Coconut Cake with Lemon Syrup

Wow, it's be ages since I've posted on blogger!  The user account has changed-but I like it!  I have no excuse for not posting on blogger.  I'm still baking but unfortunately I've gotten lazy in posting them.

The reason why I've suddenly resurfaced is that this next recipe is for a little assignment I have to do in my of my classes.  Many of us get stressed from the daily grind within our lives, and it's important to give ourselves a little bit of love in the form of self care.  Self care is doing something for you, whether it's physical like bike riding; relaxing like meditating; or in my case baking, which can be messy, but fun, you just have to take some "me time" once in a while.

With that being said, I decided to make a Coconut Cake with Lemon Syrup, taken from Donna Hay's book Modern Classics, Book 2.  I have to admit that my motivation in baking this particular cake was the photo in the book.  The cake looked beautiful drizzled with lemon syrup, garnished with what looked to be crystallized lemon peels on top.  Unfortunately my cake didn't look nearly as good as Donna Hey's version, but coconut and lemon is a great combination.  Happy Baking! 

~Ann

Coconut Cake with Lemon Syrup

125g (4oz) butter, softened
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
1 cup caster (superfine) sugar (I used granulated sugar)
4 eggs
2 cups desiccated coconut
1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted

Lemon Syrup
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup (2 fl oz) lemon juice
3/4 cup (6 fl oz) water
1/2 cup shredded lemon rind

Direction

1) Preheat the oven to 160C (325F)
2) Place the butter, lemon rind and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs gradually and beat well.
3) Fold through the coconut, flour and baking powder.
4) Pour the mixture into a 20cm (8 in) round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Lemon syrup

1) Place the sugar, lemon juice, water and melon rind in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
2) Allow to boil for 5-7 minutes or until syrupy.
3) Pour half of the hot syrup over the hot cake in the tin.  Remove the cake from the tin, slice and serve with the remaining syrup and think (double) cream.  Serves 8-10.

Carrot Cake

I've been craving carrot cake for some time now, but I've never gotten around to making it simply because I've been too lazy to actually grate the carrots. I know I'm awful but this week I stopped procrastinating, dug through my cupboards, grabbed my grater and grated those carrots for this cake, and the end results were quite satisfying. I got the recipe from one of my books, Cooking: A Commonsense Guide, edited by Jane Price and Justine Upex. I guess this is the North American/European version of carrot cake because in Brazil it's made differently, where the carrots are pureed rather than grated. The carrot cake turned out pretty good. Changes that I made are in italics. Happy Baking!

~Ann

Carrot Cake

3 Eggs

1 cup (250ml) oil

1 1/4 cups (230g) soft brown sugar (I did not have any brown sugar...well I did but it was completely hard so I used white sugar instead.)

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup chopped pecans (I used 3/4 cup of raisins instead)

1 2/3 cups grated carrot (I don't know how many carrots this yields, but I would advise you to start with two big carrots. I grated three and it was way too much.)

125 g (4 oz) cream cheese, softened

30 g (1 oz) butter

1 cup icing sugar

2 teaspoons orange juice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease a deep 23 cm (9 inch) square cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.

2. Combine the eggs, oil and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add the sifted flour, soda, salt and cinnamon, and beat with electric beaters until the mixture is smooth. Add the nuts (or raisins) and carrot and stir well.

3. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Leave for at least 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

4. To make a cream cheese topping, put the cream cheese, butter, sugar and orange juice in a bowl and beat together until the mixture is spreadable. Spread over the cake and if you would like sprinkle some extra pecans on top.

Happy B-Day B.!!

Last Thursday was lil'sis b-day and off course I made cake. She demanded asked for a Cookies and Cream Cake, so Cookies and Cream Cake it was. And it had to look EXACTLY like this one. Yeah, she's kinda bossy...but it was her birthday so...

I have to admit that she did a great choice, though. This cake is amazing! So moist, and fluffy, and light. Not too sweet, just the way we like it. Perfect. The only change I made was to use whipped cream instead of buttercream. Oh, and I added crushed cookies to the filling. =D

PS.: Dec 1st was Ann's mother's birthday,too, so I'm also dedicating her this cake. Elaine, I hope you had an amazing day and have many more birthdays to come. Happy (belated) Birthday!! =)

~Ana

Cake

1 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour

2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (or Hershey's Special Dark)

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

3 large Eggs, room temperature

1 1/4 cups Buttermilk

Frosting/Filling

600ml whipping cream

Sugar, to taste

Crushed Oreos - 4-5

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180ºC. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans with butter and flour.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a standing mixer, or a large bowl using a hand held mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. About 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated and scraping down sides as needed.

4. With mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, mix until incorporated. Then add 1/2 of the buttermilk, mix until incorporated. Repeat until the last 1/3 of flour has been used. Mix until incorporated and then beat for 1 additional minute. Batter might look curdled but it's okay.

5. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the sides begin to pull away from the edges. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the racks and allow the cakes to cool completely. I used just one 9-inch cake pan and baked for aprox. 1 hour.

