Raspberry Cake With A Raspberry Filling

Photo: Bon Appetit 

Although inspired by a delicate raspberry chiffon cake from Bon Appetit, my recipe is tweaked into a different Raspberry Cake. Here's why: First of all, I never buy cake flour (I'm not against it, but I already buy all-purpose, whole wheat, and sometimes bread flour -- enough already😁); 2nd, I think the small amount of flour in the original recipe will produce a puny 2-layer cake; 3rd, whipped cream is delicious, but what a hassle to chill the ingredients twice as you make it. Plus, I've reduced the sugar and salt in the original recipe, and I bet you won't miss them! Enter raspberry oil and/or freeze-dried raspberries (that you grind into a powder). Either enhances the flavor of the cake, and a squeeze of lemon in the batter and frosting balances the sweetness. What I love about European pastries are their nuanced flavors in lieu of ultra-sweetness. Here's my recipe:

Raspberry Cake With a Raspberry Filling

Batter Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, room temperature, and separated

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (to keep the egg whites stiff and foamy)

1 cup buttermilk (+ a little more if needed)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon raspberry oil (or 3/4 cup freeze-dried raspberries, ground)

a squeeze of lemon

Batter Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ground freeze-dried raspberries if using, and salt.

2) In a 2nd bowl, use a mixer to beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff.

3) Next pour the wet ingredients into the dry and beat with the mixer: vegetable oil, egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and raspberry oil if using.

4) Fold in the egg whites -- don't overbeat them. Fold them in.

5) Pour even portions of the batter into 2 - 9 inch buttered and floured baking pans.

6) Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree F oven for 30 minutes or until done in the center. After 5 -10 minutes of cooling, remove the cakes from the pans and let cool completely.

Filling Ingredients:

3 oz cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 oz seedless raspberry jam or preserves

6 oz fresh raspberries, smashed

Directions for the Filling:

6) Mix the ingredients together and spread in the middle between the 2 - 9 inch cakes. You could carefully slice each 9-inch cake in half to get not one center, but 3 cake centers - spreading the raspberry filling on each center layer. It takes a daring and talented baker to not let the cakes break up into a crumbly mess! A single center layer works fine too and is safer.

Ingredients for the Frosting

5 ounces of cream cheese (+ condensed milk if needed, a little at a time for the right not too thick or thin consistency)

3/4 cup freeze-dried raspberries, ground, (or 1 teaspoon of raspberry oil)

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

2 cups of confectionary sugar (Add more if needed.)

Save a few whole raspberries for garnish.

Directions for the Frosting

7) Using a mixer incorporate all the ingredients, adding in order.

8) Frost the top and sides of the 2-layer cake.

I like the idea in the original recipe of crushing some of the freeze-dried raspberries to garnish the top of the cake. Also, toss a few fresh raspberries on top. It's pretty!🎂

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Getting A Senior To Eat Her Vegetables

Photo: Cooking Perfected

Hey, mothers of young children, you are not alone! Suddenly in October, my elderly mom started refusing to eat vegetables. If I put a small portion of peas, carrots, or green beans on a dinner plate she ignores them. Then she got picky with fruit and refuses bananas, apples, peaches, and oranges ... all foods she ate all her adult life. She'll agree to 3 strawberries or a few grapes, maybe a spoonful of blueberries. Forget about mango, romaine lettuce, or avocado.

Well, I refuse to fight daily with a senior to eat her vegetables ... and I'm sorry but for her own good, she must eat a balanced diet that covers every food group. Real food + variety = good nutrition = staying healthy. I have to win this war against a refusal to eat vegetables without making it a daily battle.

So two weeks ago I started making her smoothies for lunch. Most days it's working. She's eating spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, butternut squash, bananas, apples, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and pineapple again. She just doesn't know it.

Basic Smoothie for one:

Ingredients:

1 cup skim milk

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)

1/2 cup berries (I alternate: either strawberries or blueberries)

1/4 cup nuts (I alternate between almonds, walnuts, and peanuts - or a tablespoon of peanut butter works.)

