Elements » cake

Enjoyin’ Rum Cake (Among other Things) on Vacation

Sheila — Sun, 15 May 2011 15:50:13 +0000

Spending time with my family on vacation this past week has been wonderful, but it sure did go by way too fast! Seems like we no sooner got there than it was time to head back home. Time always seems to go by so quickly when you’re having fun and enjoying yourself, doesn’t it?

Anyway, while we were at my folks’ house, I not only enjoyed visiting, reminiscing, and hanging out with them, but I also enjoyed a lot of good food! Truth be told, I enjoyed the food way too much and ate like there was no tomorrow!

Mom and Dad sure can cook, and let me tell ya, Kemal and I sure can put it away! Reckon we ate enough to pack on a few pounds while we were there, but I’m not too worried about it. I’m sure we’ll work it off soon enough.

Anyway, today I’ll share with you a wonderful dessert my Mom made…a rum cake that is out of this world!!

It’s incredibly moist, and every bite is just heavenly! It has a wonderful rum flavor, and the fluffy coconut frosting is beyond delicious! It’s perfectly sweet and doesn’t come across as heavy at all. On the contrary, the entire cake is light and airy, and believe me, it’ll melt in your mouth!

The recipe Mom used is very, very old and comes from a recipe she clipped out of a magazine about 30-35 years ago. I found the recipe posted at www.cooks.com if you’re interested in making it.

Anyway, I’m sure if you make the cake, you’ll enjoy it as much as I did! Just keep in mind it might be hard to keep from going back for seconds. By the way, I’m curious about something. If you go back for seconds, is it usually for desserts, for the bread, or for the main course and side dishes?

Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chunk Cast Iron Skillet Cookie

Sheila — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:05:59 +0000

There are so many really nice people in the world, and Kyle, a bartender and really nice fellow we work with, is one of those people.

He’s great to work with because he’s hard-working, friendly, respectful, and kind. And if he can ever do anything to help you, he will. You can count on him.

Anyway, last week when Kemal and I were working a double shift, Kyle bought lunch for us. That was such a nice thing for him to do, and he did it out of the kindness of his heart.

So when I found out that Kyle was working a triple shift on Saturday, I decided it would be the perfect day to bring him in a little care package from home.

I figured since he was going to be exhausted and hungry, I’d bring him some homemade buttermilk biscuits and country gravy, as well as something sweet. I decided to make him a large chocolate chip cookie that’s made in a cast iron skillet.

It was easy to make, and I knew I couldn’t go wrong with that choice. I mean, who in the world doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies? I certainly don’t know anyone.

As far as the buttermilk biscuits and gravy…well…Kyle’s from down home…Corbin, Kentucky…and I don’t know anyone in that area who doesn’t love biscuits and gravy.

Anyway, if you love chocolate chip cookies but don’t want the hassle of scooping them out, try the recipe below. It’s a winner!

Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chunk Cast Iron Skillet Cookie

Recipe Source: This recipe is from Abigail Johnson Dodge’s book, “The Weekend Baker: Irresistible Recipes, Simple Techniques, and Stress-Free Strategies for Busy People.”

I came across her recipe on Sophistimom’s website.

Popcorn Cake

Sheila — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 06:16:26 +0000

My partner at work, Eli, just had a baby girl, and I wanted to make him a congratulatory cake. I had planned to make him a pretty pink cake made with rosewater. I thought that would be appropriate for a baby girl. But we ended up having to go get a new battery for our car, and I simply didn’t have time to make it.

But I remembered seeing some really wonderful photos of a popcorn cake on Cookies and Cups (please click here to see wonderful photos) and decided I’d make that for Eli since it only takes about 5 minutes to make it.

So while we were at the shop waiting for the battery to be delivered, we walked across the road to the dollar store and I picked up all the ingredients. I wanted to use Valentine M&M’s so I’d have something pink but they didn’t have any. Nor did they have any pink gummy candies. Then I remembered I had a strawberry creme filled chocolate bar at home so I used that to have something pink. In hindsight, I wish I had used my pink food coloring in the marshmallows but I didn’t think about it at the time. I still think it turned out pretty though.

Turns out that strawberry creme chocolate bits were Eli’s favorite part of the cake, so I’m happy I had one at home to use.