For the filling:

1. Beat  2/3 of the whipping cream and sugar until soft peaks form. 

2. Fold in crushed Oreos.

For the frosting:

1. Beat remaining whipping cream - with sugar to taste- until stiff peaks form.

Cake Assembly:

1. When the cakes are completely cool, cut each cake in half  horizontally. Use 1/3-1/2 cup of frosting to fill between each layer. When all the layers are stacked, set aside 1/2 cup of frosting then use rest to frost the outside.*

2. Using a ziploc bag and a rolling pin, crush all but 7 of the Oreo cookies. Apply the cookie crumbs to the sides of the cake*

3. Use the reserved 1/2 cup of frosting to create 7 swirls on the top of the cake, place a cookie in each swirl.

*I assembled the cake inside the cake pan and left covered with foil overnight in the fridge. Next day, I used a foam plate, smaller than the cake pan, as a base - you can use a cardboard wrapped in plastic wrap; inverted the cake, frosted with whipped cream - spreading a thick layer on top.

Now comes the hard part: using a spatula, try to lift the cake, together with the cardboard, and slide it into your palm. Be careful not to lift too much or the cake will tumble. Follow step 2. I find it easier and less messy to do this step with a rectangle pan or parchment paper underneath, or else you will end up with cookie crumbs all over your kitchen. Set on a nice cake plate. 

Recipe taken from Sunny Side Up in San Diego, that adapted from Family Circle Magazine, February 2009.

=B

Chocolate Marble Cake

I have quite a collection of baking pans and tools, however, as much as I like baking cakes I do not own a pair of round 8 inch cake pan nor a springform pan, which are essential pans for cakes. I keep promising myself that I will buy a set of cake pans, but because I am a professional procrastinator, I never get around to it. Hence this week, I am adding another quick bread/cake recipe, a chocolate marble bread, taken from Joy of Baking.com.

The writer stresses the importance in using real vanilla extract in vanilla based recipes, rather than imitation vanilla which leaves a bitter aftertaste. I have to admit that this is the first time I've used vanilla extract in a recipe on OSSD, and I could definitely taste the difference between real and imitation vanilla.

When making the marble bread, I remembered Ana's attempt at making a marble cake a while ago which did not have the swirls that she wanted. I was kind of worried that mine would turn into a mess as well, but I wanted to take on the challenge, and it didn't turn out so bad for my first marble cake ever. The only thing I screwed up on was not dividing the batter 50/50 so there was more chocolate than vanilla batter, but other than that, it turned out pretty good.

~Ann

Chocolate Marble Cake*

4 ounces (115 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used bittersweet chocolate chips)

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, divided

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (60ml) sour cream or plain yogurt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (170 grams)granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Direction

1. Preheat the oven to 325F degrees and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter and lightly flour a 9 X 5 X 3 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

2. Melt the chocolate, along with 1/4 cup of the milk, in a stainless steel bowl that has been placed over a saucepan of simmering(Not boiling!)water. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a small bowl whisk the sour cream with the remaining 1/4 cup milk, and the vanilla extract.

4. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and sour cream/milk mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Spoon half of the batter into a separate bowl. Add the melted chocolate mixture to one half of the batter and fold in.

5. With two spoons, place spoonfuls of the two mixtures into the prepared loaf pan alternately (chocolate, white, chocolate, etc.) Run a wooden skewer or knife through the two batters to achieve a marbled effect. (Be careful not to over mix or you won't get the marble effect.) Bake in preheated oven for about 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6.Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf

*Recipe taken from Baking with Passion by Dan Lepard and Richard Whittington

Lime Cake

Hey guys! Today I bring you this simple yet delicious Lime Cake. My sister made it a while ago and it was a huge success so I decide to share it with you. =) So light, fluffy, moist, and tangy. Yum! And the process couldn't be easier - and faster: just blend and mix. Simple as that. Perfect for any time of day - and night. ;)

Sorry for the short post. My inspiration is on vacations today. Hahaha.

~Ana.

Cake
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk, room temperature
4 eggs
Zest and juice of 1 lime
2 cups sugar
Pich of salt
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder

Frosting
1 can sweet condensed milk
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature (~100g)
1/3 cup lime juice

Start with the frosting
1. Mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon - a mixer would be fine, too - until smooth.
2. Put in the fridge until it thickens. I recommend making only half the batch.

For the cake
1.Put oil, milk, eggs, lime juice, sugar, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth.
2.Transfer into a large bowl and mix in the flour, baking powder, and lime zest.
3. Pour into a lined rectangular (25x35cm) baking pan and bake for 40 minutes in a preheated oven (180ºC).
4. Do the cake test. Let it cool before frosting. Decorate with lime zest.
5. Serve it cool or at room temperature.

