Brown Butter Cake with Cherries

This sly cake started out disguised as a white cake but morphed itself into the beautiful brown butter cake with cherries you see before you!



Can you smell it? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone if you bang your nose into the screen trying!

I’ve always been wary of using a recipe with browned butter. What if I happened to burn it instead of brown it? It’s such a fine line to walk. I believe I was successful, though. What do you think?



My initial idea was to frost the cake to give it a little something extra since it looked like this before...



Pretty but lacking, no? Well only after I made the "frosting" with granulated sugar did I realize it had all the texture of sandpaper. It overpowered the cake. So I scraped it off. Unfortunately I couldn't get all of it off! Disaster! I was ready to cry. Now, wait.. I'll stick it under the broiler to caramelize the sugar!



Now that is perfection!


Brown Butter Cake with Cherries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, browned
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup skim milk
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup cherries, pitted and diced, then dusted with flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown butter and allow to cool. In mixer bowl, beat egg and sugar until very well mixed. Add cooled butter, mixing until a pasty consistency is reached.



In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. In yet another bowl, combine milk and almond extract. Alternating flour mixture and milk mixture, add to paste mixture and beat well. Stop mixer, scrape down the sides and add cherries, mixing just enough to incorporate. Pour into a well buttered and floured bundt pan. Bake 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool completely before removing from pan.

Fifty!!

Huzzah to Post Number 50! And what a perfect way to hit 50 it is!



My momma needs some cheering up. What do I do? Make her cupcakes! Cupcakes always cheer people up, right?

That’s what I thought! It’ll turn her frown upside down!

I just knew that the recipe I spotted from Cupcake Project for Black Bottom Cupcakes with Goat Cheese would be the perfect thing! I added some cinnamon to the goat cheese mixture and cut the recipe in half so I wouldn’t be swimming in cupcakes.



Hmm… synchronized cupcake swimming… Think it’ll catch on?

Black Bottom Cupcakes with Goat Cheese
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoons almond extract
3 tablespoons milk
2 1/2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

4 ounces goat cheese
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Half a beaten egg
Handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder. In a kitchen aid mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, yogurt, extract and milk. Beat in chocolate, then slowly add in flour mixture until well mixed. Fill cupcake liners until 2/3 full. Clean mixer bowl and beater, then return to mixer. Beat together goat cheese, egg, sugar and cinnamon until well combined, then toss in chocolate chips. Top each cupcake with a heaping tablespoon of the mixture. Bake for 30 minutes.

Cinnamon Coffee Muffins

Nothing better than the morning coffee, eh?



After waking up at 5:00 this morning for the hour long group PT session at my gym, I still had 2 hours to kill before work. This is after getting showered and dressed. So what do I do?

Bake of course!

Maybe they have a bake-a-holics anonymous group I could join.

I adapted my Cherry Ginger Muffin recipe and made a bunch of mini muffins plus one regular sized muffin. Why the regular sized muffin? Well I ran out of space in the mini muffin pan and didn't want to wait until the first batch was done to reuse it!



I love the deliciously warm scent baking cinnamon leaves in the air. Combine that cinnamon with the smell of fresh coffee? I'm hooked.



I stacked up these yummy mini muffins in a nice little container and toted them off to work! Hooray for low fat treats!

Cinnamon Coffee Muffins
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raisin bran cereal
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coffee grounds
1 cup strong coffee, cooled
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a mini muffin pan with the little liners and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together flours, cereal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk together coffee grounds, coffee, canola oil, water and egg. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in coffee mixture and stir until just combined. Fill muffin liners until almost completely full. Bake 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

The Amazing Purple GF Torte

I’m not gluten-free anymore, but I still enjoy baking that way once in a while. It’s refreshing to say that you’ve created something without flour! Though the torte was super difficult to get out of the pan, I enjoyed the bittersweet chocolatey pudding-y solidity of its consistency.

Yes that’s my technical term for the consistency of this cake.

Pudding-y solidity.

Want to hear the absolute best part of this recipe? I know you do...

It has 500 calories. No, not for a slice, for the whole entire cake! I know, it doesn’t seem possible, but oh my it is. I am tempted to sit down with a fork and the pan to eat the whole thing. Somehow I feel that would be a bad idea for my poor tummy, though. But hey, where else can you get such decadence for so few calories?

