cake

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

14.08.2015 5 Comments

I’ve always been an adventurous eater.

I ate ants in Colombia, snake meat in Greece, mint tea made with a brown liquid I couldn’t identify in Morocco. If it’s new to me, I want to try it. I want to eat all the things, even if I know I’ll hate them. Even the few things I can’t stand, like pears, bananas, and raw celery, if you make them in a way that’s new and exciting, I’ll dive right in. Even if I know with every ounce of certainty that I’ll hate it. Curiosity rules my decision making at time. Even in the midst of my eat-all-the-things ambition, I have a true love for simple food done well.

It took years for me to figure out how to make the perfect steak, and how to cook ribs at home that taste like a southern BBQ, and how to make mac n cheese that’s creamy out of the oven. Sometimes, simple is the most beautiful.

Lemon pound cake is a simple but beautiful food. It’s perfect early in the morning with coffee, or late at night with a beer or a classic rye Old Fashioned. My main goal was the perfect icing. I wanted that thick layer that sits on top like a crown, not dripping down that side. I wanted coffee shop style icing. I figured out that a thick paste, spread on while the cake was still in the pan, then chilled for an hour gave me that gorgeous look. Although I do think this version is better for late-night-with-booze consumption than those cakes served in the morning. But it’s your call.

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

Print Recipe

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 tbs lemon zest
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 tbs butter softened
3 eggs room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup wheat beer
3 tbs olive oil
1 ¾ cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Glaze:
2 cups 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp lemon juice*
½ tsp water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the lemon zest and sugar. Beat for about 2 minutes on high to release the lemon oils into the sugar.
Add the butter, beat until well combined.
Add the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, beating well between additions.
Add the lemon juice, beer and olive oil , beating until well combined, scraping the bottom of the mixer to insure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Stop the mixer and sprinkle with flour baking powder, baking soda and salt, sitr until just combined.
Pour into a large loaf pan that has been greased.
Bake at 325 for 55 o 60 minutes or until cake is golden brown and tooth pick inserted in the center comes back with just a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool completely.
Stir together the powdered sugar lemon juice and salt to make a thick paste. Spread over the top of the cake, chill until set about 3 hours. Cake is best made a day ahead of time.
Substitute all of some of the beer to increase the beer flavor.

Notes

Substitute all of some of the lemon juice in the glaze to increase the beer flavor.

Coconut Cake with Pale Ale Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

27.06.2014 8 Comments

Beer and fruit have a bit of a sordid past. From the ill-advised orange slice served on the side of a hefeweizen, to the cringe inducing Bud Light Lime. Thankfully, plenty of remarkable unions have a sordid pasts. Beer and fruit just needed a few takes to get it right. The current state of beer and fruit, in the hands of remarkable brewers, is exciting.

Craft brewers have pushed the limits of what these two can do, bringing us remarkable examples like Festina Peche from Dogfish Head, and Orange Wheat from Hangar 24. Those brilliant brewers make beer with watermelon, cherries, marionberries, and pretty much everything else they can get their hands on.

It’s evidence of what beer can do, what it’s capable of. Think for a second of the first beer you ever tasted, probably a pale lager poured from a keg out of the back of a pick-up truck. The flavors in that beer were small, a ground floor offering, a beer made to vaguely satiate the masses. Craft beer being made now is being made to get people excited, make us think. Love it or hate it, it’s beer you remember.

It’s why beer and food go so well together. It’s the only alcoholic beverage that’s made with just about any ingredient in that meal on your plate. It was only a matter of time, and dozens of brilliant brewers, before beer and fruit started to make sense. And that was only the begining. You should see what those brewers do with chai, and chocolate, and carrots, and everything else you can throw at them.

Coconut Cake with Pale Ale Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Cake

4 eggs divided
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup full fat coconut milk from can, shaken
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp coconut extract
1 cup pale ale beer
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup dried coconut flakes

For the Frosting:

1 ½ cup unsalted butter softened
8 wt oz cream cheese softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbs lime juice
3 tbs pale ale beer
1/2 cup toasted coconut optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 .
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the egg whites, reserve the yolks.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Remove whites from mixer, add to a medium bowl, chill until ready to use.
In the mixer bowl add the butter and sugar, beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, beat until well combined.
Add the coconut milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract and beer, beat until well combined.
Lift the mixer heat, sprinkle with flour, baking soda and salt, stir until just combined. Add the egg whites, stir until just combined.
Pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan.
Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, beat until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat until well combined.
While the mixer is running mix in the beer and the lime juice.
Frost the cake with the frosting, chill until ready to serve.
Garnish with toasted coconut just prior to serving, if desired.