Anyway, after we got our battery changed I had just enough time to make and chill the cake before going to work, and to snap a couple of quick pictures. I wanted to play with different backgrounds when I photographed the cake, but there was just no time. It seriously only takes about 5 minutes to make, it colorful and festive, and it’s a wonderful sweet treat.

Eli took it home with him and told me today how much he loved it. I’m really happy he enjoyed it so much. He said his Mom makes a cake very similar to this but uses Chex Mix. I’ll have to try that one day.

I’m sure this cute cake will be a hit at any party, and you can always change up the candies so it suits your tastes and has certain colors for any given holiday. It would also be interesting to add food coloring to the marshmallows. I have some neon food coloring here at home, and I’d love to make this one day with those bright knock-your-socks-off colors. Fun stuff!!

Popcorn Cake

Recipe Very Slightly Adapted from: Cookies and Cups

Multi-Layer Citrus Sponge Gelatin Cake…The Only Cake Kemal Has Ever Made

Sheila — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 04:53:54 +0000

Kemal’s never made a cake in his life…not even a prepared cake mix that you buy in the store that you just add eggs and oil to. He has, however, frequently assisted me in the cake making process, but other than that, he has absolutely no experience in caking baking…until now that is.

He decided though that he’d try to make me a cake from scratch for my birthday…a citrus gelatin cake that he remembered his mother making for him when he was little. He thought I’d like it because I love anything with natural lemon and orange flavors. And he was right!

Anyway, he wasn’t sure how his mother made the cake; he only had a general idea of the flavors and how it looked. He said she made a sponge-type cake, poked holes in it, and then poured a glaze over it. He said she had a layer of gelatin on top of the cake, as well as a layer of whipped cream on top of the gelatin.

Kemal found a recipe online for cake that he thought was similar to the one his mother made, and then he surprised me by making the lemon gelatin from scratch instead of buying a box of lemon Jello in the store. I was quite impressed!!

Anyway, I really didn’t do anything at all to help him, although I was in the kitchen with him while he was making the cake. He wanted me there for moral support, and of course, I cheered him on!

The birthday cake he made for me turned out awesome! It has a wonderful flavor and is perfect both in taste and appearance! It tastes heavenly, and I love every lemon-orange bite! Here’s what my piece looked like.

Now that I’ve had my cake, my birthday is officially over. Did you know I’ve been having my birthday for six weeks now? Yep…for the past six weeks, Kemal’s been buying birthday presents for me. Every week he’s gotten me something new, and I’ve loved everything! I have to admit though that this fantastic cake that he made for me is my favorite gift by far!

Homemade gifts are always the best because they’re made with care and love straight from the heart!

Multi-Layer Citrus Sponge Gelatin Cake…The Only Cake Kemal Has Ever Made

Sponge Cake Recipe Adapted from: coolinarinka.com

Ingredients for Making the Sponge Cake:

5 large eggs
12 tbsp. all-purpose flour
16 tbsp. sugar

Ingredients for the Citrus Glaze:

2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 lemons, sliced
2 oranges, sliced
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for Making the Lemon Gelatin:

.6 oz. (10 g) unflavored gelatin
8 oz. yellow sugar crystals
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. lemon extract (lemon oil)
4 cups boiling water

Note: If you don’t want to make your own gelatin, just purchase some lemon Jello in the grocery store and make it according to package directions.

Ingredients for Making the Whipped Cream:

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 pkg. whipped cream stabilizer
6 pkgs. vanilla sugar (you can substitute 6 tbsp. of granulated sugar if you don’t have vanilla sugar)
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
zest from two Valencia oranges
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

Step One: Prep Work:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a square 9-inch Springform pan with parchment paper. Use a big enough piece of paper so some of the paper hangs out of the edges after you tighten the clasp of your pan.
Spray the paper and pan with Baker’s Joy.
Wash 2 lemons and 2 oranges.
Grate the orange peel from both oranges, and then refrigerate the orange zest until you’re ready to use it later.
Slice both the oranges and lemons into medium-sized discs. Refrigerate them until you’re ready to use them later.

Step Two: Make the Sponge Cake

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer until you start seeing “trails” or lines behind in the batter. In other words, the beaters from the electric mixer will leave trail lines in the batter at one point. If this doesn’t happen, just add a little more sugar as needed and continue beating until you see the trail (lines) in the batter. When that happens, you’re done beating the eggs and sugar.
Add the flour, one spoon at a time, mixing it into the egg mixture by hand.
Pour the batter into the prepared Springform pan.

