TWD: A Fig Cake for Fall

In October, Ursula of Cookie Rookie chose A Fig Cake for Fall. Alas, no figs were to be found in October. But low and behold, I found some at my local Meijer the other day and I knew exactly what I was going to make for this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, where we got to chose a rewind.

This little cake featured a cornmeal based cake with poached figs. I used red wine for the poaching liquid since that was all I had. Interestingly, my first impression when I tasted the cake was of peanut butter and jelly, of all things. Somehow the cake was nutty tasting with the cornmeal and the wine flavored figs reminded me of jelly (grape, I suppose).

It's hard to believe next week is THE. LAST. WEEK. of baking through Tuesdays with Dorie. Wow, so many recipe. I guess a "top ten" will be in order.

Anyway, If you'd like to see the recipe for the fig cake, check out Ursula's blog, or find yourself a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking, From my Home to Yours... seriously, one of the best baking books EVER.

TWD: Blueberry Brown Sugar Plain Cake

Cindy of Everyday Insanity chose Blueberry-Brown Sugar Plain Cake for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

Simple, cinnamony, with a big hit of blueberry; this was a perfect snacking cake.


Perfect for this time of year too, with fruits becoming more plentiful (and cheaper!) in the stores.

I would definitely make this again.

Thanks so much to Cindy for a great pick and Dorie for a great recipe. If you'd like to see the recipe you can visit Cindy's blog (link above) or Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Caramel Pots de Creme

Wow, somehow I'm behind 4 recipes! Guess I've been baking, but not posting.

In the interest of time, I'll just do a quick catch up, then.

This week, Peggy from Peggy the Baker chose Caramel Pots de Creme for the Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

Sounds fancy, huh? Really, it's caramel custard and man-oh-man is it heavenly. So simple too. I baked 1/2 recipe exactly as specified and it worked great. The custard was perfectly set. The only "fail" was covering the pan with plastic wrap... my first "visual inspection" of the pan in the oven surprised me with plastic wrap that was half melted. Thankfully, none of it melted into the custards. I followed up with an aluminum foil covering and all was well.

Needless to say, this was my favorite recipe of the four.


Last week, Patricia from Life With a Whisk chose Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones.

These were surprisingly good and I loved the slightly chewy texture the oatmeal gave. I didn't really detect the nutmeg but I could tell "something" was there.



Before that, Lindsay from A Little Something… Sweet chose Maple Cornmeal Biscuits.

I thought these were OK, something like a breakfast flavored cornmeal biscuit. I'm sure the cornbread lovers would enjoy these.



Finally, Peggy from Pantry Revisited chose Brown Sugar Bundt Cake earlier in the month.



I really enjoyed this bundt cake and it's rich caramelly taste. The pears were a nice addition, although I think their ghostly appearance turned off my kids.



OK, that pretty much covers the month of May. If you'd like to see the recipes, please check out each baker's blog, or Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Basic Marbled Loaf Cake & Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

It was a double-loafer weekend. Loaf cake, that is.

Carol from The Bake More chose Basic Marbled Loaf Cake for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

Amy of Amy Ruth Bakes decided on Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake last June but I didn't get to it then.


I used my handy-dandy home-made loaf cake splitter-in-halfer thingamajiggy* and made half a recipe of both cakes in one pop.


* the thingamajiggy is a piece of cardboard cut to fit the pan, then covered well in aluminum foil. I use a couple of pieces of parchment paper lining the bottom and middle side for a little extra insurance to keep the batters safely on their own sides.

As long as the baking times are similar, this method works well for halving loaf cakes. (I included a show and tell on how to make the divider in this post).


As you can see, I opted not to make the standard vanilla - chocolate marble cake. Instead I went with straight vanilla and colored half the batter pink. My son begged me not to add raspberries like I was planning to, or any other flavors, so my marbling is cosmetic only.


Both cakes were moist and dense and tasted delish with no frosting or glaze. I would have a hard time picking a favorite.

If you'd like to see the recipe, stop by Carol and Amy's sites (links in the first paragraph), or find yourself a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Muffins and Cookies and Cake, Oh my!

Whew! January is almost over, which brings me back to the world of blogging.

Hi. Hello. I've missed seeing all the lovely blogs and even lovlier baked treats. I needed a break from blogging, but I kept up with the baking. It's been a fantastic month of Tuesdays with Dorie recipes, too. There hasn't been one stinker in the bunch.