Purple GF Torte
1 14 ounce can beets (the kind with just beets and water), rinsed
1/4 cup cranberry sauce (I used canned, but you could probably use fresh, too)
1 tablespoon molasses
2 eggs
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake pan, then dust with powdered sugar. Set aside for later use.

In a food processor, add beets, cranberry sauce and molasses. Puree together, then pulse in eggs, cocoa, extracts and salt until well blended. Pour mixture into the cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and sprinkle with coarse salt. Cool the torte, slice and serve as desired.

Banana-Rama Muffins

So today my Uncle Jerry, along with my cousins Serena and Kyle, from Missouri were visiting. They’ve been visiting quite a bit this past year. I’m big on family. Of course, you could tell that from my blog description I’m sure…

While I was so graciously washing the dishes for my parents, Serena sat on the bar stool next to me so we could chat. She just finished up her first year of college. Pre-med! I’m so proud of her! So proud I’m beaming!

*beam*

I wish she didn’t live so far away, though. It makes me sad.

On the plus side of her living so far away, this means I’ll get to mail her care packages! I love to send out care packages! I know how happy it makes my friends or family to get them. And college kids will eat anything, so I can put together some of my crazier recipes to send off to her! She put in a request for chocolate chip cookies… I can spice those up a bit! It’s so exciting!!

Of course I’ve got the whole summer before she goes back to school, but hey, I have something to look forward to!

That’s not what this recipe is about, however. This recipe comes from the banana sitting on my mom’s counter. It was overripe and I knew that the trashcan was it’s fate if I didn’t rescue it! So I swooped in and made it into some banana muffins! These muffins are of a crumbly Red Lobster biscuit type consistency. If you’re into super dense and moist muffins, I’d add about a 1/4 cup more milk to the batter.

Banana-Rama Muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon garam masala spice mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 mashed banana
1/4 cup peanuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, garam masala, salt and peanuts in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, oil and banana. Add wet mixture into dry and stir with a wooden spoon until just moistened. Fill muffin liners almost to the top and bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes about 11 muffins.

Root Beer Cupcakes

I was visiting my new blog haunt, Cupcake Project, yet again today. Among a ton of recipes I found that I just HAVE to make, I stumbled across her recipe for root beer cupcakes. I promptly printed out the recipe and rushed home (well, after work was actually over and I was able to leave) to bake them! Mmm root beer! The perfect pick-me-up plus the second perfect soda in the world! The first, of course, is Dr Pepper. I didn't follow the recipe for frosting on the website since I didn't have any of those ingredients. I also used my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer instead of mixing by hand. I'm a cheater!! I managed to finagle a frosting recipe out of my Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook I've had since I was a wee baker. Now my decorating abilities aren't quite up to speed, but at least it tastes good! The beauty will come! I did add a malted milk egg to each cupcake after frosting, though! I've recopied the recipe here since I made a few additions and changes. Enjoy the delicious fluffiness of baked root beer!

Root Beer Cupcakes
1 cup root beer soda
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons root beer soda
1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cup of root beer and vinegar. Allow to sit for a few minutes. In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. Pour root beer/vinegar mixture into bowl of mixer. Add in sugar and oil, mixing vigorously until slightly frothy. Toss in vanilla extract and teaspoons of root beer. Add flour mixture and mix until just moistened. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes 12 cupcakes.



Vanilla Bean Icing
Now this recipe I found to be entirely too sweet the way I altered it, so I altered it some more. I'll post the first way I made it as well as the changes I made after it was finished.
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Vanilla Bean Chiller powder mix(from Tastefully Simple)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons root beer

Sift together Vanilla mix and powdered sugar, set aside. Melt butter over the stove, then transfer to a bowl. Add root beer to butter. Mix in half the sugar mixture, stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add in remaining sugar mixture.

Since I found the frosting too sweet for my liking, I melted another tablespoon of butter over the stove. While still in the pan I added a tablespoon of root beer, a pinch of kosher salt (to taste) and a tablespoon (roughly) of whole wheat flour to make a thick rue. I then mixed the rue into the frosting. Then I piped it onto the cupcakes and topped them with the malted milk eggs.

Frosted Pickle Cupcakes

I was cruising the blogs yet again today and ran across one of the most intriguing things I have seen in a long time: Pickle Cupcakes. Yep, you read that right – pickle flavored cupcakes. I even added pickle frosting! Now 95% of you will think that these are the most disgusting things you could possibly fathom but I am here to tell you that I love them! Unfortunately my mom does not - she is of that 95%. Oh well! Can't win em all!!

