Old-Fashioned Banana Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting

A few things I know about life thus far in my 29.66 years of living.

--Attitude accounts for a lot of success in life

--Having bright colors in your home and in your wardrobe will make you happier. This is truth.

--New York is memorable any time of the year you go

--Paris is as good as you dream it up to be

--Babies cheeks are meant only for kissing a thousand times a day

--Reading books is not a waste of time (as long as they are good)

--If you have already asked someone three times to repeat what they said and still can't understand it, just nod and go with it

--The banana might just be the best piece of produce God created

Why?

Think here. Brainstorm all the functionalities bananas offer. I'll start: eating. Cereal garnishing. Breads. Cakes. Muffins. Cookies. Smoothies. Ice cream. Did I say cakes? Grilling. Nutella dipping. Peanut Butter sandwiches. Puree for baby. Milk (see Nestle's selection). Dehydrated. Popsicles. Laffy Taffy flavor.

No offense, Mr. Green Grape, but you ain't so versatile.

We're going to be one of those families with all boys that go through 10 lbs of bananas in a week. This makes me question if we should be living somewhere a bit more tropical and conducive to banana growing, in the which case I'd be more than happily obliged to pick up shop and move.

Until then, old-fashioned banana cake is fun and slightly less predictable then the kinda predictable but never disappointing banana bread. It's just that this has cream-cheese frosting encroaching its entire surface.

I mean, does anyone have anything to say against that?

Yes, I thought not.

Last minute tip: opt for under baking this slightly if anything- I got nervous about a mildly-jiggly center and committed the blunder of overcooking it by five minutes and by day two, it was completely dried out like the Sahara.

Old Fashioned Banana Cake w/Cream Cheese Frosting

{Barefoot Contessa, How Easy is That? cookbook}

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream (Ina would never use low-fat, so, neither should we. Right?)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour, after sifting

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream cheese frosting (not optional here)

Walnut halves, for decorating

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan, or line the pan with a piece of parchment or wax paper cut to fit inside the cake pan. Spray the liner and sides lightly with cooking spray.

Mix bananas, granulated sugar and brown sugar in bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Add oil, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Add flour, baking soda and salt. With mixer on low, mix just until combined. Stir in chopped walnuts if using. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, turn out onto cooling rack.

Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or cool completely and top with Cream Cheese Frosting and walnuts.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (1/2 pound)

MIX cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don’t whip. Add sugar and mix until smooth. Garnish cake with walnuts.

Cranberry Streusel Cake

There are things in life where words just lack. This cake is one. I can't tell you how crazy good it is and how the people it was served to flipped, including moi. You are just going to have to trust me on this one. It is like those delicious coffee cakes (which don't have coffee in them) you make for the mornings... except better, for some reason- almond extract, sugared cranberries.. a very sophisticated and posh "YOW-sers" is about all I can find in my brain to utter at this time.

I found this recipe on pinterest- link is provided. The recipe instructions weren't phrased as clearly as one might hope, so I (hopefully) delved a bit deeper and tried to clarify things a trifle better (i.e. like dusting the cranberries with a little flour, etc).

Enjoy! Best cake ever! For the holidays at least!!:)

Cranberry Streusel Cake

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 stick salted butter, softened at room temperature for a few hours

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp almond extract

1 ½ cups sour cream

2 cups fresh cranberries (yours are probably frozen, allow them to thaw at room temperature for an hour)

3 tbsp sugar

Topping/streusel:

½ cup brown sugar

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ sticks, salted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 inch round baking pan- grease very well- might I add.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour and baking powder- set aside. In another mixing bowl, cream 1 stick of butter and the 1 cup sugar until well mixed and creamy. Add in the eggs, one at a time- make sure to use a rubber scraper to stir it all by hand and make sure everything on the very bottom has gotten a chance to be mixed in!

In a small bowl, combine the cranberries with a dusting of flour (so they don’t sink to the bottom of the cake while baking) and mix with the 3TBSP of sugar. Set aside briefly.

Add in the extracts, sour cream, and flour mixture- stirring only until combined (again, make sure you dig down and account for everything sitting at the way-way-bottom of the bowl). Fold the cranberries in gently. Spoon the batter into the cake pan. In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients until crumbly. Spoon evenly over the top of the cake. Bake until light golden brown, about 50-60 minutes- or just when the center is no longer “jiggly” when shaken.

Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. Invert the cake into your hand (hopefully, it’s a big hand you’ve got) and then gently and gingerly put it streusel side up on a plate.

Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Maple Cake with Brown- Sugar-Maple Frosting

Hello. Why hello.

It's been a scanty few weeks for me in the blogging world! Please excuse moi- holidays, turkey, decorating, family, friends... you know how it is.

