How about a little Bundt pan history?

In 1950 Nordic Ware invented the Bundt® Pan; a ring shaped pan with fluted sides.   The pan sold somewhat slowly until the 1966 Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest winner used the little-known Bundt® Pan for her Tunnel of Fudge cake recipe. This prompted a mad rush for the pans, causing them to surpass the tin Jell-O mold to become the most-sold pan in the United States. Since their introduction, more than 50 million Bundt pans have been sold by Nordic Ware.

Oh, and by the way, National Bundt Pan Day is November 15th.  And do you remember the scene in the 2002 movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when the mother of the groom-to-be comes to the home of the mother of the bride-to-be and presents to you a Bundt cake? Still makes me smile, HERE IS A LINK to a grainy video from You Tube.

This super moist yogurt cake is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. So simple to put together and pop in the oven… seriously delish.

FYI: I used a decorative sunflower Bundt pan in place of the traditional Bundt that has the tube in the center, so it took about 20 minutes longer to cook than this recipe states.

Fresh Blueberry Yogurt Cake

2  1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
8 ounces plain Greek yogurt
12 ounces fresh blueberries
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease and flour a Bundt pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir the vanilla extract and only 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice.

Mix in half in the flour mixture, then the yogurt, then the remaining half of the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated.

Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Serves 12

Bonus photo:  It takes a lot to dig to the back of the “baking” cupboard to get to my collection of Bundt pans!

OK, so I have caved and I have made the dough for the potato rolls. How can I not, after The Audrey Files made them for her family and then raved about them on her blog? I’d feel like a heel if I stood my ground on that one. But I must rebel in some small way, so I am NOT going to make a homemade pumpkin pie this year! Instead I am making a pumpkin bundt cake, so take that, my whining family! But, I even felt a little guilty about that, so I purchased a little pumpkin pie at Trader Joe’s… oh well.

I do not trust a bundt cake to come out of the bundt pan cleanly. So I never, and I mean never, use Pam to grease it. I always melt plenty of butter and brush it on every visible interior surface and then dust the pan with flour. That usually does the trick, but not every time, sometimes it just sticks in one little spot, just to spite me.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Butter and flour for coating bundt pan

3  1/3 cups flour
1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1  1/2 cups granulated sugar
1  1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup canola oil
15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup orange juice

Glaze
1  1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
Scant pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 to 3 tablespoons milk or cream, or as needed

Position oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Melt a couple tablespoons butter in the microwave and very generously brush a bundt pan with the butter, then dust with flour and tap out the excess flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and all the spices.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer blend together the granulated and brown sugars. Add the oil, pumpkin, and then the eggs, one at a time, beating until blended. Scrape down the bowl.

With the mixer on the lowest speed, alternately add the orange juice  and the flour mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Once everything is blended, scrape down the bowl again, then beat a few seconds longer until the batter is smooth and creamy.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out dry.  Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 20 to 25 minutes.

Place a flat cake plate or platter on top of the cake, invert, and lift off the pan. Cool the cake completely on a rack.

Glaze: Do not make the glaze until right before you are ready to use! Whisk together all the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Add more of milk if necessary so the glaze has a just slightly runny consistency. Drizzle the glaze on the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.  The glaze hardens as it sets.

Serves 12

As usual, there are overripe bananas sitting on my counter. That indicates two problems, first that people ask for bananas and then don’t use them, Marissa and Dave, I’m talking to you! And secondly, now I must make banana-something, again!  OK, that’s not truly a problem, just a reality.

The real problem is that I didn’t follow my own advise while preparing to make this coffee cake. I neglected to set up my mise en place (the French phrase meaning “everything in place”) beforehand. So even though this is called blueberry-banana coffee cake… there are no blueberries in mine. We had them on the side. Dang it! Be sure to get out your blueberries, and everything else needed, before you begin.

Blueberry-Banana Coffee Cake with Milk Chocolate Streusel

Streusel
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Batter
1  1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3 tablespoons vanilla yogurt
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan.

Streusel: In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon until well blended. Place half of the mixture in another small bowl. Stir chocolate chips into one of the bowls and rub the butter pieces into the other bowl, set both aside.

Batter: Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Mix in the egg until just blended. Beat in mashed bananas and yogurt.

Add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries.

Spread half the batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle with the chocolate chip streusel. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top and then sprinkle with the butter streusel.

