homemade funfetti cake with professional buttercream

I'm hanging out with one of my friends and his girlfriend later today and since I'm actually meeting her for the first time, I wanted to bake her something! So I asked what her favorite dessert was and she said "funfetti cake or anything with pink frosting," and I decided to combine the two. I couldn't find food coloring anywhere so I improvised and used the juice from a bottle of maraschino cherries to color the frosting, but of course, it's easier to use food coloring. Surprisingly the frosting only has a slight taste of the cherries. The frosting tasted way too buttery and was a weird consistency after adding so much liquid so I decided to add confectioners' sugar until it looked more like frosting. This cake looks so 1950s-esque which makes me super happy. I hope it's yummy and liked and there may be more photos of it once we cut it later.

for the cake (recipe via What Katie's Baking)

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 ¾ cups flour
• ⅛ cup cornstarch
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup rainbow sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8" round cake pans.
Combine the egg whites, vanilla, vegetable oil, and whole milk. Whisk together and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl; sift the dry ingredients. Fitted with a paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients with the butter and half of the milk and egg white mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl, and then slowly add the remaining mixture and stop mixing once combined.
Fold in sprinkles and pour mix into pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.


for the frosting (recipe adapted from Yammie's Noshery):

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
6 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb. COLD butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
about 1/2 cup juice from maraschino cherries (or a few drops red food coloring)

confectioners' sugar

Beat the egg yolks and vanilla for about 8 minutes until they're more than doubled in size and very pale.
Meanwhile, heat the water and sugar in a medium sized saucepan on medium high heat. Once the bubbles in the sugar start getting bigger you can start checking the temperature. It needs to be 234º-240ºF on a candy thermometer. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can just take a spoon of it and dip it in ice water to cool it quickly so that you can check it. Once you can form a "soft ball" in your fingers with the syrup, then it's ready. Now, turn on the mixer that you were beating the eggs with and carefully pour a thin stream of the syrup between the beater and the side of the bowl. If you get it on the side it will just harden. Once all the syrup is mixed in to the yolks, just continue beating it until when you touch the bottom of the bowl, it's just slightly warmer than room temperature. Now take a small handful of your cold butter at a time and beat it in with the mixer on full speed. Do not add any more until the last handful is all combined. Beat it all until it's smooth and fluffy. Add the liquid from the cherries while beating slowly, then add confectioners' sugar until the frosting is of fluffy, spreadable consistency.

Frost your cake and decorate with more rainbow sprinkles and some cherries!

chocolate fudge cake

for the chocolate fudge cake:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• ½ tsp salt 
• ½ cup butter 
• 1 ½ cup sugar 
• ½ tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 eggs 
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled 
• ½ cup dairy sour cream 
• 1 cup cold water or hot coffee 

Grease and lightly flour two 9 inch round baking pans.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixture till softened, add sugar and vanilla; beat till combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in cooled chocolate and sour cream. Alternately add flour mixture and cold water, beating on low to medium speed after each addition just till combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake in a 350F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Fill and frost cake.

for the brownie batter filling:

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter 
• 6 oz coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate 
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/2-3/4 cup water 

Melt butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder. Add sugar and vanilla. Mix in flour and water until batter is of a spreadable consistency. Set aside until cake is ready to fill.

for the fudge frosting:

• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled 
• 4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (no need to sift) 
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 
• 6 tbsp heavy cream or whole milk 
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract 

Cream the butter and add in vanilla. Add in cooled chocolate and mix until combined. Add in half of the sugar, mix thoroughly, then add heavy cream. Add in the rest of the sugar and mix well. Add more heavy cream / sugar until you have the desired consistency.

Someone Help Me Name This Cake?

I am terrible at coming up with names for cakes/cookies/meals of any kind. Chocolate cake with so many alterations it barely resembles a typical chocolate cake is still just "chocolate cake." Either that or I have to explain every time whatever is in what I made, instead of just having a clever name that sums it all up. So if anyone has any suggestions for this, let me know? I may not have a name for it, but I can assure you it's delicious.

Sometimes when I'm bored and in a cooking mood, I look up recipes for a specific thing to make (like cake for example), decide on a base recipe (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, something with fruit), open up a new tab a million tabs from other sites and start assembling bits and pieces of the final recipe in Gmail. Today was one of those days. Obviously, this process gets complicated if certain things I want to make, I don't have the ingredients for, but most of the time I just make substitutions or alterations.
I originally hadn't intended to, since I make things with Oreos so often, but I added Oreos at the last minute because I knew I wanted a filling of some sort / two different frostings so it wasn't overwhelmingly chocolate. I love cakes dripping with ganache on top, but have never made one, and I also think cakes decorated in a creative way (not the frosting this time, since I lost my piping bag and tips) are always awesome.

