TWO FESTIVE CAKES, PART ONE

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Perfect for the holiday season! First, a simple vanilla cake made special by a soft pink hibiscus glaze…

I debated for a while whether to order this gorgeous pan from Nordicware. It took me 24 hours of back and forth until I caved, and I am so glad I did! As all the products from that company, the pan is super high quality and the cake baked perfectly and un-molded like it was born to do so….

VANILLA BUNDT CAKE WITH HIBISCUS GLAZE
(from Nordicware)

for the cake:
1 + 1/2 cups flour (180g)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened (113g)
1 + 1/2 cups sugar (300g)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup plain yogurt

for the glaze:
2 bags Hibiscus tea
1 cup water
1 + 3/4 cups Confectioners’ sugar (220g)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1-3 Tbsp brewed Hibiscus tea, cooled to room temperature

Make the tea: In 1 cup of boiling water, brew tea bags, covered, for 8-10 minutes. Set aside and cool completely.

Heat oven to 350° F. Prepare pan with baking spray. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs until thoroughly incorporated. Add vanilla, flour mixture and yogurt. Blend until smooth. Pour into prepared pan, filling no more than 3/4 of the capacity. Tap on counter to release air bubbles. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack.

While cake is cooling, mix the rest of glaze ingredients. To the confectioners’ sugar, add lemon juice and cooled brewed tea, adding 1 tablespoon at a time and up to 3 tablespoons for desired consistency and color. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I don’t think it is possible not to smile when a cake un-molds like that… I was actually smiling the whole day. I was not sure if the glaze would cover the details too much but in fact, I think it turned out pretty perfect.

I sprayed a little gold dust on some spots of the cake because I cannot help it. The cake was donated so I could not taste it but I heard it was absolutely delicious, very moist and tender, and everybody was mesmerized by the look…. So I say mission accomplished!

Stay tuned for PART TWO of Festive Cakes, coming up very soon, I promise…

ONE YEAR AGO: Broccoli Slaw Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

TWO YEARS AGO: Vegan Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecake

THREE YEARS AGO: Green Tea Rice with Edamame and Butternut Squash

FOUR YEARS AGO: Santa Hat Mini-Mousse Cakes

FIVE YEARS AGO: Fun with Sourdough

SIX YEARS AGO: Pasteis de Nata

SEVEN YEARS AGO: New Mexico Pork Chile, Crockpot Version

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Chocolate on Chocolate

NINE YEARS AGO: Double Chocolate and Mint Cookies

TEN YEARS AGO: The Story of my first Creme Brulle’

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Sourdough Mini-rolls

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Focaccia with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Gorgonzola

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Mediterranean Skewers

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO Fettuccine with Shrimp, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

12Nov2023

BAKING THROUGH THE BLOGOSPHERE

Posted in Breads, Cake, Cookies by sallybr

Today I share six recipes from blogs I follow and love. You can find the links to each recipe so you can visit the original source and get to know them too…

Here they are, in the chronological order they showed up in our kitchen…

HANIELA’S CHOCOLATE WHIRLS

Haniela is a cookie decorator, but her blog covers all kinds of cooking, including savory stuff. Definitely worth subscribing to her feed. This particular recipe can be found here. The chocolate variation is in the end of the post, I made no changes and used the highest amount of powdered sugar listed. I made them as sandwich cookies, and used a little caramel buttercream that I had leftover from another project. Recipe for the filling is here. I loved the contrast of the chocolate with the caramel buttercream, so keep that combination in mind.

MARTIN’S LEMON VERBENA SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Martin blogged on these cookies right after the Botanical Episode from Great British Bake Off aired in the US. He’s been very diligent about baking along with the show, and of course, he is the best person to do that, having won the last Great American Baking Show, with a totally stellar performance. I was lucky to meet him in person when we were in London taping season 5. The recipe for these super tasty cookies can be found here.

If you’ve never baked with lemon verbena, please do so, it has very unique flavor and works absolutely perfectly in a shortbread format. I made no changes whatsoever to his recipe, and it turned out wonderful!

