Carrot Cake Cupcakes

First off, a small order of business: Linda is on vacation, so you get me for the next week or so. Get ready ;)

On Friday, my dad called me when I was at work requesting that I make him a dessert for our tailgate on Saturday. Of course, he picked his absolute favorite: carrot cake. So much in fact, that carrot cake was the top layer of my parent's wedding cake. And my dad is super critical of carrot cakes. He claims almost every so-called 'carrot cake' he eats is not actually a carrot cake, but a spice cake. I don't know that I've ever actually had a spice cake, but I knew that I needed to make this carrot cake distinct enough that he couldn't claim it to be otherwise. But no pressure, Erin...

So I spent some time searching the internet for The Perfect Carrot Cake recipe. I found several good ones, but of course, the one that caught my eye just happened to reference the Smitten Kitchen. Why didn't I go to Deb right off the bat? Call it a lapse in judgement, or chalk it up to temporary insanity, but I'll probably not make that mistake again.

I got three big beautiful carrots, pureed them in the food processor, and took photos as evidence for my dad, in case he claimed the cupcakes were spice cake. But lucky for me, no such claim was made. In fact, he loved them! He said that it was the best carrot cake that he's ever had. (Let's take a minute to let that sink in. My dad, the carrot cake aficionado, had no complaints! Ultimate victory!) He particularly liked the maple cream cheese frosting - how it was not too sweet or too thick, and it complemented the carrot cake flavor perfectly.

With this happy bite, I felt a huge wave of relief. Dad, if you read this, feel free to make phone orders any time. I'm ready for you :)

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

makes 24 cupcakes

• 2 c. flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 1/4 c. canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 c. grated/pureed peeled carrots
• 1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in a bowl and set aside.
3. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended.
4. Whisk in eggs, one at a time.
5. Add flour mixture and stir until blended.
6. Stir in carrots and walnuts (if using them)
7. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each
8. Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. 16 minutes was perfect for me.
9. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing them.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

• Two (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1-2 c. powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want the frosting. I used 1.5 cups)
• 1/4 c. pure maple syrup

In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.

Happy Carrot Cake!!

-Erin

hummingbird (cup)cakes with cream cheese frosting and caramel dipped pecans

Erin and I agreed to make hummingbird cake this weekend, a three layer banana pecan pineapple filled cylindrical tower of yumminess. That was the plan. Erin had a brunch to cater to, and she is already a veteran of Sky High. I was excited to join in the fun. Then I remembered...Erin lives in a big house with lots of people. I live in a tiny apartment by myself. There is a reason I have an affinity for small batches of cupcakes...

When I plan to bake I do a little scheduling tango like this: I look at my calendar and see if I have any social appointments, and while I do enjoy seeing my friends for their company, I also assess their propensity to eat test sweets. Many food bloggers encounter this problem. A common solution is to bring goods to the workplace. I don't do that so much. Another troubling trend I've noticed amongst food bloggers is balancing the baking with claims of triathlons and marathons. I don't know. I think I have a duty to any fledgling readers out there to be upfront about this - my theory on life is that if I need to arrive at a destination 26 miles distant from my current location, there should really be some motorized vehicle involved.

So the cake was amended to a manageable batch of cupcakes. I also wasn't sure which recipe to use, so this seemed like a better way to play around with the details. Most hummingbird cake recipes I've read include the basics: banana, pineapples and pecans. Most use all purpose flour and vegetable oil instead of butter, except for the Martha version.


I used the oil version to try the technique of sifting the sugar with the dry ingredients instead of creaming first with sugar. I also played around and added raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. When these cupcakes came out, the allspice was the first thing I tasted. In fact, it was so strong, I immediately regretted my attempted creativity and wrote these off as ruined. But I forced myself to frost them and then conned some people into eating them, and there was a surprising amount of positive feedback. I think I'll try the recipe again and adjust the spices, but I guess (by my third one in) I enjoyed eating them too. :)

Ok surprise! I went with cream cheese frosting.

I hereby solemnly promise to soon make something sans cream cheese frosting. In my defense, it is the customary pairing for hummingbird cake. To top, I made some caramel, dipped pecans in it, and placed atop frosted cupcakes.

