Buttermilk Layer Cake: Vanilla Or Chocolate Frosting

Photo: The New York Times

Buttermilk layer cakes are what generations of Southern women made for Sunday dinner. They are cakes suitable for birthdays and summer cookouts. After looking at recipes from the New York Times and the Joy of Cooking, which were identical, I came up with a recipe too. Think fluffy, vanilla cake that can be left simple; or easily enhanced with favorite ingredients like nuts, coconut or chocolate.  

I like to add a half cup of finely ground nuts to my batter:

Butter Milk Layer Cake (with nuts)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter (= 1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk

Debbie's version: 1/2 cup of finely ground walnuts or pecans

Directions:

1) Using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.

2) Add the eggs and vanilla.

3) Add the dry ingredients followed by the buttermilk.

4) Toss in the ground nuts for oomph.

5) Pour into 2 greased 9 inch baking pans and bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the center produces a crumb.

6) Remove from the oven. Let sit for 10 minutes, then scrape and remove from the pans to cool completely.


Decide on a frosting: Vanilla; Chocolate; Coffee; or something else. (Sometimes a plain, white, vanilla cake hits the spot!)

Butter Cream Frosting (Vanilla flavor):

Photo: Wacky Wonderful

Ingredients:

1 cup condensed milk
2 cups powder sugar, plus more. (Add from the box until you get a thick, but spreadable frosting constituency.)
1/2 stick of butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For Chocolate Frosting: Melt 6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate. I often melt a large dark chocolate bar (or 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips) that I have in my cupboard. (Cocoa powder works also.)  

For a mocha flavor, add a teaspoon of instant coffee.

Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl, add the ingredients and with an electric mixer and beat until creamy.

2) Frost the middle, sides and top. You can put the cake in the refrigerator, then frost it a 2nd time just like professional bakers, if you like.

Top the frosting with additional chocolate shavings, coconut flakes or ground nuts if you wish. Bon appétite!


You may also enjoy:
Eat A Peach Cake
Czechoslovakian Cookies
Let's Eat Hummingbird Cake
Coffee Walnut Cake: High Tea My Way

Coffee Walnut Cake: High Tea My Way

Photo: Darren McGardy, the royal chef's website

I'm thinking of hosting a High Tea. The afternoon meal consists of finger sandwiches (such as cucumber and egg), scones, muffins or crumpets, and if you really want to get fancy, a glass of Champagne. Well ... as an American, I don't have to be as strict as an upper class Brit. In lieu of muffins and crumpets, I'm serving a walnut cake.

Here is a recipe I tweaked from the New York Times. I like the addition of instant coffee to the walnut cake and frosting, but I use the ingredients in different measurements. (Because. I can't leave well enough alone!) I also prefer buttermilk and the use of an electric mixer. So voilà ... the following is my recipe:

Coffee Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup sugar

Photo: New York Times

2 sticks butter
4 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried cinnamon
1 tablespoon instant coffee
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rum (or Bourbon)
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup finely ground walnuts (I grind the walnuts in a food processor. Dilute with a tablespoon of flour to keep it loose.)

Directions

1) In a bowl, mix the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer. 

2) Add the next 10 ingredients in order and beat with the mixer.

3) Fold in the ground walnuts.

4) Pour into 2 buttered and floured 9'' cake pans. 

5) Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes or until a tester produces a crumb.

6) Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans, then cool completely.

While the cake is baking prepare the frosting, cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Coffee Walnut Frosting

Ingredients:

Photo: Hammons

3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1-2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup chopped walnuts to sprinkle on  top of the frosting.

Directions:

1) Combine the 1st 4 ingredients into a smooth frosting.

2) Frost the top, center and sides. Place in the refrigeration for 10 minutes and frost the cake again like a professional baker if you wish. Double frosting makes a cake look bakery flawless!

3) Garnish with the walnuts on the top and sides of the cake.

The spirit of High Tea lives on across the pond! I plan to serve tea and this delicious cake on pretty china; the finger sandwiches on a tiered stand; and decorate the table with a vase of pretty pink roses. Also I may serve a light soup (like cream of broccoli; or tomato). In America, we so often eat soup with sandwiches.

