Scout's 2nd Birthday: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Well, my little puppy is now, officially, an adult dog.

Let me preface this post by saying that I never thought I'd be that dog owner. Talking to him like he's a baby? Crazy. Birthday parties? Ha! You have got to be kidding me.

"Hi, momma. I waited right here for you to come home."

...then it all went out the window.

He's my starter-kid. My fluffy protector. My companion. My running buddy. My comedic relief. MY BABY!!

I knew a small slice of carrot cake would make Scout very happy, but if feeding to doggies, omit the frosting on that piece, since dairy and dogs don't mix.

One thing I like about this recipe is that matchstick carrots are a great time-saver. You can chop them for a few seconds in the food processor or run a knife through them just to make them slightly more palatable in the cake. So simple.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
1 1/3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. allspice (I used pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 t. nutmeg
dash of salt
2/3 c. canola or vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly fork beaten
1 1/2 c. finely grated peeled carrots or matchstick carrots, chopped
1 c. chopped walnuts (reserve some for topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round pans, two 8-inch square pans, one 13x9-inch cake pan, or prepare 18 cupcake liners.

Whisk together the first eight ingredients in a large bowl. Add canola oil and fork-beaten eggs. Stir chopped grated carrots and walnuts into mixture.

Scrape batter into pan(s), and spread until even. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean: 25–30 minutes in round or square pans; 30–35 minutes in 13x9 pan; 20 minutes for 18 cupcakes.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Slide knife around edges to loosen if removing from pan. Frost when completely cooled.


Cream Cheese Frosting (half recipe of what I use for red velvet):*
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. confectioners' sugar, or to taste

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Frost cake when completely cool, and top with additional chopped walnuts, if desired.

* You may need to double the frosting recipe for a layered cake, but this was enough for a single-layer 13x9 pan.

Happy Birthday, Scouty!

Hot chocolate on a stick!

Here's a cute idea I ran across this year when making my homemade gifts. This whole website is fun and creative!

Take chocolate (milk, semisweet, and bittersweet all work), cocoa, and powdered sugar. Melt together and pour into ice cube trays and insert craft sticks. Cool to room temp. Tie up in little bags with labels. The receiver just adds milk! I used these as Christmas gifts, but who wouldn't love a hostess gift like this anytime this winter?

Hot Chocolate on a Stick
makes 10 cubes of chocolate
8 oz. chocolate (any kind), chopped
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. powdered sugar
pinch of salt
a few ounces of a contrasting chocolate, for dipping
festive sprinkles

In a double boiler (or a glass bowl set over gently simmering water), melt chocolate. When it is about 2/3 melted, remove from heat and continue stirring until completely melted (this just keeps it from overheating).

Add cocoa, powdered sugar, and salt and stir until well combined. Don't stop until it's all incorporated! It'll start to look better/smoother after a few minutes of stirring.

Either pipe the chocolate mixture into a clean ice cube tray (a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off works well) or use a small cookie scoop, being careful not to make a big mess of the ice cube tray so that the resulting pops will look clean and professional. Tap the ice cube tray mold on the counter to ensure that there are no air bubbles.

Add a stir stick (I found some at A.C. Moore) to each cube. It should stand up straight without any issues.

Cool to room temperature (or in the fridge if in a hurry).

Once hardened, to remove from the mold, twist the ice cube tray the same way you would to remove ice cubes. They should come right out.

To make the pops a bit more festive, I melted a small amount of white chocolate and dipped each pop in at an angle then topped with some Christmas sprinkles. Be sure to have some tall glasses or vases ready so you can prop up the dipped pops so they can dry.

They can be stored at room temp, but I recommend making them nearly the same day as you give them—my milk chocolate pops started getting speckled at room temp because I think I waited too long to cover them with plastic wrap.

If these are gifts, be sure to provide instructions for the receiver. Each ounce of chocolate should be melted into a cup of milk or cream, but since these ice cube tray pops are 3/4 ounce, they should be stirred into 3/4 cup of milk or cream when making the hot chocolate.

Bailey's/Kahlua/Schnapps/Godiva/Creme de Menthe/fluffy Williams-Sonoma marshmallows optional. ;)

Spritz (aka Swedish Pressed Butter Cookies)

I'm going to admit this up front. Many countries proudly claim these cookies. Many of those countries are Scandinavian ones. I'm going to put a little blue and yellow flag on them and claim them for Sweden, m'kay?

I know that the holidays are now over. But you likely know by now that I'm too preoccupied with other things to get a recipe up in time for someone to actually use it during the correct season. :) However, the holidays just aren't complete for me without these cookies. Fortunately, my husband is used to having them as part of his holiday repertoire as well. Spritz cookies are buttery, delicate, and pushed through a cookie press. (Miss A, I ended up with this one. My grandmother's looks just like this!)

