A Summer Cake to Beat the Heat

Every summer, I volunteer to be a "teacher buddy:" I get to hang out with three Mexican teachers who come to AR for a teacher training program.  Last night, I had them over for dinner, and I made them this cake:

It was delicious.  It's a riff off of my favorite ginger muffins from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book. I love this cookbook--it has great recipes (my favorite oatmeal pancakes are also in this book).  If you're looking for a new cookbook, get this one--it's all about breakfast!

Anyway, here's what you're wanting: the cake recipe. :)

Fresh Ginger Cake with Peaches and Whipped Cream
(from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham)

• big knob of fresh ginger, unpeeled, cut into large chunks
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• zest of one lemon
• 1 stick of butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

• whipped cream
• powdered sugar
• vanilla
• fresh peaches
• chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8" or 9" cake pans (I used 9")

Put the ginger into a food processor/food chopper (or chop finely by hand) and chop, chop, chop.  You should have about 1/4 cup of ginger bits, but don't fret if you have too much (I'm of the opinion that a little more is better).  Put into a small saucepan with 1/4 cup of sugar and cook until the sugar melts and the mixture is heated, stirring constantly.  Set aside to cool.  When cool, mix in the lemon zest.

In a small bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

Beat the butter and the rest of the sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add the eggs and beat well.  Add the buttermilk.  Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth (but not too much).  Add the lemon ginger mixture.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and bake until done (about 20-25 minutes, depending on your pan).  Cool in pans briefly, then invert onto racks until completely cooled.

Meanwhile, peel and chop about three peaches.  Reserve one half to slice for the top.

Once cooled, beat the whipped cream with sugar and vanilla (to taste).  Spoon a bit on the bottom layer, then pile the chopped peaches on top.  Use the rest of the whipped cream to frost the cake, then garnish with the sliced peach half and chopped crystallized ginger.

Where to Start?

I have several posts in mind.  When that happens, it usually means I can't choose what to write about, so I write about nothing.

I had another half-marathon last weekend in Kansas City.  Which originally was going to be my topic for tonight's post...but then I realized I'd rather talk about cupcakes.

I have a passion for cupcakes.  You would think that I run just to be able to consume the cupcakes that I bake, and you would not be completely wrong.  Luckily, my cupcakes are such an undertaking (and as it grows warmer, it has to be a Very Special Occasion for me to bake in a non-air conditioned kitchen) that I can outrun the butter and sugar.  Just barely.

I realized that I had not yet posted my last cupcake baking endeavor.  I believe they were from a weekend in April, a birthday party batch.  A very fun birthday party, in fact, thrown by AB for her husband.  Cupcakes being my thing, I offered to bake them.  (I always do love an excuse to try a new recipe).

It all started when I made cookies.  I was meeting up with some people and wanted to bring something to nibble on, so I baked Coffee and Walnut Splodge Cookies, straight from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess to their mouths.  (CB declared, "You brought noms!" which made me unspeakably happy.)  They were so delicious: rich, nutty, not too sweet--a great cookie.  I never would have thought to blend coffee and walnuts, and they were pretty much perfect, unified by butter and love.

So, I had walnuts and coffee on my mind.  When I made the Super Special Birthday Cake, I had encountered a Walnut Layer Cake with a Coffee Buttercream in Regan Daley's incomparable In the Sweet Kitchen, which begged me to bake it.  PLEADED.  But I had been asked for a CHOCOLATE/coffee combination, not walnut/coffee, so I simply used that fabulous, beautiful Coffee Buttercream to frost the SSBC. And kept that walnut cake in my baking queue.

The cupcakes, I decided, would be that cake.  The frosting would be that Coffee Buttercream.  But what garnish?

I feel that cupcakes (and cakes, for that matter) should always have some special touch.  If you make a carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting, how about candying some carrot pieces to top it? (For example).

I was home alone that weekend, so I made myself a special lunch (curried bok choy, asparagus, pumpkin, and tofu over soba noodles), complete with a glass of wine and dessert.

I had bought some beautiful strawberries at the farmers' market that morning, so I chopped a few up, threw some orange juice on them, then topped them with two of the leftover walnut/coffee cookies.  The tart of the strawberries meshed perfectly with the dense/dark flavor of the cookies, and I knew had my my garnish.

I proceeded with the Walnut Cupcakes with a Coffee Buttercream, Garnished with Strawberries, and this is what emerged:

They were so beautiful.  I was pleased with myself enormously.  These, these cupcakes.  They would be perfect for a birthday celebration.  I happily loaded them up and headed to the party.

And they went over very well.  In fact, L and D (who are both firmly Team Cake) had looks of pure pleasure on their faces as they bit into the cupcakes.  Later in the night, partygoers decided to make a cupcake sandwich, and were pleased with the results.

It took me long enough to post them, but don't you think they were worth the wait?