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake with Chocolate Bourbon Sour Cream Frosting

22.08.2013 91 Comments

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake

Although I may be shattering illusion with this admission, I don’t always cook with beer. I often create very sober meals with teetotaling side dishes, not a whisper of booze in sight.

However, over the years of carving out a niche in this corner of Craft Beer Land, I have found that beer is an essential and non-replaceable ingredient in several dishes, it just does the best job.

My Thanksgiving Turkey will always be brined with a brown ale, the meat tenderizing properties of beer have no match. If you want a juicy bird, it’s the best way to get there.

My dinner rolls will always be made with wheat beer, the leaving agents are just too good.

My steak will always be given a good soak in a dark craft beer, it gives the best results.

And my chocolate cake will always be made with a nice chocolate stout. The first recipe I ever made with beer was a stout cake, it was by far the best homemade chocolate cake I had ever made, wooing me to the boozy side of baking.

The taste was both rich and light, smooth and bold. It may have been a gateway recipe that lead me down a path of beer cooking obsession.

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake with Chocolate Bourbon Sour Cream Frosting

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Cake:

7 wt oz 72% dark chocolate chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter
12 ounces Chocolate Stout
3 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs + 2 yolks
¼ cup canola oil
2/3 cup sour cream
3 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1 tbs espresso powder
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp kosher salt

For the Frosting:

1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
4 cup dark chocolate chips melted & slightly cooled
4 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup bourbon
½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350.
In the top of a double boiler (or a bowl set over gently simmering water), add the dark chocolate, and butter, stirring frequently until just melted. Stir in the chocolate stout.
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the sugar, eggs and yolks until well combined, light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the oil and sour cream, beat until well combined.
Slowly add the chocolate, beating until all ingredients are well incorporated, scraping the bottom to make sure all us well combined.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, espresso powder, cocoa powder, and kosher salt.
Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients, stir until just combined.
Grease and flour 3, 9-inch cake pans (or two cake pans, and 12 cupcake tins).
Pour the batter evenly between the pans.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched, (15-17 minutes for cupcakes).
Allow to cool, remove from pans (it’s easiest to transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper.)
To assemble a tall cake it’s easiest if all ingredients are cold, warm cake and frosting tend to slide. For best results chill the cake layers for 1 hour prior to assembling.
Chill assembled cake until ready to serve.

For the frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the softened butter on high until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sour cream, beat until light and fluffy.
Slowly pour the melted chocolate into the mixer, beating until well combined with the butter mixture.
Add the powdered sugar and slowly building up speed, beat on high until well combined.
A few tablespoons at a time add the bourbon and the cream, allowing to fully incorporate before adding more. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Cover bowl and refrigerate until set, about 20-30 minutes.

Lemon Beer Dream Cake

02.08.2013 26 Comments

As I type this, I stand firmly on the waining end of National IPA Day (August 1st). With two different bottles of IPA rattling around in my bones, I blame all levels of grammatical inaccuracies and typos on higher than average ABV’s.

IPA day was started by bloggers, with nothing to gain but promoting the hoptastic end of craft beer sepctructrum. It wasn’t a cooperate game, a marketing strategy, or a way to promote a single beer. It’s a rally cry, a voice from within this community I’ve come to love that just says, "join us." A way to celebrate the beer that’s at the cornerstone of a movement that identifies us as a community and a way to pull others into the pot. Drink the Dry Hopped Kool-Aid with us, we want you here. No singular voice benefits from this, it’s just a fun, rising tide, that lifts all craft beer ships.

For these reasons, I’ll always participate. Until it gains sponsors, then I may have to reconsider.

As I spent a day in and out of comprehensive distraction, I did what I do in this corner of Craft Beer Land, I cooked. I baked. I made a cake that served as a bit of therapy for a strange time in a strange life. I wanted to pay homage to the Beer of the Hour, but that IPA can temperamental. Cooking and reducing an IPA in any capacity can be a bit hit or miss. Higher IBU beer (IBU stands from International Bitterness Units, it’s how to tell how hoppy or bitter a beer is), reduce to a very bitter product. I generally use them when the beer won’t beer cooked (or at least not cooked for an extended period of time), or when I want a little beer to go along way, flavor wise.

