Strawberry Upside-down Cake with Cardamom

When I think of upside down cake I think of warm brown sugar goodness.  This recipe did not dissapoint and it hit the spot right on.  The strawberry was a nice change from pineapple and the cardamom gave it a nice warm flavour. 

Strawberry Upside-down Cake with Cardamom

For the Topping:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup sliced strawberries

For the Cake:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

I used an 8-inch round with 3-inch tall sides.  You can also use a 9-inch round with 2-inch sides.

Place butter in the cake pan and place in the oven.  When butter is melted, remove pan from the oven.  Using two pot holders, tilt the pan around and around, coating the sides of the pan with butter.  Once sides are coated, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed.  Cream until slightly pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Stop mixer, scrape down the bowl with a spatula, and add egg and vanilla extract.  Beat for 1 minute.

Turn the mixer off, scrape the bowl, and add the dry ingredients.  Beat on low speed while adding the sour cream.  Beat until the batter just comes together.  Batter will be pretty thick.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish incorporating ingredients with a spatula.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar into the melted butter in the cake pan.  Sprinkle strawberry slices over the butter and sugar in a single layer.  Spoon batter over the strawberries and spread evenly with a spatula.  Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cake rest for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the cake and inverting the cake onto a cake plate.  Serve warm with sweetened sour or whipped cream.

Fathers Day Heart Cake

This week-end my family celebrated our fathers with a fathers day lunch.  We hosted the family.  It was a nice relaxing lunch enjoyed by all who attended.  My father's favourite cake is red velvet.  However I did not want to make boring red velvet cake for fathers day so I had to jazz it up a bit.  Yes, I did make this.  Yes I did pipe on the design.  I think that I did a pretty good job since I am an amator cake baker and this was one of the few cakes I have attempted to decorate.  You know what they say, practive makes perfect, I guess I will just have to keep particing. 

White Cake
2 large eggs separated
1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup room temperature butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract*
1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Directions:
Separate the eggs, placing the whites into one container and the yolks into another. Let come to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour two 8in (I used 9in) pans.  Normally I use PAM, but this recipe really calls for the butter and flour method.  Just trust me on this one.
Put sifted flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
Using an electric mixer ( I love that this recipe calls for an electric mixer as I do not even own a KitchenAid Mixer), beat the butter until soft and creamy, about 1 minute.  Add 3/4 cup of sugar (reserving the rest) and beat for an additional 2 minutes.  Now add egg yolks, one at a time, until completely incorporated.  Add vanilla and almond extract until combined, about 30 seconds.
Now you are going to add your flour mixture and milk.  Starting with the flour, add 1/3 of the mixture and mix until incorporated.  Now add 1/2 milk mixture, mix until combined.  Add half the remaining flour, combine.  Now add the rest of your milk and combine.  Add remaining 1/3 of your flour mixture, and go ahead and mix until combined.  This whole process should take less then 2 minutes, as you do not want to over beat the batter.
In a separate clean bowl with clean whisk attachment, whip eggs whites until foamy then add the cream of tartar. (I did this on medium speed) Beat until soft peaks occur, and then gradually add in your remaining sugar.  You will want stiff peaks, which took me about 3 minutes.  Now, take your rubber spatula and fold your eggs whites into your cake batter.  Make sure they are fully incorporated, but do not over stir the batter, as you do not want to eggs to deflate.
Put batter into prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Red Velvet Cake

3 1/3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 stickes of butter softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 egg yolks at room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour three 9 x 2-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with waxed paper.

To make the cake:
In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

Buttercream Recipe

Makes enough for one 2-layer 9-inch cake or 2 dozen cupcakes*

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overheat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

When the cake has cooled, spread the frosting between the layers, then the ice top and sides of the cake with frosting.

Milky Way Cake

MIlky Way Cake

Ingredients
11 wholeMilky Way Bars (regular Size)
2-½ cupsAll-purpose Flour
½ teaspoonsSalt
½ teaspoonsBaking Soda
2 cupsSugar
3 teaspoonsVanilla Extract
3 sticksMargarine
½ cupsButtermilk
4 wholeEggs
2 cupsPowdered Sugar
1 dashSalt
½ cupsMilk (more If Needed)
1 cupFinely Chopped PecansRecipe Description
Rich, chewy cake made with an embarrassing number of Milky Way bars. Serve with ice cream if you want to feel really guilty.

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Melt 8 Milky Way bars with 1 stick margarine, stirring to combine. Sift flour and salt and set aside. Mix baking soda with buttermilk, then add vanilla and set aside.

Cream 1 stick margarine with sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, mixing after each addition. Add melted candy bar mixture and mix to combine.

Pour into a greased jelly roll pan or 9 x 13 baking pan for 1 hour or until cake is done in the center. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To make the icing, melt 3 Milky Way bars with 1 stick margarine. Add powdered sugar, dash of salt, milk, vanilla, and chopped pecans and stir over low heat. Add more milk if needed.

Pour over cake and allow to set. Cake will be very sticky! Don’t expect neat, perfect slices.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream,

Lemon Meringue Cake

Lemon Meringue Cake

Dulce de leche cake

We recently celebrated my mother-in-laws birthday. She does not really like chocolate cake she prefers white or caramel flavours as I was looking through my new cookbooks I decided to make this Dulce de Leche Cake from this book Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes.  We were not disappointed.  My kids even ate all of their cake (they usually just eat the icing).  I will be making this for other special occasions.

