The Pink Cake

The winning cake for this month's Cake Slice Baker's is Julie Richards Pink Cake.  How can you not want to make something called "The Pink Cake."  For me it brings up contrasting images sometimes I think of ladies in the 60's wearing flowery dresses and enjoying this cake at a ladies luncheon with a glass of spiked punch.  Then other times I think of a little girls birthday party with this light pink cake as the center piece - although there is a pretty good chance the mom's might be enjoying some spiked punch at this event as regardless of the decade.

I served my pink cake as part of a teacher appreciation lunch, where no spiked punch was served, although the teachers might have wanted some.  While I was very happy to contribute this cake I was a little bummed that I didn't get to try a slice.  I was hoping some would be left when I went in for clean-up, but no such luck.  I guess it's a good sign when a cake quickly disappears, but I wasn't happy having only cake scraps with a little bit of the icing.

From what I did have it was a rich moist cake with great chocolate flavor.  The icing was buttery and sweet with a nice hint of raspberry.  A perfect combination and a cake I will make again, but when I know I will be able to have a slice.

I have chosen not to include the recipes from Vintage Cakes, other members of the Cake Slice Bakers have modified and provided the recipe, so be sure to check out the rest of the group.

Honey Bee Cake

Well, once again I am late.  Not as late as last month, but still late.  I don't know what it is with me and the Cake Slice Bakers, I just can't get those cakes done in time.

This month my excuse is that I wanted to make the cake for an Easter egg hunt/Spring Celebration that friends were having.  A honey cake and Spring fun sounded perfect together.   I just wish we had the Spring weather to go with such a sweet  cake.  A couple of days into Spring and the temperatures are in the 30's and the sky is filled with clouds.  It is weather that makes you want to go back to bed instead of heading outside for an Easter egg hunt.

I have loved most of the cakes that I have made from Julie Richardson's Vintage Cakes, and this one is no exception.  It is a light cake that isn't overly sweet despite the large amounts of honey used in the recipe - there is honey in the cake batter and then a drizzle of sugar, honey and almonds once it is baked.  It is a very moist cake, but it is still sturdy enough that you can easily cut a small sliver if you happen to crave a sweet snack before bed.  I poked holes in the cake before pouring the honey over the cake and it made for a wonderful burst of flavor.  

This is a great cake to experiment with as you can change the flavor slightly by varying the type of honey and nuts used.  I used a clover honey and almonds, but think it would be wonderful with a lavender honey and pine nuts.


As always before to visit the other Cake Slice bloggers.  While we all use the same recipe the cakes always look different as everyone puts their own twist and personal preference to the recipe.

Red Velvet Cake

I missed a month and I am really late in getting  February's cake up, but here is the latest from the Cake Slice Bakers -  Red Velvet Cake with Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting, from Julie Richardson's Vintage Cakes.

The cake turned out to be my baby girl's birthday cake.  I would like to say that it was my plan all along to make the cake for her birthday, but really it was just procrastination.  First I put off making the cake for the cake slice group and then I put off planning a cake for Edy's birthday - it's tough when your the third child.  It was definitely worth the wait, though.  As this is a wonderfully moist cake with just a hint of chocolate and a slight tang from the buttermilk - a perfect combination.

Since this was a birthday cake I did do a little extra embellishment.  When I have made red velvet cakes in the past I like to just frost the top of  each layer, letting the sides show off their chocolaty red beauty.  Although it was fun to reveal the red surprise waiting inside the fully iced cake.

The only change I made to the recipe was the icing.  Julie Richardson's recipe calls for a Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting, but I opted for a regular cream cheese icing.  Not a big change, but using a Mascarpone cream cheese does provide a slightly sweeter finished product.

As with past recipes from Vintage Cakes, I was really happy with this one.  The recipe is easy to follow and the finished result was a tasty cake loved by the newly turned 4 year old, and everyone else who had a slice.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
8 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted

In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese and butter.  Mix until fully incorporated and fluffy.  Slowly add confectioners sugar continue mixing until smooth and creamy.

Mississippi Mud

As always happens this time of year December has gotten away from me and there are many things on my to do list that will probably still be there when 2013 rolls in.  One thing I was not going to leave on my list were the Mississippi Mud cupcakes for this months Cake Slice group.  I have made myself a promise to stick with the Cake Slice bakers this year and I am proud to say that I have met the baking deadline two months in a row.  I missed the posting deadline, but the cupcakes were made in time.

I have always been a fan of Mississippi Mud.  I remember a recipe for Mississippi Mud brownies in one of my first cookbooks when I was little.  I don't think I ever actually made the brownies, but I know I read the recipe many many times.