Here we go in reverse order... first up, or I guess that would be last up, Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort chose Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake.



I wasn't expecting to like this, what with the dreaded cinnamon-chocolate combination in the swirl. But guess, what? I loved it, it was SO fantastic. The cake was nice and moist and the swirl was sweet and tasty. I made a few modifications, namely, leaving out the orange zest from the batter and the nuts and raisins from the swirl. Care was also taken to make sure the swirl was well hidden beneath layers of batter. I also used my 1/2 sized bundt pan for the first time... the cake was so adorable to boot!



Before that, Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness chose Lemon Poppyseed Muffins.


I made these as directed and they were just perfect. Lemony and crunchy from the poppy seeds, moist and tender from the sour cream in the batter. They weren't terribly sweet but that's OK because they were muffins, not cake. No complaints at all with these little yummies.

Next, Margo of Effort to Deliciousness chose Fluff-Filled Chocolate Madeleines.


My madeleines, without their fluff filling, or chocolate glaze were the poor cousins of those lucky madeleines that were made like they were supposed to be. (I soooooo did not need an almost-full jar of marshmallow fluff in my pantry, so I skipped the filling. Plain old laziness dictated that mine would not get a dip in the chocolate pool.) But you know what? They still tasted awesome, like bite-size chocolate cakes.


Of course, they didn't have the much-coveted hump on the back. But, really, who cares? Not me and not my taste buds.

And finally, that brings us to the first recipe of 2011, Midnight Crackles, which were chosen by Laurie of Slush (and founder of TWD) and Julie of Someone's in the Kitchen for the third anniversary of TWD.


It's been a while, but I seem to remember these might have had some spices in them... whatever it was, I left them out. I wanted pure, unadulterated chocolate.

And this cookie delivered just that. They were seriously good. If they would have had some chocoalte chips in them, they would have been the best ever Chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Underbaking them a little was key, by the way.

OK, folks, that's January! In a nutshell. If you'd like to see the recipes, check out the lovely ladies' blogs, or get ahold of a Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking, From my Home to Yours.

TWD: Cardomom Crumb Cake

Jill of Jill’s Blog chose Cardamom Crumb Cake for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

Cardomom is a really interesting spice. It almost reminds me of "fall spices" with pepper mixed in. You'll often find it as an ingredient in Chai tea. The thing about Chai tea... I usually love it when I first start drinking it, but then I can only drink about half of a cup. For some reason, the flavor just "gets me" and I can't take a lot of it.


Such was the case with this cake. I really liked the first slice, but that was enough for me. It's hard to explain... almost like a "too much of a good thing" going on or something.

That first slice was really tasty, though. There was a nice orange flavor as well, and it was moist. (I made 1/4 of the recipe and it fit perfectly in a mini 3x5" loaf pan.)

Thanks to Jill for a cook pick. I've actually been looking forward to trying this one for a while. For the recipe, check out Jill's blog or Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Apple-Coconut Family Cake

Amber of Cobbler du Monde chose Apple-Coconut Family Cake for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

I almost didn't make this since I've been busy lately. But, with the snow piling up outside and a chilly kitchen, I thought it would be a nice way to warm up my kitchen. Yep, I baked this because I was cold.


I'm glad I did.

This was a moist, appley cake with a nice touch of coconut. Not overwhelmingly so, but enough to notice. Since some of the TWD folks commented that they didn't like the stringiness of the coconut, I gave my pile of coconut a thorough chopping with a knife before adding it to the cake batter.

I baked half of a recipe in one 7" pan, and finished it up with a light drizzle of powdered sugar icing. Oh, and I skipped the apple jelly glaze on top... too lazy!

OK, just want to say thanks to Amber for a great pick! If you'd like to see the recipe, please stop by Amber's blog, or find a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

Gingered Carrot Cookies, Crostata, Semolina Cake!

I am waaaaaay behind schedule this week. Not only did we host Thanksgiving dinner, but my parents came to visit (yeah!) and we also had my son's birthday party (I won't bother showing you a picture of the 12 brownies (from a box) with candles in each one.... boring).

So anyway, I'm going to get caught up on the sweets and treats I made last week.


