Tag Archives: baking

Coffee & Cream Cupcakes

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Veronica

I’m terrible about using recipes from cookbooks. I own quite a few but hardly ever go to them when I need a recipe, instead I go to blogs and Pinterest and Google searches. But I vowed I would make at least one recipe from the Pioneer Woman’s Food From My Frontier cookbook. It’s the only cookbook I own that I paid more than $15 for (I get them used or as gifts) and even though it’s cool to have as a memento since she signed it, it still felt like wasting money if I never used it.

Being a coffee and cake lover, the first thing that called to me was her Coffee Cream Cake. Two layers of coffee-flavored cake with a cream filling and a coffee frosting. Yum. I decided to turn it into cupcakes, putting the cream filling in the center of each. Her recipe has a drippy frosting that is more like a glaze that thickens as it cools, but I wanted a fluffy buttercream frosting on the cupcakes so I made up my own coffee buttercream recipe for these.

The cupcakes are great, mostly because of the cream filling and frosting. I could tell from how thin the cake batter was that it would make sturdy cupcakes, not the light and fluffy ones that a thicker batter will make. While the cake part isn’t my favorite (I’m pretty picky when it comes to cake), it does work well overall. I always state my honest opinion on recipes so that you’re fully informed, but I want to assure you that you will like these cupcakes as is. I doubt any one besides a cake connoisseur would notice the crumb. There isn’t anything really wrong with it because it is nice and moist, but it’s just not as light and tender as I like my cake to be. The taste is fabulous, so fabulous that my coffee-hating husband couldn’t get enough of them.

So make these, you will love them if you love coffee, and perhaps even if you don’t. Or, if you’re like me and prefer a lighter cake, you might try a different recipe for the cupcakes. Personally, I’m either going to use chocolate cake next time, making them into mocha cream cupcakes, or sub really strong coffee for the water in a white or yellow cake mix recipe to get the texture I like.

To get this white streak effect, I used the same piping bag for the frosting that I used for the filling. The residual white filling lined the bag and made a streaky look when I piped the buttercream onto the cupcakes.

Coffee & Cream Cupcakes

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

Cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons instant coffee crystals
1 cup boiling water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream filling
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup heavy cream

Coffee Buttercream
¼ cup Kahlua (here is a recipe to make your own)
1 tablespoon instant coffee crystals
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
Dash of salt

For the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350F. Line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners; set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the instant coffee and boiling water. Let the mixture bubble up for a few seconds, then turn off the heat. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pour the hot butter/coffee mixture over the top and stir to combine. Mix together the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla and add it to the bowl. Whisk until smooth (batter will be very thin). Using a levered ice cream scoop, fill the cupcake tins half full. You will have extra batter, which you can bake more cupcakes with or a small cake if you have a 6” cake pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool for a few minutes in the tins, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes cool, prepare the filling. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the powdered sugar and heavy cream and beat on low until sugar is moistened, then on high until light and fluffy. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a round tip (or a squeeze bottle) with the filling. Push the tip or nozzle into each cupcake and squeeze filling into the center, pulling back once the top starts to rise, and stopping when the filling bursts through the top of the cupcake. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.

For the buttercream, bring the Kahlua to a boil and stir in the coffee crystals. Set aside to cool completely. Once cooled, beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy, then add the sugar, Kahlua mixture, and salt. Beat on low until sugar is moistened, then beat on high until smooth and creamy

To complete cupcakes, pipe swirls of coffee buttercream on top of the filled cupcakes. Serve at room temperature.

Adapted from the Coffee Cream Cake in Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond

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Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged baking, coffee and cream cupcakes, Coffee cake, coffee cream cake, cupcakes, from scratch, pioneer woman. Bookmark the permalink.

Lemon Blossoms

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Veronica

I made these for Mother’s Day, intending to give pretty little baggies of them as gifts to all the mothers at the annual Mother’s Day picnic on Dennis’ side of the family. It didn’t quite work out that way. The first pan, which was half the batch, I didn’t grease well enough and they all stuck horribly so guess where those ended up? Yup, in our bellies. Can’t say we were too sad that only half the batch was pretty enough to share. But then we couldn’t keep our hands off those either, and in the end, there were only enough to give to two mothers: his and mine.