Bake coffee cake on the center rack of the preheated oven until a toothpick, inserted into center, comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool on rack.  Serve directly from the pan while still slightly warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8

Sometimes a proud mom just has to brag about her children. Today is one of those days, so please bare with me. The picture below is from Connor’s 18th birthday (he is now 19  1/2 years old) and he had just blown out the candles from his favorite kind of cake, which would best be called “chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate!” I am posting this picture and the recipe for the cake, not because we celebrate half birthdays around here,  but because I want to tell you how proud I am of my son.

Connor will have a weekly comic strip in The Lumberjack, Northern Arizona University’s newspaper! So very cool! His older sister, Marissa, who recently graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Arizona, wrote for her newspaper, The Wildcat, and now Connor will be published too. Marissa is equally proud of her “little” brother, as you can see by yesterday’s post on her blog, as seen HERE.  Yes, she beat me to it, and that kinda makes me doubly proud of both of them. xoxo

Connor’s Killer Overdose Chocolate Cake

Cake
3/4 cup (1  1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
6-ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 eggs
3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1  1/2 cups flour
1  1/2 cups chocolate chips

Frosting
1  1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons instant coffee
1 cup heavy cream
5-ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1  1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Sweetened whipped cream

Cake: Preheat the oven to 35o degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper, grease paper.

Melt the butter in a medium bowl in the microwave and stir in the chocolate, continue stirring until completely melted. Cool to lukewarm.

In a large bowl whisk together for 1 minute; the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Whisk in the butter-chocolate mixture. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. (Do not overbake, toothpick or cake tester should not come out clean) Cool on racks and remove from pans as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

Frosting: Combine the sugar, coffee, and cream in a small, deep, heavy saucepan. Stirring, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 6 minutes without stirring. Remove from the heat. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted and blended throughout. Add the butter and vanilla. Whisk thoroughly. Chill until the mixture begins to thicken.

Assembly: Put one cake layer, bottom-side-up, on a cake plate.  Spread with 1/3 of the frosting.  Top with the second layer, also bottom-side-up.  Pour all but 1/2 cup of the remaining frosting on top of the cake, spreading it over the top and then the sides. Place the reserved 1/2 cup frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip and pipe rosettes around the top of the cake.*  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Serves 10 to 12
*(the cake picture is sans rosettes at the birthday boy’s request)

It’s been raining here in Arizona all week. Yesterday and this morning have been especially harsh; flooding, high winds, closed airports, several feet of snow up north, (plus a leaking roof for me!) – just crazy stuff for our dry desert state! This weather makes me want to bake and the chilliness and dark skies make pumpkin and spices seem like the perfect thing to pop in the oven.  I was planning to make a regular Bundt cake, but while digging through the cake pans, I found my mini-rose shaped Bundt pan. These pretty little cuties bring a little warmth and sunshine to an otherwise cold and rainy day.

Quadruple Ginger and Pumpkin Gingerbread Bundt Cake

1 cup ginger ale
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup finely minced candied ginger
1 tablespoon peeled and finely minced or grated fresh gingerroot
Cinnamon Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup milk or cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a Bundt pan or a pan with 12 mini Bundts.

Mix together the ginger ale and molasses in a medium saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil, immediately remove from heat and whisk in the baking soda. Be warned, it will foam up. Set aside while the foam subsides.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated and brown sugars, oil, pumpkin, candied ginger, and fresh gingerroot.

Add half of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir just until combined. Add the warm molasses mixture, then the remaining dry ingredients, stirring after each addition just until combined.

Pour the batter into a standard Bundt pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Or into the 12 holes of mini Bundts, (about 3/4 full) baking for 28 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack. Cool completely before glazing. If making the mini Bundts, after cooling and removing cakes, refill and bake second batch of 12 cakes.

Glaze: Place powdered sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl, whisk to blend, add milk and stir until glaze is smooth and creamy. Add a little more sugar or milk as necessary to make a thin glaze. Drizzle over the top of the cake(s).

Makes 1 cake to serve 12 or 24 mini cakes

we're friends and we're neighbors! Lori, Ronnie, Amy, and me

Before you even look at this recipe, disclaimers all around! This is not an original recipe, this amazing cake was inspired by a recipe in the December 2007 issue of Bon Appétit. Since it just was not expensive, time-consuming, or impressive enough already; I added in the toppings of vanilla pastry cream, whipped cream and fresh berries! Want to know what is really crazy– I made this cake 5 times! I needed to make a total of four cakes for two separate cooking classes that I taught back in December (four cakes so I would have the various stages of the cake for each class). I used two of those cakes to actually serve at the classes, two as prizes for students who visited my blog, and finally the fifth one was for my dear friend, Ronnie’s, birthday. Unfortunately, the pictures do not show the cake with its toppings because I was too tired, broke, overbooked, and overworked to put those on Ronnie’s cake.  Although, even without the extra work and calories of the toppings,  it is truly a showstopper and undeniably delicious too!

