TWD: Coffee Cake

June was just not a baking month for me. So trying to get back into it for July. Starting with Dorie’s Crumb-Topped Ricotta Coffee Cake. It is not real sweet and that is perfect. The blueberries added a little tartness and the crumb topping…oh that crumb topping…adds just the right amount of sweet crunch

It came together very quickly once the crumb topping had been chilled for a while. The addition of the brown sugar to the topping and the cornmeal is what makes it different from other crumb toppings. It was my favorite part of the cake. I even saved some to sprinkle over some ice cream.

And the cake was great with ice cream melted on top.

This is definitely a keeper.

For more coffee cakes visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

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Cook the Books Friday: Cornmeal cake.

It has been a slow baking month for Tea and Scones. It has just been to hot to cook. With Highs in the lower 100s and Heat Indices in the 105 area turning on the oven just did not seem like a good idea. Unless I wanted to bake really early in the morning. THAT wasn’t going to happen!

We finally had rain today and the temps dropped. Seemed like a good evening to bake. And it seemed a good idea to start back baking with Dorie’s Cornmeal Buttermilk Loaf Cake, with or without berries.

Instead of the loaf I used Dorie’s idea of a skillet cake. Same ingredients. Shorter baking time.

B is a big fan of cornbread. Sweet cornbread. So I figured he would like this cake.

I used Strawberries on his half …

…and blueberries on my half.

This was very good. Not real sweet. I topped with vanilla ice cream or sweet whipped cream.

The recipe is on page 264 of Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie.

You can find more Cornmeal Cakes at Cook the Books Friday

 

WWDH: maple cake

If you need a simple but tasty cake this might be the one for you. It has a light maple flavor in the cake and more in the maple cream frosting. The cake has brown sugar which seems to heighten the maple flavor and the simple cream and maple ‘frosting’ means it is not a heavy cake at all.

The recipe is from Donna Hay’s off the shelf (page 176) which has so more wonderful recipes I want to try.

Check out Gayle and Kayte for their WWDH dishes this week.

 

TWD: Bundt is Better.

As is true with TWD now we have two choices during the month from Baking with Dorie and the choice of what date we make and post which. I didn’t quite make it for the first posting in March but was determined to make the second posting. After all, what is better than a bundt cake. And not just any bundt cake but Dorie’s Swirled, Spiced Source Cream Bundt Cake.

Dorie said she tweaked her original sour cream bundt and added whole wheat flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. She also added more allspice. What she did was make her cake even BETTAH!

I didn’t swirl the cake as much as I should and I didn’t have quite enough nuts but it was still tasty. Nuts and chocolate! How can you go wrong with that?

Eventually I will make the the Glenorchy Flapjacks. They sound delicious.

This cake is on page 105 of Dorie’s Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty and Simple

For more cakes – Tuesdays with Dorie.

 

WWDH: Pound Cake

Tonight is the night of the monthly church supper. It is a perfect night to bake and share Donna Hay’s Pound Cake. And it is the most basic pound cake recipe ever.

All the typical ingredients. 12 oz butter, 1.5 cups of sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 6 eggs, 3 cups AP flour and 1 Tbl baking powder.

Simply whip the butter and the sugar. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder and then FOLD the dry into the wet. Does it get any easier than that? I didn’t think so.

I added a cup of coconut with the flour mix and topped the cake with a simple coconut and powdered sugar glaze. The glaze added a bunch of coconut flavor.

My only regret is baking it in a square pan, as Donna listed, instead of a bundt pan. Ah, well. Next time.

You can also make it plain, with poppyseeds, with orange zest or lemon zest for different flavors. Each one is a simple cake to make.

The recipe is on page 158 of Donna’s The New Cook. Lots of great recipes in this one.

Want more Donna Hay?

Check with Kayte, or Gaye.

 

Good Food Good Friends

It’s that time of the month again. Veggie Friday with Good Friends Good Friday. This week it is CARROTS. What a great way to start the new year – cooking with friends.

I like carrots. Raw. Not to wild about them cooked. I like them cooked in stews IF they are well cooked. I know they are sweet if they are cooked right but I just don’t cook them often enough. So this week I went in the other direction.

CARROT CAKE

I’ve been making this carrot cake for about 12 years. First made it when baking with Dorie Greenspan and the BFMHTY cookbook . I met some wonderful ladies in that group. Several of whom are the creators of this group.

I am not going to print the LONG recipe here but I will leave the link. Dorie’s Carrot Cake.

Let me tell you this cake is WONDERFUL! I make it every year for The Man and a friend. This year I made it as a Christmas Gift for that friend. She loved it.

For more carrot dishes visit with

Kayte

Ulrike

Peggy

Donna

Ellen

Nancy

I wish all of you a Happy New Year in 2021. See you in two weeks with GREENS!

 

{CC#14} Chocolate Snacking Cake

When I think of eating ‘healthy’ I really don’t consider cake.  Especially chocolate cake but I ran across this recipe in my February Cookbook eating to beat high blood pressure.  Truth be told this is NOT a weight loss book but a path to health.

So these little bites of chocolate delight are only 70 calories, and 1 gm fat (1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ piece) each.  I cut mine a little bigger but still not bad.  I sprinkled them with a little cocoa and powered sugar but they were plenty sweet without it.

1 1/3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup + 2 Tbl unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 Tbl instant espresso powder
1 cup sugar {I subbed in 1/2 cup Splenda and added 18 tsp Stevia}
1/2 up packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
2 large egg whites
1 Tbl powdered sugar

325 degree oven

Line an 8″ pan  with foil leaving an overhang.