Optional: It’s fine to pour all the batter into the Springform pan, but Kemal left about 1/2 cup of the batter in the bowl in order to make two mini cakes. If you want to do that too, just grease and flour two small baking dishes (like ramekins) and pour 1/4 cup of the batter into each of them.

Treat those little mini cakes the same way you do the large one (poking holes in them, letting them cool, and then later transferring them to a parfait glass, adding the glaze, gelatin, and whipped cream).

Here’s a picture of the two little mini cakes that we put in parfait glasses and layered with glazed, gelatin, and cream.

Bake on 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-25 minutes. When the cake is done, it will be golden brown. You can test it to be sure by inserting a toothpick or cake tester. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Remove the cake from the oven so it can cool.
Using a fork, poke holes in the entire cake.

Step Three: Make the Glaze

While the cake is baking, make the glaze by placing the orange and lemon slices, as well as 2 cups of water, in a medium sized pot and bringing it to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover the pot with a lid.
Reduce the heat to medium after the water comes to a boil, and continue cooking (covered) for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Now you want to remove the seeds, fruit pulp, and peels from the water. If you have a sieve, place the sieve over a large glass and/or stainless steel bowl, and then pour the mixture into the sieve.
Pour the citrus water back into the pot, discarding the fruit pulp and peels (or you can pick out the seeds and put it in a kettle of hot tea like I did)
Stir in the 2 1/2 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup of honey, and 1 tbsp. of vanilla into the warm citrus water.
Cook the mixture on the stove (uncovered) on medium heat only until the sugar dissolves (about 10 minutes).
Remove the glaze from the heat and put it in the refrigerator so it can cool some. You don’t want it to cool down completely. You want it to be lightly warm when you get ready to pour the glaze over the cake.

Step Four: Make the Gelatin

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil (uncovered) in a medium-sized pot.
Remove the water from heat, and then stir in the gelatin, .6 oz. unflavored gelatin, 8 oz. sugar crystals, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and 1 tbsp. lemon extract.
Refrigerate the gelatin until it starts to thicken (15-30 minutes).

Note: If you don’t want to make your own gelatin, buy some lemon Jello and make it instead.

Step Five: Make the Whipped Cream

While the cake, gelatin, and glaze are all cooling, make the whipped cream by beating a pint of heavy whipping cream and the whipped cream stabilizer with your electric mixer on a low speed for about 3 minutes or so.
Add 6 packages of vanilla sugar and 3 tbsp. granulated sugar, and 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar.
Continue beating the cream, increasing the speed to high and beating it until the whipped cream becomes thick.
Fold in the grated orange zest.
Refrigerate until you’re ready to assemble the cake.

Step Six: Assemble and Cut the Cake

Pour the warm glaze over the cake. You might have some left over, and that’s fine. You can add it to hot tea or use it as a simple syrup for making cocktails.
Let the cake sit out at room temperature until the gelatin has just begin thickening up a little (the gelatin will still be slightly warm at this point).
Then pour the gelatin over the glazed cake.
Refrigerate for about an hour or so until the gelatin has gotten completely firm.
Then spread the whipped cream on top of the gelatin layer.
If you like, you can sprinkle the top of the cake with dried orange peel, colored sugar crystals, and/or candied orange or lemon peels. Or you can just keep the top of the cake plain…whatever you prefer.
Refrigerate the cake again for 8 to 12 hours.
Remove the edges of the Springform pan.
Slice the cake, and transfer a slice to a serving plate, making sure to transfer the parchment paper.
Serve chilled.

Flourless Chocolate Fudge Cake

Sheila — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 07:37:22 +0000

If you love rich chocolate cakes, you have to give this one a try.

It’s decadent.

It’s rich.

It’s silky smooth.

It’s luscious and creamy.

It melts in your mouth.

And it fully satisfies your sweet tooth.

I think it’s the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had.

This was a birthday cake for our dear friend, Vanja…

as well as for me.

His birthday is one day before mine, and so tonight we celebrated both of our birthdays.

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful meal. And it’s an excellent way to turn yet another year older.

By the way, Kemal took that picture of Vanja last summer.

Anyway, if you adore chocolate, give this cake a try. It’s easy to make, and you’ll be so happy you did.

