One last valiant effort...

I really must say that I am not a huge fan of sweet potato, or cooked orange veggies in general.  I don't care for the sweetness, nor do I really care for the texture.  The little fibers that run back and forth across the flesh of a sweet potato I find to be revolting as my teeth cut through them individually.  We never had sweet potatoes growing up, so I am going to assume that my parents don't care for them either.

Now, as the vegetable has received so much glory in recent years, believe me- I have tried to stomach them.  I have tried them roasted with exorbitant amounts of butter, cinnamon, and sugar.  I have tried them deep-fried with gallons of ketchup.  I have even pureed them with heavy cream to see if maybe, just maybe there is one circumstance when I could swallow them without grimace.  

In one final, valiant effort, I pureed a large roasted sweet potato and subbed it in for pumpkin in my Pumpkin Spice Cake.  One bite of this tender cake and... sold.  Top it with Brown Sugar Toasted Marshmallow Frosting, and call it "pretty darn palatable."  

Oh, and did I mention it was a purple sweet potato?

Purple Sweet Potato Puree

Yes, God's makes purple sweet potatoes, and above is the actual sweet potato puree mixed with some buttermilk.  Wow.  And here it is in cupcake form...

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes

The cake was a bit more purple when I baked it, but it oxidized overnight (which was awfully disappointing).  Regardless, I think it is still pretty pleasant on the eyes...

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes

With Candied Pecans

And for a finishing touch, I candied a handful of pecans.  Good decision, I think...

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Toasted Brown Sugar Marshmallow Frosting

I found my purple sweet potato at the Fresh Market, which is an upscale although not necessarily natural grocery store.  I am sure regular orange sweet potatoes will be just fine!

Purple Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Toasted Brown Sugar Marshmallow Frosting and Candied Pecans

(should make @16)

For the cake:

1 purple sweet potato, roasted (enough to make 1 cup of puree)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 t vanilla extract

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 cups ap flour

1/4 cup corn starch 

1 t soda

1/2 t kosher salt

1/4 t baking powder

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t ground nutmeg or cloves

Puree 1 cup of the sweet potato with the buttermilk and vanilla.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Put liners in muffin tins.

Cream the brown sugar with the butter until fluffy, scraping the bowl down on occasion.  

Add the eggs one at a time, beating completely into the batter.  

In a separate bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the puree. BEGIN AND END WITH THE DRY!  Really scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl between additions.  You don't want beige streaks in your cupcakes.

When the ingredients are fully incorporated, fill the muffin cups all the way to the top.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, and put individual cakes on a cooling rack immediately.  

For the Frosting...

6 egg whites

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4+1/8 t cream of tartar

2 t vanilla paste or extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a double-boiler), mix the sugar with the egg whites.  Place the bowl over a simmering pot of water, and stir constantly until a candy thermometer reads 160 degrees.  Pull from the heat, and beat on high.  Sprinkle in the cream of tartar, and beat for 6-7 minutes.  The frosting should be ultra-stiff at this point.  Add the vanilla, and blend to incorporate.  

Pile the frosting on the cooled cupcakes, and singe the exterior with a kitchen torch.  

Top with...

Candied Pecans!

1/2-1/4 of an egg white

@1/4 cup brown sugar

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of whatever other spices you want to throw in there...

pinch of kosher salt

1/2 cup pecan halves

Combine the egg white, sugar, salt, and spices in a small bowl to make a viscous syrup.  Toss in the pecans and stir to coat.  Pour onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and spread out until even.  Put in a oven preheated to 275, and bake for 15 minutes.  When they cooled, I broke them apart and placed a few on each cupcake.  And a few in my mouth.  

Yum.  Enjoy!

Carrot Cake for breakfast, S'mores Cake for dessert?

Carrot cake yogurt.  Do you know it exists?  I do, because I saw some yesterday and decided it was good enough for breakfast.  I just finished some, and do you know what it tastes like?

Carrot cake!

How can yogurt taste like carrot cake?  What is the tell-tale flavor of carrot cake, that when the folks over at Publix dropped it into a tub of yogurt these food scientists looked at each other and decided a big, nerdy high-five was in order?

Down low.

Too slow.

Carrot cake.  Snort snort.

Well done, food geeks, and I suppose this would be the time to transition to a beautiful recipe for carrot cake (but I have never been much for transitions).  Instead, as promised in a previous post, I have pictures of my S'mores Cake.

S'mores Cake

Ooey Gooey S'moes Cake

One might remember this cake from a post I did just after Christmas.  I remember talking with my dad about baking a graham cracker crust into cake.  Would it work, I wondered?  Then I went gawking, and I discovered that I was not the first person to wonder. And what's more, S'mores Cakes and cupcakes have been seriously over-played.

Seriously.

So I am sure if you are a food blog follower, the last thing you want to see is yet another version of the S'mores Cake.  If you are not, and you think that buttery graham baked into a rich chocolate cake, topped with light and creamy mallow frosting sounds supremely decadent and amazing, then read on.

S'mores Cake with piped rosettes

For whatever reason, I did not post a recipe for this cake on the last go-around.  It really is as simple as making a graham cracker crust, pressing it into the bottom of a cake pan, and then pouring cake batter over it and baking as per usual.  But since I recognize that what is simple for a girl who bakes 5 cakes a week is not so simple for someone who doesn't.  So here we go.  A recipe.

S'mores Cake
1 recipe graham cracker crust*
1 recipe chocolate cake**
1 recipe Swiss Meringue Frosting***

Pre-heat an oven to 350.  Divide the graham mixture into two equal parts, and press into two prepared 8" pans (buttered and floured).  Pour the batter over the pressed crust, until about 2/3-3/4 full.  Yes, you will have leftover batter.  Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.  Be careful not to open the oven door before the 30-minute mark, as this cake tends to sink.  Check with a skewer for doneness.  Remove, and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes in the pan.  Run a paring or steak knife around the side of the cake to release it from the pan. The graham will want to crumble a bit, but no worries.  It will crisp up.