Julie Richardson's recipe for Mississippi Mud Cupcakes, in Vintage Cakes, is a wonderfully moist chocolate cupcake filled with chocolate chips and pecans and topped with a marshmallow frosting.  I didn't follow her recipe for the frosting. Instead I cheated with a Fluff buttercream, a super easy super tasty frosting.  The cupcakes were not overly sweet and the addition of coffee in the batter helped to enhance the chocolate and add a very subtle bitterness.  I didn't do a good job at evenly distributing the chocolate chips and pecans so the one cupcake I had only had a couple of chips and one tiny piece of pecan which made it seem more like something had fallen into the batter than an actual component of it.  If I were to make the recipe again I would probably just sprinkle the add-ins into each cupcake rather than mixing it into the full batter.

These cupcakes left my house very quickly.  I finished them at 8:00am and delivered them to the staff room at my kids' elementary school at 8:30.  I did keep one as a sample, it was great with a mid-morning cup of coffee.  It was so good that I forgot to snap a picture before inhaling the entire thing.

Please go check out the other Cake Slice bakers and all the delicious looking cupcakes!

Shoo Fly

It has been a long time, but I have started baking with the Cake Slice bakers again.  It was one of the first blog baking (say that 10 times fast) groups I joined and love being a part of  this small, world wide group of bakers.  I have missed them and am glad to be back.

They have started with a new book - Vintage Cakes and so far I am loving it.  While I love elaborately decorated cakes and have pinned,and made, my fair share of these cakes and cupcakes.  I am finding that they are becoming a bit too much for me.  I want a cake that looks like a cake.  I want to be able to tell what kind it is, I want the flavors to stand out just as much as the appearance.  I just want a cake, and that is what Vintage Cakes is, simple old school cakes

Much to my husband's delight the first cake chosen was Shoo Fly Cake.  He grew up in Pennsylvania, near Dutch country and Shoo Fly pie was a staple of his child hood.  The cake didn't have the stickiness of a pie, but it still had a nice crumb and the wonderful rich molasses and spice flavor.  While he probably would have preferred a pie, this cake was a wonderful trip down memory lane, just like a "Vintage Cake" should be.

Be sure to check out the other Cake Slice bakers and come back next month for another great vintage cake.

Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake

Continuing my current habit of being incrediably late with posts here is the Cake Slice groups April cake.

This month was a wonderfully delicious Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk pound cake, from The Cake Book by Trish Boyle.  The cake has a subtle orange flavor that mixes wonderfully with the cinnamon streusel that is layered in the cake.  My only problem with this cake is that it was a bundt cake and bundt cakes and I don't get along.  This time I don't know if it was my inability to properly prepare the pan or the cake, as it split right at between the bottom layer and the streusel layer.  I am pretty sure it is me, but it is nice to think maybe the recipe had something to do with it.

Despite the way it looked the cake was still devoured little slice by little slice.  I enjoyed it with some strawberry sauce and Mike liked it with mango strawberry fruit salad. They weren't necessary additions as the cake was super moist and tender, but it was still nice to have a little extra fruit juice flavor.  The Streusel filling was a wonderful addition.  It melted in slightly giving a wonderful extra touch of sweetness. If I make this cake again though, I will add the Streusel in the top 1/4 of the cake rather than in the middle, partly for looks, and also in hopes that the two sections of the cake would adhere together a little better.

Be sure to check out the other cakes from the Cake Slice group and also Tish's blog for lots of sweet treats.

Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake
from The Cake Book Printer Ready


Cinnamon Streusel Swirl:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Buttermilk Pound Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 cup buttermilk

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan. Dust the pan with flour and shake out the excess.

Cinnamon Swirl: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, breaking up any large lumps of brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until blended and crumbly.

Pound Cake: Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at a medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium-high speed until well blended and light, about 4 minutes. At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract and orange zest. At low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions and mixing just until well combined.
Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the batter. Scrape the remaining batter on top and smooth it into an even layer.
Bake the cake for 65 to 75 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.


Invert the cake onto the rack and let cool completely.

Buche de Noel Trifle

This cake was just not meant to be.  I think my excitement at having my Mom's birthday cake ready by the time she came down for a visit and the fact that I would finally be posting my Cake Slice cake on time jinxed the whole process.

I should have known to step away from this cake when I broke a half dozen eggs, but no I just went to the store and bought more.  Over baking the cake should have been another sign, or when the cake broke apart while rolling it, but no I just carried on.  By the time I messed up the filling it was too late to turn back.

So instead of a Chocolate Hazelnut Buche de Noel birthday cake my Mom received a Chocolate Cherry trifle.   While it wasn't the look I was going for it was very tasty.  

This ended up not resembling Tish Boyle's Chocolate Hazelnut cake in the least bit.   I used her cake and buttercream recipes, but that was it.  The trifle consisted of chocolate sponge cake, with a rum glaze and chocolate fudge cream layered between buttercream sprinkled with dried cherries and almonds.  .

To see what this month's cake slice bakers cake was supposed to look like, check out the other bakers.

