Category Archives: Cakes

Because Cake is an entity in its own right

Bailey’s Irish Creme Cupcakes

I don’t drink alcohol but I do like to use some in baking now and again. You will regularly find Rum, preferably Bundaberg Rum, but seeing how it is from Australia it is not always readily available here in British Columbia. I will settle for  Havana Club but prefer Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum…afterall, I am baking with it! I also stock Cherry Brandy for making Black Forest Cakes. I WOULD keep Bailey’s Irish Creme in the pantry but somehow I think it would disappear! Case in point, when I brought the Bailey’s home the first thing on tap was an Irish Coffee for my husband!  This recipe for Baileys Irish Cream Cupcakes came through my Facebook feed from  Easy Baked. I didn’t follow her recipe to the T  but was still happy with the results.
I didn’t used Berry Sugar or Fine Sugar…just used what I had in the pantry.  I didn’t use Cake Flour; used regular All Purpose Flour and used a whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Shocker, I am out of Vanilla so I used some Dr. Oetker’s Original Vanilla Sugar instead. (I am NEVER out of Vanilla but I am in the end stages of making my own Vanilla!)  I omitted dousing the baked cupcakes with Bailey’s because I live in a house of peeps who prefer not to drink alcohol; I thought the Bailey’s might be a bit overpowering for them. I used my own Buttercream Icing subbing  in Bailey’s for milk. Skipped the ganache altogether.

Without further ado, Bailey’s Irish Creme Cupcakes.

Bailey's Irish Creme Cupcakes
Bailey’s Irish Creme Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
3/4 cups Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Sugar
3 Eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla Powder
3/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Creme

Buttercream Frosting with Bailey’s
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Vegetable Shortening
4 cups Icing Sugar
2 – 3 Tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Creme,  or to desired consistency

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line Muffin tins with paper liners – I only got 18 cupcakes.

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Whisk for a few minutes.

In mixing bowl cream butter and sugar together.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add vanilla powder and beat for 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with Bailey’s, starting and finishing with flour.
Beat for another 2 minutes, scraping sides as needed.
Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 – 24 minutes, or until cupcake springs bake when touched or until pick comes out clean when inserted in centre of cupcake.
Remove from oven to wire rack to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Turn out onto wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream Icing with Bailey’s
In mixing bowl combine butter and shortening; beat until smooth and light in colour.
Add icing sugar, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
Stir in 2 Tablespoons of Bailey’s, increase mixer speed and beat for 30 seconds.
Add more Bailey’s if needed, continue beating; when you achieve the consistency you desire, beat for 3 – 4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Mocha Cupcakes with Coffee Cream Frosting

We always make a full pot of coffee in the morning and often there is  heaps leftover at the end of the day. Some days I just …gasp…don’t feel like drinking coffee. (Today not being one of them…I am craving a cuppa and of course the coffee pot is empty!) In the Summer months this isn’t so much a problem; I just bottle what is left over, put it in the fridge and make ice cappuccinos as needed.

There is an ooey-gooey Saucy Mocha Pudding dessert that I like to make with left over coffee but there are just the two of us at home and I’m sorry, we simply could not eat a whole batch. I was so pleased when this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker for Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Frosting came through my Facebook Feed!
C
upcakes are prefect, in my opinion, because you can make a whole batch, eat a few and put the rest in the freezer.

It just so happens that when I came upon this recipe, Valentine’s Day was just around the corner; rather than purchasing some expensive, quickly forgotten  techy gadget I made these for my husband.

Mocha Cupcakes with Coffee Cream Frosting
Mocha Cupcakes with Coffee Cream Frosting

1 1/3 cup Flour
1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Strong Brewed Coffee, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons Instant Coffee Granules
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Golden Yellow Sugar
1 Egg, at room temperature

Coffee Cream Frosting
1 cup Butter, softened
2 1/2 cups Icing Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons Instant Coffee Granules

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line Muffin Tin paper liners (12)