Hummingbird Cupcakes

350 degree oven

makes 18 cupcakes

This is a conglomeration of recipes plus what I decided to throw into the bowl. These cupcakes were packed with stuff, so if you prefer a more cakey version, feel free to reduce.

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cups sugar

1 /2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 vanilla

8oz can crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup coursely chopped pecans

1/4 cup raisins

1. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices into large bowl.

2. Add oil and vanilla to beaten eggs and mix to combine.

3. Add oil mixture to dry ingredients and mix just to combine. (I did this by folding several times with a spatula and scraping down the sides of the bowl, then quickly beating on low with a hand mixer for 15 seconds.)

4. Fold in pineapple, bananas, pecans and raisins, if using.

5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake 25-27 minutes. (Yes, that long.)

Cream cheese frosting recipe is the same as the one from red velvet cupcakes. I frosted these half heartedly, so with the same recipe I still had some frosting left after frosting 18 cupcakes. I had the idea to make a caramel drizzle sauce, but I actually messed up and made a chewy caramel. I so adapted and did the dipped pecan thing. Be creative! Top as your fancies (or errors) suit.

Hummingbird Cake

Some things that you'll quickly learn about me through this blog:
(1) I love to bake layer cakes -- the higher, the better!
(2) I am a *very* improvisational baker -- I know baking is a science, but I still like to play around
(3) I usually screw up something in a recipe...but it usually works out for the best

My roommate of 3 years, Amanda, moved back home this weekend (sad!) so we had a big good-bye brunch to send her off. And any big celebration calls for a big big layer cake! Linda found this amazing-looking recipe and we knew that we had to make it ASAP. It was perfect for this brunch - cream cheese frosting, fruity and nutty...mmm SO GOOD.


True to my form, I made some adjustments to the recipe:
-I used plantains instead of bananas. I saw them at the store and just HAD to get them. I never see ripe plantains at my local grocery, and I happened to go to a different store for this trip, so I went with it.
-I used walnuts instead of pecans... why? Because the pecans I bought disappeared!! And I am impatient, so I reached for the walnuts that I had on hand.
-I added coconut extract to make the cake a little more tropical.
-I used way less sugar in the frosting. The two pounds in the original recipe was excessive. I like frosting to be less sweet, to balance the cake.
-I used half cream cheese, half Neufchâtel. I messed up at the store and didn't look at what I was grabbing off the shelf. Yep, I told you that I usually screw up something in a recipe...


But even with all of these adjustments, intentional and not, the cake was DELICIOUS! It disappeared so quickly! This cake definitely turned out to be as yummy as it looks, and it was very very easy! Especially without any complicated filling, the cream cheese was so good between each layer, keeping the cake moist.


Hummingbird Cake
As adapted from CakeSpy

Cake:

• 3 cups flour
  
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 tsp baking soda
  
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  
• 3 eggs, beaten
  
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
  
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp coconut extract
  
• 4 oz crushed pineapple, well drained
  
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts!)
  
• 2 cups very ripe bananas (or plantains!)
  

Frosting:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened (or half Neufchâtel)
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
  
• 8-10 oz powdered sugar, to taste
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
  

For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together into mixing bowl. Add eggs and oil to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple and the nuts. Stir in the bananas/plantains. Spoon the batter into 3 well-greased 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (mine took a lot longer, more like 40 minutes), or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until desired sweetness, beating with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Frost the tops of all 3 layers, stack and then frost sides. Garnish with nuts, strawberries, whipped cream...whatever you like!

almond cake with apricot filling and brown sugar frosting

Apricots were on sale at the store last week, so I bought two pounds with a vague idea of cake in mind. Last summer I made a peach and blueberry upside down cake from Martha Stewart Baking Handbook that was actually supposed to be an apricot cherry cake. I thought this time I’d actually make it with apricots and cherries (which I had at home).



I looked around on the internet for some apricot recipes. Surprisingly, there aren’t many recipes that use fresh apricots. Everything seems to use dried apricots, which was disappointing. I was in the mood to make a layer cake, so I figured it’d be easy enough to make a filling with the apricots I had. I still had the Martha upside cake in my mind, which I remember being extremely eggy, almondy, and delicious, so I decided to try and adapt the recipe for a layer cake. To top it off, I figured I couldn’t go wrong with some brown sugar cream cheese frosting.