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Re-mixing Upside-Down Cake

Upside down cakes are a magic trick to me. The perfect chemistry of caramel, cake, and fruit. I felt like playing around with this traditional southern favorite this week. The classic variation features a light, white cake, brown sugar caramel, and pineapple rings studded with maraschino cherries

For starters, pineapple is sweet enough—maraschino cherries are delicious, but kind of overkill. We’ve had some lovely, tart blueberries in VA this summer, so I swapped those in for flavor and color contrast, and then brightened the whole caramel up with fresh herbs and lime. I also diced the fruit and let it cook with the caramel, rather than layering them individually. It really let the fruit soak up the herbs and zest. Yum!

As for the cake itself, well, there’s nothing wrong at all with a good white cake, but my favorite batter is a good old-fashioned yellow butter cake. And frankly, no egg whites to whip means less bowls to clean. Shall we?

Pineapple-Blueberry Upside Down Cake with Lime and Mint Caramel

Ingredients

Cake Batter

4 oz. butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup whole milk plain yogurt
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Caramel

1 pineapple, cored and diced (fresh or equivalent canned amount, drained)
½ cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)
5-6 mint leaves, finely chopped
zest and juice of one lime
4 tbsp. butter
½ cup brown sugar

Method

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Butter a tube pan, bundt pan, or 9 in. cake pan thoroughly.

Combine the chopped pineapple with the lime zest and herbs and set aside.

To make the caramel, combine the brown sugar, lime juice, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Once the sugar dissolves and the caramel is bubbling, add the pineapple mixture, and cook until fruit is soft, well-glazed, and the caramel has reduced by half (5-7 min). Set aside to cool slightly while the cake batter is prepared.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg and yolks one-by-one, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl between additions. Add the vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding yogurt and the flour mixture until all is incorporated. Mix just until the batter is even.

To assemble, pour the pineapple and caramel in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Then, make decorative lines using the blueberries.

Pour the cake batter over the top. It is a stiff batter, so use an offset spatula to smooth it as evenly as possible.

Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown on top. A knife into the cake (not the fruit layer) will come out clean.

Let the cake cool on a wire rack and then invert. Yes, it’s scary, but if you’ve baked the cake long enough and prepped your pan well, then…

The cake is buttery and rich, the caramel and fruit are tart and sweet, and it all comes together so beautifully.

Enjoy and be inspired to make your own upside down creations!

Ciao for now,

Neen

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Categories Cakes, Fruit

Sunday Morning Sweets: Old Fashioned Cake Doughnuts

26 Mar

If you were snowed in, work was cancelled, and you had all of the necessary ingredients, tell me…

Why wouldn’t you make doughnuts?

Sure it takes a little time to do it properly, but it wasn’t like I was going anywhere on that February morning.

A lot of people don’t like frying, because they’ve had bad experiences with poorly-fried food. I get it. Believe me, greasy food makes me queasy too. If you keep a thermometer in the pot, fry in small batches, monitor the temperature between batches, and drain food properly, you will end up with almost as much oil in the pot as you started with. Less oil leaching into the food, no greasy texture.

I am always a fan of peanut oil for deep frying as I think it has the most neutral flavor, but you can use anything with a high smoke point.

Since I was snowed in at the last minute on this occasion, I decided to make cake doughnuts. I prefer to allow yeast doughs to rise overnight and we didn’t have that kind of time.

Old Fashioned Cake Doughnuts

3/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ tbsp salt
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspon cinnamon
2 eggs
1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup whole or 2% milk
4 cups flour
Oil for frying

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.

In another bowl, Combine the sugar with the melted butter, milk, and eggs, and blend well.

Slowly add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and beat until you have a batter that comes together, but is very soft and sticky.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for one hour.

After chilling, roll the dough out until it is about ½ in. thick.
Cut out doughnuts with a pint glass or biscuit cutter, and then cut out center holes with a small cookie cutter or shot glass.

Fill a deep skillet with about 1 ½ in. of vegetable or peanut oil, and heat the pan until the oil is about 360 degrees.

