Ann's June Cake - Peach Tatin Cake

This month, I threw an outdoor birthday party at the drive-in for my boy, Ol' Blue Eyes. You may remember him from the pasty-making experience last year. We weren't dating then, but now we are. Things change. Hooray! Because we were going to be outside and everything would be subjected to Indiana's unusually humid June weather, I needed to find something weatherproof. I'd been looking forward to some kind of upside down cake, but Listle had already made a pineapple upside down cake. I decided to explore a version of tarte tatin - a Frenchified upside down cake usually made with apples. There are lots of cakes out there that have different fruit substituted for the apples, and so I picked a lovely summer fruit version: peach tatin cake, from a cake book my mom gave me for Christmas. Amazingly, it is called The Cake Book. This seemed pretty perfect for the occasion - easy to make ahead, without filling or frosting that could potentially melt, and full of summer deliciousness.

First, I made a caramel sauce for the bottom of the pan. I'm a little afraid of making caramel sauce because the last time I tried to make it (also for OBE, incidentally), it was a complete disaster. This version worked really well - I ignored some of the directions (waiting for the sugar to dissolve completely - maybe my idea of completely is different than everyone else's, because it was smooth and lovely in the end but I expected it to be grainy. Anyway, after the caramel sauce went into the cake pan, I sliced up the peaches and arranged them, and then chopped up some crystallized ginger and sprinkled that on for kicks.


Next I mixed up the sour cream batter and poured it over the top. After it had baked and cooled, it was ready for the party.

Next, the moment of truth - the flipping!


It went pretty well - one chunk didn't make it, but it was easily added back in. I served the cake with vanilla ice cream, with caramel sauce on the side. Oh wow...it was SO GOOD! The caramel sauce on the cake had an amazing smoky flavor that melted into the cake, and but the peaches brighten up the flavor, so it had a kind of summer-meets-autumn vibe, with a little bit of snap from the ginger.


Happy Birthday, Sweetness!

Peach Cake Tatin
from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

Caramel Peach Topping:
1 C granulated sugar
2 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
4 large ripe peaches
3 Tbsp crystallized ginger, chopped

Sour Cream Cake:
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 C sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
9 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 C granulated sugar
2 large eggs

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of 9-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper and grease the paper.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water, and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring; increase the heat to high, and cook, occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystallization, until the mixture turns into a golden caramel. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately whisk in the butter, one piece at a time (be careful - the mixture will bubble up furiously). Carefully pour the hot caramel into the bottom of the prepared.

3. Cut the peaches in half and discard the pits. Cut each peach half into six wedges. Arrange a circle of wedges, overlapping them slightly, around the edge of the pan, on top of the caramel. Arrange another circle of wedges in the center, facing the opposite direction, covering the caramel completely. Sprinkle ginger on top.

4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.

5. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and vanilla extract; set aside.

6. In a bowl, using an electric or a hand mixer, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and beat at high speed until the mixture is lightened in texture and color, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the sour cream mixture in two additions and mixing just until blended.

7. Spoon the batter in large dollops over the peaches, then smooth it into an even layer. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched. Set the pan on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.

8. Run a thin-bladed knife around the edge of the pan. Using pot holders, very carefully invert the cake onto a cake plate. Peel off the parchment paper. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

Elizabeth's June Cake - A repeat??

Buttermilk Spice Cake with Roasted Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting

This month I decided to do a spice cake for a friend who had a baby. It ended up being so much like my carrot cake in March (the cake, not the baby), that I'm a little embarrassed to call it my Cake of the Month!

I chose Emeril Lagasse's recipe. I planned to do a tall layer cake as his recipe instructs, but then I couldn't find my cake pans (post move). I had to settle for a 9x13 pan. Boooooring.

