Vegan Cake - Attempt #1

So I've been making a lot of cakes recently.

And it's been a lot of fun.

But there has been one minor glitch. My son hasn't been able to eat any of the cakes I've been making.  You see, he has food allergies. Dairy and eggs are included in those allergies. Which completely rules out most traditional cakes and all of the meringue buttercreams I have been making.

I make plenty of things that he can eat, but I have been promising him that I will try to make him a fancy cake, like those he's been watching me make, that is completely safe for him.

Today was the day I decided to go for it.

But apparently the vegan-baking-deities were not on my side.

I started by making my cake layers. I prepared my pans as usual, except that I was trying to save a few minutes, so I skipped using parchment rounds in the bottom of my pans. I sprayed them well and figured I'd be okay.

Mistake #1.

Umm... yeah, the entire bottom of the cakes stuck to the pans.

No problem... I'll try to piece it back together.

Umm... nope. Never mind. Didn't even try that with the second layer. Hmm...

The next step was the vegan meringue buttercream.

Now, meringue buttercream has two main ingredients. Egg whites and butter. Both out when going vegan.  Instead of egg whites, vegan meringue uses aquafaba - the liquid most people dump out from cans of beans (garbanzo, in my case). It takes some time, but it whips up to a light and airy meringue and can be used as an egg replacement in many recipes.  As for the butter, there are plenty of non-dairy butter alternatives. All of the recipes for vegan buttercream that I read recommended either 100% palm-oil shortening or Earth Balance sticks (rather than spread). I couldn't find the shortening in my grocery store, but did find the Earth Balance, so that was what I went with.

To make Italian meringue buttercream, the egg whites (or aquafaba) is whipped to stiff peaks while a sugar and water syrup is cooked to a specific temperature in a pot.

Here is where fail #2 came into play.

Apparently my candy thermometer is broken. And I didn't know it. So while I was waiting for the thermometer to let me know that my sugar syrup had reached 240 degrees, turns out my sugar had way surpassed the soft ball stage that that temperature indicates and... well... yeah. I didn't take pictures of that part. But I had to scrap that sugar, scrub my pot and try again, this time making an educated guess as to the temperature of my syrup, knowing that my thermometer would not be a help.

The second attempt at the meringue seemed to work, so I whipped it all up, added in my "butter" and... had frosting!

Now white-on-white cakes don't necessarily look all that dynamic in photos...

But it came together alright, despite the issues I'd been having...

I mean... it looks like a cake, right?

All unassuming and cake-y?

You can kind of see the uneven layers and what not, but... it's a cake!

And then it was time for dessert.

Both kids started off excited. Both said it was pretty good.

Then, after a few more bites... they both opted to skip dessert.

That's right, my children chose no dessert over this cake.

That is not exactly a promising sign.

I finished both of their pieces. Because... it's still cake. The cake itself was okay - plain, not a lot of flavor, uneven texture... and the buttercream, while smooth and silky like "regular" Italian meringue buttercream, tasted a bit salty and a bit... well, like the Earth Balance spread. The cake and the frosting together taste better than either one component on its own, but even still, it wasn't a hit here.

So today's adventure didn't work out like I'd hoped.

I'll keep trying.

And for my vegan baking needs, I'll stick to this chocolate cake that my family loves. At least until I can find a better layering-cake recipe. I'll also have to play with alternative butter substitutes if I want to try the vegan meringue buttercream again...

Live and learn.

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Banana Cake and New Beginnings

So... I used to have this blog...

I cooked and baked and took lots and lots of pictures, and I shared stories of the process with a few people who were kind enough to stop by.

And then I stopped.

It started feeling more like work and less like fun, and that told me that it was time to take a break.

That break wound up being a long one.

But... I'm thinking about dipping my toe back in the blog-water. Because, while I may have stopped writing about it, I never stopped cooking and baking.

My recent baking addiction is cake. I've seen amazing posts on amazing blogs featuring amazing recipes, and it reinspired me for this. So here I go, hoping to share some of that inspiration with anyone who dares venture over here after so long.

My cake addiction started innocently enough.  Whenever I run on the treadmill, I distract myself by watching random television shows. Okay, not so random. I watch baking shows. Usually either Cake Wars or Cupcake Wars. After who-knows-how-many episodes (and many, many miles), I decided that I wanted to actually learn more about the different kinds of frostings I see commonly on these shows. Most specifically, I wanted to learn how to make Italian meringue buttercream and Swiss meringue buttercream, the two I heard about most frequently on the show.

