Gooey Butter Cookies

I've finally been getting around to my "Recipes to Make" Pinterest board. These Gooey Butter Cookies always caught my eye while visiting my Pinterest boards. Their bright and cheerful yellow color piqued my interest.

Guess what! You just have to use a yellow cake mix to get the yellow color.

This recipe is very simple to put together and is a huge crowd pleaser. These look a little like biscuits but taste like a cake with a slightly firm exterior. What's not to love about a dessert with the labels "cookie, cake, butter"?! Every one at the party I went to (a Festivus Party...yes, FESTIVUS) loved them. (As did I seeing I ate so many of them!)

Gooey Butter Cookies

recipe found by clicking here: How to Nest for Less

Bake well and prosper!

Crepe Cake with Almond Whip Cream and Cherries

Due to a busy and crazy rehearsal schedule this week, I have 10 minutes to write this post. Let's go!

I wanted to make a dessert for the July 4th cast party. I also wanted to try my hand at another crepe cake since the first one was so delicious.

I decided to take part of the amazing black forest trifle recipe and make it into the filling for this crepe cake.

It was a HUGE hit at cast party. The mixture of almond whip cream and cherries amidst buttery crepes was scrumptious!

And as I said in my last crepe cake post, I wanted to make a smaller version. So I did that, too.

Isn't it cute?! Ok, I'm off to sing!

Crepe Cake with Almond Whip Cream and Cherries
Ingredients for crepes:

6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter

3 cups (710 ml) whole milk

6 large eggs

1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (75 grams) sugar

Pinch of salt

 

Ingredients for filling:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup cherries (cut and without pits)

 

To make the crepes:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Continue to cook, while stirring occasionally, until browned. Set aside and let cool slightly. Meanwhile, heat the milk in another saucepan until steaming and small bubbles appear at the edges. Set aside and let cool slightly. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or with a hand-held mixer, mix the eggs, flour, sugar, and salt until combined. While mixing on low speed, add the butter and milk slowly until incorporated. Heat a 9-inch skillet over medium heat and grease with a small amount of butter. Add approximately 1/3 cup of batter to the skillet and swirl to coat the pan evenly. Cook for a few minutes until edges begin to brown. Flip and cook for an additional minute. (Erika's Extras: I found it easiest to shake the pan a little and then flip in air, but feel free to use a spatula to turn it.) Repeat until the batter is gone, stacking crepes and letting them cool to room temperature.

 

To make the filling:

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and almond extract with an electric mixer. Beat until smooth. Add in heavy cream, incorporating a little at a time to prevent splattering. When all the cream has been added, turn the mixer to high, and beat until soft peaks form.

 

To make the cake:

Spread whip cream in between each crepe. In between every other layer of crepes, add cut cherries. Sprinkle powdered sugar and some whole cherries on top of the stack when complete.

Bake well and prosper!

Matcha Tea Cakes

No. You aren't seeing things. That IS green. It comes from matcha powder which is finely ground green tea. (So it's full of antioxidants and caffeine!)

I've recently been enjoying drinking matcha in Organic Avenue's Matcha Chia Glo. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I went to a paint your own pottery place and painted this:

Yes. Thank you. I'm very proud with how it turned out. To me it seemed to beg for some type of green dessert and I automatically thought about green tea.

I decided to top this cake in two different ways. First I made a light matcha frosting.

It wasn't green enough for me so I decided to sprinkle the powder on top of the cakes.

Definitely green enough! Almost Wicked Witch of the West green. :)

 

I brought these into work to share with coworkers. When I saw we had some sliced almonds in the office, I added some "flare" to the glazed cake and quickly snapped a photo with my iPhone.

Both versions are great but I think I enjoy the frosted version a tiny bit better because it's sweeter. Either way, the mixture of almond milk with matcha makes for a yummy afternoon treat. So, what do you think? Would you consider baking with this green powder?

