Banana Cupcakes w/ Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

"Still hard to believe that my high school life is coming to an end in the next couple days.. Honestly, it's really hard. Extremely hard. I didn't have much of a high school life for a long time, being that I had several health issues that were holding me back. I missed out on a lot, which also made me rebel a lot.. I don't know if I'm really ready to let go of it just yet, though I know that I'm going to have to..

In the end though, I know everything is going to be fine. I don't regret anything. My senior years could have been better, but I loved every bit of it and I wouldn't take back anything if it meant changing how I am now. Everyone that I've met and everything that has happened to me in these past couple years has really shaped me for who I am today. I have really the best boyfriend I've ever had, and new friends that I really love being with. I'm finally getting my head situated and my goals in go, and I'm finally waking up in the morning with a giddy smile on my face and a desire to do anything. I'm definitely looking forward to the years to come and my new school life ahead..

Aside from that, I noticed that a few of our banana's were going bad, so me being me, I always find the need to drop what I'm doing and put those banana's to good use. The recipe is a real simple one. It's the icing that really adds to these. OH do I love this icing! I saw this icing on these cupcakes and decided to try it on a basic banana cupcakes. I think it really complimented these moist cupcakes, as it would with ANY cupcakes I must say! It was just simple really good.

Recipe

Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, slightly softened
12 oz cream cheese
6 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In the well, mix together the butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture, being sure not to over mix. Spoon batter into muffin cups.

3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

4. T H E I C I N G; In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until everything is combined. Add the vanilla and the cinnamon. Ice the cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Makes 12 cupcakes

Summer of 2009 is just around the corner! OH YEAH!

Chocolate Pistachio Cake

Remembering birthday is something most of my family does not seem to know how to do, for it seemed everyone almost forgot about my Nana's birthday. My dad is the worst at remembering birthday. Sadly, he'll forget mine, my moms and my brothers from time to time. I try my best not to forget birthdays. I feel horrible if I forget one. I feel as though that I need to have they're birthday to be a great day!

My Nana's didn't want much for her birthday. She really just wants to ignore the fact that it is her birthday. I think anyone that gets older and older doesn't want to get older and older, you know?

Any who, all she wanted to do was have a family get together. Which included her sisters, my grandfathers brothers, her son (my dad) and his family, and a handful of her friends. I adore my Nana, really, I do. So I wanted to make a nice cake that I know she'd like. She loves chocolate (any woman would) and she's a big pistachio eater. She always has some around the house, ready to be snacked on.

When I came across this recipe on Jens blog at use real butter, it was perfect! It was absolutely perfect for her! And she agreed. She loved it. As well as everyone else. It has a nice salty addiction to it (and we all love salt) and it was just an overall huge hit with everyone. Not to sweet, soft and had enough in each bite.

Recipe

Chocolate cake
Makes one 9×3-inch round cake. Double this recipe to get a 4 layer cake.

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, plus extra for greasing
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. red raspberry vinegar
1 cup water

Pistachio Vanilla Buttercream

8 oz egg whites
16 oz sugar
1 lb butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups shelled pistachios

Ganache

6 tbsps heavy cream
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a sifter and sift onto wax paper or a bowl and set aside. Coat 2 9×3-inch round pans with butter on the base and sides. Place circular parchment in the bottom and brush with more butter.

2. Melt the unsweetened chocolate over water bath or in the microwave (be suer to keep stirring to prevent burning). Set aside.

3. Beat sugar and butter together in mixer fitted with paddle. Beat on medium for 1 minute, then on high for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and beat on high for 15 seconds after the addition of each egg. Add vanilla and vinegar and beat on high for 20 seconds. Add the melted chocolate and mix on low for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Boil water and operate the mixer on low while adding the sifted dry ingredients. Mix for 10 seconds. Carefully add the boiling water and continue to mix on low for 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium and beat for 5 seconds. Pour batter into pans.

5. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until toothpick test is clean. Remove from oven and allow cakes to cool in pans for 20 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

1. For the pistachio and vanilla buttercreams, combine egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl. Whisk constantly over a bain marie until 140F is reached. Place on mixer with balloon whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch (this takes a while - should be cooler than your hand).