The cake was easy enough to make, and came out decent. It was WAY too sweet, though. After our first pieces, Jeff and I hardly ate any of it, and ended up throwing out the rest several days later. (I wish I had taken half of it to friends that first day.) I compared the ingredients in Emeril's cream cheese frosting to America's Test Kitchen's cream cheese frosting from March's carrot cake. Emeril's version had three times(!) the sugar. Eesh. In his defense, he's from the South, and sugar is in their blood. Usually when I make a recipe from a southern cookbook or website, I'm extra-aware of the sugar content and careful not to add too much. I didn't think of it this time and paid the price. Hoooooo-weeeeeeee, was this sweet! Sweet as a prairie flower! (Did that sound southern enough?)

The cooked cake, sans frosting

The crazy-sweet frosting

The roasted walnuts


The frosted cake


The frosted cake with the nuts on top


A piece of the final of cake (in my backyard)


The dinner that I took to my friend
(Grape tomatoes on angel hair, green beans, salad, cake.)

Total cuteness

Buttermilk Spice Cake with Roasted Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: Emeril Lagasse, 2005

Ingredients

• 2 cups brown sugar
  
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 recipe Roasted Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) cake pans. Cut 2 (9-inch) parchment paper rounds and line the pan bottoms. Grease and flour the parchment rounds.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream the brown sugar and butter. With the mixer running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt into a medium-size mixing bowl. Alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the batter, mixing well. With the electric mixer, in another large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the cake batter. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until the center springs back when touched, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks. After the cakes have cooled, invert them onto sheets of parchment paper. Slice each cake in half and set aside.

Spread a layer of the frosting over 3 layers of the cake. Place the layers of cake on top of each other and top with the fourth layer of cake. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Slice the cake into individual servings.

Roasted Walnut and Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick butter, softened

3/4 pound (about 3 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup roasted walnut pieces

In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the cheese and butter. Add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and milk, if needed to thin consistency, and mix well. Fold in the walnut pieces. Yield: about 3 cups

Ann's May Cake - A Tale of Two Birthdays

I have two delightful roommates. Actually, I should say I had two delightful roommates, because one has moved out, but then another delightful roommate moved in, so I guess I still have two. These two original delightful roommates both have birthdays in May, and they clearly wanted cakes. Well, maybe one wanted a cake, and I told the other one she was getting one as well. Anyway, on with the cake!

First, we had a party for Control's birthday, which was actually later in the month, but she was leaving for Utah before we could celebrate, so we added her birthday into our end-of-the-semester/Reverse Halloween Opposite Day party. She had requested months in advance that I make her a bûche de Noël. So, despite the lack of Christmas, I set out to make this classic December cake. The cake itself is a flourless sheet cake, which I then frosted with chocolate icing and then rolled up like a jelly roll. I sliced off the end at an angle and then sort of formed some little twigs to stick on the sides. This part was all kind of free-form, but look how awesome it turned out!



Look, it looks like a real log!!! I almost didn't want to frost it because it looked so real. However, I did frost it, and added some marzipan mushrooms and powdered sugar "snow".

Painting spots on the mushrooms.

I like that I look like a ghost in this picture. Here are the lovely swirly insides:


I was quite surprised at how moist and gooey this cake tasted. I had been a little worried that the cake would be dry, or that there would be too little frosting, but it really worked out perfectly. I love a recipe that has perfect quantities - no leftover frosting, but also just the right amount on the cake. Our friend Clovis said this was the second best cake he'd ever had, after the Rigo Jansci from last month. Hooray!!!! Happy Birthday, Control!

Next we celebrated Marcue's birthday. Marcue has a deep and abiding love for strawberries (or "strawbries" as we say in our apartment), so I decided that I was making a Barefoot Contessa cake I'd had my eye on for a few years. I then informed her of this and that we were having a party for her. Luckily, she went along with my decision. The cake looked like was full of strawberry goodness, so it seemed like a perfect fit for Marcue.

The original recipe for the cake layered two 9-inch cakes with whipped cream and strawberries, but I decided to split the cakes and double the layers. This is a birthday cake, after all!

