Caramel Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting from Jubilee

 Ingredients for the cake:

3 C all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 C buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

2 sticks butter at room temp

2 C white sugar

4 eggs

Directions for the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 2 9 inch cake pans or 13 x 9 baking pan.

2. Combine dry ingredients. In small bowl combine buttermilk and vanilla.

3. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour alternating w/buttermilk, 3 additions each. 

4. Bake 30-35 min. 

Ingredients for frosting:

12 Tbsp butter at room temperature

1 C packed light brown sugar

1/2 C whole milk

3 C sifted powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 C half and half

Directions:

1. Melt butter, stir in brown sugar and milk. Boil for two minutes. 

2. Remove from heat and beat in powdered sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until cool and thick. Can add half and half only if needed if too thick. 

Lemony Turmeric Tea Cake

 From Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman

Ingredients

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ground turmeric

1 C plus 2 Tbsp sugar (separated)

2 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

3/4 C sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt, plus more for serving (optional)

2 large eggs

1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced, seed removed

Whipping cream for serving (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 9 x 4 loaf pain and line with parchment. 

2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and turmeric.

3. In large bowl combine 1 C sugar with lemon zest and rub together w/fingertips until combined. Whisk in sour cream, eggs and lemon juice.

4. Add wet mixture to flour mixture, stir just to blend. Fold in the melted butter. Scrape into prepared pan, smoothing the top. Scatter the top with the lemon slices and remaining 2 T of sugar.

5. Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown, the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, and a tested inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 min. Can put tin foil over top if lemons are burning. Cool before slicing.

Cake stores for 5 days wrapped tightly at room temp.

Caramel-Almond Torte with Spiced Mango Compote (for Passover)

Disclaimer: I haven't actually made this yet. Occasionally a recipe shows up on this blog before I've made it because someone sends it to me in hard copy or e-copy and I've nowhere else to store it and I feel compelled to keep it rather than throw it away. This is what my family ate for Passover dessert last year and my mother copied out the recipe on the back of some study materials and mailed it to me, and it looks delicious. Perhaps I'll make it for Passover this spring, if we get the chance to celebrate it (e.g. I am not on the night float.)

From Bon Appetit April 2002 by Jayne Cohen. 

Ingredients:

For the compote:

1 1/4 C. sugar

1 1/4 C. water

1 1/2 T. chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 T. orange zest

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

3 1-pound mangoes, peeled, pitted, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

For the torte:

2 1/4 C. slivered almonds (approx. 9 oz.), toasted, cooled

8 T. sugar

1 T. potato starch

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 large eggs, separated

1 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 C. pareve kosher-for-Passover margarine

1/4 C. packed golden brown sugar

Directions:

1. Make the compote: Combine the first six compote ingredients in a medium heavy saucepan. Bring the syrup to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil syrup five minutes then pour into a medium bowl and cool for 30 minutes. Stir in mangoes. Cover and chill at least two hours and up to four days.

2. Make the torte: Preheat the oven to 375F. Blend 1 3/4 C. almonds, 2 T. sugar, starch, and cinnamon in a processor until nuts are finely chopped, about 45 seconds. 

3. Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks, 2 T. sugar, and almond extract in a large bowl until very thick and pale in color, about three minutes. Fold almond mixture into yolk mixture.

4. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and salt in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 4 T. sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold large spoonful of whites into yolk mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whites.

5. Transfer batter to 9" springform pan. Bake torte until puffed and golden brown and tester inserted into smooth and thick, about three minutes. Mix in remaining 1/2 C. almonds. Spoon topping over torte. Cool one hour. (Can be made six hours ahead, let stand at room temperature).

6. Cut around pan sides to loosen torte; release pan sides. Place torte on platter and serve alongside compote. 

Swedish Sticky Chocolate Cake (Kladdkaka)

I saw this recipe on my friend R.G.'s Facebook page a while back and tagged it, feeling like R.G. ought to know what was good and what was not. She is down to earth, reliable, smart, and used to live in Sweden. The cake is somewhat opposite-- gooey and sweet, runny and soft, but so tempting... I made it for our Valentine's celebration this year and the Robber ate and ate of it. Definitely a treat for two.