Fruit Tea Loaf

A few days ago my mother was in the mood for some cake, so I flipped through Cakes Galore (a gift from Ana) and decided upon baking Fruit Tea Loaf. My mother loves fruit cakes and adding tea was unsual, but I was curious to see how it would turn out. To my surprise the cake took two days to make. It is not difficult at all for on day one you mix the fruits, spices and liquid together and store it overnight for the contents to saturate. Day two you add the flour and dump the batter into a bread pan-easy! My mother liked the cake, however my only reservation was that it looked nothing like the cake in the book. Now I know the cooking or baking results won't replicate the exact image in cookbooks, but my cake was really, really ugly. I will make another fruit cake for the holiday season, but probably not this one.

~Ann

Fruit Tea Loaf

2 Cups mixed dried fruit, such as golden raisins, currants, raisins, and canded cherries

Generous 1/2 cup light brown sugar

2/3 cup brewed tea (the author suggests using Earl or Lady Grey tea for a scented flavour, I used Earl Grey)

2 teaspoons ground allspice

Finely grated zest of 1 orange (I used 1 lemon instead)

1 Tablespoon clear honey, warmed

Directions

1. Place the mixed dried fruit, sugar, butter, tea, and allspice in a saucepan. Cover and heat gently until the butter has melted, stirring occasionally. Bring to the boil and boil for 1 minute, then remove the pan from the heat. Add the orange zest, then set aside and leave overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line a 8 1/2 inch loaf tin.

3. Fold the sifted flour into the fruit mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

4. Remove the cake from the oven, brush the top of the cake with wamred honey, then leave it to cool completely in the pan. Turn out and serve in slices spread with butter, if you like.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Hey hey hey, let's bake a cake! Again. But cake's always good. ;)

Besides, this banana bread is super good for you. It's made with whole wheat flour (fiber), nuts (antioxidant) bananas (potassium) and coconut (er..hm..fiber?). See? All good stuff. =)

This is the best banana bread I've had so far. Seriously. It is at the top of my banana bread list. Go make some for you! ;)

3 cups whole wheat flour - I used 2 c. whole wheat and 1 c. all-purpose and worked out fine

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups brown sugar - I used 3/4 c brown sugar and 3/4 caster sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract - I used 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon banana extract - I ommited

1 1/2 cups very ripped bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped - I used Brazil nuts

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Grease the pan with butter.

2. In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the eggs mixture, mixing with a spoon/spatula.

3. Add vanilla and banana extracts, mashed bananas, coconut, nuts and the buttermilk, mixing until incorporated.

4. Pour into the pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

PS.: I poured half the batter into the pan, arranged some banana slices over it and topped with the rest of the batter.

Recipe taken from here (in Portuguese).

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

A few week ago I received an email from Ana informing me that in August our blog Oh So Sinfully Delicious would be a year old. I was totally taken by surprise. I couldn't believe that a year has gone by so quickly. Contributing to this blog has been a great experience for me. I got to learn so much about baking, photography, and blogging, and even though I have not contributed much for the past few months, I am keen on baking and doing more food writing.

A few months ago I purchased Cooking: A Commonsense Guide, ed: Jane Price, and Justine Upex. It's a cookbook for people who can't cook or have little experience in the kitchen. What I like about this book is, it breaks down cooking into introducing different elements, from various pots and pans that are needed, to the different cuts of meats, poultry, and seafood so when one is faced with a recipe it's not as intimidating as one may suspect.

From Cooking, I baked a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Traditionally this cake is topped with whole pineapple slices garnished with maraschino cherries, but this recipe omits the cherries and slices the pineapples in half. It's a different design but tastes just as good.

~Ann

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

20g (3/4 oz) butter, melted

2 tablespoons soft brown sugar

440g (14 oz can pineapple slices in natural juice

90g (3oz) butter

1/2 cup (125g/4oz) caster sugar (I used granulated sugar)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup (125g/4 oz) self-raising flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to moderate 180C (350F). Grease a 20 cm (8 inch) ring tin. Pour the melted butter into the tin and tip to coat the base evenly. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Drain the pineapple, reserving 1/3 cup (80 ml) of the juice. Cut the pineapple pieces into halves and arrange over the brown sugar.

2. Using electric beaters, beat the butter and sugar in a small bowl until light and creamy. Add the eggs gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla essence.

3. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Using a metal spoon, fold in the flour alternatively with the reserve pineapple juice.

4. Spoon the mixture evenly over the pineapple and smooth the surface. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

1st year celebration cake!

Wow! Time flies, doesn't it? Can you believe it's been a year since we started this blog (well, a year and almost a month now...oops!)?
So, to celebrate the first year of OSSD I made... surprise... surprise... cake! It's very similar to the Mother's day cake I've posted a while ago. The only difference is that I added a thin layer of  sweetened condensed milk and lime mixture (recipe below) before spreading the whipped cream and strawberries, just to give a little tanginess. I also frosted the cake with whipped cream and put mixed fruit on top. The final result: Oh so sinfully delicious! =D

For the cake recipe and how to assemble the cake, click here.

Lime filling:
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
Juice of 1 lime - or as much or as little as you want.

Mix with a spoon or a fork the condensed milk and juice. Let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken.

