THE BEWITCHING KITCHEN TURNS 16!

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Cake is pretty much mandatory, right? This blog anniversary caught me by surprise, as we are currently away. I got a bit confused and thought that the big day was later in the month. My plan was to bake for the occasion once we arrived back home. Good thing I double-checked… Full disclosure: this cake was produced in a bit of a hurry as we prepared to leave for a 2-week trip to the East Coast. Without further ado, I share with you today a lemon cake with raspberry filling and Swiss meringue buttercream. Maybe made in a hurry, but with a huge amount of love!

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH RASPBERRY FILLING
(adapted from The New York Times)

¾ cup/170 grams unsalted butter, softened
3 cups/385 grams all-purpose flour
2 cups/400 grams granulated sugar, divided
3 medium lemons
1½ cups/360 milliliters whole milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup/60 milliliters neutral oil (I used grapeseed)
4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup raspberry jam (store-bought or home-made)

1 recipe for Swiss meringue buttercream, starting with 400g butter (details here)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray three (8-inch) cake pans with baking spray and line each with parchment paper.

Make the cake: Add 350 grams of the granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, then zest the lemons directly into the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it looks moist and sandy.

Juice the zested lemons into a small bowl. Transfer ¼ cup of juice to a large measuring cup and stir in the milk. Let it sit while you prepare the rest of the cake, reserving the remaining juice for the lemon syrup.

To the bowl with the lemon sugar, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and mix on low to combine. Add the softened butter to the bowl all at once. Mix on low until the butter is evenly distributed and the mixture looks sandy. Add the oil and eggs to the measuring cup with the milk mixture and mix with a fork to combine. With the mixer on low, slowly stream in the milk mixture. When the batter is moistened, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure there aren’t any dry pockets. Adjust mixer speed to medium and mix for 1 minute more. Divide the batter among the prepared pans, spread evenly and tap the pans on a countertop to release any large air bubbles.

Bake the cakes until slightly risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Set the pans on a wire rack and let the cakes cool for about 15 minutes. Then, run a thin knife along the edges of the pan and carefully turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.

While the cakes cool, make the syrup: Measure ¼ cup lemon juice from the remaining reserved juice. Combine the juice and the remaining 50 grams sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring occasionally. Cook until the sugar has dissolved, then pour into a heat-safe container to cool.

Make the Swiss meringue buttercream. Reserve 1/3 of the amount and dye red (I used Tulip Red). Dye a very small amount with green for the stems. I used Laurel color. Dye the rest of the buttercream with Fuchsia or any other color you like.

Assemble the cake: Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate, top side up. Brush the cake with lemon syrup. Spread raspberry jam over the top of the cake. Repeat with the second layer on top of the filling, top side down, and press gently. Add the final layer. Brush the cake with syrup, then cover the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of fuchsia frosting. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Frost the cake with fuchsia, smoothing the surface. Let that set for 30 minutes, then pipe stems with green buttercream and a tip 3. Using the tulip red buttercream, pipe the flowers with a petal 101 tip, a border at the bottom with an open star tip (like #20) and a border on top with 1M tip.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Hard to believe it’s been 16 years. Hard to find what to say about it without getting cheesy or highly predictable. So I won’t say much. I’m still having fun blogging, I’m still excited every time I hit “publish” on a new post. I am not stopping quite yet. Let’s step into the 17th year of my blogging journey, and if you’ve been following me for a while, THANK YOU! If you are new here, I hope you’ll find things that inspire you to cook, bake, and be passionate about. Life is too short not to enjoy what each day brings.

Apologies for not showing pictures of the cake cut to reveal the layers and filling. It was donated whole, so I also never got to see it. And that ends up as being part of its charm… Or so I hope…

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ONE YEAR AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 15 years old!

TWO YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 14!

THREE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 13!

FOUR YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns 12!

FIVE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 11!

SIX YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns 10, and a Giveaway…

SEVEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns 9!

EIGHT YEAR AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns eight!

NINE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns Seven!

TEN YEARS AGO: Bewitching Kitchen Turns Six!

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Five!

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Four!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen Turns Three!

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: The Bewitching Kitchen turns Two!

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Bewitching Birthday!

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Welcome to my blog!

15May2025

STRAWBERRY LOVE

Posted in Cake, macarons by sallybr

Strawberries are delicious right now, so I share two ideas to put them to great use (apart from just grabbing the fresh fruit and taking a nice juicy bite). Cake or macarons? You decide. You can always make them both!

STRAWBERRY LAYER CAKE

This cake was described by Helen as “a little slice of heaven”, and judging by the feedback I got, it is highly appropriate. For the full recipe with step-by-step photos and detailed explanations, visit her blog with a click here.