We did a "rewind" (i.e. previous recipe) for Tuesday's with Dorie this week. I picked the Gingered Carrot Cookies that were chosen by Natalia from gatti fili e farina in August of this year. I didn't make them the first time around and figured I'd serve them on Thanksgiving.

These were a moist, spicy cookie that didn't really scream "carrot cake" but they had a great texture due to the coconut, carrots, raisins and nuts. I decided to pump them up a notch with a little cream cheese frosting on top. It seemed like an obvious choice. These were a big hit with the T-day crowd.

Next up is the Crostata we were challenged to make for the Daring Bakers. I chose to fill my crostata with the most lovely and delicious butterscotch pudding we made a couple of years ago for TWD. It's so good I want to hide it and not share with anyone.


OK, go ahead and say it, I won't get my feelings hurt... this is one of the most boring, drab, dull, tan desserts ever photographed and posted on the web.

This was another Thanksgiving dessert and I was lucky to get a picture.

The crostata crust was cookie like thanks to the inclusion of egg in the recipe and held up very well even after several days. A winner in my book, for sure.

Now a word from our sponsor... The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Last but not least is the Caramel-Topped Semolina Cake for French Fridays with Dorie.


This was a unique dessert. Honestly, I think it would have been perfect for brunch because it almost seemed like sweetened breakfast food. Not surprising since the ingredient list includes farina, which can be substituted with Cream of Wheat hot cereal.


Here's the thing, though. I do NOT like Cream of Wheat. And farina? Searching for that unusual ingredient was not going to happen during Thanksgiving week. Fortunately, I discovered that Malt-O-Meal hot cereal is also made with farina, and I just happen to love the stuff. So that's what I used.

It was quite tasty and had a very moist, dense texture. Almost like Italian polenta, if you've ever had that. But again, I would be more tempted to eat it for a weekend breakfast than serve it as dessert.

OK, that's about it! Now I can try to get caught up on this week's recipes for TWD and FFwD.

You can find the cookie recipe at Natalia's site. The Semolina Cake recipe isn't available, sadly, but you can find it in Dorie Greenspan's book "Around my French Table". As for the crostata, I used the this version of the crust recipe...

Pasta Frolla
Ingredients:

•1/2 c. minus 1 tablespoon [105 ml, 100 g, 3 ½ oz] superfine sugar (see Note 1) or a scant 3/4 cup [180ml, 90g, 3 oz] of powdered sugar
•1 and 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour
•a pinch of salt
•1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
•grated zest of half a lemon (you could also use vanilla sugar as an option, see Note 2)
•1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl
Note 1: Superfine sugar is often also referred to as ultrafine, baker’s sugar or caster sugar. It’s available in most supermarkets. If you cannot find “superfine” sugar, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.

Note 2: There are different ways of making vanilla sugar. I keep vanilla beans in a jar half-filled with sugar until I need to use them, for example, to make vanilla ice cream. After I remove the split bean from the custard that will go into the ice cream maker, I rinse it, dry it and put it back in the jar with sugar.

Making pasta frolla by hand:

1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Making pasta frolla with a food processor:

1. Put sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
2. Add butter and pulse a few times, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.
3. Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface
4. See step 3 above and continue as explained in the following steps (minus the lemon zest, which you have already added).

FFwD: Marie-Helene’s Apple Cake

Dear Baking Groups,

Please send a wheelbarrow for my family to cart me around in.

Signed,
- the Queen of Chub

OK, it's not quite that bad, but after a week of apple pie, donuts, and cinnamon rolls haunting my counters, I felt it was time to cut back.


I cut this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Marie-Helene’s Apple Cake, down to 1/4 recipe and baked it in a 5" pan. Good thing, since this cake was definitely chow-down worthy.

I cut back on the corresponding amount of apples because it just seemed there were too many apples for the small amount of cake batter.

I thought it was very tasty and delish. Interestingly, I thought it was very similar to the Fold Over Pear Torte in both taste and appearance that we made a few weeks ago for TWD.

If you'd like to see the recipe... please go check out the FFWD site (this month only, recipes are supplied), or get a copy of Dorie's new book "Around my French Table".

TWD: Double Apple Bundt Cake

Lynne of Honey Muffin chose Double Apple Bundt Cake for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

This moist and tasty cake was a HUGE hit this Sunday when friends and family came over for the football game (go, Bengals!) My husband pulled the old "I'm inviting people over for the football game, and oh by the way, can you feed us?" Not in those words exactly, but you know the routine... the puppy dog eyes, the hopeful smile.

