25 Cake & Cupcake Recipes

Oh, Saturday morning. How I love thee. I woke up rather lazily today, with one well-behaved chihuahua at my side and a not-so-well-behaved one deciding to sit on my chest and lick my face. Face Licker had decided it was time to get up. Face Licker being Mariota, that is 😂 

I shuffled my way to the Keurig and made a cup of coffee, admiring the view out the window whilst the coffee brewed. It rained last night, which makes me happy. That saves an hour of yard work. I also noted the bird feeders were quite full. It never fails that there is lull in bird activity every summer. The hawks have been staking out the yard fairly aggressively which every year has meant the birds leave for a little while. They'll be back. But that was another chore that didn't need to be done. 

It was a great morning. All I had to do was fill the bee waterers with fresh water and pick some strawberries. I honestly thought the strawberries would be spent by now, but they are really showing no signs of stopping. I'm thinking I'm going to be picking fresh berries every day until the first frost. Which, of course, is fine by me. 

25 Fruity Recipes

Hello from snowy Kentucky!

Actually, not so snowy now. Yesterday it got up to 50º and much of the snow has melted, much to my relief and those Chihuahuas. I opened the living room windows this morning and was shocked to see that at least 3 inches of snow melted overnight. This has to make my birds happy. The homestead has been overrun the last couple of days, complete with birds that never come to the feeders or yard. I had a large flock of starlings pass through yesterday, and a few days ago a foursome of Eastern Meadowlarks foraged the yard. Us birders get the biggest kick out of seeing new birds in our yards. 

Creme Brûlée Cake

You knew it was coming. I warned you. 

And now it's here. It was a smashing, delightful success that I must share. Soooooo good.

First, I must admit this is a decidedly untraditional cake. It's light, moist, creamy, and dreamy. It is the opposite of rich. Which is just crazy, because I was afraid the cake was going to be insanely rich. Not so. The cake is just perfect, airy but moist. The pastry cream is also surprisingly light. Together, they make a delicious combination. This is a very un-Southern cake, meaning when the hubby's Southern relatives tell me this cake would go excellent with coffee, I know it's a low-sugar cake. 

Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I warned you it was coming, and now...

It's heeeeeeeere!

My very first homemade ice cream. Actually, not the first. Well, yeah, kind of the first. I brought you this Frozen Banana Ice Cream last year, but as my lovely husband pointed out, that was just pureed bananas that kind of tasted like ice cream. This is my first true ice cream. 

Boston Cream Pie Cookies

I think it's time for something fun! Something totally off the wall and different. How about cookies? And make it a cake-y sugar cookie, sandwiched with rich custard infused with vanilla bean, and topped with a luxurious chocolate ganache! 

Wow, these cookies are pretty amazing. As individual parts (i.e. cookie, custard, ganache) they are delicious. Combine them all into one, however, and you have a full-on dessert. I guarantee you won't be eating more than one of these at a time! The hubby and I had to split our first taste-tester. Of course, we were taste-testing before dinner, so neither of us wanted to fill up on cookie. One cookie + a glass of milk= the perfect after dinner dessert.

I'd also like to add that these are probably a weekend cookie. They are labor-intensive, but don't let that scare you. They are worth it. These took the better part of my Saturday to make, but I'm not one to complain about fooling around in the kitchen. In fact, I think I perfectly timed making these cookies. I ended up making the custard while I set my butter and eggs out to soften for the dough. Once the custard was chilling in the fridge, I started on my dough. The dough is super-easy to make, and using my stand mixer, it only took about 15 minutes to get my dough in the fridge to chill. I showered while everything was chilling, and immediately came back to pre-heat the oven. The cookies were all baked and cooling within another 45 minutes. The custard needs a couple of hours to chill in the fridge so by the time I'd made the dough, chilled it, showered, baked and completely cooled all the cookies, it was ready to go. All that was left to do was to make the ganache.

