Two weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see that PBS is now airing season 6 of The Great British Baking Show on Friday nights. To celebrate, I decided to try (at least) one recipe from each episode. This week’s experiment is Madeira cake (the first episode’s Signature Challenge).
Hoo boy, it’s been a busy baking weekend! I just finished the last cupcake job, so now I finally have a little time to devote to writing about my recent creations. I’ve spent most of my waking moments over the past 5 days thinking about cake, things to put on cake, and ways to eat cake. Welcome to the madness!
The Preakness (the second leg of the Triple Crown) is this Saturday! I’ll admit that this is the race I most often forget about because after the Kentucky Derby happens, I’m already making my plans for the Belmont Stakes. This year, I wanted to make sure to show the Preakness some love by recreating its official drink, the Black-Eyed Susan, as a dessert. I’ve already done Mint Julep Bundt Cake this year, so let’s see if I can make it through the Triple Crown of Baking in 2016!
It’s Derby time again! As always, it snuck up on me this year. Between Mother’s Day, the usual spring Marvel movie release, and life in general, it can be tough to remember that the Triple Crown is also about to start. The standard Derby fare for my home viewing “parties” (a.k.a. the times I sit on the couch eating food and making Josh watch a horse race) usually includes mint juleps, Kentucky hot browns, and pecan pie. Last year, I made some horse-themed cupcakes for dessert. This year, I decided to change it up a little and turn the mint juleps into a bundt cake instead.
Another week, another birthday cake! This one was made for one of my husband’s coworkers. I asked her what her favorite cake was, and after a minute of thinking, she (very politely) requested green tea cheesecake (then proceeded to insist that I really didn’t have to go out of my way to make it).
Once again, it seems I’m late with a holiday post. Several food holidays are bunched up in the beginning of the year (Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, Packzki Day, etc.), so I’m falling a bit behind in my production schedule. That said, this lemon pomegranate cheesecake is going to be great any time of year, with or without the pink hearts on top.
Mardi Gras came and went already! I know it’s a little late to be sharing a holiday-specific bakeventure, but this one is just too much fun not to. King cake is a dessert traditionally served between Epiphany and Mardi Gras. In execution and taste, it’s similar to a giant cinnamon roll with purple, green, and gold decorations on top and a suspicious plastic baby hidden inside (more on that later). This recipe might seem daunting due to the number of ingredients (and steps), but fear not! While it is time-consuming and at times labor-intensive, none of the steps are particularly hard, and none of the ingredients are particularly expensive unless you decide to go crazy with the decorations and filling.
As you may be aware, Thanksgiving is this Thursday. In light of this, I’m releasing this week’s recipe post a couple days early. If you’re looking for another dessert for your Thanksgiving dinner, you’re in luck! This rum cake is a real crowd pleaser. I made it for a dinner party this past weekend, and there was none left at the end of the night (the uneaten cake was split between some of the party goers and taken home). Multiple slices were had and a new favorite was declared by some. In short, it was pretty popular.
A couple months ago, my dad asked me if I knew any recipes for “vegan cake or cornbread” because he has a vegan guest coming over for Thanksgiving. This was a simple enough request on the surface, but these days any request for a recipe has a strong potential to become a challenge. I couldn’t just google vegan cake recipes; I had to make my own.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandparents lately, and all the little things that remind me of them. From to the kitchen stash of sweetener and jelly packets pilfered from restaurants to afternoon Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, there are some things that always trigger happy childhood memories. Of all the things that scream grandparents to me, crumb cake is in the top 10 of the list. I can’t ever remember a time when mine didn’t have an Entenmann’s Crumb Coffee Cake on the kitchen counter next to the sink. We had always referred to it simply as “coffee cake,” but I later learned that there are, in fact, several varieties of cake which can be called coffee cake. No gathering was complete without a cup of coffee for the adults and a square of that sweet, buttery goodness for everyone.
I Wanna Bake! 