Norwegian Pound Cake

Posted on July 18, 2012 by sparecake

This is a really simple pound cake that has a nice crisp outside and is topped with chocolate frosting. The frosting uses eggs in a way I’d not seen before in frosting, and is quite tasty.

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 3/4 pound butter (3 sticks), room temperature
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 3 cups self-rising flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I just used more vanilla, as I prefer it)

Frosting:

  • 8 ounces chocolate bits (I used semi-sweet)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 pound butter, room temperature
  • drop almond extract (used vanilla again)

Combine all the cake ingredients in the bowl of your mixer and beat on medium speed for 20 minutes. While that’s beating, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a bundt pan.

You may wonder why you’re beating so long and consider stopping after 5 minutes, but I did find that the batter got lighter in color and looked fluffier by the end. Pour the beaten batter into your prepared bundt pan.

Bake 1 hour 20 minutes.

Turn out immediately onto a wire rack and cover with a clean dishtowel while it cools.

To make the frosting, first melt the chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave, then let cool several minutes. Beat the eggs and butter together, then add in the chocolate. Beat in the almond extract.

We weren’t patient enough to let the cake cool completely, so I just heaped the frosting on top, figuring it’d melt down the sides a bit. I’m not sure what a more attractive way to frost a bundt is. It’s a pretty thick, solid frosting, at least until the heat of the cake made it start dripping.

I really liked both the tastes and textures of this cake. Two thumbs up!

Norwegian Pound Cake

From Forum Feasts (haha Amazon has copies from $8.10 to $264.40. WHAT.)

Cake:

  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 3/4 pound butter (3 sticks), room temperature
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 3 cups self-rising flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Frosting:

  • 8 ounces chocolate bits
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 pound butter, room temperature
  • drop almond extract

Combine all the cake ingredients in the bowl of your mixer and beat on medium speed for 20 minutes. While that’s beating, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a bundt pan. Pour the beaten batter into your prepared bundt pan and bake 1 hour 20 minutes. Turn out immediately onto a wire rack and cover with a clean dishtowel while it cools.

To make the frosting, first melt the chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave, then let cool several minutes. Beat the eggs and butter together, then add in the chocolate. Beat in the almond extract. Frost cake as desired.

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Frozen Hot Chocolate

Posted on July 16, 2012 by sparecake

After typing up the fluffernutter pie recipe, I did end up looking through the rest of the Fluff cookbook. There were a bunch of things I liked the look of, including some frozen hot chocolate. This weekend I went to New York and got a frozen hot chocolate at Dinkies  and it was really good, so I wanted to see how the Fluff one compared.

The Dinkies frozen hot chocolate.

I think the Dinkies one was a bit smoother, but the Fluff one…well, it had Fluff, which I love. I think I would have liked it even better with a dollop of Fluff at the bottom of the glass. (Tonight was the first time I ever considered lining a glass with Fluff…)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cold milk
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 large spoonfuls of Fluff
  • 6 ice cubes
  • whipped cream and/or chocolate for garnish

Put the milk, cocoa, Fluff, and ice all in a blender.

Blend 30 seconds, or until smooth. Don’t let ice chunks hide in the bottom, as they’ll be annoying to crunch on later. Serve in a glass and garnish as desired.

Soooo classy! It makes about twice that much.

It’s not the richest chocolate thing ever, but it’s pretty refreshing and very tasty. Worth trying out, especially considering how fast it is to throw together.

It’s also an awful easy recipe to type up!

Frozen Hot Chocolate

From the Yummy Book.

  • 1 cup cold milk
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 large spoonfuls of Fluff
  • 6 ice cubes
  • whipped cream and/or chocolate for garnish

Put the milk, cocoa, Fluff, and ice all in a blender and blend 30 seconds or until smooth. Garnish as desired.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Sugar Cookies

Posted on July 13, 2012 by sparecake

Do you ever start looking for recipes and just go “uuuughhhh oh noooo” because there are 10,000 variations and you don’t want to have to figure out which one is best? Well, one of my relatives gave me The Best Recipe, the Cooks Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen cookbook. I’m pretty confident using these recipes and knowing that someone did zillions of trials to get the very best cookie/duck/polenta, and I don’t have to worry about it. (Ok, blog over, get the cookbook and go home. Oh, wait, no don’t! I’d be so lonely!)