I'd say the ganache took about 15 minutes to make, and it probably took 5 more minutes to drizzle chocolate on the cookies. So, to sum up, I started the cookies at 9 in the morning and by the time I finished cleaning up the fallout, it was 2 pm. As I said before, don't let this scare you! A lot of the time is hands-off (chilling, baking, cooling, etc.) and I was able to multi-task throughout. Indeed, I finished a book, got dinner prepped, took the dogs on a jaunt outside, and painted my toenails in that 5-hour window. A pretty successful day, if you ask me. 

I'd highly recommend trying these cookies. You won't regret it. They'd be great for a potluck or crowd. They'd be great for anyone that likes sugar cookies. Or vanilla bean custard. Or chocolate. Or cream puffs. You know, because these cookies kind of remind me of cream puffs. 

So, unbelievably, I seem to have caught another cold while on the tail-end of my first cold. I started getting a painfully sore throat yesterday, and it's even more sore today. Argh! This is incredibly frustrating. I'm not good at rest, and I've pretty much been resting non-stop for 2 weeks. Thank goodness for 2 things: bird-watching and books. I picked up 2 new suet baskets and a new feeder over the weekend, and the birds are coo-coo for cocoa puffs over the new seed dispensary. It's a tube feeder with 5 actual perches on it. I've caught up to 3 birds on it at the same time. It makes me giggle because it reminds me of people flocking to a bar. A bird bar, if you will (that could just be the cabin fever-induced insanity talking, peeps). I've also been burning through library books during this couple of weeks. I read one of my library books in 1 1/2 days. I literally couldn't put it down. Of course, the hubby did get a new video game for his birthday, so that's given me tons of reading time as well. I've surpassed my New Year's resolution of reading 1 book per month. In fact, my average is 2 books per month right now. Go Jessica!

So, will this be the week I get well? Fingers crossed!

Have a great week everyone!

Ingredients (makes 11 sandwich cookies):

Custard-

1 cup + 3 tbsp almond milk

1/2 vanilla bean

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3 tbsp cornstarch

2 egg yolks

3-4 drops vanilla extract

Cookies-

1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temp

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Ganache-

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

up to 2/3 cup half-n-half

Directions:

1. Before making custard, set out butter and eggs for cookie dough.

2. Make the custard: Heat 1 cup almond milk in a medium size pot. Just when it starts to simmer, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into milk. Add vanilla bean pod to milk. Remove from heat, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove vanilla bean pod from pot, and discard. Place back over medium heat, and add sugar and salt. In a small bowl, combine 3 tbsp almond milk with 3 tbsp cornstarch. Whisk to thoroughly combine. While constantly stirring the milk and sugar mixture, slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the pot. In another small bowl, thoroughly whisk the egg yolks. Slowly stir 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture into egg yolks to temper them. Slowly add egg mixture back to hot milk mixture on the stove. Whisk constantly over medium heat until custard begins to thicken. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Strain mixture through a sieve. Place a piece of plastic wrap over completed custard to keep a skin from forming, and place in fridge. Chill for 2-3 hours.

3. Make the dough: In a stand-mixer bowl, combine butter and sugar. Mix until it forms a crumbly mixture. Mix in vanilla. Mix in eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until well combined. Chill dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

4. Remove dough from fridge. Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly coat 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Using a 2-tbsp cookie scoop, roll dough into balls. Place dough 2 inches apart (about 8 cookies to a sheet). Using the bottom of a glass, slightly flatten dough balls. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on cookie sheet, them remove them to a cooling rack. Cool completely before moving on to the next step.

5. Place custard in a pastry bag. Pipe about 1 tbsp of custard onto the bottom of 11 of the sugar cookies. Sandwich with another sugar cookie. Place sandwiches on another cookie sheet covered with a piece of parchment paper.

6. Make the ganache: Using a double broiler, place chocolate in bowl. Add 1-2 tbsp of half-n-half and constantly stir while chocolate is melting. Add more half-n-half until chocolate is completely melted and consistency is good for drizzling chocolate onto cookies. Drizzle chocolate as desired onto cookies, allowing chocolate to drip down over cookies. Place completed cookies in fridge and allow to set for 30 minutes before serving. Store cookies in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Eat, Live, Run.

Looking for other cookie recipes? Try these!