Ronnie not only got gypped by not getting the cake toppings, but also was ripped-off on my blog, when I didn’t even mention that it was her birthday! You see, her birthday is December 23, so I’m sure that all her life, she’s felt slighted in the birthday department -always being upstaged by Christmas, and here I did it to her again. Sorry, Ronnie, I love you and dedicate today’s blog to you! xoxo

Consider making this cake for the next big birthday in your house or maybe even for Valentine’s Day, as long as there are at least a dozen of you celebrating together (kinky!) because, boy is this thing rich!

Chocolate Panna Cotta Cake

Cake
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup Kahlua or Mocha flavored Kahlua
1/4 cup hot water
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

Panna Cotta
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Kahlua or Mocha Kahlua
5 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (Knox)
7 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 ounces high-quality milk chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
Chocolate Band
Two 16×3-inch strips waxed paper
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips

Vanilla Pastry Cream
2 1/4 cups whole milk, divided
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

2 pints fresh berries of your choice, garnish

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two 10-inch-diameter springform pans with 2 1/2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray.  Place chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl.  Heat Kahlua and water in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate and cocoa in bowl; whisk until smooth.  Set aside.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another medium bowl.

Using electric mixer, beat oil and both sugars in large bowl for1 minute (mixture will be crumbly).  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition.  Beat in sour cream.   Mix in half of dry ingredients.  Beat in chocolate mixture.  Add remaining dry ingredients; beat on low speed just to blend (batter will be thin).  Divide batter between pans (layers will be shallow).  Bake cakes until tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Cool in pans on rack.

Panna Cotta: Place water and Kahlua in small bowl.  Sprinkle gelatin over; let soften 10 minutes.  Place both chocolates in large metal bowl.  Combine cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla extract in large saucepan.  Scrape in seeds from vanilla beans; add beans.  Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves; remove from heat.  Add gelatin mixture; whisk to dissolve.  Pour cream mixture over chocolates in bowl; whisk until completely melted.  Place bowl over a larger bowl of ice water.  Stir often until mixture thickens like pudding, draining off water and adding more ice to ice-bath as needed, for about 30 minutes.

Pour 1/2 of panna cotta over cake in 1 pan (mixture may drip down sides of cake).  Freeze 45 minutes.  Keep remaining panna cotta at room temperature.

Remove pan sides from second cake.  Using large metal spatula, carefully slide cake off of springform bottom and place atop panna cotta in cake pan.  Pour remaining panna cotta over, filling pan completely.  Chill overnight.  (Can be covered and frozen for 2 weeks. Defrost overnight in refrigerator before continuing.)

Chocolate Band: Line large baking sheet with foil; set aside.  Place another large sheet of foil on work surface; place waxed paper strips atop foil, spacing apart.  Stir chocolate in medium bowl set over pan of simmering water until smooth.  Pour half of melted chocolate down center of each waxed paper strip. Using small offset spatula, spread chocolate to cover strips evenly, allowing a little of the chocolate to extend beyond edges of wax paper strips, making sure strips are completely covered.  Using fingertips, lift strips and place on foil-lined baking sheet.  Chill until chocolate just begins to set but is still completely flexible, only about 2 minutes.

Cut around springform pan sides to release cake.  Remove pan sides from cake.  Using fingertips, lift 1 chocolate band from foil, keeping wax paper intact.   Wrap band around cake, waxed-paper side out, lining up 1 long edge with bottom of cake (band will be higher than cake).  Repeat with second band, arranging so ends just meet, pressing band onto uncovered side of cake.   If bands overlap, trim any excess paper and chocolate.  Using fingertips, press top edge of band in toward cake, forming slight ruffle.  Chill until chocolate sets, about 5 minutes.  Gently peel off waxed paper.  (Can be made 1 day ahead.  Chill.)

Vanilla Pastry Cream: In medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch.