I wanted some green cookies this week, as it was the playoffs in floor hockey and my team’s shirts are green. Fabulously enough, they were victory cookies, and the Mighty Pucks are the champions!

Winning is sweaty business.

Anyways, cookies…

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Adjust the oven racks to upper and lower middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl or pie dish. I replaced some of the regular sugar with green sparkly sugar.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls, and roll each ball in the sugar. Place the balls 2 – 2 1/2″ apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Butter the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass or ramekin, then dip in sugar. Gently flatten the dough balls to 3/8-1/2″ thick, dipping the glass back in sugar after every 2 or 3 cookies.

Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until 10-11 minutes, or when the cookies are pale golden. Most of the browning on mine was right at the edges.

Let cool 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer with a wide spatula to a rack to cool completely.

These are some pretty fabulous sugar cookies – I’m willing to believe they’re the best, which is certainly what the Mighty Pucks deserve!

Sugar Cookies

From The Best Recipe.

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Adjust the oven racks to upper and lower middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl or pie dish.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls, and roll each ball in the sugar. Place the balls 2 – 2 1/2″ apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Butter the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass or ramekin, then dip in sugar. Gently flatten the dough balls to 3/8-1/2″ thick, dipping the glass back in sugar after every 2 or 3 cookies.

Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until 10-11 minutes, or when the cookies are pale golden. Let cool 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer with a wide spatula to a rack to cool completely.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Fluffernutter Pie

Posted on July 11, 2012 by sparecake

One of the desserts I made for the wedding in Kansas City last weekend was a fluffernutter pie. The people that make Fluff have a whole cookbook, but I’ve never even really looked through it, for whatever reason, I just go straight to this recipe because I know I love it. Everyone that got some at the wedding seemed to love it too!

Looks a bit of a mess now, but it’s fabulous!

Ingredients:

  • 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
  • 1 cup cold water
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup Marshmallow Fluff
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1 prepared Oreo crust

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the cold water with the gelatin and let it sit for 1 minute. Place on the stove and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, vanilla, and remaining 1/2 cup cold water.

Exciting, I know.

Add the peanut butter and fluff.

Beat together with an electric mixer until smooth and evenly mixed. If you don’t have a hand mixer, you can pour the water mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer before adding the fluff and peanut butter. I suppose you could also beat together by hand, but oy that sounds like it would take effort.

Avoiding spatter.

Cover and refrigerate several hours until the mixture forms solid mounds if you scoop out a spoonful and drop it.

Beat the whipping cream to stiff peaks.

Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture, stirring gently until evenly combined. Turn out into the Oreo crust and refrigerate another hour or two until set.

Optional steps:

Bring to wedding.

Yay, I made that cake too!

Have friends consume.

Hmm while I’ve got the link open, might be time to finally check out the rest of the fluff cookbook…

 Fluffernutter Pie

From The Yummy Book (page 9).

  •  1 envelope unflavored gelatin
  • 1 cup cold water
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup Marshmallow Fluff
  • 2 cups heavy or whipping cream
  • 1 prepared Oreo crust

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the cold water with the gelatin and let it sit for 1 minute. Place on the stove and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, vanilla, and remaining 1/2 cup cold water. Add the peanut butter and fluff and beat together until smooth and evenly mixed. Cover and refrigerate several hours until the mixture mounds when dropped from a spoon.

Beat the whipping cream to stiff peaks. Fold into the peanut butter mixture, stirring gently until evenly combined. Turn out into the Oreo crust and refrigerate until set.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

BRB

Posted on July 9, 2012 by sparecake

Although I’d been building up a small queue of posts lately, I was gone all last week to Kansas City to prep for the wedding of some of my favorite people, and burned through them. Here’s what you missed while I was gone.