Hmm ... do you think anyone will miss their muffins or crumpets?😊

You may also enjoy:
Eaters Beware
Most Daily Vitamins Are Worthless
The 5 Second Rule For Food Is Untrue
Greenmarkets, Community Gardens And CSA's

A Classic 3 Layer Carrot Cake

Photo: theheritagecook - 8'' carrot cake

My usual carrot cake is this recipe. But today I'm turning carrot cake into a birthday cake by making a rich, but not altogether unhealthy recipe from Southern Living. A birthday cake must have layers, right? Yes, it must!

Carrot Cake - turned up a notch:

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (Sometimes I use part whole wheat flour.)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (= 1 stick)

1/2 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)
3 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup flaked coconut
1 1/2 cup toasted pecans
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup peeled and grated apple

Directions:

Take out two mixing bowls - one for dry and one for wet ingredients --
1) Wisk together the first seven (dry) ingredients, uniformly.
2) Stir together the next five (wet) ingredients, one at a time, beating with an electric mixer if you wish.
3) Combine the wet and dry agredients together. Incorporate, but don't over beat.
4) Fold in the grated carrots, grated apple, flaked coconut and toasted pecans.
5) Pour the batter into, choose one: (a) 3-greased 8 inch; or (b) 2-greased 9 inch cake pans.
6) Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a tester (I use a metal potato nail; you can use a fork) comes out clean.
7) Remove the cakes from the oven, and let cool 10-15 minutes. Next remove from the pans and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese
1/3 cup milk
1 box powder sugar
2 teaspoons real vanilla (I use more.)

Directions:

1) Mix all the ingredients together. Start with the cream cheese and milk. Add as much of the powder sugar as needed to get the right rich, yet creamy consistency. 
2) If you use 9 inch cake pans, you can carefully slice the center of each baked cake after cooled to get 4 layers, if you wish. (So depending on how ambitious you are, you will need to frost 2, 3 or 4 layers of cake.) As usual, frost the top, layers and sides of the cake. Extra tip: Professional bakers frost a cake 2-3 times to make it look beautiful. Refigerate the cake to let the icing set before repeating.
3) Finish by sprinkling the top with additional toasted pecans.

Judging by the crumbs and a lick of the frosting, this is a delicious cake. Can't wait for everyone to taste it! 

Lots of candles to add. Yikes, we are getting soo old!

9 '' carrot cake

You may also enjoy:
90 Degree Days Ahead
My Love Letter To Queen
The Summer Songs Of Yesteryear
Celebrate The 4th of July With The Everly Brothers

Party Perfect Coconut Pecan Cake

Photo: piesandplots.net

Let's declare June the start of cake season! We have summer birthdays in my family, so that's what it becomes. Not to mention the need to bring desserts to gatherings and cookouts.

Here is a recipe that won a best in show prize for Virginia Price at the Laramie County Fair in Wyoming. The cake was featured on The Chew, as well as, A Taste Of Home. The sugary topping along with the pecans remind me of Southern desserts. It has a duo texture that is moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside. For all of its deliciousness, the cake is surprisingly easy to make:

Cake ingredients:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar (Too sweet for me! I use 1 cup sugar)
1 cup butter (I lighten it up a bit by reducing the butter to 1/2 cup and adding 1/2 cup applesauce.)
2 teaspoons coconut extract
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions for the cake:

1) In a large bowl, mix the first eight ingredients in order until moist, but don't over mix.
2) Stir in the coconut and pecans.
3) Spoon into a well greased brundt pan and bake at 350 degree F for 60-70 minutes, or until done in the center.
4) Let cool for about 10 minutes, and remove from the bundt pan. Transfer to a serving plate.

Ingredients for the syrup topping

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon coconut extract

Confectionery sugar for dusting.

Directions for the Topping

1. In a sauce pan on the stove top combine the water, butter and sugar.
2. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.
3. Turn off the heat and add 1 teaspoon of coconut extract to the syrup.
4. Next pour the hot syrup over the warm cake.
5. Let cool and soak for 4 hours. It will form a crust. 

If you like, dust the cake with confectionery sugar, a little shredded coconut and ground pecans before serving.