I realized I didn't have cocoa powder so I subbed in Ghiradelli hot cocoa mix which was good but I think created a sweeter product. To tone down the sweetness I served it with some tart and creamy Greek yogurt just barely sweetened and with strawberries mixed in. I preferred to eat it that way, while the Robber ate his along with some swallows of whole milk. Either way, it was delicious.

Barely adapted from AllRecipes.Com.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/swedish-sticky-chocolate-cake-kladdkaka/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=kladdkaka&e8=Quick+Search&event10=1&e7=Home+Page

Ingredients:

1/2 C. all-purpose flour

1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 pinch salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 C. white sugar

1 T. vanilla extract

1/2 C. butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Heavily grease and flour an eight inch pie plate.

2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt, set aside. In separate bowl, combine eggs and sugar and beat until thick and smooth. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture (or vice versa) and mix until thoroughly combined (but avoid over beating). Add in the vanilla and melted butter and stir until homogeneous. Pour into the prepared pie plate.

3. Bake on the lower rack of a preheated oven (to avoid burning the top) until the center of the top had a set crust-- about 35 min. The remainder of the cake may still appear gooey at the edges. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for at least one hour before serving. Can serve either warm or cold.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

So all summer long I've basically just been stealing off Smitten Kitchen, and particularly earlier in the summer I got on a kick of making her raved about snacking cakes-- the rhubarb snacking cake, the blueberry boy bait, and most recently the dimply plum cake-- only to be an ungrateful beggar and go on to say how ho-hum I felt about them. Two more of her standards remained in my box of recipes to try, and I don't know that I would have tried this one except that we had a) raspberries and b) buttermilk and c) the need for an easy dessert for dinner with friends. Even with that alignment of stars, it was still with begrudgement that I made this cake. And then--- then! It was actually really good. All she said it would be. All worthy of starting the snack cake craze. So I guess I am reconciled to Smitten Kitchen and her snack cakes and after all, and who knows, I might go about trying the strawberry snacking cake before this summer is through after all. That is, if I can get away from this one. We still have raspberries and more buttermilk, and the Robber, with his big Robber eyes, has been asking for more.

Originally from Gourmet Magazine 2009, adapted by Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/05/raspberry-buttermilk-cake/

Ingredients:

1 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

2/3 C. plus 1 1/2 T. sugar, divided

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (or the rind of one smaller lemon)

1 large egg

1/2 C. well-shaken buttermilk

1 C. (about 6 oz.) fresh raspberries 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. 

3. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 C. sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

4. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. 

5. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter (see note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 T. sugar (I used cinnamon sugar.)

6. Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Note: All the raspberries are downward will be swallowed by the batter and sink to the bottom. The ones where the o is upward stay empty, like cups, and swim closer to the top. Both are delicious.

Dimply Plum Cake

Just when you thought we couldn't possibly have more plums-- we did. The plum ginger crumble didn't quite use up all my mom's plums, so we turned to this recipe to finish them out. (There is another plum cake recipe on this site worth trying out also, the crunchy topped whole wheat plum cake.) Weirdly enough, when I took my first bite I was ho-hum and then the Robber-- that same Robber who is always trying to convince me to make old things he likes not new things-- took his first bite and LOVED it. And then proceeded to eat most of it quickly and to say again and again how much he liked it. So ok. I guess we'll be making this again. The flavor of the cake is quite pleasing, but I found it a bit dry so how to work around that? Also, the plums need to be quite small (I put in some larger store plums too and they didn't work as well as my mother's small plums). I made mine in a 9" cake pan which worked quite well. Smitten Kitchen says you can use apricots or other stone fruits also and mix up the zest and the spices and whatever so maybe I will try making a pear or a cherry cake some time just for kicks. Also the Robber wants me to make it without any fruit at all. Hrrrmmm. We'll see.

Originally from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours, by way of Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/dimply-plum-cake/

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (the original calls for 1/4 tsp.)

