Halloween special: chocolate spiderweb cupcakes

IT'S HALLOWEEN TYME. Leggo.

For the cupcakes:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the frosting:

3 cups confectioner's sugar
8 ounces cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the spider webs:

1 cup dark chocolate candy coating

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare 18 cupcake molds with cupcake liners.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into cupcake molds.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting. Using an electric mixer, on medium-high speed, combine cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Once the cupcakes are done cooling, frost using a piper with a large tip, or make a make-shift piping bag using a thick, quart-sized plastic bag. Fill the bag with frosting and cut a hole at the tip of one end. Then squeeze the frosting out onto the cupcakes.

Last, melt candy coating in a microwave in 30-seconds intervals, stirring well in between, just until melted. Transfer melted candy coating to a piping bag or plastic zip-lock bag; snip a verrrrry small hole in the end of the bag. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Pipe freehand spiderweb designs. I made a few extra to eat. Nom.

Top the frosted cupcakes with the spiderwebs. Voila!

Cake recipe from Hershey's, everything else by Broma!

Molten chocolate lava cakes

I really am not sure what to call these guys. It's basically just chocolate on chocolate on chocolate. Honestly I can't think of anything to say because I just want to post these photos more than anything. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? 

For the lava pudding cakes:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and 2 tablespoons of the cocoa into a medium sized bowl.

Add the milk, melted butter and vanilla and mix until just combined. The batter will be very thick, but don't worry, this is how is should be! Spread the batter evenly in the bottom of 6 8 ounce ramekins.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and remaining 4 tablespoons of cocoa. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over the batter in the baking dish (you'll sprinkle about 3 tablespoons into each ramekin)

Then pour the boiling water over the top of the contents of the ramekins (1/4 cup each). Do not mix.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm! 

Recipe adapted from movita beaucoup

Quadruple chocolate loaf cake

Oh yeah. Words. This cake is great. So moist, thick, dense but not grossly filling. Awesomeeeeee.

For the Cake:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
3/4 cups soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (unless you'd prefer milk chocolate ones)

For the Syrup:

1 teaspoon cocoa
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (from a thick bar if possible)

For the record, this recipe write-up is in Nigella Lawson's words. She's a bit flowery with her language. It's like reading a nineteenth century how-to-be-a-lady book. Also, undercook this cake. It makes it extra fudgey.

Take whatever you need out of the fridge so that all ingredients can come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 350°F, putting in a baking sheet as you do so, and line a small loaf tin with greased foil - making sure there are no tears - and leave an overhang all round. Or use a silicone tin.

Put the flour, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream into the processor and blitz until it's a smooth, satiny brown batter. Scrape down with a rubber spatula and process again while pouring the boiling water down the funnel. Switch it off then remove the lid and the well-scraped double-bladed knife and, still using your rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips or morsels.

Scrape and pour this beautiful batter into the prepared loaf tin and slide into the oven, cooking for about 1 hour. When it's ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle and a cake-tester, or a fine skewer, should come out clean. But this is a moist cake, so don't be alarmed at a bit of stickiness in evidence; rather, greet it like a friend.

Not long before the cake is due out of the oven (when it's had about 45-50 minutes) put the syrup ingredients of cocoa, water and sugar into a small saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. You may find it needs a little longer - what you want is a reduced liquid, that's to say a syrup, though I often take it a little further, so that the sugar caramelizes and the syrup has a really dark, smokey chocolate intensity.

Take the cake out of the oven and sit it on a cooling rack and, still in its tin, pierce here and there with a cake tester. Then pour the syrup as evenly as possible over the surface of the cake. It will run to the sides of the tin, but some will have been absorbed in the middle.

Let the cake become completely cold and then slip out of its tin, removing the foil as you do so. Sit on an oblong or other plate. Now take your bar of chocolate and cut with a heavy sharp knife, so that it splinters and flakes and falls in slices of varying thick- and thinness. I've specified a weight, but judge it by eye - when you think you've got enough to scatter over the top of the loafcake, stop slicing. Sprinkle these chocolate splinters over the top of the sticky surface of the cake.

Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson

Lavender-infused semolina cake

Oh. My. God. This cake.

It's been so warm outside lately and it's just making me want to eat summery things. Light and fresh and airy things. Plus sometimes I tell myself that summer desserts have fewer calories because they don't rely as heavily on, like, chocolate. Right? That's totally valid. I mean normally I'm a chocolate girl all the way, but sometimes I'll stumble upon a recipe that completely quells my chocolate-tooth. And this one did that entirely. But then I run into problems when something is so good that I go back for seconds... and thirds. Then my calorie theory is shot to shit. But I still justify my eating by saying "hey at least there's no chocolate in here, I totally can't get fat from this."

I think I should just move to California and bake out there. It'll always be warm and I'll bake with flowers and herbs and pretend I'm eating less than I am.

For the cake:

3 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 cup yogurt
1 cup vegetable or corn oil
3 tbsp flour
1 cup semolina
1 tbsp vanilla
½ tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp grated lemon zest

For the syrup:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons dried lavender flowers (they sell these by the ounce at Whole Foods)

Preheat the oven at 350ºF. Beat eggs and sugar well. Add yogurt and oil and mix. Then add the other ingredients and mix. Oil a square 8×13 pan and pour the batter in it. Bake it until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put water and sugar in a pot and bring it to boil. Let it boil for about 5 minutes, then put lavender flowers in the syrup. Turn off the heat immediately. Allow syrup to cool on stove.

Pour the cold syrup on the cake, in portions if it doesn’t absorb the syrup fast enough. Chill in the refrigerator and cut into squares before serving.

Recipe based off of Honey and Butter's Revani cake.

Red velvet redux

I've used this exact Martha Stewart recipe before in cupcake form, but I couldn't resist posting it a second time because the cake is just so. freaking. good. I made it for one of my housemate's birthdays and- well, that's a lie. Another one of my housemates and I made it together. It was adorable. Anyways, it turned out absolutely fantastic. The cake is extra moist because it calls for oil and not butter, which is a huge plus. Oh, Martha, you never cease to impress me. Even given your incarceration...

Makes one, two-tiered 9-inch cake

For the cake:

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup hot (but not boiling) water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons white vinegar

For the frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter two 9-inch cake rounds; dust with cocoa, tapping out excess. Set aside. Whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.

Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds. Mix in the hot water until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks.

Once the cake is cooled, using a serrated knife cut off the convex tops from both cakes, leaving your cakes with flat tops. Crumble the discarded cake tops into tiny crumbs to be used as a garnish for later. Set aside.

While the cakes are baking, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, mix together the softened cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract. Add the confectioner's sugar in batches until the frosting comes together and there are no lumps. Let cool in a refrigerator until the cakes are ready to frost.

Frost your cake as you normally would, using about a third of the frosting for between the two layers, the top, and the sides of the cake. Finally, sprinkle the cake crumbs around the sides of the cake, spreading evenly. YUHM SO GOOD.

Cake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Wedding Cakes

Better than sex cake

Hi, I'm a cake with a ridiculous name, and I don't look very pretty. In fact, I'm really, really ugly and un-photogenic. But I taste awesome. So awesome.

The name. It refers to the combination of pineapple and coconut infused in a vanilla cake. I didn't make it up, apparently this is a legit thing. Go ask Paula Dean. Not really sure if it's bette... yeah. But I will say it's pretty fantastic ;)

For the cake:

1 box of vanilla cake mix, along with whatever ingredients the mix calls for (eggs, oil, water)
20 ounce can of crushed pineapple, with juice separated from pineapple
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut flakes

For the frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 stick salted butter, at room temperature

For the topping:

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut flakes

Preheat the oven according to cake mix directions.

In a large bowl, prepare the mix according to cake mix directions. Add in the drained, crushed pineapple and the shredded coconut. Pour into two greased 9" round cake pans and bake according to cake mix directions.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl and using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Next add the confectioner's sugar in small batches, beating after each addition. You can store the frosting in the fridge until the cake is ready to frost.