You may also enjoy:
Let The Barbecues Begin
Let's Eat Hummingbird Cake
9 Ways To Save Money At The Supermarket
Chocolate Was Once A Beverage For The Rich

What A Lovely Zebra Cake

Photo and recipe created by Cookies, Cakes and Carbs. Video here.

My family celebrates a lot of summer birthdays. We either buy torte cakes from a good European bakery, or make cakes, using real vanilla, dark chocolate and nuts. We try to eat cakes worth their calories. This year I'm making a zebra cake. Doesn't it look devine? 

For your benefit, I will type the recipe below, as well as, link it to its original source. Tweaks: To my cake batter, I will add ¼ cup of very finely ground, toasted walnuts ... and to the black batter ONLY ... a little ground dark chocolate and instant coffee. Reportedly, you can't substitute butter for vegetable oil in the cake batter, or you won't get the zebra design. So don't do it! Butter makes the batter too thick for the design to take effect.

Zebra Cake

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar (I use ½ cup less.)
¾ cups vegetable oil (I use a light olive oil.)
1 teaspoon vanilla (I use more.)
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup milk
white, pink, and black gel food coloring
vanilla butter cream frosting (see below)
black fondant
pink butter cream
Wilton tip 1A
Optional: dark chocolate and instant coffee 

Directions: 

(Preheat the oven to 350F.)
1. In a mixing bow, combine the flour, sugar and baking powder.  

2. One at a time, add the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla.  Beat for 2 minutes, or until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. [Here's where I add ¼ cup of nuts.]

3. Divide the batter into three separate bowls, with one bowl having half of the batter and the other two having a quarter each.

4. Color the large bowl with white color gel, and the two smaller bowls with black and pink color gels, respectively.  Mix the coloring thoroughly until no light streaks remain.  [I add dark chocolate and instant coffee to the black batter.]

5. Grease two 8 inch pans.  

6. Place four tablespoons of white batter into the center of each pan.  Then, directly into the middle of the white batter, place two tablespoons of black batter.  Directly into the center of the black batter, place two tablespoons of pink batter.  Repeat white/black/pink batter additions until all the batter is used up, or the pans are ⅔ full.  

7. Place the cake pans into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  

8. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove from the pan, and cool completely on a wire wrack.

9. Once the cake is cool, level, stack and cover in white butter cream.

10. To cut the fondant pieces, roll fondant out very thinly and using a rolling cutter (pizza or pastry) slice long, narrow stripes and arrange on the white cake as desired.  

11. To finish the cake off, using the pink butter cream with Wilton 1A tip, pipe a small beaded border along the bottom of the cake.

Personally, I will make butter cream frosting, myself (easy), but buy the fondant for the zebra stripes (too time consuming!). Sometimes I make whipped cream frosting. It's not as sweet. Lastly, a few strategically placed fresh stawberries are a lovely garnish. Enjoy!

You may also enjoy:

Eat A Peach Cake

A Fancy Vanilla Cake

Lets Eat Hummingbird Cake  
Sacher-Torte, The Perfect Birthday Cake

Sacher-Torte, The Perfect Birthday Cake

Sacher-Torte from the Hotel Sacher, Vienna

My Mother is serious about the coffee and confections she serves.  They have to be great.  So over the years, only she made the coffee in our house.  And, I pity the fool who'd dare to bring a Hostess cupcake to the table.  When birthdays rolled around, you got an old world, European, torte cake -- with dark chocolate, ground nuts, jam, butter, cream ... and candles.  Mom is a good baker, so sometimes she made and decorated these layered cakes in her own kitchen.  At other times we ordered them from a fancy German/Viennese-inspired bakery.  They were always scrumptious and worth every calorie!  It's a birthday tradition I carry on to this day.

A Sacher-Torte consists of two dense layers of chocolate sponge cake, with a thin layer of apricot jam in the center and dark chocolate on the top and sides.  It is rich, but not too sweet.  Three special chocolates produced by three chocolatiers are used to make the chocolate icing.  First baked in 1832 by 16 year old Franz Sacher, the original recipe remains top secret.  But to bake one at home, try this recipe.




You may also enjoy:
Take A Trip Down Memory Lane
May The Pies Of Texas Be Upon You
Welcome To The Loveless Cafe
Chocolate Was Once A Beverage Only For The Rich