Cake Batter & Crumbs

Nigella's Mother-in-Law's Madeira Cake

My new favorite baking book is Nigella Lawson's "How to Be a Domestic Goddess." I picked this up over the holidays and am I ever happy that I did. I love watching Nigella's shows; she has great ideas and is down-to-earth in her family style cooking.

This cake is actually the very first recipe in the book. It has very basic ingredients (I had all in my pantry!) and it creates a terrific tasting loaf cake with a crackly, sugar-coated crust and golden-yellow center. The lemon juice and zest create a nice subtle citrus flavor that gives the cake that little, something extra to make it special.

Madeira cake gets it's name from both it's origin, the Madeira Islands, and also that it is often served with Madeira wine or also can have Madeira wine in the list of ingredients.

One important thing to remember about this recipe, as well as a lot in the book, is that it calls for self-rising cake flour. I haven't seen this in any stores in my area, but it is very easy to make. Just add about 1 tsp of baking powder per 1 cup of cake flour. I also added a pinch of salt.

My Mother-in Law's Madeira Cake
from How to Be a Domestic Goddess, by Nigella Lawson

1 cup softened unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cup self-rising cake flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

9x5" loaf pan, buttered and lined with parchment or wax paper

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Cream the butter and 3/4 cup sugar, and add the lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time, with a tablespoon of the flour for each. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and finally the lemon juice. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with sugar (about 2 Tbl. should do it,) as it goes in the oven, and bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and let cool in the pan before turning out. Makes 8-10 slices.

Easy Peanut Butter Meltaways

My mom pulled my husband and I into her kitchen one day and asked us to taste these and tell her what they reminded us of. We both instantly shouted "Gardener's Peanut Butter Meltaways!!" These creamy, chocolate and peanut butter, fudge-like dreams just melt in your mouth and they easily rival those of a higher end confectionery shop in our area.

The best part is that they are so easy to make! The recipe is basically one part white chocolate, one part milk chocolate, and one part peanut butter; melt and mix, then pour into a greased pan. After they cool, you can cut them into bite-sized pieces.

In my first trial I learned it's important to not try to add any extra peanut butter. I was thinking I could make them extra peanut-y but the extra addition of peanut butter makes them not set up solidly when at room temperature. They are just fine when kept in the fridge, but any length of time at room temperature will start melting these meltaways.

Easy Peanut Butter Meltaways

12 oz. white chocolate chips
12 oz. milk chocolate chips
12 oz. creamy peanut butter

Lightly spray a 13"x9" pan with cooking spray. Melt both kinds of chips together in the microwave or over a double boiler. Add the peanut butter and mix until all are combined. Pour into the pan and let it allow it to set up. You can speed this up by placing it in the refrigerator. Once it's all set, you can cut it into individual pieces.

It would also work well to pour the melted mixture into little paper liner candy cups to have an even prettier presentation.

 

White Chocolate, Cranberry & Pistachio Bark

I made this holiday bark to give out with my Christmas cards at the office. It packages every well in clear cellophane bags with a nice ribbon tying it closed. This recipe was featured on the Food Network's website and looked so festive with the white chocolate, dark red cranberries, and pale green pistachios.

The recipe has just a few ingredients to pull together such a lovely treat. Although I found the overall directions a bit long for such a simple recipe. To be honest, I didn't follow the instructions as listed on the website, so I'm linking to that recipe. I didn't have a candy thermometer so I just pulled the chocolate off the heat as soon as the majority was melted. It turned out perfectly. My simplified version is below.

I used Craisins to give it a sweeter rather than tart flavor. Also, I couldn't find any pre-shelled pistachios in my area so I spent a good part of the afternoon shelling them. I suppose it would have gone faster if I hadn't eaten one for every couple that I shelled! Although the original recipe didn't call for it, I coarsely chopped my pistachios and some of the cranberries.

White Chocolate Cranberry and Pistachio Holiday Bark

1 pound finely chopped white chocolate
1 1/2 teaspoons nut or plain oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/4 cups shelled pistachio nuts, toasted and papery coating peeled

Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler. I used a small pot with a few inches of water and then placed the bowl to my stand mixer on top. When most of the chocolate begins to melt, remove it from the head and add the oil. (I just used Canola.) Then add all of the cranberries and pistachios.

