Think Tank Momma: cake

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Share a Spoon
"Sweet Dreams"

It's Thursday Smackers! Time for Sharing! I am so glad this week's theme is sweets. I have been craving something yummy and I haven't really been in the kitchen in my science geek mode in quite awhile. I needed to get in there and create something new.
Several people have asked where I get my recipes, where I come up with ideas, etc. All the recipes I share here are my own, unless I state otherwise. I have shared adapted recipes, and I state so when I shared those recipes. Most of the time though I go through a process.
First I think to myself....self....xyz sounds good. Self says..."why yes...xyz does sound good, but let's not reinvent the wheel if we don't have to. Let's do some recon." We go to the cookbooks. We go to the internet. We go to our favorite spices, flavors and then.....we go to the science. You really have to know how to use baking soda, baking powder, salt, etc. Leavening agents are important in baking so...you have to either follow a recipe, or do a little science brush up before you start mixing.
That all sounds a little scary, but really, it's not. If you find a recipe and think to yourself it sounds amazing minus the <insert spice you don't like here> then leave that spice out. Substitute it with something you do like. If it calls for lemon, and you think orange would be better, make the switch. Citrus is citrus. All you are looking for with the citrus is the acid. In short, don't be afraid to experiment. Science is all about experimenting and cooking is science.
Now, having said that....cooking and baking are also artistic and creative platforms as well. When an artist paints, she leaves her imprint in her strokes. She paints with a certain color palette that lets you know the art is hers. So does a cook leave her mark in the spices she uses. The love she imparts in her food. The care she takes in creating something satisfying, hearty, decadent and soul warming.
Alright, enough food philosophy according to me. I have been craving something pumpkin. I am not sure if it's just because I am desperately hoping Fall will arrive early or what. It's been so hot here in FL. Record breaking heat. Record breaking in August. THAT MEANS HOT! I am really over summer. In case you didn't catch that.
Anymeltedfloridian, I decided to make a pumpkin cake recipe. I did some recon, as described above. I went to my pumpkin bread recipe for my spice mix that I think highlights pumpkin perfectly. Then I did some science and math, and here's the end result.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar (packed firmly)

1 cup peanut oil

1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest

4 extra large eggs

1 15oz can pumpkin

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Icing:

2 cups Confection's sugar3 Tablespoons melted butter1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract1 teaspoon cinnamon3-4 Tablespoons whole milk
In a large mixing bowl whisk together granulated sugar, dark brown sugar and peanut oil.
Whisk in eggs one at a time. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla.
Add pumpkin and whisk until mixture is smooth and completely incorporated. I stir and whisk this batter by hand.
In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in spices. Make sure you stir the spices in well. I use a fork to make sure there spices are well distributed to avoid spice clumps in your cake batter.
Stir the spiced flour mix into the wet bowl a little at a time until the batter is just incorporated.
Spray a bundt cake pan really well. Make sure to get all the sides and the center sprayed so the cake will slide out of the pan with ease.
Pour the cake into the prepared bundt and make sure it is spread evenly around the pan.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree over for 45-50 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before turning out onto a cake plate.
Whisk the ingredients for icing together until smooth. The icing should run through the tines of a fork but still have enough viscosity to cling a bit.
Pour icing over the cake. It should run slowly down the sides. Keep going around the cake until all icing has been used.

Well Smackers, this cake was an instant hit here at Casa di Romano. The boys loved it! I was pretty pleased myself!
Now...it's your turn! Link up a sweet dreamy recipe today! Don't forget, everyone who shares a recipe can claim their +5 entries for the Gevalia giveaway that ends tomorrow night at midnight. Make sure if you are sharing you get over to the giveaway and claim your entries. Don't do it here, do it HERE.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Share A Spoon
CCCCCCCCCAAAAAAAKKKKKKEEEEE
is there anything better?

Google Images

This week's theme is brought to you by my lovely bloggy and Twitter friends @amberella87, @kimslittlelife and @TheBlueZoo. Apparently cake is pretty popular, or you Smackers are just a crazy bunch of baking machines!
I used to see myself as just a cook and not a baker. I mean I could bake, but there's all that measuring and perfection and yada yada yada. I thought there was too much precision involved and I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants kinda gal. I didn't have the patience for baking, or so I thought.
However, through the course of trial and error I have learned that mistakes are o.k. Sometimes mistakes are even better than the original idea. I started out experimenting in the savory kitchen. I decided if it's a train wreck I will just throw it out and start over. There's always take out in a pinch aka a travesty of epic proportions. Besides, this is my kitchen. Who says you have to follow a recipe?
Well, that experimenting bled into baking. At first it was more of a challenge to see if I could improve recipes that were sweet, the way I did changing things up on classic dishes. I had learned at that point to start measuring or approximating for my savory recipes to share with others. Recipe writing requires measurements. So when I started writing my own baking recipes I was already in the habit of ~~approximating~~ measuring.

When I decided to make this cake I struggled. Living in the South, I have had Mississippi Mud Cake several times over and recipe after recipe. My favorite recipe came from a lady that used to work with my mom. She made the best Mississippi Mud Cake I had ever tasted. She shared her recipe, but when others made it, it just wasn't as good. What's even weirder than that? The woman couldn't cook savory dishes to save her life, but she was a Master Baking Goddess.
Rather than make her recipe and have it fail miserably like so many others before me, I decided I would make my own. I worked this recipe over and over until it came out the way I wanted it. My recipe is different than Naomi's but it's just as tasty in my not so humble opinion.

Brandee's Mississippi Mud Cake

2 sticks butter softened

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup walnuts (I use the ice cream nut topping. It's chopped really fine, works really well!)

1 jar Jet Puff Marshmallow fluff

2 handfuls of mini marshmallows

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa and baking powder. Stir in salt. Set aside. Cream together butter and sugars. Add the extracts. Add eggs one at a time. Slowly incorporate the flour/cocoa mixture. Fold in the nuts.

Spread batter into a greased 13x9x2 baking pan. Cook for 35 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. (Or until the cake is set.)

Remove from the oven and let cool until for ten minutes. Spread one small container of marshmallow fluff over the cake and sprinkle 2 handfuls of mini marshmallows evenly over the cake (see what I mean about approximating?).

Return the cake to the oven and bake for 10 minutes (or until the marshmallow melts and toasts lightly.

Let cake cool completely.

Frosting:

1 stick butter softened to room temperature

3 cups of powdered sugar

1/3 cup of cocoa

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter, sugar, cocoa, vanilla and milk together. Beat until smooth and creamy. Takes a few minutes. Stir in chopped pecans. Top the cooled cake with the frosting.

This cake is simply put SINFUL. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Now, it's your turn. Share your favorite cake recipe this week! Link up below!
Happy Eating Smackers! Leave me some love and let me know what you want to see in the coming weeks on Share a Spoon. (You don't have to participate in order to pick a theme. If you are looking for recipes just let me know and I will do my best to help you!) We're coming up on our 1 Year Anniversary and I am super excited about that!