I hope you had a truly warm and memorably wonderful Thanksgiving. This is a holiday really worth celebrating- it's a chance to spend every day of the month thinking and pondering on all the many blessings you have in your life- because all we have more than we can count- really, we do. And secondly, it's a day you can pull together with people you like/love, and stuff the heck out of yourself as much as you'd like, practically till you're unable to move, without feeling any real pangs of guilt (if you are counting calories on turkey day, knock it off:)) . And guess what? You'll never guess the startling discovery I made Thursday night around approx 5 pm.......

... I.LOVE.PECAN.PIE.

Love. Not even just "semi-fond of". Love it to the moon and back. Oh it was luxurious and sweet and nutty and flavorful and beaming with every taste that resonated within my palate. We should all feel that way about something on the Thanksgiving dessert menu- I know that many are piously religious about eating a slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and I happen to NOT be one of them. I sample everything else. And this year, I took a stab right off the bat at the seemingly unpopular pecan pie sitting there in despair loneliness. From here on out, I could care less about any other dessert that garnishes the table. There, it's off my chest. Pecan pie and me are like long lost friends.

Recently too, I made a maple cake with maple frosting for a Sunday dessert. It was also a major smash within the walls of my junk-food-inclined palate. A very appropriate cake for the time of year. My only major regretful affliction with this baking attempt was overcooking it. Truly, blech. Who in the universe enjoys a bone-dry, arid, barren cake, I ask?

Luckily the frosting came to the rescue and together, it was great. If you can keep your eye on this cake while it bakes and remove it the minute the center of the cake springs back via touch of the index finger, then it will be golden.

You will need to invest in the real maple syrup, however, if you plan on baking this. As much as I love my generic-style maple syrup that only costs a couple green stubs, you know the kind that your kids drench waffles in, it won't do and you'll end up with a really odd cake. So, find the most inexpensive real, grade A Maple syrup out there and then make sure to really enjoy every bite of this kinda-more-lavish cake.

Peace, hope, and joy to you and yours this weekend.

Maple Cake with Brown Sugar/Maple Frosting

{Everyday Food, November 2011}

Nonstick cooking spray

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup

3/4 cup whole milk

1 cup chopped walnut halves, toasted

For The Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tsp maple extract (this was a Kate addition- I needed a little more maple flavor)

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two 9-inch round cake pans (2 inches deep) with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper; lightly coat parchment with cooking spray. Flour parchment and sides (tapping out excess); set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on high until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on medium-high, add maple syrup in a slow, steady stream. Add flour mixture in two additions, alternating with milk, beating well after each addition and scraping down bowl as needed. Fold in walnuts (Kate note: we left these out and used a few only for garnishing the top of the frosted cake).

Divide batter between pans; firmly tap pans on a flat surface several times to remove air bubbles. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on wire racks, 15 minutes, then invert onto racks; peel off parchment. Invert cakes again and let cool completely on racks. With a serrated knife, trim domed top from each cake to make a flat surface.

Make frosting: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and brown sugar on high until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

Assemble cake: Place one layer, top side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread top evenly with 1 1/2 cups frosting. Top with second layer, top side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and around sides of cake.

Prune Cake. And Yes, it's Fabulous.

Prune cake.

So unexpected. So grandma-sounding-ish. So old fashioned. So habitually rejected.

SO so SO sO So good. Is that clear enough?

Really. Prune cake. And the minute I saw this recipe, I was instantly grabbed with curiosity and optimistic skepticism. That little immature, untamed culinary voice inside of me told me this would be a surprisingly lovely cake.....and ohh... how it was so luscious!

Your house will smell like warm fall days and your tummy will be the happiest it's been in a while. Your kids will not even know what they just took a bite of and will consequently wish for seconds and thirds until you must coerce them into eating something else for fear of the near-future diaper disasters... if you get my drift. No pun intended.

The actual prune-taste and prune-texture are nearly absconds during the oven love time, and what you have is again, a cake moister than a sponge with happy combinations of spices. The glaze is important to facilitating such a moist texture, so I recommend you do the work for procuring it. I must say, I think I removed my glaze mixture from the stove top a minute too early, so read the instructions carefully and go to the link I have for Pioneer Woman's step-by-step if it seems too intimidating. She has an excellent, visual, might I add, tutorial on it.

Otherwise, delish! Easy! Kinda/sorta/maybe-I'm-just-convincing-myself, healthy.

Prune Cake with Glaze

{The Pioneer Woman Cooks}

1 cup prunes

1 cup sugar

3 whole eggs

1 cup canola oil (Kate note: used half applesauce, half oil)

1-1/2 cup flour, sifted (Kate note: I used whole wheat)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR THE ICING:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon white corn syrup

1/4 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation Instructions

Cover prunes with water. Bring to a boil and cook until soft and mashable, about eight minutes. Remove from heat, drain water, and mash on a plate. Set aside.

