Downy Yellow Cake

The Scratch-Off / June 2009 / Yellow Cakes - Trial #4

Scared of baking a cake from scratch? Well then, this is the cake for you!!!

No whipping of egg whites.

No creaming of butter and sugar.

Everything goes into one big bowl and you mix. Nothing could be easier. And it taste pretty good too.


Doesn't the batter look lovely? So thick, so creamy. Why bake, just eat it raw!



So like I mentioned in a few other posts, some scratch bakers from Cake Central have gotten together to test/rate/critique 14 popular yellow cake recipes. The Downy Yellow Cake is the fourth recipe from the list that I have tried.

Here is the original recipe that was a part of the Cake Central challenge:

All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake

6 large egg yolks
1 cup milk, divided (1/4 cup and 3/4 cup)
2-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
---
3 cups sifted cake flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
--
12 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, cubed, room temperature (Note: cube the butter while it is still cold)


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two 8" round pans.

2. In a bowl combine egg yolks, 1/4 cup milk, vanilla. Whisk until combined.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt). Blend with a whisk (or low speed of your mixer).

4. Add butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. This will aerate and develop the gluten in the flour. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.

5. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, scraping down the sides and beating 20 seconds after each addition. Make sure each egg mixture batch is fully incorporate before adding the next batch.

6. Divide the batter between prepared pans and smooth the surface with spatula.

7. Bake 25-30 minutes or until just a few crumbs cling to a wooden toothpick tester. DO NO OVERBAKE or the cake will dry out. Remove from oven just as the cake starts to pull away from the side of the pan.


In the final analysis the Downy cake was a little on the dry side (I may have baked it too long), but man was it easy to mix. Almost as easy as a box mix. I think I will play with the recipe (maybe add some sour cream, and more extract) to punch up the flavor and moisture content. Wish me luck.

Magnolia's Vanilla Birthday Cake

The Scratch-Off / June 2009 / Yellow Cakes - Trial #2

I just baked up my second test for Cake Central’s June “Scratch-Off” which features 14 different scratch “Yellow Cake” recipes. This time I selected the Not So Lemon Magnolia Cake. I have an aversion to all things lemon flavored so I subbed the lemon juice with milk and the lemon zest with vanilla extract. This subbed out version of the Magnolia Lemon Cake is also Magnolia’s Vanilla Cake.


The creaming…

The final 1/3 of flour being mixed in by hand…

The scoop. Man was this batter thick, and sweet, and oh so yummy…

Here is a dissected cupcake, showing all of it beautiful crumb...

Just so you know, it tasted as good as it looks. Definitely a 9 out of 10 on the score board.

Empire Cookies

I stumbled across a blog called The Canadian Baker and after one glance my heart started to thump and drool puddled in my mouth. Empire Cookies. What was this??? Raspberry jam sandwiched between two crisp sugar cookies and topped with almond glaze and candied cherries. Yummm….


I immediately revised my mental "Baking To Do" list and placed Empire Cookies in the number one slot. How had this delightful little cookie escaped my notice all these years? I couldn't wait for the weekend so I could bake up a batch and see if they tasted as good as they looked (oh please, please, please……).

Well they DID!!!! (Taste as good as it looked, that is.)

The dough was a breeze to mix up, and the rolling and cutting went fine. I did have to add a little more flour to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin (stupid New Orleans humidity), but the added flour didn't affect the overall taste at all. Baking was a snap too. 10 minutes exactly. The cookies didn't spread, so you can pile a bunch on your cookie tray. Less oven time, less clean-up time, and more cookie munching time.

To ice the cookies I borrowed a tip from a reviewer on RecipeZaar and thinned the icing more that the recipe directs. Then just dip the cookie into the icing rather than spreading it. Dip, swirl, next, dip, swirl, next. Assembly line quick and it gives you a super smooth finish to the dried icing.


To finish off the cookie, the recipe (and British tradition) calls for a candied cherry to be placed on top. I was all out of candied cherries (ha, ha, ha), so I put the kid's gummy fruit on top. Is that tacky? I'm sure The Queen would not approve. I guess I'll have to call them Trailer Park Cookies rather than Empire Cookies.

The Great Scratch Off - June 2009 - Yellow Cake

One of my favorite web sites CAKE CENTRAL is having "The Great Scratch-Off" baking event. Every month a different category of scratch cake is chosen and several recipes are selected for testing. Each participant bakes one or more of the entries and then submits their results/opinions/ratings. At the end of the month the results are tabulated and a winner is announced.

The June 2009 Cake Central Scratch-Off Category is (ta da) YELLOW CAKE .

Not very exciting I know, but where would the world be without Yellow Cake?