When completely cool, frost with Swiss Meringue frosting, and of course, torch with a small butane torch until a nice, spotty golden brown.  Top with melted chocolate and graham cracker crumbs.

*Graham Cracker Crust
11/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of butter, salted
1/4 cup of sugar

Mix the items together until combined.  Use as needed.

**Beatty's Chocolate Cake
1 3/4 cups ap flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
1 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 t kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 t vanilla extract

1 cup hot coffee

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and mix well.  Being sure all of your wet ingredients (except the coffee) are at or near room temperature, combine in a large measuring cup (or any vessel that is easy to pour from).  Slowly pour the mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing all the while.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then slowly and carefully pour in the coffee.  Again, with a spatula, scrape down the sides and especially bottom of the bowl, and stir until somewhat uniform in texture (you might see a few bumps, but that's fine).  This batter is very thin.  Follow directions above to complete this cake.

***Swiss Meringue Frosting (aka Marshmallow Frosting)
6 egg whites
1.5 cups of sugar
scant 1/2 t cream of tartar
2 t vanilla extract

Combine the egg whites and sugar into a large, heatproof bowl.  Place the bowl over a simmering pot of water, and using a candy thermometer, heat until the mixture is at 160 degrees, whisking all the while.

Remove from heat, and whip on high while adding the cream of tartar.  Whip until you have glossy, stiff peaks.  Add the vanilla extract, and beat for a moment more, until incorporated.

So, there you have it.  S'mores Cake.  Perhaps you will have the kitchen patience to make it (and the husband to clean up your mess).  Otherwise you can give me a call, and I will make one for you.

Or perhaps there is a tub of S'mores yogurt out there with your name on it.

You decide.

Happy Monday.

Rachel Bee

Get into the van...

As you all may have gathered, I am a busy girl.  I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, stylist, knitter, baker, and song writer.  I like to picture myself as a mother of 9, driving all of my kids around in a gigantic blue van.  Each of my children gets her time in the front seat.  We chit-chat; labouring over dreams, successes, and failures.  Our heart-to-heart lasts until either one of my other babies clamours for attention, or I am simply annoyed, fed up, or even disappointed with our time.

Usually, life in the van is without major incident, but last week we picked up a pesky little hitch-hiker, by name: "The Cold."  He was malodorous, obnoxious, and selfish; not willing to share the front seat with anyone.  Sometime yesterday we pried him from the vehicle, and now I have 9 neglected and malnourished babies to care for.

Yikes.

So lets begin with a strawberry cake recipe, shall we?

Strawberry Cupcakes

Strawberry Cake

2 cups white sugar
1 package strawberry gelatin
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs (room temperature)
2 3/4 cake flour
2.5 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 c whole buttermilk
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberry puree

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare your pans.

Cream together sugar, gelatin, and butter for 5-7 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.  Stir in vanilla.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  In another, mix together buttermilk and puree.  Add the dry and wet ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating between the two; beginning and ending with the flour.  Scrape the bowl between additions.

Divide between pans and toss into the oven, baking...

25 (or so) minutes for 2 8" rounds
15 (or so) for cupcakes

I say "or so" because I do not trust my oven sometimes, so I always start checking for doneness about 5 minutes beforehand.  These cakes look very moist, almost undone when they are finished.  Make sure you check with a tooth pick.

For the frosting I used the recipe found here for Marshmallow Frosting, but I added some pink food color.  You could also do a Cream Cheese Frosting (without the lime zest), or a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but please, do not be fancy and try to add  too much strawberry puree to butter-based frosting.  It will separate and end up in the trash.

And you will cry.

Couldn't you just leave well enough alone?  It was pink!  It was sweet!  It had little strawberry seeds in it, making it adorable!

But you just had to add another tablespoon, didn't you?

Oh.  Sorry.  I digress.

So, enjoy this Strawberry Cake.  It tastes like spring.  It is pink.  It is delicious.

And maybe a skein or two of yarn can make it into the front seat of the van this evening.

Have a beautiful Monday.

Rachel Bee

Still digesting...

Christmas was over a week ago, and I feel as if I am still digesting it's glorious meal.  Here is a little taste of what we had...

That's right, a big, delicious $67.00 hunk of red meat, roasted to rare perfection.  However, today's post is not about the prime rib that is still lodged in my arteries, it is about Christmas's decadent dessert!

This...

This was my attempt at a s'mores cake.  That's right, two layers of chocolate cake, with a graham cracker crust baked right into the bottom of the cake.  It worked!  Despite my worries, the crust came out with the cake layers in one piece.  I frosted it in gooey marshmallow icing, and then my husband showed me how to fire up the butane and torch that baby!

Yes.  Those are my manly hands.

Chocolate drizzle, plus a layer of melted chocolate between the layers made for an amazing mouth-feel.

Every bite contained cold, soft sweetness, rich chocolate cake, salty crunch from the graham cracker, and luscious dark chocolate.  It was heaven.  Absolute heaven.

Oh, I forgot to say, take extra care in cutting this cake.  The frosting is pretty gushy, and the crust in the middle makes for an interesting challenge with the knife.  We did OK.

Well, there you have it, folks.  I promise a tutorial in the very near future.  Really, I do.  And a recipe for the frosting.  The cake is the same I featured on the "i heart pot luck dinners" entry.

Hope you had a beautiful Christmas, and are experiencing wonderful New Year.  Oh, and why not?  One last picture of this gorgeous cake...

Wow.  Make one.

Rachel Bee