Mix together oil, sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients, add buttermilk and vanilla and stir gently until just combined. Throw in the mashed prunes and stir gently to combine. DO NOT OVERMIX!

Pour batter into buttered baking dish (9 x 13 or so) and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE. (kate note: Who wants an overcooked cake? A prune one at that? No thanks).

While cake has five minutes remaining, make the icing:

Combine all icing ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a slow boil. Boil without stirring for 5 to 7 minutes, or until icing starts to turn dark. Do NOT allow icing to reach soft ball stage; icing should be caramel in color, but not sticky like caramel. Icing should be easily pourable.

Remove cake from oven and pour on icing immediately.

Allow to rest on the counter. Serve warm. (Kate note: Watch it vanish into thin air!)

July 4rth Flag Cake

Happy Fourth to you!

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of lusciously rich cakes. I mean, happiness. Or cake.

I decided to conquer the Flag Cake in the wee hours of 7/04/11- since we eat with our eyes first, this cake, so beautifully photographed in Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook, has had my attention for a long time and the cake gods were sending me vibes that this was the year to do it.

In life in general, I tend to bloom a little late on most things. It usually takes me at least a try or two before my confidence is brimming at the top and this cake was no exception. Having now made it all the way through once, I could do it again, feeling positive it would turn out far better.

For instance, I ditched Ina's instruction of baking it in an 18x13x1.5 inch pan (Sorry, Ina!) and sought my 9 x 13 glass cake pan instead- thinking that the former would produce a wimpy, thin, and dinky cake. I like my cakes to have a little height and depth, or so I thought and the 9x 13 worked, but but but....... rest assured, the cake was dry- like, there's -a -sock -in- my- mouth-dry. Because it was so very thick in that pan, the outer edges were baked far sooner than the middle of the cake was and as soon as the middle was just barely dry to the touch, I removed it from the oven. The outcome? Dry edges and just barely done middle. Tough combination.

The second thing I would do is serve this on a completely flat serving ware. My cake was inverted onto a favorite porcelain serving piece that will be timeless until the year 3000 but the cake was just barely too big and as a result, the center of the cake collapsed within a few hours of cooling. Shucks.

The third thing I would do differently, and it's far easier said than done, would be to take more time in carefully making straight streaks of frosting across the cake (you note my frosting job looks a bit like a wobbly hand was in charge). Having two squirmy, squirrly, active children pulling at my legs didn't help the situation much- and since frosting cakes perfectly isn't in my natural skill set, it must needs be that I need perfect solitude and all-encompassing attention given.

Other than those little faux pax's, it's a real dandy cake to have on July 4rth- the cake is very pound-cake like in both taste and texture. The frosting is divine, and everyone gets as big a piece as they want. See? Perfect. Furthermore, as a bonus for all your labor, your work will be greatly validated with oooh's and awww's for it's presentation, even if the frosting job is a bit wobbly and the cake itself has prematurely collapsed.

And since we are basically celebrating the 4rth all month long, it's not too late to bake this for your next BBQ extravaganza!

Flag Cake

{Ina Garten}

18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 extra-large eggs at room temperature

1 cup sour cream at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing:

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature

1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To assemble:

2 half-pints blueberries

(Kate note:have all the berries thoroughly washed and dried long before you plan on using them for cake to prevent any "bleeding" onto the frosting)

3 half-pints raspberries

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth (Kate note: you may need a splash of milk or whipping cream to get your desired texture- whipping cream makes a killer good addition).

Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

Kate note: I would personally store the cake in the fridge and then let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes or so before distributing.

Spice Cake with Blackberry Preserves and Mascarpone Frosting

I am a big believer that every wedding or baby shower needs something spectacularly sweet to top everyone off. One of my great great friends is having a girl in September and as such, deserved all the love and affection in the world. Isn't that showers and friends are for after all??

I searched high and low for a killer cake and found one that had me giddy to bake. The first time around, I followed the instructions word for word yet found that the butter didn't yield that moist spice cake texture so desperately yearned for. Which is odd, can we just talk about this? The cake was quite dry. No one wants to be sock-mouthing on dry cake at a shower. So I made a round two-go on it and substituted the butter straight out for canola oil- no teetering with the measurements were necessary and wala: perfect texture (it's been my experience that most cakes bake up nicer with oil as the fat component, but believe you me, butter reigns as queen fattie in most other desserts)!

I served the monster cake on a ceramic and dramatic pink cake stand, as shown in the photo above. Poked through it were two wooden skewers with "flags" on them saying, "Sugar and spice and everything nice"- you know... girlish nursery rhymes with perfect relevance to the dessert. It seemed to good to be true- spice cake, sugar and spice personality.

