Her Modern Kitchen

Eating & Living in Austin, Texas

Cake & Cupcakes

Tropical Hummingbird Cake for Wheatsville Co-ops 44th Birthday

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A Tropical Hummingbird Cake with fresh pineapple, macadamia nuts, coconut and banana to celebrate Wheatsville Co-ops 44th Birthday on March 16th

Tropical Hummingbird Cake Cut

This month, Wheatsville Co-op is celebrating its 44th birthday and in celebration for the big event, I partnered with them to create this Tropical Hummingbird Cake and give away a $50 gift card to Wheatsville Co-Op to one lucky reader.

Wheatsville Co-op has been an Austin staple for 44 years, officially celebrating their birthday on March 16th.  They have two locations in Austin, once centrally located on Guadalupe near campus (the original), and another in South Austin on South Lamar.  They’re a full-service natural grocery store and if you haven’t tried some of their ridiculously delicious donuts or $5 dinner plates, you’re greatly missing out!

Wheatsville Co-op is also huge in supporting the Austin community. Throughout the year, they partner with a different local non-profit organization each month and donate $1,000 at the end of the organization’s assigned month to the non-profit. For March, Wheatsville is partnering with Austin Parks Foundation. Shoppers also have the ability to ’round-up’ their purchase total to donate to the month’s local non-profit group.

Not Familiar with the Co-op Model?

Wheatsville’s co-op model means that community members invest in Wheatsville becoming members/owners.  Wheatsville’s overall purpose is to serve its owners rather than generate a profit.

Wheatsville Co-op

And when it does generate a profit, it ‘is cycled back into Wheatsville to increase services for the owners, or if sufficient profit is made, it is given back to the owners in the form of a Patronage Rebate.‘

Anyone is welcome to become an owner of Wheatsville and all shoppers are welcome, not just owners but being an owner does come with some perks:

  • Co-op Owner Deals: extra savings for co-op owners
  • Owner Coupons
  • Owner Perks
  • Patronage Rebates: a share of the co-ops profits during sufficiently profitable years
  • University Federal Credit Union Eligibility to join the credit union
  • Vote in the Wheatsville Election for
    • the Board of Directors,
    • Community Action Recipients, and
    • bylaws revisions and owner petitions

Learn more about Wheatsville Co-op model here.

Celebrating Wheatsville Co-op

When I thought about Wheatsville Co-op and their Spring birthday celebration, I was inspired to make something that was fresh, bright, and colorful.  Hummingbird Cake has always been a favorite cake of mine but to give it a little spin, and make something special for Wheatsville, I chose to give this classic recipe a tropical makeover. 

Tropical Hummingbird Cake Served

Traditional Hummingbird Cake has pecans, banana, and pineapple frosted with a cream cheese frosting (see my traditional Hummingbird cupcake recipe here). To bring in tropical flavors, my cake 

  • used macadamia nuts in place of pecans
  • fresh pineapple rather than the traditional canned pineapple
  • coconut oil for an extra tropical treat
  • toasted unsweetened coconut
Tropical Hummingbird Cake Close Up

Texture you can see from the macadamia nuts and pieces of fresh fruit

The result was a sweet, thick cake full of fruity flavors and texture from the macadamia nut pieces and pieces of fruit.  The cake appeared in texture to be a close cousin to banana bread, which IMO is just plain delicious.

Keeping with the fresh and light theme of a Spring birthday, rather than frost the cake in traditional cream cheese frosting, I whipped up a silky, light Swiss meringue buttercream.  The buttercream, paired with the thicker Tropical Hummingbird Cake was a perfect match by not adding too much sweetness to the already fruit-forward cake.

Tropical Hummingbird Cake Displayed

To decorate the cake, I wanted a slightly feminine look for Wheatsville’s Spring birthday and chose to tint the Swiss meringue buttercream a light violet color for its base and decorate the cake with wrapped buttercream piped stars in different hues of purple, complimenting Wheatsville Co-ops own purple branding.

Recreate Wheatsville Co-ops Tropical Hummingbird Cake yourself with the recipe below.