My only modification was in the technique, not the recipe. I used the food processor to make the whipped cream, as I was very intrigued about it and have been meaning to try it for the longest time. Basically, add the ingredients (exact amounts Helen used) to the bowl of a food processor and process for a full minute. Stop, check consistency. You may need a few more cycles of processing, each one no more than 20 seconds long. For me, nice piping consistency was achieved with 1 min + 3 cycles of 15 sec. I really like the way it piped.

I got slightly carried away with the sprinkles, as the lid of the bottle malfunctioned on me. There are worse problems in life, so I went with the flow. Literally.

STRAWBERRY MACARONS

For the shells, I used my default recipe, separated in two portions, most of it dyed with a mixture red and orange, a small amount dyed green. I piped the shells improvising a strawberry shape, waited five minutes and piped the leaf area with green. The filling was exactly the same buttercream from Helen’s cake, using freeze-dried strawberries. I made half the amount listed in the cake (so I started with 1/4 cup butter and scaled it all down).

“Seeds” were added with a brown food pen. However, I was not too happy with the look of the greenery on top. I skipped that for some shells and added Royal icing with a leaf tip after baking. I liked that a lot better, so I added the same detail to all shells.

Next time I won’t bother dividing the batter into portions. Will simply pipe all shells with strawberry color, and use Royal icing for the tops.

I hope you liked this duet of strawberry recipes, and in case you’ve missed it, check out my most involved baking project ever, which also centered on this wonderful fruit.

ONE YEAR AGO: Mini-Turkey Loaves with Mushrooms

TWO YEARS AGO: Baking Through the Blogosphere

THREE YEARS AGO: Oriental Style Sesame Slaw

FOUR YEARS AGO: Revelation Veggie-or-Not Egg-Roll Bowl

FIVE YEARS AGO: Covid Update and Stayin’ Alive

SIX YEARS AGO: A Brazilian Hummingbird

SEVEN YEARS AGO: A Cookbook Review

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Air-Fried Carrots, Two Ways

NINE YEARS AGO: Sweet Potato Crust Quiche

TEN YEARS AGO: Chicken Thighs with Artichokes and Capers

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Pea Pancakes with Herbed Yogurt

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Mushroom Stroganoff

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Tomato Sourdough

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Gamberetti con rucola e pomodori

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Flirting with Orzo

3May2025

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH DULCE DE LECHE FILLING

Posted in Cake by sallybr

This post is dedicated to my friend Margie
(she will understand why).

I’ve been making layer cakes every other week to donate on Fridays. A couple of weeks ago I was trying to decide which cake flavor to make and my beloved husband told me “I’ve got one for you!” He then showed me a recipe published in the New York times. It sounded really good and I decided to go for it except that I changed the filling and the frosting. Layers had store-bought dulce de leche and I used Swiss meringue buttercream as the frosting because I’ve been having so much fun making it. The cake turned out with the springtime feel I was hoping for and I heard that everybody loved it. A win-win situation for sure!

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH DULCE DE LECHE FILLING
(adapted from The New York Times)

1 recipe for Swiss meringue buttercream, starting with 400g butter (details here)

Make the Swiss meringue buttercream. Reserve 1/3 of the amount without any dye. That will be used as a crumb layer and for the white flowers. Dye a small amount green for the leaves. Dye the rest of the batter yellow.

Assemble the cake: Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate, top side up. Brush the cake with lemon syrup. Spread dulce de leche over the top of the cake. Repeat with the second layer on top of the filling, top side down, and press gently. Add the final layer. Brush the cake with syrup, then cover the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Frost the cake with yellow buttercream, add details on the sides wiht a comb if so desired. Pipe roses and leaves. A little pumping of gold luster powder is optional but nice…

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The layers baked like a dream, flat and beautiful. Cake smelled amazing, I really wish we could have sampled a small slice. Oh, well… I used my little electric turntable to frost it and again loved the process. Makes life very easy. Thank you, Phil! Your gifts are always perfect! The only thing I would change if I was to make this cake again, is use a lighter green for the leaves. Well, there is one more thing I would change. I would actually brush the layers with the lemon syrup instead of forgetting all about it and staring at the syrup sitting at the countertop next to the fully frosted cake.