The cake, you should know, might give me heart disease. Or at least send my cholesterol numbers up through the roof. You have these layers of delectable yet subtle spice cake with a thick and incredibly creamy mascarpone cheese frosting in between as well as on top. Throw in some sweet blackberry preserves, a cinnamon sugar dusting over the entirety of it, and.... well, I am filled with raptures. While eating it, I tried to keep a composed expression of total coolness, but deep down, my zinging heart was pounding rapidly for more of it. It is, to this date, my very, very favorite cake. We all need one, right?

The top picture shows the last piece of cake that I anxiously waited for eating for breakfast the next morning. It was even better 12 hours later. And, it really is a shame that I was negligent in snapping a picture of the real deal before it was served, but you get the idea.

Spice Cake with Blackberry Preserves

& Mascarpone Frosting

{Martha Stewart Living, May 2011}

Vegetable oil cooking spray

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of ground cloves

Salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups blackberry jam (from one 17.5-ounce jar)

Mascarpone Frosting (recipe below)

Garnish: cinnamon-sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 8-inch round (I used 6 inch and 9 inch. Yes, I made two cakes and both sizes worked amazingly) cake pans with cooking spray, line with parchment, and spray parchment. Sift flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a bowl.

Beat butter (or canola oil) and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Continue to beat until smooth, about 1 minute more.

Divide batter among cake pans, and bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 40 minutes (mine baked in less time than that). Transfer pans to wire racks, and let cool for 20 minutes. Turn out cakes from pans, remove parchment, and flip right side up. Let cool completely and (this is Katie talk) freeze for a few hours until substantially hard enough to saw through without it crumbling to smithereens.

Trim tops of cakes to create a flat surface. Cut cakes in half horizontally. Spread 1/2 cup jam onto 1 layer, then spread 1 cup frosting over jam. Top with another cake layer. Repeat layering cakes with jam and frosting, leaving top layer (bottom side up) uncovered.

Spread remaining frosting on top of cake, and garnish with cinnamon-sugar.

Mascarpone Frosting

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or cream will be grainy). In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated. Use immediately.

Lemon Goat cheese Cheesecake

All these years I've been eating goat cheese and only recently discovered a recipe calling for it as a main star in a cheesecake. WHO KNEW?

I have so much to say about this it could be a novel. I'll keep it terse, for your sake.

First. If you make this, know your audience. Goat cheese is such a love or hate relationship- a black or white thing- rarely have I met a person who simply "doesn't mind it". No no. It's usually either i-love-it or i-abhor-it. Not knowing what to expect the first time around, I simply baked it as a summer treat for our family and what do you know? Three of us loved it, and the fourth did not (I will not mention the latter's name though suffice it to say, he's a grown adult). I think that's a great sign if a toddler and infant go back for seconds. Having that said, I would be cautious serving this as the main dessert to a large group of people- you're bound to have one or two palates unaccustomed goat cheese's "tart/tangy" flavor.

Second. If you are a fan, I think it's safe to say you will love it. It's so creamy and rich, satisfying and the best lemony accent ever. It's "cheesecakey" in that it closely resembles both texture and flavor of a normal cheesecake except because of the goat cheese there is an inherent "tang" or "tartness". To me it wasn't as heavy as a normal cheesecake- it seemed to be fluffier and lighter.

Third. If you are a fan, part 2, it's a dangerous thing to have around. Quite seriously. We ate ours within a day and a half. No sweat. No problem.

Fourth: the only thing that could make this a titch better, hard to imagine, would be some kind of fruit sauce to slather over it: homemade blueberry sauce.. fruit preserves.. nutella.. whipped cream. That sorta stuff.

Lemon Goat cheese Cheesecake

{Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbotham}

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

¼ stick unsalted butter, melted

2 cups sugar

¼ cup finely grated lemon zest (3-4 big lemons)

1 ½ lbs soft, mild goat cheese*

8-ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup fresh lemon juice

8 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9” springform pan. Have ready a roasting pan (if you choose to bake it in a water bath- I did NOT bake it in a water bath). Boil some water to have ready for the hot water bath.

Stir the crumbs and melted butter together in a bowl until well combined. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the springform pan. Bake about 8 minutes until the crust is just set and then remove from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 325.

Process the sugar and the zest in a food processor until the zest is finely ground. Beat the goat cheese and cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar mixture and lemon juice, beating until smooth (be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl a number of times during this process). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Wrap the outside of the springform pan with heavy foil. Pour the filling into the pan (the one with the baked crustJ). Place this in a large roasting pan. Carefully pour in boiling water inside the roasting pan (but not getting into the pie) until the water reaches about halfway about the springform pan**.