Soft and Fluffy Peanut Butter Cookies

S'mores Cookie Sandwiches

Zucchini Cookies

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Creamy Pumpkin Custard

Here's the DL: I made a large batch of those Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for the hubby to take in to work. Since the recipe only uses 6 tbsp of pumpkin puree, I had almost a whole can leftover. What's a girl to do?

Since today is Game Day for my Ducks (Huck those Fuskies!), I didn't want to spend all day baking. I also wanted to go for a run this morning. What the heck was I going to do with that pumpkin that wouldn't require oodles of time? I found this super easy recipe upon Googling "easy pumpkin recipes". Google was right about one thing, this recipe is majorly simple. The prep took 10 minutes, which I completed while my coffee was brewing this morning. The custards baked for 50 minutes while I drank my coffee. That's it. That was the whole process. I pulled them from the oven, and immediately left to go running. The custards were completely set by the time I got home. It really doesn't get easier than this.

These turned out really well. The flavor of the custard is similar to pumpkin pie filling, but has a different texture. The custard is a little bit stiffer and fluffier. I know that sounds weird, but the texture is hard to describe. The best comparison I have is that the texture is similar to those whipped yogurts you can buy. It's really a perfect fall dessert, though. The hubby and I are going to enjoy these tonight with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, but whip cream's got to be a sublime topping choice as well.

I hope everyone's having a great fall weekend, and college football game day!

GO DUCKS!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz evaporated milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin through evaporated milk. Whisk until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar through salt. Whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet. Whisk until well combined.
4. Divide pumpkin mixture among 4 ramekins. Place ramekins in a casserole dish. Fill casserole dish with enough water to go halfway up the ramekins. Place casserole dish in preheated oven, bake for 50 minutes.
5. Remove ramekins from water bath, and place on a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature. Serve immediately, or chill in the fridge before serving. Store custards in the fridge.

Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart. 

Crème Brûlée

Ok, let's be honest. Crème brûlée always makes me think of "My Best Friend's Wedding". I love that movie! There's a scene near the end where Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz are having a conversation, seemingly about dessert. Cameron Diaz's fiance has called off their wedding, and Julia Roberts is trying to explain to Cameron Diaz why. Roberts explains that Diaz's fiance is looking for a simple woman, for which she inexplicably uses "jello" as a metaphor. Roberts consoles Diaz that she is "crème brûlée", not "jello". Diaz sobs that she wants to be jello, but Roberts assures her that crème brûlée can never be jello.

I agree with Julia Roberts on this one. Crème brûlée can never be jello. Thank goodness, because crème brûlée is exceedingly heavenly. This is one of my favorite desserts, and it is the hubby's favorite dessert. I tried to be such a good wife on our anniversary, and make crème brûlée for dessert. The only problem? No cream on hand. I soldiered ahead, determined to sub milk for cream. Bad idea. I learned that you use cream for crème brûlée due to the fat content. I used milk and added an extra egg yolk for more fat, but to no avail. The crème brûlée never set, and was a runny, nasty mess.

Crème brûlée fail!

Well, you know me. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And I did. To be real people, this dessert sounds elegant and hard, but there's only 5 ingredients. It's actually a cinch to make. Try it peeps! This is a great skill to keep under your belt :)

Ingredients (makes 3 custards):

2 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
3/8 cup sugar
Baking sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325º. Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove.
2. Pour heavy cream into a pot. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into the cream, place pod in cream. Infuse cream over medium-high heat (heat over burner just until tiny bubbles appear around the edge of the cream). Remove from heat and allow to set for 15 minutes. Remove vanilla pod from cream, discard. Pour cream through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream egg yolks and sugar together for a few minutes until thick, pale yellow, and creamy. Slowly drizzle one cup of cream into eggs as you are whisking to temper the eggs. Slowly incorporate the rest of the cream. Pour mixture into a pourable container.
4. Place ramekins in a large, wide-sided pan. Divide cream mixture among ramekins. Place boiling water into a pourable container. Pour water into the wide-sided pan until water is halfway up the ramekins. Be careful not to get any water into the ramekins.
5. Carefully place water bath in the preheated oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until custards are just baked through. They are done when a slight jiggle of the pan doesn't jiggle the custard. Remove from oven. Using a large spatula, remove the custards from the water bath, and allow to cool on the counter for 30-60 minutes. Cover, then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
6. Before serving, sprinkle a thin layer of baking sugar on top of the custard. Using a blowtorch, toast the top of the custard until it's brown and crispy. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving.

*Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman*

What I Love About Summer: Raspberries

There are few things in the world more perfect than the raspberry. They symbolize summer to me. Plump, juicy, flavorful, and a beautiful rosy red color. My parents grew raspberries in our backyard when my brother and I were growing up, and I'll confess- I spent a lot of time hunkered down in those raspberry bushes. My mom would freeze raspberries, make raspberry syrup for pancakes, and bake raspberry cobblers in the oven. She would keep large bowls of raspberries in the fridge, and they went on everything from my cereal to my bowl(s) of vanilla ice cream.

Now that I'm an adult, my lust for the raspberry has not abated. I would cook or bake everything (well, almost everything) with raspberries if the hubby wouldn't start to question my sanity. I do love to cook with them though- that means I get to eat whatever I put them in. Here's a few of my favorite raspberry recipes:

Raspberry Filled Vanilla Muffins

Raspberry-Peach-Lime Lemonade

Raspberry Banana Oat Muffins

Raspberry Filled Mini-Doughnuts

Raspberry Lemonade Muffins

Chewy Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

And, a couple of recipes on my to-do list:

Brownie Bites with Raspberry Sauce- Hardly Housewives

Raspberry Crisp- Pioneer Woman

Raspberry Lemonade Bars- Annie's Eats

Raspberry Bread Pudding- Chef In Training

Raspberry Mint Ice Pops- Cooking Light

I always dread that time of year when raspberries are no longer in season. I'm hoping to grow my own berries next year, so hopefully at this time next year, I'll have raspberries out the wahzoowilla. Yes, that's right. I said wahzoowilla.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Vanilla Bean Custard Bars

Yesterday was the mother-in-law's birthday! Of course, she wants the traditional Red Velvet Cupcakes, but since the rest of the family can't get together until Friday, cupcakes will have to wait until Friday. But it's not someone's birthday without a sweet treat!

Last week, I ran out of flour. This turned out to be a good thing. As I was scouring my baking cupboard for any kind of flour, I found the mother-load of vanilla beans. I bought two 4-packs at Costco in January that I had forgotten about. As any baker will tell you, vanilla beans are the holy grail. It's like that moment on TV or in a movie when the hero/heroine finds the treasure, and there's light emanating from the treasure with that corny music playing in the background. That's what finding the vanilla beans was like for me. I immediately began scheming up a way to use one.

We had the mother-in-law over for dinner last night to celebrate, since we seemed to be the only ones available for her birthday. It worked out well. She's on a low-carb diet right now, so I made BBQ ribs in the crock pot (which, not to brag, were so tender we didn't even use our hands! The meat fell off the bones!), and roasted some broccoli and grape tomatoes. A very low-carb dinner. Until we brought out the cookie bars, that is. The vanilla bean custard is creamy and delicate, and combines deliciously with the chewy sugar cookie base.

Stay tuned for more vanilla bean recipes, because there will be more :)

Ingredients:
Custard-
2 1/4 cups of milk (I used 1%)
1 vanilla bean
2 eggs and 2 egg yolks (that's a total of 4 eggs minus 2 whites)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