When the cake comes out of the oven, let it sit for ~10 minutes, then flip it out of the pan and make small indentations with a fork throughout the cake. Pour 2-3 ounces of the pineapple juice saved from earlier over each cake. Allow to soak for at least 20 minutes before assembling cake.

Place remaining 1 cup of coconut on bakesheet and bake until golden brown, 6-9 minutes. Make sure to stir the coconut half way through. Be very watchful of the coconut-- it takes seconds for toasted to turn to burnt.

Frost the cake in layers, then add the shredded coconut to the top. Et voilà!

Recipe by me

Apple roundup and a cinnamon apple cake

I ruvv fall. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and the colder temperatures mean I can start wearing sweaters again. Oh, and it's apple season. Apples. My favorite fruit. Crunchy, sweet, tart, fresh, and absolutely delicious. So naturally I jump at any opportunity to make apple desserts. Here's a quick recap of my previous apple adventures:

Upside-down apple biscuits: delectable little guys. 

Scrumptious apple pie: an elegant pie perfect for company. 

Applesauce spice cake: one of the best cakes I've ever eaten. 

Apple cinnamon coffeecake: my go-to fall cake. So dense and flavorful. 

And now to add to the list, this cinnamon apple cake! It's super moist but also light, and makes a lot of cake, seeing as half of the volume is apples. So that means half the calories, right? No, who am I kidding. It means twice the portion size.

Yaaaay. Fall. 

For the cake:

4 1/2 cups diced apples (roughly 3 apples)
3/4 cups medium brown sugar

3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

6 ounces plain or greek yogurt

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
whole or slivered almonds to decorate (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F and grease a medium baking pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, and the rest of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, gently mixing the ingredients just until combined. Mix in chopped apples.

Pour the batter into the baking pan, making sure it is evenly distributed. Decorate the top of the cake with a handful of almonds.

Bake in an oven for 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the pan. Allow to cool completely before serving. 

Recipe adapted from the whinery. 

Beaches, yoga, and cake pops

This week we're up at our family house in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our house is situated on a northward-facing cove on Bell's Island, one of the LaHave islands. It's my favorite place ever. And so far the weather couldn't be better, considering the islands have been getting a lot of bad weather prior to this week. We've been going to the beach every day, and the water is surprisingly warm for up here! The other day Rebe and I journeyed with our grandmother/Noni into town to do errands, and we stopped at a magical place called the Bulk Barn. It's a store full of every single food item you can think of in these bulk containers, making it easy to buy as little or as much of something as you'd like. Down the first aisle I found chocolate of every which sort. The second aisle, piping supplies. The third, cake mix (by this point my head was full of ideas for what I could bake with all this stuff). The last aisle was full of sprinkles in different colors and sizes. I looked to Rebe and said, "Wait, but... I'm in love with bulk barn."

We finally decided on cake pops on account of their general awesomeness. Everyone loves cake (or at least those who matter...). And everyone loves finger-food. Then what better way to enjoy cake than in a bite-sized morsel with sprinkles on top? So we gathered our supplies (lollipop sticks, cake mix, white chocolate wafers, $0.06 worth of pink, blue, yellow, and rainbow sprinkles), and headed for the checkout.

Now back on the island with Friend Simone, swapping music and going out to the wharf to do some sunset yoga.  Lovely, lovely day.

Makes 40-50 cakepops

For the cake bit:

1 box vanilla cake mix, prepared according to directions
1 16 ounce can of vanilla frosting

For the frosting:

1 pound white chocolate wafers

Additional: 

Lollipop sticks

Sprinkles!

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)

Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. 

Melt 90% of the chocolate in a double boiler on medium heat. Once melted, turn the heat down to low and add the other 10% of the chocolate. Using a whisk, stir until dissolved completely. Turn up the temperature to medium for about 2 minutes. The chocolate should now be tempered and ready to use! If it starts to harden, just turn on the heat for a minute until it re-melts.

Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted chocolate and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)

Place them in the freezer for no more than 10 minutes to firm up.

Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the chocolate coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off.

Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.