Bake for 1 hour and 30-40 minutes until the center is almost set. Do not over bake- cheesecakes firm up during the cooling process. Check on the baking around 1 hour and see how it is doing- at that point, you can better gauge how much longer is required.

Remove the cheesecake from the roasting pan and set it in an ice water bath for 10 minutes (do NOT submerge the entire thing in water- just enough ice water to reach the halfway point of the pan). If you didn’t bake the cheesecake in a hot water bath, forgo this step and simply allow it to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Remove the foil and refrigerate the cake for at least 8 hours.

Let it stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes until serving. Enjoy!

*I only used a 1-lb log of goat cheese and substituted in 4 ounces of cream cheese , in addition to the 8 –ounces already called for.

** Baking a cheesecake in a hot water bath ensures even and “soft” baking. I chose to forgo this technique this time around simply because my roasting pan is tucked away in storage somewhere- you may call it pure laziness. My cheesecake still turned out evenly cooked and perfectly baked. You just have to watch it very carefully and remove it from the oven when the middle is still partially “jiggly”. Just a little jiggle. Not a lot of jiggle. We don't want a soggy cheesecake.

Beehive Mini Lemon Cakes with Almond Icing

We Utahns have an affinity towards the beehive. As a symbol of our pioneer ancestors who crossed the plains and settled here in the Salt Lake Valley as early as the 1840's, it became an emblem of sorts that represented their thrift, industry, and perseverance. The beehive is especially common within my church. Yes, this blog supports history snippets!

So be it as no surprise that when my mom saw some mini Beehive-shaped cake pans there was little restraint in purchasing one. The recipe accompanying the cake pan seemed perfect. I could already taste how yummy it would be- 1 cup butter, 4 eggs, milk, lemon zest..... mmm hmm. It's the kind of cake batter that tastes like a thicker version of sugar cookie dough and if you are familiar with that than you know exactly the level of deliciousness I'm alluding to.

If you don't have a Beehive shaped cake pan, which, can't blame ya if you don't, a mini bundt cake pan would be perfect. Otherwise, you can try baking this as a cake or cupcakes.

Beehive Mini Lemon Cakes w/ Almond Icing

1 cup butter

2 cups white sugar

4 eggs

3 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 whole lemon, zested

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour the pan. Mix flour, baking powder and salt-set aside. In large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Beat in flour mixture alternately with one cup o f milk mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter in the pan and bake for 60 to 70 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes. Invert on a wire rack and cool completely.

Icing:

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix the above together- although, you may need to fiddle with the components in order to achieve an icing texture that you are comfortable with. Pour over cakes- make sure they are all the way cooled down. Refrigerate leftovers.

Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches cake. Supposedly in Spanish translates to "three milk" cake, but in my perfect word world, it really should be named, tres-deadly cake.

It is deadly deadly deadly dangerous with such an addictive-forming after taste, I'm not sure whether it's the moist, almost custard-like cake that is to blame for it, or if the combination of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream should be the culprit. Whichever element of this rich cake can have the finger pointed to, the sum of all these little factors in creating this cake is out of this world succulent and delicious. It's the dessert that I want to eat all day long when I'm on my deathbed.

May I warn you? If you are dieting for whatever reason, you will not want this cake within a mile of your radius. If you are not dieting, you will still not want to keep this deadly cake around for long.

And if you don't know how delicious it is to eat something that has been drenched-soaked-saturated-immersed-drowned-in those three different kinds of milk, then I invite you to try this at your own risk. One thing I am quite fond of with this dessert is that it's a total crowd pleaser- I don't care WHO you are dining with- be it the Queen of England- whoever... they will fall off their seats oohing and awing at this. Nothing says love language like a Tres Leches cake!!!

This also makes enough to serve at least 8 adults, but maybe not much more than that since you will have to account for second helpings. Just speaking from experience.

Finally, isn't my photo horrible though? This was the last, teensy-tiny square remaining from my huge pan and taken at 10 pm at night in fake lighting. Sorry- you'll just have to make it to really see how beautiful it is.

Tres Leches Cake

{adapted from Keeping Up Cookbook}

1 box yellow cake mix

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

2 cups heavy cream

1-2 tubs of cool whip

Make yellow cake mix according to package instructions, baking it in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Immediately upon removing it from the oven, poke holes all over the surface of it with a fork. Mix the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and the heavy cream together in a bowl, whisking well and slowly pour this evenly all over the warm cake (yes, you will USE all of the liquid). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. When ready to serve, spread the top with cool whip (or if you haven’t had enough cream yet, you can also use whipped cream instead) and cut into squares. Get ready to be sent to heaven.

Crazy Rich Chocolate Frosting

I made some very chocolatey cupcakes earlier this week. Extreme chocolate. Huge chocolate. Rich and full of sin.

