The easiest cake of all time - strawberry buttermilk cake

I don't have a lot of baked goods in my repertoire and I'm trying to fix that. I'm a little scared of baking since it's a bit more precise and if you screw it up you have to start over. Cakes are really the scariest because if you're serving it to others you can't try it first! I asked Wes what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday and he said a Victoria sponge (a truly British staple). I'm sure my face turned white with fear and he back-pedaled to brownies. My excuse was my lack of round baking pans. ;-)

I'm not sure where I came across this cake, but it is truly the easiest thing I've ever baked. It's a good way to use up leftover buttermilk. My first time turned out a little dry, but this last time it was perfectly moist. I found the recipe on this site, but apparently she adapted the recipe from Gourmet magazine. She says this is the perfect recipe for a brunch and I completely agree. Gourmet uses raspberries for this recipe and someone commented on the other food blog that they think it's delicious with blueberries. A mixture would be nice too!

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1-1/2 Tbsp sugar, divided
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh strawberries(about 5 ounces)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (I did 180°C in my fan oven); with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round (or square in my case!) cake pan.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla.
4. Add egg and beat well.
5. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.
6. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1-1/2 Tbsp sugar.
7. Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25-30 minute. (Check after 20 minutes so it doesn't dry out.)
8. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate. (I don't have a rack, so I just let it cool in the pan. It was fine.)

Enjoy!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Anyone notice a trend in the desserts I make?? That's right - chocolate. This recipe was brought to my attention when the Food Network tweeted about it on Twitter. It's nice to know that site is actually good for something! I haven't made a lot of cupcakes from scratch, but these are by far the best tasting cupcakes I have ever made! They were also simple, which I always appreciate! I'm usually not a huge fan of alcohol-flavored cakes and candies, but the flavor is really subtle in this recipe. They were incredibly moist and not too sweet. The icing is sweet, but since the cake isn't overly sweet it works well. Also, the cream cheese compliments the chocolate nicely. I usually make cream cheese icing with butter, but this recipe uses heavy (double) cream instead. I preferred this over the butter recipe and I'll be using it again.

For best results, if you're making them for a special occasion then make them the day before. They'll taste even better the next day.

Here is the original recipe from the Food Network and I've also typed it out for you below.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

¾ c unsweetened cocoa (I used Green and Blacks), plus more for dusting the finished cupcakes
2 c sugar
2 c all-purpose flour (plain or cream if in the UK/Ireland)
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 bottle (12 oz or ¾ of a pint) stout beer*
1 stick (½ c) butter, melted

1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs (medium if in the UK/Ireland)
¾ c sour cream or crème fraiche
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened to room temperature
¾ c heavy cream (double if in the UK/Ireland)
1 lb (450g) confectioners' sugar (icing sugar if in the UK/Ireland)

Preheat the oven to 350°F/170°C (fan assisted).

In a large bowl whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the stout, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth. Gradually mix the dry ingredients in with the wet ones.

Lightly grease 24 muffin tins or use idiot-proof muffin cups like I did! Divide the batter equally, filling each tin ¾ full. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotate the pan, then bake for an additional 12-13 minutes until risen, nicely domed, and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool before turning out, or if in a muffin cup pop them out and cool on a rack. Cool completely before icing.

To make the icing: In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the heavy cream. On low speed slowly incorporate the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Icing can be made several hours ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Dust frosted cupcakes with cocoa powder.

The icing recipe makes MUCH more icing than you'll need and I'm pretty liberal with mine. Next time I'll halve the recipe. If you need to make a boat load of cupcakes and decide to make two batches, you could definitely just make one batch of the icing and it will be enough for all of the cupcakes.

Also, I covered my un-iced cupcakes with plastic wrap and stored them on the counter. I frosted them as I needed them.

*The recipe suggests you use Guinness, but my Corkonian husband isn't a fan of Liffey water, so I used Beamish in ours!

Enjoy!

