cake

You are currently browsing articles tagged cake.

Test Kitchen Tuesday-Guyana sponge cake

December 8, 2009 in Dessert | 17 comments

sponge

I’ve been recieving request for Guyana sponge cake and decided to do a test run. I’ve made this in the past but it’s been so long it was like new to me again. I remembered my mom telling me a pound of sugar, a pound of butter and a pound of flour. Using that I did a little research and I came up with this recipe. Its basically a classic sponge cake recipe. I know I didn’t actually used a pound of flour or butter or sugar, I halfed the recipe because quite frankly that much cake is too much for my husband and myself to eat. I enjoyed this cake and so did he, but next time I think I will add a little milk to give it more moisture.

Guyana Sponge Cake

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

6 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar for 5 mins. Add eggs one at a time, making sure they are well incorporated before you add another egg. Slowly add flour and mix until well combined. Add vanilla extract and stir until combined. Pour in a floured 9 inch cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 mins. Cake should spring back when gently touched.

*Optional. To achieve this color combination I colored 1 cup of batter red and one cup green. I alternately dropped the red, green and uncolored batter into the cake pan. I then swirled the batters together with a knife.

sponge1

sponge3

Tags: cake, Dessert

A warm welcome to fall…Apple Crumb Cake

September 23, 2009 in Dessert | 7 comments

apple4 Oh how do I love this time of year. As fall approaches a very familiar warm feeling just comes over me. It starts with the changing of the leaves, the cooling of the weather and the need for scarves. Maybe it’s the upcoming holidays or the pumpkins and pears and luscious apples that are in season…whatever the reason is, I love fall. This dessert is a salute to fall, its applelicious and full of spices and oh so good. Its a crumb cake that has a secret layer of brown sugared apples hidden beneath the crunchy, cinnamon crumbs…oh what a treat! I was hesitant to bake this cake because I knew that I cannot resist anything apple flavored. So far I’m not doing well, I’ve had a huge chunk of cake for lunch and probably will do so again at dinner time…oh well…I tried.

apple

Apple Crumb Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup apple juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 apple, peeled, cored and slice thinly

2 tbsp brown sugar

powdered sugar to dust over top.

Crumb Topping

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crumb Topping

Mix flour, cinnamon, sugar and margarine together in a bowl with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

Cake Batter

Oil and Flour a 8×8 pan. In a small bowl mix sliced apples with 2 tbsp brown sugar, set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl, set aside. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg one at a time, make sure each egg is well incorporated before adding another egg. With the mixer on a low speed, alternately add flour mixture and apple juice to mixture, mix well. Add vanilla extract. Pour into prepared baking dish.

Place apple slices in one layer across the top of the batter. Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over apple slices. Place into oven and bake for 50 mins. Allow to cool before dusting with powdered sugar.

apple1

apple2

Tags: apple, cake, Dessert

Happy Birthday to me…

January 28, 2009 in Dessert, Entertaining | 2 comments

Well…not really. My birthday was a month ago and I had a game night/cocktail party. I had great food, friends and of course cake. I’m the person everyone calls when they need a cake, so for my birthday I knew had to do something big…go all out. I also wanted an expensive bag as a gift….well I came up with a simple solution, A louis vuitton purse cake!! It was chocolate and white cake with chocolate buttercream. The cake is covered in Satin Ice Dark Chocolate and homemade marshmallow fondant. The marshmallow fondant is so simple to make and taste yummy, I guarantee you will not buy that gummy, gooey, lest than appetizing wilton fondant. Needless to say my guests were impressed, some walked pass it without realize it was a cake! Pleasing to the eye and tummy.

Marshmallow fondant
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 tbsp water
1 1/2- 1 3/4 cup powder sugar

Place marshmallows in a standard 1 cup measuring cup and push down and pack them in. Place in a microwave safe bowl and add the water. Put in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Just long enough for them to soften and puff up. Take out and stir with a spoon until it is combined well. At this point it looks kind of soupy. Then add the sugar and mix and fold until all is incorporated and it is no longer sticky. Take it out of the bowl when it gets to the point where most of the sugar is incorporated and then knead it in with your hands. This takes roughly about 5-7 minutes. Take a fondant roller or a regular rolling pin and roll out just as you would with store bought fondant. You can roll this fondant almost paper thin and it also repairs well also. When handling the fondant it’s best to coat hands with Crisco to prevent sticking.