Place in a styrofoam block to dry.

Once chocolate is pretty much dry, decorate however you'd like with sprinkles!

Recipe adapted from Bakerella.

July 28th cake

I've been thinking about this for about a week and a half because it's my BIRTHDAY CAKEEEEE. Because baking is like rully important to me, this cake was destined to be a winner from the start. Everyone I talked to laughed when I said I was making my own cake, but the way I see it... why would I leave it in the hands of someone else? That way if it came out horribly I would have only myself to blame....

But it came out great, so no worries. Like, super great. So great that Lanie asked if I got it at Whole Foods. Lol'ing.


For the cake:

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup hot (but not boiling) water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons white vinegar

For the raspberry bit:

1/2 pint fresh raspberries

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon gelatin

For the heavenly lemon frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

zest of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups confectioner's sugar

5 drops lemon essential oil

2 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter cupcake rounds; dust with cocoa, tapping out excess. Set aside. Whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.

Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds. Mix in the hot water until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks. Using your fingers, take one cupcake and crumble it into tiny crumbs to be used as a garnish for later. Set aside.

While the cakes are baking, make the raspberry bit. In a small saucepan, melt butter on a low heat. Add raspberries, stir. Add brown sugar, lemon juice, and gelatin and heat until the berries break apart into a soupy consistency, about 3 minutes. Pour into small ramekin and allow to cool in a refrigerator for approximately 2 hours.

Next, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, whip butter and egg yolks with an electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla extract, lemon essential oil, and lemon zest and mix until combined. Add in confectioner's sugar in 3 batches, mixing between each addition. Let sit at room temperature before frosting!

Place one cake on a cake stand, spread raspberry bit on top. Place the second cake on top. Frost the entire thing with the lemon frosting. YAAY JULY 28TH!

Cake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart. Frosting/jam by me!

Oatmeal plum upside down cake

I'm so glad I have friends that eat as much as I do. Today Lanie came over and obviously I was in the kitchen. I was also really hungry, which is a bad thing to be before baking, so I decided to pull out some cookie dough from the fridge and munch on it while making the batter for this cake. Lanie, of course, did the same.

Then the batter was finished and we put the cake in the oven. Lanie couldn't pull herself away from the cookie dough, so I asked if she just wanted me to whip up a batch in the oven. She looked at me, her bod not wanting to say yes but her sweet tooth screaming DUH. The sweet tooth won.

So at this point we had a cake and some cookie dough in the oven, and of course we left a bit of dough out to eat right then.

By the time Rose came over the cake was finished and we all helped ourselves to a big slice.

Then Lanie ate more cookies.

It was hillarious.

We sat around and talked like good friends do. I'm not going to include the part where I got sugared out and fell asleep a couple hours later, so this is where I stop...


For the cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 eggs

6 ounces sour cream (or plain yogurt)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the upside down:

1 large plum

1/2 cup regular oats (not instant!)

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

small pinch of cloves

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

4 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan, set aside.

Cut your plum into slivers, about 12 to each half. Place in a circular pattern on the bottom of the greased pan.

Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter in a small pan and mix with the brown sugar until the sugar granules are gone. Take off heat and add in the oats. Pour the entire mixture over the plums (mixture will be thick, feel free to spread it out to coat the pan evenly with a metal spoon).

In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream until blended. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring the entire time as to prevent lumps from forming. Pour the batter over the plum and oatmeal in the cake pan. 

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean!

Recipe by me! 

the best chocolate cake in the world

Don't believe me? Try it for yourself. Seriously. The end. 

Makes one, two-tired 9-inch cake

For the cake:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1/8 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/3 cup milk

shaved semi-sweet chocolate, for the sides

Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder, and milk until there are no lumps. 

Once the cake is cooled you may begin to frost your cake. Start by skimming of the tops of the cakes with a large serrated knife to ensure the cakes are even and do not puff up in the center. Frost the cake as normal, using the most frosting on the top of the cake. Using a butter knife, create crescent-shaped divots in the cake, moving from the outsides to the center until you've gone all the way around the cake. If you wish, make a swirl in the middle so you can't tell where you started and where you ended your divots. Shave semi-sweet chocolate using a peeler and decorate the outside edges of the frosted cake.