A fringe benefit of beer blogging is surprise shipments of beer from great breweries. A recent shipment was graciously sent over from a brewery out of Athens, Georgia called Terrapin. Although most of the time I’ve spent in Georgia should go lavishly unrecorded, I would like to take a trip back to visit this place.

Terrpain’s dedication to diversity of brew, as well as a steadfast determination to provide Beer For All, makes this a place I want to hang out. Sampling the beer sent all the way to the far reaches of the West Coast, I found beer that I can give to the Craft Beer Seekers in my life as well as beer that I consider to be Gateway Beer. Gateway beer is a favorite category of mine, and often hard to fill. It’s beer that will rest well on the palates of those in the Craft Beer know, as well as easy beer to serve to people who, "don’t really like beer." It’s my way of pulling a few vodka drinkers and inBev devotees over to the Craft Beer side.

Only hours after a stash from Terrapin landed on my doorstep, I weighed my options. For this cake, I needed a lower hop beer for the cake and wanted an IPA for the filling and the frosting. I choose Maggie’s Peach Farmhouse ale (great gateway beer) for the cake and Hopzilla (beautiful, well balanced IPA) for the frosting.

If you’re new to craft beer, or want a beer that’s easy to serve to people on the beer fringes, the Maggie’s Farmhouse is a great one to offer. It would also be a great choice for my Beer Sangria.

The Hopzilla I really liked, it was well balanced and in my world of flavor profiles and balanced tastes, that’s a win. A nice malt finish after a hoppy start always wins me over.

Lemon Beer Dream Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the cake:

2 ½ cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tbs lemon zest
¾ cup unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup buttermilk
½ cup Saison pale ale or White ale beer
5 egg whites reserve yolks for curd
¼ tsp cream or tartar

For the filling:

2 whole eggs plus five yolks
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice about 6 large lemons
1 tbs lemon zest
½ cup IPA beer
2 tbs corn starch
½ cup unsalted butter cut into cubes

For the Frosting:

1 cup butter softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tbs lemon zest
2 tbs lemon juice
3 tbs IPA beer
3 tbs whole milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, stir together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, sugar, and lemon zest, beat on high until very well combined, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, add the beer and buttermilk (it’s ok if it curdles).
Alternating between the flour and the beer mixture, add a bit of each to the stand mixer while it runs on low speed, until all ingredients are combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are well combined.
Remove the batter, add to a large bowl. Clean the mixer very well (using a hand mixer or a separate mixer is fine as well).
Add the egg whites and cream of tartar to the clean bowl of a stand mixer, any amount of fat and the egg whites will not whip properly.
Whip on high until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Add about 1/3 of the egg whites to the cake batter mixture, gently fold to combine. Once combined, gently fold in half of the remaining egg whites, then the final egg whites, stir until combined.
Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans very well (8 inch cake pans will work as well), divide the batter between the three pans.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the tops have just started to brown.
Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from pans.
While the cake is baking, make the curd.
In a pan off heat, whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, beer, and corn starch. Add the butter cubes, place the pan over medium high heat. Whisk frequently until thicken to a pudding like consistency, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, add to a bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
To make the butter cream, add the butter, sugar, and zest to a stand mixer, building up speed, beat on high until very well combined, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
One tablespoon at a time, slowly add the lemon juice, beer and milk, allowing to re-mix to a fluff consistency between additions, this should take no less than 8 minutes total. Make sure the frosting is very well whipped.
To assemble the cake, add one layer of cake to a cake plate. Top with half of the lemon mixture, then with another layer and then with the rest of the lemon mixture before adding the final layer of cake. Top the final layer of cake with the butter cream. If you want to frost the entire cake with buttercream, double the buttercream recipe, assemble the layers and chill the cake for at least one hour before attempting to frost.
Chill until ready to serve.

Cream Cheese and Jam Crumb Cake

29.04.2013 81 Comments

In honor of moms everywhere, and the upcoming Mothers Day holiday, I’m hosting some giveaways this week with a Mothers Day brunch theme!

To kick us off is Le Creuset with a gorgeous cake stand (I love cake stands) that is perfect for a cake, pie, cookies, lets be honest, I’d serve roast chicken off this thing, it’s gorgeous! But not just that, we are also throwing in some beautiful French preserves by Bonne Maman. The winner also gets four jars in fabulous flavors like Fig, Strawberry and Golden Mirabelle. I love that these are jams that have simple, honest ingredients, jam like your Grandmother would have made in her own kitchen, with the fruit from her trees.