Pour remaining 1 3/4 cups milk to heavy medium saucepan.   Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean.  Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup sugar over, letting sugar sink undisturbed to bottom.  Set pan over moderate heat and bring to simmer without stirring.  Once simmering, whisk the milk mixture, then slowing whisk into egg yolk mixture in bowl.   Return to saucepan over moderate heat and cook, whisking constantly, until pastry cream simmers and thickens, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat, discard vanilla bean, and whisk cream until smooth.  Transfer to bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto surface.  Chill until cold, about 4 hours.  (Pastry cream can be made ahead and refrigerated, wrapped well with plastic wrap on surface, up to 3 days)

Immediately before serving, fold 1 cup of the pastry cream into the 1 cup whipped cream.  Fill a pastry bag with cream and pipe on top of cake, top with berries.   (Reserve remaining pastry cream for another holiday dessert, such as Caramelized Bananas and Vanilla Pastry Cream in Phyllo Cups – found at  Epicurious.com)

Serves 12

Lemon Curd Lemon Roll - getting ready for the trip down to Tucson

December 1, 1987 – one of the happiest days of my life! The day my gorgeous daughter, Marissa Lynn, was born. We celebrated as a family on Sunday going to brunch at The Phoenician here in Scottsdale, surprising here with a gift she’s always talked about – a skydiving gift certificate. I will be jumping with her, and will post about it when the day comes, so stay tuned.

This is one of Marissa’s favorite cakes. I was going to ship it overnight, but then found out that Marissa’s darling roommate, Paige, wasn’t heading out to Tucson until Monday afternoon, thank you for the delivery service Paige!

Happy Birthday baby girl. Hope you enjoy the cake with Alberto, Kaley, Petra, Paige, Kelsey, Lindsey, Astrid, Billy, Ryan, Blake, Isaac, and whoever else is with you today. I love and miss you!

Marissa with her brother, Connor, at her birthday brunch

Lemon Curd Lemon Roll (Roulade)

Sponge Cake
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Lemon Curd
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 24 small pieces

Powdered sugar
Lemon slices and leaves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 10 x 15-inch baking sheet, line baking sheet with buttered parchment paper and set aside.

Sponge Cake: Place the eggs, sugar, zest and vanilla in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat at high speed until the mixture is light and has tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.  Using a rubber spatula, fold in flour mixture, being careful not to deflate the egg mixture.  Pour the batter into the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the sponge is very lightly browned.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Then invert onto a damp clean kitchen towel sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Gently peel off the parchment paper.  Carefully roll the cake up in the towel, lengthwise.  Set aside, let cool at room temperature.

lemon cake rolled up in the kitchen towel, curd cooling in bowl.

Lemon Curd: Whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon zest and juice in a heavy saucepan.  Place pan over low heat, while whisking constantly, add the butter, one piece at a time, adding another piece as the previous melts, until all the butter is incorporated and the curd starts to thicken. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and let cool.

Unroll the cake.  Spread on the cooled curd to cover the sponge cake leaving a 1/2-inch border all around.  Carefully roll the cake again, without the towel.  Transfer to a serving platter.  Dust with powdered sugar and garnish with lemon slices and leaves.  Chill at least 1 hour.

Serves 10

Bonus picture: Me and Maris just after her 2nd birthday on Christmas Day 1989.

Now that’s one of those jingles that just gets stuck in your brain and won’t go away – “because, sometimes you feel like and nut, sometimes you don’t!!!”  Almond Joy candy bars are my absolute favorite, OK well, those and Kit Kat bars (“gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off…”  Alright, enough already!).

So with Halloween a few days behind us, why am I still craving an Almond Joy, even though I did have a couple of the minis? I need to bake a batch of cookies for a charity donation, and since I can’t stop thinking about Almond Joy, I’ve come up with this recipe to recreate that wonderful taste blend of chocolate, coconut, and almonds. It honestly turned out to more the consistency of cake then cookie, but still a tasty treat.

The filling layer includes cream of coconut, which is a thick and sweet concoction made from coconut milk and sugar and is found in liquor stores or in the liquor section of the grocery store. Although it is sometimes used in baking it is most commonly used in mixed drinks such as Pina Coladas, so look for it near the mixers and such.