2. Change to a paddle and gradually add soft butter by tablespoon pieces. Mix to emulsify. Once desired consistency has been reached, add vanilla. Blanche the pistachios in boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain and place the nuts in a cotton towel. Fold the towel over the nuts and rub vigorously to loosen and remove the skins. Toast the skinned pistachios on a baking sheet for 15 minutes at 325°F. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Reserve a few whole ones for garnish. Finely chop the remaining pistachios.

3. Take 2/3 of the buttercream frosting and fold in the pistachios. Save the remaining third of the buttercream for frosting the cake.

4. For the ganache, bring the cream to a boil and remove from heat immediately. Pour over the chocolate (making sure to cover all of the chocolate) and let sit for a minute. Stir until the ganache is smooth and evenly mixed. Put in the refrigerator until firm enough for piping.


To assembly, cut off the dome tops of the cakes. Slice your cakes into two layers. Place the base of one cake on the serving plate or a cake board. Spread 1/3 of the pistachio buttercream over the layer. Repeat twice more. Top the cake with the other base slice (upside down, so base it facing up). Coat the sides with the vanilla buttercream (a thin layer spread around the entire cake). Then frost the entire cake with the rest of the vanilla buttercream. Decorate the cake with chocolate ganache however you like and garnish with whole pistachios and/or any extra chopped pistachios. Serve at room temperature.

Strawberry Almond Cake

Sadly, I was unable to do this months Daring Bakers Challenge. Which, really, I was so anger at myself for never getting around to it. By the time I actually had time to do anything, this month was already over. I couldn't believe just how fast this summer has been going! And this months challenge was one that I really wanted to do! It look really good! I know I'm going to bake it sometime soon when I have time.

Though I haven't had time to really bake much, I had enough time to make a quick cake. Not a difficult cake (though, I'd really want to). We still have so many strawberries that I still don't now what else to do with them. I knew that I wanted to use strawberries, but I wanted a nut of some sort. An almond cake sounds really good with strawberries. I also used the strawberry filling I used for my Strawberry Cream Cake, which was really good with the Almond Cake.

The cake itself was amazing. The texture was just right. Soft and light, nice and moist. First bite, you just have to close your eyes and savor the taste. It's just so luscious. The strawberry filling and the strawberry frosting with the cake was really good. I might ever try blueberries or blackberries next time. That sounds really good!!

Recipe

Cake

3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup almond paste, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sour cream

Strawberry Filling

2 quarts fresh strawberries, washed, dried, and stemmed
4–6 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. kirsch
Pinch of salt

Strawberry Frosting


8 ounces strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
4 tbsp. butter, softened
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar


1. For the cake,Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour round 8-inch cake pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, cake flour and baking powder and set aside.

2. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and almond paste on high speed until smooth, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add confectioners' sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined and light and fluffy.

3. Raise speed to high and add the vanilla extract, whole eggs and egg yolks, 1 at a time. Mix until well combined. Reduce speed to medium and add the sour cream and dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 35 minutes, or until the cake is golden and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool. Remove from pan.

5. For the strawberry filling, Halve 24 of best-looking berries and reserve. Quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup). In a food processor fitted with metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices and Kirsch until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled.

6. For Strawberry Frosting, first wash the strawberries well, then hull and slice. Put the slices into a bowl and sprinkle sugar onto and toss well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Drain excess juices from strawberries. Crush and mash strawberries. Beat butter until smooth. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and the crushed strawberries. Slowly beat until sugar is blended in, then beat on medium speed until fluffy. Add more powdered sugar as needed until frosting is a nice spreading consistency. Frost the cooled cake and decorate with sliced strawberries.

7. To assemble the cake, slice cake into two even layers. Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate and arrange ring of 20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. Pour about 1/2 cup of pureed berry mixture in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. Gently spread about 1 t 1 1/2 cup of Strawberry Frosting over berry layer, leaving 1/2-inch border from edge. Place top layer on cake and press down gently. Spread Strawberry Frosting on top layer. Decorate as you want. Serve, or chill for up to 4 hours.

Strawberry Cupcakes

For me, really hate summer. Honestly I do. I do not like the heat or the humidity that comes. I'm the fall and winter kind of person. There isn't really anything at all that I like about summer... Well, I mean, except for the sales.

Fruit sales to be exact. Fruits, like strawberry's, blueberries, raspberries and watermelon are usually pretty pricey during other seasons and I tend to stay away from really getting to much fruit during fall or winter being that they are to expensive! We really don't want to have to pay for it (we're pretty cheap). But when summer comes, we go crazy on buying fruit!