What the heck... I had a cake to make, might as well have a gang of hungry football fans to feed it to.

As I said, this was much loved. Even my husband, a die-hard chocolate fan and not an apples-and-cinnamon fan, kept going back for seconds and thirds. With both shredded apple and apple butter in the cake, I can see why it was so moist and apple-icious.

Thank you Lynne for choosing this recipe. You'll find the recipe on Lynne's blog or in Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

Daring Bakers: Ice Cream Petit Fours

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.


I have to admit this is not my best work. At least these petit fours tasted pretty darn tasty to make up for their homeliness.

Our school district is having the longest summer break in recorded history, so in this, our 14th and final week of break, I'm just trying to hold on to the last whisp of sanity I have without putting any of the 4-foot tall members of the family up for adoption. Things like getting my Daring Bakers challenge to look appetizing or even posted have taken a back burner this month.

But anyway, there you go, I did it. And I'm glad I did. I love anything with brown butter in it, so I enjoyed this cake (although by itself, it was a little dry). Next time I will have to try this with some fantastic browned butter ice cream that I've made before and fell deeply, madly in love with.

For some infinitely more beautiful and inspired versions, please check out the Daring Baker's Blogroll. You can find the recipes below.

Chow!

Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) (See “Note” section for cake flour substitution)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (165g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise OR 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
2 cups (500ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean with a paring knife and add to the milk, along with the bean pod. Cover, remove from heat, and let infuse for an hour. (If you do not have a vanilla bean, simply heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams, then let cool to room temperature.)

2. Set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2 litre) bowl inside a large bowl partially filled with water and ice. Put a strainer on top of the smaller bowl and pour in the cream.

3. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks together. Reheat the milk in the medium saucepan until warmed, and then gradually pour ¼ cup warmed milk into the yolks, constantly whisking to keep the eggs from scrambling. Once the yolks are warmed, scrape the yolk and milk mixture back into the saucepan of warmed milk and cook over low heat. Stir constantly and scrape the bottom with a spatula until the mixture thickens into a custard which thinly coats the back of the spatula.

4. Strain the custard into the heavy cream and stir the mixture until cooled. Add the vanilla extract (1 teaspoon [5ml] if you are using a vanilla bean; 3 teaspoons [15ml] if you are not using a vanilla bean) and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.

5. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze in an ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make it without a machine. See instructions from David Lebovitz: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/07/making_ice_crea_1.html

Chocolate Glaze

9 ounces (250g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (250 ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
1 1/2 tablespoons (32g) light corn syrup, Golden syrup, or agave nectar
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract

Stir the heavy cream and light corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir to completely melt the chocolate. Stir in the vanilla and let cool until tepid before glazing the petit fours.

Assembly Instructions – Ice Cream Petit Fours

1. Line a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) pan with plastic wrap, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and so there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides. Spread 1 ¾ to 2 cups (450ml to 500ml) ice cream into the pan. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze several hours.

2. Once the brown butter pound cake has completely cooled, level the top with a cake leveler or a serrated knife. Then split the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers.

3. Unwrap the frozen ice cream. Flip out onto one of the layers of cake and top with the second layer of cake. Wrap well in plastic wrap and return to the freezer overnight.

4. Make the chocolate glaze (see above.)

5. While the glaze cools, trim ¾” (2cm) off each side of the ice cream cake to leave a perfectly square 7.5” (19cm) ice cream cake. Cut the cake into twenty five petit fours, each 1.5”x1.5” (4cmx4cm).

6. Glaze the petit fours one at a time: place a petit four on a fork and spoon chocolate glaze over it.

7. Place the petit fours on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the freezer for one hour.

Daring Bakers: Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.


You can see from Sunita's how-to and recipe (on her blog) that this is a thin chocolate cake first layered with cream filling and then rolled jelly-roll style. The cake is sliced and then used to line a bowl. The "bowl" of cake is then filled with ice cream and fudge. The cake is inverted and voila! An extra fancy ice cream cake.


I decided to forgo the fudge filling and do a Neapolitan theme instead. For the strawberry ice cream I blended some vanilla ice cream with strawberries in the food processor... so easy!

This was a great dessert! I loved the cake and whipped cream layer, I might have to make that by itself next time.