The frosting calls for melted and cooled unsweetened chocolate. Unsweetened chocolate comes in 1-ounce squares and those should be chopped before being heated so they melt more quickly and evenly. Chocolate can easily be melted in the microwave, just be sure to set the time for only 40 seconds at a time and stir in between each setting, because chocolate does not change its shape when microwaved and it burns easily. Keep and eye on it and stir even if it doesn’t look like it is melting yet.

unstirred after 40 seconds in microwave, then stirred before going back in microwave for another 40 seconds, and completely melted after a total of 120 seconds

Lastly, the dry ingredients need to be sifted. This is always a good idea when baking but a necessity when using cocoa powder, as there are always clumps.

clumps of cocoa in sifter, press with the back of a spoon to press through

It is also best to whisk the dry ingredients together to blend before adding them to the wet ingredients so everything mixes together smoothly and evenly.

dry ingredients after whisking to blend

Almond Joy Cake Bars

Cake Layer
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2  1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs

Filling Layer
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
15-ounce can cream of coconut
4 cups flaked coconut
1 cup sliced almonds

Frosting
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped, melted, and cooled
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup fat-free half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Additional sliced almonds for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease two 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pans.

Cake Layer: Beat shortening and butter together in the bowl of a standing mixer until smooth. Add vanilla extract and then the eggs, one at a time, on low speed until just combined.

Sift sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt into another bowl, and then use a whisk to blend before adding to the butter-egg mixture. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Once all the flour-cocoa mixture has been added, mix on low speed for 1 minute.

Spreading batter in pan

Divide the batter between the two greased pans and spread evenly in each pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Spreading coconut-almond layer onto partially baked cake layer

Filling: Meanwhile, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, cream of coconut, flaked coconut, and sliced almonds. Divide between the two pans and spread evenly over the partially baked hot cake layer. Return pans to oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove pans and cool completely on racks.

Lastly, spreading frosting on top of cooled coconut layer

Frosting: In the bowl of a standing mixer; cream together the melted chocolate and butter, add the powdered sugar, half-and-half, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Divide between the two pans and spread evenly over the coconut-almond layer.

scored and garnished bars with the creme of coconut can above

Score each pan into 24 bars and press an almond slice lightly into frosting on each bar. Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow frosting to firm up, and then cut 24 bars from each pan.

Makes 48 pieces

I had a lovely birthday, thank-you for all your sweet birthday wishes.  My wonderful friends, Ronnie, Amy and Lori took me to the Queen Creek Olive Mill for lunch; it was a gorgeous afteroon that we spend under the olive trees enjoying wine, antipasto, and sandwiches. Afterwards, we headed off to the Pork Shop and unfortunately, we discovered that they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so no amazing bacon, sausages or chorizo for us to take home….next time we’ll remember that! For my birthday dinner, Dave took me to Prado at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort and Spa where we shared a bottle of wine and Paella with mussels, clams and scallops. It was tasty, but I have to say my paella is really much better; I include sausage, chicken, and shrimp plus peas.  I’ll have to make it next time the kids come home and post the recipe.  Until then, we have Halloween to contend with, so here is a fun Spider-Web cake that is fun for kids but has an adult taste, with the addition of Espresso in the frosting.  You will find the Medaglia D’Oro instant espresso powder at any Italian Deli or locally at A.J.’s or on the web at this link. I use it often in baking and once you try it you will too, so invest in a jar now and I promise I’ll be posting more recipes using it in the future.  I am working tonight, and certainly don’t need to have a whole cake around the house, so I’ll be dropping it off at our monthly neighborhood Bunko night for the ladies to enjoy.

For the 7-minute frosting, or anytime you are beating egg whites, be sure the bowl and the beaters are completely clean and free of any grease.  The egg whites will not beat up and increase in volume with even a trace amount of fat, such as from the egg yolk, present.  Also, eggs separate much easier when the are cold, straight from the refrigerator, but they whip up best when they are at room temperature, so separate them a little bit ahead of time. Finally, ever wonder what my kitchen looks like after I’m done cooking and taking all these pictures and ready to put up a new post? You’ll see at the bottom of this recipe – scary indeed!

Halloween Spiderweb Candy Cake with 7-Minute Espresso Frosting

Cake
1 package (18.25 ounces) devil’s food cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs as called for on cake mix box

Web and Spider
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Frosting
2 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

6 ounces (16 mini-trick-or-treat size) Twix candy bars cut into chunks
48-50 black and white M&M’s or other small Halloween candies of your choice (such as liquorish pieces, candy corn, Reece’s pieces, etc.)

web "template"

spider "template"

Bake cake in two 8-inch round cake pans with cake mix, water, oil, and eggs following the directions on the back of cake mix box. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 12 minutes in pans on racks, remove from pans and cool completely on racks before frosting.

outline spider and web spokes, outline center, peeling off parchment

While cake is baking and cooling; make the spider and her web: On a sheet of paper draw an 11-inch circle with a pen or pencil and draw a spiderweb on it, extending the ends beyond the circle.  On another sheet of paper draw a spider. (see pictures). Place the pictures on the counter and place a piece of parchment paper over the drawings and tape parchment to counter to keep in place.

