franny's olive oil cake

if you were to ask me what my favorite restaurant is, i'd be stumped to come up with an answer. but, as this blog can attest to here, i 've been enjoyable eating at franny's for years. i always look forward to going there, have never had a bad dish, and have in fact stumbled home most nights (one in particular shall remain forever unmentionable) in a satiated stupor. so it's certainly in the running as a favorite place, if not officially taking the honor.

so when a very thoughtful friend gave me the franny's cookbook as a wedding present, i dutifully dogeared half a dozen recipes i wanted to try. and the appearance of a rosemary plant at my local farmer's market reminded me of a rosemary olive oil cake i had years ago, which led to this recipe. i was planning to make it for lunch at a friend's farm (i live in minnesota now, remember?), but once it was cooled, couldn't bring myself to give away the entire thing, so i did the un-biblical thing and split it in half, which i have no shame about.

the reason this cake is a winner? it takes under 2 hours, from conception to fully cooled. it's not too dense, perfectly sweet, and very pretty.

ingredients:

cake:
1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
grated zest of 4 lemons - i used a microplane 
1¼ cups olive oil
4 large eggs, at room temperature (v. important!)
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

glaze:
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more if needed

cake:
preheat the oven to 325°F, with a rack in the middle position. grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper, greasing the paper.

sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
combine the sugar and lemon zest and mix well with your finger tips, rubbing the mixture together until well blended. fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the oil to the sugar mixture, and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. beat in the vanilla. add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, beating on low speed and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl after each batch, until just combined.

pour the batter into the prepared pan. bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly pressed. cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then remove for the pan, peel off the parchment paper, and allow to cool completely on the rack.

glaze:
whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice to make a thick but pourable glaze; add more lemon juice if needed. 

set the cake, on the rack, over a rimmed baking sheet. pour the glaze on top of the cake, letting it run down the sides. let the glaze set for at least 30 minutes before slicing the cake.

boston creme pie

oh dear god! it's been so long since i wrote you must have forgotten about me. i'm so sorry.
i've been busy, as i'm sure you all are. this is no good excuse. the summer is already scurrying by, trying not to be bothersome in the midst of all this work. there have been some good moments, along with a new fast housefriend. there has also been quite a bit of thinking, hoping, crying, and wondering. my hair is long enough to braid, and i try to wear skirts everyday. this is the calm before the storm maybe?

in any case, one of my goals this summer is to single-handedly repopularize the boston creme pie. this classic dessert isn't a pie at all, but a cake filled with pudding, first made at boston's parker house hotel in 1855. and it's not called a classic for nothing, each one of its components is traditional home grown comfort food- fluffy yellow cake, rich vanilla pudding, and stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth chocolate frosting. there have been many a time in my life when just one of those was enough to turn my bad day around. all three together is an embarrassment of riches, really.

to be made sparingly. i think we should keep this trifecta of comfort for those most dire of times. which, it seems in your late twenties, is often!

boston creme pie, adapted from me!

pudding:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups hot milk
3 large egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

mix sugar, flour and salt in a large heavy saucepan. gradually stir in the hot milk with a whisk. cook the mixture over moderate heat while stirring constantly until slightly thickened. slowly stir in approximately 1/4 cup the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks. next add the yolks to the balance of the hot mixture and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture is fully thickened to a custard-like consistency and coats a spoon. remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. let cool completely

cake:
two 9-inch cakes
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

take the butter out of the fridge to soften and preheat the oven to 350°F. prepare two 9-inch round pans by greasing them thoroughly with butter or non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening. you can also flour them, if you want, although this isn't strictly necessary. sprinkle a little flour over them, tilt and shake to distribute evenly, then tap out the excess over the sink.

mix the ingredients together in the order they're listed - creaming the softened butter and sugar first, then adding the eggs, flour, salt, baking powder, and finally the liquids. using an electric beater, beat everything together on low for 30 seconds, then high for 3 minutes.