Apple Cake (w/ skin)

Today I bring you another cake, not a fancy, layered cake, but a humble yet delicious apple cake. Perfect for  a chilly afternoon snack along with a cup of tea. =)

What I like the most about this cake is that there's no waste since you use the whole apple - well, except for the seeds, but you can keep them and plant an apple tree. Who knows, maybe oneday you'll be making this apple cake with your own apples. ;) Haha.

Bake on, people!

-Ana

Apple Cake (with skin)

I took this recipe from a brazilian website but I can't find it anymore. =s

1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
3 apples - I used Fuji apples
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Ground cinnamon, to taste - I used 1 teaspoon
1/2 cup raisins - optional
You can also add nuts, like hazelnuts or cashew nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Grease and flour a cake pan.
1. Peel the apples and save the skins. Chop the apples into cubes.
2. In a blender, add the oil, eggs, sugar and apple skins and blend until smooth.
3. In a medium/large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Add the chopped apples, raisins, and nuts and mix.
4. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let it cool for 15-20 minutes in the pan.

Mother's Day Cake

Hey, everybody! I'm back! These past few weeks have been a litlle busy around this part of the world. Lots of studying and paperworks to do. *sigh* Things are not quite back to normal yet - and I think they won't be 'til the end of June (end of the semester, yay!)- but I wanted to leave a special post for Mother's Day which is right around the corner!

I actually made this cake for my mother's b-day, a couple of weeks ago, and what I really liked about it is the decoration, with the visible layers and the arranged strawberries and meringues on top. Modesty aside, I think this is the prettiest cake I've ever made. =) And it's pretty simple to assemble. I took the idea from here (in Portuguese). Make this cake for your mother, she deserves it! I guarantee she will love it!

To all mother's out there: Happy Mother's Day! Enjoy your so deserved day  and eat cake if you can. =D

-Ana

Strawberry Meringue Cake

You can use your favorite yellow cake recipe. Here's the one I used:
8 egg yolks
1 cup milk, warm
3 cups refined white sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
8 egg whites

Whipping cream, around 500 ml, beaten.
Around 2 packs of strawberries
Meringues, around 150g.

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Grease the bottom and sides of a cake pan (sorry, don't know what size I used.) with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper, also greasing it with butter.

2. With a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks with milk just until combined. Add the sugar and beat for 20 minutes, over mid-high speed. After the 20 minutes you should be able to draw an 8 with a spoon and it will hold that 8-shape for a few sconds.

3. Using a spatula, fold in the flour and baking powder. I suggest you sift a little bit of the flour over the mixture and fold, repeating until flour is over. Don't forget the baking powder.

4. Beat the egg whites until stiff picks form and fold into the cake batter.

5. Bake until tooth-pick inserted in the centre comes out clean. I forgot to time it but it should take 40 minutes or longer. Just keep an eye on it. Let it cool completely. You can make the cake the day before.

6. Divide the cake in 3. Place the top layer facing down onto a nice cake stand and drizzle with milk, syrup or soda, like Sprite or a similar clear lemon drink (not Coke, please.). Note: If your cake is already moist, skip this step. My cake was more on the dry side.

7. Spread the whipping cream, arrange the strawberries and the meringues. Do not crush your meringues into tiny pieces because they will disspear and you won't taste them after.

8. Place the middle layer on top, drizzle with soda, spread whipping cream, arrange strawberries and meringues. Place the final layer and drizzle again. 

9. Spread a thin layer of whipping cream and decorate as you desire. Keep the cake refrigerated.

Bundt Cake

This Marble cake didn't turn out the way I wanted. I mean, tastewise it was great. Light, fluffy, moist, yumy, but the marbled effect I wanted failed. =( It was my fault, though. I didn't follow Donna Hay's directions on how to get the marbled effect. I just put the plain batter and then dropped a few tablespoons on top and swirled with a toothpick. Oops. Next time I will stick with the directions. =)

I loved  these mini cakes, though. The pink batter is so cute! I'm in a girly girl mood these days. ^^

I halved the recipe and got 6 cute  mini cakes. Below you will find the full recipe from Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2.

-Ana

Marble Cake

250g (8oz) butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract - used essence

4 eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

Pink food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC (325ºF). Place butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.

2. Gradually add the eggs and beat well.

3. Sift the flour and baking powder over the butter mixture and fold through with the milk. 

4. Divide batter in half. Colour one half with pink colouring.

5. Grease a 25 cm (10in) fluted (bundt) cake tin. Drop alternate spoonfuls of pink and plain cake mixture into the tin.

6. Swirl a butter knife through the mixture to give a marbled effect.

7. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on wire rack.