There was lots of eating!

Lots of baking in a kitchen made for giants!

Lots of good decorations!

Lots of awesome people!

Lots of home-made desserts gettin’ all classy!

And not a lot of sleep!

Back Wednesday, when I’ll have had enough sleep to type up a recipe!

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Cornbread and Sausage Stuffed Apples

Posted on July 6, 2012 by sparecake

I saw this recipe, wanted to make it immediately, and then lucked out when we randomly got a free box of Stovetop stuffing. Perfect! The only problem I had was that there were only tiny apples at the supermarket. I think if you can get bigger apples, it’ll be way easier to scoop them out, and they’ll make better bowls.

Ingredients:

  • 1 6 ounce package cornbread stuffing mix
  • 1/2 pound ground pork sausage, loose not links
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 5 Rome apples (or 6 tiny apples)
  • 1 medium-size sweet onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 cup cider vinegar

Prepare the stuffing according to the package directions, then set aside. Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat until no longer pink, and set aside. You can dump them both in the same bowl if you’re low on counter space.

Stir together the lemon juice and water.

Cut the apples in half, from the top down. Using a sharp, pointy knife, cut out the insides of the apple, leaving a 1/4″ shell. You might also find a grapefruit spoon helpful. As you hollow out each half, brush the cut edges and inside with the lemon juice mixture to help prevent browning.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Chop the apple insides into small pieces, discarding seeds and cores, then combine with the chopped onion in the pan you cooked the sausage in. Saute 6-8 minutes, until onion is tender.

Stir together the apples and onions with the sausage and stuffing, adding the parsley as well.

Crumple strips of tin foil into rings.

Dump any excess lemon-water out of the apple shells, then put each on a foil ring in a baking pan.

Spoon the stuffing mixture into the apples, piling it up as high as is stable.

You’re supposed to pour the cup of cider vinegar into the bottom of the pan, to steam while they bake. I forgot to do this, and don’t know how much it adds. I’ve been asked to make this again, though, so will maybe find out soon!

Spoon any extra stuffing into a loaf pan or 8X8″ baking dish.

Bake apples and extra stuffing 30-40 minutes, until apples are tender.

Delicious! I really liked the filling, and the apples cups were fun.

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffed Apples

From MyRecipes.com.

  • 1 6 ounce package cornbread stuffing mix
  • 1/2 pound ground pork sausage, loose not links
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 5 Rome apples (or 6 tiny apples)
  • 1 medium-size sweet onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 cup cider vinegar

Prepare the stuffing according to the package directions, then set aside. Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat until no longer pink, and set aside. Stir together the lemon juice and water.

Cut the apples in half, from the top down. Using a sharp, pointy knife, cut out the insides of the apple, leaving a 1/4″ shell. You might also find a grapefruit spoon helpful. As you hollow out each half, brush the cut edges and inside with the lemon juice mixture to help prevent browning.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Chop the apple insides into small pieces, discarding seeds and cores, then combine with the chopped onion in the pan you cooked the sausage in. Saute 6-8 minutes, until onion is tender. Stir together the apples and onions with the sausage and stuffing, adding the parsley as well.

Crumple strips of tin foil into rings.

Dump any excess lemon-water out of the apple shells, then put each on a foil ring in a baking pan. Spoon the stuffing mixture into the apples, piling it up as high as is stable. Pour the cup of cider vinegar into the bottom of the pan. Spoon any extra stuffing into a loaf pan or 8X8″ baking dish. Bake 30-40 minutes, until apples are tender.

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Banana Nutella Bundt

Posted on July 4, 2012 by sparecake

Super easy, super chocolatey, super for breakfast! God I love chocolate for breakfast.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2  cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2  cup  brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1/4  teaspoons salt
  • 1  cup mashed banana (about 2 bananas)
  • 1/4  cup melted butter
  • 1/2  cup nutella
  • 1/4  cup milk
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Grease a bundt pan, then set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, yeast and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the banana, butter, nutella, and milk.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry goods, stirring just until the dry goods are evenly moistened.