Apple Cake with Maple Frosting

This month the Cake Slice bakers began baking with our new book.  This year we are baking our way through "The Cake Book" by Trish Boyle.  I have had the book for about two months and I think I have read every recipe.  It looks likes a great book with lots of yummy cakes.  Despite my lateness in posting I have been very excited to begin baking.  I actually baked this cake two weeks ago and had hoped to bake it again to, because it was so yummy, and to get better pictures.  Hopefully not all of my posts will be as late as this one.

This cake is described as "a moist, unpretentious cake, perfect as a simple fall dessert or snack." and this really is the perfected description.  Simple yet yummy.  A wonderful treat in the afternoon with a cup of tea, or as I enjoyed it as an unhealthy, yet really yummy, breakfast with a cup of coffee.  The spice mixture on this cake was wonderful, the perfect blend of cinnamon, cloves and ginger,  it just screamed of Fall.  To top things off this cake is finished with a wonderful maple cream cheese icing.  I could have eaten the entire bowl on its own.  I didn't have maple flavoring, but I did have something even better, maple cream.  If you have never had maple cream you need to go find some now, it is absolutely magnificent.  I added the maple cream to the butter and cream cheese and creamed all the ingredients together, it was hard to not just spread this mixture on a piece of toast and eat the entire bowl.

Apple Cake with Maple Frosting
from “The Cake Book” by Trish Boyle
Printer Ready

1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
⅔ c. buttermilk
2 c. peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples (about 2 apples) *
½ c. coarsely chopped apples

*I used Honeycrisp

Directions:
Preheat oven 350. Grease bottom and sides of 9” cake pan, line bottom with parchment paper.

In medium bowl whisk dry ingredients together, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter until creamy.  Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium-high speed for about two minutes until light and creamy.  Add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time.  Beat well after each addition, scrapping down sides of bowl as needed.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk, in two additions.  With each addition blend until just incorporated.  Remove bowl from mixer and stir in chopped apples and walnuts.
Pour mixture into poured pan, smooth top.  Bake cake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool cake completely, then top with frosting.  

Maple Cream Cheese Spice Frosting

Printer Ready

6 oz.  cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp. maple cream
½ tsp. vanilla extract
⅛ tsp. ground cinnamnon
⅛ tsp. ground ginger
1 c. confectioners sugar, sifted

In bowl of electric mixer, at medium speed, beat cream cheese, butter and maple cream together until smooth and fluffy.  Beat in vanilla, cinnamon and ginger.  Reduce speed to low and add confections sugar, beat until blended.  Raise speed to high and beat until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Cookies or Cake

This month was the last month the Cake Slice bakers were baking with Lauren Chattman's book "Cake Keeper Cakes."  We didn't vote on a cake this month as in previous months, instead we could choose any cake in the book.  There were a couple of cakes I had been eyeing and looking forward to making,  unfortunately I didn't get around to making one of her cakes.

My husband's birthday was earlier this week.  Mike isn't a cake guy, he is a cookie, pie, tart kind of guy, so this year I told him I wasn't making a cake.  He could choose anything else, but I wasn't doing a cake.  He chose Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and I was all set to make them.  But then I turned on him, the idea of not having a cake for his birthday just didn't seem right.  I think everyone should have a cake on their birthday, so he got an Oatmeal Raisin Cake for his birthday.

When thinking of this type of cake it didn't sound right to me.  I don't know why, but it sounded like it would have an odd mouth feel. I was completely wrong and this was a delicious cake.  My son kept on insisting it was a carrot cake, as the flavors are very similar.  I topped the cake with a browned butter icing which was a nice accompaniment.  This is a great cake for the fall and  is also great for a birthday celebration that you don't need a cake for, but want to make one anyway.

Oatmeal Raisin Cake
Printer Ready

1 cup Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 cup Golden Raisins
1 ½  cups boiling Water
2 Tbs. Rum
1 ½  cups sifted Flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
½  tsp. Nutmeg
¼  tsp. Cloves
½ cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
½ cup Brown Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Butter and flour an 8x12 inch baking pan.
Combine oats and raisins, add boiling water and stir until combined.  Allow to cool to room temperature.  
Sift the flour with the baking soda and spices, set aside.  In large mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat until until well mixed.
Add sifted flour mixture alternating with the cooled oatmeal, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix until combined.
Pour into prepared pan.  
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
Cool completely and top with Brown Butter Icing.  

Brown Butter Icing
Printer Ready

4 tablespoons Unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Cream Cheese
1 ½  cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until nut-brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and pour butter into a bowl of electric mixer, leaving any burned sediment behind.   Add ½ cup sugar and mix until combined.  Add cream cheese and mix until smooth.  Continue adding sugar mixing until smooth.  Add vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk.  Add remaining tablespoon a little at a time until consistency is spreadable.