So a few weeks ago, I set out to learn how to make each of those frostings.

And from those few attempts, an addiction was born.

I am constantly on the lookout for new recipes to try, new cakes, new frostings, new methods, new techniques, new combinations...

I've had my eye on this Fluffy Brown Sugar Icing for a while, but couldn't quite decide what cake to pair it with.

So when I saw that my bananas were starting to go over-ripe, I knew I had my excuse.

This frosting is not a buttercream - it is a meringue. A brown sugar syrup is boiled, and then whipped into whipped egg whites. The heat from the syrup cooks the egg whites, don't worry, and the result, according to the recipe, is supposed to be fluffy and soft and amazing.

Unassuming little pile of white on the outside...

The interesting thing about meringues like this is that they can be very finicky. The sugar has to be heated to just the right stage or else things don't come together as expected. This recipe did not give an actual temperature for the syrup. I assumed that it would be similar to the other meringues I have made, and decided to heat it to 240 degrees, to the soft-ball stage of candy making.

My candy thermometer, on the other hand, had other plans. It stopped working somewhere around 200 degrees, somehow got liquid in it, and decided it was done for the day.

So I tried to emulate in my kitchen the way the recipe was writting - to heat the syrup until it "drops like hair from a spoon." Lovely imagery!

I thought I had it there, beautiful and strand-y... so I whipped the hot syrup carefully into my egg whites.

The results... were not the kind of fluffy I was expecting. I was expecting light and airy. What I got was more like marshmallow fluff - thick and sticky.

But don't at all let me fool you into thinking that's a bad thing. It might not have  been as easy to work with as a light, airy frosting, but holy smokes was it delicious.

I added a hint of cinnamon to my frosting, not called for in the original recipe, to pair it a little better with the banana cake I'd made and it was addictively delicious.

I need to look into the science side of what happened... Did I overcook the syrup or undercook it? I'll look into it and certainly try it again.

But it was an absolutely delicious mistake.

So to anyone actually reading this, anyone who wandered over here after my long hiatus, thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing more cake (and non-cake) adventures with you!


Banana Cake
(from Cookies & Cups)

1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup butter, room temp
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups flour
3 ripe medium bananas mashed, approximately 1½ cups

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Coat round cake pans (3 8-inch or 2 9-inch) with nonstick spray. Cut parchment paper into rounds to fit into the bottoms of the pans. Place the parchment into each pan and coat again with nonstick spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the milk and lemon juice. Stir and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Add in the eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda and mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Turn the mixer to low and alternate adding the flour and milk, beginning and ending with flour, scraping the sides of the bowl between additions.
With the mixer still on low speed, add in the bananas, mixing until just incorporated.
Divide the batter evenly among the pans and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans in the oven half-way through baking.
Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15-20 minutes and then turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.


Brown Sugar Icing
(from I Wash You Dry)

1 cup packed brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup corn syrup
4 egg whites
2 teasoons vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, water and corn syrup. Bring to a full rolling boil. (Be careful, as it will rise, so make sure the sides of your pan are taller). Let it boil at medium to medium high until the syrup drops like a hair from spoon (approximately 10 minutes). Remove from burner and set aside.
Meanwhile, beat egg whites until stiff. I used my KitchenAid mixer - beats them up in no time!
Slowly pour the hot syrup in a very thin stream into egg whites, beating constantly. Again, I used the KitchenAid mixer, with the whisk attatchment, at full speed. Beat until icing holds peaks, then blend in vanilla.
Let cool to room temp, then store covered in the fridge until ready to use.

I added a few generoud sprinkles of cinnamon after adding the vanilla extract and it was delicious!

Layer your cake and frosting as you like and enjoy the deliciousness!

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August Sourdough Surprises - Coffee Cake

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's the 20th.

No, really. I thought it was the 19th.

That's what happens at the end of a long, fun filled, busy, on-the-go summer. I lose all track of days and dates and posts!!!

This month, Sourdough Surprises chose one of my favorite things to do with sourdough as the inspiration - coffee cake!!! I love coffee cake in any of its incarnations, but it is absolutely one of my most favorite things to do with "discard" starter.

I've made sourdough coffee cake before. In fact, I use this recipe pretty often. So I wanted to do something a little different this time. But what?