5 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 C. (packed) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower

Grated zest of 1 orange (I used 1 tsp. dried valencia orange peel)

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

8 purple or red plums (or even Italian prune plums, when they are in season), halved and pitted

Directions:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan, dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess and put the pan on a baking sheet.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.

3. Working with a mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until it’s soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes, then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for a minute after each egg goes in. Still working on medium speed, beat in the oil, zest and vanilla; the batter will look smooth and creamy, almost satiny.

4. Removing the mixer, add the dry ingredients in thirds, mixing in by hand until they are incorporated.

5. Run a spatula around the bowl and under the batter, just to make sure there are no dry spots, then scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Arrange the plums cut side up in the batter–Dorie says she usually makes four rows of four plum halves each–jiggling the plums a tad just so they settle comfortably into the batter.

6. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is honey brown and puffed around the plums and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 15 minutes during which time the plums juices will seep back into the cake then run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold the cake. Invert and cool right side up.

7. Optional: Dust the top with powdered sugar. (It soaks into the plums, but keeps the cake a speckly white.)

Note: You can wrap the cake and keep it at room temperature for up to 2 days, during which time it will get softer and moister.

Blueberry Boy Bait

So once I had made Smitten Kitchen's rhubarb snacking cake, you knew it was only a matter of time before we had to try all of the "summer everyday cakes", right? I had left over blueberries from the lemon yogurt blueberry cake and so it was perfect timing to move on to the blueberry boy bait and I made it for my Robber boy. Predictably, he loved it and was super happy to eat all of it, and weirdly I didn't love it and felt it rather boring and burdensome calorically. This could be because it was a) super hot in the Cubby and I was very very sweaty and b) I had just re-weighed myself and found that I had gained two pounds since the last time I weighed myself perhaps over a month ago and c) I'm just harder to impress these days for whatever reason and d) the blueberries didn't pop out to me so I felt they were wasted. But all the reviewers on Smitten Kitchen loved loved this recipe as do their boys and my boy so maybe there is just something wrong with me? Sadly for the Robber, I may need a little time before I move on to the raspberry buttermilk cake and strawberry summer cakes.

Notes: Due to the few (and very far between) reviewers on Smitten Kitchen who felt the cake itself was bland and too sweet, I reduced the white sugar by 1/4 C. and added 1 tsp. vanilla, about a 1/2 tsp. lemon zest, and a few generous dashes of nutmeg to the batter which probably helped and certainly didn't hurt. I also tripled the cinnamon (it's one of my basic rules of cooking.) One reviewer added cardamom which sounds intriguing as a possibility but I wasn't that bold this time. The recipe below is as it is written on Smitten Kitchen, not as above.

Originally from a 1954 Pillsbury Bake-Off, adapted by Cook's Country, and most recently by way of Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/blueberry-boy-bait/

Ingredients:

For the cake: 

2 C. plus 1 tsp. all-purpose flour

1 T. baking powder

1 tsp. table salt

16 T. unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

3/4 C. packed light brown sugar

1/2 C. granulated sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 C. whole milk or buttermilk

1/2 C. blueberries, fresh or frozen

For the topping:

1/2 C. blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not defrost)

1/4 C. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

2. Whisk two cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. 

3. With electric mixer in a second large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about two minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down bowl. 

4. Reduce speed to medium and beat in one-third of flour mixture until incorporated; beat in half of milk. Beat in half of remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally remaining flour mixture. (I don't use the mixer for this step, but rather mix it by hand.)

5. Toss blueberries with remaining one teaspoon flour. Spread 1/2 batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Add 1/2 C. blueberries to remaining batter and gently stir in. Add remaining batter to pan and spread evenly. 

6. Scatter additional 1/2 C. blueberries over top of batter. Stir sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl and sprinkle over batter. 

7. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. 

8. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out and place on serving platter (topping side up). Serve warm or at room temperature. (Cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)

Rhubarb Snacking Cake

Another Smitten Kitchen recipe that I made for visiting teaching outside in the summer sun. I will admit to not knowing what a snacking cake is, but this cake was snacked on during the teaching session so I suppose it served its purpose. When I made this the bottom was a little overdone oddly enough, maybe I baked it for too long? The rhubarb is delightful, but I think I always like rhubarb when it is more of the main affair. Rhubarb pie or rhubarb crisp-- no cake to dilute the rhubarb-ness. There are other snack cakes by Smitten Kitchen and this was good enough for me to perhaps try out the others later this summer. Oh, and also I tripled the cinnamon and of course wanted even more. So it goes.

From Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2012/05/rhubarb-snacking-cake/

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 1/4 lbs. rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch lengths on the diagonal

1 1/3 C. granulated sugar, divided

1 T. lemon juice

1/2 C. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

2 large eggs

1 1/3 C. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. table salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/3 C. sour cream

For the crumb:

1 C. all-purpose flour

1/4 C. light brown sugar

1/8 tsp. table salt

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 T. unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter or a nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottom with parchment paper, extending the lengths up two sides. (It will look like a sling). 

2. Stir together rhubarb, lemon juice and 2/3 cup sugar and set aside. 

3. Beat butter, remaining sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at at time, scraping down the sides after each addition. 

4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon table salt and ground ginger together in a small bowl. Add one-third of this mixture to the batter, mixing until just combined. Continue, adding half the sour cream, the second third of the flour mixture, the remaining sour cream, and then the remaining flour mixture, mixing between each addition until just combined.

5. Dollop batter over prepared pan, then use a spatula — offset, if you have one, makes this easiest — to spread the cake into an even, thin layer. Pour the rhubarb mixture over the cake, spreading it into an even layer (most pieces should fit in a tight, single layer).

6. Stir together the crumb mixture, first whisking the flour, brown sugar, table salt and cinnamon together, then stirring in the melted butter with a spoon or fork (would make this before the cake.) Scatter evenly over rhubarb layer. 

7. Bake cake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. The cake is done when a tester comes out free of the wet cake batter below. It will be golden on top. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.

8. Cut the two exposed sides of the cake free of the pan, if needed, then use the parchment “sling” to remove the cake from the pan. Cut into 2-inch squares to serve. 

Note: Cake keeps at room temperature for a few days or in the fridge, covered tightly.

Toffee Mocha Cream Torte

What Sister F. made us for dessert. I liked the cake part of this and the Robber loved the whipped cream and the toffee part of this. It is unlikely that I will make this cake in all of its parts again but I liked the chocolate cake from scratch part enough to want to keep the recipe. I couldn't taste the coffee flavor at all, Sister F. says it just enhances the chocolate flavor, which maybe is true as this did taste quite chocolately in a satisfactory way.

This is from the Taste of Home Blue Ribbon Desserts.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 C. butter, softened

2 C. sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 2/3 C. all-purpose flour

3/4 C. baking cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 C. buttermilk

2 tsp. instant coffee granules

1 C. boiling water

For the topping:

1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules

1 tsp. hot water

2 C. heavy whipping cream

3 T. light brown sugar

6 1.4 oz. Heath candy bars, crushed

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl; add to cream mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Dissolve coffee in water and stir into batter.

3. Pour into three greased and floured 9-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350F for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

4. For topping, dissolve coffee in water in a large bowl, cool. Add cream and brown sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Place bottom layer cake on a serving platter, top with 1 1/3 C. of topping. Sprinkle with 1/2 C. of crushed candy bars. Repeat twice. Store in the refrigerator.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

This is the frosting that the Robber used for my carrot cake birthday cake. After making the recipe we both thought it wasn't maple-y enough, so the Robber added in perhaps another 1/4 C. of maple syrup but then the frosting was too runny. What to do? Use maple extract instead of syrup? So there is that speed bump to consider but the maple in the cream cheese with the cake was actually very good and worth trying to find a way to make it work. Tried to find help with that on the reviewers comments on Epicurious, but no luck.

The link also sends you to a carrot cake recipe that the Epicurious people just love, love, love so if our other carrot cake recipe ever disappoints we may try turning to that one. The reviewers are also a fan of some cream cheese lemon zest frosting recipe on Epicurious, so if you think maple sounds gross try looking for that one. I'll only be posting the recipe for the maple frosting here, however, not the cake or the lemon frosting.

From Epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carrot-Cake-with-Maple-Cream-Cheese-Icing-102155

Ingredients:

10 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

5 T. unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/2 C. powdered sugar

1/4 C. maple syrup (Robber used 1/2 C.)

Directions:

1. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed until well blended.

2. Beat in maple syrup. Chill until just firm enough to spread, 30 minutes.

3. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 3/4 cup icing. Top with second layer. Spread remaining icing over entire cake. Arrange walnut or pecan halves around top edge. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.)

Birthday Carrot Cake Ala The Robber

The Robber made me this delicious carrot cake for my birthday with maple cream cheese frosting. He tried to find a recipe that was lighter so the whole affair wouldn't seem quite as heavy as carrot cake usually is. I'm not a carrot cake expert, so I'm not sure how it stacks up to other cakes but it was very, very good. I am certain the Robber loved it even more than I did. I think he is hoping I will make it for him for Easter. "Carrots are what the Easter bunny eats, right?" So this will be making a comeback in our house.

From the Food Network, adapted by the Robber:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/carrot-cake-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

12 oz. grated carrots, medium grate, approx. 6 medium carrots

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cloves

1 T. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/3 C. granulated sugar

1/4 C. dark brown sugar

3 large eggs

6 oz. plain yogurt

6 oz. vegetable oil

Optional: 1/2 C. raisins (plumped by soaking for 1/2 hr in warm water)

Optional: 1 C. chopped, toasted pecans (can also add to surface of cake)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round and 3-inch deep cake pan (Or two 9" pans for two layers). Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl and add in grated carrots. Toss until the carrots are well-coated with the flour.

3. In separate bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt. Drizzle in the vegetable oil and combine. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined.

4. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake reaches 205 to 210 degrees F in the center.

5. Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow cake to cool completely. Frost after the cake has cooled completely.

Caramel-Apple Pecan Cake

My approach to Thanksgiving this year is instead of trying to make everything in two days, why not just spread the recipes out and have Thanksgiving all fall long? This recipe is one I found a year ago from the NYTimes, and re-browsing my files it sounded like something the Robber would love. The cake part itself is delicious-- and of course the pecans and the apples are a great idea to go with it. Unfortunately, the caramel was too--- just not right. It is not very sweet and detracted from the other strong elements of the cake. Next time I make it (as I probably will as the rest was so good!) I will either make it without the caramel part, maybe pre-cook the apples a little bit (saute them or something), or use a milk-product based caramel that has more flavor. Of course none of this stopped the Robber from downing 3/4 of the cake in 16 hours. He's good for getting rid of calories that way. :)

From the NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/dining/183drex.html?ref=dining

Ingredients:

1/4 C. pecan halves

2 large tart apples, like Fuji, peeled, cored and sliced

For the cake:

1/2 C. flour

3/4 C. sugar

1/2 C. pecan halves, finely ground

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 stick (4 oz.) soft unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the caramel:

1 C. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Use a little butter to grease a 10-inch glass pie plate. Arrange 1/4 cup pecan halves in a pattern in pie plate. Arrange apple slices over and around pecans, in a single layer in a pattern. Scatter any extra slices randomly on top.

2. Heat oven to 350F. In a food processor, finely grind remaining pecan halves. Mix with flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

3. Whisk 1 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a skillet and mix with 1/3 cup water. Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until mixture turns amber. Swirl pan from time to time if necessary. Immediately pour caramel over apples in pie pan.

4. With a mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla extract. Fold in flour mixture. Spread batter over apples. Bake 30 minutes, until nicely browned. Cool.