There are so many things to do with fruits. What we usually do is we make a fruit salad (which doesn't last long around here), parfaits, smoothies, baked goods (what I usually do with them), there's so much you can do with fruit. Over here, strawberries have been Buy 1, Get 1, so it's what we've been getting the most. Also, it's my mums favorite. Ever since she started new medication for her lupus, she's been needing to eat a lot of fruit, like strawberries and grapes, because the new medication she's taking will make her gain a lot of weight if she's not careful. And she'd rather not gain weight so she's been trying to be really careful as to what she eats.

I thought we had a lot of strawberries in the fridge right now so I decided to put the strawberries to better (sweeter) use. It won't be that big of a deal to use some of them for myself. The cupcakes are very simple. The texture of these cupcakes are moist and light and I really, really liked them with the cream cheese frosting. The added flavor to the cream cheese is delicious. I didn't know if it would do much for the frosting but the addiction to it was amazing! It was so good! It's classic.

Recipe

For the Cupcakes

1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup strawberry sauce
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs


For the Strawberry Sauce

2 cups of fresh strawberries, stem removed
Sugar to taste


For Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
3 1/2 - 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup of strawberry sauce


1. For the Strawberry Sauce, macerate strawberries with about 1-2 tbs sugar for 15 minutes. Put strawberries in a small saucepan and heat under medium heat with lid on. Cook strawberries for approximately 15 minutes till strawberries cook down and become soft and saucy. Adjust sweetness with sugar until you get the desired sweetness. Using a hand blender, puree until you get the desired smoothness or chunkiness. Cool before using in recipe.

2. For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grab a large bowl and beat the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Measure out milk and strawberry sauce together.

3. Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter mixture and beat to combine. Add about one third the milk mixture and beat until combined. Repeat, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture. Scoop into cupcake papers about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes.

4. For Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting, bring cheese and butter to room temperature. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl. Beat butter and cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add half of the sugar, beat until combined. Add strawberry sauce until you achieve the right color and flavor but making sure not to add too much or the frosting will be too soft. Gradually add any remaining sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

Strawberry Cream Cake

Seems likes it's getting muggier and muggier here in Florida each day. The non stop pouring rain and the rising heat is killer. I love and hate Florida. This being one of the reasons I hate Florida.

Since it's been so very hot out, I haven't really been baking as much as I use to. I mean, why would I stand around a hot oven and sweat my butt off even more than I already am? It also doesn't help that our air conditioner seriously sucks. I swear out conditioner literally loathes us. We've tried so many times to get it fixed, yet, it always decides to brake down and not work. It's always pms-ing!

But, I wasn't going to let the heat keep me from baking for to long. I've been really craving cake lately, which is strange because I don't exactly love cake. I like it, but it's not something I necessarily love. But I wanted it. And the heat was not going to keep me from making cake, no I was not. My mom found a recipe awhile back for a Strawberry Cream Cake in Cooks Illustrated that I knew I wanted to make eventually, but after seeing Lisa's, Pittsburgh Needs Eated, post on the cake, I decided that this was what I was going to make.

The cake turned out excellent! One of the best I've had, seriously. It was so light and so tasty. I couldn't help but get another slice. It was so good. It's a great light and refreshing cake for the summer!

Recipe

Cake

1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs (2 whole and 3 separated)
6 tbsp. butter , melted
2 tbsp. water
2 tsp. vanilla

Strawberry Filling

2 quarts fresh strawberries, washed, dried, and stemmed
4–6 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. kirsch
Pinch of salt

Whipped Cream

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
2 cups heavy cream


1. For the cake,Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour round 9 by 2-inch cake pan or 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and all but 3 tablespoons sugar in mixing bowl. Whisk in 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks (reserving whites), butter, water, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

2. In clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, 60 to 90 seconds.

3. Stir one-third of whites into batter to lighten; add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then cool completely for about 2 hours.

4. For the strawberry filling, Halve 24 of best-looking berries and reserve. Quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup). In a food processor fitted with metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices and Kirsch until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled.

5. For the whipped cream, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes more, scraping bowl as needed.

6. To assemble the cake, slice cake into three even layers (or two like me). Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate and arrange ring of 20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. Pour one half of pureed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. Gently spread about one-third of whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups) over berry layer, leaving 1/2-inch border from edge. Place middle cake layer on top and press down gently (whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge). Repeat with 20 additional strawberry halves, remaining berry mixture, and half of remaining whipped cream; gently press last cake layer on top. Spread remaining whipped cream over top; decorate with remaining cut strawberries. Serve, or chill for up to 4 hours.

