Category: Cakes

Carrot Muffins

You all know that I’m not that much of a baker, so if I decided to make carrot muffins, there must have been a reason for it. Well, here it goes…

Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. Take this past Shabbos, for example. I had a full house for the weekend, and my menu was planned down to the tee. I usually leave the salad prep to right before the meal, preparing only what needs to be checked or processed in the blender beforehand. I had planned on making a slaw, so I shredded my carrots in my food processor and put it aside in a ziploc. Fastforward a couple of hours and I’m about to prepare the salad. I grab a jar of mayo from my pantry and open it up to find that someone has taken out a spoonful and returned it to the pantry instead of the fridge. I’m afraid to admit that that someone was probably me getting a headstart on my cooking at 12 PM the previous night! So now that there was no mayo, there was no slaw (or caeser salad…or deviled eggs…). Then I realized that we were also out of horseradish for the gefilte fish. While I would normally whip up a russian style dressing, that was not in the cards either. So I served the gefilte fish with wasabi sauce, stashed the shredded carrots back into the fridge, and redid my menu just as my guests were walking through the door.

My mayo-less meal turned out just fine, and that lonely bag of carrots had a calling after all – moist and delicious carrot muffins. You can also bake this into a cake and top with some cream cheese frosting (which I would have done, had I not shredded my carrots in my fleishig food processor). Either way you choose to serve it, you’ll find this recipe delicious. My kids were so excited to come home to freshly baked muffins. I think I have to start doing this baking thing more often!

 

Carrot Muffins

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots (about 3 carrots)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Method:

Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar to a bowl and mix to combine. Add oil, eggs and vanilla and mix with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in carrots, walnuts, raisins and/or chocolate chips and mix to incorporate. Scoop batter into baking cups and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

NOTE: Feel free to adjust the add-ins to your desired taste. You can choose to leave out the walnuts, raisins or chocolate chips, or adjust amount as desired.

1 year ago: sundried tomato olive tapenade

 

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Butter Rum “L’chaim” Cake

I don’t remember where or when my mother got this recipe. All I know is, it’s been in my family for years. Since it’s soaked in rum, we aptly call it the L’chaim cake. Whenever there is cause for a simcha, we make this cake and send it over to our family or friends who are celebrating.

While I wouldn’t normally bake with a cake mix, this recipe is the exception. It’s so easy to prepare, you’ll want to start making it for all your family get-together’s too. Your Purim seudah is the perfect place to start.

 

Butter Rum Lchaim Cake

1 8 oz container of salted pecans, chopped
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/3 cup cold water
½ cup oil
½ cup rum

Glaze:

¼ cup water
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter or margarine
½ cup rum

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour pecans into the bottom of the pan.

In a bowl, whisk the cake mix and vanilla pudding. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, water, oil and rum. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and pour into bunt pan on top of pecans. Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.

For the glaze, bring the water and sugar to a boil, stir in margarine. Once the margarine has melted, add the rum and remove from heat. Pour 1/3 of the glaze over the bundt cake and let it rest for several minutes so that the glaze seeps in. Invert the cake onto a cake stand or serving dish. Poke holes around the top of the cake and pour remaining glaze over it.

Let the cake rest before serving so it can soak in all the glaze.

 

1 year ago: mocha bundt cake

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Pumpkin Banana Bread

I’m officially done with my baby food stash. I had 3 jars of bananas left, and although they are my son’s favorite, he has long since graduated to the real thing. I’m not one to throw anything away, so I concocted this delicious recipe for pumpkin banana bread. It’s the first time I’ve experimented with baking, and I’m so proud of how it turned out.

When it comes to breads, cakes and cookies, I always have to follow a recipe, with only minor adjustments. I’m sure there is some kind of science behind baking that teaches you the proper flour:sugar:egg ratio, but I’ve never learned it. As much as baking is not my “thing”, finding a use for leftover ingredients, is. So I set my lack of baking skills aside and just went for it. I’m thinking I should probably do it more often. The results were outstanding!