5. Run a knife around edges and invert cake onto a serving dish, one that is heatproof if you want to warm cake before serving. Serve with butter pecan ice cream.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Rhubarb "Big Crumb" Coffee Cake

This recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen by way of Eggs On Sunday to this little bloggo here. Our neighbors the Reams have a beautiful rhubarb plant still growing away and have been urging us to partake of it and this morning we made a pre-Conference trek out to their place with a little chopping knife and devoured part of their rhubarb plant. The Robber thinks this is not so much coffee cake as just cobbler-ness, but regardless he ate over half the pan in one go so that tells you what he really thought of it. More work than a regular coffee cake, but definitely delicious. Ultimately, however, if the amount of rhubarb you have is limited, this is not a good way to use it because the rhubarb gets lost in the cake and the flavor isn't emphasized as much as it is in rhubarb pie or just rhubarb puree, which we have also been making lots of and eating on Greek yogurt. The cake would probably be just as delicious without the fruit or with pears/plums/other fruit as substitution for the rhubarb.

I found the recipe here:

http://eggsonsunday.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/rhubarb-big-crumb-coffee-cake/

Ingredients:

For the rhubarb filling:

1/2 lbs. rhubarb, trimmed

1/4 C. sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

For the crumbs:

1/3 C. dark brown sugar

1/3 C. granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, melted

1 3/4 C. cake flour (I’ve used all-purpose as well and it works fine, but do use cake flour if you have it)

For the cake:

1/3 C. sour cream

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 C. cake flour (see note above about AP flour substitution)

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

6 T. softened butter, cut into 8 pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8×8 inch baking pan.

2. Slice the rhubarb into 1/2-inch pieces, toss with the sugar, cornstarch and ginger, and set aside.

3. Make the crumbs: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, spices and salt. Add the melted butter and whisk until smooth. Dump in the flour and stir it into the sugar/butter mixture until fully incorporated. It will look and feel like a solid dough. Set aside.

4. Make the cake: In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the pieces of butter along with a spoonful of the sour cream mixture, and mix on medium speed until the flour is moistened and the butter is broken into bits. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds, then add remaining sour cream mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and set aside 1/2 cup batter.

5. Scrape the remaining batter into the pan, spoon the rhubarb over the batter, and dollop the reserved 1/2 cup batter over the rhubarb (don’t worry if it’s not even).

6. Break the topping mixture into big crumbs with your fingers. The recommended crumb size is 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Sprinkle the crumbs over the cake, and bake cake until a tester comes out clean (it might be moist from the rhubarb), 45-55 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Coffee Cake

Breaking from my PBL-pie tradition, I got up a little early this morning to make a fresh coffee cake for my 8 am PBL group. What a hit! This recipe is a Matheson family classic that originates from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook circa the 1970s. We girls used to get up early Saturday mornings and fight over who could make it for breakfast. I'm sure our parents loooooved that.

Ingredients:

Cake
1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1 C. white granulated sugar (can be reduced for a less sweet cake-- I prefer using 3/4 cup)
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 C. yellow shortening
1 egg
3/4 C. milk

Topping
1/3 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon (I like to add in additional spices: ginger, nutmeg, cloves)
3 tsp. butter

Directions:

1. Grease a 9 x 9 x 2 baking pan. Pre-heat the oven to 375F.

2. Mix the topping first by combining the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon into a small mixing bowl. Cut in the butter using forks or a cutter until you have a uniform mixture. Note: if you use cold butter, you will get a crumbly topping that you can spread evenly on the cake and that will remain on the top of the cake while it is baked. If you use warm butter, you will get a thicker mixture that you have to spread out in clumps on the cake batter-- these clumps will fall into the cake during baking and produce a buttery/sugary strudel on the middle/bottom of the cake.

3. For the cake, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in the shortening and cut in with forks or a cutter until uniformly mixed into flour. In separate bowl, combine eggs and milk and mildly beat the eggs. Pour egg/milk into the flour mixture while stirring and stir until completely combined. Note: Do NOT overbeat. Stir JUST until flour and egg/milk are uniformly mixed.

4. Pour cake batter into greased pan. Distribute topping over the top of the cake.

5. Bake for 25-30 min. at 375F or until top is light golden brown and straw comes out clean.

NOTE: I usually make this recipe doubled and use a 13 x 9 x 2 glass baking pan. Baking time is a little longer, maybe 35 minutes.

Serve with fresh peaches and milk. :) Or just eat plain.