Stir in the cup of chocolate, then transfer to the bundt pan.

Cover, and let rise 1 hour. You could probably refrigerate overnight instead, and just take out of the fridge in the morning for as long as the oven takes to preheat, but our fridge was too full to test that method.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Uncover, and bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the bread/cake comes out clean.

Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out and either eat immediately, or cool on a wire rack.

I recommend eating it warm, while the chocolate chips are still gooey. Fabulous!

Banana Nutella Bundt

Adapted from Treat & Trick.

  • 1 1/2  cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2  cup  brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1/4  teaspoons salt
  • 1  cup mashed banana (about 2 bananas)
  • 1/4  cup melted butter
  • 1/2  cup nutella
  • 1/4  cup milk
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Grease a bundt pan, then set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, yeast and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the banana, butter, nutella, and milk. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry goods, stirring just until the dry goods are evenly moistened. Stir in the cup of chocolate, then transfer to the bundt pan. Cover, and let rise 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Uncover, and bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the bread/cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out and either eat immediately, or cool on a wire rack.

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Chicken with Moroccan Hot and Sweet Tomato Sauce

Posted on July 2, 2012 by sparecake

I’ve been looking for a bunch of chicken recipes lately, as one of our frequent dinner guests won’t eat anything else. Someone I (sort of?) know from some defunct Boston music based message boards posted this recipe recently, and I knew right away it would be good. I was still sort of impressed, though, by how much everyone liked it. Definite keeper! My version’s slightly different from the original, due to more mouths to feed/an inability to read recipes, and…because I felt like it. Gotta keep it interesting!

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 – 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, more as needed
  • salt and pepper as needed
  • 8 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger (I can’t read and used a lot more than called for, but don’t think it was a negative, so use the higher amount if you like ginger, the lower if not)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  •  2 tablespoons dark honey (if you can’t find that, use regular honey)
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Pour the can of crushed tomatoes into a pot and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then stir in 4 tablespoons of the butter, continuing to stir until melted. Simmer a minute or two further, still stirring, then remove from the heat and set aside.

Put the onions and garlic in the food processor and process until smooth. I didn’t bother chopping the onion into very small pieces, as the food processor is entirely capable. Set aside.

In a large pan, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the chicken pieces.

Roughly centimeter wide strips.

When the oil has heated enough that it’s shimmering, add some of the chicken strips, leaving enough space between them that they don’t touch.

Ask me about my space management skills. Don’t ask me about the grease now all over the stove.

Cook until golden on the bottom, then flip. When browned on both sides, remove to a dish. It’s ok if they’re still pink in the middle, as they will be cooked further. Continue cooking until all the pieces are golden, adding more oil if necessary.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter to the now empty pan. Add the garlic/onion paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to smell sweet. Add the cayenne, cinnamon, and ginger and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce and honey, stir together, and cook another 2-3 minutes until the sauce has warmed up.

Add the chicken back to the pan and stir to ensure it’s covered all over with sauce.

Put a lid on it and cook over low heat until the chicken is fully cooked in the middle, 15-20 minutes.

The recipe suggested serving with couscous, I served with a bucket of quinoa. The sesame seeds are to be sprinkled on top when serving. We’re not big on seeds, so I skipped that.

As I said, people really liked this, especially the cinnamon flavor that comes through. There was probably enough for 6 if you’re all light eaters, or four…people who appreciate dinner.

Chicken with Moroccan Hot and Sweet Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Joe Cooks.

  • 1 1/2 – 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, more as needed
  • salt and pepper as needed
  • 8 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  •  2 tablespoons dark honey
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Pour the can of crushed tomatoes into a pot and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then stir in 4 tablespoons of the butter, continuing to stir until melted. Simmer a minute or two further, still stirring, then remove from the heat and set aside.