Fluffy clouds of whipped cream.

It's so pretty! The cake was a pretty simple white cake, but the addition of lemon zest seriously sent this over the top. It was so crazy good with really vibrant flavors. The citrus made the flavor of the strawberries and cream really pop, and everyone loved it, especially Marcue.


Happy Birthday, Marcue!


Bûche de Noël
From Feast: Food That Celebrates Life by Nigella Lawson

For the cake:
6 eggs, separated
3/4 C superfine sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 C unsweetend cocoa powder

For the icing:
6 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
2 C confectioners sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
3-5 tsp confectioners' sugar, to decorate
marzipan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, leaving a generous overhang at the ends and sides, and folding the parchment into the corners to help the paper stay anchored.

In a large clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy and thick, then add 1/4 C of the sugar and continute whisking until the the whites are holding peaks but not dry.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar until they are pale and thick. Add the vanilla extract and sift over the cocoa, then fold both in.

Lighten the yolk mixture with a couple of dollops of the whites, folding in gently, and then add the whites in thirds, mixing carefully to avoid losing the air.

Pour the cake into the lined pan, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the cake cool a little before turning it out onto another piece of parchement paper.

To make the icing, melt the chocolate in a double boiler and let it cool. Put the confectioners' sugar into a food processor and blitz to remove any lumps, add the butter and process until smooth. Add the cooled melted chocolate and vanilla and pulse again to make a smooth icing.

Trim the edges of the cake. Spread some of the icing thinly over the cake, going right out to the edges. Roll up from the short side facing you taking care to get a tight roll from the beginning, and roll up to meet the other short end. Trim one end slightly to form an angle.

Use the cake trimmings to make branches as you wish, and then ice the cake with the remaining icing, covering the cut off ends as well. Create wood-like texture by going along the length of the log with a skewer, etching in knots. Remember to make tree rings at the ends.

Form little mushrooms with the marzipan, paint spots on with cocoa powder. Place on cake as desired. Dust with confectioners' sugar for snow.



Strawberry Country Cake
from Barefoot Contessa Parties! by Ina Garten

3/4 C unsalted butter at room temperature
2 C sugar
4 extra large eggs at room temperature
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C flour
1/4 C corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

For the filling:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
6 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9 inch cake pans.

Cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. On medium speed, add the eggs, on at a time, then the sour cream, zests and vanilla, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine just until smooth.

Pour the batter evenly into the pans, smooth the tops with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 40-45 min, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 30 min, then remove the wire racks and let cool to room temperature.

To make the filling, whip the cream by hand or in a mixer until firm; add the sugar and vanilla. Split the cakes into two layers each with a serrated knife. Place the bottom slice of cake on a serving platter, spread with a quarter of the whipped cream, and scatter on a quarter of the strawberries. Cover with the top slice of cake. Repeat, ending with a the last layer of cake. Spread remaining cream on top of cake and decorate with strawberries on top.

Elizabeth's May Cake - Fudge Cupcakes

I did it again.

I couldn't help myself! I thought I had learned my lesson, but I guess I didn't.

I read another Joanne Fluke book.



I know! It's ridiculous that I read it, given how much I hated the other one. But the very next one in the series had cake in the title, and I had looked at it when I picked up the Lemon Meringue Pie one, AND it involved a mystery ingredient.....so I just had to get it from the library when the year of cakes started.

Luckily, it wasn't quite as bad as the Lemon Meringue Pie book (although that's not saying much). Still, I just had to find out what the secret ingredient was in the Fudge Cupcakes, which was the title recipe). Well..... (spoiler alert!) it was Raspberry Syrup! Who knew!? Thus solving the best mystery Ms. Fluke could possibly put together, because her murder investigations are completely absurd.

Getting back to the cupcakes....