~Serves 8-10 ( or 6 in my case)

Bundt Cake

Things have been pretty crazy on my side of the earth for the past week or so, so making time to bake and blog was difficult, however I as much as I enjoy doing this blog, I did not enjoy making this next recipe which was a sponge cake. It has to be one of the hardest cake I have ever made. Two years ago I bought the summer 2009 Canadian Living Special Cookbook Issue. There was this one recipe that caught my attention which was a Blueberry Citrus Sponge Cake. It sounded delish, and the picture of the cake was mouth watering, so had set aside a steamy summer afternoon to make this cake and the process was not fun. I have eczema, which is a skin problem where I develop rashes all over my hands, and anything acidic that touches my skin burns. Because this is a citrus cake, it requires zesting and squeezing lemons and oranges. I tried to handle the fruits without actually touching the juice, which didn't work. Next, was the separation of eight egg whites, which was really messy, and frustrating since I couldn't separate them. Although the cake did not turn out bad at all, I did not enjoy making this cake at all. You would think that after making this cake two years ago I would change my mind about this cake, or even improve on the baking method, but I haven't on both accounts. When I was making this cake last night, I screamed so much I was afraid the neighbours may have considered calling the police. If separating egg whites is no feat for you, then be brave and try baking this cake. In my opinion it requires a lot of effort, but the results pay off-if you follow the recipe correctly.

  -Ann

Blueberry Citrus Sponge Cake

2 cups sifted cake and pastry flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/3 cup orange juice
2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon vanilla
8 egg whites (oh the horror!)
2 cups blueberries (I used one cup, but that's only because I didn't read the instructions properly and I bought enough to make one cup only) Glaze: 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup orange juice

Directions
1. In large bowl, whisk together cake and pastry flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. In separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange rind and juice, lemon rind and juice, and vanilla; beat into dry ingredients until smooth and thick.
3. In another bowl, beat egg whites until foamy; beat in icing sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff glossy peaks form. Fold 1/3 into batter; fold in remaining whites. Fold in blueberries.
4. Scrape into greased and flour dusted 10-inch (3 L) bundt or tube cake pan. Swirl knife through batter to remove air bubbles.
5. Bake in 350ºF (180ºC) oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes.

Glaze
 Meanwhile in small saucepan, bring sugar and juice to boil, stirring; boil for 1 minutes. Let cool. Loosen cake from edges of pan. Invert onto rack; brush with glaze. Let cool.

~Makes 12 servings.

Lemon

On my birthday Ana gave me a cookbook called Cakes Galore by Valerie Barrett. It's a wonderfully little book that contains over 100 cake recipes which are categorized into different themes such as old favourites, kids cakes, desserts, and even "healthy"& special diet cakes. So far I've only made one cake from Cake Galore, the Dark Jamaican Ginger Cake, which was a huge hit among my family so I wanted to try out another cake and selected the Lemon & Ginger Cake. It seems that I have new love for ginger, since I have been baking a lot with it recently, but I was curious to try this recipe out and see how it turned out. To top the cake off I used a lemon glaze which I got from a food blogger also called Valerie @ pixie-baker.blogspot.com.

-Ann

Lemon & Ginger Cake

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup superfine sugar (regular sugar will do)

3 eggs, beaten

3 tablespoons low fat milk

1/2 cup ground almonds*

1 teaspoon ground ginger (I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon)

2 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons finely shredded candied lemon peel (optional, I did not use the candied lemon peel)

*Ground almonds is another flour substitute for those who suffer from glutton allergies, since I am allergic to almonds I just made 2 cups of flour.

Lemon Glaze

1 cup of confectioners' sugar, sifted

2-4 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line a 10-inch loaf pan

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and milk, then fold in the flour, ground almonds, ginger, and lemon zest

3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in to the center comes out clean.

4. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

5. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. If it is too thick, add up to another 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and whisk again. Pour the glaze on top of the loaf, allowing it to drip at the sides. Let it harden about 15 minutes before serving.

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Reasons why scones are my new favorite baked good:
1. Easy - no fancy techniques required;
2. Fast - less than 30 min!
3. Delicious - du-uh
4. No mixer, blender, food processor, necessary;
5. Perfect for snacks
6. Perfect for breakfast - and lunch, and dinner, and....well, you get my point;
7. No sink full of dishes - yay
8. Did I say delicious already? Oh well, it's true. This one was so moist and tangy and crunchy. Yum!

Reasons enough, right? =)

-Ana

Lemon Poppyseed Scones

Adapted from here. My personal notes are in italics.

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chilled butter
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used low fat yogurt)
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon zest
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

Egg Wash
1 beaten egg
1 Tablespoon heavy cream

1. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter pieces are smaller than the size of peas. Stir in the lemon zest and poppy seeds.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the cream, egg, and vanilla. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. It is important that you do not over mix the mixture. Once the liquid is absorbed and the dough is coming together (only a little dry flour in bottom of bowl), then stop.
3. Dough will be a little crumbly — remove from bowl and knead until it holds together. Pat the dough into a 7″ circle that is 1 1/2″ thick. Cut into 8 triangles. Place scones onto a greased cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment). Brush tops and sides with egg wash. I completely forgot the egg wash. Maybe that's why my scones didn't get brown.
4. Bake at 375F for 15 minutes.
5. Let it cool down a bit and drizzle with Lemon Glaze (check Ann's recipe above). (Optional but highly recommended ;]).