Brownie Love!

Remember when I said I don't really like to bake? Well, I baked! I baked! My friend posted this Nigel Slater recipe on her food blog and I've been wanting to try it ever since. These brownies are really easy to make and so quick. I kept true to my baking skills when cracking the eggs in the bowl. The recipe calls for 3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk. Well, I'm so used to making scrambled eggs that I did 3 large eggs and 1 egg white. So I had to fish out what I thought was the equivalent to one large egg white. Folks, this is why I don't bake. Regardless of my snafu, the brownies were delicious and we gave them two thumbs up! And of course because I'm American I served them with ice cream on the side, not double cream poured on top. Blech.

I have two excellent brownie recipes now (one US and this UK one) and I have to say, I'll never go back to using a pre-made mix. It's so easy to make them from scratch and they're soooo much better!

Here is the recipe for Nigel Slater's Very Good Brownies:

300g golden caster sugar
250g butter, slightly softened
250g chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
3 large* eggs + 1 extra egg yolk
60g flour
60g finest quality cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder

You'll want to use a square baking tin, about 23cm x 23cm. I used my square roasting dish.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4/350°F. Line the bottom of the tin with baking parchment (or spray it with non-stick cooking spray, which is what I did). Break up the chocolate and set 50g aside. You're going to melt 200g and the 50g you have set aside should be broken up into gravel-sized pieces. Melt the chocolate in a heat-safe bowl that is suspended over a pot of boiling water. The bowl should not touch the water.

At the same time that the chocolate is melting...in a mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter and beat for several minute until white and fluffy. Count yourself lucky if you have a stand up mixer. This will cause your hand to cramp if you're using a hand mixer. Keep an eye on your melting chocolate and remove it from the heat as soon as it's completely melted.

Break the eggs into a small  bowl and lightly beat them. Sift together the cocoa, flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. While the mixer is running, slowly incorporate the eggs into the butter/sugar mixture. Increase the speed of the mixture after each addition of the egg (I forgot to do this and mine turned out fine). Once this is incorporated, take the bowl off the mixer (or put your hand mixer down and stretch out the cramps in your hand) and mix in the melted and chopped chocolate. Lastly, fold in the flour/cocoa mixture, trying to keep the air in the mixture.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth over the top. Bake for 30 minutes. The cake will rise and may look more done around the edges than it does in the middle. Stick a fork in the middle and it should come out sticky, but not with any of the mixture on it. If it's not done enough, put it back in the oven for 3 minutes. The brownies will solidify a bit as they cool, so don't worry if they look a little wet. Allow them to cool before serving.

Notice I have no Weight Watcher's points for these. They would be off the charts!

 

Enjoy!

*'Large eggs' in the UK/Ireland are the same size as 'extra large' eggs in the US. Any time I use a US recipe that calls for 'large eggs' or even just 'eggs' I always use the 'medium eggs' here in Ireland. Believe it or not, this actually makes a difference in how your baked goods turn out!

Oatmeal, Cinnamon Chip and Raisin Cookies

For my bridal shower I got lots of tasty recipes from friends to test on my new husband! Kim gave me this cookie recipe and it's delicious! I'm not the best baker, but these are really simple to make and the recipe made a ton of cookies. Wes' work colleagues like me a lot!

Word of warning: if you're not in the US you probably won't be able to get cinnamon chips where you are. Kim gave me two bags of chips to get me started and they are definitely something I'm going to have to bring back with me from now on. I'm sure you could buy them online at one of the many American food sites.

Oatmeal, Cinnamon Chip and Raisin Cookies
1 c softened butter
1 c light brown sugar
1/3 c white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour (I used cream flour)
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 c quick-cooking oats
1 10oz pkg Hershey's Cinnamon Chips
3/4 c raisins

1. Heat oven to 350F or 160C (fan assisted)
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
3. Combine flour and baking soda, add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, chips, and raisins.
4. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 4 dozen