The cupcake recipe is Martha Stewart's one-bowl chocolate cupcakes which produces a moist and light cake- it's my go-to.

The frosting, however, which is the reason for this post, is out of this world. If you consider yourself a chocolate freak-lover, then you really need this frosting for your files. As a friend told me, "it was like biting into the best chocolate fudge". What a good description- it's THICK and densely chocolate.

There remains in my fridge a tupperware with some leftover frosting in it. Call me a criminal, but it's been my good-morning and my good-night all week. Tastes quite superb spread across graham crackers too.

Crazy-Rich Chocolate Frosting (for cupcakes or cake… or spoon eating)

{Annie’s Eats}

14 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

9 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

9 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

6 tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sour cream

To make the frosting, melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Set aside to cool until just barely warm. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually mix in the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate and then the sour cream. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and well blended. Frost cupcakes immediately.

Easiest Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

{via}

Don't know about you, but I am grossly disgusted with myself in that I haven't had a bona-fide, store-bought, ice cream sandwich for quite some time. They may be a bit flimsy, a bit "fake", but you can't get much better than it and as I ate nearly two while making this dessert, I can see why all these many years, ice cream sandwiches have stood the challenge of time!

This cake might become a new go-to. Especially when bringing dessert for a bunch of kids- heck, forget age- I AM one of them. I couldn't stop licking my chops after a few spoonfuls of these sucker. It's perfectly comforting and perfectly delicious.

I offered to bring dessert to a dinner date of sorts last night and on a Sunday afternoon when you sometimes really need some nap-age, this quick and insanely-pathetically-easy-to-make dessert is just the sort of thing you need. And since we took it to someone's house, ate it all up, there was nothing left for me to photograph- hence the borrowed picture up top!

Next time around I make it however, believe you me that there are indeed a few modifications I may employ to spruce things up a bit. You really can go any direction with this cake- whatever your little chocolate-hungry heart tells you- peppermint extract into the whipped cream and then shaved peppermint candy with dark chocolate chips on top during the xmas season.... peanut butter "sauce" (is there such thing?) drizzled in between layers and then crushed butterfinger on top?? Crushed graham crackers between each layer with a huge pileage of fresh rasberries on the very top?? See what I mean? Lots of options here, peeps.

One- I will add a 3rd layer of ice cream sandwiches to the cake- making it a triple tiered cake.

Two- I will decrease the thickness of the whipped cream in between each ice cream sandwich- don't get me wrong- whipped cream is heaven sent, but too much of it is still too much. I thought in this case, it completely overpowered the ice cream sandwich.

Third- I will add chopped butterfinger candy or snickers candy or some favorite chocolate candy bar NOT just onto the top, but I will sprinkle a thin layer onto each whipped cream layer. Make sense??

And if you really want to get crazy, you may consider drizzling caramel or chocolate sauce all over too. This may just be one of the more versatile desserts in this world.

Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake- the Basic Recipe

{Real Simple}

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

6 ice cream sandwiches (3.5 ounces each) (if you plan on eating a few while making this dessert, I would have TWO boxes of ice cream sandwiches on hand)

1/2 cup chocolate chips, chopped (again- you may use chopped up candy bar if you wish- which, I recommend!)

Line an 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan with a piece of wax paper or parchment, allowing the paper to hang over both long sides.

In a large bowl, beat the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.

In the bottom of the pan, arrange 3 of the sandwiches in a single layer, cutting them to fit as necessary. Spread with half the whipped cream. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and whipped cream.

Sprinkle the top of the cake with the chopped chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.

Holding both sides of the paper overhang, lift the cake out of the pan and transfer to a platter. Discard the paper and serve.

Chocoholics Dream Dessert

Chocolate admirers, listen up: this is your holiday dessert. It is so holiday appropriate I can't even stand it: throw some candied orange peels on top with a splash of whipping cream and you've got winter time written all over your napkin.

I haven't previously been too keen on the molten cake idea for years until recently and boy, what a discovery! The middle, as you would expect, is flowing with oozing melted chocolate. The outside is as it should be, baked, and similar to a brownie, and the entire thing is just warm, pleasant, and comforting.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

{Keeping Up Cookbook, 196}

5 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped (or 1 cup chocolate chips)

1/2 cup butter

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup cake flour (regular flour works too)

1 Tbsp softened butter for greasing dishes

Generously butter six 1/2 cup ramekins or custard cups (these are small, ceramic, circle shaped dishes, FYI). Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave at half power, stirring occasionally (alternatively, melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler- works great!). Whisk the eggs in a large bowl to blend. Whisk in powdered sugar, salt,and vanilla, then the chocolate mixture, and finally, the flour. Pour batter into greased dishes, dividing equally.