Flourless Chocolate Fudge Cake

Recipes Sources:

Peppermint Cream Cake

Sheila — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 06:51:56 +0000

I’ve been wanting to make a peppermint cake for a month now, and this afternoon, I finally did it!

I’ve had no visions of sugar plums, but maybe now I’ll stop dreaming of candy canes!

Anyway, you could make the cake with peppermint oil instead of crushed candy canes if you want, but I like seeing the pink flecks in the frosting.

It’s a festive holiday cake that’s not too strong and not too sweet. You can taste the peppermint, but it’s not overwhelming. And it’s sweet but not too sweet. I love this cake; it’s perfect for my tastes.

I’m someone who doesn’t like a lot of frosting. If you like more, you’ll probably need to double the ingredients for the frosting. I barely had enough frosting to icing my cake, and that’s because I didn’t put thick layer of frosting between my layers or on the outside.

So just make more if you’re someone who doesn’t want to skimp on the icing.

Peppermint Cream Cake

Cake and frosting recipe adapted from: www.myrecipes.com and Bake or Break

Pomegranate Cream Wafer Cake

Sheila — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 22:20:50 +0000

Pomegranate cream is scrumptious!!! Yeah…it’s filled with tons of butter, cream cheese, and sugar, but what can I say…it’s worth every bite!! And surprisingly, it’s really not all that sweet. You would think it would be with 2 1/2 cups of sugar in it, but it’s not. The cake tastes heavenly!! I only had a small piece, but I have to tell you I was tempted to eat more!!

We kept half of the cake for ourselves, and we gave the rest to the wonderful team of guys and gals at our apartment complex. They went above and beyond the call of duty last night to help us out. We walked into the office 10 minutes before closing time to tell them our air conditioning was blowing out hot air, and the very nice lady in the office called a technician immediately. Within 10 minutes they were at our apartment to fix it. We felt bad that Jimmy, the maintenance guy, was there until almost 7 p.m. replacing parts, but we were very grateful to him because our apartment was 85 degrees.

We had tons of cooking and laundry to do, and our apartment would have just gotten even hotter. We were already miserably hot and it would have been horrible to have to cook and clean for hours in that kind of heat. Anyway, we wanted to express our thanks and gratitude to them, so we brought them a thank-you note and some cake.

Anyway, the pomegranate cream is very easy to make, and if you’ve never tried these wafer tortes before, they taste just like the wafer cookies with cream filling that you buy in the store.

If you can’t find the Vika wafers wafle tortowe where you live, you can order them.

Pomegranate Cream Wafer Cake

Adapted from: Recipe Goldmine

Here’s a couple of pictures so you can see the how thick I made my pomegranate cream.

After I made this first picture, I realized that while it does show the consistency of the cream, it’s not a very pretty picture. Here’s one that looks prettier.

Here’s a couple of pictures that Kemal took for me so you can see how the cake looks after you’ve finished spreading cream on the wafers.

Now you need to cover the cake with some plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.
Place something heavy on top of the covered cake so the cream can better soak into the wafers. You can use a heavy cutting board or a heavy pan…something like that…just so long as it’s not so heavy that it’ll crush the wafers.
Leave the cake in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
Then transfer the cake to a large cutting board.
Use a very sharp knife to cut the cake into whatever shape/size pieces you want. I asked Kemal to cut our cake, and here’s some pictures I took of him doing so.

In the photo below, the little pieces on the plate are for our immediate eating consumption. And oh how we enjoyed consuming them!!!

After you cut the cake, place the pieces on a serving dish and eat ’till your heart’s content!

Make sure you cover and refrigerate whatever you don’t eat.

Russian Honey Cake

Sheila — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:45:14 +0000

Years ago, one of our co-workers from the Ukraine brought a 15-layer Russian honey cake to work. The cake was unlike any other cake I ever had, and I’ve always wanted to bake one. Finally, after all these years, I did. It’s the cake that Kemal asked me to make for his birthday, and I was happy to oblige. While I didn’t make it 15 layers, this 5-layer cake that I made is way more than enough for the two of us.

The cake is very easy to make…just takes a little time. I’d suggest that you watch part 1 and part 2 of Jeff and Natasha’s You-Tube videos which will show you how to do it. They did a good job at demonstrating how to make the cake.

You don’t need too much in the way of equipment…just a cookie sheet, some parchment paper, a sifter (or a sieve), and a rolling pin. If you don’t have a rolling pin, just use a 2-liter plastic soda bottle or a wine bottle. You’ll also need a small lid that fits on one of your pots. You’ll be using that lid to cut out perfect circles for your cake layers after they’ve been baked.