immediately pour into the prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops spring back slightly when pressed.
let cool on wire racks for at least 15 minutes, then flip each pan over onto the rack and tap gently all over. lift the pan slightly. if the cake doesn't feel like it's falling out smoothly, lay a slightly damp kitchen towel over the pan and tap again.

cool completely.

frosting:
6 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
3/4 stick unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

melt the chocolate and butter in a good-sized bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. go slowly- you don't want any burning or seizing.

while this is melting, put the powdered sugar into the food processor and pulse to remove lumps.

add the corn syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor onto the powdered sugar, with the motor running.

put it all together:
when everything has been fully cooled, frost just the top of one of the cakes, piling the frosting high. then, spoon the pudding on the top of the other cake. gently place the chocolate frosted cake on top of the pudding covered cake. if you want to be fancy, you can put some powdered sugar on top. be careful when cutting it- the pudding may sploosh out the sides!

blackberry jam cake

one of the few really vivid memories i have of childhood is of getting all scratched up while picking blackberries at circle z ranch in grass valley, ca. my parents were the caretakers of my uncle's ranch in grass valley for most of my elementary school years, and we spent countless weekends staying in the log cabin there. there was a wide, shallow creek that cut through the property, lined with birch trees and flat pale stones perfect for skipping. the sun would predictably dapple through said trees, producing that golden, buttery light that flashback are made of. it was on the banks of this creek that the blackberry bushes grew and my brother, my cousin, and i would spend hours and hours sorting through the rough tangle to get a few handfuls of anemic berries. my whole childhood was a quest to get enough blackberries to bake a pie and despite many, many scrapes and many, many hours, this never happened.

so when i saw this blackberry jam cake on 101 cookbooks, i was hoping for a revelation. i've grown up enough to no longer crave the sticky sweetness of a traditional blackberry pie, but not really enough to resist a caramel-like glaze on a dense, blackberry jam-infused cake. grace was duly skeptical, but the picture on the website convinced her (imho, all recipes should have pictures) and there we were, 2am on a Saturday, making this cake. somehow that was the only time we had.

luckily, the cake was easy, and from what i could tell from the murmurs of contentment from friends who ate it, i think pretty good.

blackberry jam cake, adapted from 101 cookbooks

cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 taspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup blackberry jam
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

icing:
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
5 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

reheat oven to 350. butter a 7-inch Bundt pan. mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

cream butter and brown sugar until light. beat in eggs, one at a time. beat in sour cream. stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until barely blended. stir in jam and nuts. pour into buttered pan. bake until done, about 30 minutes. when cool, invert the cake onto a platter and ice with quick brown-sugar icing.

icing:
combine brown sugar, cream, butter, and salt and cook slowly until it just bubbles. remove from heat. cool slightly, then add vanilla. beat the icing until it can be spread.


oh and (sorry for the burying-the-lede part!) ummm, columbia business school accepted me as part of the class of 2011. they must be a little crazy, or not realize that i'm terrible at math, but in any case- yay! i felt like i've been on the precipice of something lately, and it was either going to be school, a house, or a baby. i think my parents would have had a heart attack at the latter two, so for now, school will suffice. my brother thinks i should get an attaché case- hahaha! i'm sticking to my beat-up tote bag with bacon and eggs on the front thankyouverymuch. but don't worry, not much will change here on caketime and i promise to never use the word amortization.

devil dogs + cats

have i any childhood nostalgia for devil dogs, i would have led with some adorable story about how much i loved them, and how my mom never let me have them, and how as a adult i've rebelled by making this cake in homage to them, but i have none. my mom basically let me eat anything i wanted (thanks mom?), so devil dogs are blurred in my memory along with dunkaroos, hohos, and those disgustingly good fruit pies.

