Moist Chocolate Cake

For all of you chocolate fans, here is a recipe for a moist cake that holds well  weeks (if somebody can resist it for that long).

Ingredients:
Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup brewed coffee
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:
1 cup milk
5 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease two 9'' round pans and keep them aside.

Stiff all dry ingredients together - flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa.

In a bowl beat both eggs and sugar for about 5-6 mins. Add oil, milk, coffee and vanilla extract. Give this a quick stir and add the dry ingredients a cup at a time. The batter will be thin!

Pour into the baking pans and bake for 30 mins.

Coll down for 10-15 mins before taking the cakes out of the pan. 

To make the icing:

Combine warm milk and flour and cook until thickens. make sure you beat the milk often to avoid burning and lumps.

Cool it down and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Ina bowl beat together butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla extract until creamy.

Add the cold milk and flour mixture and beat for 7-8 more minutes or until all ingredients are well combined.

To assemble the cake:

If you want to avoid the curvy cake top, cut out the top portion of the cake to make it flat. 

Spread the icing on top of the first layer. Place the second cake on the top of the first frosted cake.

Spread more icing to cover the top and the sides. The cake can be refrigerated. 

Enjoy!

Butterscotch Cake

This cake is based on a recipe I have from Martha Steward web site.
I modified it to be more moist and the butterscotch sauce crunchier :)

Butterscotch Pecan Cake from Martha Stewart

My version with little changes:

Ingredients:

Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 stick butter ( you can use half of the butter, rest apple sauce)
2 1/2 brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 table spoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum, or rum extract

Frosting
3 sticks butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
20 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Butterscotch sauce
2/3  brown sugar
6 table spoons butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Method:

All the ingredients for the cake should be room temperature.
If using apple sauce instead of butter, the cake will have more moisture to it and reduce the calories. For a butter taste simply add a teaspoon of butter essence.

Directions

Make the cakes:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, line with parchment, and coat parchment. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
Beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then add vanilla and rum. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with buttermilk. Raise speed to medium-high, and beat for 2 minutes. Divide batter among pans.
Bake cakes until golden brown and testers inserted in centers come out clean, about 40 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks, and let cool slightly. Invert cakes onto racks. Let cool.

Make the frosting:
Melt 1 stick butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until dark golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add brown sugar, cream, and salt, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook for 3 minutes. Transfer to a mixer bowl, and let cool.
With machine running, add remaining butter, a few pieces at a time, and beat on low until incorporated. Raise speed to medium, and beat for 2 minutes. In another bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar on medium-high until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add brown-butter mixture to cream cheese, and beat until smooth. Cover, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours (or overnight, beating on low speed before using).

Make the butterscotch sauce:
Mix sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat, and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk in cream. Return to heat, and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Let cool slightly. It should thicken in order to form crunchy layer on the cake.

To assemble the cake:
Trim tops of 2 cake layers and top and bottom of third (this will be the middle) to create flat exposed surfaces. Brush 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butterscotch sauce on cut sides. Let cool. Spread 1 cup frosting on 1 layer, then place middle layer on top, sauce side down. Spread 1 cup frosting on middle layer, then place third layer on top, sauce side down. Spread 1 cup frosting on top and sides. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Using an offset spatula, spread remaining frosting on top and sides of cake. Press chopped pecans on sides, and garnish top with halves. Transfer cake to a serving plate or cake stand. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours (or up to 2 days, covered).

Enjoy!!! 

.

Hummingbird Cake

This cake is a wonderful combination of nuts, pineapple, bananas and cinnamon. The cream cheese butter frosting compliment the cake perfectly! Favorite to kids and adults! Easily made as cupcakes as well.
I would encourage everyone to make this cake and enjoy it with family and friends!

Ingredients:
31/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed bananas
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/4 cup chopped pineapple
4 table spoon of the pineapple juice
1 cup oil

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cups cream cheese

3 cups confectioner sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease three 9'' round pans.
In a large bowl stir to combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon. Add bananas, pineapple, nuts, eggs, oil and pineapple juice. Mix well with wooden spatula.



Pour the batter into the 3 round baking pans and bake for 20-25 mins until golden on top.
Let them cool down.



To make the frosting, beat together butter and cream cheese well. Mix in sugar and vanilla.
Spread frosting on top of the first layer, place the second layer on top and spread more frosting. Use the remaining frosting on top of the third layer and around the cake if you have some extra.
You can decorate the cake with whole pieces walnuts or chopped nuts as per your taste.





Enjoy!!!

Orange Bundt Cake

Almost everybody has leftover orange juice in the fridge and, or oranges  hiding somewhere in there too ;)
Here is a recipe I have for years and don't remember if I tried or not. I decided to give it a try before kids finish the few oranges left in the fridge, and to be hones I just feel like eating a bundt cake :) ..

Ingrediants:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
finely grated zest of 1 orange
2/3 milk
1/2 cup orange juice
strips of orange zest for decoration

Syrup:
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup orange juice

Method:
Preheat the oven to 325F.
Grease and lightly flour a bundt ring pan.

Combine flour, baking powder and grated orange zest. Keep aside.
In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at the time and beat thorough after each one. Fold in the flour mix and mix well. Add milk and orange juice , stirring to mix evenly.
Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for about 45-50 mins..
Let cool down in a pan for 5-10 mins and turn out on a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile make the syrup, mix both sugar and juice in a pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 mins until reduced and syrupy.
Spoon the syrup over the cake until still warm and top with orange zest.
Enjoy!!!