Giveaway

In honor of Wheatsville Co-ops 44th birthday on March 16th, you have an opportunity to win a $50 gift card to shop the store!  Head on over to my Instagram page and

Tropical Hummingbird Cake

Tropical Hummingbird Cake
 
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Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups chopped macadamia nuts, toasted*
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon all-spice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup mashed banana, about 2 medium ripe bananas
  • 1 cup fresh pineapple, crushed**
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • ⅔ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • ¾ cup coconut sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut, toasted*
  • 12 cups Swiss meringue buttercream, colored to your liking
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Grease three 8-inch cake pans and dust with flour. Line bottoms with parchment then set aside.
  3. Place all dry ingredients (nuts through salt) into a medium bowl and whisk together to combine.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the bananas, pineapple, eggs, melted coconut oil, both sugars, and vanilla extract.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in the toasted coconut.
  6. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. (I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.)
  7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, rotating the pans in the oven halfway through. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean.
  8. Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before stacking and frosting.
  9. Assemble the cake by placing 1 cake layer on your cake stand, topping it with ~3/4 cup Swiss meringue buttercream. Repeat with the remaining two layers. Frost the outside of the cake and decorate as desired with additional tinted buttercream using piping tips. Serve immediately and refrigerate any extra servings for up to 3-days.
Notes
*To toast your macadamia nuts and/or coconut, place them in a large skillet over medium-high heat and warm until they begin to lightly brown, stirring frequently to ensure they don't burn (5-7 minutes). Remove from heat and cool completely before using. Do not toast the coconut and nuts together. They will brown at different rates. Ensure you toast them separately.
**To 'crush' your pineapple, place about 1½ cups of fresh pineapple chunks into your food processor, and pulse 6-8 times. Ensure there aren't any big chunks of pineapple and do not process too long or you'll make pineapple puree.

 

Girl Scout Cookie Lover’s Samoa Cookie Cake (Caramel deLite Cake)

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This Girl Scout Samoa Cookie Cake stars three chocolate cakes layered with a brown sugar coconut filling, caramel frosting, and a chocolate ganache drip.

Decorated Girl Scout Samoa Cookie Cake

The Girl Scout Samoa cookie (or Caramel deLite for some of you) is my favorite Girl Scout cookie so I selfishly created this chocolate, coconut, and caramel flavored cake to satisfy my own cookie craving.

Girl Scout for Life

I actually grew up as a Girl Scout, starting as a Brownie and working my way up through the ranks as a Junior, a Cadet, and graduating as a Senior.

I even received my Gold Award in high school after collaborating on a project with three other Girl Scout friends to create a community garden.  As I transitioned out of Girl Scouts, my local council presented me with a lifetime Girl Scout membership and overall, my time as a Girl Scout is an accomplishment I’m really proud of.

Top of Girl Scout Samoa Cookie Cake

A Cake for Samoa Lovers

In honor of my time in Girl Scouts, I created a Girl Scout Samoa Cookie Cake (Caramel deLite in some parts of the country, but we’re not going to get into that here) encompassing the chocolate, coconut, and caramel deliciousness of this classic cookie.

The cake starts with my go-to chocolate cake recipe which is layered with a brown sugar coconut filling and finished with a caramel frosting and chocolate ganache drip to represent the classic chocolate drizzle on top of every Samoa cookie.

Sliced Girl Scout Samoa cookie Cake

Girl Scout Samoa Cookie Cake

Cookie Season All-Year Long

For those that love Girl Scout cookies, I’m hoping this cake helps your cookie cravings between the Girl Scout cookie seasons.  Or, if you’re like me, maybe you have a few Girl Scout cookies stashed away in your freezer for emergencies.  In which case, use them to make this Girl Scout Cookie Samoa Cake.

Girl Scout Samoa Cookie Cake

Girl Scout Cookie Samoa Cake (Assembly)
 
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Recipes for each follows assembly instructions.
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Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • Three 6-inch chocolate cakes
  • 1½ cups brown sugar coconut filling
  • 4 cups caramel buttercream frosting
  • 1 cup chocolate ganache drip
  • 6-8 Samoa cookies, optional
  • ½ cup toasted coconut flakes, optional
Instructions
  1. Place a single chocolate cake layer on the cake stand. Rim the chocolate cake with the caramel frosting and fill the inside with the brown sugar coconut filling (~ ⅓-1/2 cup of filling).
  2. Repeat this process with the second layer.
  3. Top the second layer with the final chocolate cake layer.