To celebrate these gorgeous jams, I wanted to give you a recipe that works well with all the great flavors. Of course, I looked to Martha, a woman who is no stranger to French jams. I adapted her amazing crumb cake recipe for the use of these jams, making it three times to get it just right. I love this so much, and I love that it works with all of these fabulous jams.

The winner will receive: One cherry red Le Creuset cake stand, four jars of French Bonne Maman preserves, shipped anywhere in the continental USA, you can even have it shipped directly to your mom! Or keep it for yourself, I won’t judge.

Cream Cheese and Jam Crumb Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
½ cup milk
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the topping:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup Jam
1 ¾ cups flour
½ cup packed light-brown sugar
½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325
line 8X8 pan with aluminum foil, spray with butter cooking spray, set aside.
Stir together 1 ¼ cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla and vegetable oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, batter will be thick.
Spread the batter in an even layer in the prepared f baking pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, egg and granulated sugar. Spread evenly on top of the batter.
Drizzle with the jam (marble in with a knife, if desired).
Combine the remaining 1 ¾ cup flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Drizzle with melted butter, stir together until crumbs form.
Bake at 325 for 32-36 minutes or until the top crumbs have just started to turn golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature, chill until ready to use. Cut into squares and dust with confectioners sugar prior to serving.

Chocolate Mint Stout Lava Cake

18.10.2012 26 Comments

Let’s talk about mint for a second.

If you know me well, you know I have an issue with mint. Although it would be hard to tell, given that I’ve made you Chocolate Porter Brownies with Mint Frosting, Chocolate Mint Stout Ice Cream, and our neighborhood beer float hussy, The Dirty Girl Scout. You could have even assumed that I LOVE mint by all of those recipes, but the truth is that this is my culinary equililant of Exposure Therapy.

The devolution of mint in my life happened in Morocco. I was traveling though Middle Atlas a few year ago with my sister, being carted from one town to another in the back of what was surely the car of a Moroccan drug dealer (or at least drug dropper-offer-guy, *actual term). I can’t even really pinpoint which incident linked Mint with Morocco in my brain. Maybe it was the cave dweller in Middle Atlas who made me mint tea, or the three Moroccan rug makers who locked me in the back of the factory plying me with mint tea in an effort to convince me to spend $6000 on a rug, or maybe it was the mint vendors waving their wares at me in the walled maze that was the old City Medina.

To be honest, the experience wasn’t entirely bad. Terrifying and life changing, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to have gone to the other side of the world, even if it did involved running for my life through the late night streets of Fez. The rumor is that your sense of taste is more strongly linked to memories than images. Which makes sense. Because even when I see my photos from that trip, it doesn’t even come close to evoking the memories that come screaming back when I smell or taste fresh mint.

I want to like mint, it’s an incredible flavor. It’s fresh and bright, and makes me gag. But I’m working on it. Exposure therapy, one chocolate mint dessert at a time.

Months ago, when I found out about the Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout I was excited that my self imposed mint affliction could extend into my love of craft beer.

This might do it. And with a bold and creamy taste, and a gentle, but not sweet, mint flavor, I have high hopes that I will someday be the cure to my mint aversion. I think I need to send Ken Schmidt a mint flavored thank you card.

Chocolate Mint Stout Lava Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

3.5 oz 100 g Dark Chocolate 70%
1 1/2 sticks butter 10 tbs
2/3 cup Chocolate Mint Stout or chocolate stout
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
3 eggs plus 3 additional yolks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp espresso powder this will not make the dessert taste like coffee. Espresso intensifies chocolate
2 tbs dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425.
Butter six soufflé dishes very well. The best way to do this is to soften butter (or use vegetable shortening or margarine) and a wadded up paper towel, smear a large amount inside each dish, making sure to get into the edges.
In a saucepan over medium heat, add the chocolate and butter. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add beer, and peppermint extract, stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and powdered sugar.
Pour chocolate mixture over egg mixture, stir to combine.
Sprinkle cocoa powder, espresso powder and flour over chocolate mixture, stir until just combined.
Divide equally between souffle dishes, making sure not to fill more than 2/3 full. Press about 4 to 5 chocolate chips into the very center of each cake (can be made one day ahead, cover and chill).
Bake at 425 until the outside is set, but the center is still liquid, about 9 minute no more than 13. (Note: Glass baking dishes cook much faster then ceramic dishes. Take these out of the oven when it looks as if they "need a few more minutes," you want a very runny center.)
Run a butter knife around the edge of the cake. Place a plate on top of each ramekin, turn upside down, lift ramekin to reveal cake. Serve immediately.