I will also be the first to admit that they can be a real pain to make! They will not stick to a greased or nonstick cookie sheet or Silpat. The dough does not fall off the cookie press. The dough, being mostly butter, warms up VERY quickly. Tricks abound including putting the cookie sheet in the freezer, putting the cookie press barrel in the fridge, the general consensus that a metal barrel keeps the dough colder than a plastic one. But I don't want this post to turn into cookie press 101. If you have one already, you KNOW these cookies. If not, here's the recipe that came included with my new press. ;)

Spritz
makes about 4 dozen cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg, vanilla, and salt. Mix in the flour, in batches, until just combined.

Pack dough into the cookie press and fit with desired disk shape. Press dough out onto ungreased cookie sheet, spacing cookies 1 inch apart. Decorate with sprinkles.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light golden. Cool on wire racks.

Merry Belated Christmas!

Easiest chocolate cupcakes with glossy chocolate glaze

First, I am alive and well. I just have a gazillion pumpkin recipes that will be ready to post next fall that I never got around to posting before Thanksgiving (i.e., the last day I want to see or eat pumpkin until September 1, 2010).

Switching gears to Christmas, the season of chocolate, I have so many recipes I look forward to sharing and only a few days to do it. Whoops. But let me start with this one.

Husband forget to tell you about his office holiday party where he signed up to bring cupcakes?* Need a quick recipe to wow your family that is descending on you for the holidays? Feeling unstable and need a supremely fudgy treat?

With the exception of the Baker's unsweetened chocolate, you are likely to have all of these ingredients in your pantry! (And, if you're an avid baker, you will have it all.) When does that ever happen?! You don't even need more than a whisk, a bowl, and a saucepan.

This recipe is from one of my favorite blogs. She even provides a link so you can print it all pretty!

*Purely hypothetical :) He was good this year. ;)

Easiest chocolate cupcakes with glossy chocolate glaze
Cupcakes
1 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. hot water
1/2 c. canola (or vegetable) oil
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with liners.

2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in hot water, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the egg, whisking until well blended.

3. Pour into prepared muffin cups. Bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack. Frost when completely cooled.

Glaze
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. cornstarch
1 1-oz. square unsweetened Baker's chocolate, grated or chopped very finely
dash of salt
1/2 c. boiling water
1 1/2 T. butter
1/2 t. vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, grated/chopped chocolate, and salt. Add boiling water and cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble, whisking so it will be smooth.

2. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

3. While frosting is still hot, dip the cooled cupcake tops into the glaze one at a time. Top with sprinkles and set on a cooling rack. Devour, with milk. You'll need it!

Caramel Apple Pie Ice Cream

Confession: I've had the freezer bowl of my ice cream maker attachment in the freezer since, oh, July. I waited all summer for the perfect recipe, but then life got busy.

I needed to use up the rest of my apples and had recently made my favorite apple cake recipe when it occurred to me that apple ice cream with apple cake might just be the perfect combo.

I found this recipe on allrecipes but made it my own. Hope you like it. It's gooood.

Caramel Apple Pie Ice Cream
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 T butter
3 T sugar
1 t. cinnamon

3 c. whipping cream – I used 3 c. half and half
1 1/2 c. half and half – I used 1 1/2 c. 2% milk
1 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 t. vanilla extract
2 t. cinnamon

4–6 oatmeal cookies – I used soft store-bought ones and gently tore them into small pieces
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. caramel ice cream topping

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the chopped apples, sugar, and cinnamon. Cook until the apples have lightly browned and the sugar has begun to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.

Combine cream (or half and half, if substituting), half and half (or 2% milk, if substituting), sugar, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl; mix to blend well. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

When the ice cream has finished, stir in the cookie pieces, caramelized apples, and walnuts. Add the caramel by the spoonful while stirring to evenly distribute.

Serve on this cake. :)

Apple Cake 2

If you aren't a reader of Smitten Kitchen (really, who isn't?), you should take a gander at all her amazing recipes over there. This time of year, anything with apple or pumpkin has my vote!

Although I still think that this is my very favorite apple cake recipe, SK shares a sentimental one with a slightly different technique than mine. The apples are layered, the cinnamon is mixed into the apples rather than the batter, and she uses a tube pan (but I still used a Bundt—all I have!). Hers has the presentation though that my favorite does not. Look at those huge apple chunks on hers!

Since mine was in a Bundt pan, which you flip out of the pan (so the bottom becomes the top), I knew I'd have an issue with the apples being visible. Put them in first and you might not get the cake out of the pan at all. Put them in last, and you won't see them at all like you do in SK's because they'd be on the bottom. So, I attempted to layer them the best I could. Use a tube pan if you have one. :)

Apple Cake 2
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
6 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped – I used a combo of Braeburn and Golden Delicious
1 T cinnamon
5 T sugar

2 3/4 c. flour
1 T baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. vegetable oil – I used canola
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. orange juice – I bet apple juice would be great, but I didn't have any ;)
2 1/2 t. vanilla
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan (preferred) or Bundt pan. In a small bowl, combine apple chunks, cinnamon, and sugar. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, orange juice, and vanilla. Gradually mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients then add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Tube pan instructions:
Pour half the batter into the greased pan. Spread half the apples over the batter. Pour remaining batter over the apples. Arrange remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1.5 hours or until a tester comes out clean.