Spread the mixture out on a silpat or foil-lined baking sheet and allow to cool at room temperature until it's set and ready to break apart.

The bark as it's cooling.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

In much the same way I like my brownies, I fancy my cookies crisp around the edges and chewy in the middle. I've been searching and searching for a giant chocolate chip cookie recipe like this. I have to admit there's some silly surge of excitement I get each time I order up one of these giant cookies at one the cafe's near where I work.

Thanks to this recipe at AllRecipes.com, I've finally found my official "go to" chocolate chip cookie recipe for the future. At nearly 2000 positive reviews, how can you go wrong? These made huge, chewy and gooey cookies that are so hard to resist. I ended up doubling the recipe and baked over half of them for now. I'm refrigerating the rest of the dough and will bake them up the morning some of my holiday guests arrive next week. Don't let the yield amount throw you off. These cookies are massive, at 1/4 cup dough each, I could only fit 6 per baking sheet. I'd guess you'd get between double and triple the yield if you were making regular sized cookies, but really who wants regular-sized ones when you can have colossal-sized ones?

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 18 Cookies

INGREDIENTS                                                               

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS                                                

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.                            
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

Brownies are usually classified into two different categories. There are the cake-like brownies on one side and then the fudgy, gooey brownies on the other. Everyone has his or her own preferences, but for me, the gooey brownies take the cake... err brownie!

The recipe for these brownies comes from Katharine Hepburn's family. I've read that gossip columnist Liz Smith got the recipe from Hepburn about 25 years ago to publish in her column and since then this popular recipe has been republished numerous times in many cookbooks. I've seen this recipe with rave reviews on a lot of sites, and I can definitely agree that these brownies are superb.

In my mind the perfect brownie is slightly crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. These little beauties come so very close to achieving that ultimate glory for me. They have a nice little, crisp crust and a moist, gooey center. I think if I were to only swap out the nuts for chocolate chunks, I'd be in blissful brownie heaven.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

2 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate
1 stick (1/4 pound) butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
                      

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
Melt the chocolate with the butter over low heat in a large saucepan; stir until completely melted.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar; add eggs and vanilla extract and beat mixture well.
Stir in the flour, salt and nuts and mix well.
Pour the batter into the 8-inch square pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 325 degrees F until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting

It's been a chilly and snowy weekend here in Pennsylvania. For me there isn't a better way to spend a winter-y Sunday afternoon than cozied up with a platter full of frosty, peppermint cupcakes and watching many, many hours football. Cupcakes and football could be two of life's greatest things, especially in this house!

Add kittens to the list of life's greatest things too! We just got a new kitten this weekend and are introducing her to our other younger cat, so I wanted to bake something easy this week. I had a box of Betty Crocker cupcake mix in the cupboard and decided this was the way to go. The cupcake mix comes with a little packet of dry mix and 12 cupcake liners. You just add the water, oil, and an egg like a regular mix.

The peppermint frosting was a great addition to the chocolate cupcakes. I didn't want the frosting to be too strong, so I only added a touch of the extract. I had both peppermint hard candies and also a bag of Andes holiday peppermint crunch candies in the house. I chopped up some of both and decided the Andes mints tasted better when sprinkled on the cupcakes. The chopped Andes candies aren't as crunchy as the hard peppermints and had a sweet taste that went well with the icing. The result is a sweet frosting with a nice mellow peppermint flavor.

I love the look of crushed peppermints against the white icing. They look so festive!

Peppermint Frosting

3/4 cup vegetable shortening, like Crisco
3-4 TBL water
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup powdered coffee creamer (I used French vanilla)
1/8 tsp peppermint extract

Mix vegetable shortening and water in a mixer until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar and powdered coffee creamer. Mix until well combined. Add the extract and mix. Add some extra water if needed to get the frosting to the right consistency.

A rare photo of the two cats where they're not chasing each other around the house!

Pineapple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream

I was flipping though the latest issue of the Hallmark magazine when I stumbled across several recipes for Cakes in-a-jar gifts. These are those homemade mixes you see layered in mason jars, requiring only the addition of the wet ingredients to finish off the batter. Hallmark has five of these recipes on their webpage, including printable gift tags that include instructions on preparing each of the mixes.