Place ramekins on a baking sheets. Bake in a 425 degree oven until cakes have risen above rim, but centers remain "molten",about 11 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen cakes, then carefully turn them out onto serving plates. Decorate plate with choice of topping (whipped cream, candied oranges, caramel, etc).

Butterscotch Apple Cake

Finn enjoying cake watching from his favorite new seat in the house

I'm lovin' this summer autumn in Salt Lake right now. It's as hot as a demon for a late September day, but then you tilt your head 20 degrees and right before you are the trees scattered all over the foothills of the mountains, changing into a million different shades of yellow and orange. It's a nice combination to have linger around: warmth + autumn.

And for some reason regardless of odd weather patterns, right around the beginning of October my body and brain ditch chocolate chips and shift over to butterscotch-flavored chips. They are highly dangerous for me but I take advantage of using them in various recipes because in my kitchen, their season to shine under the sun is relatively short. Last year, I made this cake with them yummy butterscotch thingies and it was, to my recollection, very delicious indeed. For other uses, try swapping them for your chocolate chips in a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe. They are also scrumptious in blondies, pound cakes, and melted with bananas or pretzels dipped.

We made this just last night and I couldn't resist another hour to post it. Really. If you think making instant chocolate pudding is easy, well, then this is its contender. The "hardest", most "laborious" portion of baking this is dicing the apples and if it's apples plus butterscotch chips we're talking, sign me up.

I don't mess around much in exchanging applesauce for oil too often- unless I'm deliberately intending to make something uber healthy, I typically keep the oil proportions true....

.

......except with this recipe. 1 1/4 cups worth of oil is pretty hefty business and although it makes out for a super moist cake, it also makes for a bit of a "greasier" cake and next time I plan on exchanging out a 1/2 cup of oil for applesauce just to reduce it some. See what works for you, but that's my personal opinion. The applesauce does not alter taste whatsoever, and in this particular recipe, I doubt it would alter any texture either.

The recipe is slightly adapted, but the link to the original is provided. I'm posting how it was done in K's kitchen.

Butterscotch Apple Cake

{Taste of Homes}

2 cups sugar

1-1/4 cups vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 medium tart apples, peeled and chopped (4 cups)

1 package (11 ounces) butterscotch chips

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to egg mixture until blended. Stir in apples. In another bowl, pour the butterscotch chips in with 1-2 tbsp flour; gently mix with a spoon and then pour this into the main batter.

Pour into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 325° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and sprinkle with powdered sugar all over.

Serve with barely-sweetened whipped cream.

Up at the cabin in BCC last weekend

Henry enjoying the 'fruit' of his mother's labor

Brown Sugar LB Cake

We are packing up and moving from Philly next week.

We will celebrate our nation's birthday in the city where it all started, eat some blueberry pie, ooh and ahh at fireworks, and then in the following days, pack a POD and get on an airplane.

I've been terribly sad and nostalgic to face our final days here. Remind me, too, never to plan a move within weeks of having a baby. Holystressamoly.

One great boon about moving however, is that it forces you to clean out and (hopefully) simplify a bit. It's amazing what kind of things you find..... like, two big bags of brown sugar tucked in the far back of your pantry. No joke.

I remember long ago spotting a pound cake recipe in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook that called for quite a heap of brown sugar. So yesterday, we baked. We enjoyed and used up more than half of one of the bags of brown sugar.

It's not an overwhelmingly amazing recipe by any stretch of the imagination, but the brown sugar is definitely there with each bite and it's quite tasty going down. My only recommendation with this recipe is to underbake it just slightly- not so that it's still doughy, but just a few minutes shy of its elapsed time. I baked one loaf a minute too long, another one a couple minutes under and the latter was far better and much more moist. No one wants to eat a dry, crumbly piece of pound cake. Blah!

Hence, yank the pans out when the middle of each loaf is still just a bit soft and allow it finish cooking for 5-10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. The cake should be just barely golden on all the edges. Martha says to bake it for an hour; she must be referring to those of you living in the Alps or Uintahs?? Because my oven completed the job in 25 minutes. Moral of my story? Know your oven!

Oh, and we concluded after eating it that some partially melted vanilla-bean ice cream along with freshly cut peaches on top of this would seal the deal.

Off to box!

Ta ta.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

{Martha Stewart, Baking Handbook}

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

5 eggs

2 1/4 cups brown sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

Butter two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans. Preheat oven to 325.

In a large mixing bowl, whip the butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternating with the buttermilk, add flour in three batches. Stir until everything is just combined and make sure to scrap down the bowl!

Using a rubber spatula, divide batter equally into both greased loaf pans.

Bake in 325 degree oven for 30-60 minutes. Remember, you want to slightly underbake it!
Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, run a knife along the edges, and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Easy (almost flourless) Chocolate Cake

This wonderfully dense chocolate cake was the star of our Sunday dessert a couple weeks back.

