{Modern Baker Challenge} Cinnamon Scented Chocolate Mousse Cake

Fudgy!
Decadent!

Dense!

Delicious!



Those four words describe this little cake to a T! It was liking eating a not-so-sweet fudge.And while the picture has whipped cream it definitely didn’t need it. But the cake is not photogenic on its own. And it wasn’t very cinnamony even though I added more than 1/2 of what was called for.



I made 1/2 of the recipe which fit well into a 5″ springform pan. A 1/6th wedge is more than enough to satisfy both your chocolate craving and your sweet tooth.

Recipe is on page 257 of Malgieri’s the Modern Baker. I also found it on Bon Appetit Hon. We are doing cakes through the end of the year. And now it’s December. Fortunately there are 5 Mondays in December. I might just get four more made!!!

Check out the MB Challenge on the website.

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{Modern Baker Challenge} Individual New York Cheesecakes

If I had to only have one dessert ever again it would be cheesecake. It is what I get out most often as not if they have it. Any kind of cheesecake. Any flavor is fine. Just as long as it’s cheesecake. So, when I needed to pick a cake to ‘host’ for Modern Baker Challenge I chose the……

and I am glad I did.

They are adaptable to just about any flavor. You don’t feel bad about eating a whole one (especially if you make them sugar-free) and there is plenty of room in the fridge to store them easily. I made these back in August but completely failed to take enough pictures for ‘hosting’ so I was FORCED to go back and make them again. Yes, twist my arm!! The full recipe will yield 8 – 10 individual cheesecakes depending on the size of your ramekins. Mine were 3″ and 1/2 of the recipe resulted in 3 nice sized cheesecakes.

Nick’s cheesecakes are super easy with only 5 ingredients

super quick as well.

Cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla are mixed up first. Then the eggs go in one at a time. Add the sour cream and you are done!

Just spoon the batter into the molds and bake about 25 minutes.

Easy!! Quick!! Delicious.

Malgieri suggested serving them with berries so the first time I made them I served them with a blueberry coulis,

but this time I drizzled them with caramel sauce.

I beat the batter more than Malgieri suggested and ended up with a lighter less dense cheesecake which we really enjoyed. And since I used Splenda instead of sugar I didn’t feel quite as guilty about eating A WHOLE CHEESECAKE after dinner.

You can find the recipe on page 264 of Nick Malgieri’s the Modern Baker. We are in the last section for this book, cakes, but there is still time to join in. Just visit The Modern Baker Challenge and bake along. We will finish the end of December. And then, well who knows!!!

 

{Malgieri Monday}Yellow Cake Layers and Ooey Gooey Squares

WHEW!! I didn’t think I would ever get back to Malgieri’s Modern Baker. With all the TWD Catch-ups There have been so many sweet treats in the house I knew we eh… I didn’t need any more. But those are almost all done now.

Anyway, I was scanning through another edition of Louisiana Cookin’ and ran across this recipe for Ooey Gooey Squares. It called for a yellow cake mix “gasp” and I don’t buy them anymore so I thought I would use Nick’s Yellow Cake Layers instead. Good Call!!

Ooey Gooey Squares {adapted from Louisiana Cookin’ October 2012}

1 (18.2S-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
*******

1 (8-ounce) package reduced-fat
cream cheese
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1 cup shreddeed coconut

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, butter, egg, and water. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour batter into well greased 13 x 9 pan. {I used Malgieri’s Yellow Cake Layers instead of the box mix.

In another large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, egg whites, and vanilla. Beat
at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in chocolate morsels and coconut. Spread over batter in pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let cool to room temperature, and cut into small squares.

The only problem I had with this ooey gooey yummy cakey treat is that all the gooey which started on top made its way to the bottom of the cake. Not that I am complaining. Now the first thing you taste is the Ooey Gooey rather than just cake.

The cake part was moist and sweet. Malgiei’s Yellow Cake Layers are on page 242 of his the Modern Baker. They are easy to put together and bake up so much better than your off the shelf mix.

BTW I only made 1/2 of the Ooey Gooey recipe so with the rest of the batter I made this….

which I frosted with Pumpkin Cream Cheese {from Faith at The Stirring Place}

•16 oz cream cheese, softened
•1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (you can also use 1/4 cup pumpkin for a thicker consistency.)
•1/4 c brown sugar
•1/8 c white sugar
•1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
•1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Adjust sugar to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
We used this to fill some Pumpkin Snickerdoodles made during a recent TwitterBake.

Check out The Modern Baker Challenge Cake Section for more yuommy cakes.

 

{Modern Baker Challenge} Blueberry Crumb Cake

Seems like ages since I did a Malgieri sweet. It’s not because I haven’t been baking. The computer was in the shop and ALL my pictures were on the computer. When Will I Learn??

