Recipe for Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake photos

Saturday 2 January 2016

Coffee Cake Recipes Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Coffee Cake Recipes Biography

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Coffee cake is a common cake or sweet bread available in many countries. It is generally intended to be eaten with coffee or tea (for example, as part of a breakfast meal), during a "coffee break" or offered to guests as a gesture of hospitality. Leavening agents include both yeast, which results in a more bread-like texture, and baking soda and/or baking powder, which results in a more cake-like texture.

They are typically single layer cakes that may be square or rectangular like a Stollen, round, or ring shaped, as a bundt. Coffee cakes may be flavored with cinnamon or other spices, nuts, and fruits. These cakes sometimes have a crumb topping called streusel and/or a light glaze drizzle. Some similarity to teacakes may be found, though teacakes can be individually sized baked items served with tea. Coffee cake is sometimes served as a brunch food.

The name coffee cake may seem confusing to English speaking foreign tourists, as the cake batter itself does not usually contain any coffee, in opposite to i.e. apple pie containing apples or chocolate cake containing chocolate as main ingredient.

Coffee Cake is a North American, informal, everyday cake. It is not layered or decorated for fancy presentation.

Despite the name, it doesn't have coffee in it, and is not a coffee-flavoured cake (though it used to be.) Rather, it is a cake meant to be eaten while having coffee.

Coffee Cakes are usually bread-like, made from a yeast dough, or dough risen with baking powder or baking soda. Extra ingredients such as fruit, nuts and spiced sugar can be stirred in, swirled in, or made as a middle layer. Some sprinkle cinnamon sugar in the middle of the batter; some sprinkle it on top.

The emphasis used to be on richness, with sour cream and cream cheese included in many recipes, but now the trend is for low-fat versions of them, which tend to be quite dry. Consequently, some people have started spreading butter on the sides of their piece of Coffee Cake.

Coffee Cake can be glazed or iced, or served plain, warm or room temperature, for breakfast, or when people drop by during the day or evening.
History Notes

Coffee Cake evolved over time in North America from sweetened bread recipes brought over from Europe, particularly by Germans and Scandinavians, as ordinary people had more leisure to visit and have coffee with friends and neighbours. The bread-like ones came first, then more cake-like ones.

Ingredients

for the sponge
50 grams walnut pieces
225 grams caster sugar
225 grams soft unsalted butter (plus some for greasing)
200 grams plain flour
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4 large eggs
1 - 2 tablespoons milk
for the buttercream frosting
350 grams icing sugar
175 grams soft unsalted butter
2 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder (dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water)
approx. 10 walnut halves

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350°F.
Butter two 20cm / 8inch sandwich tins and line the base of each with baking parchment.
Put the walnut pieces and sugar into a food processor and blitz to a fine nutty powder.
Add the 225g/2 sticks butter, flour, 4 teaspoons espresso powder, baking powder, bicarb and eggs and process to a smooth batter.
Add the milk, pouring it down the funnel with the motor still running, or just pulsing, to loosen the cake mixture: it should be a soft, dropping consistency, so add more milk if you need to. (If you are making this by hand, bash the nuts to a rubbly powder with a rolling pin and mix with the dry ingredients; then cream the butter and sugar together, and beat in some dry ingredients and eggs alternately and, finally, the milk.)
Divide the mixture between the 2 lined tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the sponge has risen and feels springy to the touch.
Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, before turning them out onto the rack and peeling off the baking parchment.
When the sponges are cool, you can make the buttercream.
Pulse the icing sugar in the food processor until it is lump free, then add the butter and process to make a smooth icing.
Dissolve the instant espresso powder in 1 tablespoon boiling water and add it while still hot to the processor, pulsing to blend into the buttercream.
If you are doing this by hand, sieve the icing sugar and beat it into the butter with a wooden spoon.
Then beat in the hot coffee liquid.
Place 1 sponge upside down on your cake stand or serving plate.
Spread with about half the icing; then place on it the second sponge, right side up (i.e. so the 2 flat sides of the sponges meet in the middle) and cover the top with the remaining icing in a ramshackle swirly pattern.
This cake is all about old-fashioned, rustic charm, so don’t worry unduly: however the frosting goes on is fine. similarly, don’t fret about some buttercream oozing out around the middle: that’s what makes it look so inviting.

Gently press the walnut halves into the top of the icing all around the edge of the circle about 1cm apart.