Bundt pan instructions:
Pour about a third of the batter into the greased pan. Spread half of the apples over the batter, pushing down slightly so that the apples can just slightly peek out the bottom (which will be the top) of the cake. Pour another third or so of the batter on top of the apples. Pour in remaining apples then remaining batter. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. (I did it this way so that you'd be able to see the apples when you flip it out of the pan but still be able to get it out of the pan without the apples sticking to the bottom—hopefully!)

Hers looks a heck of a lot yummier than mine, so use that tube pan if you have it. ;)

Coming Soon...

Meet my friends (l to r) Red Delicious (I only picked two—not the best for baking), Golden Delicious (perfect for baking), Braeburn (slightly tart due to his Granny Smith momma), and York (lopsided but so delicious).

Coming soon:

Apple cake (a different version)
Apple cinnamon ice cream (with oatmeal cookie chunks, caramel, and nuts—you won't want to miss this one!)

Fall: Pumpkin Bars

In high school AP German class, after the exam, we had to translate a recipe for cobbler (a krümeltorte, technically), make the recipe, then bring it in to class for a massive cobbler gorge-fest. (Unless you translated it incorrectly, in which case, no I don't want to eat your nasty concoction, thanks.) I remember my friend Jen gave up on translating/making the topping ingredients (methinks senioritis hit her junior year) and topped hers with yellow cake mix and melted butter. I thought this was the strangest thing, but she assured me that this was how her mother makes a shortcut cobbler.

Yeah, that crumbled yellow cake mix tasted better than my homemade topping (Butter, Zucker, Mehl, Backpulver, Ei, Vanille-Extrakt, und Salz, for those curious).

So when I acquired a recipe that included probably my favorite non-chocolate sweet (pumpkin) with that surprisingly tasty yellow cake mix topping, I knew we had a winner.

The good: You don't need special equipment. The bad: It takes an hour (or more) to cook. The worse: Despite my alterations, this ain't health food. But boy is it good!

Pumpkin Bars
30 oz. can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
14 oz. can evaporated milk (fat free works perfectly well)
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. sugar
splash of vanilla
1/4 t. cinnamon
2 T. pumpkin pie spice (or your favorite combination of nutmeg, cloves, etc.)
one box yellow cake mix (you could totally use only a half box and save the rest for next time)
1.5 sticks butter, melted (it calls for 2 sticks (!), but I'd start with 1 and add more if needed)
1 c. chopped pecans (I just eyeballed it)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and the spices with a whisk or spatula in a bowl. Spread into 13 x 9-inch pan.

Sprinkle cake mix on top. Pour melted butter over cake mix. Top with chopped nuts.

Bake at 350 for 1 to 1.5 hours. (70 minutes worked for me)

I took this picture at a Navy football tailgate. Perfect recipe for traveling!

Magic Coconut Pie

Well, it's mom's birthday again. This is her one time per year that she can beg for coconut—and coconut-hating dad can't do anything about it. :)

I was slightly skeptical about this one. It sounded so 50s. Seriously, Bisquik and coconut and no pie crust? It reminded me of this awful Bisquik Mexican dish I had to eat as a kid. Um, enjoy your "pie" mom! But I immediately changed my tune when I started breathing in the warm coconut, which reminded me so much of our honeymoon to Barbados and this coconut pie we would order at this bar on the beach. It was coconut and eggs and sugar and probably nothing else and it was just so amazing. This pie... this is my new pie. Custard on the inside, crunchy on top. We just loved it. Well, not dad, but the rest of us. ;)

Recipe from Baker's coconut bag.

Magic Coconut Pie
2 c. milk
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. Bisquik
4 eggs
1/4 c. butter, softened (at room temp)
1 t. vanilla
1 1/3 c. Baker's (preferred by my mom) angel flake coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix milk, sugar, Bisquik, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a blender on low speed for approximately 3 minutes. Pour into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Carefully sprinkle with coconut, making sure it doesn't overflow!

Carefully slide pie into oven and bake for 40–45 minutes or until center of pie is set (no longer jiggles when you attempt to take it out of the oven) and top is golden brown. Serve either warm or cool.

Store leftovers (ha!) in the refrigerator.

Custard!

Anniversary

I think I might belong in chocolate blog prison, but I bought a store cake for our second anniversary. The horror! Take me away, baking police. (In my defense, we had only been stateside for some 24 hours and jet lag had taken its toll.)

But, I doubt you've had the Wegmans chocolate cake. If so, you might understand. Soooo fudgy. The frosting is so good, and I generally HATE frosting. They make mini cakes that could totally pass for the top tier of a wedding cake, except this is anniversary #2 and the small wedding cake tier was SO last year. And the bigger cake costs less per pound... like my rationalizing? :)

Happy 2nd anniversary, sweetie!