I can't help but thinking my cake kind of looked like a mutant-cake-monkey.



If you'd like the recipe, please visit Sunita's blog. She has a most-excellent pictorial how-to as well.

OK, can't wait to see what next month's Daring Bakers Challenge is. Hopefully it will be as fun and tasty as this one.

TWD: Lot’s of Ways of Banana Cake

Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities decided on Lots of Ways of Banana Cake for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe.

Thanks, Kimberly! I just happened to need to bake a cake this week because it just happened to be my birthday (which happens to be Bastille Day, the French national holiday, by the way). Maybe only we bakers understand that it's perfectly OK to make your own birthday cake. Maybe even preferred.


I just happen to love banana cake layered with chocolatey icing and smothered in cream cheese icing. It's da bomb!


Plus I just happen to love sprinkles.


And swirls of icing.

Sigh. Such a perfect birthday cake.

This was an delicious, moist cake. Even though I forgot the coconut and was too lazy to open a can of coconut milk. I'm sure those would have been welcome additions.

If you'd like to see the recipe, please visit Kimberly's blog or find yourself a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book, "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

Primrose Cake

Since I decorate cakes so seldom these days, I figure that when I do, it needs to be duly noted and documented and so forth.

My dear, sweet former neighbor and first ever real-live paying "customer" from way back in my cakin' days emailed me recently and asked if I was still "doing cakes" as she wanted something special for her daughter's First Communion. Um, I didn't really know... do I? or don't I? More importantly, do I even remember how? Could I produce a cake that I wouldn't be embarrassed to bestow on others?


I went back and forth in my mind, I hemmed and hawed, but then finally sure "sure I can!" all the while wondering if it was so.

I'm happy that it was a fairly simple design, with lots of pretty flowers to cover up the boo-boo's in my icing job (believe it or not, one of the hardest things to master is clean, smooth icing).


So anyway, there it is... duly noted and documented for all time, or at least as long as the Internet is alive and well, LOL.

The "ribbon" is made of fondant and the flowers... I used a primrose cutter and made them from gumpaste.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

This week was a mini-cake double header for me, since we were out of town on spring break last week (more on that later). This week's official cake was Swedish Visiting Cake, chosen by Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs. I also made last week's cake, Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake, brought to us by Erin of When in Doubt…Leave it at 350.


In a word, I thought they were both terrific cakes, and if I had to pick a favorite? Well, it's kind of like asking me whether I liked Sammy Hagar's version of Van Halen better or David Lee Roth's. My answer would be, whichever one I was listening to at the time. Whichever one of these cakes I was noshing on right then, that one was my favorite.

I made the Swedish Visiting Cake as written in the book.


I did change up the Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake since I'm not a fan of either coffee or walnuts. Mine was coffee and espresso-less and I used ground almonds in place of the walnuts.


My youngest, who is notoriously picky, really liked the bundt cake too. I made two minis from a quarter of the recipe and he ate 1 1/2 of them.

I'm going to try to get a few pictures of our trip to Washington D.C. and surrounding area up in the morning, but for now, mom needs some sleep.

If you'd like to see either recipe, please visit Nancy or Erin's blog. Or you can get your hands on a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, from My Home to Yours".

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

Carmen of Carmen Cooks chose Coconut Tea Cake for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe.

When it comes to desserts that are predominantly coconut flavored, there aren't too many takers in this house. My husband sums it up by saying that coconut reminds him of toenail clippings. Not exactly an image that sets the mouth to watering, huh?

Coincidentally, the other night hubs called me into the room where he was watching "Zombieland", all excited, telling me to watch. There was a scene where the zombie hunters come across a Hostess truck in the ditch. Woody Harrelson's character is excited, saying he could sure use a Twinkie. They open the truck door only to find it overflowing with Snowballs (you know, those pink coconut covered chocolate cakes). Woody is *not* happy, stomping on the snowballs saying "I hate coconut! ... not the taste, the consistency". Then my husband says "see?!", like that was the positive affirmation he's been waiting for his whole life.

So I reduced the tea cake recipe and made two little mini-bundts. They were just slightly coconutty tasting, light, and moist. I'll bet they would have been even better with a light coconut flavored glaze.

OK, signing off for now! If you'd like to find the recipe, please check out Carmen's blog or find a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book, "Baking, From my Home to Yours".