Coffee Cake Recipes Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Chocolate Mud Cake Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Chocolate Mud Cake Recipe Biography

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I know I know, another chocolate cake but before you close the page close your eyes. Actually open your eyes and read this then close your eyes and imagine this.
You pick up your cake fork and raise it to touch the top of the glossy icing. As you press gently you meet no resistance from the thick layer of chocolate goodness. You can smell the richness and can’t wait to get it to your mouth.

As you reach the cake layer you press a little harder and the cake crumbles and squishes a little onto the fork. You raise it to your mouth and get another whiff of intoxicating chocolate.
It hits your lips and then the icing coats your teeth and lips like lipstick. As soon as the flavour hits your tongue you want more of the tender crumb and smooth as silk icing. You’re in chocolate cake heaven.

Ok back you come. I so wish that there was a way you could smell this cake through the computer because I guarantee you’d be diving into your screen to get a taste.
Yesterday, a friend emailed me asking for a chocolate cake recipe. ‘I know you have a lot on the blog, but which would you say is best?’
Her question couldn’t have come at a better time because this dear reader, is quite possibly the best ever chocolate mud cake. Well the best that I’ve made that’s for sure. I know it’s a big call but I can confidently say that (edit: and if you read the comments you’ll see others agree!).

Of course that is just my opinion, feel free to make it just to prove me wrong (or back me up), any excuse to bake it will do. The recipe is quite similar to one I was given by my mum’s friend. It’s a secret recipe that I’m not allowed to blog, but this one, well this one I’m allowed to share and share it I will.

I do love ganache but sometimes it can be a bit rich even to me. My most favourite chocolate icing is the one Nigella makes for her Devil’s Food Cake. It has no cream but a lot of butter, chocolate and brown sugar and it is just so light and fluffy and sweet and chocolatey and smooth and … do you get the picture?
I posted this photo on Facebook the day I made the cake with the caption ‘I may have eaten a great deal of this icing as I iced the cake. Like if you’d have done the same.’ I got a few likes that day. Sadly I wasn’t lying, I really did eat quite a lot of icing. There was a bit left over and it would have been a shame to let it go to waste right?

I served it for Valentine’s Day dessert with some little raspberry hearts in cream (because I forgot to whip the cream and I was too lazy to do it after dinner – bad wife!). Isn’t that cake to icing ratio wonderful?

If I still haven’t convinced you, I’m considering making my own Birthday cake this year instead of asking for my most favourite cake in the world from Jocelyn’s Provisions. If that doesn’t convince you then nothing will. Enjoy!

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup milk
½ cup oil
250g dark chocolate, broken up or roughly chopped
1 cup hot strong coffee, can be strong instant
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup Chelsea LoGiCane™ Low GI Sugar or Chelsea Raw Sugar
½ cup cocoa
2 eggs

Chocolate Ganache Icing:
400g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup cream

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the base of a 22 - 23 cm spring-form tin with non-stick baking paper and spray with non-stick baking spray.
Mix the lemon juice with the milk and set aside for it to sour the milk.
Place oil, chocolate and hot coffee in a microwave bowl or small saucepan and heat gently, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and the mixture smooth. Cool.

In a large bowl, mix the flour baking soda, baking powder, sugar and cocoa.
Mix the eggs and soured milk into the cooled chocolate mixture, combine thoroughly, and then whisk into the dry ingredients.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. When tested, fudgy crumbs will still adhere to a skewer. This is the desirable sticky mud cake consistency. Cool for 15 minutes in the tin, then turn out and cool further on a wire rack. When cold, cut the cake in half using a serrated knife, ice the centre and top with thick Chocolate Ganache icing.

Chocolate Ganache

Place both chocolate and cream in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool then refrigerate for 30 - 40 minutes until the mixture is a thick spreading consistency. Chill the frosted cake and serve with softly whipped cream or thick yoghurt.

Chocolate Mud Cake Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Cheese Cake Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Cheese Cake Recipe Biography

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Cheesecake is a beloved dessert around the world. While many assume that it has its origins in New York, it actually dates back much further. Let's go back over 4,000 years to ancient Greece! Sit back, grab a creamy slice of cheesecake and learn all about this dessert’s rich history.

