The Bake Cakery

Equal parts life, love & food

Archive for category Friends

Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Sep 5

Posted by Amy in Baking, Friends, In the Kitchen | No Comments

These double chocolate hazelnut cookies are the perfect pick-me-up!  A close friend of mine was having a tough week, so I whipped up a batch and mailed them to her.  Apparently more than a few were crushed in transit, but she said they made the perfect topping for ice cream!
Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

If you use the wheat flour, hazelnuts and a high octane dark chocolate, these are super satisfying without making you feel too guilty.

Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

(makes 24)

  • ¼ c. butter, softened
  • ¾ c. dark brown sugar
  • ¼ c. canola oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • ½ c. whole wheat flour
  • ½ c. all purpose flour
  • ¼ c. natural cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ⅔ c. dark chocolate, chopped
  • ⅔ c. hazelnuts, chopped & toasted

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gently mix in oil, egg and vanilla until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (thru salt). On medium speed, slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in the dark chocolate pieces.

Use a 1/4 c. scoop to portion out the cookie dough onto a baking sheet. I used a Silpat mat to encourage browning and prevent the dough from sticking.  Gently press a teaspoon of the chopped hazelnuts onto the top of each cookie, flattening them out.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until firm but slightly gooey in the center.

Here is what they should look like going into the oven.  Feel free to eat them when slightly warm. I had to test them as soon as they were done to make sure they were good enough to share!

Unbaked Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Tags:

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes & Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Jul 8

Posted by Amy in Baking, Friends, In the Kitchen | No Comments

When I bake for a special occasion, it’s rare that I try out a completely new recipe. Normally I like to play it a little safe and make something I know is going to turn out. But I was still on the hunt for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe after making several that weren’t chocolatey enough or were too dry. Our friend Jill turned 30 this week and that’s definitely an occasion for chocolate if you ask me (I also hit 30 this year)!

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes

I found a few recipes that use a combo of buttermilk and hot water to infuse moisture into the cake (inspiration here and here). That, along with some new natural cocoa powder were just the ticket to creating a fluffy moist cupcake with a deep chocolate flavor. The homemade vanilla bean buttercream was also a thing of beauty. I’m normally a chocolate-on-chocolate kinda girl, but a quick Facebook poll said most folks prefer vanilla frosting, who knew? I used my favorite buttercream standby and fancied it up with vanilla bean paste.

The most surprising thing about the cake batter is how thin it is when it goes into the pan. I was concerned that we’d end up with chocolate goo, but now I’m pondering ways to use the hot water technique for other cupcake batters because it was THAT good! These aren’t gluten, fat, sugar or guilt free, but they are just the ticket for a big celebration!

Note: You will see a few special ingredients like coffee extract and vanilla bean paste. I provided Amazon links to the products I use, but I like to purchase them at a major discount from Marshall’s or TJ Maxx!

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes 36 cupcakes)

  • 3 c. granulated sugar
  • 2 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ c. natural cocoa powder (not dutch process)
  • 2 ¼ tsp. baking powder
  • 2 ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • 1.5 tsp. salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ½ c. buttermilk
  • ¾ c. canola oil
  • 3 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ c. boiling water
  • 2 tsp. coffee extract (optional – I use this brand. Or, substitute water with hot coffee!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 cupcake tins with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.

Put water in a small pan over high heat and allow it to begin boiling while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Whisk sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl (I use my stand mixer bowl).

In a separate bowl or large plastic measuring cup, mix eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and coffee extracts until blended.  Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed.

Pour the boiling water into the mixture. It will be the texture of melted milkshake, not to worry. Distribute batter into prepared pans, filling each cupcake about 2/3 full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes until center bounces back when pressed or a toothpick comes out clean. (Or until your whole house starts to smell like warm chocolate). Cool completely and then frost with your favorite recipe or the one below.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream

(generously frosts 36 cupcakes)

  • 1 lb unsalted butter, room temp.
  • ¼ c. shortening (optional – makes it smoother & more heat stable)
  • 3 lb confectioners’ sugar
  • ¼ c. whole milk, room temp.
  • 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp. vanilla bean paste (I use this one purchased at Marshall’s for half the price)
  • pinch of salt

The most important step for this simple recipe to work is to set out all your ingredients and get them to room temperature. If you skip this, the buttercream will curdle=not yummy.

Whip butter on high speed for 5 minutes until smooth. Meanwhile, sift the confectioners’ sugar to remove clumps.

Add the first pound of sugar to the butter and mix on low speed until incorporated. Then add the milk and mix on low speed until combined.

Add second pound of sugar and mix until smooth. Add remaining pound of sugar, shortening, vanilla bean paste, vanilla  and salt and mix on low speed.

Whip on high speed for an additional 5 minutes until the icing is white and smooth. If it appears too stiff you can add an additional tablespoon of milk but you want a good thick frosting for piping. Pipe using a Wilton 1 M tip working from outside to inside to get the look above.

Fun fact: I also created the scalloped cupcake liners using coordinating scrapbook papers. I traced out a template that I found online and used my Silhouette cutter to get 36 perfect cupcake wrappers! This is a new tool for me, so if you have any other fun project suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Tags: , ,

Red Velvet Cake with Beets?!