14 different yellow cake recipes were submitted for testing. The contenders are:

Great American Cakes by Barbara Kafka
Lita's Yellow Cake Recipe
Sylvia Weinstock's Classic Yellow Cake Recipe
Not So Lemon Lemon Cake from Magnolia Bakery
Paula Deen's 1234 cake
Whimsical Bakehouse Gold Cake
All-Purpose Buttery Yellow Cake from America's Test Kitchen
Vanilla Buttermilk Recipe from Sky High
White on White Buttermilk Cake
The All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake
Cakeman Raven's Modified Red Velvet
Doubleday White Wedding Cake
Serious Cakes' Yellow Cake
Toba Garett's Ultimate Yellow Cake


To see all the recipes click here. The recipes are on the 9th post of page 3.

Each cake is to be critiqued on texture, moistness, and flavor.

My first test was Serious Cakes' Yellow Cake.

Texture: The cake had a fine crumb. It was tender but not crumbly. The mouth feel was dense, almost velvety. It held together nicely when cut, so it would probably be a good cake to carve.



Moistness: Very moist, but not wet or gooey tasting. Top and bottom of the freshly baked cakes were sticky, but the sides were crunchy. The cake was cut on the second day after baking. On the third day I brought the leftovers (individual slices that had been stored under a cake dome) to work and everyone commented positively on the moistness and flavor of the cake.


Flavor: A little lacking in depth, but I paired it with chocolate frosting which made the cake perfect. I think the cake needs more vanilla and also some butter extract (especially since it uses shortening instead of butter).

Ease of preparation: Medium. Creaming of fats, and whipping of egg whites.

Cost: Average. I used supermarket brands of flour, vanilla and shortening.

Other comments: The top domed during baking and then sank to near flat after removing from the oven. I over baked it (oops) to the point where the sides pulled away from the pan and no crumbs came out on the toothpick. I removed the cakes from the pans after three minutes of cooling and after an hour I wrapped in plastic wrap for overnight storage on the counter. I frosted the next morning and served the cake late in the afternoon. Everyone thought the cake tasted great, but a few cake aficionados remarked that most of the flavor excitement came from the frosting.


Overall Rating: 8 out of 10. I liked the cake and plan to bake it again, but next time I'll add more vanilla and include butter extract.


At the end of the month, I will post the results of The Great Scratch-Off June 2009 - Yellow Cakes. Till then here is another look at the cake....

Chocolate Soufflé with Crème Anglaise (low carb)

This weekend I was trying to stick with my low crab diet (I put on a few pounds in the last two weeks and my jeans are starting to get snug). But just because I’m low carbing it doesn’t mean I can’t bake! I had a recipe for Chocolate Soufflé with Creme Anglaise that I thought would work well with Splenda and sugar free chocolate. So I gave it a try…

Here is the end product. What do you think?


I know, I know, too many nuts, but I looove nuts. I had never made soufflé before, but based on pictures I thought it would puff up more. Maybe it was the Splenda. It was also dense, more like flourless chocolate cake than my idea of a soufflé. But I didn’t mind… it still tasted good. Especially when I soaked it in the Crème Anglaise. Yummmm....


Here is the recipe…

Chocolate Soufflé with Crème Anglaise (Low Carb version)

Makes 4 mini souffles

1/2 cup nuts, finely chopped

5 tablespoons pourable Splenda (the kind in the box that measures like regular sugar)

1 – 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for brushing

4 oz sugar free Dark Chocolate

2 large egg yolks

3 large egg whites

Pinch of salt

Vanilla Crème Anglaise (recipe to follow, make this first and allow to set in refrigerator)

• Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.

• In a bowl mix the chopped nuts and 1 tablespoon of Splenda.

• Brush four 4-ounce ramekins with butter and coat with the nut mixture (reserve some of the nut mixture to top the batter before baking).

• Place the ramekins in a 9 x 9 inch brownie pan and place in the refrigerator .

• In the microwave melt (at 30 sec interval) the chocolate and 1 - 1/2 tablespoons of butter. Stir until smooth. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

• In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with 3 tablespoons of Splenda until pale and thickened (about 4 minutes).

• Gradually beat in the cooled chocolate. IMPORTANT: if the chocolate is too hot it will cook the egg yolks.

• In another bowl, and using clean beaters, beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Beat in the remaining 1 tablespoon of Splenda.

• Beat 1/4 of the eggs whites into the chocolate mix, and then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites into the chocolate mix using a rubber spatula.

• Spoon the batter into the ramekins and sprinkles remaining nut mixture over the batter.

• Rub your thumb along the inside rim of the ramekin to remove any stray batter.

• Half fill the brownie pan with water and place the pan in the center of the oven.

• Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are set but the center is still soft.

• Set ramekins on heat proof plates and immediately sever with chilled Crème Anglaise.