But first....
Walnut-Espresso Cookies
(from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess

• 1-2/3 cups flour (you might mix all-purpose with whole wheat pastry, if you like)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp instant espresso powder (Indispensable for baking! Buy it!)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• generous 3/4 cup/7 oz. walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add the espresso powder, then the eggs.  Stir in the flour mixture and walnuts.  Don't overmix or you'll be sad.

Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop onto lined cookie sheets (or a baking stone), about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes until they are golden and smell really, really good.  Cool.  Eat.

Now for the main feature! (Please do not be frightened by the obscene amounts of butter in the cupcakes/buttercream.  They are for SPECIAL occasions, which ALWAYS calls for obscene amounts of butter. And wine, beer, or whiskey/gin.)

Walnut Cupcakes topped with Coffee Buttercream

(see this post for the Coffee Buttercream recipe)

• 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter (yes, that's 3 sticks of butter)
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (Grade B or C, if you're being picky)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely ground walnuts (this is when you really love your food processor)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the pans with cupcake papers (or two 9-in rounds, if you're anti-cupcake.  If you are, then GET OUTTA HERE. *ahem* Carry on.).

Sift the flour (which I actually did for once), baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment (or a big bowl if you're a hand-mixer type), cream the butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each egg.  Beat in the maple syrup and vanilla, then mix in the walnuts.  Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl in three additions, mixing just enough to moisten the flour between each.  Fold the last addition in by hand with a large rubber spatula.

Using a large scoop (known as my muffin scoop--1/2 cup capacity, I think), fill the cupcake papers 2/3-3/4 full.  Bake until done (I know, I know, so vague), something over 20 minutes, being careful not to overbake or they will be dry.  Let cool completely.  

Frost with coffee buttercream, garnish with strawberries, and share with lots of people because I don't want to be responsible for any heart attacks.

CAKE VS. PIE

Cake:

Pie:

For Easter, I decided to stage a CAKE vs. PIE battle.  Except that there would be no losers in this epic fight because, really, what could possibly go wrong?

The cake: a triple layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  The cake (a recipe from The Buttercup Bakeshop Book) was full of carrots, apples, pecans, spices.  To give the pie a fighting chance, I lightened up the recipe a bit by substituting applesauce for some of the butter (since it called for, oh, a whole cup AND A HALF--three sticks--of butter) and using flaxseed/water instead of two of the eggs.  However, slathering it with a rich cream cheese frosting didn't hurt anything.

The pie: a lemon crostata, courtesy of Gourmet (now defunct!), via my Epicurious iPhone app.  I used this pie as an excuse to try cooking with my iPhone, which actually worked out pretty well.  The pie was a good contender: the crust was made of toasted almonds and lemon zest, filled with a silken lemon curd.  The crust was more like a shortbread, and the lemon really sang.  And I'm a sucker for lemon. (Even though I'm biased toward cake, I had to make it a fair competition!)

The two opponents faced off over the Easter table.  The pie looked humble with its overly-darkened crust, while the cake stood tall and proud with its festive frosting carrots and coconut sprinkled sides.  Cake won for presentation.

It also won for ease of preparation, because even though the carrot cake was a fancy layer cake with colored frosting, the crust for the crostata was way too fancy and fussy.  And I had to blind bake the crust, make the curd separately, then bake the whole thing again.  The crust got too dark due to the double-bake.  But--it was still lemony and almondy and really freakin' tasty.

The battle began when everyone had to choose their dessert.  Lance's mom unequivocally voted in favor of pie: she is a pie person and cannot resist lemon/almond flavored pastries.  Lance went for pie, but ate some of my cake, and I got cake. Because I'm a cake girl.  Several people got both and insisted that they could not decide.  One was not dissuaded from cake, even though there was coconut and he hates coconut. But he liked the cake.

In the end, I asked everyone to pick, and most claimed they could not decide.  The two were so different, they cried, that how could they possibly choose?  And really--why should there be a battle when two such lovely desserts could exist happily side-by-side?

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
(makes 3 9-inch layers or two loaves)
adapted from The Buttercup Bakeshop Book

This is possibly the best carrot cake recipe I've ever had.  You could feasibly make it slightly healthier by substituting up to half the flour with whole wheat pastry flour.  It is a delicate cake, so be careful with the layers. 

Cake:

• 2.5 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger (or more, if you love ginger like me)
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 4 tbsp warm water (or just use three eggs total)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1.5 cups grated carrots (3-4 medium)
• 1 apple, grated
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 3 tbsp heavy cream, half and half, or even whole milk

Frosting:

• 2 blocks cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 cups powdered sugar

For cake: preheat oven to 350.  Grease pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.  Butter/spray parchment (optional, but very helpful in the removal of cakes from pans).  Set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices.  In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the apple sauce, then the eggs/egg substitute.  Add the vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the apple juice, beginning and ending with the dry.  Stir in the apple, carrots, pecan, and cream until everything is well incorporated.  Do not overmix.