Mar 16

Posted by Amy in Baking, Friends, In the Kitchen | 76 Comments

I love an excuse to try a new recipe, really I do… but when my good friend Jenny raved about a red velvet cake with made with beets, I made lots of funny faces – until I realized she was serious. Not to mention that it was her birthday, so I couldn’t possibly say no!

Jenny has been on a quest to get healthier and as her workout partner, I figured I had to oblige her request for a lighter version of this quintessential southern cake (after all she could only save up so many Weight Watchers points!)

The recipe comes from Spotted Salamander Catering in Columbia, SC who introduced Jenny to beet red velvet cupcakes at one of her recent couponing workshops. They kindly shared their recipe, so I set out to recreate it and hopefully not fail at my first encounter with beets.

I had two initial observations. (#1) Fresh beets turn everything fuschia and (#2) they smell remarkably like dirt. No worries, that must mean they are filled with antioxidants and vitamins and stuff, right? Now I know where the phrase “beet red” comes from, just be sure to wear appropriately colored clothing!

As I always do when trying a new recipe, I did some pre-baking research and found lots of details and variations of beet red velvet cake. This post in particular highlighted the effect of pH on the color of the final cake and the chemical engineering nerd in me couldn’t resist an experiment of my own. Beets are naturally red from betalains, compounds whose color is very sensitive to temperature, pH and moisture.

The original recipe from Spotted Salamander really only made enough for one 9″ round cake pan, so I made two layers exactly the same way, but added lemon juice (1/4 c.) to one to see if it resulted in a brighter red cake. (if you stare at the picture below long enough you’ll notice the top layer is darker brown and the bottom layer with lemon juice retained a more reddish tone.. too bad I didn’t have any litmus paper on hand!)

The icing on the cake (heh) is that I reserved some of the beet juice to tint the cream cheese icing on the cake. No Red #40 here!  When I’m piping words I like to print out the size and spacing of the text as a guide and then freehand it. This font is Minya Nouvelle for anyone interested.

Beet Colored Frosting

And of course you need the action shot of the birthday girl blowing out quite a few glowing candles :) The cake was really delicious and thankfully didn’t taste (or smell) like beets at all!

Here’s the full recipe from the Spotted Salamander with my notes added in blue:

Red Velvet With Beets

(yields one 9″ round layer)

¾ c. pureed beets  (I roasted them at 350 for 30 min adding 1/2 c. of water to the pan after 10 min)
½ c. oil
¼ c. milk
1 tsp. plain yogurt (this is a strangely small amount to me)
½ tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 eggs
¾ c. flour
⅔ c. sugar (or Splenda)
½ c. dutch cocoa (I used Ghirardelli unsweetened baking cocoa)
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together all of the dry ingredients and set aside. Blend
the wet ingredients until uniform.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until combined.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the center comes out clean. (mine took closer to 25 min in a 9″ round). Cool before icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

I made a standard cream cheese frosting with confectioners sugar, but Spotted Salamander suggested using Splenda.

3 blocks cream cheese (8 oz each)
2 sticks unsalted butter
¼ tsp. salt
16 oz confectioners sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste!)

Cream together the cream cheese and butter at room temperature. Add the salt and sugar and whip until light and fluffy.  Stir in the vanilla. Frost your cooled cake and sprinkle sides with chopped pecans for garnish if desired.

Update: If you’d like to know more about the science and history of Red Velvet Cake, check out my guest post on ChEnected.

As it turns out, you can have your cake and eat your beets too!

Happy 2011!

Dec 31

Posted by Amy in Family, Friends | 1 Comment

Whew, this year has absolutely flown by. I’m doing double takes every time I see 2011 because it just looks weird!

For me, this year in particular holds a lot of milestones.

I celebrated 7 incredible years of marriage to my amazing hubby, finished my PhD, made tons of progess on the house and grew alot personally. My mom overcame breast cancer and my grandma is working hard recovering from a stroke. My first niece and nephew were born just 9 days apart! I took my first trip where I needed a passport, started this blog and began working out more regularly.

Life is sweet even through the ups and downs and I’m so thankful for all the blessings.

Made For You With Love

Oct 3

Posted by Amy in At Home, Baking, Creating, Friends, In the Kitchen | 3 Comments

Remember the caramel apple cheesecake I made yesterday?  Well, I had some extra batter because my springform pan was too short to hold it all.  Not a problem – I quickly whipped up some extra crust and baked a baby version too.  We were getting together with good friends today, so I decided to wrap it up as a little present for them to enjoy.


Jason designed these adorable stickers for me a few months ago and we had them printed by Stickermule.  Just $9 for a batch of 100 2″ stickers after a coupon code. I also have a stash of fun treat boxes and bags from Christmas thanks to Jason’s mom. Who knew you could gift-wrap a mini cheesecake!

The ribbon and label came with one set of treat boxes and I thought they matched really well with the sticker and my blog.  Despite what you might think, I’m not a huge fan of pink.  But my favorite color is chocolate brown (is that weird?) and the two go so well together. I will say that in transport some of the caramel stuck to the window of the box which of course drove me crazy briefly, but overall I was really happy with how it turned out.

Along with the idea of owning a B&B, you can add professional baking to my list of dreams.  I love that I can whip up something in my kitchen to make other people smile!