OMG The best cake ever!

(Photo Tip #1: Background Matters! No one wants to see your stove and fridge in the background... I have learned from this.  If you want to see better pictures of this cake see the Smitten Kitchen post.)

I have to say, I was incredibly sad when this cake was gone.  I don't think I have ever like a cake as much as this one... it was even better than my own wedding cake!  It was very difficult to watch my husband eat the last piece in front of me... it was driving me mad to watch him eat it so casually!  This is a cake to be savored...

Well, now that I have talked it up so much let's get down to the nitty gritty.  I had been eyeing this cake (which I first saw about a year ago on Smitten Kitchen) and made up my mind to make it for the welcome home party for two very dear friends.  They had been gone in a remote location of Panama in the Peace Corps for two years.  And the return of my best friend and her husband called for an amazing cake.  So, I ordered the book Sky High (the book this cake is from) just to make sure there wasn't a cake more stupendous that this one.  There wasn't, so I got to work.

The cake was incredibly easy to make.  I actually doubled the cake recipe because not everyone likes or can eat peanut butter.  So, I also made cupcakes with an amazing strawberry buttercream frosting.  It was a day of much cake eating.  Be aware that this cake is very tender and to handle it carefully.  I had a few tense moments when constructing the cake where small parts of it fell off along the edges.  I just "pasted" the parts that fell off back on with icing.  That's the good thing about cakes, a lot can be repaired with frosting!

(This one has much better background and lighting)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes

The recipe calls for 8 inch cake pans.  I used 9 inch cake pans and it was just fine.

Cake Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as canola
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three (8 or 9 inch) round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine them well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the 3 prepared cake pans.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely. (Deb from Smitten Kitchen recommends freezing the cakes for 30 minutes before working with them in the next step.  This is an excellent idea. I wish I had noticed this before I made the cake! Then I wouldn't have had those tense moments I mentioned above!)

4. To frost the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or large serving plate. Spread 2/3 cup cup of the Peanut Butter Frosting evenly over the top. Repeat with the next layer. Place the last layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.  Refrigerate the cake while you make the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze.

5. To decorate with the Chocolate–Peanut Butter Glaze, put the cake plate on a large baking sheet to catch any drips. Simply pour the glaze over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes to allow the glaze and frosting to set completely. Remove about 1 hour before serving.

Peanut Butter Frosting

10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter, avoid natural peanut butter

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half

1. In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over simmering water, combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

(I actually did the above part in the microwave.  You just need to be very careful not to scorch the chocolate.  Use 50% power and microwave it in 30-45 second bursts, stirring in between)

2. Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth. Use while still warm.

Strawberry Buttercream

Adapted from the Cake Bible

(Makes about 4 1/2 cups)

1 (2 cups) pound unsalted butter, softened but cool (65 degrees F. - the temperature of the butter is very important)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

5 large egg whites

1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

3 ounces of liqueur (I used a raspberry liquor, but you could use grand mariner)

3/4 cup lightly sweetened strawberry puree (recipe below)

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, keep in a cool place and monitor the temperature with a instant read thermometer (if possible) to see that it stays around 65 degrees.

Have a heat proof glass measure near the stove.  In a small saucepan, heat 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling.  Stop stirring and reduce the heat to low.

In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy.  Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.  Gradually, beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. 

Increase the heat and boil the syrup until a thermometer reaches 248-250 degrees F.  Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.

If using a hand held mixer, beat the syrup into the egg whites in a stead stream without letting the syrup hit the beaters.  If you are using a stand mixer, pour a little bit of syrup into the egg whites and immediately beat on high speed for 5 seconds.  Continue doing this until you add all the syrup.

Lower the mixer speed to medium and continue beating up to 2 minutes or until cool.  If not completely cool, continue beating on the lowest speed until it is cool.

Beat in the butter at medium speed 1 tablespoon at a time.  The mixture may seem thinner or may seem to curdle slightly.  If it starts to look curdled, stop adding butter and increase the mixer speed until it looks smooth again.  Then, continue slowly adding butter.

Lower the speed slightly and drizzle in the liquor and the strawberry puree. 

(Do not re-beat chilled buttercream or it may become irretrievably curdled.)

Strawberry Puree

Makes 1 1/4 cups puree (this is more than the buttercream recipe calls for.  I froze the remaining puree for later use)

1 20 oz. bag frozen strawberries (without sugar)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

A few drops of red food coloring

Thaw the strawberries (either in the microwave or in the fridge a day or two ahead of time).  Put the strawberries over a mesh strainer and squeeze out as much juice as possible.  There should be about 1 1/4 cups juice.  Save the squeezed out strawberries.

In a small sauce pan (or in a large measuring cup in the microwave) boil the juice until it is reduced to 1/4 cup. 

In a blender or food processor, puree the strawberry pulp.  There should be 1 full liquid cup of puree.  Stir the strawberry syrup and the lemon juice into the pureed pulp.  Taste the puree.  If it is very sour, add the 1/4 cup of sugar and stir until dissolved.  Add a few drops of red food coloring to help the puree maintain its rosy color.