5 Minute Microwave Berry Cobbler

You might hate me for this. Because, to be honest, I sort of hate myself for this.

Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream

05.07.2012 7 Comments

(Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream)

I’m taking a huge risk here.

You may have taken one look at this post and decided that I’ve lost my magic. Chocolate beer cake is as common as Nascar sweatpants in Walmart. But unlike motor sports fashion blunders in public, I loved this dessert.

I’m combining a past evoking childhood treat with my beer loving present tense self, and topping it with beer whipped cream. Strawberry shortcakes were one of my favorite desserts as a kid, but growing up I never had them from scratch. I was raised in a very prepackaged, frozen food section, shelf-stable house, with a mom who was trying to feed all of her 8 daughters (yes, that isn’t a typo, I have 7 sisters) with no time for any culinary adventure beyond reheating and assembling. Completely understandable.

Making my childhood memory of strawberry shortcakes those pre-packaged round sponge cakes, with Cool Whip and chopped strawberries.

So this is the "I cook from scratch and add beer" version of that. Although not a traditional "shortcake," I hope once I top it with drunken whipped cream and fresh berries you’ll forgive the misstep in terminology.

Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream

For the cake:

3 cups cake flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

2 sticks butter (softened)

2 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 tbs vegetable oil

12 oz Porter beer

For the strawberries:

4 cups strawberries, hulled and chopped

1/2 cup sugar

For the whipped cream:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbs porter beer

(makes 10)

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.

In the bowl of the stand mixer cream the butter and sugar. One at a time add the eggs, beating well and scraping the bowl between each addition, then add the oil. Alternating between the beer and the dry ingredients, add both a bit at a time, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, stir until just barely combined.

Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Invert the cake pan onto a flat surface. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out 5 circles from each cake round (you can also use a large knife to cut them into squares).

Place chopped strawberries in a bowl with sugar, stir to combine. Allow to sit at room temperature for ten minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream, powdered sugar and 2 tbs beer. Whip on high until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes.

Place one cake round on a plate, top with strawberries and then with whipped cream.

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Food Craft: Spring Flower Pot Mini Muffins

30.03.2012 31 Comments

I like to play with my food. For some reason, it makes me less hungry.

When I got these little suckers from a vendor at work, I had no interest in eating them. But I did want to play with them. Maybe it’s a commentary on how much food we waste in America, or maybe it’s just because candy is pretty, Food Crafts are huge source of entertainment in my world. Although there are many cupcake toppers featured on websites across the land, I’m not a fan of inedible garnishes. Even if I don’t plan to eat it, it seems like you just didn’t try hard enough.

Sure you can print out a pretty flower decal from your home computer, or make a rose out of paper, or a fancy embelishment with ribbons and buttons, but if you can’t eat it what the heck is it doing on my plate?

No one glues plastic googly eyes to a pot roast. Or puts a wizzard hat on a chicken sandwich. Why are completely random acts of craftiness allowed on baked goods?

And paper flag banners on a cake? weird. Why not put a pile of mail on there, or decorative globe? What’s next, filling my plate with bedazzled paper mache vegetables?

Here is my entry for completely edible cupcake garnish, other than the stick, of course.

Spring Flower Pot Mini Muffins

Supplies:

12 chocolate mini muffins

12 small suckers (dum dum sized)

18 standard size marshmallows

3 microwave save bowls

1/4 cup white chocolate

1 pair scissors

1/2 cup chocolate chops

1/2 cup chocolate graham crackers (or chocolate Teddy Grahams)

Cut the marshmallows into four to five slices. There are going to be a few that just don’t look right, so cut more than you need. They will curl up a bit, but just push them flat.

There will most likely be one end that is a bit more rounded and one that is a bit pointier.

Cut off a very small amount of the pointed end, about 1/8 of an inch.

Place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave on high for 20 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Don’t over heat or it will seize. Using a butter knife or a spoon, smear a small on the marshmallow petal where you just made the cut.

Press the chocolate side against the sucker, at the base, nearest the stick.

Repeat for all pedals. You’ll want to put about 5 petals on each flower which will require a bit of overlapping of the pedals.

Lay flat until the chocolate glue dries.

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted.

In a food processor, process the graham crackers until nothing is left but crumbs. Transfer crumbs to a bowl.

One at a time, take the mini muffin and submerge the top in the melted chocolate until completely coated.

Before the chocolate cools and dries, roll the melted chocolate muffin top around in the graham cracker crumbs.