Sift together the flour and cocoa.  Add the espresso powder into warmed buttermilk and allow to dissolve.

Mix the sugars together with the applesauce, buttermilk/espresso, and vanilla.  Add the liquids into the flour/cocoa mix and combine just until blended.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and then fold into the batter and add in the chocolate chips.  {I found the batter to be VERY stiff so I added just a tad of water before I folded in the whites.}  

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake for about 35 minutes or until set.  Don’t over bake!  Remove from pan and cool for about 15 minutes on a rack.

SOOOO good! Definitely a keeper.

The recipe is on page 263.

 

I’m linking this post with Cookbook Countdown 14 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily’s Cooking (Makan2)

 

{IHCC} LEMONS!!

This is not at all what I had planned to make for this week’s IHCC ingredient – LEMONS!.  The weather was rather chilly when I picked out a nice lemon risotto and then the weather turned warm – mid 70s this week (and keep in mind it is mid-January) – so I switched to a nice citrus-y cake.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

4 oz butter
1 cup superfine sugar {I subbed in 1 cup Splenda and 1/2 tsp bulk stevia}
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup plain yogurt
3 Tbl lemon juice
1 Tbl lemon zest
2 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix the butter and sugar together ’til fluffy.  Add the eggs and incorporate well.  Add in the yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, flour, and baking soda.  Mix well.

Spoon (it’s way to thick to pour) mixture into a 9″ cake pan and bake 45 minutes in a 350F degree oven.  {Mine only took 35 minutes}.  Cake is done if toothpick comes out clean.

While cake is still hot pour the syrup over the cake and let the cake sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Syrup:

1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbl lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

My syrup didn’t turn out like I wanted but it did add some more lemon into the cake.  I ended up making a lemon drizzle and putting, way too much, over the cake.  The cake wasn’t real sweet and had just the right lemony flavor.  Good cake!

The recipe adapted from Donna Hay’s the new cook page 181

Want More?  -> LEMONS!

 

{CC#10} Pumpkin Cake

For some reason most of the cakes I make are layer cakes.  Lots of frosting between the levels.  Lots of frosting on top.  Lots of frosting around the sides.  But this time I decided to make a simple 9×13 cake.  Just lots of frosting on top.Pumpkin cake with a nice sweet cream cheese frosting.

I made a couple of subs.  Instead of the full 2 1/2 cups of AP flour I used 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and only 1 cup AP.  I also used 1/4 cup egg product instead of the egg white called for. I subbed in 1 cup Slendra and 1/2 tsp bulk stevia for part of the sugar.  TRYING to make it a little better for you….. And, of course, a little more cinnamon than the 2 tsp.

 

Cake recipe is page 197 of The Colorado Farmers’ Market Cookbook.  The Pumpkin Cake Recipe is from Burritt’s Produce.

I’m linking this post with Cookbook Countdown hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily’s Cooking (Makan2).

 

{Bundt Bakers} Persimmon Apple Bundt

It’s Fall y’all!  At least according to the calendar.  But with daytime temps still in the mid to upper eighties and nights only going down to 72 or so here in the Deep South it sure doesn’t feel like Fall.  So how do you get in the mood while running the A/C and wishing for cooler weather instead of Summer Part Deux?  You bake with Fall ingredients – apples, persimmons, pecans.  All of them tied up in one big beautiful bundt.

This one is full of all those ingredients plus “Fall” spices

3/4 cup chopped pecans

 

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

 

1/3 cup butter, softened

 

2 eggs

 

1 cup cooked persimmon

 

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

 

3/4 cup milk

 

1/3 cup apple juice

{I used some spiced pear juice as I was out of apple}

1 tablespoon baking powder

 

1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

 

3/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 325°. Grease and sugar* 10 or 12 cup Bundt” Pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mix brown sugar, butter and eggs until very light and fluffy.

Add persimmon and vanilla; mix very well.

Add all remaining ingredients; mix well. Gently spoon into prepared pan.

Bake at 325° for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on rack. 16 servings.

* Using sugar to coat pan adds a sugary golden crust to the cake

I drizzled it with a caramel ganache. Recipe for the ganache is from Crazy for Crust.

This cake was unbelievable moist and full of flavor.  One of the best I have made in a long while. {And it would have been beautiful if part of it hadn’t stuck to the pan – thus the leaves!!}

Want more FALL Bundts.  Please visit all the bakers below.  Lots of deliciousness there.

• Apple, Pear and Honey Cider Bundt Cake by All That’s Left Are the Crumbs
• Apple Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle by Cookaholic Wife
• Bundt Cake de Chocolate Blanco y Moras by La Mejor Manera de hacer
• Chestnut Cream Marbled Bundt Cake by I Love Bundt Cakes
• Chocolate Caramel Apple Cake by The Freshman Cook
• Ginger and Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Los Chatos Chefs
• Impossible Pumpkin Pie Bundt by Faith, Hope, Love, and Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Jack O’Lantern Cake by Palatable Pastime
• Persimmon Apple Bundt by Tea and Scones
• Poached Pear and Cranberry Bundt Cake with Maple Mascarpone Frosting by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake by Patty’s Cake
• Pumpkin Pie Bundt by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Pumpkin Spice Cake with Caramel Drizzle by Living the Gourmet
• Robert E. Lee Bundt Cakeby The Queen of Scones
• Spiced Rum Pumpkin Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sticky Pecan Pie Bundt by Food Lust People Love

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

Thank you Terri ( of The Freshman Cook) for hosting this month.