In a small mixing bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In mixing bowl beat butter and both sugars on Medium-High speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the egg and beat until combined.
In a measuring cup combine milk, brewed coffee, instant coffee granules and vanilla.
On Low speed, stir in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined.
Add half the liquid ingredients and stir on low until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Add another 1/3 of dry ingredients, stirring just until combined.
Add remaining liquid ingredients, stir on low for about 30 seconds.
On Low, stir in remaining dry ingredients until well blended then increase speed to Medium – High and beat for about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl once or twice.
Divide batter evenly between the 12  muffin cups.
Bake for 17 – 20 minutes or until a pick inserted in centre of the cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from oven to wire rack and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
Turn out to cool completely.
While cupcakes are cooling <- sometimes I hurry the process along by putting the cupcakes in the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes -> prepare the
Coffee Cream Frosting
In a small bowl, combine vanilla and instant coffee granules.
In mixing bowl beat butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Stir in 1 cup of the icing sugar until it is well incorporated; stir in vanilla mixture.
Add another cup of icing sugar and stir until incorporated.
Stir in remaining icing sugar, scrape down sides of bowl; once all sugar is incorporated, increase speed to Medium-High and beat for 3 – 4 minutes.

When cupcakes are completely cooled,  load prepared frosting into a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe swirls onto each cupcake.
Sprinkle with desired decos.
Store in airtight container on Countertop for up to 2 days otherwise store in airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, 3 months in the freezer.

Yield: 12 Cupcakes

Mocha Cupcakes with Coffee Cream Frosting
Mocha Cupcakes with Coffee Cream Frosting

 

Egg Free Carrot Cake

I had the grandsons over for the weekend and well, there is a sign in  my kitchen that says ” A Grandmother Never Runs Out of Hugs or Cookies”  and I had made a deal with the boys that if Granny’s TARDIS cookie jar was ever empty, I owed them $5! On the morning of their arrival I whipped up a batch of Welsh Cakes which quickly filled the TARDIS but they just as  quickly demolished them!
Now normally I don’t  have a problem keeping cookies in the TARDIS but seems Mother Hubbard’s cupboards were pretty low on this particular weekend …therefore no eggs to bake with. ( I subbed in Egg Replacer in the Welsh Cakes)

I did have  a bunch of carrots that needed using up so I googled Egg Free Carrot Cake which resulted in this Ingredients Only  list over at TheAnswerIsCake. When I tried to follow the link to the full recipe I came upon a broken link…hate broken links! S’all good, I know how to bake a cake…

Everyone loved the Carrot Cake! I don’t think anyone even noticed the lack of eggs and no one complained that it was not sporting the regular Cream Cheese Frosting they all expect on Carrot Cake;  I didn’t think an Egg Free Carrot Cake should be “contaminated” with  a dairy product topping so I just gave it a light dusting of icing sugar. Yum!

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Egg Free Carrot Cake

1/2 cup Margarine
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Grated Carrots
1 1/4 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 cup Almond or Soy Milk
1 cup chopped Nuts, Pecans or Walnuts
2/3 cup Coconut

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a 9Inch Square baking dish with vegetable oil spray; coat lightly with flour, tapping out excess flour.

In a small mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
In mixing bowl cream together margarine, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla; beat for a minute.
Stir in grated carrots.
Stir in half the dry ingredients followed by the almond milk.
Add remaining dry ingredients, stir, increase speed to beat for another minute.
Fold in chopped nuts and coconut.
Turn batter out into prepared pan and bake in 350F. oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until pick inserted comes out clean.
Place on wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to cool completely on wire rack.

Dust lightly with icing sugar and serve.

Yield: 16 Servings

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Egg Free Carrot Cake – perfect afternoon snack

Honey Cake

My husband has a Honey fetish along with a life long dream of being a bee keeper. I have been meaning to make some kind of recipe with honey in it for ages and only just got around to it this weekend. Doesn’t hurt that I just bought a copious amount of honey at Costco and also had two containers of honey with dregs that needed to be finished.
Now I know the Honey Cake looks pretty with the Honeyed Almonds on top but in hindsight, the topping was a bad idea. Tasty, but a bad idea because the Honeyed Almonds was pretty much Almond Bark minus the chocolate. Again, tasty, but a bad idea for the top of a cake.
Honey Cake with Honeyed Almonds
Honey Cake with Honeyed Almonds

3 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each: ground Cloves, ground Allspice, ground Ginger
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Honey
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar, lightly packed
3 large Eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 cup warm Strong Coffee
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/4 cup Rum
1/2 cup slivered or sliced Almonds

Preheat oven to 350F.
Spray a bundt pan and a 9″round cake pan with vegetable oil spray and dust with flour; gently tap out excess flour.

In mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices; make a well in the centre.
In a small mixing bowl combine oil, honey, sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee, orange juice and rum.
Pour liquid ingredients into the well in dry ingredients, and mix on low speed for 1 minute then increase to medium speed and mix for another 3 minutes.
Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 – 75 minutes for the Bundt pan, 30 – 45 minutes for 9″ round cake pan or until pick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from oven to wire rack and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Run knife around pan to loosen cake, turn out to cool completely on wire rack.
When cake is completely cooled, drizzle with glaze, top with toasted almonds and dust lightly with icing sugar.

Serves: 12 – 16

Honey Cake with Honeyed Almonds
Honey Cake with Honeyed Almonds

For original recipe head over to Smitten Kitchen.

Honeyed Almonds

1/4 cup Honey
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 – 1 1/2 cups Almonds

Melt honey, sugar and butter in heavy skillet over medium heat.
Stir in vanilla and almonds; continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, watching for the almonds to start turning golden brown.
Remove from heat and cool completely.
Break into bite size chunks.

What I did
I carefully spread the hot honeyed almonds on top of the cake and allowed it to cool completely before lightly dusting with icing sugar.
Again, it was a bad idea as I basically had Almond Bark on the top of my cake.

 

Applesauce Bundt Cake

I have had it in my mind to make an Applesauce Cake for absolutely ages. On my last trip to the shops I even bought a great big bag of apples; truth be told, I have bought a big bag of apples a few times before but the Applesauce Cake just never seemed to materialize, go figure.

It just so happens I had a few plans go awry on a Saturday and when you have to shift to Plan B, but wait, there was no Plan B; well, that is a good time to head to the kitchen and do some Baking! Coincidentally I had also just made a fresh batch of applesauce so I simply had to dig out the Applesauce Cake recipe.

It used to be that I would flip through my Betty Crocker cookbook but in this day and age, I enter what I want to make in the google search field on MY iPad* and sift through the multitude of recipes on offer. Good Ol’ BC has an Applesauce Cake recipe for a 9×13 cake which I guess I could have used but I wanted a tried-and-true recipe for a bundt pan because I bought a bundt pan in June and it was still sitting in the cupboard, unused!

I made only one substitution in this recipe and one addition: I used chopped dates instead of raisins and I added a layer of Cream Cheese Frosting to finish it off. You see, the picture in the old BC cookbook has a lovely 9×13 Applesauce cake all decked out in Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkled with chopped walnuts so I had this vision in my head of my Applesauce Cake being frosted rather than merely dusted with powdered sugar.

Many thanks to Cookie Madness for breaking away from Cookies and making an Applesauce Spice Bunt Cake.

*My husband keeps absconding off to the bedroom with my iPad at the most inopportune times! And the nerve, sometimes he even closes down the pages I am using! I NEVER shut down his Geek pages!

Applesauce Bundt Cake
Applesauce Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

3 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Allspice
1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Brown Sugar, lightly packed
1 cup Sugar
1 large Egg
2 cups unsweetened Applesauce
1 cup coarsely chopped Pecans
1 cup chopped Dates or Raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup Butter, softened
4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
3 cups Icing sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Milk, to right consistency, about 1 1/2 teaspoons

Preheat oven to 350F.
Spray a 10″ Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, add 1 tablespoon of flour, tilting and lightly tapping pan to coat pan lightly with flour; turn out excess flour.

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice; set aside.
In mixing bowl beat butter until smooth then add sugar and continue beating for about a minute.
Add brown sugar and resume beating for another 2 – 3 minutes until.
Add egg and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.
Stir in applesauce on low setting.
Turn mixer off, raise paddle and add the flour mixture; lower paddle and stir at lowest setting until well blended and no lumps remain.
Stir in chopped pecans and dates.
Turn batter out into prepared Bundt pan and bake in 350F oven for 60 – 70 minutes, until golden and pick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool, in pan, on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Turn out of pan onto wire rack and cool completely.

While cake is cooling prepare Cream Cheese Frosting:
Cream butter until soft and no lumps remain.
On low speed, stir in 1 cup of icing sugar until incorporated.
Add vanilla and continue stirring on low speed.
Add another cup of icing sugar, again stirring until incorporated.
Add final cup of icing sugar and a bit of milk, if needed.
Beat on medium-high speed for 2 -3 minutes until light and fluffy.

When cake is completely cooled frost with Cream Cheese Frosting, sprinkled with chopped Pecans and drizzle with a bit of Maple Glaze (icing sugar mixed with a bit of maple flavouring and enough milk to drizzling consistency)

Yield: 12