Coconut Cupcakes

Fathers Day is here! A lot of people go out for breakfast, lunch or dinner when these kind of days come (like Mothers Day or Valentines Day, etc, etc). However, we who enjoyed home cooking, choose not to. We'd rather just cook at home and just chill. What's better than that? Enjoying good home cooking and not having to care about much at all; That's awesome!

My dad wanted to have some of his favorite foods for Fathers Day. We slow cooked our favorite BBQ Pull Pork, we made Baked Beans, Potato Salad and Texas Toast. It was a lot of food to begin with, and I didn't really think I was going to bake anything. However, when my Nana and Grandpa came over for fathers day, and saw that I didn't bake anything, they were a bit upset. So, I decided that I'd come up with something good to bake.

I didn't really want to bake a cake; I didn't want to have something that not everyone would eat.. So I decided to bake cupcakes! My dad likes coconut, so I thought that it'd be a nice treat for him; And something that won't ruin is day of to much calories (He's a calorie counter like me). I remember seeing this recipe while watching Barefoot Contessa one day and they sounded so good!! I kind of altered mine to be without butter, and it turned out really good. Really, really good! The coconut went well with the cream cheese icing. It was really light and delicious.

This was entered into AFAM for June '08.

Recipe

For the Cupcake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup yogurt
1 cup shredded coconut

For the Cream Cheese Icing

8 ounces cream cheese, cold
4 ounces butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar
Milk to thin


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the oil, sugar and eggs until thick and smooth. Beat in vanilla. In a medium bowl, shift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to the liquid mixture and beat until smooth. Beat in yogurt. Fold in coconut.

3. Scoop batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 22 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack.

4. For the icing, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla extract; then confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, if icing is too thick.

Makes 12-15 Cupcakes

Chocolate Marshmallow Delights

Marshmallows, in all honestly, are not my kind of thing. I'm not exactly the marshmallow kind of girls. Unless they're in a rice crispy or are melted between graham crackers and chocolate, I'm not one to eat it. However, when I cake across this recipe when looking threw one of Martha Stewart's Cookie Book (which is a must have for any cookie lover out there), I had to stop on the page and marvel at the cookies. They looked so good! And I had been in the mood lately for a really good cookies; But not just a simple cookie. So I decided that I'd go ahead and try these.

I really liked the cookies itself before the frosting and marshmallows. It was very cake like. It kind of had the texture like my Peanut Butter Munchies, which, I really like. I liked the frosting idea. It gave the cookies a nice coating over it. But, I think I have a better idea (which I will probably do soon). All in all, there were pretty awesome. Any chocolate + marshmallow lovers out there must try these!

Recipe

For the Cookies

1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. course salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
About 15 marshmallows, halved crosswise

For the Frosting

3 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. whole milk
3/4 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make cookies: Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

2. Put butter and sugar into the bowl and mix on medium high until fluffy and pale, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium low; mix in egg, milk and vanilla. Mix in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined.

3. Using a 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately press a marshmallow half on top of each cookie. Bake until marshmallows begin to melt, 2 minutes more. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

4. To make the frosting, Put powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Melt butter with the cocoa in a sauce pan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add butter mixture to the powdered sugar. Whisk in milk and vanilla.

5. Spread about 1 tbsp. of frosting on top of each cookie to cover marshmallow. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.

Bill's Big Carrot Cake

This months challenge for Tuesdays with Dorie was suppose to be Madelines. However, I do not have one of those pans. And, sadly, I could not find one. I went to a craft store where I normally buy my baking equipment, however, they did not have the madeline pan. I was going to order it, but it would not be in till around Wednesday. It really bummed me out because I really wanted the madelines. But, I did get to make these delicious little cakes!

For the people that didn't have the madeline pan (like myself), we were able to use a recipe that was completed in the past. At first, I was going to make the Gooey Chocolate Cakes. After thinking about it, I really wanted to have the Carrot Cake. I hadn't had one in so long. The last one I had was when I was a little girl! My best friends mother made the best Carrot Cake I had ever had. I've really missed that cake. So, I decided that I was going to make Bills Big Carrot Cake. Instead of making it into a cake, I thought making it into cupcakes would be great. They were so good. Brought back memories. I couldn't believe how moist they were! They were amazing! A total must try I have to say.