These were awful. I made them twice, because I thought I might have done something wrong, and they were just as bad the second time. I eventually searched online for reviews of the book to see what others had to say about the recipe. Turns out there was a MISPRINT in the original edition: it's not baking SODA, it's baking POWDER! Argh. This was the title recipe, and Fudge Cupcakes sounded oh-so-tasty. I'm thinking about making them again the correct way, but .... I don't have the energy for it just now. If I make them again, I'll post the results. I promise. And I promise not to read another Fluke book again. Really.

Cross my heart and hope to die.

...'Cuz I'll WANNA die if I read another one! Oh snap!! Good one, Elizabeth.


Right before melting the chocolate


Waiting for the chocolate to melt


And...the chocolate has melted.
I skipped all the steps after this, such as adding flour, etc. Boring.



The finished cupcakes. What the....?


The cupcakes after we poked at them a little bit. They didn't taste too terrible, actually, but they clearly went over the pan and didn't hold their rise. They were also too chewy-weird.

Fudge Cupcakes

(This is the correct recipe, in case you want to make them and post them or something)

Ingredients

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares (1 oz each)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup raspberry flavored syrup (for pancakes- I used Knott's red raspberry)
• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (one stick, 1/4 pound, I use sweet butter)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar (you use 1 3/4 cups sugar in all)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup milk

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F Position rack in the middle of oven.

2. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with double papers. Since this recipe makes 18 cupcakes, you can use an additional 6-cup muffin pan lined with double papers, or you can butter and flour an 8-inch square cake pan or the equivalent.

3. Microwave the chocolate, raspberry syrup and 1/4 sugar in a microwave-safe bowl on high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave again for another minute. At this point, the chocolate will be almost melted, but it will maintain its shape. Stir the mixture until smooth and let cool to lukewarm. (You can also do this in a double boiler on the stove.).

4. Measure flour, mix in baking powder and salt, and set aside.

5. In an electric mixer (or with a VERY strong arm), beat the butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. (About 3 minutes with a mixer--an additional 2 minutes if you're doing it by hand.) Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to make sure they're thoroughly incorporated.

6. Add approximately a third of the flour mixture and a third of the milk. (You don't have to be exact--adding the flour and milk in increments makes the batter smoother.) When that's all mixed in, add another third of the flour and another third of the milk. Thwn that's incorporated, add the remainder of the flour and the remainder of the milk. Mix thoroughly.

7. Test your chocolate mixture to make sure it's cool enough to add. (You don't want to cook the eggs!) If it's fairly warm to the touch but not so hot you have to pull you hand away, you can add it at this point. Stir thoroughly and you're done.

8. Let the batter rest for five minutes. Then stir it again by hand and fill each cupcake paper three-quarters full. If you decided to use the 8-inch cake pan instead of the 6-cup muffin tin, fill it with the remining batter.

9. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. The 8-inch cake should bake an additional 5 minutes.

Fudge Frosting - for 18 cupcake, or 12 cupcakes and 1 small cake, cooled to room temperature and ready to frost.

• 2 cups chocolate chips (12-ounce package)
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk.

1. If you use a double-boiler for this frosting, it's foolproof. You can also make it in a heavy saucepan over low to medium heat on the stovetop, but you'll have to stir it constantly with a spatula to keep it from scorching.

2. Fill the bottom; part of the double boiler with water. Make sure it doesn't touch the underside ot the top.

3. Put the chocolate chips in the top of the double-boiler, set it over the bottom, and place the double boiler on the stovetop at medium heat. Stir occasionall ntil the chocolate chips are melted.

4. Stir in the can of sweetened condensed milk and cook approximately two minutes, stirring constantly, until the frosting is shiny and of spreading consistency.