Once all the chocolate has dried, plant your candy marshmallow flower in your little mini muffin pot.

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Lemon Pilsner Cake

08.03.2012 7 Comments

If you have ever had the opportunity to talk to a brewmaster, you have seen it. You’ve seen that look that lets you know that there is an art and a respect for what they do that goes far past what most Americans experience at their day jobs. The look that tells you that the paycheck isn’t the reason he does the job. The flavors, the journey, the solving of the problems that yield to an end result of a drinkable, shareable masterpiece. You’ve seen that look.

It’s because of that look that I try to create recipes that respect the years of love and hard work that go into the process of making Craft Beer. I had the idea of making a lemon cake with pilsner, but the issue is always the hops. Hops are a hard ingredient to cook and bake with, given that they often reduce to a very bitter product. Scrimshaw Pilsner, while still a pilsner, has a low, and well balanced hop taste. It is also from one of my favorite breweries, North Coast, that produces an incredible variety of craft beer. And you can bet that if you are ever lucky enough to take a tour of the brewery, you will see that look I’m talking about, all over the place.

Lemon Pilsner Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 tsp salt

2 tbs lemon zest

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup Pilsner

Icing:

4 oz cream cheese, softened (cold cream cheese will result in lumpy icing)

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup Pilsner

1/2 tsp vanilla

Direction:

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a large loaf pan with butter flavored cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest until well mixed.

In the bowl of stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl between additions. Add the lemon juice and mix until well combined. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour a bit at a time until just barely combined, do not over mix.

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the pilsner, stirring with a wooden spoon until just combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until the top turns a light golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream cheese and the powdered sugar, beating until well combined. Add the remaining ingredients and whip until smooth.

Top the cake with the icing, chill prior to serving.

Cooking and baking with craft beer.

Quinoa Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins

01.02.2012 29 Comments

I’m a breakfast girl. It isn’t possible for me to go the 16 hours between dinner and lunch the following day without eating. I become a crazy person when I’m hungry. Like the plant from Little Shop of Horrors yelling "FEED MEEE!!!" at random strangers. If I ever get stuck on a deserted island, or in a plane crash in the Andes, don’t pray for me, pray for which ever poor soul has to deal with the hungry version of me. Not pretty. Plus I just make bad decisions when I’m hungry, which results in me coming to the conclusion that an entire jumbo sized bag of Jalapeno Kettle Chips is just one snack, and it’s totally fine for me to eat the entire thing.

Because of this, I must eat breakfast. And besides my long standing love with Saturday Morning Breakfast indulgences, I want a super healthy breakfast 6 days a week.

And you are probably sick of all the quinoa, but I’m not. Not yet. It SO good for you, and if you cook it the right way, it has a great flavor and texture. Don’t cook it the same way you cook rice or it will be mushy.

My Morning Magical Quinoa Muffin Stats, calculated by Spark People Recipe Calorie Calculator:

191 Calories

3 grams of fiber

4.3 grams of protein

Plus a healthy dose of Calcium, Vitamins A, B-6 & C

Only .5 grams of the bad Saturated Fat

Not too bad. And an easy thing to grab on your way out the door in the morning.

So that you can conquer the world without being a whiney and unreasonable. Or maybe that’s just me.

Quinoa Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cooked quinoa (You need to cook your quinoa with 1 part quinoa to 1.5 parts water, too much water makes it mushy)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tbs raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup carrots, peeled and finely grated (place between sheets of paper towels to remove excess water)
1/4 cup of raisins
2 tbs chopped walnuts

(Makes 6 muffins)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, quinoa, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder. Make a well in the ingredients. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, apple sauce, honey, egg and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the well you made in the dry ingredients. Stir until just barely combined, a few lumps is fine. If you over mix, your muffins will be tough. Add the carrots, raisins and walnuts and stir until just combined.
Grease 6 wells of a muffin tin (or line with muffin papers). Pour evenly into the 6 wells, about 2/3 full.
Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.

Chocolate Peppermint Souffle Cake With Candy Cane Whipped Cream

21.12.2011 9 Comments

You didn’t think that I could make this delicious whipped goodness and not come up with a fabulous cake to go with it, did you?

But, I have to admit that I’m not a fan of mint, because of what I will always referr to as The Moroccan Mint Experience. While travel through Middle Atlas a few years ago with my sister…we…we’ll it’s hard to explain. But as a result, I no longer like mint.

Although my favorite part of the devolution of mint in my life, is Mohammed

He lives in a cave in a mountain town called B’Halil.