1 small banana (adds sweetness and potassium)

a handful of spinach

alternate a vegetable (see below👇)

1/2 cup of canned no-sugar-added fruit cocktail 

A drizzle of honey if needed

I select a different fruit or vegetable to add each day from the following list -- alternate and use whatever you have in the refrigerator. Mix it up over the course of a week:

1/4 cup carrots

A wedge of cooked butternut squash

1/4 cup of cooked unsalted green beans

1/4 cup cooked unsalted peas

1/4 cup of cooked California mix - broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots

1/4 cup pineapple chunks

1/2 peeled green apple

a small orange

BTW: If your ward needs a carbohydrate you can also toss 1/4 cup of oatmeal into a smoothie. My mother eats multi-grain toast and oat crunch cereal for breakfast so I don't add oatmeal to her smoothies. You can also pour in a splash of fruit juice for sweetness or to make the smoothie thinner if necessary. 

Directions: 

Toss everything into a blender and puree. Pour into a tall glass. Top with a drizzle of honey, or another splash of fruit juice to achieve a drinkable consistency. Eyeball it.

Last March (2022) when I started overseeing her meals I set 3 main goals. 1) lots of protein; 2) a variety of real food - meat, fruits and vegetables, plus whole grains over the course of a week; 3) low sugar in her diet. 

Sweets are a treat, not a staple. I think we can learn to like healthy foods just as much as junk food. Whatever our palettes are fed is what we enjoy eating. I ask reoccurring visitors intent on bringing treats to please bring her grapes, an orange, or bananas, not cookies and candies. 

We stock dark chocolate -- bars and dark chocolate chips (12-ounce bag), and she eats a serving most days. There are also special occasion treats like Christmas cookies, a slice of birthday cake, or an ice cream cone. Halloween candy once a year. Nothing mindless though.

My mother doesn't need cholesterol or blood pressure drugs, so if we can avoid various conditions with a healthy diet we're better off than having to treat them. We love her primary care physician, Dr. Jackson! He is thorough without being an alarmist. He took care of his own elderly father, and I can run any concerns by him that arise. He endorses Carnation Instant Breakfast for people who won't eat meals. We are on the same page.

Whether we need to get a fussy senior or a child to eat a variety of healthy food, we have to get the job done without making our own lives crazy. Milk, yogurt, fresh or canned fruit, and a blender are your best friends. Voilà protein, vitamins, and fiber in a glass! Into the piehole and down the hatch!!

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Useful: Bigger Bolder Bakers' Substitute Corn Syrup & Molasses

PhoPhoto: Bigger Bolder Baker

There are two baking ingredients I never have in my pantry because I rarely need them. With these substitute recipes, I may never have to buy them. Thanks to Gemma Stafford, a former chef, I can make them at home (with ingredients I always have) for when I get a notion to bake a pastry that calls for one or the other. I love Gemma's recipes, tips, and videos but her website has so many ads and popups it's slowwww to load and murder to scroll, therefore although I'll link her website here I'm reluctant to send readers over there to be frustrated, so I'm reposting her 2 substitute recipes below also:

 I) Substitute Corn Syrup

Ingredients:

2 cups (16oz/450g) sugar
3/4 cup (6floz/170ml) water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (there is no substitute for this)
2 teaspoons lemon juice (stops sugar from clumping)
a pinch of salt

Directions:

1) Toss the sugar, water, cream of tartar, lemon juice, and salt into a heavy saucepan.

2) Bring to a medium boil, stir until the sugar dissolves, then turn down the heat to a gentle boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture reduces quite a bit. Once cooled the syrup thickens. 

Photo: Bigger Bolder Bakers

II) Substitute Molasses

Ingredients:

2 cups (16oz/450g) dark brown sugar
3/4 cups (6floz/170ml) water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons lemon juice freshly squeezed

Directions:

1) In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the dark brown sugar, water, cream of tartar, and lemon juice. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

2) Once the sugar dissolves, reduce the heat and simmer for 4 - 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. Cool and store in a sealed glass jar.