I discovered this recipe on Cupcake Project's website and changed a few ingredients around to use up what I actually have in the pantry. So if you’re a member of that 5%, fire up those mixers and get baking!

Pickle Cupcakes
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry chopped onion
3 tablespoons tahini paste
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup greek yogurt
1/3 cup dill pickle juice (straight from the jar)
1/3 cup finely chopped pickles (I used some sweet ginger gerkins but the recipe calls for dill)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, dill, salt and onion in medium bowl. In another bowl, cream together tahini, oil, sugar, yogurt and egg until well blended. Add in pickle juice and flour mixture, followed by the chopped pickles. Fill muffin liners 2/3 full and bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes about 8 cupcakes.


Royal Pickle Icing (makes just enough to frost the cupcakes)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons meringue powder
2 1/2 tablespoons dill pickle juice

Beat on high with hand mixer until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Add a few drops of green food coloring if desired. In the picture the icing is still wet, but it does harden as it dries.

Blue Tahini Muffins

So after the awesome success of those chocolate muffins I baked a few days ago I decided to try a different take on them. Same basic recipes, but substituting more exotic ingredients. I had tahini paste in the fridge and subbed that in for oil, adding more milk to balance the consistency out a bit. I'm a nut for grains, so I mixed it up in that department quite a bit. I've been storing the muffins I make in the freezer and even after a spin to defrost in the microwave, these muffins are still deliciously moist. In fact.. I'm craving another one now..

Blue Tahini Muffins
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup blue cornmeal
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar plus enough milk to equal 1 cup plus 1/2 cup
1/3 cup tahini paste
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup raisin bran cereal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with muffin liners. Stir oats, cornmeal and milk mixture, set aside while other ingredients are combined. Whisk together tahini, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add egg mixture into oats mixture. Combine flours, cereal, baking powder, salt and baking soda, then add into wet ingredients until moistened. Fill muffin liners 2/3 full and sprinkle kosher salt on top. Bake for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins

More chocolatey goodness here - dark chocolatey goodness. Let's put it this way: this recipe is for the serious chocolate lover. I took a chocolate oatmeal muffin recipe I had found, used dark chocolate powder, and cut the sugar amount in half. I also added in some blueberries since I'm obsessed with fruit and chocolate combinations lately. I've actually been crumpling up the muffins, heating them in the microwave, pouring milk on top and eating them as cereal. Yes it's a bit strange, but man is it delicious!

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar plus enough milk to equal 1 1/3 cups
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Handful blueberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tin with the paper cups and set aside.

Stir together oats and milk mixture, allow to stand while you gather other ingredients. In another bowl, stir together oil, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add oats mixture and stir well. Mix together flours, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Toss in the blueberries now, too. Blend into oats mixture until just moistened. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

Cherry Ginger Muffins

It's been a while since I've posted, I know. Things have been crazybusy! But I'm back with a unique breakfast muffin that I've been enjoying for several days. They're filling, delicious, and exotic! Plus I actually mixed this recipe by hand - unusual for me. I adapted the recipe a bit from one I had found using apricot preserves. All I had in the house was cherry jam (thanks to the discovery of an ethnic grocery store on one of my many road trips). I swapped ingredients and substituted some whole wheat flour for some of the all purpose flour and VOILA! Deliciousness!



Cherry Ginger Muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup buttermilk (1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar plus enough milk to equal one cup)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 egg
1/3 cup cherry jam (or your favorite flavor of jam or preserves)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger. In another bowl combine buttermilk, oil, egg and jam. Stir wet ingredients into flour mixture until just moistened. Fill the muffin liners most of the way, leaving enough room for the muffins to bake into their "tops". Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out nice and clean.

Grapefruit Poppy Seed Muffins

I decided to bake some muffins to mail to Kyle's parents. Knowing his family likes grapefruit, I started there. Unfortunately most recipes I found used far more butter and sugar than I like to use. I looked up a lemon poppy seed muffin recipe, swapping out the lemon zest for grapefruit zest and grapefruit juice for milk. I also added in some chopped up grapefruit flesh and decreased the amount of poppy seeds. They turned out pretty well, sweet enough but not overpowering. Man did they smell awesome while baking..