The first “cheese cake” may have been created on the Greek island of Samos. Physical anthropologists excavated cheese molds there which were dated circa 2,000 B.C. Cheese and cheese products had most likely been around for thousands of years before this, but earlier than this goes into prehistory (that period in human history before the invention of writing) so we will never really know. In Greece, cheesecake was considered to be a good source of energy, and there is evidence that it was served to athletes during the first Olympic games in 776 B.C. Greek brides and grooms were also known to use cheesecake as a wedding cake. The simple ingredients of flour, wheat, honey and cheese were formed into a cake and baked – a far cry from the more complicated recipes available today!

The writer Athenaeus is credited for writing the first Greek cheesecake recipe in 230 A.D. (By this time, the Greeks had been serving cheesecake for over 2,000 years but this is the oldest known surviving Greek recipe!) It was also pretty basic - pound the cheese until it is smooth and pasty - mix the pounded cheese in a brass pan with honey and spring wheat flour - heat the cheese cake “in one mass” - allow to cool then serve.

When the Romans conquered Greece, the cheesecake recipe was just one spoil of war. They modified it including crushed cheese and eggs. These ingredients were baked under a hot brick and it was served warm. Occasionally, the Romans would put the cheese filling in a pastry. The Romans called their cheese cake “libuma” and they served it on special occasions. Marcus Cato, a Roman politician in the first century B.C., is credited as recording the oldest known Roman cheesecake recipe.

As the Romans expanded their empire, they brought cheesecake recipes to the Europeans. Great Britain and Eastern Europe began experimenting with ways to put their own unique spin on cheesecake. In each country of Europe, the recipes started taking on different cultural shapes, using ingredients native to each region. In 1545, the first cookbook was printed. It described the cheesecake as a flour-based sweet food. Even Henry VIII’s chef did his part to shape the cheesecake recipe. Apparently, his chef cut up cheese into very small pieces and soaked those pieces in milk for three hours. Then, he strained the mixture and added eggs, butter and sugar.

It was not until the 18th century, however, that cheesecake would start to look like something we recognize in the United States today. Around this time, Europeans began to use beaten eggs instead of yeast to make their breads and cakes rise. Removing the overpowering yeast flavor made cheesecake taste more like a dessert treat. When Europeans immigrated to America, some brought their cheesecake recipes along.
Adding Signature Ingredient

Cream cheese was an American addition to the cake, and it has since become a staple ingredient in the United States. In 1872, a New York dairy farmer was attempting to replicate the French cheese Neufchatel. Instead, he accidentally discovered a process which resulted in the creation of cream cheese. Three years later, cream cheese was packaged in foil and distributed to local stores under the Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand. The Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand was purchased in 1903 by the Phoenix Cheese Company, and then it was purchased in 1928 by the Kraft Cheese Company. Kraft continues to make this very same delicious Philadelphia Cream Cheese that we are all familiar with today.
New York Style Cheesecake

Of course, no story of cheesecake is complete without delving into the origins of the New York style cheesecake. The Classic New York style cheesecake is served with just the cake – no fruit, chocolate or caramel is served on the top or on the side. This famously smooth-tasting cake gets its signature flavor from extra egg yolks in the cream cheese cake mix.

By the 1900s, New Yorkers were in love with this dessert. Virtually every restaurant had its own version of cheesecake on their menu. New Yorkers have vied for bragging rights for having the original recipe ever since. Even though he is best known for his signature sandwiches, Arnold Reuben (1883-1970) is generally credited for creating the New York Style cheesecake. Reuben was born in Germany and he came to America when he was young. The story goes that Reuben was invited to a dinner party where the hostess served a cheese pie. Allegedly, he was so intrigued by this dish that he experimented with the recipe until he came up with the beloved NY Style cheesecake.

More Variations in America

New York is not the only place in America that puts its own spin on cheesecakes. In Chicago, sour cream is added to the recipe to keep it creamy. Meanwhile, Philadelphia cheesecake is known for being lighter and creamier than New York style cheesecake and it can be served with fruit or chocolate toppings. In St. Louis, they enjoy a gooey butter cake, which has an additional layer of cake topping on the cheesecake filling.
Cheesecake Around the World

Each region of the world also has its own take on the best way to make the dessert. Italians use ricotta cheese, while the Greeks use mizithra or feta. Germans prefer cottage cheese, while the Japanese use a combination of cornstarch and egg whites. There are specialty cheesecakes that include blue cheese, seafood, spicy chilies and even tofu! In spite of all the variations, the popular dessert’s main ingredients – cheese, wheat and a sweetener –remain the same.

No matter how you slice it, cheesecake is truly a dessert that has stood the test of time. From its earliest recorded beginnings on Samos over 4,000 years ago to its current iconic status around the world this creamy cake remains a favorite for sweet tooths of all ages.