So I decided on chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, cookies & cream frosting in between the layers, covered in dripping ganache and decorated with Halloween nonpareils and Whoppers because it's October and I need to use my Halloween sprinkles, don't judge me.
Another thing: I AM ABSOLUTELY AWFUL AT WAITING FOR CAKES TO COOL. I'm so excited and eager to frost the cake that most of the time, I put the frosting in between the layers and it melts right away. I have tried to hurry the cake up by putting it in the freezer / fridge but of course, the middle is always still warm and causes everything to melt and be lopsided, etc. Do not be like me. If you are like me, and end up with a tilty cake, put it in the fridge for a bit until the cake is cool and frosting has hardened up a bit, then fill in any gaps and try to make everything as even as possible. Other blogs have tutorials and things of that nature for how to properly frost the perfect cake, and I would advise looking at them at least once (unless you're one of those people who isn't a perfectionist and doesn't care what the cake looks like as long as it tastes good; then just keep being you because you are awesome and I admire you).

for the cake:

• ¾ cup butter room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate melted

chocolate buttercream: 

• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• A pinch of salt
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (or to taste)
• ½ cup + 1 tbsp cocoa powder

oreo filling:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
•  about 1 row of Oreo cookies, finely crushed
• 2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

dark chocolate glaze:

• ¾ a cup of dark chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp of heavy cream
• 1 tbsp of powdered sugar 
• (a couple of tsp of water if needed)

the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 inch pan with parchment paper or lightly grease with baking spray. Set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder.
Add the melted chocolate to the cake batter and pour it into the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

the glaze:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place a heat proof bowl over the top of the simmering water.
Add in chocolate and heavy cream, stir continuously until melted.Stir in sugar.
If it does not look pourable, add some water 1 tsp at a time until it is.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.
You can work the chocolate down the sides with a rubber spatula to create drips

the chocolate buttercream:
Whip in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment butter, and flavoring till creamy then whip in powdered sugar and cocoa. Set aside until ready to use.

oreo filling:
Grind/crush Oreo cookies until fine.
Cube butter and place in stand alone mixer bowl.
Using the whisk attachment, whisk butter, vanilla, 1 cup of sugar, and Oreo cookies together on medium speed until smooth.
Add remaining sugar and 2 tbsp cream.
Whisk on medium to high for a few minutes until frosting is smooth.

(recipe sources / recipes altered:  cake | oreo frosting | glaze | buttercream)

Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting and Vanilla Spice Filling

I wanted to make a cake, but unfortunately didn't get the ingredients until Saturday.
I altered this recipe a bit and if I ever use it again, I would definitely make some changes. I should have known when I read the recipe that pouring all that batter into one 9" cake pan sounded a little suspicious, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. I already had to convert the oven temperature to Fahrenheit, so I thought maybe the amounts just didn't add up to make a normal 2-layer cake, and when I poured it, it wouldn't have fit evenly into two 9" pans (one cake layer would have been exceptionally smaller). I think if I hadn't omitted the coffee, maybe it would have fit into two pans. I probably should have just boiled one cup of hot water to add instead but left it out entirely, which is one reason why the cake wasn't as moist as it could have been.
The cake, along with not coming out as moist as I'd hoped, it overflowed in the pan, making it so the outside almost burned but the middle was still quite raw. I managed to cook it all the way through, carve off the really crunchy pieces, and cut it in half to make a 2-layer cake. It looks prettier than it tastes, I will admit that. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to cooking, and I believe there's always ways to make things better.

Chocolate Cake (recipe adapted from Sips and Spoonfuls)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot brewed coffee or water
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350° F and spray two 9" cake pans with cooking spray. In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat the butter, sugars, and eggs. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla to the wet mixture. Combine the wet and dry mixtures. Mix well until combined and then add coffee/hot water. Mix once again. Pour into greased pans and bake in the middle rack in the oven for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out just clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla Spice Buttercream (makes just enough for filling in between 2 cake layers)

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp milk (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2—2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Add cinnamon. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and beat until desired consistency. Add milk and/or more sugar until icing is the desired consistency.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting (adapted from Smitten Kitchen; makes about 5 cups)

• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate*, melted and cooled
• 4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Beat your butter and chocolate until incorporated. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add more or less milk / sugar until the frosting is the desired consistency.