Add doughnuts gently to the hot oil, cooking a few at a time so that the oil temperature stays between 360-375 degrees. Once you see golden brown around the edges, flip the doughnuts so that they cook on both sides. Total cooking time is about 2-3 minutes for doughnuts and about a minute for doughnut holes.
Remove the doughnuts using a spider and drain on a cooling rack inverted over a layer of paper towels.

While warm, glaze or sugar as desired. For this batch, I dipped some in cinnamon sugar and others are topped with a simple powdered sugar, milk, lemon zest, and vanilla glaze and sprinkles. I love crazy flavor combinations, but sometimes simplicity is perfect.

And I have to say that toasty coffee, pajamas, and doughnuts is a pretty fantastic way to spend a Sunday morning with your sweetie, snowed in or otherwise.

Ciao for now!

Neen

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Categories Breakfast, Cakes, Quick breads and muffins, Recipes, Vegetarian

Share the Love: Breakfast Cake

12 Sep

A former colleague of my husband’s once said to him that it was foolish of me to bake for my coworkers so often. She claimed that my colleagues would not take me seriously. They would see me as nurturing, mothering, and not as an asset to the company itself. Not a professional.

Huh.

I thought that was some managerial psycho-babble right there. What’s the point of being an asset and doing your best work if you aren’t good to the people around you? What kind of feelings do you build up in your life? What kind of environment do you create if you aren’t welcoming?

Still, that idea struck me when I got laid off earlier this year. Maybe she was right. All summer, I wondered what I would do when I finally found a new job. I fretted over the idea of not being taken seriously. Even though I consider the blog a fine example of my writing skills, I considered removing it from my resume and LinkedIn profile.

Then I thought of the butter tarts and the Nanaimo bars that gave one colleague memories of home. The Happy Camper and FRACAS where I got to share my favorite things with the whole staff. The boerewors I made for my former boss when he couldn’t find it anywhere in DC. The cider doughnuts I got up early to fry at least once each fall when suddenly DC turned crisp, orange, and gold. The multitude of morning coffees shared with people reaching into the infamous “Giant Cookie Jar,” and leaving with a smile and a thank-you.

I decided then and there that I would embrace my whole self. Wherever I ended up, I’d work hard to be a productive and driven member of the team, AND continue to share what I love.

What is one of the first things we learn in preschool and kindergarten? Sharing. Our smallest selves are taught that if we share with one another, the community as a whole benefits. It’s an enormous ripple effect; joy multiplies when we share. Sharing bonds us and can bring groups together that might otherwise never communicate. It teaches us to think beyond our own personal existence and consider our place as a citizen of the planet.

In other words, sharing is really important. And if it isn’t considered a professional asset to be willing to share (whether it be knowledge, caring, office supplies, time…), then I think we need a serious change of culture.

I did find a new job. In fact, of the 60ish I applied for, I interviewed for, and got the one I wanted the most. And during my first week at the office, an invitation went out for an in-office bridal shower. The party planner happened to be in my office and was discussing the expense involved in buying cupcakes for the party.

“How many do you need?”

And so it began. Inspired by my family’s favorite birthday cakes, I made four varieties that I knew would bring an extra shot of delicious to a celebration. And a tart too, so as to not leave our gluten-free and vegan friends hungry.

A version of Lynn’s Triple Coconut Cake all filled up with tangy lime curd…

Roger’s two joys in one; a red wine chocolate cake enrobed in bittersweet chocolate ganache…

Joe’s sunny lemon cake with blueberry filling, lemon cream cheese frosting, and candied lemon peel…

A rather decadent chocolate-coconut-macadamia tart with an almond-coconut crust that was both gluten-free and vegan…

And a tribute to my love of all things breakfast, this little number…

“Breakfast in Bed,” or Brown Butter Cake with Maple Buttercream and Praline Bacon

3 cups sifted cake flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
6 oz. unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
6 large egg yolks
1 cup cultured buttermilk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

First, melt the butter and allow it to brown lightly. Then return it to a small container and refrigerate until it has re-solidified completely. Do not skip re-solidifying! Adding melted butter to the cake batter will make for a very dense, sunken cake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter and flour two 12-well cupcake tins (or use paper liners).

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until they are smooth and fluffy. Then add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture (in three additions), and milk (in two additions), beginning and ending with the flour.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared pans, and then tap the pans gently on a counter to remove excess air bubbles.