5. Spread on cupcakes, making sure to fill in the "frosting pocket.".

Ann's April Cake - Rigo Jancsi

My choice for my April cake centered entirely on one fact: my mom was coming into town. My mother, who prefers to be called Shmee, adores chocolate. I know that most women are known for loving chocolate, and would do anything for it, blah blah blah, but I've never met someone that loves it as much as my mom. She has shelves of chocolate-related books, antique chocolate tins, a vast collection of chocolate wrappers that her children have collected for her (sometimes contributing the chocolate as well...but not always), and once told her grandmother that she loves chocolate pudding more than her own mother. I've always been pretty certain that if she had a choice between me or chocolate, I would be the losing party. Okay, maybe not that, but I DO know that she would be pretty okay with taking chocolate from me, her beloved third most loved child. Anyway, so when she made plans to come visit me, I knew that I would need to make my April cake in honor of her, and it would have to have some serious chocolate cred.

I used Greg Patent's A Baker's Odyssey again partly because I liked the idea of doing some kind of super European cafe torte but also because I still had it checked out from the library. I settled on Rigo Jancsi, which, according to the author, is "one of Hungary's most famous desserts." It is made up of chocolate cake, chocolate filling, and a chocolate glaze. Of all the possible cakes I looked at, this was the most straightforward chocolate one I could find, unadulterated by nuts or fruit or plain whipped cream. Apparently, this cake is named after a famous gypsy violinist who ran away with the young wife of an elderly Belgian duke. I'm not sure how this applies to the cake, but that's what the book says.

First I made the cake, which is a very thin chocolate sponge cake. There are lots of eggs separated and whipped to make the cake light and spongy. This meant lots of steps and dirty bowls, but Shmee very kindly washed dishes as I used them so I didn't get so overwhelmed. Unfortunately, my crappy oven burned the bottom of the cake so I had to carefully slice off the burned parts.


While that cooled, I made the whipped cream and then melted chocolate which I tempered with the cream and then added slowly into the remaining cream to make a chocolate filling. (Actually, I think Shmee added the chocolate while I got ready for church. Thanks, Shmee!). Patent warns that if the cream is too cold, the chocolate won't incorporate correctly and will remain little dark flecks in the cream - this isn't what you're looking for, but still tastes good. I think this happened a little bit to our filling, but it still looked pretty good. Then I melted the more chocolate down with sugar and water to make the glaze. Whew! That's a lot of steps, and I still had to assemble it.

You bake the cake in a half-sheet pan and then split it in half to make almost a square, and sandwich the filling in between the two cake halves. Pretty much as soon as the filling went down, it started oozing out the sides, which was quite frustrating. Clearly, this wouldn't be the elegant cafe dessert that I envisioned, but it would still taste great - the chocolate filling melted and merged with the sponge cake, tasting rich and decadent, while the glaze hardened while refrigerated, which gave a nice contrast from the light chocolate cream. If you ate it slowly, the glaze would melt in your mouth to complete the chocolate high. I kind of forgot to take pictures of the finished product, but here it is halfway gone:

Chocolaty, no? This makes a lot of cake, so we had everyone over for a big dessert party. Everyone raved about the cake, but, being the true chocolate aficionado that she is, I think that Shmee enjoyed it the most of all.

Rigo Jansci
from A Baker's Odyssey by Greg Patent

Cake:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
10 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Glaze:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup apricot preserves, strained (I forgot to include this)


To make the cake, adjust an oven rake to the center position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a half-sheet pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust the pan with flour, knocking out the excess.


Melt the butter into a small heavy saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate and stir with a spatula until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and coo to tepid or room temperature.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour and cocoa powder to combine well.

Beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer or hand mixer on high until thick and lemon colored, 3 to 5 minutes. Beating on medium speed, gradually add 1/3 cup of the sugar. Increase the speed to high and beat for about 5 minutes more, until the yolks are very pale in color and form a slowly dissolving ribbon when the beater is raised. Scrape the yolks into a large wide bowl. Wash the beaters.

In a bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt on medium speed until they increase in volume and form soft peaks when the beater is raised. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, then beat until the whites look creamy and form stiff shiny peaks that curl slightly at their tips.