Vanilla Crème Anglaise

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup pourable Splenda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large egg yolks

• Prepare an ice bath the will hold a small sauce pan.

• Wisk egg yolks with 1 tablespoon of Splenda.

• In a small sauce pan combine all ingredients (whipping cream, remaining Splenda, vanilla, and egg yolk mixture). Stir until combined.

• Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (about 6 minutes). Note: the “coat” test will not work on a metal spoon or rubber spatula.

• Once cooked, submerge the bottom of the sauce pan into the ice bath and continue to stir. This will immediately halt the cooking process and prevent the cream from curdling.

• Store in refrigerator and allow to set before serving atop hot soufflé.

What's Blooming? Knock-Out Roses

What's blooming in my garden today - Knock-Out roses.

Eary Grey Tea Shortbread Cookies

"Coffee?"
"No thank you, but I would like some hot tea. Earl Grey or
Blackcurrant if you have it."

I'm a tea drinker, there I've admitted it. I don't like coffee, cappuccino, or even chocolate covered espresso beans. I just don't like it taste or even the smell. I think it all goes back to one memorable Mardi Gras (that year the gang was dressed as Commodes of the Rich and Famous) when I was guzzling coffee and eating bananas in the hopes of sobering up. I did sober up but it had more to do with… well no need to go there.

So here I am 20+ years later and I stumble upon a recipe for Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies on the Food Network website. Be still my anti-coffee heart. I didn't have any Earl Grey on hand, so I used my second favorite tea, Twinings Blackcurrant (Twinings Vanilla is my favorite). Boy did they turn out good. Crisp on the edges, slightly soft in the middle, and oh so buttery and smooth. Yummm…

The blackcurrant tea also gave the cookies a faint berry taste/aroma that was elusive as well as addictive. My guest devoured all 2 dozen cookies in 10 minutes flat and still couldn't pinpoint what gave the cookies their unique taste. In the words of one guest, "They're bloody good."

I used the Food Networks version of Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies, (take a moment to read the comments associated with the recipe. There are angry accusations of recipe theft, plagiarism and a rehash of Cindy McCain's cookie recipe debacle. What a hoot!)

But Martha Stewart's has a version

As well as several on RecipeZaar

Whichever recipe you use, I'm sure you will enjoy them.

Strawberry Pie

I never realized how many strawberries are in a “flat”. I bought a flat a few days ago, and after making strawberry cupcakes, strawberry cookies, and strawberry shortcake I still had 6 of the 12 pints remaining. So what is a girl to do??

What else, Make Strawberry Pie…

Here is the cooking…

The pouring…

The final product…

Don’t you just love strawberries!

Strawberry Shortcake

I bought a flat of strawberries from a local vendor and decided to make this a Strawberry Memorial Day Weekend.

My favorite strawberry dessert is Strawberry Shortcake (with sweet biscuits not sponge cake), and my favorite recipe is Strawberry Shortcake a la Treebeard’s. I think it is the brown sugar in the mix that makes it so special tasting.



If you like a lots of strawberry filling on your shortcake, double the volume of filling called for in the Treebeard’s recipe or cut the shortcake recipe in half. Also, taste the filling before adding the entire 1/3 cup of sugar. The added sugar needs to be adjusted depending on the natural sweetness of the berries.

Enjoy your Memorial Day…

Strawberry Filled Cupcakes

My second adventure on Strawberry Memorial Day Weekend was Strawberry Filled Cupcakes.

Pretty…


The cupcake "cake" is my third attempt at duplicating the famous White Almond Wedding Cake from Swiss Confectionery in New Orleans. Cake version #3 was good, but still not Swiss (too dense). I’ll try again some other day, but the real purpose of the cupcake was to try different “filling” methods.

The Cone Method – I used a knife and cup a cone shape out of the top of the cupcake and then cut the “cone” off of the cupcake plug leaving only a cap.



Next I just spooned the strawberry jam into the cavity and covered with the cupcake cap.


I frosted using a standard buttercream recipe, then cut the cupcake in half to see the guts. Here is what the inside looks like using the Cone Method.



The next method I tried was the “Piping Method”. I made two perpendicular cuts in the top of the cupcake using a regular paring knife, and then squeezed the strawberry jam into the opening using Wilton Star Tip 21.


Don’t pipe too much or it will overflow.


Here is the inside of the “Piped” filling method. The piped method was quicker but I think I like the neat look of the “Cone” filling method. I guess it is just a matter of preference because they both tasted the same.



Here is the finished cupcake again. Don’t you just love the sparkly fruit? The recipe called for sanding sugar but I just had regular granulated sugar on hand. The sanding sugar would have look much more sparkly, but you have to work with what ya got. I also forgot to “sugar” the mint leaves. I’m such a scatterbrain sometime.