Bake 23 to 25 minutes or until they are golden on top, and a slightly darker golden brown at the edges. They’ll have wonderfully crispy edges a la the pancakes at the ultimate palace of flapjacks, Pamela’s. Do not argue with me about Pamela’s pancake supremacy, you will not win. Important note: These do not rise a lot–they will not have high domes. The cake is still fluffy and moist inside, I assure you. If you really want the extra lift, you can add another tsp. of baking powder.

Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, and then remove from the pan and allow them to cool completely before frosting.

Maple Buttercream

8 oz. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. kosher salt

To prepare the buttercream, combine all of the ingredients in a mixer on low speed until they are combined, and then beat on medium-high speed using a whisk attachment until creamy and fluffy. It will take 5-7 minutes.

Praline Bacon

1 lb. sliced bacon
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 ½ oz. pecans, toasted and ground

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Arrange the bacon in a single layer on a wire rack set over a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake the bacon for 20-30 minutes, or until it begins to brown.

Mix together the brown sugar and toasted pecans.

Remove the bacon from the oven and sprinkle the brown sugar / pecan mixture on the slices, pressing down lightly to make it adhere. Return the bacon to the oven and cook until crisp, about another 10 minutes.

Allow the bacon to cool completely before breaking into small pieces.

Finally, assemble the cupcakes. Pipe or spread the maple buttercream onto the cupcakes and sprinkle on the candied bacon.

It really is like eating pancakes with maple syrup and bacon…only better!

The cupcakes went over very well at the party, and the best part is that sharing them helped me get to know my new coworkers better.

So what if people think you’re nurturing? The way I see it, if that’s the most negative thing someone can think of to say about you…you’re doing a pretty okay job on planet earth.

Ciao for now,

Neen

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Categories Beginner, Cakes, Candy, Cheese / Dairy, Fruit, Grains, Uncategorized

Joe’s Confetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

21 Mar

Who here liked Funfetti cake as a kid? Okay, now who here still likes Funfetti cake as an adult? No shame in admitting it. There’s nothing quite like rainbow cake to bring some unanticipated cheer into our lives. And while that box of color speckled white cake is pretty tasty, the truth is that you can make it yourself with very little angst.

This is what Joe requested for his birthday, and here’s how I put it all together.

White Confetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

White Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 oz. unsalted butter, softened
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract½ tsp. almond extract
1 1/4 cups whole milk
6 egg whites at room temperature
1/3 cup of multi-colored sprinkles

Quick Buttercream Frosting

6 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
16 oz. butter, softened
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup milk

Grease and flour two 9 in. cake pans and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and 1 ¼ cups of sugar and beat until light and fluffy. This will take several minutes on medium speed. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts and then add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk until everything is combined. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Clean and dry the stand-mixer bowl thoroughly and then add the egg whites and a pinch of salt to it. Whip on high speed until the egg whites are frothy and then very slowly add the remaining 1 ¼ cups of sugar. Whip until the meringue is thick, glossy, and holds almost stiff peaks.

Fold one third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, and then gently fold in the rest. Add the colored sprinkles and fold them into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly among the two pans and then gently tap the pans on the counter to release any air bubbles in the batter.

Bake the cakes for 30-40 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes and then turn them out onto a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before frosting. It is best to wrap the cooled cake layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate them overnight prior to frosting.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter on medium speed until very smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until the sugar and butter are combined, then add the vanilla extract, salt, and milk and beat on medium speed until thick. It will take about 3-4 minutes.

Frost and decorate the cake as desired! You will probably not use all of the icing, but it’s better to have extra for decorating. No one wants to run out in the middle of frosting a cake (which I did while testing variations of this recipe).

So freaking good. You can also use a Swiss Meringue Buttercream on this cake, which is a slightly more involved recipe. The upside is that it uses much less sugar and a little less butter without sacrificing consistency or taste.

4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
13 oz. butter, softened and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Place a large bowl over a pot of simmering water and add the egg whites and sugar to it. Whisk them together until the sugar is completely dissolved, meaning it does not feel grainy in the slightest. Transfer this to a stand mixer and whip until the meringue is white and doubles in volume. Add the vanilla and pinch of salt.