Cinnamon

For some odd reason, I've always been reluctant to bake bread. It is probably a combination of the amount of time it takes, plus the messiness of it with all that flour and kneading, however if one follows the process of baking bread correctly, then the final product is well worth the work.

This weekend I baked my very first batch of cinnamon and raisin bread from scratch (if you don't count the bread machine I've used in the past.) I've always wanted to bake this bread, and after looking at several recipes I found an easy and straightforward cinnamon and raisin bread recipe from allrecipes.ca. It takes forever to make so you've gotta bake it on a day when you've got plenty of time to spare, even though that (time) is becoming much harder these days.

Although time consuming, there is something therapeutic about baking bread, and the smell of it as it's baking, especially a cinnamon and raisin bread, is heavenly.

-Ann

Cinnamon Raisin Bread I

By Faye Salisbury @ http://www.allrecipes.ca/

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup warm water (110º F/45º C)

2 (2.5 ounce) package active dry yeast

3 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1 cup raisins

8 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons milk

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm.

2. Dissolve yeast in warm water, set aside until yeast is frothy. Mix in eggs, sugar, margarine, salt, and raisins. Stir in cooled milk. Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough. (it is more sticky than stiff)

3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.

4. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Moisten dough with 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix together 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon, and sprinkle mixture on top of the moistened dough. Roll up tightly, and the roll should be about 3 inches in diameter. Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends. Place loaves into well greased 9 X 5 inch pans. Lightly grease top of loaves. Let rise again for 1 hour.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (174 degrees C) for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sounds hollow when knocked. Remove loaves from pans and brush with melted margarine.

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I love cinnamon, so choosing just one recipe was a very tough task. While flipping through a Cook's Illustrated Holiday Baking edition (2010) I stumble upon a Quick Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake and thought it would be perfect for the blog. I mean, it's a coffeecake, quick - in less than 15 min you will have a cake in the oven, it has cinnamon in it and streusel! Four perfect words.

The final result is a moist, cinnamon-y and fluffy-like-a-cloud cake. I think I used a larger pan than I was supposed to so I didn't get a thick layer of the streusel. I got a thin-crispy sugar and nuts layer instead, which wasn't a bad thing at all. I highly reccomend this cake, specially for you guys up north. A piece of this cake with a cup of hot coffee/tea/chocolate is perfect for a snowy day.

Keep yourselves warm! And for those of you who are enjoying the hot weather like me, don't forget to put sunscreen! ;)

-Ana

Quick Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake

Streusel

1/3 cup packed (2 1/3 ounces) light brown sugar - used dark brown

1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar - used refined sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup pecans, almonds or walnuts, chopped coarse - I used cashew nuts

Cake

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour - I used regular all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups buttermilk or plain whole yogurt*

1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar

3 large eggs

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1. For the streusel: Mix sugars, cinnamon, and melted butter together in medium bowl until mixture resembles wet sand; stir in nuts and set aside.

2. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Generously coat a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, sugars, eggs, and melted butter in separate bowl until smooth. Using rubber spatula, gently fold egg mixture into flour mixture and stir until batter looks smooth and well combined.

4. Using rubber spatula, scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Bake until streusel is golden and toothpick inserted into centre comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool cake on wire rack for 15 min. before slicing and serving.

Serves 8 - I got 16 squares.

*You can make your own buttermilk at home! Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice into a small bowl and add 1 cup milk - whole, skimmed - let stand for 2 minutes and it's ready to use.

Yogurt

This week's Challenge: Yogurt. Let's see what both of us came up with.

Yogurt Blueberry Muffins

Taken from Canadian Living.com

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon grated orange rind**

1/4 cup orange juice**

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries*

*I used frozen berry mix instead

** Substituted lemon rind and juice

1. In a large bowl stir flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, yogurt, orange rind and juice, and oil. Pour over dry ingredients. Sprinkle berries and stir until dry ingredients are moistened.

3. Spoon into greased or lined tin. Bake in centre of the oven at 375ºF for about 25 minutes.

Ann's Thoughts

I've wanted to bake yogurt berry muffins for a very long time, so when Ana suggested that we use yogurt I knew I had to do this recipe. Honestly, it wasn't my favourite. The muffins were not as sweet as I would have liked them so I would either increase the amount of sugar from 3/4 cup to 1 cup, or I would use a flavoured yogurt like mixed berry. I did like the lemony taste with the berries. These muffins were a hit among my family, so if I'm in the mood to be nice in the future, I know what to make.

Lime Yogurt Cakes

Adapted from here

Yields 8 mini cakes

125g butter, softened

165g super fine sugar - I used 130g

2 tbsp lime zest

3 eggs - I used 2 1/2 large eggs*

120g plain yogurt or sour cream

150g flour

* My eggs were a little on the large side and after the second egg I thought my batter seemed to be very liquid, so I decided to add just 1/2 of the third egg. If you're using small eggs I recommend using 3 eggs.