Grapefruit Poppy Seed Muffins
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon finely grated grapefruit zest
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup grapefruit juice (for me this was roughly the juice from half a grapefruit plus a splash of half and half)
Flesh of that half of a grapefruit, chopped up

Preheat oven to 350. Place liners in mini muffin pan (I always use my mini muffin pan, I love it!). Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In stand mixer, cream butter, zest, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time making sure each is mixed in well. Now add poppy seeds and grapefruit flesh. Add in flour mixture and juice mixture until just combined. Fill muffin liners and bake for 9-11 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Green is the New Red

They're having a St Patrick's Day party at the bank next Wednesday! Woo hoo for corned beef! So there we were, discussing what else to bring. The thought occured to me, why not make green velvet cake? You know, red velvet cake with green food coloring instead of red to make it Irishly festive! I found a recipe that was a take on Paula Deen's here and altered it a bit. I split the recipe in half and made it gluten free with white rice flour. It turned out perfectly, I had JUST enough sugar in the cabinet. Phew! In fact, they were so good that I took them to various friends this morning so I wouldn't be tempted to eat any more.

Disclaimer: Eating the batter will turn your tongue green.

Enjoy this early St Patrick's Day treat!

Green Velvet Cupcakes
1 1/4 cups white rice flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup buttermilk(1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar rested for 5 minutes)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon green food coloring
1/2 teaspoon distilled vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together dry ingredients. Set aside. Mix together wet ingredients (be careful not to fling green everywhere). Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Divide the batter up into cupcake tins lined with those little papers. I used a mini cupcake tin since that's all I have papers for, but you could just as easily use a large cupcake tin. I didn't really time them, I just kept an eye on them and checked with my trusty plastic cocktail sword to see if they were done inside. I'd say about 8 minutes or so. Once the sword came out clean, I took them out. They were rich and moist and delicious. I plan on making these again Tuesday for the party on Wednesday, only with some melted white chocolate drizzled over the top.. yum!

The Great Red Bean Experiment

I have finally done it! I've mashed the beans, made the dough, steamed the buns, and made.. RED BEAN CAKES! These are not your ordinary cakes. I put my own personal spin on them, of course. Quite some time ago I made sweet potato biscuits with sage gravy.. now let me tell you, making biscuits is HARD WORK! I haven't made them since, but decided this was the right time to pull them out and use them for my experiment! I borrowed my dad's bamboo steamer and went to work on creating!

Red Bean Stuffed Sweet Potato Biscuits
For the Red Bean Paste:
1 cup red adzuki beans
1/2 cup sugar

For the Biscuits:
3/4 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
1 1/4 cups white rice flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk

Cook up the beans on the stove until they're nice and soft, this will take roughly 2 hours and you will have to keep adding more water as they cook. Once all nice and soft, mash the beans up and add the sugar. Mash it some more until the sugar is all incorporated, then set aside.


Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. I cheated a bit on this next step. Since I cooked up the potatoes the same day, I just added the butter into the steaming mashed potatoes along with the oil and mixed them up that way. Add the potatoes (& Co) to the flour mixture and combine well. Add milk and mix until the mixture looks nice and doughy, like this!


Here comes the messy part.. this dough is rather sticky and requires quite a bit of flour to roll out. I regret that I did not take more photos of this, but I was alone and had messy fingers! I took about a third of the dough at a time and worked in some all purpose gluten free flour to make it suitable for rolling (in other words, so it wouldn't stick to my makeshift rolling pin: the outside of my pushup measuring cup!) I rolled the dough out into about quarter inch or so thickness and cut them out using the same tool I rolled with, which turned out circles about two inches across. I then took roughly a spoonful of red bean paste, placed it in the center of one of my dough circles, covered it with another circle, and smoothed the edges closed so they were seamless. I repeated this process over and over again until I had very little paste and very little dough left. I mixed the two together and made two buns out of them.


I then left my little buns in the fridge for 3 hours while I ran out to visit my Grandma and play with my niece. When I came home, it was time to STEAM!! Since I don't have a wok, I set up the bamboo steamer on my big red pot and added some lavender to the water for flavor. I set about four buns at a time in each basket (on top of some wax paper) and let them steam for about fifteen or so minutes.


Now, this is going to be hard, but try to let them cool before you remove them from the wax paper or they'll fall apart! Once they're off the paper.. it's munching time!