If you have a special occasion to celebrate now that Spring is in full swing, think about this cake…

ONE YEAR AGO: A Duet of Springtime Macarons

TWO YEARS AGO: Fiesta Bakes for Cinco de Mayo

THREE YEARS AGO: Thai-Meatballs Over Wilted Bok-Choy

FOUR YEARS AGO: Asparagus with Gunpowder Masala

FIVE YEARS AGO: The Home Bakers Collective, April Project

SIX YEARS AGO: Asian-Style Eggplant Meatballs

SEVEN YEAR AGO: Uzbek Flatbread

EIGHT YEARS AGO: First Monday Favorite – Black Sesame FOUR

NINE YEARS AGO: Chocolate Orange Mini-Cakes

TEN YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, May 2015

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: P90X3, a Review of Tony Horton’s Latest Fitness Program

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Pasta and Mussels in Saffron Broth

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Triple Chocolate Brownies

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Shanghai Soup Dumplings

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Bite-sized Chocolate Pleasure

1Mar2025

FAYE PALMQVIST AND MINI-LOAF CAKES

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Today I want you to meet (at least virtually) a very special baker, Chef Faye Palmqvist. She hosts a group on Facebook that is geared towards advanced baking, often involving one of her specialties, mini-loaf cakes. They are elegant, unique, and she sure knows how to make them ultra special. You can visit and join her group for free, clicking here. Without further ado, here is my batch of Vanilla Cake following her recipe perfectly adapted for the mini-loaf environment, with a slight twist on her Swiss Meringue Buttercream, incorporating Nutella into it.

I cannot share the recipe, as it is copyrighted from her cookbook, available in her website. But her method produces flawless cakes that bake perfectly in the little aluminum tins (like these ones).

Below, the prep work and the pans before and after baking.

I used one of her methods to pipe the buttercream that I find quite attractive and was suprisingly easy to accomplish!

I hope you join her Facebook group to profit from her knowledge and meet other baking aficionados. On Tuesdays, she posts a feature where you can ask any question about baking, other days are dedicated to professional baking – advice on selling, advertising, stuff like that. And she often encourages members to share pictures of their bakes, so it is a friendly and warm spot in the internet. I feel that is what we all need right now.

ONE YEAR AGO: For the Love of Broccoli

TWO YEARS AGO: Spanakopita, Crackers and the Adventure of Phyllo Dough

THREE YEARS AGO: Chicken Noodle Soup

FOUR YEARS AGO: Floral Chocolate Stick Cookies

FIVE YEARS AGO: Sally’s Spicy Mango and Coconut Macarons

SIX YEARS AGO: Bouillabaise for a Chilly Evening

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Bergamot-Cherry Macarons

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Roasted Veggies with Queso Cotija Dressing

NINE YEARS AGO: Creamy Broccoli and Mushroom Casserole

TEN YEARS AGO: Maple Walnut Biscotti

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Barley Risotto with Peas

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Oatmeal Fudge Bars

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Cauliflower Steaks

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Soft Spot for Chevre

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Quick sun-dried Tomato Crostini

15Feb2025

BAKING WITH THE HEART – FEBRUARY 2025

Posted in Breads, Cake, Cookies by sallybr

A few bakes for the season

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES with RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM
(decoration inspired by @cookingclassy)

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

for the cupcakes (makes 10):

100g all-purpose flour
150g granulated sugar
20g cocoa powder (Dutch-processed)
45g unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
120ml milk at room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat oven to 350F.

Place flour, cocoa powder, salt, butter and sugar in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until the mixture resembles coarse sand.

In a small bowl, whisk milk and egg. Pour half this mixture into the dry ingredients, and mix on medium speed. Scrape the bowl, continue mixing and pour the other half of the milk-egg. Mix on low speed until combined, then increase the speed to high for a few seconds.

Fill cupcake tins a little over half the volume, and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM

113g (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/4 cup raspberry jam, seedless
pinch of salt
3 cups powdered sugar
super tiny amount of pink food gel color

Cut the butter into cubes and place in a mixing bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix butter until smooth, for about 4 minutes. Add jam, the pinch of salt and mix again until well mixed with butter, a couple of minutes. Add the pink gel color.

With the mixer on low speed, add powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing until fully combined and free of lumps. Once it is all incorporated, turn the speed to high and mix for 2 minutes. That will give you a smooth buttercream that you can use immediately to frost the cooled cupcakes.

Decorate with a fresh raspberry and hearts made with tempered chocolate (or compound chocolate) melted and piped into parchment paper or acetate.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Normally I donate all the sweets I bake, but because it was Valentine’s Day, I saved one cupcake to enjoy with the hubby after our meal. OMG! Words of the husband: “Good thing we only had one to share because if we had more I could not stop eating them”. Moist, delicious, and the buttercream frosting absolutely perfect, bringing a little sharp flavor to the party. Make them. Just make them if you want a wonderful treat.

MOVING ON…

VANILLA CAKE WITH HIBISCUS GLAZE
(recipe published in the past, click here)