The answer came to me when planning a fun afternoon activity for the kids - peach picking!

Peaches!!

I decided to add a layer of sliced peaches between the cake and the streussel layers of this cake.

And the result?

Not too shabby!

I think the extra moisture from the peaches affected the texture of the streussel, but the taste was outstanding. The peaches added the perfect burst of fresh sweetness

I brought this cake into work with me one morning.

Did I mention that I work at a zumba studio??

It's always fun when I bring in treats. The initial response is always "we're here to exercise!! No cake!!"

But then I turn around and... the pan is empty, except for a few crumbs.

This was a big hit.

So link up and share your sourdough coffee cake!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Peach Sourdough Coffee Cake
(slightly adapted from about.com: German food)

for the streussel topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar (I used light brown sugar)
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, cold (I used coconut oil)
3 peaches

Combine flour, (brown) sugar and cinnamon until well combined. Rub in cold butter (or coconut oil) using your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly and sticks together when you press it together with your fingers. Set topping aside.
Peel and thinly slice the peaches. Set these aside, too.

for the cake:
1 cup healthy sourdough starter (100% hydration)
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

Spray 8" x 8" or 9" x 9" square cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Stir together all ingredients until they are just combined.
Spread batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
Carefully arrange the peaches over the top of the batter.
Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the peach-topped of the cake.
Allow the cake to rest for 30 minutes. While it is resting, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until the cake is set and the sides begin to pull away from the pan.
Allow to cool before cutting.

Enjoy!

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July Daring Bakers' Challenge - Surprise-Inside Cake

For the July Daring Baker’s Challenge, Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to bake a cake. But not just any cake; she asked us to add in a special surprise for our eyes as well as our taste buds!

This month's challenge was both fun and extremely challenging. Most months, we are introduced to a new style of food or challenged to try a new and interesting recipe. This month, the challenge wasn't recipe based - it was a test of our creativity! And, as an extension, it encouraged us to try new techniques for creating tasty masterpieces.

A surprise-inside is just what it sounds like - a cake that, when cut into, has something unexpected or special that could not be seen until the cake was cut.  I have actually made some previously that qualify, including this zebra cake and this rainbow cake.  So for this challenge, I wanted to try something different.

Now, please keep in mind that we moved a week after this challenge was announced. So, my kitchen was in disarray and I had a new oven to test out. Which, as it turns out, is not calibrated correctly. It actually runs about 40 degrees (F) low. Which is a lot. Live and learn.

Anyway, for my surprise inside, I wanted to try my hand at this cool tie-dyed heart-inside cake. 

Now, remember, this was all about technique for me. It was also all about getting over my aversion to food coloring. Just for this cake.

I started with my go-to yellow cake recipe. And then came the tie-dye aspect.  I divided the batter into four portions and let the kids choose some colors.

Little miss started with blue.

Little man started with green.

And then we added pink and purple.

Each of these tinted portions of batter was then transferred to a zip-top bag. Simply snip the tip of each bag and... make a mess.

No, seriously, it was a mess. Squiggle the batter around a (sprayed) (and next time - parchment lined!!) rimmed cookie sheet, but try not to blend the colors. Make sure to reach the corners of the tray!

Then bake!

Pretty cool!

Hindsight being 20/20, I should have just frosted that and been done - called it a surprise tie-dye cake and called it a success.

But I wanted to make the heart-inside cake. And I was super optimistic.

The next step is to create the hearts. Using a cookie cutter.

My cake was really soft. Which... should have clued me in to the fact that maybe this wasn't the right recipe for this kind of treatment. But, again, I was optimistic.

I cut out as many hearts as I could from my tie-dyed cake and lined them up on a pan.

These went into the freezer, and I then prepared another batch of the aforementioned yellow cake batter.

Now, following the technique demonstrated in the youtube video linked above, I lined a loaf pan with foil, sprayed it well, and poured in a thin layer of cake batter. I then baked this for about ten minutes to let it begin setting up.  After those ten minutes, I removed the pan from the oven and removed the hearts from the freezer.

The next step is to stack up as many hearts as it takes to run the length of the pan and... embed them in the partially baked cake.

Upside down, no less. So that when you turn the cake out, it's right side up.

Then simply pour the rest of the cake batter over all of this and continue baking until done.

Which I'm sure works if your oven is actually the temperature that you tell it to be... and that it tells you it is... but I suppose that's another story.