*(I used half a bag of Hershey's dark chocolate chips; in retrospect, unsweetened chocolate would have been better, as I think the frosting turned out too sweet)

Halloween Whoopie Pies

Being home from college means an opportunity to bake for my favorite holiday! I made pumpkin whoopie pies last year, so this year I’m just making traditional ones, colored black and orange. Halloween sprinkles/nonpareils optional.

Have you ever written something down and then read it completely wrong, even though you wrote it? That’s what happened when I was making the cake portion of the pies. I didn’t do the steps in order and the batter came out completely lumpy and unappetizing due to me mixing the cocoa with the flour and then the coffee-water mixture with that. What were you thinking, brain? Granted, this isn’t my usual recipe for whoopie pies, and we didn’t have the full amount of brown sugar the recipe calls for, but oh well. My mom had one and says they taste good. I’m sure the amazing filling makes up for my cake mistake. Seriously. Try not to eat the whole bowl of that stuff before you fill the whoopie pies. It was hard for me not to.

Halloween Whoopie Pies
For the cake:

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup hot coffee (I used espresso powder mixed with water)
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1-2 tablespoons black food coloring (depends on how dark you’d like your cake to be)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, add cocoa powder. Pour the hot coffee and water over the mixture and whisk thoroughly until powders are completely dissolved.

In another medium bowl, mix together the canola oil and light brown sugar. Add this to the cocoa mixture and whisk until combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and buttermilk, and food coloring and whisk until smooth.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the food coloring until the batter is as black as you want it. (If you’re using liquid food coloring and the batter becomes too runny, add about 1/8 cup flour.)

Either use a medium ice cream scoop or piping bag fit with a large round tip to measure out the cookies. Release or pipe 2” rounds onto baking sheets, 1 inch apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until the cookies crack slightly on top and spring back in the center when gently pressed. Let cool completely, then remove from sheet with a spatula.

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow Fluff
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• red and yellow food coloring (optional)

Add all ingredients to bowl and mix together. Add food coloring until filling is a noticable shade of orange. Scoop mixture into empty freezer back. Snip one corner off bag and pipe the frosting onto 1/2 of pie. Sandwich to make complete pie.

Berry Birthday Cake

I jumped at the chance to make this particular cake, since I had wanted to last year for my birthday, but fruit is never really in season around my birthday, unfortunately.
I originally followed this recipe for the frosting, but it tasted just like butter and nothing else, so that’s when I added the powdered sugar and other extra ingredients. If I made the frosting again, I would use the recipe below. Also, next time I would definitely put a layer of fresh berries (strawberries/blueberries/blackberries/raspberries) in between the layers of the cake. I didn’t have any at the time, so I just decorated the top with the few fresh berries we had on hand. It was delicious, but more strawberries would have definitely added to it.

Berry Birthday Cake  makes a 2 layer 8-inch cake or 24 cupcakes

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8-inch round baking pans and set aside.

In a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure that everything is well mixed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.
In a small bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate small bowl combine the milk and vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk mixture in three batches. Start and end with the flour mixture. When the batter is just combined, shut off the mixture and thoroughly incorporate the dough with a rubber spatula.

Divide the batter between the two pans. Add blueberries to top of each pan. Poke them down into the batter a bit with either your finger or a spoon.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a pale golden color, and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. For cupcakes bake 25 to 30 minutes.
Let the cakes cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool. Frost and berry only when cakes are completely cool.

Cinnamon Vanilla Whipped Buttercream Frosting

• 2 sticks (1 cup) organic unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons organic vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cream the butter on medium speed, 3 to 5 minutes, in a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer until soft, adout 30 seconds. Add the sugar a little at a time until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla and heavy cream, then beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.
(adapted from Joy The Baker)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Another thing on the list of foods I had never tried was red velvet cake. (Well I had some once and didn’t like it at all, but I figured the reason I didn’t like it was because it was from the grocery store, so I never really counted that as trying it.) So while my friend was over, we decided we’d make some red velvet cupcakes. I received The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook as a gift for my birthday in November, and had used it a few times before this (the best and only actually noteworthy I’ve made from it was Apple Pecan Quick Bread) and it had a recipe for red velvet cake, so I figured I’d try it out.
This was sadly one of the worst cakes I’ve ever made, due to it being too dry. All of the cake recipes I’ve made from this cookbook have been really dry. I think they purposely leave out ingredients in their cake recipes or something since that’s what the bakery is known for. I’m still not counting this as having tried red velvet cake, because I doubt this is what it was supposed to taste like. So here’s the recipe anyway, but if you want to make red velvet cake, I wouldn’t make this particular recipe:

Christmas Red Velvet Cupcakes (from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)
Red Velvet Cake

• 3 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp red food coloring*
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pan with papers. In a small bowl sift the flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs beating well after each addition. In another small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring cocoa, and vanilla. (Basically just try to make a very red paste mixture. If your batter looks more pink than red after you add the cocoa-food coloring mixture to the rest of the wet ingredients, just keep adding more food coloring until it looks as red as you want it to be.) Add to the batter and beat very well, remembering to scrape down the sides of the bowl. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter into the bowl making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Spoon the batter into the cupcake papers, about 3/4 full. Bake about 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let cool and then frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Makes just over 2 dozen cupcakes.

Whipped Cream Cheese Icing

• 1lb (2 8oz packages) cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the powdered sugar, alternating with the heavy cream. Then beat well for about 4-5 minutes until icing has a “whipped” texture and everything is incorporated. If need be, thicken in fridge for a couple hours, but no longer, before using.

Eggnog Cupcakes

Eggnog Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup eggnog
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Yields about 2 dozen cupcakes, give or take a few.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers. In a small bowl combine the flours and spices, set aside. In a large bowl on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the eggnog and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the ingredients into cupcake liners, filling them 3/4 full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely before icing.

White Chocolate Eggnog Buttercream (adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 8 tablespoons eggnog
• 12 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly over a double-boiler
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon heavy cream
• 5 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons - 1 tablespoon nutmeg*

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the eggnog and beat until smooth. Add the melted white chocolate and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and heavy cream. Gradually add the sugar on low speed, alternating with the nutmeg until creamy and of desired consistency.

*how much you add depends on how much you want the nutmeg flavor to come through (though I find the white chocolate flavor tends to overpower it anyway, and I just add it because I like the color/specks).

Banana Birthday Cake

For the past few years, I’ve been making my own birthday cakes. Mostly just as a chance to experiment with decorating (like this Pyramid Head Hello Kitty cake for my 15th birthday, a Batman themed cake for my 16th, and a rainbow cake for my 17th), but lately since I’ve been more into the culinary arts than I ever have been in my life, it’s also a way to learn more about how to make certain kinds of cakes. I had a bunch of different options picked out, but then finally got down to this one. I wanted a really big cake for my 18th birthday, but I think I actually made too much cake. Also, dowels would have worked better than lollypop sticks to keep the cake structurally sound, but it was all I had at the time and I didn’t anticipate the cake almost toppling over.

Things to note: I doubled the recipe for both the cake and the frosting, and added cinnamon to the frosting. It gave me four layers! The cake started to tip over so I had to put lollypop sticks through it to hold it up and as you can see, half of it fell over after it was cut. It basically tasted like a cakey banana bread with frosting, but it was very good. Super rich though, I could only eat a couple bites at a time.

Banana Cake

• 1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/8 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups icing sugar

Garnish

• chopped walnuts

Directions:
Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

Preheat oven to 275°.
Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
Stir in banana mixture.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
Spread on cooled cake.
Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired.

Hot Fudge Sunday Cupcakes

If you know me, you know I always like to bake something whenever I’m invited somewhere, or am going to see friends. I was going to PortCon Maine with some friends, and we were going to meet up with a bunch of friends we hadn’t seen in a long time (since they all live in Maine). So I asked everyone which cupcakes they would rather me make, and they picked these ones. They stayed surprisingly in tact during the 2 hour drive to Portland.
(recipe courtesy of Joy The Baker)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

October and December are probably two of my largest baking months. I try to make as many Halloween or Christmas themed desserts as possible. Halloween is my favorite holiday, after all. Pumpkin is my mother’s favorite flavor of anything, ever (I personally hate it). She’ll eat anything pumpkin, and we have to stock up on as many cans of pumpkin puree as possible while it’s in season, in case she craves it in the middle of June. Whoopie pies are also one of her favorite desserts. So for Halloween, I decided I’d decorate them with ganache to look like Jack o’Lanterns. I’ve heard chocolate and pumpkin is a good combination, but I don’t know. My mother didn’t seem to especially like it, and if I ever do it again, I’ll probably make white chocolate colored yellow to decorate them.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground fresh nutmeg
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 cups chilled pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare to baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk sugars and oil together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.
Gradually add flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.
Using a large pastry tip of your choice, pipe the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the pan while you make the filling. They will look more like mini cakes then cookies, so don’t panic about that.