KAREN’S SIGTEBOLLER

Sigteboller are Salted Rye Rolls, made with a little rye sourdough starter and some commercial yeast. Rye is a very tricky flour to work with, but I had no issues with this recipe. Both hubby and I absolutely LOVED these rolls. The salt on top is a touch of genius, but everything works with them. The taste and texture, spot on. I think Paul Hollywood should send a virtual handshake to Karen for these! Recipe available here.

HELEN’S HASELNUSSMAKRONEN

Also known as German Hazelnut Macaroons, these should go into the OMG files of Baking… Helen does it again, shares a recipe that is super simple to prepare but amazes the tastebuds once you try a bite. My only change was to use Nutella to fill them because I realized too late that I had no seedless raspberry jam in our pantry. You can find her recipe and super detailed tutorial here.

TANYA’S IRRESISTIBLE SPICE CAKE CUPCAKES

In case you don’t know, Tanya was my tent-baking friend in Season 5 of The Great American Baking Show and we have kept in touch ever since. Recently she and her husband visited us and we baked together, but that is a story to be told another time (SOON!). Tanya’s recipes always work, and if she says something is irresistible, I pay attention. I was forced to modify the buttercream icing, because her original post uses cream cheese frosting, but I never know for how long the cupcakes will sit at room temperature once I donate them. I felt it was safer to go the route of American buttercream, so I “spiced it up” to go along with the cake. They smell simply amazing, and although I did not get to try any, the reviews from the volunteers who served them made me super happy, and I am sure Tanya will be glad to hear that also! You can find her recipe here. For the buttercream, I used my default recipe adding 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice.

CARO’S EASY PEASY SMOKIN’ CHEESE CRACKERS

Caro’s blog is one of my go-to sites when I want a recipe that will not disappoint. As I mentioned before, her posts are real tutorials, all the details that matter to make a recipe work. These cheese crackers are addictive – salty, hot to the right level, great texture. I used two types of hard cheese for them, so play with what you have in the fridge and have fun. Recipe can be found here.

I admit that I had a little help while making them, as far as timing exactly when they were perfectly done!

ONE YEAR AGO: Crispy Air-Fried Zucchini

TWO YEARS AGO: Pasta with Cremini Mushroom Ragu

THREE YEARS AGO: A Magical Marinade

FOUR YEARS AGO: Roast Veggies with Black Barley

FIVE YEARS AGO: Pumpkin Sourdough

SIX YEARS AGO: First Monday Favorite

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Secret Recipe Club: Paalak Paneer, a Farewell Post

EIGHT YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, November 2015

NINE YEARS AGO: Helen Fletcher’s Oatmeal Cookies

TEN YEARS AGO: Thai-Style Pesto with Brown Rice Pasta

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce

TWELVE YEARS AGO: A Simple Appetizer (Baked Ricotta)

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Sour Cream Sandwich Bread

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Pasta with Zucchini Strands and Shrimp

7Nov2023

SILIKOMART RAGGIO

Posted in Cake by sallybr

I have quite a few Silikomart cake molds for the most part acquired before the Great Pandemic of 2020, when I was baking cakes to include in my donation box. Once Covid hit, I went through a long time of donating exclusively stuff that could be individually wrapped, and cakes went into the back burner. Now I am set on trying to bring my molds to play, and plan to bake one cake every week. Should be a fun little adventure. Today it is time for Raggio to shine! ( Mold available here).

RAGGIO VANILLA AND CHOCOLATE CAKE
(adapted from several sources)

for the cake:
3 large eggs at room temperature
140 g white sugar (about 2/3 cup)
180 g butter, softened (about 3/4 cup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
225 g all-purpose flour (about 1 + 3/4 cup)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
90 ml milk at room temperature (about 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon)
60 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

for the ganache:
60 g dark chocolate
30 ml whipping cream
sprinkles of your choice

Heat oven to 350F.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Reserve.

In the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer, cream the butter together with the sugar for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs to and mix each time until incorporated, then the vanilla extract.