With a large rubber spatula, fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks. Add the dry ingredients and fold them in. Add about 1/3 of the egg whites and fold them in gently. Do not be too thorough at this point - it's fine if some streaks of white show. Fold in the remaining whites until thoroughly incorporated. Spread the batter into the prepared pan - be gentle so as not to deflate it - and carefully level it with the spatula.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the cake is puffed and springs back when gently pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs sticking to it. Do not overbake, or the cake will be too dry. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately run the tip of a small sharp knife around the sides of the cake to release it. Lay a sheet of parchment over the cake, cover with a large wire rack, and invert the two. Working quickly, remove the pan and peel off the paper. Cover the cake with another large wire rack and invert again. Remove the top rack and parchment, and let the cake cool completely.

To make the filling, melt the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Take care that no water gets into the chocolate, or it will "seize" and be impossible to work with. Remove the pan from the water and cool the chocolate to room temperature. It should still be liquid.

Combine the cream, confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and vanilla in a large bowl, and whip until the cream is slightly thickened but pourable. Gradually fold about 1/4 of the cream into the cooled chocolate, then fold the chocolate into the remaining cream. Beat on medium speed just until the filling is thick and holds a definite shape; do not beat until stiff or the filling may separate and look curdled. If the temperatures of the chocolate and cream are about the same, the chocolate cream will be perfectly smooth and homogeneous; if the cream is a bit too cold, the chocolate may form small granules, giving the cream a speckled look. If this happens, it's fine - the filling will still be delicious. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to assemble the cake.

To make the glaze, in a small heavy saucepan, heat the sugar and water over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid comes to a low boil. The liquid should look perfectly clear. The sugar must be fully dissolved, or the glaze will be grainy. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir with a whisk until the chocolate is dissolved and the glaze is completely smooth. Let stand, whisking occasionally, until the glaze is thick enough to spread - a few minutes at most.

To assemble the cake, cut the cake crosswise in half. Put one layer onto a serving tray or a large flat platter. Use a pastry brush to coat the top with the apricot preserves. Pile the chocolate filling on top and spread it evenly, sculpting the sides with a narrow metal spatula so that they are smooth and squared off. Turn the second layer upside down and set it on top of the filling; press gently to make sure the cake sticks to the cream filling. Pour on the prepared glaze and spread it evenly over the top with a small offset spatula; do not let the glaze drip down the sides of the cake. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

About 30 minutes before serving, dip a sharp knife into hot water, shake off the excess water, and score the glaze into 20 squares, dipping the knife into hot water again as necessary. Score deeply enough so that the knife just reaches the cake layer. Then cut individual portions, at the scoring lines. Let stand 30 minutes.

To serve, decorate with flowers if desired and arrange on plates.

Mother's Day Cake - Holy Cow Cake

While we wait for Ann to post *loud sigh* (Oh quit your hollering, people! Of COURSE I'm being ironic! It took me 2 months last time, for crying out loud), I thought I'd post the Mother's Day cake Jeff and the kids made me.

I specifically asked for this cake. The recipe had appeared in our local paper (the Akron Beacon Journal) and I thought it sounded like chocolatey creamy peanut-buttery goodness.

I was wrong.

It was kinda nasty. WAY too sweet, way too goopy, and just not yummy. Jeff and Adam only ate a few bites, and even though Ella, Julia, and I had a full piece, the next day none of us wanted any more. I took some to a friend who likes sweet stuff and I thought I'd eventually be in the mood for the remaining cake, but I never was. The rest went into the garbage.

Goodbye, Holy Cow Cake. I loved the idea of you.




Holy Cow Cake

Cake

Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil, such as canola, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower
3 large eggs

Topping

1 jar (8 ounces) caramel topping
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
4 Butterfinger candy bars (2.1 ounces each), crushed
1 container (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Set the pan aside.

2. Place the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 38 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack. Immediately poke holes in the top of the cake with a drinking straw or chopstick.