 

Pumpkin Banana Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup LIBBYS® 100% Pure Pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 cup granulated sugar
3 6 oz. jars of banana puree or 2 cups mashed bananas
3/4 cup melted butter or oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients, including flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a second bowl, combine the wet ingredients, including pumpkin, eggs, milk, sugar, bananas and butter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated. Pour batter into medium-sized loaf pans and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

1 year ago: quick & easy chocolate rugelach

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Black Bean Brownies

Now before you gag, I want you to take a look at the picture above. Do those look like black beans to you? I didn’t think so. I had my reservations too, but they were quickly squashed after one bite of these. I’m not gonna say they were the best brownies I ever ate. Nor will I suggest that they have the same fudgy consistency as real brownies. But they are pretty good for a flourless cake made of beans. Give them a try. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Black Bean Brownies

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed well
3 large eggs
1/3 cup melted butter or canola oil
1/4 cup Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar or splenda
1 tbsp coffee dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup chocolate chips, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients (besides for walnuts and chocolate chips) in a food processor or blender until completely smooth. Mix in chocolate chips, if desired. Pour into a greased 8×8 baking dish and sprinkle with walnuts. Bake for 25 minutes.

Once cooled, cut brownies into squares. Because these brownies are made of beans, they mold very quickly. Therefore, eat immediately or refrigerate/freeze individual portions.

TIP: If you like your brownies less dense, and more cake-like, add 1 tsp baking powder.

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World’s Best Honey Cake

Trust me. This.is.the.best.honey.cake.you.will.ever.eat.

I could just let the picture do all the talking, or, I can tell you why.

Did you ever taste the classic Hershey’s chocolate cake recipe? You know the one that is super moist and decadent? Almost fudgy? You know how no matter how many chocolate cakes you make, they can never measure up to that recipe? Well let me tell you a little secret. If you look at the recipe, you’ll see that it calls for a cup of boiling water to be stirred in at the very end. That water makes the cake almost pudding-like. It becomes super moist and incredibly delicious.

Why am I talking about Hershey’s chocolate cake in my honey cake post? Well…When my sister sent me this recipe last year, I thought I already had the best honey cake recipe. But when I saw the addition of boiling water at the end, it had me intrigued. It turns out that this is now my best honey cake recipe. And it will be yours too.

A few years ago, I made Martha Stewart’s honey cake with caramelized pears. The pears made for a beautiful presentation. But let me be honest. This honey cake is way better! I decided to take a cue from the queen of domesticity and top it off with caramelized apples, in lieu of pears, for that “apple dipped in honey” finish. Drizzle some more honey over the top and you’ll be in honey heaven! Talk about a sweet new year!

Honey Cake with Caramelized Apples
adapted from a recipe by Mrs. Dina Lili Sziewicz of Melbourne, Australia

4 eggs
2 c sugar
1 c canola oil
2 c honey
2 c self rising flour (see tip)
2 c all purpose flour
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
2 c boiling water
Caramelized Apples (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and sugar until creamy. Add oil and honey and beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix flours, cocoa, cinnamon and baking soda. Add wet ingredients and mix well. Pour boiling water into the batter and mix by hand. The batter will be thin. Grease and flour your pans of choice (see note)  and bake for 30 minutes for small pans or 50 minutes for large pans, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

BAKING OPTIONS: This batter can be made the following ways:
In a bundt pan (you will have some leftover batter to make an extra loaf or a few muffins).
In three 9″ round pans (makes for nice presentation when topped with caramelized apples).
In four 9″x 5″ (2lb.) loaf pans or eight mini loaf pans.
In 10 pint-sized wide-mouth mason jars (fill half way with batter).
In muffins or cupcake tins.

TIPS: If you don’t have self rising flour, add 2 tsp salt + 3 tsp baking powder to a measuring cup, and add flour until you measure 2 cups.
For bundt cakes, place caramelized apples on the bottom of the pan for a sunken apple and honey cake.
Place cake pans on a baking sheet in case of spillage.

PLAN AHEAD: This recipe freezes really well without the apples. Wrap well with 2 layers of saran wrap.

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