This story had a frustrating next chapter. The cake took forever to bake (probably because the oven was 40 degrees too low), I tried to frost it while it was still too warm, and, because this cake is more delicate than it should be for this treatment, it completely fell apart. And my camera batter died. And the charger was resting comfortably at my old house. Yeah. None of that worked out very well.

BUT!

I still had ten hearts resting in the freezer!

And I was still optimistic!

So I tried one more time. But with the same cake recipe. Because... I really, really wanted it to work.

This time, I tried a few things differently. First, I retrieved my oven thermometer from the old house and adjusted the oven temperature setting accordingly.  Secondly, I didn't pre-bake any portion of the cake batter before adding in the frozen hearts. I just lined the hearts in the empty, sprayed pan, then poured the batter around it.

The results?

Still extremely crumbly. Again, because I really think that this technique requires a slightly heftier cake batter.  But - you could see the heart!

Even though...

...the hearts did turn sideways during the cooking process.

BUT.

I learned a lot. And had fun doing it. And everyone thought it was both fun and delicious, so, regardless of how frustrated I was that it didn't turn out as beautiful as the example, I was told that this was a success. So I will accept it as one.

Ruth, thanks for inspiring us to bake outside of our comfort zones this month!

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Sweet Potato Chocolate Brownie Cake

It is super, crazy busy here. We are in the process of moving houses. Which means my kitchen is... well... in two places at once.

But does that stop me from signing up for the Secret Recipe Club's monthly challenge? Heck no!

But knowing that things would be... well... a bit all over the place (literally), I had to get an early start.

This month I was lucky enough to be assigned to Fit Mama Real Food, run  by the impressive Heather who, as you might imagine, has a passion for both fitness and healthy eating - two things interests I happen to share with her!

She  has some really interesting and delicious looking recipes on her page, with all kinds of healthy substitutions and alternatives.  While everything looked great, I zeroed in on my choice right away. I mean, the post was titled irresistible chocolate brownie cake. Who was I to try to resist??

And the twist? It's made with these beauties.

Yup - sweet potatoes. In a chocolate cake.

I baked the sweet potatoes then gave them a whirl with my immersion blender.

I had to add a little bit of water, since they were super thick (and Heather indicated that she'd used baby food sweet potatoes, which are much thinner), but it was quick and easy to do.

Then the cake comes together much like normal.

Dry ingredients...

Wet ingredients...

And voila!

I added chocolate chips on top of mine. Because... why not?

And it baked up beautifully.

Little miss was a little wary to try it, because she knew about the sweet potatoes, but little man had no such qualms.

And after little man let it be known how much he liked it, little miss just had to try it for herself. And wouldn't you know, she loved it, too!  Me? I thought it was great. The sweet potato added a nice richness to both the texture and flavor of the cake, and also let me enjoy an extra piece guilt free!

Heather, thank you so much for this awesome recipe and for all the fun you share on your blog!


Sweet Potato Chocolate Brownie Cake
(slightly adapted from Fit Mama Real Food)

1/2 cup milk of choice (I used coconut milk beverage)
1/2 cup olive oil, or substitute more milk (I used canola oil - it was what I had. And it worked great!)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups sweet potato puree (I pureed three large sweet potatoes and added a bit of water as I pureed to thin it out)
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used one cup whole wheat, one cup all purpose)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup natural cane sugar (I used granulated sugar)
optional: chocolate chips to either mix in or sprinkle on top or both!

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan and standard-sized 6 muffin pan. You can choose to only use a loaf pan and make no muffins, you will just need to bake it longer than listed below. I used a loaf pan and two mini-cake pans.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together milk, oil vanilla extract and sweet potato puree.
In a separate bowl, combine flour(s), baking soda, salt, baking powder, cocoa powder and sugar.
Stir wet ingredients into the dry and mix gently until just combined. Try not to over-mix.
Distribute batter evenly among the prepared pans, and, if desired, sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
Bake muffins for 12 minutes and the loaf for 25 minutes. My loaf took about 32 minutes (I used more than half of the batter) and my mini cakes took about 20. Make sure to keep an eye on yours, based on the pan sizes you chose.
Check with a toothpick for doneness before removing from the oven.
Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before removing from the pans.

Enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Chocolate Molten Cake

You know what I love about the Secret Recipe Club?

That it introduces me to all sorts of blogs that I might have missed otherwise.