Matcha Tea Cakes (adapted from my Mom's Best Recipes Book)

Ingredients for Sponge Cake:

2 eggs

1 C sugar

1/2 C almond milk

1 T butter

1 C flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

2 teaspoons matcha powder

Ingredients for Frosting (if you decide to frost the cakes):

almond milk (at least 4 ounces)

powdered sugar (at least 2 cups)

matcha powder (at least 4 Tablespoons)

 

Or just dust matcha powder on top of cakes.

Cake:

In a small saucepan, scald almond milk, turn off heat and add butter. In a mixer, beat eggs until light, add sugar and beat well. Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the matcha powder. Stir in almond milk mixture. Bake in greased pan (8x8 inches) for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool well. Cut in narrow bars.

Frosting:

Frost sides and bottom with frosting made by mixing a little bit of powdered sugar and a little bit of thin almond milk at a time.  Add slivered almonds (or even roll in slivered almonds) if desired and enjoy.

Bake well and prosper!

Dark Chocolate Ganache Crepe Cake

This cake was so yummy that I really don't have much else to say about it.

Ok. Ok. I'm kidding. I can say tons about it! First, it was quite a process to put together. I ended up having tons of help making it though since I was visiting family at the time. 

This was my assembly line. Quite a mess (so it came out a success!)

 

The robust dark chocolate was slightly mellowed when added to heavy whipping cream. That ganache nicely complemented the eggy crepes. Altogether, there wasn't one complaint about this cake from the many taste-testers.

 

I can't wait to make it again. (I might do a mini-version in the future.)

 

PS Check out my tips on how to make it in less time.

Chocolate Ganache Crepe Cake (found on Completely Delicious)

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter

3 cups (710 ml) whole milk

6 large eggs

1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (75 grams) sugar

Pinch of salt

 

For the whipped ganache:

10 ounces (285 grams) dark chocolate, broken into pieces

2 cups (475 ml) heavy cream

 

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Break the dark chocolate in a medium bowl. Pour the heated heavy cream over the chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until smooth and chill in fridge until ready to use.

 

2.Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Continue to cook, while stirring occasionally, until browned. Set aside and let cool slightly.

 

3. Meanwhile, heat the milk in another saucepan until steaming and small bubbles appear at the edges. Set aside and let cool slightly.

 

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or with a hand-held mixer, mix the eggs, flour, sugar, and salt until combined. While mixing on low speed, add the butter and milk slowly until incorporated.

 

5. Heat a 9-inch skillet over medium heat and grease with a small amount of butter. Add approximately 1/3 cup of batter to the skillet and swirl to coat the pan evenly. Cook for a few minutes until edges begin to brown. Flip and cook for an additional minute. (Erika's Extras: I found it easiest to shake the pan a little and then flip in air, but feel free to use a spatula to turn it.) Repeat until the batter is gone, stacking crepes and letting them cool to room temperature.

 

6. Take ganache out of fridge and whip until there are some peaks.

 

7. To make the cake, layer the crepes with a thin coating of chocolate ganache. Garnish cake with powdered sugar or cocoa, if desired, and let chill for a little bit before serving.

Bake well and prosper!

Pear Date and Coconut Cake

La di da di...oh, wait. Hey! I have a blog!

 

I've left my baby blog alone for over a month now. Time flies! I don't really have any reasons for not baking/posting. I was in Austin for a little bit in February, but besides that, I just haven't felt like baking. I'm going to blame the winter.

 

However, this past Sat I baked TWICE.

I usually always have dates on hand. Is that a weird food item to always have on hand? Well, I do. They are such an important part of eating a raw foods diet. Why important? Well, they help make desserts, which is important! 

 

I saw this recipe awhile ago and couldn't wait to try it. The cake turned out to be nice and moist. It's not overly sugary and I find it went well with chai tea. Next time I'll make sure to save time for the powdered sugar design on top. This is what one gets when making up something within a couple of minutes:

It's not awful, but I know I can do better!

 

Pear Date and Coconut Cake recipe found here: Hummingbird High

Bake well and prosper!

Gluten-free Pistachio Cake with Blackberry Sauce

I had pistachios left over from these amazing dessert bars. There also happened to be a recent sale on blackberries at the local organic deli. So, while at the deli, I looked up desserts that used both pistachios and blackberries and found this winner. I quickly bought the ingredients I was missing and promptly went home to start baking.