nevertheless, i think we can all agree that chocolate + marshmallow is a universally delicious combination, and we need no childhood excuse to recreate this treat in a slightly more acceptable form. this marshmallow icing is divine, btw, and so so easy to make. this isn't a suggestion or anything, but it seems like it would potentially be good over some chocolate ice cream maybe? with a banana and some hot fudge too?

devil dog cake, adapted from gourmet magazine

cake:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups milk

frosting:
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

make cake:
preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour an 8-inch square cake pan (2 inches deep), or a 9 inch round pan. whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

beat together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. add eggs 1 at a time, beating well, then beat in vanilla. add flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined.

pour batter into cake pan and smooth top, then bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. cool in pan on a rack 1 hour.

make frosting:
combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. mound frosting on top of cake.

turn broiler on high. stick the whole cake into the broiler for about 1 min. watch it closely- it can burn. remove cake when slightly bronzed. you'll get that lovely toasted marshmallow flavor on top.

cost:
this is a little tricky, b/c for me this is basically a pantry cake. i'm guessing it would cost you around $25 to buy all the ingredients for this in full quantities. honestly, you should just buy all the ingredients anyway so you have this cake at your disposal any time.

and because, really, this is a blog about my cats. don't they look like they're smiling in this picture?!

bacon on cake-time

please, please, please click here. this is the greatest thing to ever happen to this blog!

cheeseburgers?

oh people, this is so near and dear to my heart. and look at all these others! if i were to indulge in a little crass materialism, i would say that a cheeseburger cake and a CHEESEBURGER BED would make my life complete. what a wonderful place america is that we are so devoted to one of our national dishes!


can't you just imagine yourself as a slice of bacon between those sesame buns? all the mayhem caused by the cats on top of the bed at night would go unnoticed, and i would never be cold again, and making the bed would always be a source of humor!

deluge

oh hello again friends. i hope you're having fun on the internets without me. with this wild election season, the onset of fall, and craziest of holidays, halloween, there are many other ways to procrastinate online other than caketime. like maybe watching this painful but endearing video? or checking out this delicious recipe? or indulging yourself by playing this over and over? (maybe that last one is just me) however, without caketime, you'd never have this:


i guess i named this blog right, because here's yet another cake. the cake is via my best cooking lady, nigella lawson, but the decorations are inspired by my love of eyeballs. i'm only a little ashamed to admit i was up way later than i should have been crafting these candy eyeballs. who knew what some colored frosting and halloween candy could do?! fyi, i plan to request this cake at every subsequent celebration i am a part of, if only for the sheer joy of getting to make bloodshot eyeballs out of marshmallows.

old fashioned chocolate cake, via nigella lawson

cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter
2 large eggs (i used three medium eggs- you'd be surprised how much that matters!)
2 teaspoons good-quality vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream

frosting:
6 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
3/4 stick unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract


preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

put all the cake ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter.

divide this batter, using a rubber spatula to help you scrape and spread, into the prepared tins and bake until a cake tester comes out clean,which is about 25 mins. remove the cakes, in their tins, to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the frosting later.

to make this icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a good-sized bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. go slowly- you don't want any burning or seizing.

while this is melting, put the powdered sugar into the food processor and pulse to remove lumps.

add the corn syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor onto the powdered sugar, with the motor running.

spoon about 1/3 of the frosting onto the center of the cake-half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the 2 together.

spoon another 1/3 of the frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it. i used a star tip to make the crazy swirlies, and then a variety of candy and dyed royal icing to make the eyes. candies used included: mini m&m's, malt balls, gummy lifesavers, flavored tootsie rolls, dots and marshmallows.


oh, and if you made it this far, i'm planning on a deluge of posts in the near future, so hopefully i'll get back on your procrastination roster in the near future. besides, what are you going to do after election day?!

