The Bake Cakery

Cranberry Flax Crunch Cookies

(makes 15 cookies)

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/3 c. light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)
• 3/4 c. rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/3 c. flax meal
• 3/4 c. dried cranberries
• 1/4 c.  shredded coconut flakes
• 1/2 c. dark chocolate morsels

Beat first 7 ingredients in a stand mixer until creamy. Combine remaining ingredients and stir into the butter egg mixture.

Scoop 1/4 c. dollops of batter onto a prepared cookie sheet and flatten tops.  Allow batter to stand for 30 minutes to incorporate liquid evenly.

Preheat oven to 350 F and bake for 12 minutes, until slightly golden.  Allow them to cool on the baking sheet.  Serve with a big glass of milk & enjoy!

Peach Blueberry Buckle

(serves 8-12)

• 3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c.sugar
• 2 tsp. homemade vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1 1/2 c. peaches or nectarines
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1 tsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Peel and dice the peaches and wash your blueberries. Let both strain to remove excess liquid.

In the meantime, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in the vanilla.

Combine the dry ingredients and add in 3 increments to the butter mixture, alternating with an egg each time.  Don’t overmix.

Pour into a greased 9″ cake pan and smooth with a spatula.  Prepare the milk wash with the remaining ingredients. Brush over the pastry until the whole surface is shiny (note: you may not use it all).

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is set.  Allow to cool and serve to your very lucky breakfast guests!

Banana Bread Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

Banana Bread Muffins

(makes 12)

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (homemade!)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and cream cheese until fluffy.  Add in sugar and continue to whip until light & airy.  Add egg, stirring until just incorporated.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add to wet mixture slowly, beating on medium speed.  Stir in bananas and vanilla extract.

Spray a muffin tin (or use paper liners if you prefer).  Distribute 1/4 of batter into each of 12 muffin cups.

Cream Cheese Filling

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 egg

Beat the cream cheese and sugar together over medium speed until airy. Add flour and mix until incorporated. Stir in egg and whip until uniform and a creamy pale yellow.

Fit a round tip onto a piping bag and fill with cream cheese mixture. Pipe a tablespoon of cream cheese mixture into each muffin.Top with pumpkin seeds, chopped pecans or other garnish, if desired.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until sides just begin to brown.  Do not overbake – you want these to be nice and moist.  Cool slightly and serve.

Lemon Curd Filled Cupcakes Topped with Marshmallow Meringue Frosting

(makes exactly 12 cupcakes…on second thought you might want to double it!)

Lemon Curd Filling

• 2/3 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 4 tsp. fresh lemon zest
• ½ c. sugar (less than the original called for – it was awesomely tart)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (yes, I’m obsessed)

In a medium sauce pan, heat the sugar, lemon juice and zest over medium heat, stirring until dissolved.

In a stand mixer, lightly whip the eggs and slowly pour the hot mixture into the egg while whipping.  Beat for 1-2 minutes and strain the mixture back into the saucepan to make it smooth.

Cook on low for ever about 10 minutes whisking continuously until it thickens and comes to a boil. (and you can’t feel your arm)

Remove from heat and stir in the bean paste. Cool completely before filling cupcakes. (makes about 1.5 cups of curd!)

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

• ½ c. butter, softened
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ c. all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 c. reduced fat sour cream

Cream together the butter and sugar until light & airy.  Add in the egg, lemon zest and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.  Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the sour cream to the wet mixture.

Spray a large muffin tin with cooking spray and divide batter evenly. (Note: these will be big cupcakes!)

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes in a preheated oven, you will start to smell them browning when they’re ready.

Cool completely before filling and frosting.

Marshmallow Meringue Frosting

• 4 egg whites
• 1 c. sugar
• ¼ tsp. cream of tartar

Combine all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Heat the mixture over a pot of simmering water, heating to 145 F (for another eternity 10 minutes), whisking constantly.