Turn off the mixer. Add the sifted mixture of flour, and the milk, dividing the flour in three portions, and the milk in two. Start and end with the flour, eye-balling the amount it totally fine. Once all is incorporated, fold the chopped chocolate gently.

Spray your Silikomart or other Bundt pan (about 1.5 L volume). Pour the batter into the pan and level it gently with an offset spatula. Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and wait until the cake is warm before removing it from the pan. I left it sit for about 30 minutes and it un-molded easily.

Make the ganache: Heat the cream until almost boiling and pour over the chocolate. Wait a few minutes, then whisk gently to combine. It should be smooth and shiny. Once it cools a bit, but it is still runny, pour over the cake. It is important that the consistency is right, so that it won’t simply run off the edges. Decorate with sprinkles before it is fully set, so they glue to the surface.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The cake has such a beautiful shape that it would stand nicely with just a shower of powdered sugar. But the ganache is a perfect way to make it even more luscious. I cannot give personal feedback on the taste, as I donated the cake whole, but I heard that people really loved it… It is a simple cake, but the bits of chocolate add a lot, and of course the ganache makes it very festive. I hope that if you are like me, and have some Silikomart pans hiding in the depths of your basement, you’ll bring them to play…. Stay tuned for more in the future!

ONE YEAR AGO: Cremino a la Nociolla

TWO YEARS AGO: Roasted Broccoli and Apple Salad with Tahini Dressing

THREE YEARS AGO: A Different Kind of Cookie Swap

FOUR YEARS AGO: Scary Good Recipes for your next Halloween

FIVE YEARS AGO: Pumpkin Sourdough

SIX YEARS AGO: First Monday Favorite

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Secret Recipe Club: Paalak Paneer, a Farewell Post

EIGHT YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, November 2015

NINE YEARS AGO: Helen Fletcher’s Oatmeal Cookies

TEN YEARS AGO: Thai-Style Pesto with Brown Rice Pasta

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce

TWELVE YEARS AGO: A Simple Appetizer (Baked Ricotta)

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Sour Cream Sandwich Bread

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Pasta with Zucchini Strands and Shrimp

28Oct2023

SCARY SKULL BAKES

Posted in Cake by sallybr

One pan, many possibilities to scare your family and friends, because now is the time to really go for it!

RED VELVET SKULL CAKES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen, inspired by Jo-Ann)

275g cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 tsp Red Velvet Emulsion (LorAnn)
red food gel (I used Super Red Americolor, about 1/2 tsp)
113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
300g sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

chocolate buttercream (home-made or store-bought)

Fondant (I used Renshaw)
Gun Metal food gel (Americolor)
Air-Brush silver (or Wilton silver spray)

Skull pan from Nordicware (available here)

Heat oven to 350F. Spray your skull pan with baking spray or coat with butter and flour. Reserve.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, mix food coloring, Red Velvet emulsion and cocoa powder to form a smooth paste.

In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the 2 eggs, one at a time, then add the cocoa-red gel mixture, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix well, then add half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula. As the mixer is going, whisk the baking soda with the vinegar, and as it is sizzling, add to the mixer.

Fill the cavities of the skull pan about 2/3 of the volume. You might have a little batter leftover. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then invert on a rack for the cakes to cool.

Coat them with a very thin layer of buttercream, place in the fridge. Grab a portion of fondant and dye it with gun metal gel. Roll it thin to a size large enough to coat one of the cakes. Remove the cakes from the fridge, and coat with the fondant. Use a fondant baller tool to get the fondant to go into the eyes and nose cavities. Trim the excess. Air-brush the surface with silver, or spray with Wilton Silver Shimmering Mist. Once the fondant is fully set, you can carve out a small portion to reveal the red cake underneath.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I saw these mini-cakes at Jo-Ann site, but the instructions were a bit vague, and it also used a boxed cake mix, so I took baking matters into my own hands. My only shortcut was to buy buttercream icing at the store because my schedule was tight and I figured that the buttercream was such a tiny component, basically just a glue to get the fondant to stick to the cake. You can serve it in two different ways, intact or with some of the skull exposed…

.
Just grab a fork and go at it… yes, the baker can eat the piece removed, and call it “quality control”. I really wanted to make a knife in fondant to stick into the cake, but my skills were not good enough and I don’t have a knife mold. I know, SHOCKING!