Preheat oven to 170ºC or 335ºF. Beat butter, sugar and lime zest until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Mix in plain yogurt - don't freak if the batter curdles at this stage. Mine did and it turned out okay. Add flour and mix well. Put in mini tins and bake for 15 min - mine took 25 min.

Lime Glaze

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Lime juice

In a small bowl, put the confectioner's sugar. Add the lime juice, 1 tbsp at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency.

Ana's Thoughts

Pretty easy and straight-forward recipe. It might look a bit oily when right out of the oven, but it will be normal when cooled down. I liked this recipe a lot. Not overly sweet - the way I like it - complementing well with the thin tangy-sweet lime glaze. I'll definitely make this again.

Hope you all liked the new format of the blog. I did. ;)

We are so excited to present a very special entry this week. On Friday, December 2, 2010, we got the opportunity to meet one of our favourite food bloggers, Angie Dudley, who is famously known as Bakerella. Her cake pops have been loved by thousands of people across North America and around the world. She has been on the Martha Stewart show, and is currently touring across the nation, promoting her book: Cake Pops.

Since we had the opportunity to meet the queen of cake pops, it only made sense that we make our own batch. We made Bakerella's classic cupcake pop, which are alike mini cupcakes on a stick. Pretty sweet huh?

The instructions for cake pops are pretty long, so below is the link to the cupcake pops on her blog. You'll have fun making these pops, we promise!

Cupcake Pops

You will need:
1 box cake mix of your choice
1 can ready made cream cheese frosting
Wax Paper
Lolipop sticks
Candy melts (Purple and Light Cocoa, for us)
Sprinkles
Smarties/M&M's
Flower cookie cutter (1.25" is the best)


Instructions
Click here for detailed instructions (with photos and a video).


Ann's Thoughts:

It was Ana who first introduced me to Bakerella. So it was perfect timing that Bakeralla came to Toronto last week Friday and Saturday for a book signing of her recipe and guide book to making cute but delicious cake pops. Ana and I came about half an hour early anticipating her arrival, and I have to admit that we were both star struck at her presence. Overall it was a great experience to meet her, and it inspired us and renewed our passion for baking.


At first Ana and I were going to make snowmen pops just so it ties in with the whole winter, December, Christmas theme. Well, let's just say we later had some reservations of making something so artistically "complicated" (we were afraid of being too ambitious like we were when we made the spiders for our Halloween addition), so we decided on making her classic cupcake pops. Making these cupcake pops are not all that hard. The difficult part was finding the mini flower shape cookie cutter required for the shape of the cupcake. All together Ana and I went to about six different stores until I was able to find one in Michael's, which Ana said is a bit big...so for those who are interested in making cupcake pops, good luck finding the cookie cutter!

Not only were the cupcake pops cute, but they were so good. I gave my share of cake pops out to a few of my co-workers and it was a hit. These mini cakes are fun to make, and I'm already gearing up to making another batch later on this week.

Ana's Thoughts:

After a (long) hiatus we are back in the kitchen and with a super special recipe and post. Last week we had the pleasure to meet one of the most talented blogger out there. Bakerella! She came to TO as part of her book tour and we couldn't miss the opportunity. So off we went to one of her two book signings ( I had the chance to go on both =D ). The first one was held at Teatro Verde. It was a small signing. She was so nice with everybody, always smiling and chit chatting with her readers (fans?). Sadly, the only thing yours truly was able to mutter was "Hi. Nice to meet you." Creative, I know. XD Oh, and we have the chance to meet another blogger, Sweetopia! Her blog is amazing and her cookies are awesome. It was a great day for this blogger here. =)

The next day, I went to Williams Sonoma to her second signing. I was a little surprised to see so many people there. The second floor of the store was crowded with people, all of them holding their (fancy) cameras and snapping shots like crazy, trying to document every moment. She talked about how she started with the cake pops, the blog, a little bit about photography, and why the name Bakerella. You can read in details here.

After the signings I was very excited to make the cake pops. Bakerella's book provides step by step photos and she gives tons of tips along the way to help you get the perfect cake pops so I was feeling confident. It's a little time consuming and you have to plan ahead but it's very fun and easy! Well, aside from molding the pops that is. I had trouble shaping them. It's not that they are complicated, I think the problem is with me - Ann had no problems with it. In fact, she was the one who molded all the cake pops. I guess I need to practice.

Coating the pops were a little tricky - our candy melts were a little thick, even after we added some vegetable oil in it, but in the end our pops turned out pretty cute. This was the cuttest thing we've ever made for the blog. =D Ooh, and they tasted good, too!

Happy B-Day Ann!!!

Today's Ann's birthday! Yay! So let's sing happy birthday together! (insert lot's of people singing happy birthday awkwardly and out of sync here.)

I wish you all the best!

Hope you have a great day! 

Oh, and go buy something nice for you. You deserve it. =D

Ana.

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New post out tomorrow!