Our mothers loved these little beauties, and we loved them. Way too much. They are really delicious, but most of the lemon flavor comes from the glaze, and I would suggest trying this with a lemon cake mix instead of a yellow if you can find one. That would really intensify the lemon flavor. They are wonderful as is, but can you get enough lemon flavor in the summer? I think not.

Lemon Blossoms

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 (18.5 oz) box yellow or lemon cake mix
1 (3.5 oz) box instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:
4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Lemon zest from 1 lemon
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray miniature muffin tins thoroughly with cooking spray.

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Batter will be quite thick. Using a cookie scoop, divide the batter between the muffin wells, filling each halfway. Bake for 12 minutes.

While the blossoms are baking, make the glaze. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Whisk until smooth.

Remove the blossoms from the oven when they are done and turn out onto a tea towel. You might have to run a butter knife around the edges of the cupcake wells to loosen them before turning out. While they are still warm, dip the blossoms into the glaze, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. (I did this over the sink.) Let the glaze set, about 1 hour, before storing in airtight containers or covering with plastic wrap on a platter.

Makes 48 mini-cakes

Recipe source: Paula Deen, as seen on Minda’s Cooking

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Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged baking, dessert, glaze, glazed, lemon blossoms, lemony, mini cupcakes, moist, mother's day, paula deen, spring, summer. Bookmark the permalink.

Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Veronica

Wheee! We’re back and boy did we have a blast in good old Abilene. I think my blues have been cured by some good old Kansas sunshine and fun times. We did so many things I don’t know if I can even blog about it because it would either be one long blog, or a million short ones, but I’ll see what I can do later on.

While we were there, we had a cookout with the whole family and I surprised my father-in-law, Al, with an early birthday cake since we were leaving the day before his actual birthday. Since I was making it in a kitchen that wasn’t my own, and it was hot, I wanted it to be super easy, and cool and refreshing. This one fit the bill since it’s made with convenience products and is refrigerated and served cold. Plus, there’s no butter in the frosting so maybe it’s even a little lighter than my usual decadent cakes. Perfect for summer. Except for that whole turning on the oven thing, but I baked it at night so that made the hot kitchen not quite as unbearable.

Jessie’s trying to do a sneak attack on the grill!

Everyone loved the cake, but I have to be honest and tell you it’s not even close to my favorite cake. The frosting is very tart, like lemonade, and I tend to like my cake super duper sweet. If I made it again, I’d use less of the lemonade mix. But I did like it, and judging by the reviews I got, it’s totally worth sharing. It does have a nice strawberry lemonade flavor going on. Like I said, it’s a great cake for summer because it’s served cold. The frosting doesn’t get hard when cold like all the butter-laden ones I usually make, so that is nice. And don’t forget my water bottle trick to make sure your cake is super moist! I taught it to my Mother-in-law while I was there, using her tap water, and she was so excited about it that she didn’t notice I was using her undrinkable tap water until I was done. So yeah, I tried to poison everyone with not quite crystal-clean well water, but we all survived. lol

(Oh no, I hope Janice isn’t reading this! She’s a reader in Abilene that I got to meet and I brought her a piece of this cake when I stopped by her office. It was so cool to meet her, except for the trying to poison her part. If you’re reading, Janice, I was just joking about the poisonous well water. *ahem* But you might want to get checked for fingernail cancer during your next doctor visit.)

OK, enough madness. Here’s the recipe.

Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake

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1 (18.25 oz) box strawberry cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs as directed on box)
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 (0.23 oz) packet of Kool-Aid lemonade
Yellow food coloring gel (as desired for color)
1 (7 oz) container marshmallow creme or fluff
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
Fresh strawberries to garnish

Make cake according to box instructions and bake in 2- 8 inch round cake pans as directed. Turn finished cakes out onto cake racks and allow to cool completely.