Such as my June assignment, Learning Patience, written by the awesome Corey. And when I say awesome, I mean... like... really awesome. For starters, she and her husband live in Trinidad. Well, they live in Trinidad right now. In a week they're moving to London. Seriously. Secondly, she's a runner. I'd say "like me" at the end of that sentence, but she's a much better runner than I am. Thirdly, she's so open and honest and... well... likeable. Her posts are so easy and fun to read. Fourthly, she has awesome taste in food. Like, super yummy stuff.

I had so many of her recipes running through my head to make for this assignment, but kept coming back to the one for Chocolate Molten Cake. I have always wanted to make those little (single serve) molten lava cakes that ooze (in a yummy way, of course) chocolate deliciousness when you cut into them, and this looked like a lava cake's big brother. Or older cousin. Or some other really cool, bigger relative.

That, and the recipe just looked so... different. The way this cake goes together was so interesting. I had to wait until the kids could help me because I knew little miss, in particular, would get a kick out of seeing it come together.

The base batter is pretty standard.

A bunch of dry ingredients...

...get mixed with some wet ingredients. Little miss is doing that on the left here:

And what's little man mixing? One of the next few layers.

See, that batter that little miss put together is spread on the bottom of a pan. Then chocolate chips are sprinkled on top.

Then that mixture that little man was working on gets sprinkled on top of the chips.

And not mixed in.

And to top all of that off, pour some coffee over it.

Well, technically it's supposed to be espresso powder mixed with hot water. But we aren't huge espresso (or coffee...) drinkers here, so I used instant coffee.

And... again... don't mix it in.

Little miss was confused and amused all at the same time.

And, to be honest, so was I.

But then it bakes. And comes out like this:

Nicely baked on the perimeter, but with a little jiggle (sorry, can't see that in a photo...) in the middle.

And is it ooey gooey?

Holy smokes yes, in the yummiest possible way. That coffee settles in and the bottom becomes this... pudding type substance that is just... so delicious. And the cake itself is delicious, too! It tastes amazing with ice cream. Or whipped cream. Or just by itself. 

This really was super fun to make and way too easy to eat. Seriously, you have to try it.

Chocolate Molten Cake

(from Learning Patience)

1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (divided)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar (divided)

1/2 cup whole milk (I used coconut milk)

4 tablespoons unsalted butted, melted

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon espresso powder (I used instant coffee)

1 cup hot water

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 325.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, 1/4 cup of the cocoa and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar. Whisk until well combined and not clumpy.

Stir in the milk, vanilla, yolk and melted butter.

Spread the mixture into a buttered 9" square pan. I couldn't find my square pan (weird, I know) so used a 9 inch round pan and it worked great.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup of cocoa. Whisk to break up clumps.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the cake batter and then sprinkle the cocoa powder and sugar mixture on top of that. Don't stir any of this in.

Combine the espresso powder with the hot water and pour all over the top. Again - do not stir.

Bake for 14 minutes and then start checking cake. Depending on the oven, it could take between 20 to 35 minutes. The edges of the cake should feel baked but the middle should have a gentle jiggle. Mine took about 24 minutes.

The sauce poured on top has now settled to the bottom to create a rich pudding.

Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes and serve, preferably with ice cream.

Enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

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January Daring Bakers' Challenge - Baumkuchen

You know what I love? 

When a cooking or baking challenge is something with which I am completely unfamiliar before reading the challenge.

And guess what?

That's what happened this month with the Daring Bakers' Challenge!

The January 2014 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Francijn of "Koken in de Brouwerij". She challenged us all to bake layered cakes in the tradition of Baumkuchen (tree cake) and Schichttorte (layered cake).

The layered cake that inspired this challenge is not what most of us think of when we think "layer cake." I mean... when I think layer cake, I think a cake or two, or maybe even three, maybe each cut in half horizontally to make them thinner, with frosting between them.

That's not what this is.

This is a cake where all the layers are baked right on top of each other. 

I'll show you.

First, a batter is prepared. Most baumkuchen cakes include marzipan and many, many eggs. With little man's allergies, I pretty much knew that there was no way to make this work for him, but, even so, I found a recipe (here) that didn't include marzipan (didn't want to take the nut-contamination risk).  But, like the other recipes I'd found, it involved lots of bowls, separating eggs and careful measurement.

Once those egg whites were incorporated, the batter was then divided evenly in half.  One half was flavored with a touch of vanilla extract, the other with cocoa powder.