The chocolate cake caught your eye?? Stay tunned for next week's post! ;)

On October 11, 2010, Canadians will be celebrating Thanksgiving, a day where one is suppose to reflect on what he or she is thankful for, but really it is a day to stuff oneself full of turkey, mashed potatoes, pot roast, glazed ham, and so on. However, Thanksgiving cannot be complete without the iconic pumpkin pie. Thus this week, we've made pumpkin cake. A recipe posted by Jennifer on allrecipes.com (the Canadian version). We've paired this recipe with a maple cream cheese frosting, which can be found on Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. Any changes we've made to the recipe are in italics. Happy baking, and for those celebrating Thanksgiving, have a happy Thanksgiving ya'll!

Pumpkin Cake II

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (We used 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce, see Ann's comment below)
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (we omitted the walnuts)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine oil (or applesauce) and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Add nuts and pumpkin and blend until smooth. Pour batter into greased 10 inch tube pan.

3. Bake at 375º F (190º C) for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and finish cooling. Dust with confectioners sugar before serving. (This is optional, we used maple cream cheese frosting instead, see the recipe below.)

Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Filling*


3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla


Directions:

1.In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth with no visible lumps. (You can totally do this with a bowl, wooden spoon, and your arm).

2. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.

3. Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Be careful not to over beat the filling, or it will lose structure.

* We halved the recipe because we wanted to spread the frosting on top of the cake but if you want to spread it around the side of the cake then feel free to use the full amount.

Ann's Thoughts

I've made this cake a few times in the past, following the ingredients exactly as posted. However what bothered me was how oily the cake turned out, cause if you've noticed, this recipe calls for a whopping amount of one and a half cups of oil - that's seriously fattening. What's so great about allrecipes.com is that many baking enthusiast not only vote on the recipe, but comment and make suggestions on how to make the recipe better or slightly different. One suggestion that's been made by allrecipes members is to substitute the oil for 1 cup of applesauce. So Ana and I used unsweetened applesauce instead, and the cake turned out really, really good. So good, that my share of the cake is already finished! This pumpkin cake is an awesome addition to any Thanksgiving feast, people will be asking for seconds, trust me.

Ana's Thoughts

I wish we had Thanksgiving in Brazil, too. Then I would have another excuse to bake AND stuff my face with food. As if Christmas' Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's feasts weren't enough. hahaha But I guess if we had Thanksgiving it wouldn't be the same because October is Spring in Brazil, so our table would be filled with Spring food not Fall food. Anyway, back to Pumpkin cake. My very first Pumpkin cake. At first, I thought it was okay. Not bad, the cinnamon overpowered the pumpkin but you could still taste a little bit of it, the cake was moist, not oily. The frosting wasn't my favorite, though. Too sweet for my taste.

But the next day, I tried another piece, with the frosting still cold from the fridge, and Oh my...it was so good. The cake was still moist and the cold, sweet and tangy, frosting was the perfect combination. I think some cakes are better the next day and this was the case for the Pumpkin cake, in my opinion. Now I want to taste pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin everything. So I better get started...See you next week! ;)

Receita em Português:


Bolo de Abóboras


1 1/2 xíc. de óleo vegetal*
2 xíc. de açúcar
4 ovos
3 xíc. de farinha
2 col (chá) de fermento em pó
2 col (chá) de bicarbonato de sódio
3 col (chá) de canela em pó
1 col (chá) de sal
2 xíc. de purê de abóboras**
1/2 xíc de nozes, picadas


Pré- aqueça o forno a 190ºC. Unte e enfarinhe uma forma com furo no meio. Peneire a farinha, o fermento, bicarbonato, canela e o sal. Reserve.
Em uma tigela grande, junte o óleo e o açúcar. Acrescente os ovos, um por vez, misturando bem. Acrescente a mistura de farinha e misture bem, até estar bem homogêneo. Adicione as nozes e a abóbora, misturando bem.
Asse por 1 hora ou até que um palito saia limpo quando inserido no centro do bolo. Deixe esfriar por 10 min na forma, desenforme e deixe esfriar por completo. Polvilhe açúcar de confeiteiro antes de servir, ou sirva com cobertura de Maple e cream cheese (receita abaixo).


Cobertura de xarope de bordo e cream cheese***


3 xíc. de açúcar de confeiteiro
1/2 xíc (115g) de manteiga sem sal, em temperatura ambiente
250g de cream cheese, em temperatura ambiente
3 col (sopa) de xarope de bordo (Maple syrup)
1 col (chá) de baunilha


Bata a manteiga até ficar cremosa. Adicione o cream cheese e bata até ficar homogêneo.
Acrescente o açúcar, o xarope e a baunilha e bata até obter um creme. Cuidado para não bater demais ou ela perderá sua estrutura. Leve para gelar por 30 min.


*Nós substituímos o óleo por 1 xíc bem cheia de applesauce, ou purê de maçãs. Se for usar óleo, aconselho somente 1 xíc. para não ficar oleoso.
**Nós usamos abóboras já prontas e enlatadas sem adição de açúcar e sólida (sem líquido). Acredito que se você cozinhar abóbora moranga e depois amassá-la, será a mesma coisa.
***Nós fizemos somente meia receita.