He made me mint tea in his cave. And when someone as wonderful and welcoming as Mohammad takes time to welcome you into his cave and heat up water over an open flame and make you tea out of brown water and mint leaves YOU DRINK IT!!

And I am so grateful to him for the tea. Although he has nothing to do my my distaste for mint tea, he is my favorite memory of my journey towards no longer liking it.

For some reason, however, Candy Canes are exempt for my I Hate Mint rule. Can’t really say why.

Even if you hate mint, or if you love it so much you want to take a long soak in big bathtub full of Junior Mints, I hope you like this cake. I did.

Chocolate Peppermint Soufflé Cake With Candy Cane Whipped Cream

1/2 tsp natural peppermint extract

1 cup unsalted butter

7oz high quality 60% chocolate

5 eggs, room temperature, separated

1/3 cup plus 3 tbs sugar

1 tbs all purpose flour

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

2 tbs cocoa powder

Serve with:

Candy Cane Whipped Cream

Preheat oven to 350.

In a small pot, add the butter and peppermint extract, stir over medium heat until the butter has melted, don’t allow to boil. Remove from heat.

In the top of a double broiler (or a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water) add the chocolate and the peppermint butter. Stir over medium-low heat until the chocolate is melted and combined with the butter. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg yolks and 1/3 cup of sugar. Mix on high until well combined and light and frothy. Turn off the mixer, and add the flour, salt and the cocoa powder. Mix until just combined. Add the chocolate mixture and beat again until the chocolate is incorporated into the egg yolk mixture.

In a separate bowl, add the egg whites and 1 tbs sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on high until soft peaks form. Add the remaining two tbs sugar and beat again until shiny and stiff peaks form.

Remove bowl of the stand mixer that contains the chocolate batter. Put one third of the egg whites into the chocolate batter, and gently stir until barely combined. Add half the remaining egg whites and stir again. Add the remaining egg whites and stir until just combined.

Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with a round of parchment paper. Spray the sides with butter flavored cooking spray.

Pour the batter into the spring form pan in one even layer.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until the top is dry and slightly cracked.

Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes, the top will deflate slightly.

Remove from the spring form pan, allow to cool to room temperature.

Make the whipped cream.

Serve the cake topped with whipped cream.

Printable:Chocolate Peppermint Soufflé Cake

Printable: Candy Cane Whipped Cream

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The Help: Caramel Cake, Cupcake Edition

26.08.2011 30 Comments

I’m in a book club. I know, such a grown up, right? When I was on my way to my very first Book Club meeting my husband asked, "So what REALLY goes on there? There has to be some type of illicit element? You can’t really just be sittin' around talking about a book, can you?" Other than the calorie content in my version of Minny’s Caramel Cake: Cupcake Edition, noting illicit at all. Just a bunch of girls sittin' around chatting.

When I finished the book, I made a full size version of Minny’s Caramel Cake. For the cupcakes, I made some alterations. I wanted a frosting that could be piped on, so I added some powdered sugar. AMAZING. I really liked this version of the caramel frosting. I also substituted buttermilk for heavy cream, just because I felt like it.

Minny’s Caramel Cake: Cupcake Edition

1 cup of butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 tbs molasses

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup whole milk

3 cups of flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Caramel Frosting:

2 cups brown sugar, packed

1 cup of cream

3 tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

Pre heat oven to 350.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, brown sugar and white sugar, beat on high until well creamed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the molasses and vanilla and mix until combined. With the mixer on low speed, add the buttermilk, oil and milk and mix until well combined. In a seperate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture to the batter and stir until just incorporated. Add to muffin tins (lined with cupcake papers) filling each about 2/3 of the way full (about 1/4 cup).

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the top springs back.

To make the frosting, combine the brown sugar and cream in a pot. Stir over medium high heat until it starts to boil. Allow to boil, without stirring (this is the hard part for me) until the temperature reaches about 210 (about 7-10 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the butter and the vanilla. Allow to cool until thickened. Add to a stand mixer, along with the powdered sugar and beat on high until well combined. This frosting will continue to harden and thicken until cooled.

Nebraska Beer Cake

25.07.2011 6 Comments

I have this fascinating friend named Mike. He’s done quite a few interesting things in his life: bass player for a Grammy winning artist, handy man extraordinaire, one-true-love to a 96 year old Cuban woman. His next interesting venture: moving to Nebraska.

Why Nebraska? You ask.

He must have a job offer out there? Nope.