And then it was time to bake! The batter was thicker than I'd expected, but bear with it - it'll work!  I took about a quarter cup of the chocolate batter and spread it thinly on the bottom of my springform pan.

I used only enough batter to cover the pan - I wanted to stretch my batter to as many layers as possible!

The pan then goes into the oven. And since it's such a thin layer, it bakes quickly.

Four  minutes later, I took this out.

And then we build.

Another quarter cup of batter, this time the vanilla one, scooped right on top of the baked chocolate layer. And because the cake is hot, it actually spreads very easily this time.

And so on and so on until all of the batter is used.

Alternating layers, I actually was proud to wind up with an even number of chocolate and vanilla layers.

The whole thing then has to cool completely. I didn't dare remove the springform pan's outer ring until the next morning.

Okay, didn't look too impressive straight out of the pan. But with this one, it's what's inside that counts.

But before we could get there, I had some decorating to do. I had a little bit of ganache leftover in the fridge, so I heated it a little big to a pourable consistency and used it to top my cake.

And then added some delicate candy peals to finish the look.

But it wasn't until our family dinner that night that we got to really see the results. As my father in law cut in the cake, I had my fingers crossed so tightly, just hoping that it worked.

And guess what??

It did!

But how did it taste?

Pretty good! The cake was a little dense, but definitely tasty. Next time I make it (I will try this again!!), I may use the broiler, cooking the cake only from the top, rather than the regular oven cycle, since the bottom layer, while not burned, was definitely cooked more than the higher layers (had a bit more of a cookie-like consistency than cake, if that makes sense).

Francijn, thank you so much for introducing me to this super fun cake. I can't wait to try this again. You were truly a wonderful, helpful and encoraging hostess!!

If you'd like to see the other amazing and impressive baumkuchens baked in the kitchen month, check them out here.

And to see the challenge as it was presented to us, with a more traditional and impressive recipe, check it out here.

Baumkuchen
(batter ingredients and preparation method from La Reposteria de Miguel, baking process from The Daring Bakers' Challenge)

250 grams butter
250 grams sugar
7 eggs, separated
150 grams flour (recipe calls for pastry flour, I used all purpose)
100 grams cornstarch
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Beat butter with sugar until doubled in volume and mixture becomes very light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks, one at a time, to the butter and sugar mixture.
In a seperate bowl, beat the egg whites, with the salt, until stiff.
Slowly add the flour to the egg yolk, butter and sugar mixture until incorporated. Then fold in the stiffly-beaten egg whites, in two separate additions.
Divide the dough into two equal parts. Into one part, add the cocoa powder. Into the other, add the vanilla extract.
You are now ready to begin assembling and baking the cake.
Start with about 1/4 cup of one of the batters (I started with the chocolate batter) and spread it on the bottom of a 9 or 10 inch springform pan. The first layer is the toughest one to spread, and it will be a thin layer. This is okay. Use just enough batter to very thinly cover the bottom of the pan.
Bake this layer for 4 minutes (for me - watche it, though - if it starts to brown too much, pull it!).
Remove the pan from the oven and create a second layer, with your other batter (the vanilla) and spread it over the first layer. Since each layer is now hot from the oven, each subsequent layer will be much easier to spread.
Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 4 minutes (again, times may vary - keep an eye on it!).
Repeat this process, alternating batters, until all of the batter is used up, baking each layer for approximately four minutes and spreading a new layer on after each is cooked. I wound up with eight layers in a 10 inch springform pan.
Once your final layer is baked, allow the cake to cool completely.
I covered my completely cooled cake with ganache and decorated it with little candy pearls. The ganache is relatively traditional, but you can cover, frost or prepare the cake however you'd like.

Enjoy!

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S'mores Cupcakes (with egg-free marshmallow frosting)

Happy New Year!

So sorry for the slow start to the year. I'm hopeful that that's not an indication of how my blogging-year will be...

But if the start of 2014 is any indication as to how our family will be eating this year, then I suppose we're in pretty good shape.

To start off the year, I want to share with you the way we ended our year - little man celebrated his third birthday. Three years?? How in the world did that happen??

To celebrate our little guy, we wanted a special treat. He wanted cupcakes. And he wanted chocolate. And then his sister recommended s'mores. Oh yes, these are definitely my kids.