Dulce de leche cake

Cake:8 eggs
1 1/3 cups (233g) packed light brown sugar
1 2/3 cups (233g) cake flour*
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm

Syrup:
¼ cup (50g) vanilla scented sugar (or regular sugar)
½ cup (120ml) water
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Dulce de leche cream:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups of whipping cream


Skor chocolate bars crumbled for garnish
Make the cake: preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF. Line the bottoms of three 20cm (8-inch) round cake pans with rounds of parchment or waxed paper, but do not grease the pans.
In a large heatproof bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Gradually whisk in the brown sugar. Set over a pot of barely simmering water and whisk constantly until the brown sugar dissolves and the mixture warms to body temperature. Remove from the heat and, with an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until the mixture holds slowly dissolving ribbons when the beaters are lifted.
Put the flour and cinnamon in a sifter and sift about 1/3 over the top of the eggs. Gently fold in with a large metal spoon. Repeat 2 more times with the remaining flour, folding only until mixed, with no trace of flour.
Drizzle the melted butter over the batter and fold in, now with a rubber spatula, taking care not to deflate the batter or to leave pockets of butter not folded in. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared cake pans.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean – mine took 25 minutes. Let cool completely in the pans. Run a blunt knife around the edge of each cake to release it from the pan. Turn out onto a wire rack and carefully peel off the paper.

Now, the syrup: boil the sugar and water over medium heat until the mixture reduces to ½ cup. Remove from heat, add the vanilla extract and allow to cool before using.

Prepare the dulce de leche cream: Submerse the can of sweetened condensed milk in water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for 2 hours.  Make sure to keep an eye on it and add more water if needed.  The can has to stay submersed in water or it will explode.  Place the cream in the freezer for 4 minutes.  In a large chilled mixer bowl with chilled beaters, combine the cream with 2/3 cups of the dulce de leche. Beat on low speed to combine and dissolve the dulce de leche. Raise the mixer to medium-high and whip until stiff peaks form.

Assemble the cake: place one cake layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Brush it with the rum syrup to moisten evenly. Cover the layer with about 2/3 cup of the dulce de leche cream, spreading it evenly to the edges. Repeat with the next layer, moistening it with the syrup as well.
Top with the third layer. Moisten it with the syrup. Frost the top and sides of the cake completely with the remaining dulce de leche cream (there was about ¼ cup left in the end). Then, using a cake comb or the cutting edge of a serrated knife, run it around the side of the cake to make a grooved pattern all around.  Crumble skor chocolate bars and place them around the top of the cake as garnish.

Serves 12-16

Pineapple Layered Mini Cakes

I told you about my recently failed attempt to make a turkey while not only did we have maple pecan tarts for dessert we also had Pineapple Layered Mini Cakes.  These were very moist without being greasy.  My child who refuses to eat anything that even resembles a carrots even gobbled these down.  The icing just puts these cakes over the top.  I will certainly keep this icing recipe and use it again!

Ingredients
Cake
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups grated carrot
1 cup diced or crushed pineapple, fresh or tinned (drained)
Frosting
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 ounces white chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Directions
To Assemble
1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Wrap foil around bottoms of 6 2 3/4-inch ring molds, so the foil comes up the sides and place on a baking sheet. Grease bottoms and sides of molds and line bottoms with a disc of parchment. Whisk together oil, brown sugar, eggs, maple syrup and grated ginger. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and stir into wet mixture to blend. Stir in carrot and pineapple and pour into prepared molds. Bake for 40 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.
To prepare frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together. Beat in melted white chocolate and icing sugar until smooth and stir in vanilla.
To assemble, remove cakes from ring molds. Cut cakes in half horizontally. Frost bottom cake layer on top with 1/4-inch thick frosting. Lay remaining cake half on top. Spread frosting on top of cake. Repeat with remaining 5 cakes. Keep chilled until ready to serve.
Yield: Six 2 3/4-inch ring molds (6 mini cake servings).

Red Velvet Cupcake

Recently it was my dad's birthday and his favourite cake is red velvet so I decided to make a giant red velvet cupcake for his birthday.  This plan did not go well and I wanted to throw the whole cake in the garbage.  The worst insult was when my Dad said that the cream cheese icing on the top looked like mashed potatoes, not exactly the look I was going for.  So I used cake man raven's recipe.  This recipe calls for 11/2 cups of oil, which seemed like a lot to me, but the cake had gotten good reviews do I figured I would try it.  Well I am not sure if it was the oil or the fact that I decided to use a giant cupcake mold but the middle of my cake was gooey and not cooked and the outside was dry.  Then I decided to go whole hog and try the icing recipe as well. Once again this did not turn out well, it was not light and fluffy and just did not have a good cream cheese frosting consistency or taste.  I am including the recipe, you could try it and put less oil in the cake and cream cheese in the frosting and see if it works better for you.

Red Velvet Cake

Original Recipe by Cake Man Raven

Ingredients
Vegetable oil for the pans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
Crushed pecans, for garnish
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour 3 (9 by 1 1/2-inch round) cake pans.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.
Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.
Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.
Frost the cake. Place 1 layer, rounded-side down, in the middle of a rotating cake stand. Using a palette knife or offset spatula spread some of the cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake. (Spread enough frosting to make a 1/4 to 1/2-inch layer.) Carefully set another layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Top with the remaining layer and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top with the pecans.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.)
Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Yield: enough to frost a 3 layer (9-inch) cake