Fin!

Recipe adapted from Hershey's

Red velvet in a jar

I know they don't look that appetizing, but these red velvet cupcakes in a jar are sure delish. It's surprising that they use as little cocoa powder as they do, because the cake itself has a really moist, rich, chocolatey flavor. It came out even better than I thought, actually, considering I tweaked the recipe a bit (don't kill me, Martha). And you can take them on picnics, too. That's pretty awesome.


For the cupcakes:

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup hot (but not boiling) water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons white vinegar

For the frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter cupcake rounds; dust with cocoa, tapping out excess. Set aside. Whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.

Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds. Mix in the hot water until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks. Using your fingers, take one cupcake and crumble it into tiny crumbs to be used as a garnish for later. Set aside.


While the cakes are baking, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, mix together the softened cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract. Add the confectioner's sugar in batches until the frosting comes together and there are no lumps. Let cool in a refrigerator until the cakes are ready to frost.

Use 12 or 16 ounce mason jars to can the cupcakes. Start by cutting each cupcake in half width-wise. Spoon a teaspoon of frosting into the bottom of the jar to act as glue to prevent the cupcakes from moving around. Position your first cupcake half on the bottom of the jar. Now, using a 3 ounce scoop, put a rounded scoop of frosting on top of your cake half. Add the second layer of cake, continuing with a second rounded scoop of frosting on top. Depending on the size of your jar, you can add a third cupcake layer, followed by a third scoop of frosting. On the top of each jar sprinkle a small bit of cupcake crumbs from the cupcake you set aside earlier. Top with a jar cover and take to go, or keep it cover-less and eat immediately! Can be stored air-tight for up to 3 days.

Cake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Wedding Cakes

Lemon poppyseed cake with lemon vanilla glaze

I leave for work at 6:30 every morning, so all I had was this little bit of morning light to photograph this beautiful cake. It was then promptly taken into work for Manager Emily and Heather. Manager Heather consequently took it home to Boyfriend Finn who, by direct quote, called this cake "Maybe the best I've ever eaten. And I'm not one for hyperbole." Cool I won. Heh heh.

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 tablespoons poppyseeds
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoons vanilla extract
zest and juice of 2 lemons

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a second bowl, mix butter, milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and stir until mixed. Add poppyseed and the juice and zest of one lemon, stirring until just combined. Pour the mixture into a large, greased bundt-pan. Bake for roughly 35 minutes, until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the cake.

While baking, mix together the zest and juice of another lemon with the 1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar. (this amount is very variable depending on how much juice you get from your lemon, so add more confectioner's sugar if you want a thicker glaze, or water for a thinner consistency).

Once the cake is cooled, turn it upside down and pour the glaze over the cake. Serve warm or cold!

hershey's chocolate frosting meets david leibovitz's banana cake

Let's have a party.

Makes one, two-tired 9-inch cake

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream, room temperature

2 cups banana puree (3 to 4 large bananas)

For the frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3 cups confectioner's sugar

1/8 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Using a large whisk, whisk to combine.

In a stand mixer with with the paddle attachment on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and espresso powder (or coffee powder) and beat to just combine. Add the eggs one-at-a-time, beating well until completely incorporated.

Mix in half of the flour mixture, followed by the sour cream (or buttermilk or yogurt) and banana puree. Reduce speed to stir, stir in the remaining flour mixture, then stir in the pecans (or walnuts) just until combined. Do not over mix.

Divide the batter evenly among the 2 prepared baking pans. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centres of the cakes comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder, and milk until there are no lumps. Once the cake is cooled, frost and serve! 