I've never experimented with these types of mixes before, but I must say I was really pleased with the outcome of my cardinal expedition. I plan on trying more in the future. It kind of reminds me of sand art!

The mix was created by blending the dry ingredients and layering each in the jar. I used a wide-mouthed funnel to transfer each layer from the mixing bowl to the jar. It's important to remember to tap the jar on the counter after each layer to settle the ingredients; otherwise you may run out of jar space. The article also states that if you're going to make one for yourself, you can skip the layering steps and just throw everything into a plastic bag. Since I had never created one of these jars before, I decided to make one up. Although in my trip to the store to buy a mason jar, I quickly discovered that I couldn't buy just one jar, so I ended up purchasing an entire case of them. I guess people will be getting these as gifts in my future! For this recipe, you can make 2 8 or 9-inch cakes, 1 9x13" cake, or I'm assuming 24 cupcakes. I opted for 2 of the 8-inch cakes and then halved each of those to end up with a 4 layer cake.

I really wasn't sure what to expect, but wow, was I delightfully surprised. This really has to be one of the best spice cake bases I've ever had. It tastes so much better than the boxed spice mix kind. My husband happily agreed. The pineapple isn't overpowering at all. You can see little bits of it throughout the cake and it compliments the cake really well without stealing the stage.

The recipe suggested using either brown sugar or caramel icing. I opted to go with a brown sugar buttercream that I found in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. The icing had a great creamy texture and a wonderful, slightly sweet flavor. I had to double the recipe to have enough for each of my layers. The recipe is below also on their website.

Pineapple Spice Cake (Cake in-a-jar mix)

Blend the ingredients for each layer separately. Put Layer 1 in the bottom of a widemouthed 1-liter jar or canister. Build up to Layer 5 (or 6). Even and settle each layer by rapping the jar gently on the counter.

Assembling Instructions:

LAYER 1
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

LAYER 2
1 cup plus 6 tablespoons sifted cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

LAYER 3
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cake flour

LAYER 4
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk powder or nonfat milk powder

LAYER 5
1/2 cup finely diced dried pineapple (3 ounces)

Baking Instructions:
In mixer bowl, blend cake mix ingredients briefly.

Beat in ¾ cup butter and ½ cup water. Beat on medium for
1½ minutes. In small bowl, beat 3 eggs with ¼ cup water and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Add egg mixture to batter in three batches, beating well after each.

Scrape batter into two parchment- lined 8- or 9-inch round (or square) pans, a greased 9 x 13-inch pan or paper-lined muffin cups. (I just sprayed non-stick spray in my baking pans)

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350°F. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Invert onto racks to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Buttercream
Makes about 2 cups.
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

Put egg whites and sugar into the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch (about 160 degrees).

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue beating until mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter, several tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. (If the frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.) Reduce speed to low; mix to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth.

Easy Ice Cream Cake

My mom asked me to make this dessert for our Thanksgiving meal. She had seen it in a magazine a while back and thought it sounded really good.

The cake is lined around the sides with ice cream sandwiches, then you create an Oreo cookie crust, layer with different kinds of ice cream, and then top with whipped cream. I used vanilla, chocolate, and peanut butter ripple ice cream. I didn't have a chance to view the photos or recipe in the magazine, and I actually placed the ice cream sandwiches in the wrong direction. You are supposed to line the spring form pan so that the pan side touches the "profile" side of the sandwich. (The side where you can see cookie, ice cream, cookie) Otherwise, there's a good chance the ice cream sandwich will stick to the sides of the pan.

This isn't your typical Thanksgiving fare. I mean it had no pumpkin or cranberries in it after all, but man was it tasty! The Oreo crust absorbed some of the ice cream and became this almost brownie-like texture, that was oh so good.

Easy Ice Cream Cake
6-9 ice cream sandwiches, quartered
15-17 Oreo cookies
1 Tbl milk
3 pints ice cream, slightly softened
whipped cream

Line spring form pan with quartered ice cream sandwiches.

Blend Oreo cookies in food processor with the milk. Press Oreo mixture into bottom of pan to form crust. Layer the ice cream and top with whipped cream. Place in freezer for a few hours to set up.