Our Russian torte turned out beautifully, and we both loved its rich, buttery taste. It’s a dense cake…not at all airy and fluffy, but rather each layer more has the consistency and texture of a soft sugar cookie.

Both of us were quite happy with how the cake turned out although we wished we could have tasted the honey better. Next time I make this I think I’ll substitute some raw honey for part of the sugar in the frosting.

Russian Honey Cake

Recipe Source: Jeff and Natasha You-Tube Video Part 1 and Jeff and Natasha You-Tube Video Part 2

No-Bake Strawberry Refrigerator Cake

Sheila — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:57:58 +0000

I was just dying for some kind of decadent dessert…something chocolaty and creamy. And the strawberries I had in the fridge were calling out to me too…as were the homemade graham crackers I baked the other day. I was also short on time and had no whipping cream in my fridge. I usually keep some Dream Whip on hand for those occasions, and so within 30 minutes, I had a scrumptious dessert chilling in the fridge to be enjoyed after work. Mmmmmmmmmm!!!!

I made three individual cakes that I assembled in square ramekins that a are little bigger than a graham cracker square. After I got home from work, I used a spoon to transfer the cake to a serving plate. Can you believe this is all mine??!!!

Here’s a picture of my cake after I devoured most of it. You can see the graham cracker layers in this picture:

Unfortunately, you can’t see the other two layers of strawberries. But trust me…the other two layers of berries are there, and you definitely get a berry in every yummy bite!! You guys have to try this recipe. It’s fast. It’s easy. It’s sinfully delicious!!

No-Bake Strawberry Refrigerator Cake

Adapted from: the kitchn

Flourless Hazelnut Irish Cream Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Sheila — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:20:44 +0000

A lovely lady and a manager I enjoy working with is leaving. Today is my last day to work with her, and I’ll miss her a lot. I made her a cake last night and will bring it to her this afternoon.

It seems like cakes are my way of sending people off…of wishing them well in their new adventure…of telling them they’ll be missed. I know I’m not unique in this way. Many other people do the same thing. If someone leaves, they send them off with a cake. Why? I don’t know, but leaving with a cake sure is a sweet way to go.

I wanted to make an extra special cake, and this decadent hazelnut chocolate cake seemed perfect. It’s rich and ooey-gooey without being sickingly sweet. In fact, I didn’t find it to be a sweet cake at all, but it was so filling, I only needed two bites to feel satisfied.

Are you wondering how I managed to taste the cake when I haven’t even taken it to my manager yet? Well, I cheated. I reserved a little batter and made me and Kemal a teeny-tiny individual cake. Even though it’s a cake for one, we split half of it last night and will split the other half tonight after dinner. Here’s a picture so you can see just how moist and rich this cake really is. It’s one of the most scrumptious cakes I’ve ever had! It really is decadent!

I wish you could take sample it, but I’m afraid you’ll have to make it yourself.

Before you do make it, let me just warn you about the toasted hazelnuts. They’re a huge pain in the butt! Yeah, I know that when you toast nuts it’s supposed to bring out the flavor, but those skins are stubborn and very difficult to remove. I spent a long time trying to get them off, and what’s funny is I really didn’t notice much of a difference in taste between the toasted hazelnuts and the untoasted ones I nibbled on. When I compared toasted versus untoasted, I decided the difference in flavor was so subtle that it wasn’t worth the effort to try to toast and remove the skins when I make this cake next time. But that’s just me…you certainly might disagree.

As for the Baileys Irish cream liqueur, well…all I can say is yum, yum, yum!!!

Flourless Hazelnut Irish Cream Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Adapted from: Bake or Break: Adventures of an Amateur Baker

Cooking Note #1: Your cake is not going to be dry inside. It will be a very moist cake, so the toothpick test doesn’t really work. When I inserted a toothpick, it came out reasonably clean, but there was a moisture on the toothpick. That’s fine. You’re just going to have to watch your cake carefully and you’ll be able to notice the difference in the top of the cake. You’ll be able to see it browning despite the dark color of the cake.

Cooking Note #2: The next time I make this cake I’ll just use untoasted hazelnuts since the whole process of toasting the hazelnuts took a very long time and I didn’t notice that toasting them made them taste better.