Well, then family? Not one.

Then….why is he moving to Nebraska? The better question, I say, is: Why not Nebraska? It’s a perfectly wonderful place to live.

I do predict that Mike and his super adorable wife are going to love the mid-west. They will “Win” at Nebraska. And those two California natives will freeze. Their. Asses. Off.

Obviously this cake is in the shape of Nebraska, but there is a little more of that corn husker state in there than meets the eye. I made it with Nebraska’s own Black Betty Imperial Stout. Black Betty is still a smaller craft brew so if you aren’t able to find it, use a dark beer or a chocolate stout.

Cake:

3 cup flour

1 tbs baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp kosher salt

2 sticks (16 tbs) unsalted butter

2 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup (2 3.5 oz bars) 72% dark chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cup dark stout beer

1 cup of brewed coffee, cooled

Ganache:

2 cups of dark chocolate chips

2 cups of dark beer

Crust:

9 graham crackers

2 tsp salt

1 tbs brown sugar

Frosting:

4 cups cream cheese room temperature

2 cups butter, room temperature

8 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cake:

First, preheat the oven to 350, and then combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and the cocoa powder in a bowl and whisk until well combined. In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter and sugar and cream until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. In a microwave safe bowl, put the 72% chocolate. Microwave for 30 seconds, remove and stir. Repeat until the chocolate is melted. Add the melted chocolate to the sugar/egg mixture and blend well. While the mixer is on a medium-low setting, add the stout and then the coffee, continue to combine until well mixed, then add the flour mixture a little at a time until well combined. Grease and flour the cake pans that you are using. I used two 9×13 inch sheet pans. Bake for between 25 and 35 minutes (depending on your cake pan size) or until the cake is set in the center. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Ganache:

Place chocolate chips in a heat safe bowl. In a pot on the stove, add the 2 cups of beer and cook over medium heat until reduced by half, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Pour the beer, that you have reduced to 1 cup, over the chocolate chips and stir until well combined. Place in the fridge and allow to cool completely about 30 minutes.

Cream cheese frosting:

Place all the icing ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until well combined and creamy. You really, really need softened butter and softened cream cheese. If either of those are cold, your frosting will have lumps in it.

Crust:

I used this on the outside of the cake, but it’s optional. Just place all the crust ingredients in your food processor and process until all combined.

Assembly. This will be the easiest if everything is cold. Also, I like to use a piping bag to help with the first layer of frosting (I always do 2 layers of frosting). Put about half of your frosting in a piping bag with a large opening tip. You can also use a large zip lock bag with the corner cut off, like this:

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works great.

On your bottom layer of cake, put a rim of frosting around the edge, that’ll make it easier to keep the ganache in the center.

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Add the ganache to the center of your frosting ring and allow to spread out evenly over the layer. If your ganache was warm at all, it would be a good idea to place the cake in the fridge at this point to allow to cool before proceeding. Top with the second cake layer, then add the first layer of frosting to your cake with the piping bag and smooth out with an off set spatula. Some people call this a crumb coat, because crumbs will invade this layer. I call it the dirty ice, because it sounds more fun. Place the cake in the fridge and allow the first ice to set, about 1 hour. Once you are ready for your final icing, use an off-set spatula and try to make it as smooth as possible. Before the final frosting layer has set, add the crust to just the sides with your hands, using as much as will stick to the sides. Allow the final ice to set before decorating as you wish.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake

11.04.2011 7 Comments

The adorable Miss Emmi turned 1 just a few days after Tater. Emmi loves the Very Hungry Caterpillar more that I have ever seen a kid love a book, it’s quite adorable. She’s that bugs #1 fan. So of course, her party had to follow suit. Tater and I spent Saturday afternoon hagnin’ out with Emmi and her fabulous mother and we made a cake.

First, I made a 20 inch 2 layer strawberry cake

The we covered it in cream cheese frosting and then a layer of white fondant and put brightly colored gumballs at the bottom

We then cut out three inch circles from another sheet cake, cutting off the rounded top and cut those circles in half

We frosted those half circles and then covered them in different shades of green fondant

We covered one of the cake circles in red fondant to use as the head

On went the body

Although Miss Emmi’s house is filled with every baby toy imaginable, the ladies spent most of the day playing on the stairs

Emmi’s mom was a quick study with the fondant and was able to make her name, Caterpillar legs, antennae and eyes as well as an adorable sun

And check out that mini smash cake, made by Emmi’s aunt. Very adorable!

Happy first year Emmi!