Once cake is cool, cream together cream cheese, lemonade and yellow food coloring until smooth. Mix in marshmallow creme and then mix in whipped topping until completely smooth. Level the cakes, and place one layer on a platter, cut side up. Spread about a third of the frosting over the top, then place the second cake layer cut side down on top. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides. Slice strawberries and place on the top and sides of the cake for decoration. Refrigerate until ready to serve and serve cold, straight from the fridge.

Recipe source: Easy Baked

Disclaimer: No humans or animals were harmed during the eating of this cake. I believe the reason they don’t drink their water is because it’s hard water, which isn’t really poisonous.

More photos from our evening…

My plate: burger, dilly cucumber salad, 7 layer dip, and jalapeno chips.

A closer look at the 7 layer dip. I did it a little different this time, putting the tomato layer on top and mixing some goodies into it (I made the tomato layer from this recipe). I also mixed in a packet of Fiesta Ranch dip mix into the sour cream instead of taco seasoning and it was even better than the original! I’ve been looking for that dip mix ever since my girl Jaci made a dip with us while we were visiting last year because it is just wonderful and miracle of miracles, I finally found it in Abilene:

I loaded up, so if you’ve never tried this and would like to, just let me know in a comment below, and I’ll draw among the interested parties for a winner of a packet. It’s so good mixed with sour cream!

Maybe you can tell he likes Coke?

Dennis and his nephew, Carson, played catch after dinner.

Look how studly my man is. He’s not much for sports but I think the sporty look is good on him. :)

When I met this boy, he was a toddler. And now he towers 6 inches over me. Kids are great at making adults feel old! lol

Love country sunsets! Such a pretty ending to the day.

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Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged baking, easy, recipe, strawberry lemonade cake, summer. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Chip Macaroons

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Veronica

Jacqueline is in the front, kneeling on the far right.

After I started The Postcard Project, I went to anysoldier.com and got the address for a female soldier in Afghanistan that I could correspond with. (If you don’t know any soldiers that are currently serving, I recommend this site–it’s the only place I’ve found where you can get an address for a soldier you don’t know.) Through our letters, I have come to understand how important mail is to soldiers. I was moved by how happy I could make this woman just by sending her a few pages of my craziness, blabbing about things most people could care less about. When she replied with her gratitude, answering all the questions I had asked and telling me about herself, I felt the connection we had made, all thanks to the Postal Service and the exchange of a few letters.

I asked her in my first letter if there was anything I could send her to make her happier while she was serving overseas. She replied, much to my glee, that her team (I love how she said “her team” and not “I”–it just shows how selfless soldiers are) loves snacks, especially homemade, and if I could send some that would be great, but if not, “the letters are great also, it shows that someone really cares and values what we are doing.”

I don’t think she had any idea how happy her request for homemade snacks would make me. Anysoldier.com tells us not to send homemade goodies if the soldiers do not know us (for safety reasons, most likely), so I had not hoped that I could take my baking love out on her. But she must have felt like she knew me after only one letter, and I couldn’t have been more delighted by her request. My favorite way to make people happy is by making them goodies, so I literally was jumping up and down and squealing to my husband “she wants homemade snacks!!!” like I had just gotten a Kitchenaid stand mixer for Chrstimas. I think it makes me happier to make and give the treats than it makes the people who receive them!

I did some research and found a good article on the best cookies to ship long distances, and macaroons were listed as a cookie that gets better with time, so I immediately decided I would be including some macaroons in the boxes. (Yes, there were more than one. I couldn’t help myself.)

So along with a batch of homemade butterfingers and 3 pounds of seasoned crackers, I included a tin of these chocolate chip macaroons. I had saved a very simple & easy (also multiple blue ribbon-winning) recipe using sweetened condensed milk, and I kicked them up a notch by adding in some mini chocolate chips…because chocolate makes everything better.