Put the onions and garlic in the food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.

In a large pan, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat until shimmering. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the chicken pieces. Add chicken strips, leaving enough space between them that they don’t touch. Cook until golden on both sides, then remove to a dish. Cook remaining pieces, adding more oil if necessary.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter to the now empty pan. Add the garlic/onion paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to smell sweet. Add the cayenne, cinnamon, and ginger and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and honey, stir together, and cook another 2-3 minutes until the sauce has warmed up.

Add the chicken back to the pan and stir to ensure it’s covered all over with sauce. Cover and cook over low heat until the chicken is fully cooked in the middle, 15-20 minutes.

Serve over couscous or quinoa and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

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Lemon Pudding Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on June 29, 2012 by sparecake

Last floor hockey of the regular season, last…batch of cookies for the regular season? Guess so! My mother’d bought a bunch of lemon pudding that it turned out she didn’t need, so I looked around for a lemon pudding cookies recipe, then slapped some frosting on top. Why on Earth not?!

“Slap on some frosting” looking a bit too literal here…

Ingredients:

Cookies:

  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 3.4 ounce box lemon pudding mix
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting:

  • 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

In this recipe, any time there’s a step in the mixer, just assume you should scrape down the bowl at least once – don’t let any unmixed bits stick to the bottom!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line to baking sheets with parchment and set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the pudding mix and beat until smooth.

Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Spoon rounded tablespoons onto the lined sheets.

Bake 9-10 minutes.

Let cool several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting. They’ll flatten out some while cooling.

To make the frosting, first beat together the butter and cream cheese. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth, then add the lemon extract and beat again. If you really don’t want to buy lemon extract, you can try lemon juice, but you will probably need more to get as strong a lemon flavor, which might require more powdered sugar if the frosting then gets too thin…

You can make sandwiches if you like…

But mostly I just put some frosting on top. 30 cookies seems like way more than 15 sandwiches!

The pudding makes a tasty flavor, and the cookies are quite light and soft. If you leave the cookies out for a while after frosting, the frosting will harden up and you can transport them (say, to hockey) without getting frosting all over the place.

Lemon Pudding Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Cookie adapted from Missy’s Kitchen Adventures.

Cookies:

  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 3.4 ounce box lemon pudding mix
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting:

  • 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line to baking sheets with parchment and set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the pudding mix and beat until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Spoon rounded tablespoons onto the lined sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes. Let cool several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, first beat together the butter and cream cheese. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth, then add the lemon extract and beat again. Frost the cookies, either on the tops, or frosting the bottom of one and making a sandwich with another cookie.

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Chocolate Battenberg Cake

Posted on June 27, 2012 by sparecake

It’s the end of the month, which means it’s once again time for a Daring Bakers post! This month Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenberg Cake challenge! She highlighted Mary Berry’s techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease. The traditional Battenberg has nuts in it, is glued together with apricot preserves, and has a marzipan coating. Barf. I made a Battenberg I’d actually eat, which means chocolate, chocolate, and glued together with caramel sauce.

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk

Chocolate Plastique:

  • 7 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 2 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • caramel sauce

The first thing to do, if you don’t have a pan specifically for making this cake, is to set up your pan. Fold a piece of foil so that it’s several layers thick, 2-3 inches tall, and wide enough to divide an 8X8″ square pan.

Fold parchment paper in a W around the foil, cutting the parchment so that it’s the width of the pan, and long enough to cover the bottom on each side of the foil divider.

Grease the bottom and sides of the pan, and then press the parchment down onto the butter with the foil divider in the center of the pan. This worked way better than I expected.

Set the pan aside and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir the cocoa powder into the milk and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, sifting 3 times to ensure they’re well sifted and free of lumps.

In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla until frothy.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth and shiny. Beat in the powdered sugar in 3 additions, beating after each. Add the egg mixture in three batches next, again beating after each. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Divide the batter as evenly as you can into two bowls. Transfer two tablespoons of batter from one bowl to the other. Beat the cocoa mixture into the bowl with the slightly less batter.

