MangiaMore: almond ANNIVERSARY cake

RER 4.24.15

If I could, I would bake a cake everyday — a cake to suit my mood, a cake to satiate my cravings, a different cake to share with my nearest and dearest. If I could I would bake cakes all of the time.

If only cake didn’t have calories. Le sigh.

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RER 4.24.15

This time, my cake had a reason, a worthy occasion: to celebrate my parents’ 33^rd wedding anniversary (!!). It had to be delicious, something super tasty for my parents who deserve so much more.

I had no desire to play it safe, so I turned to Molly Yeh, whose beautiful cakes and treats inspire envy and admiration.  And once I remembered her Valentine’s Day Almond Cake, I knew it was the one.

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This was another egg heavy recipe, but separating yolks and whipping whites was felt more natural, and every other aspect of the cake was fun and easy. 

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I strayed from the recipe when it came to frosting. My father (and frankly, I) was uninterested in a whipped cream frosting, so I opted for my buttercream mainstay. I completely understand why the recipe offers a light almond whipped cream frosting. All those glossy stiff egg whites made for an airy and bubbly cake that was sweet but not dense at all. A lighter frosting would have complimented the bouncy cake, creating a lovely cake pillow.

But buttercream…

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My icing choice set up delicious contrasting textures while heightening the almond flavor and upping the decadence factor (it was a special occasion, duh). The tang of cream cheese toned down the sweet saturation and made for easy spreading. A celebration calls for an adult twist, so a little Kahlua and much more Disaronno went a long way in my slightly chocolate frosting.

Once again, Happy Anniversary parentals!!

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4.24.15

RER 4.24.15

MangiaMore: APPLESAUCE cake

RER 10.6.14

And it happened again. Sometimes I can't help it. I find myself scrolling endlessly through pretty baking blogs and the Martha Stewart website drooling after the delicious baked goods and beautiful layer cakes. A variety of flavors and shapes, sizes and textures, levels of difficulty and technique. There are fluffy cakes with egg whites folded in, or dense bread like cakes studded with nuts. That's nothing. There's buttercreams in a rainbow of colors; cooked frostings, boiling on the stovetop; and glazes, sweet and dripping.

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RER 10.5.14

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RER 10.5.14

And then it happens. I haaaave to make something. This time I desperately needed to make a layer cake. Despite searching the World Wide Web, I found the cake recipe in our tattered Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook (1996). The Applesauce Cake was easy enough to be fun and it wasn't laden with butter like some of my favorite bookmarked cakes (I will come to those more buttery, more difficult cakes later...Cupcake Wars). But as usual, we had to adjust, just a tad, subbing pumpkin pie spice for our own measured mix of spices.

This cake is practically a one-bowl wonder. It gets texture from applesauce and its fall feeling from the warm mix of spices. In our book, Betty recommends either a cream cheese frosting or a maple buttercream. Embracing the cooler weather and the crisper air we opted for the delicious maple frosting.

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Applesauce Cake

adapted from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

2 ½ C all purpose flour

1 ½ C unsweetened applesauce

1 ¼ C sugar

½ C water

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom and sides of pan.

Beat all ingredients in a large bowl with mixture on low scraping constantly. Then beat on high for three minutes and scrape occasionally.

Bake in rectangle pan for 45-50 minutes or two 8 inch round pans for 40-45 minutes.

Cool and frost with Maple Buttercream or your favorite frosting!

Maple Buttercream

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup of butter

½ cup maple syrup

Mix powdered sugar and butter in a medium bowl.

Stir in maple syrup.

Beat until smooth and to preferred consistency. Add more syrup or powdered sugar if necessary to achieve spreadable texture.

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AJR 10.5.14

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The cake was spicy sweet dense and redolent of fall evenings and cozy moments. Each note of subtle heat brought comfort and struck a strong chord with the sweet earthiness of the maple in the buttercream. It was moist and spongy, and kinda great. Can’t wait for my next slice.

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10.5.14

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re.CAP: PEAR almond cake & cinnamon brown sugar buttercream

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RER 6.11.14

For some reason, I have recently been in a strange baking frenzy. I can’t even tell if it started with the Caramel Cake or if that was just one of the data points on the graph. Whatever it is, we just don’t need baked goods at all times in our house. I guess, I just have had sweet thangs on my mind. 

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So, my friend and I coordinated, and we made a cake. The intentions were all good. After  reviewing other recipes (which might crop up later), we decided on a Pear Almond Cake with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Buttercream from Country Cleaver.

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Unfortunately, after cutting the pears, everything went a little down hill but there was definitely no dip in fun. First, I couldn’t find the blades for the food processor to chop up our pears to bits and transform them into a smooth puree. Not a problem; we used a different machine.

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And then, the oven didn’t work. Yes, correct, the oven was NOT working. The light went on, it beeped, but it never got warm. I put my head in there and nothing  happened. In fact, it felt cooler in there than it did in the kitchen. All was not lost, batter and greased pans were rushed to my friend’s residence and baked there.

From then on it was almost smooth sailing, until it appeared we did not have enough frosting to hold the cake together and maintain an aesthetic façade. Frenzy ensued while more browned butter was made and watched cool to whip up another half batch of frosting.

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With less than no time to spare, the cake was completed but we had zero seconds to taste it. It was a long wait, but enduring the torture until after the gym to taste our cake was completely and utterly worth it.

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Now this cake, dubbed a ‘fall cake,’ had some of those autumnal notes like the spicy cinnamon, aromatic almond and toasty pear, but something about it felt lively and fresh. It was light enough to be a tidy summer treat, but decadent and layered enough to be comfortable in cooler temperatures. The grainy sweetness of the pear was subtle and coddled by the warmth of the almond extract, while the raw brown sugar and browned butter created texture in the frosting. I mean, it was just plain delicious.

RER 6.11.14

RER 6.11.14

This just goes to show that things do not always start out smooth, but pushing through can have sweet results (see what I did there?). I can not wait to make this cake again (I should say this time just I participated, mainly measuring and taking pics), maybe with a few adjustments per usual! Shout out to my friend for good times and scrumptious cake. Looking forward to our next baking adventure!

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6.11.14

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