Gemma is an excellent baker and teacher and you should check out her how-to YouTube videos, but oi vay that website!

*****************************************************************************

So now let's bake something!

All blondie photos and recipe courtesy of ATK

Let's use our homemade corn syrup to make America's Test Kitchen's Brown Butter Blondies -- linked here -- another website with inconveniences that you can overcome by watching its videos on Youtube.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons table salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup corn syrup

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 cup pecans, oven-toasted and chopped coarsely

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon flake sea salt, crumbled

Prepare a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with 2 sheets of aluminum foil with flaps (and crisscrossed +) so that you can lift the blondies up out of the pan after they are baked. Make sure you press the foil into the 4 corners of the pan and grease or use cooking spray on the foil.

Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking powder.

2) Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet. Over medium heat, simmer the butter, whisking throughout until it's golden brown and has a nutty aroma, which gives the blondies a butterscotch flavor. Transfer to a large heat-proof mixing bowl.

3) Add the sugar to the hot butter and whisk. 

4) Next add the eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.

5) Stir in the flour mixture until fluffy. Test Kitchen uses a spatula to incorporate the ingredients.

6) Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.

7) Spread evenly into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle to top with the flaked sea salt.

8) Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 35 - 40 minutes (turning the pan around at 20 minutes) until golden brown and the cake springs back to the touch.

9) Let the blondies cool completely in the pan before lifting the foil with the pastry out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Makes 24 bars.

Sometimes it takes a professional baker to perfect a substitution that works in our recipes. Thank you, Gemma Stafford (and Test Kitchen for the best blondies). Who wants to run to the supermarket every time you turn around, not to mention, stock 2 ingredients you rarely use! Now there's no need to do either.

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Swedish Cardamon Cake With Caramelized Topping

Photo of carmelized almond topping courtesy of David Lebovitz

A Swedish cardamon cake is a simple coffee cake, which we're going to bump up a notch by making a caramelized topping, one we can do the easy way by carmelizing it inside the same springform pan as the cake, itself, is baking. Did you expect anything other than a shortcut from THE SAVVY SHOPPER, queen of one-pot or pan dishes? I bet you dislike scrubbing a sink load of pots and pans as much as I do! Nonetheless, the results of this simple dessert will be so scrumptious and fancy that you can use it as a birthday or holiday cake, or bring it as a contribution to summer cookouts! So let's get started, shall we?

Cardamon cake

Ingredients:

For the caramelized topping -- Use a 9-inch springform pan, so you can simply remove the sides of the pan, leaving the cake intact. 

1/4 cup butter - Smear a generous amount of butter on the bottom of the springform pan to start. Thick, not thin.

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup sliced almonds (or almonds brokered into pieces)

For the cake batter:

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 cup sugar (Cut the sugar by 1/4 cup to reduce the sweetness if you wish.)

3 large eggs  

3 cups of all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 pinch of salt

1 - 1 1/2 cup buttermilk (Eyeball the consistency. Start with less and stop if you can easily stir it.)

1 tablespoon of dried cardamom (or you may use cardamon seeds)

1 tablespoon of lemon juice 

Directions for the topping:

1) Generously butter the bottom of a springform pan and distribute the sugar covering the buttered bottom. Next toss in the almonds.  During the baking of the cake, its topping will caramelize. When the cake is baked, you'll flip the bottom over to become the top of the cake.

Directions for the batter:

2) To make the batter, beat the softened stick of butter and sugar together. Next mix in the eggs one at a time.

3) Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Go here for 6 best Swedish bakeries.

4) Pour in the buttermilk, then the cardamon, and lemon juice.

5) Pour over the topping that is already in the springform pan. 

5) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 50 - 60 minutes.

6) Remove from the oven and let cool. Warm is ok for removing the sides. and transferring it to the serving dish. The bottom of the cake becomes the top.