I made these in July after picking some luscious blueberries from our bushes. And these crumb cakes definitely deserved good, juicy, sweet berries. This was a lovely yellow cake covered with berries and a crumb topping that is also delicious on ice cream. Or maybe ice cream ON the cake with MORE topping over that!! Or maybe JUST the topping!! But I digress….

I made only 1/3 of the entire recipe which resulted in 4 2″ by 3″ cakes. Each of us had our own treat!

The berries kept their definition but some of them ‘melted’ into the batter and provided a sweet layer just above the cake.

We loved these. Perfect for desert or snack or, shucks, Breakfast!! Definitely a repeat! Definitely!

You can find the recipe on page 237 of Malgieri’s the Modern Baker. This recipe is not online but several of Nick’s are. Just visit his Website.

Several members of The Challenge have made this already: Kayte, Phyl, Andrea, and Abby, and Chaya. And they all look delicious.

 

{Modern Baker Challenge} Perfect Pound Cake

One good thing, among many, about visiting family and friends is that I have the chance to make a full-sized dessert rather than a mini. This was true for this past weekend when we visited family down south and I made Malgiere’s….

Perfect Pound Cake

With a slight hint of lemon it is a perfect not-as-sweet cake that goes perfectly with a good cup of coffee (or tea).

I had just gone to the store and was absolutely positive I had everything I needed for this goodie until I searched for my lemon extract and found I had none. NONE!! Almond, yes. Orange, yes. Eggnog, yes. but no lemon. I was afraid I would dilute the batter too much with lemon juice so I used 3/4 tsp of lemon oil. It gave just a hint of lemon to the flavor. Next time I will use a full teaspoon. The cake was moist and light. Light because of the unique method of mixing the batter. Malgieri’s aunt, from whom the recipe originated seperated the eggs, beat the whites, folded them back into the batter and then beat the batter again. This resulted than a lighter pound cake than I am used to. Well worth the many bowls it took to put it together!! Thank you, Aunt Rachel!!

Nick’s Perfect Pound Cake is on page 226 of the Modern Baker

 

{Malgieri Monday} Orange-Scented Olive Oil Cake

You’re kidding, right? A cake with 1 1/2 cups of Olive Oil? Won’t it be extra heavy? Won’t it taste like OIL??

No!

Yes!

NO!

NO!

This wasn’t a light cake but it wasn’t heavy like I expected with all the oil. The texture was similar to cornbread. It was slightly sweet and delicious. I only made 1/3 of the recipe which fit quite well in my little oval Wilton pan. Just enough for two of us (and some in the freezer). I topped it with orange flavored whipped cream and topped with mandarin oranges. Perfect dessert after a heavy meal.

This cake is quick to make as are many of Malgieri’s recipes.

I found the recipe on katrina’s blog she/s in the kitchenBut you really should find Nick’s the Modern Baker. Lovely recipes and beautiful photographs. Well worth it!!

<There is still time to join the Modern Baker Challenge. We are doing CAKES through the end of December!!

 

{Modern Baker Challenge} Rum Scented Marble Cake

Today was TwitterBake Day. Actually it was a Rolling TwitterBake which means several of us baked the same thing, just not at the same town! Still a fun way to bake – with friends.

On the menu today….

Rum Scented Marble Cake

And it was delicious. Moist. Tender. Light. I only made one mini-bundt from 1/2 of the recipe and it was just right!

The cake is a mix of yellow cake with a chocolate swirl both of which have the scent and slight taste of RUM!! And making a swirl in a cake is always fun!

A layer of plain batter with a layer of chocolate batter followed by a last later of plain. Swirl!! Fun to see what patterns result. I made this with Phyl and Kayte and all of our swirls are different!!

Come by The Modern Baker Challenge and join in the fun. SEVEN months of CAKE!!!

BTW – Kayte found the recipe HERE!!

 

{Modern Baker Challenge} Chocolate Cupcakes

It is Malgierei Monday. And since today is the First Monday in June it is also the first day of the last section of The Modern Baker Challenge – CAKES!!

I had to really think about which one to start with as there are 17 I really want to try out of the 25 total. Chocolate came to mind. But which one – there are 6 chocolate cakes to choose from. And then we were invited to a Crawfish Boil. Cupcakes would be sooo easy to eat so the choice was now easy.

Incredibly Moist Chocolate Cupcakes

And they WERE – moist – and very delicious. They were very easy to put together and they did not last past the trip home!! I made only 1/2 the recipe and ended up with 19 cupcakes. Perfect number!! Only 18 made it to The Boil. I HAD to test one!!! PERFECTION!!

