Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, fold in the melted and cooled butter, just until the butter is absorbed. Your batter should be smooth and shiny.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, being sure its spread evenly (I find that if I hold onto the sides of the pan very firmly, while pushing against the counter, and make small circles with the pan, but batter will smooth out like magic.)

Sprinkle the chocolate over the batter and then top with the cinnamon sugar. Top with the remaining batter, spreading it evenly.

Put the baking sheet and the baking pan into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F, just until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and remove the parchment. Turn it out again onto another rack so it is right side up.

For the frosting, put the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and fit the bowl over a pan of simmering (not boiling!) water. Stir until the chocolate and butter have completely melted and it is super shiny and smooth (If it gets too thin, let it stand for about 10 minutes and it will eventually thicken up). Spread on the top of the cake and allow the frosting to set up before serving.

Yield: I doubled the recipe and made it in a 9x13 pan and was able to get 16 good sized pieces.
Would I Make This Again? Let me first say that everyone at the game really seemed to like it, but it wasn't my cup of tea. If someone told me they loved cinnamon and chocolate together in a dessert, I would make this for them, but there are many more recipes in Dorie's book I'd rather make instead. 3 out of 5 stars.

My Mother-In-Law's Chocolate Cinnamon Bars

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels + 1/2 cup for sprinkling on top
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

Mix flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together in a bowl using a fork or whisk. In another bowl, blend butter, shortening, and sugar together until combined. Add eggs and mix well until combined. Add 1 cup of chocolate chips and all the walnuts and blend with a wooden spoon.

Spread batter into the pan (it will be thick) with a spatula. Scatter chocolate chips over the top. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.