These were wonderful fresh from the oven, and as promised by the article mentioned above, did taste even better the next day! They are moist and chewy–nice and soft when warm from the oven, and more dense & rich the next day. Hopefully they were like bites of nirvana by the time they made it to Jacqueline and her team, and from the feedback I got, they must have been close!

Chocolate Chip Macaroons

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2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (14 oz) package sweetened, shredded coconut
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla, then stir in the coconut and chocolate chips with a spoon or your hands until well blended. The mixture will be very sticky. Refrigerate for two hours, or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat mat to prevent sticking (like I said, this dough is sticky!). Using a cookie scoop, drop dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about golf ball size. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until coconut is toasted. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container or Ziploc bag(s).

Recipe source: adapted from Allrecipes

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Posted in Cookies and tagged Afghanistan, baking, better with time, chocolate chip macaroons, Cookies, exchange, holiday, Iraq, overseas, shipping. Bookmark the permalink.

Sneaky Snickers Cookies

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Veronica

The Cooking Photographer posted this recipe over two years ago and her picture, with the caramel and peanuts oozing out, planted itself and made deep roots in my cranium. Then she had to go and use that same picture in her website header, reminding me weekly how much I wanted to make them.

Well, as I may have mentioned before, cookies are my favorite food group (in my perfect world, yes, they would be a food group, and a prominent one), and as I may have also mentioned, I do not make treats that I REALLY like very often because I simply can not trust myself with them. I knew I would be in trouble if I made these without a specific purpose in mind and without a good reason to get rid of most of the batch.

That reason finally arrived with The Great Blogger Cookie Swap of 2011. (If you missed this year’s, sign up to be notified of of next year’s swap here!) I had just picked up a bunch of half price Halloween candy when I was brainstorming what kind of cookies I could make for the swap, and how I could use up some of the candy I bought and of course, the first thing I though of was Laura’s Sneaky Snickers Cookies.

Well, the batch made enough that there was still plenty for me to sample and go a little overboard on, but it was well worth it! Soft peanut butter cookies surrounding a chewy chocolate, peanut, caramel, and nougat center is just a lovely combination. I especially love them warm so that the middles are oozing gooey caramel when you bite into them, and might have kept a few for myself in the freezer to nuke in the microwave for cookie-craving emergencies. They are so yummy!

Sneaky Snickers Cookies

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 (11.5 ounce) bags Snickers Miniatures (Half a bag is for snacking during cookie making.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, sugar, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla until light and fluffy, five minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat until combined, another minute. Add the eggs and baking soda and beat until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Add the flour and beat until just incorporated. Don’t over-mix. Press plastic wrap down over the surface of the dough and refrigerate at least two hours before baking.

Unwrap 52 mini Snickers bars. Then with a standard cookie scoop (size 50), scoop the dough into your hand. Press the dough together and flatten. Place a Snickers bar in the center of the dough and push the dough around to seal, rolling into a ball.

Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets and bake for about 12 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks.

Recipe source: The Cooking Photographer, with slight changes in preparation method.

***

I wanted to share the cookies I received through this swap as well! Click the blog links to get their recipes, which are posting today.

Christian of M.E. sent me these Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing and they were a lifesaver. It was 4 PM when I received them, and I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I was running on empty and didn’t have time to stop and figure out something to eat. I ripped into the cookies and ate half a dozen right away, which got me through to the party I was preparing for. Thanks, Christian!

Check out the carrots, nuts & raisins these cookies were loaded with!

Lauren Brennan of Lauren’s Latest sent me these soft and buttery Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookie Stars (aren’t they beautiful?):

Julie M. of Burnt Carrots sent me my favorite batch of cookies, at least for the blogger swap. Her Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Cookies took me by surprise because I would have thought they had butterscotch chips in them, and maybe they do, but they also have toffee chips and I looooove toffee. The combination of chocolate chips and toffee is a winner!

I also received cookies through my own cookie swap for non-bloggers, and will share those with tomorrow’s cookie recipe that I sent out for that swap!