I don't have much time nor brain capacity (I blame it on nursing) to write anything brilliantly eloquent or witty about it,

BUT...

It's your basic, dense, somewhat predictable chocolate cake that involves hardly any effort but a good handful of chocolate, butter, sugar, flour stuff, and eggs.

I can only promise you will be happy with the outcome- it's a foolproof dessert with lots of depth and moisture.

Au Revoir!

Easy Chocolate Cake

{Always in Season, Jr League SLC Cookbook}

10 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used some of both)

1 cup butter, chopped

5 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

5 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Confectioners' sugar for garnish

Combine the chocolate and butter in a heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted, stirring well.

Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl until smooth and thickened. Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture and fold in gently. Fold in the chocolate mixture gradually.

Spoon batter into a buttered and floured springform pan with a 2 1/4 inch side. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for another 30 minutes longer or until the middle just barely jiggles when shaken.

Remove the foil and cool in the pan on a wire rack; cake will fall as it cools. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Place on a serving plate, remove the side of the pan, and garnish.

Hawaiian Sweetness

And a fantastic cake to kick off the BBQ season.

I picture eating this on a warm summer night with mosquito's attacking my legs while licking my face clean of watermelon residue, corn on the cob, and lemon-infused chicken skewers. It just all goes so well together. We, for instance, gobbled it almost gone after meatloaf and twice baked potatoes on a rainy spring evening. One of our friends we had over is from Korea and loves the islands of Hawaii, so I thought it was an appropriate wrap-up to the meal. My imagination just got the best of me and I couldn't help but cogitate how well this would be on a BBQ evening during warm summer months. The rain got to me.

It is pretty addicting; what is it about simple boxed pudding and scary cool whip that is so strangely hooking? Let's not even mention the moist yellow cake underneath with that subtle zing of exotic island coconut flavoring. Ah geez.

If you make this recipe, you will need to use all that coconut extract up on something and this is a recipe worth adding to your anthology of refreshing summer desserts.

Takes me the shores of Maui. Ahhh... yes please!

Aloha Cake
{recipe found on the back of McCormick brand coconut extract}

1 yellow cake mix
4 tsp coconut extract, separated
1 large box, vanilla pudding
1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1 large tub cool whip

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, prepare yellow cake mix according to package directions, adding 3 tsp of coconut extract. Pour batter in a 9 x 13 pan and bake until just done. Remove from oven, and let cool in pan.

Prepare vanilla pudding according to package directions, adding 1 tsp of coconut extract. Refrigerate.

Drain pineapple. Spread all over the cooled cake, pudding on top of that, and then finally, frost the entire cake with cool whip.

Aloha!!

Italian Cream Cake

I'm not sure what differentiates an Italian cream from a traditional coconut cake, but listen, after having a lick of the batter, it does not matter! Call it what you like!

Wow, because seriously, this was delicious.

You can imagine what the texture of it was like with a half lb butter, 5 egg yolks combined with a cup of buttermilk. Let's not forget the addition of whipped egg whites! Holy moly! Top me off!

My mood has been "Eastery" lately, hence, the dyed coconut shreds resembling grass, the bunny, and candy eggs. The original recipe calls for chopped nuts on top the frosting if you are interested, but ick. No nuts in my frosting please; opted for Easter stuff instead.

Excuse the actual frosting portion though: I'm slightly impaired when it comes to handling frosting tips and frosting bags. These hands need a bit more practice, ya know?

But I had a lot of fun doing it, so what else matters?

Italian Cream Cake

{Parley's First Ward Cookbook-thanks Sharee for the recipe!}

2 cups sugar

1/2 butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp vanilla

5 egg yolks

5 egg whites, beaten medium stiff

2 cups flour

1 cup buttermilk*

1 tsp baking soda

1 c. coconut, shredded

Cream together the sugar, butter, shortening, and vanilla. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Add the buttermilk, dry ingredients, and coconut. Gently fold in the egg whites until incorporated.

Bake in three** 9 inch cake pans for 25-30 minutes. Cool.

***Frosting:

16 oz cream cheese

1 cup butter

8 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Make sure both the cream cheese and butter are soft and at room temperature. Mix all the ingredients together until it's fluffy and smooth. Frost in between layers and top. This frosting makes a LOT!

*You don't HAVE to purchase buttermilk-- for every cup a recipe calls for, measure out a cup of normal milk and add a Tbsp or so of pure white vinegar or lemon juice to it. Allow it to sit for 5 minutes. Viola.

**I only got 2 9-inch cake pans out of this? Not sure why, but I ended up baking a second batch of cake batter in order to acheive the third layer.

***Frosting: doubled this recipe...I always seem to run low on it, so doubling it is always necessary for me!