Elaborate Vanilla Birthday Cake

July 12, 2020April 4, 2020 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

This is a vanilla cake that I threw together for a birthday that looked perfect for instagram. It was quite laborious but made during quarantine when we had all the time in the world (which is hopefully over by the time this is being posted, but we’ll see).

Give this a shot to try and impress a crowd.

The cake base is slightly modified from Earl Grey Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla “Buttercream”

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

1/2 cup strained and cooled tea concentrate (I used a vanilla oolong tea – 2-3 tbsp tea + 1/2 cup boiling water)
1 3/4 cup cake flour
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 eggs
1 cup 1% milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the Icing:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (softened)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk or cream

For the Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream
4 oz chocolate chips or dark chocolate

Directions:

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350° and spray 2-3 cake pans (depending on layers).

1) Steep tea (in filter) with 1/2 cup boiling water. Allow to cool

2) In a mixer combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix on medium speed until well combined (about a minute).

3) Add butter, a few cubes at a time until the mixture becomes like coarse sand.

4) Add eggs one at a time

5) Add milk, vanilla and tea concentrate and beat well. Scrape down as necessary

6) Transfer to prepared cake pans and bake for 35-45 minutes (depending on 2 or 3 layers).

Allow to cool for 1 hour before preparing icing.

For the icing

1) Cream butter. Add vanilla extract and mix well.

2) Add sugar 1 cup at a time, adding milk or cream if not combining

Ice in between layers and assemble the cake. Trim off excess on the top to ensure layers are even. Use a spatula to smooth out the edges.

I used fondant to cover the cake as well so I only put a “crumb coat of icing” however, you can also transfer the cake the fridge or freezer to cool before adding a top coat of icing.

For the Ganache:

Before putting ganache on top, make sure cake is cold (in fridge or freezer for > 1 hour.

Melt chocolate and heavy cream over a double boiler until combined. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes to cool.

Transfer to piping bag or ziplock and cut a small hole at the bottom.

Pipe along the edges, pausing to allow ganache to drip down the sides of the cake. Cover the top in ganache and smooth out with knife.

For Decorations:

Top with anything you can find, laying it out in an organized manner. I used a mix of sprinkles, chocolate covered pretzels, candy canes, peanut butter cups, chocolate covered espresso beans and mini eggs. I also used icing to attach crushed mini eggs (using a cast iron skillet and a ziplock) around the edge.

EVOO Brownies

June 28, 2020 ~ Marvin ~ Leave a comment

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Adapted from Weeknight Baking by Michelle Lopez, this two bowl brownie recipe was the first time I used extra-virgin olive oil instead of butter or margarine. This fudgy brownie takes just minutes to prep and can be made without electric equipment or cooktop.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup icing sugar
3 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp. water
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325F and line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper sprayed with nonstick spray.

Sift the cocoa and icing sugar over a bowl to remove any lumps. Add the sugar, flour, salt, and chocolate chips. Mix until combined.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, water, and vanilla.

Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and fold until just combined.

Transfer the batter to the baking pan and bake for 40 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before slicing.

Sourdough Cinnamon Buns

June 14, 2020March 26, 2020 ~ Max ~ Leave a comment

I know, you’re over the sourdough trend – but I was out of yeast and have been trying to come up with other uses of my starter. I settled on sourdough cinnamon buns and they were delicious. If you’ve mastered the starter I highly recommend this recipe.

The base recipe comes from the Clever Carrot and the icing comes from Gimme Some Oven.

If you have a cast iron skillet I highly suggest you use it for this. otherwise use a spring form pan or pyrex.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2/3 cup milk (skim, 1% or 2%)
2 tbsp/28g unsalted butter (+ 2 tbsp/28 g additional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup/100 g bubbly active starter (fed the night before)
2 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 cup/300g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

For the filling:

1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

For the icing:

:
1/2 cup/4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Melt butter. Add milk.

Put egg, starter and sugar in stand mixer. Add milk mixture and mix wiht paddle.

Add flour and salt and continue mixing until combined. Cover with towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Use dough hook and mix for 5 minutes. Add more flour if dough is sticking to sides.

Transfer dough to bowl coated in oil or butter and cover with towel.

Allow to rest for 30 minutes, perform a single stretch and fold. Cover and let rise overnight (8-12 hours).

Stretch and fold edges toward the centre to deflate dough. turn over and allow to rest for 15 minutes

Melt 2 tbsp butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon in bowl.

Roll out dough out to approx. 16 x 12 inches on a floured surface. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture overtop.

Roll tightly along the long end. I chose to cut them into smaller buns, approximately 1 inch each. I used a serrated knife. You can also use unflavoured floss.

Place dough in greased or sprayed pan. Allow to rise for 2 hours.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350˚F.

Allow to cool.

Mix all icing ingredients in mixmaster with paddle attachment.

Transfer icing to a ziplock and piped onto the cinnamon buns once cooled.

Cranberry Tahini Brownies

May 31, 2020February 16, 2020 ~ Marvin ~ Leave a comment

Adapted from Kitchen Tested, this gluten-free recipe uses fresh/frozen cranberries which I much prefer to dried cranberries.

Ingredients:

1 cups raw tahini paste
1 cup coconut or brown sugar
½ cup pure maple syrup
1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 ½ cups fresh/frozen cranberries, divided
Sea salt flakes to decorate

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9-x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the “s” blade, combine the tahini, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, eggs, cocoa, baking soda, and salt until smooth.

Add 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup cranberries and fold into batter with a spatula. The batter will be thick.

Transfer the batter to the baking pan and scatter the remaining ½ cup chocolate chips and ½ cup cranberries over the top of the batter.

Bake for 33 minutes. Sprinkle sea salt flakes over the baked brownies. Allow to cool before slicing.

Sourdough Bagels

May 17, 2020March 26, 2020 ~ Max ~ 1 Comment

Now that you’ve gotten used to working with starter, it’s time to try another sourdough recipe.

Sourdough bagels are the next in our sourdough adventure. They were quite similar to the time I made pretzels! For an active starter – I feed it the night before I want to use it (or the morning of if I’m going to make the dough in the evening)

This recipe comes from Baking Sense, however I altered them to make them multigrain.

Ingredients:

For The Dough:

1 cup/224g active starter
1 1/2 cups warm water
2.5 cups/350g best for bread flour (+ extra if needed)
2 cups/280g multigrain best for bread flour
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp salt

For The Boiling Water:

1/4 cup/56g granulated sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 egg white, whisked
1 large pot of water

Toppings:

Everything but the bagel spice
Kosher salt
Garlic flakes
Poppy seeds
Sesame seeds

Directions:

Combine starter, warm water and 2.5 cups white flour in mixing bowl. Cover and set aside for 1 hour.

Add molasses, honey and salt. Use dough hook to combine with remaining 2 cups of multi-grain flour.

Continue mixing with dough hook for 5-7 minutes. Put dough in lightly oiled bowl. Allow to rise for three hours, stretching and folding the dough every half hour (pull up on one edge, turn bowl, and repeat on all four sides).

Turn dough out onto floured surface and cut into 12 pieces.

Using cupped hands form into circles, punch hole into centre with your finger and form into a circular bagel shape.

Place dough on floured baking sheet. Put in fridge to rise over night.

Remove from fridge in the morning and allow to rise for four hours in the morning.

Preheat oven to 450˚F.

Bring boiling water ingredients to a boil. Boil each side of bagel for 30 seconds and transfer to cooling rack.

Transfer from cooling rack to baking sheet and top with egg white and desired bagel spices.

Bake for 20 minutes at 450˚F.

Brookie Squares

May 3, 2020February 16, 2020 ~ Marvin ~ Leave a comment

Brownie on the bottom, chocolate chip cookie dough on top. Say no more.

Ingredients:

For the cookie dough:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted pareve margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. kosher salt
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

For the brownie batter:

12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted pareve margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

To make the cookie dough, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the margarine and sugars until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl as necessary.

Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined.

Add 2 cups of the chocolate chips and fold in. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9-x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper lined with parchment paper sprayed with nonstick spray.

In a double boiler, combine the chocolate and margarine and stir until completely smooth and melted.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Add the sugar followed by the eggs, and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

Add the flour and salt and mix until just combined.

Transfer the batter to the baking pan.

Dollop the cookie dough over the brownie batter and cover the brownie batter using an offset spatula.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips over the top, gently pressing into batter, and return the pan to the oven for 5 more minutes. Remove and allow to cool before slicing.

Sourdough Bread

April 19, 2020April 26, 2020 ~ Max ~ 1 Comment

To celebrate being able to eat bread again, I thought I would share this sourdough recipe. This is a higher hydration version of The Clever Carrot’s Sourdough. I’ve been working on perfecting this for the last few months and each time I make it, its slightly different. There are many youtube videos that describe the shaping and stretch and fold techniques. Making the winter version requires about 12 hours to rise, but in the summer it can be done in half the time. I usually prepare my dough in the evening (Saturday night) and then bake it in the morning (Sunday morning).

As for the starter – there are instructions on The Clever Carrot to make your own starter however I got some from a local bakery and have been keeping it alive and feeding it once a week. I feed it the day before I make bread by pouring off 3/4 of the starter and adding 1 cup flour, 1 cup water. I also feed it anytime I notice a liquid build up or it starts to smell a little vinegary.

I also used a scale to make this because it made the process more accurate.

Ingredients:

150 g bubbly, active starter
350 g warm water
25 g olive oil
500 g Best for Bread Flour
10 g sea salt or kosher salt
Flour for dusting

Directions:

Whisk the starter, water, olive oil in large bowl.

Add flour and salt and squish together. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Once rested work dough into a ball, leave in bowl and cover.

Perform stretch and folds at 1 hour intervals 2-3 times. Pinch a side of the dough, pull up and fold over itself. Turn bowl and perform on another side until you have moved the bowl 360˚.

Allow to rise for 6-12 hours.

To shape the dough use a bench scraper to fold the dough over to the centre moving around the dough in a full circle. Flip the dough and cup the sides of the dough rotating in a circular motion.

Either place in a bannton basket or in the dutch oven for the second rise (1-2 hours).

Preheat oven to 450˚. Drop temperature to 400˚ and bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove dutch oven lid and bake for an additional 40 minutes.

Allow to cool for 1 hour before cutting.

Extreme Lemon Cake

April 5, 2020January 10, 2020 ~ Marvin ~ Leave a comment

This nondairy version of a classic Maida Heatter cake has the perfect pairing of lemons and sugar.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

Zest of 3 lemons
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted pareve margarine, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup almond milk

For the glaze:

½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and spray a Bundt pan with cooking spray.

Combine the zest of 3 lemons and 3 tbsp. lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the margarine and sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time.

Alternately, add the flour mixture and almond milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Fold in the zest/lemon juice mixture.

Transfer the batter to the baking pan and bake for 55 minutes.

While the cake is baking, combine the ½ cup lemon juice and 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl.

Once the cake comes out of the oven, allow to cool for 20-30 minutes and then remove from pan, turning it over.

Brush the cake liberally with the glaze.

Lemon Blueberry Cake

March 8, 2020January 10, 2020 ~ Marvin ~ Leave a comment

This fragrant cake is perfect for spring and summer when fresh blueberries are in season.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup grapeseed/coconut/olive oil
1 ½ cups nondairy sour cream (Tofutti)
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 cups fresh blueberries, tossed in 1 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour

For the lemon frosting:

2 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tbsp. grapeseed oil
4 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, pulse the sugar and lemon zest together.

Add the eggs, oil, sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla. Process until well combined.

Add the flour mixture and pulse until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Transfer the batter to the baking pan and bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for 30 minutes while making the frosting.

Combine the confectioners’ sugar, oil and lemon juice in a bowl. Stir until desired consistency is reached.

Spread the frosting as a thin layer over the entire cake and refrigerate until ready to serve.