The red cakes can also be decorated with a simple buttercream, if you prefer them to be more festive. I think they get a little scarier this way.

The skull mold also works for savory bakes, but I cannot share a recipe yet because it is a work in progress…. I need to tweak the tortilla component.

The tortilla was gluten-free and the recipe I used was impossible to roll out thinly. It turned out too dense and heavy. But I will work on it some more. The filling was ground turkey with the usual taco seasonings, corn, black beans and peppers. But I definitely like the way the mold behaved for a savory bake.

I am already sad that Halloween is almost gone… I feel that for one reason or another, I did not bake enough scary things. Oh, well… there are much more serious problems in life. Let’s go with the flow and embrace…………. THANKSGIVING!

ONE YEAR AGO: Spicy Citrus Peanut Salad

TWO YEARS AGO: Shrimp Stir-Fry, Kung Pao-Inspired

THREE YEARS AGO: Cauliflower Steaks with Olive and Caper Salsa

FOUR YEARS AGO: Twice-Cooked Eggplant

FIVE YEARS AGO: Turkey Burger, Japanese-Style

SIX YEARS AGO: Pumpkin Macarons

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Slow-Cooked Whole Chicken

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Frosting

NINE YEARS AGO: Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Honey-Mustard Dressing

TEN YEARS AGO: Bewitching Kitchen on Fire!

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Chiarello’s Chicken Cacciatore

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Donna Hay’s Thai-Inspired Dinner

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Panettone

25Aug2023

THREE DELICIOUS BAKES

Posted in Cake, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

These three recipes are absolutely delicious, I cannot pick the top favorite, no matter how much thought I put into it. I will list them in the order they materialized in my kitchen, over the past couple of months. Each recipe has some interesting twist that makes it special. They are available online, so I provide you the links to the original author, because giving credit matters!

BAKE #1
HERMIT BARS WITH LEMON GLAZE

RECIPE AVAILABLE HERE

If you are into spiced cookies, this is THE most delicious bar concoction you will ever taste. Period. I have made Hermit cookies in the past, but this bar format with the lemon glaze on top is infinitely better. I urge you to try it. As usual, Helen’s instructions are absolutely spot on. The bar component bakes beautifully, it will end up with the perfect height to welcome the luscious lemony topping.

All flavors go together beautifully and the texture is also wonderful. I cannot recommend this recipe enough! Please make it…

BAKE #2
STRAWBERRY CURD BROWNIE BITES WITH MERINGUE

RECIPE AVAILABLE HERE

Look at those cutie pies! Or should I say cutie-brownies instead? The twist in this recipe is the topping, a strawberry curd… OMG that is to die for! I advise you to make the curd the day before, then the recipe is super easy. The brownie component calls for almond flour, which gives it a very nice texture and slightly more complex taste. Adding the meringues on top is a cute detail that you can skip if you like to simplify it. My only change from the recipe as published by Amisha, was to make the meringues separately – I used a Swiss meringue recipe for that, and just placed them on top of the brownies while they were still a tad warm.

Above you see some of the steps involved to make this delicious concoction…

To make them, I used this silicone pan, which was also used for the other brownie in this post. It makes for a super polished final look.

BAKE #3
ANNA OLSON’S FUDGE BROWNIES WITH SALTED PECANS

RECIPE AVAILABLE HERE

What makes this recipe special is definitely the addition of the pecans, both in the brownie batter and to top each little square. Do not omit the flake salt, it definitely works a special kind of magic here. I have made this recipe years ago, but now I found it available online and feel it is ok to share. It is from one of her great cookbooks, Bake with Anna Olson, which I bought in 2018 (according to my amazon records!).