The biggest issue with s'mores cupcakes is the marshmallow frosting. Most marshmallow frosting is meringue frosting - with egg whites as a base. While he can eat eggs in small doses baked into things (like, one baked into a dozen cupcakes), I don't feel comfortable using an egg-white frosting.  And I've had trouble finding an egg-free version.  But since this was a special birthday, I did more searching.

And soon found several recipes worth trying.

I didn't start the cupcakes intending to blog them, so I apologize for the lack of photos. But as we went on, we could tell that these were working out really well.

To set the foundation for our "s'more," I made a quick, small graham cracker crust. I used coconut oil instead of butter to keep these as allergen-free as possible.

I baked the cupcakes right into the par-baked cookie crusts - no cupcake liners.

Once the cupcakes cooled, it was time to make things fun.  I started by making a dairy-free ganache, and drizzled that on top of the chocolate cupcakes.  I happened to have a few tablespoons of extra graham cracker crumbs after making the crust mixture, so I then sprinkled those on top of the ganache.

Because... why not?

And then it was time to add the frosting!  I generally don't mind not having a real piping set, but I do admit that, in this case, it would have been a big help.

But my plastic bag worked out okay, and the cupcakes looked like a lot of fun.

Now, I wish I had a better "finished product" photo to share with you. But it's winter, and we made these for an afternoon celebration, so the light was not cooperating. And then... well... we were too busy eating them to remember to take pretty pictures.

But let me tell you - these were outstanding. Everyone loved them. Little man thought they were awesome, little miss went for second (and tried to go for thirds...), and all of our family who came to celebrate with us left with big smiles, not to mention extra cupcakes to enjoy later.

So here's to a delicious 2014! I can't wait to share it with you!


S'mores Cupcakes
(from a variety of sources!)

For the graham cracker cupcake bottoms:
Approximately 10 squares of graham crackers, crushed to crumbs (to make about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of crumbs)
4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine graham cracker crumbs and coconut oil until well incorporated. Divide mixture between the twelve wells of a muffin tin and press in to form to the shape of the muffin tin.
Bake for about 5-7 minutes to set the cookie base.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool as you prepare the cupcakes.


For the cupcakes:
(from marthastewart.com)
(makes 12 cupcakes)

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk, room temperature (I used coconut milk)
1 large egg, lightly beaten, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

Place rack in center of oven and heat to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with 12 paper liners (unless using graham cracker crumb bottoms!) and set aside.
In a large bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer), combine cocoa, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add butter, milk, egg, and vanilla. Using a hand-held electric mixer on medium speed, or your stand mixer on medium speed, beat for two minutes. Add boiling water and beat to combine (batter will be thin). Divide batter evenly between cupcake wells/liners.
Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


For the ganache:
(from dairyfreecooking.about.com)
(makes a lot more than you'll need, but put the extra in the fridge and enjoy it over the next few days!)

1 cup unsweetened plain soymilk (I used coconut milk)
2 ½ cups dark dairy-free chocolate chips

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the soymilk (coconut milk) and chocolate chips. Stirring frequently, cook until the mixture is well combined and the chocolate has a glossy finish. Remove the ganache from the heat. Use while warm or slightly cooled.


For the marshmallow frosting:
(from The Urban Poser)
(makes about twice as much as you need, but, if stored in an airtight container, holds as marshmallow cream very well)

1 cup water (split in half)
1 cup mild honey, (I like a mild honey, you can even get away with less honey if desired) (I actually used sugar this time, to stick to the true marshmallow flavor for the s'mores inspiration)
1 tablespoon gelatin
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

In a the bowl of your stand mixer, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup of water.
While the gelatin is softening, pour the other 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan along with the honey (sugar), vanilla and the salt. Turn the burner to a medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
Place a candy thermometer in the saucepan and continue to gently boil the mixture until it reaches 240 degrees (the soft ball stage). This will take approx. 7-8 min. Immediately remove from the sauce pan from the heat.
Turn the stand mixer to low/med. Slowly pour the sugar mixture into the bowl combining it with the softened gelatin. Turn the mixer to high and continue beating the mixtures until it becomes thick like marshmallow creme (about 10 min).


To assemble the final cupcakes:
Once the cupcakes have cooled, drizzle about a tablespoon of ganache over the top of each. I had a few extra graham cracker crumbs, so I sprinkled them over the warm ganache. Set the cupcakes aside to let the ganache set.
Once the ganache has set, pipe the marshmallow frosting over the top.

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