 

Aren't those the best kind of days?

 

Processing the pistachios to make the "flour" was fun and I always find separating eggs rather calming. (Which is slightly weird, I know.) While the process to make this batter is a little time consuming, I enjoyed it a lot.

 

The cake was pretty with a slight hint of green when it came out of the oven.

Adding the blackberry sauce made this cake even prettier!

Don't you agree?

This cake ended up being gluten free since the pistachios acted as the flour. With the mixture of powdered and white sugar this cake ended up being very light, almost like an angel food cake or like a cake version of a macron. If you are like me and happen to have some pistachios on hand, this recipe is a good use for them.

Pistachio Cake with Blackberry Sauce (adapted from SugarHero which adapted it from Simply Recipes)

For the Pistachio Cake:
1 1/2 cups shelled pistachios, either roasted or raw
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs at room temperature, separated into yolks and whites
zest from one orange
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided use
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

For the Blackberry Sauce:12 oz fresh blackberries
3 tbsp granulated sugar (or more, to taste)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp corn starch

To Make the Pistachio Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Place the shelled pistachios in the bowl of a food processor and process for about 10 seconds, until they’re in small pieces. Add the powdered sugar and continue to process in 10-second intervals until the pistachios are a fine powder. Stop and scrape the corners of the bowl occasionally if you see pistachios are starting to build up there. The goal is to get the nuts as finely ground as possible. Don’t over-process them or you’ll risk them becoming greasy and turning into pistachio butter.
Once the nuts are finely ground, transfer them to a small bowl, add the baking powder, and whisk everything together.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks, orange zest, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and whisk well. Add the pistachio mixture and stir with a rubber spatula. The mixture will be very thick and sticky.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a large stand mixer, and whip them on medium speed with the whisk attachment until they become foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to whip the egg whites, gradually increasing the speed until you reach medium-high. When soft peaks form, start adding the remaining 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s all incorporated. Whip until the egg whites form firm peaks but are not crumbly—they should be glossy and have body, like shaving cream.

Add a quarter of the egg whites to the pistachio mixture which will be a sticky and stiff process at first. Once it’s incorporated, your batter should be looser, so add another quarter and fold it in gently, then add the remaining egg whites in two batches, folding gently so as not to deflate the whites.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, until it is puffed, golden, and the sides are pulling away from the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack, then release it from the springform pan to serve.

To Make the Blackberry Sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together the blackberries and the sugar. As the berries heat up, they will soften and release their juices. Cook the berries, stirring occasionally until they start to lose their shape. You don’t want them completely liquefied, but they should break down a little bit and be very, very juicy.

Meanwhile, whisk together the orange juice and corn starch in a small bowl until the starch dissolves. Once the berries have broken down, whisk the starch mixture into the berries and cook it for a few minutes until it starts to thicken. (It won’t be a drastic change.) Remove the pan from the heat and cool the sauce until it is room temperature. As the sauce cools, it will continue to get thicker. Store extra blackberry sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Bake well and prosper!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Wow! This is only my 3rd pumpkin dessert post on my blog. That's less than one a year! It's not that I'm anti-pumpkin. That would be silly! It's just one of those seasonal foods that I forget to use! Like blackberries! (Mental note to self: use blackberries!)

 

Do you ever find yourself at the end of a fruit or veggie season and think, "Oh, whoops! I'll remember to use that ingredient NEXT year...yeah..."? If not then you are a super multi-user of produce (or you have a garden.)

 

Well, I was glad to make a pumpkin dessert just in time for fall. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pumpkin pie spice at Whole Foods and was about to go home and mix my own spices when I found their winter spice blend. One whiff of this blend and I was in love. I quickly added it to my items to buy and then brought it triumphantly home and made my room mate smell it. He agreed...it smells like the holidays! It was the perfect blend of spices to add to this pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake.