In a microwave melt chocolate chips about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until smooth. Transfer chocolate to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain tip.  Pipe chocolate onto the parchment outlining and filling in the spider. Then outline the web, beginning with spokes, and then the circles.  Transfer parchment to a baking sheet and place in freezer until very firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

beating over simmering water, halfway done, 7 minutes later- fluffy and ready

Frosting: In a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water beat frosting ingredients with a hand-held electric mixer on low speed until mixture is warm and sugar is dissolved. Beat frosting on high speed 7 minutes, or until thick and fluffy. Remove bowl from heat and beat frosting until slightly cooled.

Assemble: Using a serrated knife, cut both cake layers in half horizontally for a total of four thin layers. Put one cake layer on a cake plate and spread top with a thin layer of frosting. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the Twix chunks. Repeat with 2 more cake layers, thin amounts of frosting and the remaining 2/3 of Twix chunks. Top with the final cake layer and frost entire cake with remaining frosting.  Press the black and white M&M’s into frosting around the bottom edge of the cake.

chopping Twix, 1st layer with candy, 3rd layer

Cut the corner of the parchment with the spider on it away from the parchment with the web and leave the spider in the freezer. Working quickly, invert parchment paper with frozen web onto another sheet of parchment and peel off paper quickly but carefully.

web placed on cake, allow to soften before pressing down.

Invert spiderweb carefully onto cake and allow to soften at room temperature until overhanging edges begin to droop. Press overhang gently (do not force it, allow to soften more, if necessary) against side of cake. Carefully peel off the spider from the parchment and perch on its web. Cake may be assembled and decorated 4 hours ahead, chilled. Let cake stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.

Serves 10 -12

Beautiful birthday flowers in a scary and messy kitchen!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!

Today is my husband’s birthday. Carrot Cake is a family favorite and it is oh so pretty. It doesn’t make much sense to make a big old layer cake with only two of us here, so I’m taking it to his office this afternoon to celebrate there.

Whenever you’re working with a recipe that calls for dry ingredients to be added to wet ingredients, it makes for easier clean-up to measure the dry ingredients onto waxed paper or foil instead of in a bowl.  It’s easier to fold the paper or foil in half and pour it in this way than it is to pour from a bowl. Plus you can reuse the paper or foil for this purpose over and over again.

Be very careful when toasting the coconut used to decorate the cake. It takes a while to go from white to a nice toasted brown but then goes from that nice brown to burnt, smelly, black and ruined very quickly!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 small (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
2 cups peeled and grated carrots (about 5 medium carrots)
1 1/3 cups coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting
16-ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon light rum or milk
1 cup coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; generously butter two 9-inch cake pans, line bottom of pans with parchment paper, press paper onto bottom of pan, then turn over and press down again, this butters both sides of the parchment.

Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt on a sheet of waxed paper or foil.

Sifting...Add dry ingredients...Stir in remaining chunky ingredients

Beat vanilla extract, oil, sugar and eggs thoroughly in bowl of standing mixer.  Pick up and fold the wax paper or foil to use as a sort of funnel to add the flour mixture.  Beat until smooth.  Use a wooden spoon to stir in pineapple, carrots, coconut, and walnuts.  Pour into prepared pans and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.  Cool 20 minutes.  Remove cakes from pans and pull away parchment from cake bottoms, cool on rack.

Filling parchment lined pans.... peeling off parchment

Frosting: Mix together the cream cheese and butter in standing mixer until smooth and thoroughly blended.  Add the sugar and vanilla; use the run as necessary to make the frosting spreadable.  Measure out 1 cup of the frosting and set aside, it will be used to make “frosting carrots” to decorate the cake.

Put 1 cake layer, rounded side down, on a cake plate and spread with one fourth of frosting. Top with second layer, rounded side up, and spread top and sides with frosting.

Mix orange food coloring with 3/4 cup of the reserved frosting.  Mix the other 1/4 cup of frosting with green food coloring.  Using a pastry bag, make little mini carrots along the top edge of the cake with a Wilton #10 round tip for the orange carrots and a Wilton #108 leaf tip for the green leaves.  Press the toasted coconut onto the sides of the cake.  Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour to allow the frosting to firm up before serving.

Serves 10 – 12

*for cupcakes; fill liners 2/3 full and back for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one cupcake comes out clean.