Archive for the ‘Cakes’ Category
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Tuesday, November 21, 2012 was Spane’s 9th birthday. He originally asked for a Red Velvet Cake, but then said he wanted Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting that I made for his 7th birthday, and was the base for the Jolly Roger Cake of the Pirate Rack Rachham that I made for his 8th birthday. At the last minute, I decided to give him his original request, a Red Velvet Cake.
Yes, I know that Red Velvet Cake is all over the place, and mostly nasty, truly horrific. When Red Velvet cake became popular all over the country, short cuts were made, and what resulted was a dense, flavorless cake, with a greasy shortening “cream cheese” frosting, that I am sure was made with cream cheese flavoring, and nary a bit of real cream cheese. I make a real Red Velvet Cake, that uses real cream cheese, cake flour, and vinegar/baking soda leavener.
Anyone who reads this blog knows that I just can’t make an ordinary anything, I always have to umph it up a bit, and this cake was no exception. Instead of using white vinegar, I used Balsamic vinegar. I also used a Mocha frosting instead of the traditional cream cheese frosting. It was a real hit.
Posted in Birthdays and Receptions, Cakes, Desserts, Frosting, Holidays, Spane | 
Tags: baking soda, Balsamic Vinegar, butter, cake flour, cocoa, cream cheese, Eggs, food coloring gel, instant coffee, powdered ginger, vanilla | 
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Finished Balsamic Strawberry and Blueberry Trifle with Lemon Cream
Finished Balsamic Strawberry and Blueberry Trifle with Lemon Cream
When thinking about making this Balsamic Strawberry and Blueberry Trifle with Lemon Cream, it reminded me of something that happened many years ago. I was asked to bring something to a 4th of July potluck. I was making a yellow cake and using strawberries and blueberries for filling, with a whipped cream topping. As I was taking the cake out of the pan, my cat Lazer startled me, and I dropped the cake on the counter. I went into bunch of little pieces. Well, I had a trifle bowl, so I scooped everything up, put in the bowl with the cream and fruit, presented it as Oops 4th of July Trifle, and called it a day.
This year, I wanted something along the same lines, but a little more fun. Strawberries and balsamic vinegar are perfect together. Strawberries and Mascarpone are even better together, but I didn’t want anything that thick. So I developed a wonderful lemon cream.
Posted in 4th of July, Cakes, Fruit, Holidays, Lunch, Make Ahead, Memorial Day, Mothers' Day, Spring |
Tags: Balsamic Vinegar, blueberries, cream cheese, pound cake, Strawberries, strawberry syrup, sugar, True Lemon, whipping cream |
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Teacher's Garden Cake
Teacher's Garden Cake
The PTA at John Muir Elementary School puts on a staff luncheon every year. Parents are asked to bring in their best dish. Our teachers and staff are very lucky, as a lot of our parents are very good cooks. This year, in fact, the recipes are going to be collected and the PTA is publishing a cookbook. The luncheon was going to take place in the newly planted Teachers’ Garden. I decided to make a cake and decorate it as a garden.
The cake looked lovely tilted up on the dessert station. In fact, it looked so lovely, and so real, that no one ate it. Some guests thought it was too pretty to cut, a few thought it was art, and a few didn’t think it was really edible. I wound up taking it home and will share it with family and friends.
Kiwi Lime Cupcakes
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Kiwi Lime Cupcakes
On one of my recent sojourns to the local grocery store, I found dried kiwi fruit. I immediately thought they would make a great decoration for St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes. When I brought Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Dipped Strawberries for my son’s third grade class field trip, one of the girls requested I make cupcakes the next time I brought a treat for the class. So, I’m making mini lime cupcakes with kiwi for Friday since St. Patrick’s day is on Saturday.
I had planned on making these Thursday evening, but decided to do them this morning. Why? Well, let me first say that I love my son’s curiosity and inventiveness. Yesterday, he was tinkering with the alarm clock and mistakenly set the clock ahead four hours. When I got up at what I thought was seven o’clock and drank coffee, it was not until I looked at the cable box that I realized it was only three o’clock. Since I had already had a half a cup of coffee, it was too late to try to go back to sleep, so I’m making cupcakes.
Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes, Desserts, Frosting, Fruit, Indulgences, Kids, Spring, St. Patrick's Day |
Tags: butter, cream cheese, Dried Kiwi, Eggs, Lime juice, Lime zest, powdered sugar, vanilla extract |
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Banana Bread
Banana Bread
At my son’s school they have something called “Second Chance Breakfast” for those students who either didn’t have time for breakfast at home, or who are hungry at the midmorning break. Spane has coined a lot of second chance items in our house, dry food for Rolo is “Second Chance Cat Food”, etc.
Spane and I like bananas, and we especially like them when they are just ripe, are firm and might have a little green still on them. I even have a banana slicing tool from Chef’n which makes slicing them a snap. Still, it’s hard for us to get through a small bunch of bananas without one or two going brown. Sure enough, one had gone brown, and knew that it was destined for banana bread.
Why do I call it Second Chance Banana Bread? Well, because it’s a second chance for the banana itself, and because the night Spane and I made it, I was very tired and fell asleep waiting for it to finish baking. When I woke up the house smelled of burnt sugar. The whole loaf was black on top. A little bit in the center had not burned, and we ate that. It was so good, Maria gave me three bananas she had that had also gone brown, so I could make a second loaf – and not burn it.
Posted in Cakes, Desserts, Fruit, Indulgences, Left Overs |
Tags: Bananas, cream cheese |
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Cake baked in its pan, cooling
Cake baked in its pan, cooling
For my birthday, I wanted to make myself a special cake. I love chocolate, and I love sour cherries. The combination is fabulous.
This is my favorite cake in the world. It’s a very rich cake, and takes time and effort to prepare, but well worth it. My only suggestion to you is not to make it when you have a lot of other intense dishes to make, you’ll look like me when you’re done! Don’t let that deter you – you and your guests will be impressed with this luscious cake.
Yesterday, I made Rose Fudge Truffles and Black Forest Fudge for Founder’s Night at Spane’s school, prepped Rose Petal and Lobster Salad for my birthday, and made this cake. By the time we got back from Founder’s Night, I was so pooped that we decided to have the cake tonight. Amber and Noelle came by, and the four of us enjoyed cake together. A good time was had by all.
Posted in Birthdays and Receptions, Cakes, Desserts, Easter, Holidays, Indulgences, Seder - Holy Thursday |
Tags: semi-sweet chocolate, sour cherries, unsweetened chocolate |
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