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Posted in Cookies and tagged baking, desserts, gifts, holiday, peanut butter, sneaky snickers cookies, snickers, soft, stuffed cookies, sweets. Bookmark the permalink.

Double Chocolate-Rum Amish Friendship Bread

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Veronica

It’s been a while since I posted any Amish Friendship Bread recipes, and that’s because this is the last one I made and I wanted to save it for December, since the flavor combination reminded me of Christmas.

Are you one that identifies certain foods with certain seasons and holidays, like I do? For me, pumpkin and pies are fall and Thanksgiving. December and Christmas is cookies, chocolate, and anything spiked with alcohol. Like this bread!

This was actually my favorite variation that I came up with, though I haven’t made very many yet. The bread is so incredibly moist, is nice and chocolatey with a punch of rum and just a hint of cinnamon from the sugar coating. Very festive, and so yummy! This would make great gifts, and I plan to break out one or two of the starters I froze in order to give some away this year. (If you don’t have any starters in your own freezer, you can click here to learn how to make your own.)

Double Chocolate-Rum Amish Friendship Bread

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¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter (or whatever is left after you’ve divvied it up)
3 eggs
1 cup oil
½ cup dark rum
¼ cup Dutch process cocoa
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Generously butter two loaf pans, then dust with the cinnamon sugar. Tap out excess and save for topping.

Whisk the eggs into the starter, then whisk in the oil and rum. Add everything but the chocolate chips and whisk until blended. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Divide batter between pans, then sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar over the tops. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over the top and bake for an hour. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out to cool completely on wire rack.

Recipe source: adapted from Friendship Bread Kitchen

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Posted in Bread, Sweets and tagged amish friendship bread, baking, christmas, double chocolate rum, edible gifts, food gifts, holiday, recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Buttery-Soft Beer Bread

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Veronica

One of my all-time favorite recipes on this blog is for Buttery Beer Bread, which is slightly sweet with a delicious yeasty flavor, and a thick, crunchy, and buttery crust. The only downside to it is that it is best fresh from the oven and does not store well, so it’s a little hard to fit into a diet plan because we usually end up splitting the whole loaf between us and polishing it off in one sitting. (Avoiding dry leftover bread is perfection justification for the overindulgence, no?) If you’ve made this bread, you know that eating half a loaf of it is a lot easier to manage than one would imagine. In the interest of trying to shrink our midsections, however, we try not to pull that stunt too often.

Deciding I needed a soft beer bread that stored well so that we could enjoy it for several days versus five minutes, I instinctively knew (well, hoped may be the better word) all I had to do was add an egg and blend the butter in with everything else instead of pouring it over the top. And voilà! I was right. I love being right. Especially when it results in something so delicious!

This bread has the same flavor I fell in love with in the original beer bread, the beer giving it a nice yeasty flavor despite this being a quick bread containing no yeast (another bonus-fresh bread in under an hour!). But it is a million times prettier (smooth top versus major bumpiness), the texture is velvety soft when fresh from the oven, and the crust still has just a bit of that buttery crunch to it. And it fulfills the reason for the modification: it stores well and stays soft and moist!

While I might still make the original if we have company over since there would be less risk of leftovers, and I adore that thick, crunchy & buttery crust, this is the one I’ll be making most often because the texture is so wonderful and its ability to stay that way upon storage robs me of the justification for polishing off an entire loaf in one sitting. Which I may not be so thankful for, but my hips surely are.

*Despite this loaf storing well, we still ate half of it as soon as it was out of the oven, so I only had half a loaf (OK, maybe a little less than half, truth be told) to photograph the next day. Sorry. Our stomachs got in the way of the interests of my blog! At least we didn’t eat the whole thing this time. At least not all at once. :)

Buttery-Soft Beer Bread

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3 cups self-rising flour*
1/4 cup sugar
1 (12-oz) can beer
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, melted
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Whisk the flour and sugar together in a large bowl. Add beer, butter, and the egg, and whisk well to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

*I know it’s weird, but I really feel I get the best results using self-rising flour for this bread. However, if you do not have it, you can replace it with 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt instead. I recommend using a baking powder without aluminum, such as Rumford, particularly in this recipe since you need so much of it. The aluminum has an aftertaste and can foul up baked goods which call for quantities in excess of 1 teaspoon.

