finished project: chocolate stout cake

It took almost two years, but I finally got around to baking something on my list: chocolate stout cake. I originally spotted this recipe a while back, bought the Guinness, and then neglected to make any movement on the project. Just a few days ago I found another recipe for the cake and coincidentally had everything I needed to make it. Off I went! Cracking open that beer this morning (for the cake, not drinking!) felt very satisfying in that I finally finished what I set off to do so long ago.

I baked my stout cake in an 8 inch springform pan and enjoyed a nice slice tonight after dinner. Was it worth the wait? YES. Moist and rich, it was satisfying even to a non beer fan like myself. Most will make its way to the freezer and be enjoyed for many weeks to come.

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Banana Cake

When I heard Momofuku had released a baking cookbook (momofuku milk bar), I had to check it out from the library. I love Momofuku for their compost cookie recipe and was curious to try out something new. Of all their recipes, Banana Cake seemed most accessible, plus I had super ripe bananas ready to be used! I made the recipe by weight, not wanting to dirty several measuring cups and spoons along the way. I also made a couple substitutions, my version below.

Banana Cake

Ingredients

• 85 g butter, softened
• 200 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 110 g buttermilk
• 20 g coconut oil, melted
• 2 g vanilla
• 225 g (about 2) ripe bananas
• 225 g all purpose flour
• 3 g baking powder
• 3 g baking soda
• 2 g salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a baking pan (approx. 9" x 11" works).
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy and light in color. Add the egg and mix completely.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, then slowly add to mixer. Mix at medium speed for about 5 minutes, until fluffy and fully incorporated.
4. Add banana at low speed.
5. Add remaining ingredients on low until just incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out the surface and tapping on counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until cake is puffy and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before slicing.

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freezer mania

Ahh, the joys of the freezer. Tuck away those extra bits of dough (scones, cookies, bread), homemade jams, fresh picked berries, and extra cakes and cookies for a rainy day.

With the recent berry season, I have gone a bit wild making jams (freezer and traditional) and freezing all those delicious berries. Canning seems like a daunting process, so it's best to do a big batch of stuff at a time with another person or two to help out. For the majority of my jam making, I used the standard Certo recipes. I like the low sugar stuff if I can use it, otherwise I tend to add extra berries to lower the sugar to berry ratio. For strawberry jam, try using balsamic vinegar in place of the lemon juice for a FANTASTIC strawberry balsamic jam full of depth and wonderful strawberry flavor. Trust me. I originally saw it here: http://achowlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/canning-is-cool.html

Just this weekend, I pulled out a couple of chocolate dessert items--a chocolate chip pound cake and chocolate drop cookies. I made this chocolate chip pound cake recipe earlier this year and froze the second loaf, wrapped twice in foil, once in a freezer wrap, and then into a freezer bag (worried about freezer burn much?). The loaf cake recipe also comes with a chocolate sauce to dip the cake in or drizzle over. Absolutely delicious.

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a little bit vegan

I ended up buying The Complete Vegan Kitchen cookbook a few weeks ago because there were too many good looking recipes in there. Just in the past week I've made two sweet items from it: brownies and coffee cake, both with pretty good results.

Brownies

1/2 cup very hot espresso (you can use strong coffee instead)
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1. To start, preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8" square baking pan.
2. Whisk the espresso into the cocoa and sugar until smooth (this is where the "very hot espresso" is essential). Add the vanilla and oil.
3. Gently stir/fold in the flour, baking soda, and salt just until incorporated.
4. Pour batter into the pan and bake for 35 minutes.

I find these brownies to have a slightly different texture than others I've made. Not fudgy at all, but a bit crumbly instead. I do think the espresso makes an interesting twist.


Coffee Cake

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cinnamon sugar roasted nuts, chopped
2 tbsp canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 vegan sour cream
2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8" square baking dish.
2. For the coffee cake topping, mix the brown sugar, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, and chopped nuts; add the oil. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit of water until crumbly. Set aside.
3. For the batter, mix the all-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Add the sour cream (I used regular since it was on hand) and vanilla until incorporated. (My mixture was a bit dry, so I added a bit of milk. This again, of course, is not vegan, so I'd substitute soy, rice, or almond milk.)
4. Pour the batter into the baking dish and sprinkle the topping evenly over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

I really enjoyed this coffee cake, and the best part was how easy it all came together.

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