Recipe

For Cake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup plump golden raisins
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs


Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tbsp. sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar


1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess (Or divide it among muffin cups).

2. In a bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth.

3. Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the baking pans.

4. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean. The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

5. The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

6. For the frosting, beat cream cheese, butter and sour cream in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth. Cool cake completely before frosting. If desired, sprinkle top of cake with chopped nuts and/or sprinkles.

Mocha Cupcakes

Coffee is most defiantly an addiction of mine. I absolutely love coffee. Anything coffee, I'll have. Baking with coffee, well, its something I love to bake with. From muffins to cupcakes to cookies to pastries. I love it. Muffins are my norm for coffee, but, I really wanted to have a cupcake to do. And what better than to have coffee and chocolate in the little package of a cupcake?

These cupcakes are very moist and super rich that it'll have coffee fanatics like myself jumping with joy. The Kahlua Frosting was fanamnal with these cupcakes. I got the recipe from a friend of mine whom loves cupcakes and loves making homemade frosting. She's totally against store bought frosting (as am I), and when I told her that I was making Mocha Cupcakes, she said that this would be perfect with them. And they were! They were to die for!

Recipe

Cupcakes

1 1/3 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine the milk and brewed coffee. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined.

3. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.



Kahlua Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tbsp. butter, room temperature
2 1/2 tbsp. Kahlua
2 cups powdered sugar


1. In a bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in Kahlua, then powdered sugar in one cup increments until frosting reaches desired consistency. Apply to cupcakes.

Red Velvet Cake

Today, it was my fathers birthday. He usually doesn't like to do anything to extravagant for his birthday. He prefers to just have a relaxing day from everything really. My father is a hard working business man and spends every second of the day dealing with work. He'll get calls at midnight from workers asking him what to do or that they need help. Managing the Orange Business with orange pickers whom tend to forget a lot of things you tell them to do can be rather annoying...

My dad is always thankful whenever he gets a day to just relax and not have a care in the world (though, I think anyone would like days like that). I to like to just relax on my birthday. Its a day in celebration of you. Spend it as you'd want. Which is what my dad did. He had my nana and grandpa (his parents) come over for the day and to have a cook out. Trevor's little friend Phillip as well as Chris also came. My fathers wanted steak, potato's, corn and... His all time favorite cake... Red Velvet Cake.

My dads not to much of a sweet person (nor is many in my family) but when it comes to Red Velvet Cake, my dads all over it. I too have to say that it's a pretty darn delicious cake. One of the best really. And I wanted to make this for my dad on his birthday. The cake is so moist, a very light cake, and so delicious it'll leave you wanting seconds. It's amazing.

Cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 ounce red food coloring
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tbsp. sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round 9-inch cake pans.

2. For the cake, Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with electric mixer until fluffy, about 5 to 7 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually blend in flour mixture, just until incorporated. Do not over blend.

3. Pour batter into cake pans evenly. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely on wire rack.

4. For the frosting, beat cream cheese, butter and sour cream in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth. Cool cake completely before frosting. If desired, sprinkle top of cake with chopped nuts and/or sprinkles.

Makes 12-16 servings

Dad relaxing.

Here's Trevor and his cute little friend Phillip.

My nana. She's a cutie.

My mom... She has a horrible habit.

Rainbow Cupcakes

What lurks behind the beautiful cupcake? Well that'd be my new little stuffed animal Apple! Chris bought me her the other day. She's so cute. She's the only one that I like out of the Hello Kitty collection. I don't really like Hello Kitty, or that white.. thing. Or that... Panda thing. I do like Chococat and Kuririn though. As you can see, I know a lot about the little Hello Kitty collection. I'm a bit of a dork. I learned all the names though from my friends baby sister. She' of was obsessed with Hello Kitty; And all the characters! She had a giant Hello Kitty! It was about 5 feet tall. It kind of scared me...

Anyways, thats all beside the point of the reason I made these cupcakes. To be completely honest, and it may seem kind of weird, but when I look at my little stuffed animal Apple, makes me think of... Spring. All the beautiful and bright colors that come along with the season of Spring. Then I thought, well, I could make bright, spring like cupcakes. Which is how I came along to making these little adorable cupcakes.