An easy-to-make cake that looks and tastes like a fancy cake! It's how we roll here on THE SAVVY SHOPPER. Smaklig Måltid!🎂🍦

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Easy Homemade Strawberry Cake

Photo: KeyIngredient

I have a craving for a slice of strawberry cake and so decided to make one. A majority of recipes call for a box of strawberry jello, dried flaked strawberries, or 6 eggs, but c'mon ... an overabundance of ingredients to buy ... or just too eggy for my tastes. A homemade cake should be light, moist, and simple. Moreover, starting with a box of white cake mix? Fuhgeddaboudit! IMHO: There are 2 instant foods that make no sense to buy. They are: (1) instant rice and (2) cake mix since in using either one the prep isn't reduced, only the flavor. Hey, I say when you don't feel like making a cake from scratch, buy a cake from a good bakery! But finding a good bakery isn't necessary today, my lovelies, as here's an easy-peasy homemade cake recipe to follow using fresh strawberries, all-purpose flour, and only 2 eggs, items often in your pantry: 

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:

16 ounces of strawberries: For 3/4 cup strawberry puree, plus 1/4 cup diced and mashed strawberries. You'll need to prep but can do it ahead of time. (See how-to below.)

3/4 cup sugar 

1 stick of butter softened

2 large (or extra large) eggs 
2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional: use strawberry extract if you have it).

A squirt of lemon juice (optional)
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

A pinch of salt 
½ cup buttermilk

Preparation of the strawberries - Makes (a) 3/4 cup of strawberry puree and (b) 1/4 cup of diced, mashed strawberries: Toss about 12 ounces of strawberries into a blender to get 3/4 cup of strawberry puree. If necessary, add a 1/8 cup of water -- but strawberries are usually juicy enough. Next, simmer the mixture in a saucepan to reduce the liquid, and afterward cool the puree completely. Set aside. Dice and mash the remaining 1/4 cup of strawberries, then sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar on top, and set aside. This 2nd mixture will give your cake some chunks of strawberries in the texture. If you have extra strawberries, feel free to bump the chunks up to 1/2 cup that folds into the batter in step 5 below.

Directions:

1) Use an electric mixer to combine the sugar, butter, and 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree. Save the rest of the puree to make the frosting.

2) Add the eggs and vanilla, a squirt of lemon, and beat.

3) Mix in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and a pinch of salt.

4) Next add the buttermilk.

5) To the batter, fold in the diced, mashed strawberries with juice.

6) Pour the batter into 2-9 inch buttered and floured cake pans.

7) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 40 - 50 minutes or until done in the center.

Strawberry Frosting:

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter softened

The remaining strawberry puree

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or if you have it, a sprinkle of strawberry extract)

1 box of confectioner's sugar.

Directions:

1) Mix the butter, strawberry puree, and vanilla together, and add 1 cup of confectioner's sugar at a time to the mixing bowl until you get the right consistency of frosting. Use as much of the box as needed. I simply pour it in and stir. When it thickens into frosting without being too stiff or thin, I stop. I also add drops of milk if necessary.

When I was a young child we had a man who grew and sold strawberries by walking our neighborhood and yelling, "Strawberry, strawberry, straw-ber-ry man." This cake reminds me of him, an industrious, hardworking, city farmer.🍓

On Facebook, I learned our neighborhood once had a Ragman (who rode a wagon pulled by a horse) and a Popcorn Man who came around to sell their goods. I remember having a Fuller Brush Man, a Potato Chip Man, an Egg Man, an Avon Lady, and an ice cream truck. If they came to the house at the right time, they ate lunch or drank coffee with us.🏇

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Black Forest Cookies

I'm still busy away from blogging but I'll jump on as time permits. Today for the first time ever I tasted a soft, chewy, and ultra chocolatey cookie that I never knew existed! The rich dark chocolate (like an Oreo) cookie is filled with chunks of white chocolate (or substitute dark chocolate chips) and maraschino cherry pieces. I think both the taste and texture make the cookie delectable. Here is the recipe:

Black Forest Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar (I try to cut the sugar a tad without a resulting cookie failure😏)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons good cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

a pinch of salt

1 cup maraschino cherries, finely chopped

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (or chopped and feel free to substitute semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1) In a large bowl and using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2) Next add the egg and vanilla and beat with the mixer.