Update 2/18/15: I’ve discovered you can substitute honey for the sugar with delicious results as well, lending a light honey-sweet taste to the bread. Just look at how tender it is!

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Posted in Bread and tagged baked, baking, beer bread, buttery, easy, fast, quick, recipe, soft. Bookmark the permalink.

Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Veronica

I found this recipe on Picky Palate and saved it for Thanksgiving, but wanted to give it a trial run beforehand. I do crazy things like enter pumpkin bread into state fair competitions without ever having made the recipe before or since, but I try not to pull surprises on my family. I can deal with not winning a ribbon, but I have a reputation to uphold when it comes to loved ones! ;)

I ended up making this for the CFC bake sale at work and my co-workers raved! After sampling a piece myself, I had decided it wasn’t that exciting and I wasn’t going to bring it to Thanksgiving dinner at my in-law’s, but after all the raving, I gave it a second chance and tried another piece. Maybe it was the power of suggestion, or maybe my palate just wasn’t ready to handle cake for breakfast when I tried the first piece, but I enjoyed the second piece so well that I’m now reconsidering this for turkey day.

The cake is very, extremely, uber moist, and the swirls of cinnamon filling are very complimentary to the pure pumpkin flavor. The color is a very nice orange, which I liked, and the simple glaze is a perfect compliment, really finishing off the “cinnamon roll” feel of the cake. The size of the cake makes it great for a big family gathering because it can easily be cut into 24 slices or more, whereas a normal layer cake would only be 16 pieces at best. It’s nice to have a “small dessert” option after filling up on turkey and stuffing! Or, let’s be honest, so you can enjoy more than one dessert. :)

Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Printable recipe
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Cake
1 (18.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk (I used water)
1 (3.4 oz) box vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

Cinnamon filling
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Glaze
3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a jelly roll pan with non stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine all cake ingredients in a large bowl and beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Mix the filling ingredients together, then drizzle mixture evenly over cake. Take a knife and run it through to swirl the filling into the batter.

Bake cake for 30-35 minutes, until cooked through and remove. Mix glaze ingredients until creamy and smooth. Drizzle over warm cake then let cool for 20 minutes before cutting into squares. Store covered until ready to serve, refrigerating if not serving within the next day.

Recipe source: Picky Palate

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Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged baking, cake, celebration, cinnamon roll, fall, family, gathering, holiday, pumpkin, recipe, sheet cake, thanksgiving. Bookmark the permalink.

Cranberry Pumpkin Spice Bread

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Veronica

Let’s pretend that this bread isn’t spiked with cranberries and toasted walnuts and isn’t made with orange juice or vanilla bean paste. That bread, the one pictured down there, without all the extras, is the one I won third place for last year. I thought I’d kick it up a notch by adding all the things we’re pretending it doesn’t have, sure that would get me at least a 2nd place ribbon…and I got nothing. I got good feedback on my judging paper, but I guess the others this year were still better. Kansas has some pretty excellent bakers!

Now, as for what we thought of this bread (we being me, my husband, and his co-workers), we loved it. No ribbons aside, this bread is fantastic and has a great texture (if I do say so myself). Perfectly sweet, with a nice variation in texture from the chewy cranberries and crunchy nuts. The bread itself is so soft and moist it practically melts in your mouth. A great bread to include in your holiday baking this year!

Cranberry Pumpkin Spice Bread

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1 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
¾ cup orange juice
1 cup chopped walnuts
4 eggs
2 (15 oz) cans pumpkin puree
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste*
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon allspice

In a small bowl, combine cranberries and orange juice. Cover and let soak at least one hour before making bread. Meanwhile, place walnuts on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for one minute. Stir with fingers, then continue to microwave for another 1-2 minutes in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until fragrant and toasted. Set aside until ready to use.