With the mixer running, slowly add the butter, one or two pieces at a time, making sure the additions are thoroughly combined before adding more. Do not panic if the mixture starts to look like it is separating—trust me, it will come together. Once all of the butter has been added, whip the buttercream on medium-high speed until thick and creamy. It may take 5 minutes or maybe a little more, but it will come together. Scout’s honor.

Both the quick buttercream and meringue buttercream will hold up at room temperature for an extended period of time, although the latter is more susceptible to condensation. So if you have a particularly humid refrigerator I would recommend using the first recipe.

Happy birthday super-fiancé! I hope all of your wishes come true.

Ciao for now,

Neen

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Categories Cakes, Cheese / Dairy, Grains, Recipes, Vegetarian

Blueberry Not-Quite-A-Pound Cake

13 Mar

Blueberries are not in season. Despite this undeniable fact, I couldn’t resist them when the grocery store had them for buy-one-get-one-free last week. I begin longing for berries long before the first ones roll around in June, so bear with me here. Obviously what we’re getting in the mid-Atlantic US right now aren’t the sweetest or plumpest berries, but the tartness does make them great for baking applications. That combined with a citrusy glaze make this humble loaf cake something special. Its texture and flavor closely resemble that of a pound cake, but the ratio of ingredients isn’t quite there, so let’s just call it something else.

Blueberry Not-Quite-A-Pound Cake

Cake:

4 oz. butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk mixed with ¼ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze:

1 orange, for zest and juice
½ -3/4 cup powdered sugar

Grease and flour a 9×5 in. loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the milk/sour cream and the vanilla extract.

Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a sifter. Gradually sift the dry ingredients into the wet and mix just until combined.

Gently fold in the blueberries. The batter will be quite thick.

Spread the batter evenly into the loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once removed from the oven, let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, squeeze the orange (I used a seedless navel orange) into a bowl until you have about 3 tablespoons of juice. Then grate 1-2 tsp. of orange zest and add it to the juice. Mix in powdered sugar until a consistency is reached that will allow the glaze to ribbon when poured. Drizzle this over the cake while it is still warm. I’d wait about 40 minutes to cut into the cake so that it is sturdy enough to slice evenly without smashing.

It’s really good. How good? I’ve made two in the last week at super-fiance’s request and he refuses to share it with his coworkers (sorry EAB, I tried!).

Ciao for now,

Neen

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Categories Beginner, Cakes, Fruit, Grains

Coconut Cake for Lynn

16 Nov

Over the summer, I discovered my future mother-in-law’s love for coconut cake. Her only complaint was that half the time you order it somewhere, it turns out to be a plain white cake covered with tooth-achingly sweet seven-minute frosting and bland shredded coconut. The coconut flavor just isn’t there. Right then, I knew exactly what I’d make for her birthday this year.

Many coconut cake devotees insist that the only way to achieve real coconut taste is to use a fresh one, but I couldn’t find one anywhere in Northern Virginia. I’d even charged the power drill, but it wasn’t to be. After some research I discovered other ways of injecting some true coconut flavor into the cake, and I have to say that I think it turned out even better because of how the ingredients created a soft, tender cake and rich icing with just the right amount of sweetness. It was a big hit among the family and I think honestly, one of the best cakes I’ve ever made.

Coconut Layer Cake for Lynn

For the cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon coconut extract

Frosting and decoration:

16 oz.cream cheese
4 oz.butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cream of coconut
2 cups shredded coconut, half sweetened, half unsweetened, toasted until golden in a 350 degree F oven for 3-5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with butter and dust with flour.

Whisk together 2 1/4 cups sifted flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; cream at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and coconut milk alternately to the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in extracts.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Sharply tap the pans once on countertop to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks, and then remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Wrap cooled cakes tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Prepare the icing by beating the cream cheese and softened butter together on medium speed until fluffy and smooth. Then, switch to a whisk and slowly add the powdered sugar and cream of coconut and whisk until smooth. Cover the bowl of icing and refrigerate until use.

To assemble the cake, unwrap one layer and cover it with a layer of frosting. Add the next layer and frost the entire cake lightly and return it to the refrigerator. Once the icing has set up slightly, apply a final, smooth coat of icing and finish with the toasted, shredded coconut.