Cheese Cake Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Christmas Cake Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Christmas Cake Recipes Biography

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A Christmas cake may be light or dark, crumbly-moist to sticky-wet, spongy to heavy, leavened or unleavened,shaped round, square or oblong as whole cakes, cupcake, or petit fours, with marzipan, icing, glazing, dusting with icing sugar, or plain. If a Christmas cake is covered in icing, it is quite common for it to be decorated - models of houses, of fir trees or of Santa Claus may be in the array of decorations.

A particular favourite of many is the traditional Scottish Christmas cake, the Whisky Dundee. As the name implies, the cake originated in Dundee and is made with Scotch whisky. It is a light and crumbly cake, and light on fruit and candied peel—only currants, raisins, sultanas and cherries. This Christmas cake is particularly good for people who don't like very rich and moist cakes.

In the middle of the spectrum is the mincemeat Christmas cake, which is any traditional or vegetarian mincemeat, mixed with flour, eggs, etc., to transform it into a cake batter;or it can also be steamed as a Christmas pudding.

Coins were also occasionally added to Christmas cakes as well as Christmas puddings as good luck touch pieces. The usual choices were silver 3d piece, or sixpences, sometimes wrapped in greaseproof paper packages.

In Yorkshire, Christmas cake, as with other types of fruit cake, can be eaten with cheese, such as Wensleydale.

A cake that may also be served at Christmas time in the United Kingdom, in addition to the traditional Christmas cake, is the cake known as a "chocolate log". This is a Swiss roll that is coated in chocolate, resembling a log.

In other countries
In the United States, some people give fruitcakes as gifts at Christmas time, but they are not called Christmas cakes.In the neighbouring country of Canada, however, such an item is labelled a Christmas cake, at least among the English-speaking majority.

In India, Christmas cakes are traditionally a fruit cake with many variants. Allahabadi cake is famous for its rich taste and texture.

In Japan, Christmas cakes are traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve. They are simply a sponge cake, frosted with whipped cream, often decorated with strawberries, and usually topped with Christmas chocolates or other seasonal fruits, and a Santa Claus decoration. Christmas cakes of this style were originally released by Fujiya, and was popularized when they began sales at Ginza, the central commercial district in Tokyo.This was during the time when Japan was going through massive waves of Westernization, particularly by the upper elite class. Members of the upper class, who had a strong penchant for Western cultures in general, enjoyed Western style desserts as a delicacy. Thus, being a Western style dessert, Christmas cakes were associated with the idea of Western modernity and social status.Therefore, it was a major hit when the Christmas cakes were commercialized and became more affordable to the general public. As Christmas in Japan developed as a full-fledged commercial event, competition among confectionery stores got intense. Different shapes and styles of Christmas cakes are released across the countless numbers of confectionery stores in the country; the cakes are no longer tied down to the traditional form of round white cakes with strawberries and Santa Claus on top.The Christmas cakes today are symbolized as a ritual of Christmas celebration; specifically, the act of sharing the cake with family or friends.

In the Philippines, Christmas cakes are bright rich yellow pound cakes with macerated nuts or fruitcakes of the British fashion. Both are soaked in copious amounts of brandy or rum mixed with a simple syrup of palm sugar and water. Traditionally, civet musk is added, but rosewater or orange flower water is more common now, as civet musk has become very expensive. These liquor-laden cakes can usually stay fresh for many months provided they are handled properly.

In Germany, Stollen, a traditional German fruitcake, is popular. During the Christmas season, it's also called Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen.

In Italy, Panettone, a sweet sourdough bread with a distinct cupola shape, is traditionally eaten at Christmas. It contains raisins and candied citrus fruit and is prepared meticulously over several days.

In France, a Bûche de Noël (Yule Log cake) is the traditional Christmas cake.

In Cyprus, it is served on Christmas Day. It is the first treat the locals serve to their guests. Cypriot Christmas cake is much like the UK equivalent.

Christmas Cake Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Cherry Cake Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos

Cherry Cake Recipe Biography

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I have very fond memories of cherry chip cake, I really do. (You know, as opposed to all of those very unpleasing memories of other cake varieties.) But it does seem that I hold a special place in my heart for the irresistibly sweet and old-fashioned cherry chip cake. The idea of it triggers not only childhood memories for me, but grown-up memories that make me smile.