Remove from heat and beat on low until foamy and then on high for 8-10 minutes!

To assemble cupcakes: Fit a piping bag with a long cupcake tip and fill with lemon curd.  Poke the top of each cupcake and apply pressure to fill with lemon curd.

After each cupcake is filled, use a star tip (i used Ateco 1M) and working from the outside in, form a swirl.

One each cupcake is frosted, bust out your torch and lightly toast the edges.

Robin Egg Meringues

(makes 30-40 depending on size)

• ½ c. egg whites (4 large eggs)
• ¼ tsp. cream of tartar
• ¼ tsp. salt (very important, these are too sweet otherwise)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used coffee extract and they were divine!)
• 4 big drops of blue food coloring
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp. vodka (use this to make a cocoa “paint” – alcohol evaporates and dries faster than water)

Get your oven preheated to 225F.  Separate out your egg whites and toss them into your stand mixer with the whisk attachment (you can do it with a hand mixer too, but its a labor of love).  When the whites look foamy, sprinkle in the cream of tartar, salt, extract and any coloring you want. (I found that blue + the brown extract gave a perfect teal color!)

With the mixer on high, slowly sprinkle in the sugar, taking care not to dump it all in (this is so the sugar can dissolve in the egg properly and you don’t end up with grains in the final product).

Whip everything until super stiff, shiny peaks form. It should look like a sticky blue cloud at this point.

Robin Egg Tutorial

Put a large round tip into a piping bag (I used Ateco 802 from my favorite tip set).

Get a baking sheet set up with a Silpat or some parchment paper.

For the most realistic effect, you want to make these about the size of an actual egg.  Initially I printed a little template and put it under the baking mat so I could see the shape I wanted.

Then I ignored all that and found best way to pipe them is to make the shape of a “6″.This way you get a thinner top and a more round bottom on your egg.

Using a small food-safe paintbrush (toothpick or small spoon will work too), gently flatten out the peak at the end of the 6 and use it to fill in the gap so that it looks like an egg!

These will puff very slightly when baking and even out tiny humps and bumps, but you want to get them as smooth as you can for a realistic effect.

Put them in the oven at 225 for about an hour.  They are done when they feel dry and hard to the touch.

Here comes the fun part.  Mix together the cocoa powder and vodka forming a thick paste.  We are really making chocolate paint here!

Splatter the brown “paint” all over the eggs (you are looking for small and large dots here).

Tres Leches Cake w/ Toasty Meringue

Cake Layers

3 c. all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 c. unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sift together the 3 dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugar until white and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time until just blended. Follow with vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Alternate adding 1/3 of the flour and 1/2 the milk, mixing until just incorporated.

Pour batter into two 8” greased cake pans lined with parchment. Bake 55 min or until it passes the toothpick test. Cool completely in pans.

Tres Leches Sauce

2 c. evaporated milk
2 c. sweetened condensed milk
2 c. cream

Mix and chill.  Pour half of mixture over each of the two cake layers and allow to soak in.

Meringue Frosting

2 c. granulated sugar
4 oz. water
1 c. egg whites (about 8 large eggs) note: save the yolks for creme brulee while you have the torch out!
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small pan. Heat until it reaches 240 F on a candy thermometer (softball temp for sugar). Whip egg whites in a clean metal bowl until soft peaks form. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the beaten egg whites. Crank up to high speed, adding lemon juice and vanilla and mixing until stiff, shiny peaks form.

Turn cakes out and frost with meringue icing between layers. Spread extra meringue on the exterior of the cake and pipe designs as desired.  Using a creme brulee torch, lightly brown the outside of the frosting with a continuous sweeping motion, taking care not to burn the meringue.

A note about eggs: I used pasteurized eggs for my meringue and they did not whip up as nicely resulting in a looser texture. I suggest regular eggs, but be aware that raw eggs can pose health issues.  The lemon juice and hot sugar do help “cook” the eggs, but you can decide what you prefer.