Cookie Base-
1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Put milk in a small pot. Cut vanilla bean in half, and scrape seeds from both sides into the milk. Add scraped vanilla bean pod into the milk. Scald the milk over medium-high heat, until small bubbles appear at the edges of the milk. Remove from heat, and let milk sit for 15 minutes. Discard vanilla bean pod.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs and eggs yolks until combined. Add sugar, and beat mixture until the mixture turns almost white (about 5-7 minutes). Add cake flour and cornstarch, and mix well.
3. Add egg mixture to the milk mixture, and heat over medium-high heat. Constantly whisk until mixture begins to thicken. When the mixture has just begun to thicken, remove pan immediately from heat and continue to whisk until mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour custard into a bowl, and place a piece of plastic wrap onto the top of the custard to keep a skin from forming. Chill in fridge.
4. Pre-heat oven to 350º. Grease a 9x13 dish.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar. Cream butter and sugar until mixture is pale and creamy. Mix in eggs, and beat well. Mix in vanilla, and beat well.
6. Combine flour through salt in a separate bowl. Whisk to combine.
7. In 3 additions, add flour to butter mixture, mixing completely with each addition.
8. Spread dough evenly in the greased pan. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, or until edges are browned and toothpick comes out clean. Sit pan on a cooling rack, and let pan cool completely. I would suggest putting the base in the freezer for 30 minutes before moving on to the next step.
9. Spread custard over the cookie base. Place whole pan in the freezer, let chill until the custard is firm to the touch (about 1 hour). Cut the pan into 24 bars. Chill in the fridge before serving. Store bars in the fridge.

Boston Creme Pie: Round 2

So the hubby requested Boston Creme Pie for his birthday. I had only attempted the Boston once before and the results were less than appetizing. So I was nervous making the cake for Jerame's family but it all turned out for the best. My custard was not overcooked this time and my cakes rose. I did have a snafu with the ganache as my first ganache separated. I had to run the store to get more ganache supplies but my second ganache turned out perfectly! I've made ganache many, many times and I have never had one separate. Oh well, it all worked and the cake was delish!

Infusing the milk with vanilla bean

The finished custard going into the fridge to chill

Cake going into the oven

Cake mess!

The finished cakes cooling

After putting the custard between the cakes

Dark chocolate for the ganache

The finished cake

Ready to eat! Yum!

Adventures in Baking

I love to cook. Cooking is fun and relaxing and at the end of the day, you can make some pretty amazing things! I'm a decent cook due to the fact that I can follow a recipe and that I have been cooking long enough that I generally know what tastes go together and how much of what seasoning I should use. Now baking... baking is another story. Baking is all chemistry and chemistry (next to plant biology) was not my strongest subject in my education. Baking is about precise measurements whereas in cooking a heaping tablespoon is not going to kill your dish. Baking is also about precise cooking times and knowing exactly when that little toothpick pulls out "clean". Now I must admit that I have never had the precision of a surgeon or the desire to, which I think makes me better suited to cooking. However, I can't stand not being a good baker so over the past couple of months I have been trying out my hand at baking.

My first concoction was a Boston cream pie. What a lesson! My cakes did not rise, which I later found out was most likely due to the fact that my baking powder was expired. I learned to check my expiration dates on my products. I also over cooked my custard which resulted in the cream part of my pie being somewhat... dry and lumpy. Boo. Another valuable lesson learned. My next project was chocolate chip cupcakes, which actually turned out fantastic! I learned that cupcakes are ALMOST impossible to screw up. Keeping up with the cupcakes, my husband asked me to make Red Velvet cupcakes for his mom's birthday. These also turned out great!

The thing I have learned about cupcakes that makes them almost impossible to mess up is that if you properly cream the butter and sugar, the rest pretty much makes it self. I have found that creaming takes a lot longer than you think it would or should. In fact, a lot longer! But that proper creaming technique makes all the difference in the world and you end up with a light and moist cake. Here is the recipe I used for these wonderful confections-

Ingredients and Preparation:

• 3 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons red food coloring
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 recipe Creamy Vanilla Frosting (below)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour three 9- by 2-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with waxed paper. To make the cake: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack. When the cake has cooled, spread the frosting between the layers, then ice the top and sides of the cake with Creamy Vanilla Frosting (below) .

Creamy Vanilla Icing

• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 In a medium-size saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and, stirring constantly, cook until the mixture becomes very thick and begins to bubble, 10-15 minutes. Cover with waxed paper placed directly on the surface and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. In a large bowl, on the medium high speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the cooled milk mixture, and continue to beat on the medium high speed for 5 minutes, until very smooth and noticeably whiter in color. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes (no less and no longer- set a timer!). Use immediately.

I know this sounds like a lot of work but it's worth it!

My happy cupcake customers! Recipe courtesy of www.epicurious.com