yellow cake and chocolate icing

one of my favorite things to do in life is to celebrate. as silly as that sounds, i find the act of celebrating any event to be very meaningful; a way of being thankful, recognizing victories, and propelling one through hard times. i firmly believe there is always something to celebrate, from the typical birthday/anniversary to a particularly smooth morning commute. and the real beauty of celebrations is that they are equally useful in good times and bad; grace and i have celebrated surviving a particularly hellish work week with the same sense of festivity as our excitement over the start of summer. and for us, most celebrations involve food.

this celebration was long overdue. we've had francie for about 9 months now and we have yet to formally commemorate her introduction to our family. and what better way to do that than a cake? i wanted the quintessential childhood cake; buttery yellow cake complemented by fluffy chocolate frosting. after doing some initial online research, i found my new cake recipe gold standard. one bowl, pantry ingredients, same amount of time to make as a boxed cake. the frosting was more of a challenge, and in the end, we gave up and used store bought. a minor set-back, but a good opportunity to test out another frosting recipe, for another celebration.

quick yellow cake from the kitchn

makes one 9x13 or two 9-inch cakes
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

take the butter out of the fridge to soften and preheat the oven to 350°F. prepare two 9-inch round pans by greasing them thoroughly with butter or non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening. you can also flour them, if you want, although this isn't strictly necessary. sprinkle a little flour over them, tilt and shake to distribute evenly, then tap out the excess over the sink.

mix the ingredients together in the order they're listed - creaming the softened butter and sugar first, then adding the eggs, flour, salt, baking powder, and finally the liquids. using an electric beater, beat everything together on low for 30 seconds, then high for 3 minutes.

immediately pour into the prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops spring back slightly when pressed.
let cool on wire racks for at least 15 minutes, then flip each pan over onto the rack and tap gently all over. lift the pan slightly. if the cake doesn't feel like it's falling out smoothly, lay a slightly damp kitchen towel over the pan and tap again.

cool completely then frost and eat!

francie's cake

there has been a major, major craving for yellow cake in our household recently and we needed a less pathetic excuse than that to make it, so we decided to break out the colored icing and celebrate francie's birthday. we don't ACTUALLY know when her birthday is, mind you, so it was a convenient reason. she seemed in a very festive mood when presented with the cake, although admittedly, she also seemed a little terrified. don't worry! we didn't let her eat any! recipe to come...

a very chocolate chocolate cake

this post is very much delayed; i made this cake in february for the birthday of one of my good friends. he is as much a chocolate lover as i have ever seen, and i wanted to do something chocolate extreme. after bookmarking half a dozen chocolate recipes and polling him practically every day on his preferences, he settled on this one. a good choice.

start with a cup and a half of cocoa powder and some buttermilk for the layers. add the secret ingredient: coffee. i'm told it makes chocolate taste more chocolaty, which it did. (note for you decaf drinkers: i'm sensitive to caffeine and there was enough in this cake to give me a buzz, so don't eat before bedtime) the next day, make the filling, which also doubles as the frosting, from a pound of chocolate. you heard me right. a pound of chocolate. assemble into the moistest, richest, most chocolaty cake you've ever had. i promise i'm not kidding you. if you make one thing i've posted, EVER, this cake is it.

double chocolate layer cake adapted from gourmet, via smitten kitchen

for cake layers
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut(it's at the co-op!)
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

for frosting and filling
1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

special equipment: two 10- by 2-inch round cake pans

make cake layers:
preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.

finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. in another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.

divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

cool layers completely in pans on racks. run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. i made these 1 day ahead and kept them, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

make frosting:
finely chop chocolate. in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency).

spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. bring cake to room temperature before serving.

cost:
i'm going to assume you have eggs, sugar, flour, butter, salt, oil, vanilla and baking powder/soda. if not, the total cost of those ingredients in these amounts is probably less than $10.

chocolate: $9.32 at the co-op
coffee: $1.50
cocoa powder: $1.50
buttermilk: $.66
heavy cream: $2.49
corn syrup: $.17

total: $25.64
there were probably 12 slices to this cake for a total of $2.13 per slice. it was probably a little less actually because i buy all my staples in bulk.