I must admit that I found this recipe to be quite dense. The amount of ingredients it calls for kept surprising me. THREE cups of flour and TWO cups of sugar?! But seeing I haven't baked with pumpkin in a while, I figured this was the norm.

 

The bundt cake was nice and soft. It doesn't pack a mighty pumpkin flavor so the chocolate chips and spice were a nice pairing to make it more enjoyable. My addition to this recipe is the drizzling of icing on top. It looked rather bare without it.

And WITH the icing it makes the bundt cake look irresistible, don't you think?

 

So, besides baking with pumpkin last week, I also got this cute new boot.

I guess I was running too quickly because I tore my plantar fascia sprinting down 5th Ave at a 5:50 per mile pace. So for now, instead of "the messy chef" you can call me the "hop-a-long chef."

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake (adapted from Barbara Bakes)

Ingredients for cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or use a winter spice blend or make up your own spice blend)

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter, soften

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 can (16 ounce) pumpkin (Erika's Extras: It's worth it to buy the better brand so as to get a better pumpkin flavor)

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (Erika's Extras: I used semi-sweet. I suggest that or dark chocolate.)

Ingredients for glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a full size bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, stir the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Add the pumpkin and mix until combine. Add the dry ingredients mixing just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes or until a long thin toothpick or thin knife comes out clean.

Cool in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack. After 5 minutes invert onto wire rack. Let cool completely before adding the icing.

 

To make the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a medium to small bowl. Stir in a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. Add more cream to get the thickness of glaze that you desire. 

Bake well and prosper!

"Almazing" Almond Bars and Dîner en Blanc NYC 2013

Have you heard of Dîner en Blanc? Well, if you haven't, prepared to be amazed. Dîner en Blanc is an all white picnic party started 25 years ago in Paris which now has parties all over the world. The event is very popular and has a long waiting list just to get an invite. For NYC, lucky people who get on the invitation list deck themselves out in white, bring white chairs, white tables, a basket of food, and then meet at different locations around the city at a certain time.  

No one knows where the event's location will be until a couple of minutes before the event. So it's like a surprise flash mob, even for the mob! 

 

And guess what. I was lucky enough to get and invite and PERFORM at the event!

I received the invite to perform because the creator of this event was at the wedding I sang at in France two and a half weeks ago. He loved my Ave Maria so much that he let his son, the current head of the dîners, know that I lived in NYC. And, well, the rest is magical history.

(Click here for a short, iPhone video of part of Ave Maria so you can get an idea of the fantastical setting I was fortunate enough to sing amidst.)

I also sang an aria from Carmen and threw some white roses at the end of the aria. :)

Now, let's talk about my table. My guest was the bride from the wedding in France. Without her, I wouldn't have been at this dîner. We had to lug our table and chairs just like everyone else and then we set out our salads and sushi (and wine...of course!)

I told my friend that I would supply dessert. I wanted something somewhat white and had the good idea to modify this recipe into an almond bar. I switched the milk with almond milk and switched the peanuts with sliced almonds. I loved these so much that I, being the goober I am, called them "almazing!"

They were the perfect dessert to pair with this amazing evening! All I needed to do after singing was sit back, relax, enjoy the pary, and eat dessert.

"Almazing" Almond Bars (adapted from my Mom's Best Recipes Book)

Ingredients for Sponge Cake:

2 eggs

1 C sugar

1/2 C almond milk

1 T butter

1 t vanilla

1 C flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

Ingredients for Frosting:

half and half (or almond milk)

powdered sugar (at least 2 cups)

1/2 cup of almond milk

Cake:

In a small saucepan, scald almond milk, turn off heat and add butter. In a mixer, beat eggs until light, add sugar and beat well. Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in vanilla and milk mixture. Bake in greased pan (about 7 1/2 by 10 inches) for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool well. Cut in narrow bars.

Frosting:

Frost sides and bottom with frosting made by mixing a little bit of powdered sugar and a little bit of thin cream at a time. (Use half & half or almond milk. Half and half won't be as sticky as the almond milk. Both work well). Roll in slivered almonds and enjoy. 

Bake well and prosper!
(And here are a couple of more photos from the event.)