Heat oven to 350. Generously butter two 9×5 loaf pans; set aside.

Drain the orange juice into a large mixing bowl and set the soaked cranberries aside. Add the eggs to the orange juice and whisk them until well beaten. Add pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla bean paste. Beat until well mixed. Measure the flour and remaining ingredients into a separate bowl and stir until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth. Stir in the reserved cranberries and toasted walnuts.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pans by inverting onto a rack and tapping the bottom.

*Vanilla extract can be substituted for vanilla bean paste.

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Carrot Cake Protein Muffins {Vegan}

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Veronica

You may remember these from the roundup of all my fair entries. The challenge was to make a heart-healthy muffin using at least one soy product (the contest was sponsored by the Kansas Soy Commission) and I created these beauties using four: soy flour, soy milk, tofu, and soy “cream cheese.”

These were so delicious, I had high hopes of coming home with the $75 prize for first place. There was just one problem. Two, actually. I didn’t notice, until it was too late, that these were supposed to be “fruit muffins” and one of the judging criteria was “ease of preparation. I gave a sigh of relief over the “fruit muffin” thing because although these are mostly a vegetable muffin, there are raisins in them and so they might pass the “fruit muffin” test. My heart sank at the second oversight, however, because these really aren’t simple to prepare. They’re not horribly difficult, but you don’t look at a list of ingredients this long and with this many steps and call it “easy.”

Well, that’s exactly what the judges wrote on my judging paper. “Very healthy ingredients. Wide variety of ingredients. They taste wonderful & attractive. We are looking for ease of preparation & thought this muffin, though wonderful, has too many ingredients.”

Shoot. The real kick in the butt was my soy yeast bread, though (pictured above). It didn’t rise as well as I would have liked, and thought the judges must have found it too dense because it didn’t place. Well, this is what they wrote on that paper: “Beautiful bread-the cinnamon with the raisins is fantastic. I loved it! HOWEVER: due to the facts listed in the State Fair Rule Book, this entry was to be entered on a “sturdy white plain paper plate” & had to be disqualified. I am sorry. Please pay close attention to the listed rules.” (Wasn’t she sweet about? Aw!)

I entered my bread on a foil-wrapped piece of cardboard because that is what I used for all my other breads for the regular contests. But the special contests apparently have special rules too. DRAT! Oh well, maybe next year I’ll get it right.

One thing I did get right is the moisture (so moist!) and taste (like dessert!) on these muffins. They are just SO good you would never guess they don’t have any eggs or dairy–even the soy “cream cheese” filling tastes nothing like soy. Honestly, they hardly even taste “healthy” because they are so good. I froze the leftovers and have been enjoying them slowly. I have only a precious few left and even after almost two months in the freezer, they are still as wonderful as the day I made them!

Carrot Cake Protein Muffins

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

Filling
8 oz. Toffutti Better Than Cream Cheese
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Muffins
1 cup white whole wheat flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup soy flour*
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ tablespoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 ½ teaspoons salt
16 oz. silken tofu
½ cup orange juice
½ cup soy milk
¼ cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 ½ cups finely shredded carrots
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup raisins

Topping
¼ cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Mix the filling ingredients together until smooth; set aside. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners and set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, rolled oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside. In a blender, combine tofu, orange juice, soy milk, agave nectar, and canola oil. Blend until smooth, then add the orange zest and pulse once to combine. Pour into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir until moistened. Fold in the carrots, walnuts, and raisins. Divide half the batter between prepared muffin cups, then spoon about 1 ½ teaspoons of the filling mixture over the centers before covering with the remaining batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the center no longer looks wet and feels done when touched in the middle (a toothpick will not come out clean because of the filling so go by the look and feel). Remove to cool completely on a wire rack.

*There’s no need to go out and buy soy flour if you don’t have it, just use a full cup of all-purpose flour and omit the soy flour.

Recipe source: adapted beyond belief from Healthy Happy Life