Let’s do this!

Spread the two batters in the cake pan, one on each side of the divider.

It’s a good idea to put a bit more batter on the outsides, so that they start off higher to offset if the cake domes in the center. That way you don’t have to cut off much to make even cake squares later. I wish I had done this a bit more.

Bake 25 – 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the chocolate plastique, melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir in the corn syrup and stir until it comes together in a mass, away from the sides of the bowl. Pour onto greased saran wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours until firm.

When the cake has cooled and the chocolate is almost done chilling, level the top of the cakes, then stack them and even out the sides. Cut them in half, lengthwise.

Set the cake aside and take out the chocolate plastique. Knead until pliable, then roll out to about 1/8″ thick. “Flour” with powdered sugar as necessary. Mine never got super pliable, but I beat it into submission with a rolling pin.

Roll until it’s as wide as the cakes are long, and long enough to wrap around the cakes.

Put one vanilla and one chocolate piece of cake next to each other and brush their tops with caramel sauce.

Place the alternate flavor cake slice on top of each, then coat the sides where the two stacks touch each other with caramel sauce. Coat all the outside surfaces with caramel sauce also, then place top-side down on the rolled out chocolate.

Gently fold the chocolate up around the cake, squaring off the edges with your fingers. Fold the chocolate over the top, cutting off any overlap.

Gently press the seam closed, then invert the cake. If desired, make a checkerboard pattern in the chocolate by running the back of a knife over it. I was able to press pretty firmly without the cake collapsing. Cut off the end to reveal the patterned cake.

And that’s it! You’ve made a pretty awesome looking cake! Nice work.

I fully support this flavor combination!

Battenberg Cake

Cake:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk

Chocolate Plastique:

  • 7 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 2 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • caramel sauce

To recreate a Battenberg cake pan, first fold a piece of foil so that it’s several layers thick, 2-3 inches tall, and wide enough to divide an 8X8″ square pan. Fold parchment paper in a W around the foil, cutting the parchment so that it’s the width of the pan, and long enough to cover the bottom on each side of the foil divider. Grease the bottom and sides of the pan, and then press the parchment down onto the butter with the foil divider in the center of the pan.

Set the pan aside and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir the cocoa powder into the milk and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, sifting 3 times to ensure they’re well sifted and free of lumps.

In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla until frothy.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth and shiny. Beat in the powdered sugar in 3 additions, beating after each. Add the egg mixture in three batches next, again beating after each. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Divide the batter as evenly as you can into two bowls. Transfer two tablespoons of batter from one bowl to the other. Beat the cocoa mixture into the bowl with the slightly less batter.

Spread the two batters in the cake pan, one on each side of the divider, spooning the batter slightly higher at the ends. Bake 25 – 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the chocolate plastique, melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir in the corn syrup and stir until it comes together in a mass, away from the sides of the bowl. Pour onto greased saran wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours until firm.

When the cake has cooled and the chocolate is almost done chilling, level the top of the cakes, then stack them and even out the sides. Cut them in half, lengthwise.

Set the cake aside and take out the chocolate plastique. Knead until pliable, then roll out to about 1/8″ thick. “Flour” with powdered sugar as necessary. Roll until it’s as wide as the cakes are long, and long enough to wrap around the cakes.

Put one vanilla and one chocolate piece of cake next to each other and brush their tops with caramel sauce. Place the alternate flavor cake slice on top of each, then coat the sides where the two stacks touch each other with caramel sauce. Coat all the outside surfaces with caramel sauce also, then place top-side down on the rolled out chocolate.

Gently fold the chocolate up around the cake, squaring off the edges with your fingers. Fold the chocolate over the top, cutting off any overlap. Gently press the seam closed, then invert the cake. If desired, make a checkerboard pattern in the chocolate by running the back of a knife over it. Cut off the end to reveal the patterned cake.

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