These cupcakes are super moist! Very delicious, and so fun to make. You can color them and decorate them however you choose. I even got my little brother and my boyfriend doing it. We all came up with our own little creations and spent time together, enjoying each others company. This is one of the things that I really love about making cupcakes. You can have friends and family help out, and we all came make our cupcakes the way we want and decorate them how we'd like them!

Recipe

For Cupcakes

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Food Coloring


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, beating until combined.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine. Measure out the milk and vanilla, then stir to combine.

3. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.

4. Divide the batter into a few different bowls (However many different colors your using depends on how many bowls you'll have). Put desired food coloring in each bowl. Do it one drop at a time, stirring each addition drop till you get the color you are wanting.

5. Scoop batter into cupcake cups, alternating with different colored batter, and fill to about 2/3’s full. Bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

(Apple was very happy ^_^)

For Soft Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. milk


1. Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy. Sift powdered sugar into the mixer bowl (right on top of the beaten butter). Beat to combine.

2. Add the vanilla and the milk. Beat until combined. Spread on top of cupcakes or cake.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

These brownies were made mainly for my boyfriend Chris who actually asked me if I'd bake him something today. And whenever someone asks me to bake something, especially friend or family, I'm always excited and ready to bake.

When I was sitting down on my bed yesterday, looking threw one of my Baking book by Williams-Sonoma, he asked, "If I find something that I like in that book and really want it, would you bake it today?" Oh course I would! I'm always ready to bake, and I was so happy when he actually wanted me to bake him something.

As he looked threw the book, he at first thought he wanted muffins, but then decided he didn't. He knew he didn't want bread. He didn't want to have my make a big pie, cake or cheesecake when it won't be eaten when made. Then we he got to the brownie section, he was like "Yes!" He then choose these Chocolate Mint Brownies. I was actually happy because I had these brownie bookmarked to bake, so, now I get to finally bake them.

These brownies are very and divine delicious, especially for someone who loves mint (Me, Me, Me!!). I love anything and everything mint. Mint is one of my favor flavors, and these brownies defiantly made me all happy and giggly from it yummy chocolate-ness. What could have made these better? A big serving of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with it!

Recipe

For Brownies

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour

For Icing

1 cup confectioner sugar
3 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. milk, or as needed
2 tsp. peppermint extract
Food Coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 8 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil (or a 9 inch pan for thinner brownies; I did this one).

2. To make the brownies, combine the chocolate and butter in a large heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Let cool slightly.

3. Whisk the sugar, peppermint, vanilla and salt into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition, then continue to whisk until the mixture is velvety. Add the flour and whisk just until incorporated. Four and scrape the batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake until the top is just springy to the touch and toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. About 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

5. To make the icing, combine confectioner sugar, butter, 1 tbsp. milk, and peppermint extract. Stir until necessary, thinning with milk if necessary. The icing should be thick. You can add food coloring to it if you desire.

6. Spread the icing over the cooled brownies. Put sprinkle on top if desired. Cut into 2 inch squares. Remove brownies from the foil. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

DBC: Perfect Party Cake

This month's Daring Bakers Challenge has finally came. And this months was the Perfect Party Cake. I don't know about everyone else, but these last few challenges has been sort of easy. I'm still waiting on something that just really challenges me. But lately that hasn't been the case...

None the less, I was still excited about this months challenge. I'm mean, who doesn't like cake? I pretty much followed the recipe all the way threw, except for the filling. I did not use raspberry because my mothers actually allergic to them. I decided to make a strawberry frosting for the filling because everyone likes strawberries.

I was sort of suprised at how fast this cake went! On the first day I made it, I didn't think to many people would really want to eat some, however, by the time it was 6 pm, more than half the cake was gone! Apparently, my aunt and cousins found out that I had made a cake, and came over to get some. Not that it bothered me, I was actually flattered that they came and got some and loved it.

And it was a very nice came. I especially loved the coconut on top. I toasted my coconut because that how I generally like coconut. It being toasted just tastes so much better in my opinion. This months challenge was a very great cake, and now I'm ready for the next challenge. I'm hoping for something very challenging.

Recipe

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut


1. To make the cake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.

3. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

4. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean

5. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

1. To make the Buttercream, put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.

2. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.

3. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.

4. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

1. To assemble the cake, using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.

2. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.



Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.