Malgieri suggests chocolate fudge icing. I made it but it never ‘set’ so I iced with a Peanut Butter Frosting and used the chocolate fudge as a drizzle. Chocolate and PB – Heaven!!

The frosting is from Two Peas and their Pod and was a filler for Oatmeal PB cookies. It was the perfect texture for frosting.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Combine the butter, peanut butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until smooth. Add the heavy cream and beat until light and fluffy.

Malgieri’s chocolate fudge is really good. But then, it IS Chocolate!! I am not sure what I did wrong so that it remained too soft to use as a frosting. But it does make a good drizzle.

If you want to join us just visit The Modern Baker Challenge Website – Cakes – And let Phyl – our fearless leader – know you want to Bake-along with us!

This cake is on page 263 of Malgieri’s the Modern
Baker.

Cakes will be here thru’ the end of December. And then….. well, we are still working on THAT one!!

 

{Modern Baker Challenge} Sandwich Cookies

I needed cookies for a cook-out. What better ones than Malgierie’s Sandwich cookies? Easy to carry. Easy to make. Fun to eat!!

There are four sandwich cookies in Malgieri’s the Modern Baker but I only had time for two of them before the end of the Cookie Phase of The Modern Baker Challenge. And, of course, there were a few setbacks along the way.

These are supposed to be Blackberry Jam Cookies. But either my Jam has not been out in the sun or it isn’t jam! Did you know you cannot thicken SUGAR FREE Jam? Do you want an answer to that? I did not know I had picked up the sugar free (meh!!) until I poured it into the saucepan to thicken. I ended up with Blackberry SOUP!! The only sub I had was some home-made lemon curd I had made with GAARP a few days back. So what we have here is a triple lemon sandwich cookie. Lemony cookie. Lemon Curd. Lemony Drizzle. Good combo.

To go along with those I made the Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

No trouble with the filling here. I ALWAYS have chocolate of some kind in the house!!! But I did use a German Chocolate rather than Milk Chocolate as Nick calls for. Chocolate cookie. Chocolate Filling. Powdered sugar dusting. And, just for good measure, some with added Cocoa dusting!!

Too much? I. Don’t. Think. So!! NEVER too much chocolate!! (Sorry, Kayte!)The only sandwich cookies left were the Raspberry Linzer Disks and the Viennese Punch Cookies. Maybe another day.

I made 1/2 of each recipe which gave me eight sandwiches of each type. The only trouble I had was that the dough was crumbly dry. I had to wait for it to reach room temp before I could really work with it. Gaarp had the same problem, as did others. But they baked up just fine.

The chocolate cookies are on page308 of Nick’s book. The lemon on page 306.

June is right around the corner which means CAKE for the next and last phase of The Modern Baker Challenge. It’s not too late to join in the fun. Visit the website and sign up for a cake. Or TWO!!

 

{Modern Baker Challenge}Pine nut Macaroons and Macadamia Shortbreads

There are only two weeks left for COOKIES in the Modern Baker Challenge. Just two weeks. I want to know where all my Mondays for cookies went. I have at least 4 more I want to make. Guess I better get busy.

This past week I made two cookies – thinking it was the last week of May {I have been a week ahead in dates for the past month…..}

Pine Nut Macaroons

Pine nuts are not something I usually bake with. They are the edible seeds of some pines and often harvested for food among many Amerindians of the Southwest. They are soft and delicious. It takes a lot of labor to harvest the nuts so they can be pricy. But they were good in this little almond cookie which only called for 4 ounces of the little seeds. I made 1/2 of the recipe which resulted in 16 cookies. They are very easy to make – nuts, almond paste, sugar and eggs are all you need. After only 18 minutes we were munching on this sweet little nugget.

Since I was in cookie mode I also made the Macadamia Shortbreads.

The great thing about shortbreads, at least Malgieri’s, is the fact that you don’t have to do anything except put the dough together (in a food processor), empty the mix into a pan and press down gently. That’s it. No rolling. No shaping. No scraping. I LOVE making his shortbread cookies. Oh, and they taste good, too!!! The cookies come out of the pan a little soft but Nick said to slice them and then let them cool and they would crisp up. And they did. Nice a crispy and buttery and nutty. Oh, Yeah!!

Now that I know I have another week left I can get some more of the cookies done. I tell you, this retirement thing is great – except sometimes you lose count of the days!!!

The Macaroons are on page 302 and the Shortbreads on page 292 of Malgieri’s the Modern Baker. I also found the shortbread recipe HERE!!

One more week of cookies for Modern Baker Challenge then on to CAKES!!! Oh, My! Put the scales AWAY!!!!!

Check out the other cookies at The Modern Baker Challenge.