I remember the very first birthday I celebrated with my husband’s mom and family, I was turning 29. Grant and I had been together for only 5 months at the time, and we spent my birthday weekend at their cottage in Gananoque. Grant’s mom, Mary Lou, had asked Grant what kind of cake I would like her to make. He assured her that if it was cherry chip and iced in pink, it would be the perfect birthday cake for me (who knew?). I remember that cake so well. It was a perfect cherry chip heart-shaped cake (my favourite cake-shape from childhood) smothered in glorious waves of glossy pale pink marshmallow frosting–she even adorned it with some perfect marshmallow flowers! If I didn’t already know in my heart that I was going to marry Grant at that point, that cake would have likely convinced me. ♥

Sweetapolita

You might remember my reflecting on another cherry chip cake memory, a rather monumental one, from our relationship, here in this post. You can see me sneaking a few bites of the one above, on our wedding day, after Grant (my non-baker man) surprised me by making it the day before our wedding and having the staff at the Inn put it in our room that night while we were at our wedding rehearsal. Cherry chip cake with pink icing holds a place in our hearts (you learn why here). I couldn’t resist eating it that day–wedding dress and all–mostly because it meant the world to me, and also because it’s simply the yummiest.

Cherry Delight Cake via Sweetapolita

So if cherry chip cake means so much to me, and us, why have I never made it from scratch before? I have no idea. And I think we can add that to the wonders of the world. Sometimes life just doesn’t make sense. But, here’s what: I made this cake 4 times last week! Well, different variations of it, but I made it. Then made it again. And again. And again. See, it was my birthday and it’s all I could think about–tender vanilla cake with a hint of sweet cherry flavour and little bits of maraschino cherries throughout and smothered in a marshmallow frosting. Since the cherry chip cakes I’ve eaten in my life, and that are so cozily tucked away in my memory, were all baked from cake mixes, I decided to visit some websites to find a good scratch version. Strangely, there really aren’t many out there, but I did come across Deborah’s over at Taste and Tell–hers looks amazing!

Cherry Delight Cake via Sweetapolita

Deborah had modified a fabulous party cake recipe (Perfect Party Cake) from baking genius Dorie Greenspan to create her Cherry Chip version, and since I’ve been eager to try that recipe from Dorie’s book Baking: From My Home to Yours, I ended up slightly adapting Deborah’s recipe for what is now in my top 3 best-loved cake recipes. I did make this cake 4 times, as I said, and the first two attempts I used different cake recipe bases, but I just didn’t love them. I then went ahead and tried Deborah’s and loved it! I increased the recipe to create a 3 layer 8-inch round cake, and made only a few other small changes, such as adding almond extract, using vanilla sugar (I keep a vanilla pod in my sugar jar at all times, so when I bake the sugar enhances recipes to a super vanilla-ness), and adding a few drops of a very concentrated cherry flavour oil. Dorie’s cake layer recipe yields cake that is so light and tender that I’m eager to make an all-vanilla version soon. She is amazing.

I think I may have cherry-chipped my Instagram friends to death last week, but since I was eating, sleeping and breathing it, I couldn’t seem to help it. Here’s one of the first versions I made, and as delightfully cherry vanilla as it was, the layers were just a bit dense in the end. Because my memories are based on the cake mix variety, it was super important to me that the scratch version was a light and fluffy as possible.

Here’s a shot of the third version of the cake I made (mid-frost), with its light and tender cake layers and filled and frosted with Grant’s mom’s old-fashioned frosting (also known as 7 minute frosting, marshmallow frosting, boiled frosting, etc.) that she used for my birthday cake those years ago. The cake tasted incredible with its tender layers filled with sweet and juicy bits of maraschino cherry, hints of almond and vanilla, and covered in billowy marshmallow frosting. I tinted a small amount of the frosting pink for a pastel ombre effect (a subtle version of the pastel swirl technique from this post) and slathered it on generously. Even though the frosting is sweet, with no butter (or any fat for that matter) it’s best enjoyed in bounteous swirls.

I filled and frosted in the old-fashioned frosting, which was fluffy and glorious, but when I made it the final time I actually filled it with a sweet cherry buttercream (I made from my favourite party frosting, Whipped Vanilla Frosting). I just found that it allowed the cake to set nicely without and slipping and sliding, and then I covered the entire cake in copious amounts of the old-fashioned frosting.

Cherry Cake Recipe For Carrot Banana Vanilla Sponge Carrot Fruit Cake Photos