3) In a 2nd bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

4) Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in portions until just combined.

5) Mix in the white chocolate and maraschino cherries.

6) Cover the dough and refrigerate for 2 hours or more.

7) Scoop the cookie dough (into tablespoon-size balls or globs) and deposit onto a buttered or parchment-lined prepared cookie sheet.

8) Bake in a pre-heated 350 degrees F oven for 9 - 11 minutes or until the edges set.

I like Black Forest Cookies even better than the cake. Delicious paired with a cup of milk or coffee. Down the hatch or freeze a batch!

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Plum Crazy Desserts Part 2

Photo: the Spruce

Have you been following? I'm down to 2 1/2 pounds of dried plums and still figuring out ways to eat them. In fact, they are quite moist as is, yet tasteless if popped into your mouth ... lacking the sugar and heat of say, dried ginger. So if you want flavor, you have to turn them into desserts. Following are 2 plum desserts that look especially appealing to me. Eash sweet can be baked in a square baking pan, then cut into squares if you wish.

The 1st dessert is less work than traditional English plum pudding, its cousin across the pond (which surprisingly contains no plums). This one does --

Plum Pudding With Caramelized Sauce

Tweaked from Idaho's Prepared Pantry

Ingredients:

2 cups dried plums, chopped

1/2 cup of boiling hot water

1 stick soft butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans), chopped

Start with 1/2 cup of milk -- up to 1 cup (Step 6 explains.)

Directions:

1) In a separate bowl, let the diced plums soak in boiling hot water for 1 hour. (My dried plums were very moist out of the bag so I didn't have to soak to rehydrate them.)

2) In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugars, and eggs.

3) Sprinkle in the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4) Add the flavors, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

5) Toss in the plums with water and walnuts. 

6) Starting with 1/2 cup milk, add to get a not too thick or too thin batter consistency. I used nearly 1 cup of milk. Stop before you arrive at runny.

7) Pour into a well-buttered square baking pan.

8) Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes or until done in the center. While baking you can make the sauce.

Caramelized Brown Sugar Sauce

Ingredients:

1 stick of softened butter

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon good Kentucky bourbon

Directions:

1) Melt the butter in a saucepan.

2) Stir in the sugar and continue whisking.

3) Dissolve the cornstarch into the milk and add it to the mixture continuing to whisk while the sauce simmers and thickens. 

4) Finish off near the end by flavoring with the bourbon.

After cooling down a bit, pour the Caramelized Brown Sugar Sauce over the Plum Pudding. 

Note: I'll omit the sauce the next time I make this dessert. Everyone agreed the cake is moist and tasty without it. We put sauce on the side, and nobody ate it after a bite. We liked the sauce but it didn't improve the cake or pudding as it is called.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The 2nd dessert is a crumble ... crisp, crumble, cobbler, to know the difference go here.

Plum Berry Crumble

Ingredients:

Filling Ingredients --

💟 2 cups plums, soaked in 1 cup of boiled hot water for 1 hour. 

💟 Then pour the plumped-up plums with the water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into a blender (or food processor) to puree.

💟 1 1/2 cups blueberries (or a mixture of berries) - leave whole

Batter Ingredients --

1 stick softened butter (Eyeball the consistency. It should be crumbly. You can add a 2nd stick of butter if needed. I try to cut back on the fat and sugar when possible without ruining the dessert.)

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cardamon

3 cups Quaker Oats (1 minute, or old fashioned works)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

A pinch of salt

Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar.

2) Add the eggs and vanilla and mix together.

3) Toss in the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.

4) Divide the batter in half. 

5) Press half of the batter in the bottom of a well-buttered square baking pan.

6) Spread the filling of plum puree and toss some whole blueberries (or other berries) on top of the bottom batter.

7) Spoon the remaining batter on top of the filling.

8) Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Much maligned, who knew dried plums and prunes (which are Italian plums) make such tasty desserts? And, the healthy dried plums have a convenient no-rush self-life! We can always have a bag of dried fruit waiting in the pantry.💜

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