Daring Bakers: Milan Cookies!

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This was an excellent challenge.  I am still planning to make the Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies, but I wanted to post about these first.  They were very good.  My husband thought that they were too "citrusy" for his tastes, but I heard no complaints from anyone else.  They were quickly devoured when I took them to a friend's house on a weekend visit. 

These cookies were pretty easy to make, but softer than the store bought variety.  And while there is more citrus flavor than in the store bought version, I still thought they were better than the store bought version.  Give these a try, they are awesome.

Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

Cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour

Cookie filling:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• • 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Pork Roast becomes Pulled Pork Sandwiches!

I was browsing through my friend's copy of Fine Cooking and I saw a recipe for Roasted Pork Shoulder. There were two accompanying recipes to use up the leftovers that looked tasty as well, but all I could think about was pulled pork sandwiches.  After I left my friend's house, I kept thinking about juicy pork shoulder and pulled pork sandwiches dripping with a rich chipotle barbeque sauce.  So, I went and bought all the ingredients and went about slow roasting that tasty pork shoulder. 

The roasted pork was excellent and I highly recommend it.  I also enjoyed their suggestion of Cannellini beans with garlic, olive oil and thyme as a side.  The meal was excellent!  The next day however, I started making a chipotle barbeque sauce to cook some of the leftovers in for pulled pork.  The recipe is below.  It made enough for sandwiches for (1 or 2) several days and was even better the day after cooking.

 Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Sandwich buns of your choice

1 - 1 1/2 pounds roasted pork shoulder (see link to recipe above)

7 ounces ketchup

1 ounce Worcestershire sauce

1 ounce cider vinegar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon dried minced garlic (you could also use fresh, to taste)

1/2  teaspoon dried mustard

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-2 chipotles with adobo sauce, minced (you could add more or use less according to your tastes)

Tabasco sauce, to taste

Mix sauce ingredients together.  Taste to make sure you like it.  Shred the pork shoulder with two forks or your hands and put it in a crock pot.  Add the sauce and stir well to coat.  Add about 1-2 tablespoons of water if it seems dry.  Cook in crock pot on high for 4-6 hours.  Serve about 4 ounces per sandwich (depending on your bun size, of course). 

I enjoyed eating this with a bit of coleslaw and fresh cherries!

Bars for Sam

One of my martial arts friends is moving away to go to medical school.  We had a little send off party and I made these bars for him, which are his favorite.  As a member of the martial arts club, we had a lot of fundraisers, including bake sales .  I always used to make these for the bake sales and once Sam got a bite of these, he was sold.  They also always sold really well!

These are a take off of Dorie's Chewy Chunky Blondies from Baking From My Home to Yours

Caramel-Heath Blondies

Ingredients

2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chunks

8 -10 mini Heath Bars, coarsely crushed

5 ounces of caramels (you can used the bag of unwrapped bits, or unwrap that many caramels)

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter a 9x13 pan.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Place the caramel in a small microwaveable bowl.  Add about a tablespoon of water and a pinch of salt.  Microwave and stir until melted and smooth.  Set aside.

Beat the butter with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.  Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Beat the mixture for 1 minute after adding each egg.  Beat in the vanilla.  

Turn the mixture down to low speed and add the dry ingredients and mix.  Stir in the chocolate chunks and the Heath chunks.  Scrape the batter into the pan.  Drizzle the caramel on top of the batter and use a knife to swirl it.  Bake for 40-50 minutes.  The bars should pull away from the sides of the pan and the top should be nicely browned.  They may look a little underdone in the areas around the caramel.  The caramel and the area around it will set up while cooling. 

Cool and cut into bars.

Blueberry-Banana Bran Muffins

I had one old banana sitting in my fruit bowl getting very soft and very brown.  One more day and it was going to get moldy!  So, I decided to make a 1/2 batch of Eating Well's Banana-Bran Muffins.  I made a few modifications of course.  You see, right now, blueberries are on sale for 1.99 a pint.  So, I bought three pints and have been eating them whenever I want a snack.  However, I just had to throw some in these muffins instead of their recommended chocolate chips.  I will save the chocolate chips for another day.  These muffins were great warm.  They aren't overly bran-y or overly banana-y.  But that was okay with me.  They were just what I wanted this morning! 

Note: As I write this recipe out, I realized that I left out the canola oil on accident.  The muffins were still tasty.  If you are concerned about them being too dry, put it in.  If you are really concerned about fats and stuff, leave it out and see if you like it.  I'm writing the oil into the recipe however.

Blueberry-Banana Bran Muffins

Adapted from Eating Well (Banana-Bran Muffins)

Makes 6-7 regular sized muffins

1 large egg
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (1 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk (or soured milk = 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar)
1/2 cup unprocessed wheat bran (like Bob's Red Mill)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (or however many you like) (I'm sure frozen would be fine too)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 6-7 muffin cups with cooking spray. 
2. Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in bananas, buttermilk, wheat bran, oil and vanilla.
3. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add the blueberries and stir to coat.  Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Stir in the walnuts. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they’ll be quite full).  Put one ice cube into each empty muffin cup.
4. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.