Divide the batter and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.  Let cakes cool in pans for ten minutes then remove (CAREFULLY) from pans and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, make frosting: beat cream cheese and butter until creamy and fluffy.  Add vanilla.  Beat in powdered sugar a little at a time until frosting is desired consistency/sweetness.  If colored decorations are desired, set aside a bit for dyeing.

After cakes are completely cool, frost.  Place one layer on a plate, layer frosting, then add the next layer, more frosting, then the final layer.  Frost with a light crumb coat, let sit in the freezer for a few minutes, the frost with the top coat.  Decorate with colored frosting, chopped toasted pecans, or dyed/toasted/plain coconut.

PS:  Here is why CAKE WILL ALWAYS WIN

(same carrot cake, just decorated with Peeps!! Also, it's a tiny cake!)

Super Special Birthday Cake

Today is Lance's grandma's birthday. We were supposed to go up and take her to church and have lunch on her, but then we got a foot of snow:


Crazy. Anyway, with all the snow, we postponed special meal until (probably) tomorrow, though I have to fit my 12 mile long run in there somewhere. She requested a chocolate/coffee flavor combination, which gave me lots of options. I've made this espresso chiffon layer cake before, but I wanted something different. Fancier.

So I pulled out my awesome baking book, In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley (a great resource for bakers, FYI) and found a recipe for a walnut layer cake (note to self: make this cake later) with espresso buttercream. Not a chocolate cake, so it didn't qualify, but I liked the idea of the frosting. So I consulted another cookbook and found a recipe for an intense chocolate cake. I decided to bake that cake with the espresso buttercream and decorate it with melted chocolate and chocolate-covered espresso beans. It turned out extremely well, and the buttercream is amazing--not a "quick buttercream," (which is just butter and powdered sugar and is usually way too sweet for my tastes) but instead one that involves meringue and obscene amounts of butter.

The beautiful, lovely buttercream:


Spreading the beautiful buttercream on a layer:


The layers all stacked up:


The finished cake:


The cake was lovely (I tasted the bits I cut off to somewhat level the layers), the buttercream is not too sweet and is also lovely (I may never make a quick buttercream again), and the cake looks beautiful and special. And as soon as the roads are clear, we'll be heading up to share it with her!

And in case you want the recipe, here it is!

Super Special Chocolate Cake with Espresso Buttercream

Chocolate Cake (from The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook):

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup freshly brewed coffee, cooled
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 6 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour 3 cake pans. Line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper and lightly grease the papers (can skip this step, but it helps to get the layers out of the pan)

In a small bowl, whisk together cocoa, coffee, water, and vanilla. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Set both bowls aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the eggs one a time, then beat in the melted chocolate. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the liquid mixture, beginning and ending with the flour, in three additions. Do not over mix.

Divide the batter among the three pans and bake 20-25 minutes, until cakes are done. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, the remove from pans at let cool completely on the wire rack.

Espresso Syrup (adapted from Smitten Kitchen):

• 1/3 cup freshly brewed espresso or strong coffee
• 1/3 cup brandy or rum
• 1/3 cup sugar

Mix all together until the sugar dissolves (I had to heat mine slightly).

Espresso Buttercream (adapted from In the Sweet Kitchen):
NB: good quality butter and eggs are a must, since they'll really add to the flavor of the buttercream.

• 4 large egg whites (be careful not to allow any yolk or fat to drop in)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1-1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2-1/2 tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1-1/2 tbsp hot water, cooled

In a pot, bring an inch or so of water to a simmer. Lightly beat the egg whites, the add the sugar and whisk until frothy. Set the bowl over the water and whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is very warm (but not hot), about five minutes. Transfer to a clean bowl and whip the egg whites until it is cool to touch, about 8-10 minutes. If it's not cool enough, the heat will melt the butter and give you issues, so don't be afraid to beat it. The meringue will be stiff and glossy.

Beat in the butter, a little at a time, making sure it is completely incorporated before adding more. Don't be afraid to beat it and make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Once all the butter is incorporated, add the vanilla, then add the espresso mixture a little at a time, beating well.

The frosting should be glossy and smooth. If it's not (and it wasn't for me) or if it starts to separate or look funny, put the bowl over some hot tap water and whisk it until it gets smooth. It smoothed out beautifully for me (as you can see from the pictures).

To assemble the cake:

1. Brush extra crumbs off the layers, and level them off. Brush the top of the cake with some of the syrup (I didn't use all of it--it is optional and helps to keep the cake moist.)
2. Put a dollop of buttercream between the layers. Brush off crumbs.
   
3. Frost the cake (Smitten Kitchen has some good tips--I like putting the crumb coat on, chilling briefly in the freezer, then applying the top coat.)
4. Melt 2 oz. dark chocolate and use a fine tip on a pastry bag to make the criss-cross. Put a dab in the center of the diamonds and place a chocolate-covered espresso bean on the chocolate dots.

A perfect cake to share with a loved one for a special day.