Easy peasy pineapple upside down cake

Kiirsten has never had pineapple cake. Who is Kiirsten? Who is pineapple cake? My awesome friend; my awesome cake. So naturally the two should meet. And today we made it happen. We started out the day by walking around Walden Pond in the cold but beautifully sunny weather. It was a serene and peaceful walk and much enjoyed. However afterwards we were brutally cold. So naaaturally we decided it necessary to bake a warm dessert. I don't know what made us in a tropical fruit mood, but something in us whispered "pineapple caaaake." And then we went to work. It's a surprisingly simple recipe and one that takes little to no technical effort for those baking-challenged. Plus it makes for a beautiful presentation! It was a perfect way to end our day :)


Makes one 9"x13" cake

For the cake:

1 standard cake mix
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 20 oz can sliced pineapples (in pineapple juice)
1 6 oz jar maraschino cherries

eggs and oil as according to package directions

My little ranger in the snow

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar until the sugar is melted and not grainy. Pour into a 9"x13" pan and spread evenly over the bottom (if necessary, place pan with brown sugar mixture into the oven to let mixture melt even more, making it easier to spread around). Place pineapple slices evenly over the brown sugar mixture and DO NOT DRAIN THE PINEAPPLE JUICE-- SAVE IT! Drain cherries, place a cherry inside each pineapple circle and decorate the cake however you'd like with the remaining ones.

Then, prepare cake mix according to package directions, substituting the water for pineapple juice from your can (a 20 oz can contains roughly 8 oz of pure juice). Pour mixture over your prepared brown sugar/pineapple/cherry spread. Bake according to cake package's directions (probably 20-35 minutes).

Immediately after taking the cake out of the oven, flip over onto a serving plate. Yum yum done.

Chocolate chip coffee cake

I'm watching Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa right now. She's talking about bringing dinner to a woman who's just moved down the street from her posh East Hampton digs. And guess what she says? She says, "This will be a great way to welcome her to the hood." What, Ina? If there were one place on earth that was the opposite of a hood, it would be East Hampton, NY. Sorry. I know this has nothing to do with coffee cake. I just couldn't stop laughing when I heard her say this, and now it's on my mind.

So, uh, how about that coffee cake. I feel bad because it really deserves more recognition than I'm giving it. It hits your craving for a chocolate bar, a cake, and a moist gooey thing all in one. Yuh-hum. My mom has made this coffee cake since I was little, and every time it is a new experience in my mouth. And it's one of the few desserts I've had that tastes just as good room temperature as fresh out of the oven. It's great! And I cannot stress enough how overcooking this will seriously detract from its full potential of greatness. So reeeally stick close to your oven so do a knife check for cooked-ness. As soon as your knife comes out clean, take the cake out! Trust me, you'll be happy you did :)

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plain yogurt/sour cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and flour a large bundt pan and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, yogurt, and vanilla. Add in eggs, stir. Incorporate flour, baking soda, salt.

Meanwhile, using a fork, whisk together brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour half of the batter into the bundt pan and smooth using the back of a spoon. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture over the batter and swirl into batter using a fork or knife. Pour in the second half of the batter and swirl the rest of the brown sugar mixture over it. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then plate and serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Caroline's train cake

I made a cake. And a train. It's kind of a train cake. I used this basic pound cake recipe, and a store-bought buttercream (dis one!), and some food coloring. The "C-E-A" is a take on the A-C-E trains on the NYC subway system, only C-E-A are the initials of my friend Caroline. Though Caroline is a now 20 year old girl, this cake is perfect for 6 year old boys. Or girls. Whatever floats your boat. Regardless, it's really adorable and I'm proud of the result :)


For the train:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup canola or safflower oil
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour into a standard-sized loaf pan and bake for ~35 minutes, or until knife comes out clean when inserted into pan. Let cool completely.

While the cake is baking, separate frosting into two parts (one should be 1 cup, the other should be 3 cups). One will be fore the main layer of the cake and the rest will be used for piping later on. Dye the larger 3 cups the color of your choice for the outside color of the train. Set aside.

On a cutting board, using a serrated knife, skim off the sides of the pound cake so the sides form a 90° angle with the board. Then, slowly frost each side, being careful to keep the buttercream even. Once the cake is frosted, put into a fridge for 30 minutes so the buttercream can harden (this will make it easier to pipe later on).