4. Prepare the topping. Place the caramel topping and sweetened condensed milk in a small bowl and stir to combine. Spoon this mixture over the warm cake so that it can seep down into the holes. Measure out half of the crushed candy bars and sprinkle the pieces over the cake.

5. Place the whipped topping and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth and combined, 1 minute. Spread the mixture over the top of the candy. Sprinkle the remaining candy pieces on top.

6. Place the pan, uncovered, in the refrigerator to chill the cake for about 20 minutes before cutting it into squares and serving.

Store this cake, covered in waxed paper, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Source: The Cake Mix Doctor

Elizabeth's April Cake - Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

I don't believe it! I razzed Ann like the devil (Prince of Darkness and Razzing) when she didn't post her March cake for weeks and weeks. Now here I am posting my April cake in mid-June! Argh. We moved 6 weeks ago, and just barely got the Internet (I hate you, Verizon!), and so I'm behind. Still, if Ann doesn't post immediately after I post this cake, I will resume my roll as Threatener-In-Chief straight away, paying no attention to the obvious hypocrisy. (Especially since she had to threaten me incessantly during the Year of Pies.)

In April I made a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake! I loved it, and I don't even like Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Go figure!

I searched for a recipe that was NOT America's Test Kitchen, because a woman's gotta branch out, ya know? But finding a good recipe wasn't quite as easy as I thought. The recipes I found on the Internet either were cake mix-based (too yucky), contained wacky ingredients (too different), or were made by Gale Gand (too creepy). I just wanted a standard, delicious recipe. Is that too much to ask? Americana, people, Americana!

I finally came upon this one from the "kitchens" at Food Network. No celebrity chef, just the network chefs (that explains the absence of wacky ingredients).

This cake was so stinkin' yummy and fun to make. I used fresh pineapple, natch.

The overlapping pineapple circles

The only tough part was the flip --- Will it come out of the pan or won't it? ---- and Jeff helped me with that part since the pan was heavy.

After adding some fresh cherry halves (I just happened to have some), here is the final masterpiece:

The best part was that Jeff ate a piece even though he didn't want to AT ALL (hates cooked fruit and wet cake areas). True love.... He said it was much better than he thought. The body of the cake itself was fabulous, and the fruit on top complemented it well.

A word of warning, though: this cake is not necessarily a crowd-pleaser, so don't make it to surprise someone on his or her birthday or anything. Some people LOVE pineapple-upside down cake, and others hate it. I took this to a party, and even though it was the ONLY dessert there (besides fruit), only 7 or 8 people tried a piece. The kids wanted nothing to do with it, and the adults at this get-together were pretty white-bread. The people who took a piece went out of their way to find me and rave about it, so you can just shut up if you're sitting there thinking snarky thoughts about my cake! (That means you, Ann.)

Pineapple-Upside Down Cake

Topping:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for preparing the pan
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 3/4 small fresh pineapple, peeled

Cake:

• 1 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk at room temperature

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Cut out a circle of parchment or wax paper and place it in the bottom of a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan. Lightly butter the sides of the pan.

To make the topping: Heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's browned and has a nutty aroma, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar and rum. Pour the butter-sugar mixture into the cake pan. Using a rubber spatula, spread the mixture out so it to covers the bottom of the pan.

Quarter the pineapple lengthwise, core, and slice it into about twenty 3/8-inch-thick slices. Arrange some of the pineapple slices in a slightly overlapping ring around the inside of the pan, leaving the center open. Place 3 of the slices in the center in a triangle pattern. Press the slices into the butter-sugar mixture.

To make the cake: Using a sieve over a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl with a hand-held electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and mix at a low speed until just incorporated. Raise the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula.)

Add the eggs one at time, waiting for each one to be fully incorporated before adding the next.

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with the milk in 2 additions. Raise the speed to medium and mix briefly until a smooth batter is formed.

Pour the batter onto the pineapple-lined pan. Bake the cake, rotating the pan once during cooking, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate and remove the parchment paper. Let cool completely before serving.

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