Filling

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup marshmallow fluff
• 1 tbsp vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth with no visible lumps. Add the fluff and beat until combined.
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Be careful no to overbeat the filling, or it will lose structure.

Chocolate Ganache (to decorate)

• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

In a double boiler, heat chocolate and heavy cream. Stir together until melted and combined. Pipe or drizzle over tops of whoopie pies.

Chocolate Spice Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream Frosting

I went antique shopping the other day and came home with 2 new vintage cookbooks - one from 1940 and one from the 1950s. I have never seen the word “jellied” used so many times in one place. I eventually want to make something from every section of each of them. I originally was going to make the recipe word for word from the cookbook, but it looked like it had way too much liquid involved, so I ended up adapting it quite a bit. The buttercream frosting is of my own invention and is one of the tastiest frostings I’ve ever had. Not to brag or anything.

Spiced Devil’s Food Cake (adapted from The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedia of Cooking and Homemaking; 1940 edition)

• 2½ cups sifted flour
• 1½ tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 ounces (squares) bakers chocolate
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup strong coffee (still hot)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Sift flour, spices, baking soda and salt together; set aside. Cream shortening with sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Melt chocolate on top of stove in a double boiler. Add beaten eggs and chocolate and beat thoroughly.Add sifted dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately in small amounts, beating well after each addition. Add hot coffee and blend.Pour into cupcake tins 3/4 full and bake 30-35 minutes.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 or more tablespoons heavy cream
• ½ to 3/4 cup caramel sauce (either homemade or store-bought; how much you add depends on how much you want the caramel flavor to show through)
• salt*

Cream butter at medium speed until fluffy, then slowly add the confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla, and one tablespoon of heavy cream. Gradually add the caramel sauce then turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the rest of the heavy cream, then turn the mixer to high speed. And whip until fluffy. Or add more cream if needed to achieve a more glaze-like consistency or whip more air into the frosting to give it more body and a “whipped” buttercream texture.
*add salt to taste and it will become salted caramel buttercream

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Halloween being my favorite holiday, I make a lot of themed desserts during the month of October. I love the idea of rainbow cake, so I thought, why not make a cake the colors of candy corn? I actually don’t really like candy corn (which is why I spent days looking for candy corn Hershey’s kisses), but it’s one of the most traditional Halloween candies.

To make these, I just used a plain white cake recipe (here's one) and divided the batter in half, coloring one half with red and yellow food coloring to make orange, and yellow food coloring for the other half. Before cooking, I placed the yellow batter on the bottom, and the orange on top, making sure they didn't mix.

The frosting is just vanilla buttercream, but you can use whatever frosting you like, especially since white cake doesn't taste like much to begin with.

Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frostingyields enough to frost a dozen cupcakes

• 1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2½ cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.

Marble Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

This was Plan B after the strawberry shortcake ended up being too small.
I’m proud of how the frosting/decorating came out, since at this point I was still not very good with my piping bags (admittedly I’m still not that great with them).
Marble Cake With Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1. Devil’s Food Cake

• 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs

Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. In a large mixing bowl beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium high to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Add flour mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

2. Yellow Cake

• 4 1/4 cups flour
• 3 1/3 cups sugar
• 3 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 large eggs plus 1 yolk
• 2 cups buttermilk (I used 2 cups soy milk and 2 tbsp lemon as a substitute)
• 3/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Sift all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Whisk together all other ingredients, starting with sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Hold back a little bit of buttermilk. Gradually add the flour. If your batter seems a little thick, add the rest of the milk. If not, don’t add it. Whisk until everything is completely combined.

To make the marble cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 or 9inch cake pans. Add a little devil’s food batter to the bottom of each, then a little yellow cake. Keep doing this until the pans are about 3/4 full. Take a fork and sweep the batter back and forth until you get a “marbled” look. Cook for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (I made a double batch for this recipe)

• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• milk

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler, then let cool slightly.

Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer for about 1 minute. Add the chocolate, powdered sugar, and vanilla, and beat until creamy and smooth. If the frosting is too stiff, add milk 1/4 tsp at a time, until the frosting is spreadable.

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

I can't believe I made this (and started my food blog on tumblr) a little over a year ago. Going back through old posts is really odd sometimes. Not the prettiest photo, I know. This was supposed to be for someone at my mother's work, but I overestimated the size of the cake and should have doubled the recipe. It ended up being too small and I ate it instead (after making another replacement cake).

In retrospect I would have probably puréed some strawberries and added that to the simple syrup, or soaked the cake in jam to give it more flavor.

(made using this recipe)