Use the remaining 1 cup of frosting to decorate the cake as you please. Obviously, I separated that 1 cup into 3 colors and did my piping thang. I used a 3 mm piping tip.

The rest of the cake is really open to creativity! So do what you'd like and happy trails!!

Apple cinnamon coffee cake

My mom has been baking this coffee cake for years, and each time it's like a new experience in your mouth. It's dense and caky at the same time, and the cinnamon adds a smidgen of autumn-ness. It's a simple recipe that begs to be made over and over throughout the cold months!

For the batter:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups plain yogurt
1 stick butter
2 green apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (~1/4 centimeter thick)

For the swirlies: 

3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon


Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, mix together with a fork the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large microwavable bowl, melt the butter until soft. Add sugar first, then eggs, vanilla, baking powder and soda, yogurt, and salt. Once mixed, add the flour in batches, making sure to stir between additions.

Butter and flour a large bundt pan. Pour in half of the batter and sprinkle half of the swirlies mixture over it. Using a fork, push in swirlies to integrate them into the batter. Place half of the apple slices over the batter. Repeat with the second half of the batter, sprinkling almost all of the swirlies (leave ~2 tablespoons) over the top and then place the remaining apple slices on top. Sprinkle the remaining swirlies over the apple slices. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until knife comes out clean when inserted into cake. Eat it right out of the oven, or let cool and refrigerate for days!

Marble cupcakes with mocha icing

This week I made these cupcakes with the kids I babysit for. We had a lot of fun swirling the chocolate and vanilla, talking about the difference between baking soda and baking powder (fail.), and eating copious amounts of batter. That being said, these cupcakes are a really fun recipe to bake with kids, as they are quick and easy and jazz up otherwise normal chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. It's like having your chocolate cake... and eating your vanilla cake too... hehe.

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs

1 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 bars semisweet chocolate, melted

For the frosting:

3 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1-2 tablespoons brewed espresso

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and stir until mixed.

Separate the mixture in half. Add the melted chocolate to half of the mixture and stir until incorporated.

Line a cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers. Using an ice cream scoop, spoon the plain (not chocolate-y) half of the mixture into the cupcake molds. Then, over that batter, add the chocolate batter. Take a knife and stab it through each individual mold so that the mixture becomes swirly. Don't be afraid to really move the knife around-- it's harder than you'd think to overmix the two batters.

Cook for ~20 minutes, until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the cupcakes.

Meanwhile, in another large bowl, using a mixer, combine butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Once cupcakes are cool, frost! 

Basic vanilla cake recipe adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

Rainbow cake

With the weather so chilly and all, I’ve been looking for a little warmth and brightness in my life. So imagine my delight when I remembered I had once seen the most happy-making cake ever: a rainbow cake. It is the first Broma recipe I have not wanted to eat due to its sheer beautiful-ness. Yeee! I can’t get over it. It’s so pretty.

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoons vanilla extract
red, yellow, green, and blue dye

For the frosting:

6 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and stir only until mixed (There will be lumps, but you’ll stir more later on). Using a 3/4 cup measuring cup, separate the mixture into 7 small bowls. To make each color, use the following table:

Red: 12 drops red
Pink: 2 drops red
Yellow: 5 drops yellow
Green: 3 drops green ,1 drops yellow
Light Blue: 2 drops blue
Dark Blue: 6 drops blue
Purple: 5 drops red, 2 drops blue

Grease 2 8 inch diameter cake pans, the line them with parchment paper. Pour the two colors into the pans, respectively. Place in oven for roughly 10 minutes, until knife comes out clean when inserted into pan. Let cake cool completely before removing from pan. Repeat 3 more times until all mixtures get baked.

In another large bowl, using a mixer, combine butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Set aside.

Once everything is cooled, place purple cake right side up on a cake plate. Lightly frost the top, then add the dark blue layer. Frost, then add the light blue layer. Continue process until all layers are frosted. Finally, frost the outside of the cake with the remaining frosting. At last, cut a slice and see the wonder that is rainbow cake.

Basic vanilla cake recipe adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook