This post is a little later than I’d like it to be seeing how strawberry season has come and gone by me. My love of strawberries is no secret. When they’re at their peak, I’ve packed away several pounds (maybe four or five? Seriously. I love strawberries) a week just for snacking (forget the baking). So this is one of those tasty desserts you can go to when you need a break from inhaling strawberries by the pound: a berry scented bundt cake topped with a rich, strawberry cream cheese frosting.
This was delicious and very strawberry-ish. I would be happy just eating the frosting (and shamelessly licked the bowl clean. Very clean). My only disappointment was that the cake was a little denser than I would have liked–I’d consider lessening the amount of strawberry puree (e.g. by half a cup) in the cake so that it might rise more and take on a lighter texture. As is, the texture is more
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Posted by mike on May 31st, 2010 in Cake, Dessert, Fruit
This is that time of year where I get antsy about food. Its spring-time–the birds are chirping, the sun is out, and it feels like summer is just around the corner. So where’s the spring-time produce?! I know its too soon for the kinds of things I’m craving, and this is exactly why its always a good idea to preserve a bit of the season–to abate such cravings until nature has a chance to catch up. So today’s dessert: a sweet, creamy, cardamom perfumed cheesecake, topped with cardamom-scented peach preserves.
I’ll be honest: I’d forgotten about these peach preserves. They were buried in the back of my pantry, but when I found them, I needed to finally dig in (peach season is one of the things I’m anxiously awaiting, after all). They were simple to make (many months ago), and I remember from sampling a bit how wonderful they tasted–sweet, peaches at their peak, finished with that je ne sais quoi you
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Posted by mike on April 11th, 2010 in Cake, Dessert, Fruit
Pound cake is a rare treat for me, and given how easy it is to make, I’m not sure why I don’t have it more often. Its delicious, rich, crumbly, and buttery on its own but is also easily tweaked to highlight other flavors.
In this case, I chose to go with a more Italian inspired flavor profile: creamy and tangy ricotta with the bright flavor of lemon. The cake was delicious, and I topped it off with a simple, sweet, lemony glaze to further the lemon flavor. The final result was delicious with a sweet, crispy crust around the edges and a tender, crumbly, delicious cake inside. My only regret was using too small of a loaf pan (so I also had some free-form pound cakelet blobs to enjoy on the side, lol).
- Cake
- 1.5 cups flour
- 2.5 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup/6 oz unsalted butter
- 1.5 cups fresh whole milk ricotta
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- Optional: dash
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Posted by mike on October 26th, 2009 in Cake, Dessert, Italian
A while back, I had seen that the Daring Baker’s made a cheesecake, and it struck me that I had never done so myself. Since then, I’ve had the itch–one of those desserts I needed to do soon–and I’ve finally scratched it. I decided plain cheesecake wasn’t for me–I love it, but I just couldn’t make it when dressing it up with some extra flavors seemed so easy. So today, I fell back to one of my favorite flavor combos of all time: chocolate and peanut butter.
Now there are many approaches to cheesecake, the two major distinctions being baked vs frozen. This cheesecake is of the baking variety, and if you have any aversion to this kind thinking its at all challenging, I promise you, its not. As a matter of fact, its dangerously easy–and I say dangerous because making a cheesecake with such little effort…well, I’m sure you understand.
Behind this cheesecake is my usual, from-scratch graham cracker crust, filled
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Posted by mike on July 4th, 2009 in Cake, Dessert
There’s a number of reasons I prefer making cupcakes over full cakes. Number one is probably my ineptitude with cake decorating. Beyond that, they just seem easier–easier to make, easier to serve, easier to eat, and they taste just as good. It had been a long time since I last made cupcakes, and I wasn’t about to endeavor on a full on cake.
For these particular cupcakes, I opted for the flavor that always seems to draw my wife and I to cakes: chocolate. I wanted it to have some intrigue to it though, so its not just chocolate–I wanted something darker. So for the cupcake batter, the foundational flavors are both cocoa and molasses for something a bit more like Devil’s Food. Then, to compliment that: a tangy cream cheese frosting flavored with toasted, honeyed pecans. All together very tasty and a fun change from the everyday chocolate cupcakes out there.
- Cupcake batter
- 1.5 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup
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Posted by mike on June 13th, 2009 in Cake, Dessert
A good while back, I made a different kind of brownie that was light, fluffy, and strongly flavored with honey. These brownies fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, restoring balance to my ultimate zen state of brownie satiation. These brownies are dark, dense, and incredibly chocolatey. The kind that requires you to approach them armed with a tall glass of milk and a willingness to fend off any passers-by who think they can share in the bounty. These are brownies well worth being selfish about…unless you’re looking to bribe someone, I suppose–then these would be a great thing to share.
This is more than comfort food. Its too rich and indulgent to be called comfort food. You have the crisp, buttery, crinkly edges that seem to contradict the dense, fudgy, moist interior. And this is a situation where if you have a cache of chocolate, splurge and use the best you’ve got, because this is a recipe where it
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Posted by mike on April 26th, 2009 in Cake, Dessert