  6. Frost the cake with the caramel frosting, creating either a 'naked' look or covering the cake completely with the frosting in a more traditional style.
  7. Chill the cake for 30-minutes prior to adding the ganache drip.
  8. To add the drip, pour a small portion of the ganache onto the top of the cake and using an offset spatula gently smooth it over the top and over the edge.
  9. Put the remaining ganache into a piping bag and cut a small piece off the tip. Use the piping bag to add more drips along the edge of the cake or to elongate drips that have already started.
  10. Place the cake in the fridge to set completely before adding topper decorations, about 30-minutes.
  11. On top of the center of the cake, add more of the brown sugar coconut filling (~1/4 cup), leaving about a ½ inch bare around the edges of the cake for decor.l
  12. Place the remaining caramel frosting into a piping bag with a 1M piping tip and add dollops of frosting to the top layer. Place a Samoa cookie into each dollop, and decorate with toasted coconut flakes, as desired.

Chocolate Cake Recipe
 
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Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • 1½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup Dutch-processed cocoa sifted
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¾ cup hot water
  • 2 tsp instant coffee
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup buttermilk room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Grease three 6-inch cake pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment then set aside.
  3. Place all dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir on low to combine.
  4. Dissolve the coffee in the hot water then set aside.
  5. In a medium bowl whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
  6. Temper the egg-milk mixture by slowly whisking in the hot coffee (you don't want to cook the eggs!)
  7. Add the coffee-egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. The batter will be very thin, that's okay!
  8. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. (I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.)
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans in the oven halfway through. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean.
  10. Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Coconut Filling
 
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Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 cups sweetened coconut
Instructions
  1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Whisk in the evaporated milk, brown sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and salt.
  3. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
  4. Reduce heat, and continue to cook over low heat, whisking constantly until thickened, 5-7 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat and fold in the coconut.
  6. Allow mixture to cool completely and thicken before use.

Chocolate Ganache Drip
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
  1. Place the chocolate into a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
  2. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it just begins to boil with tiny bubbles around the edges.
  3. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute.
  4. Using a whisk, mix together the chocolate and cream until it's fully blended.
  5. Let the ganache cool to room temperature for about 15 minutes before creating the drip onto the cake.

Caramel Frosting
 
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Serves: 3 cups
Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup vegetable shortening
  • 2 tablespoon meringue powder
  • 8 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • ⅔ cup caramel sauce
  • 4 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the softened butter and shortening until creamy.
  2. Add in the meringue powder, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix on low to combine.
  3. With the mixer on low, stream caramel sauce and half of the heavy cream into the bowl and mix on medium-high. Add more cream (1 tablespoon at a time) until a medium-thick frosting consistency is reached.

 

 

New Year’s Eve Sprinkles Fault Line Cake

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Ring in the next decade with a decadent New Year’s Eve blackout cake filled with glittery sprinkles and a shimmering gold fault line.

If you didn’t know, I really love sprinkles and my favorite place to purchase them is through Fancy Sprinkles.  Their New Year collection caught my eye and I immediately purchased the 2020 & Metallic Rainbow Dragee sets which inspired this cake.

New Years Eve Cake with Rope Braid

Originally, I intended to make a drip cake, similar to others I’ve made this year because they’re just SO fun to make but decided at the last moment (similar to how I make all my baking decisions…) to do something different and learn a new technique.

Check out the pinata cake I made last year to celebrate 2019!

I’ve been admiring fault line cakes on Instagram for a while now and I loved their 3D look with sprinkles, cookies, or an intricate design embedded as a ‘layer’ of the cake so after researching the process, I found it wasn’t as complicated as I originally thought and decided to give it a go for my New Year’s Eve cake.

New Years Eve Fault Line Cake

The Chocolate Cake

I used this tutorial for the fault line process and my own chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream recipes (below) to make and frost the actual New Year cake.  I love love love this chocolate cake recipe.  It’s a no-fail recipe that bakes beautifully every time.  It’s moist and perfectly chocolatey.  I’ve been making it for years. And I think there’s no better way to celebrate a new decade than with chocolate!

Black Chocolate Buttercream

My chocolate buttercream recipe is a go-to as well, one that I keep in my baking arsenal.  It’s a combination of both buttercream and vegetable shortening which I find holds up better than straight butter-only frosting.  To color the frosting black, I just added a couple of teaspoons of black food coloring at the very ended and gave it a good whip in the mixer.  The key to making black frosting is to always use chocolate as your base.  Attempting to color vanilla or light-colored frosting black will simply result in a metallic, gray color.

New Years Eve Cake with Fancy Sprinkles

Adding the Sprinkles

When it came time to add the sprinkles onto my New Year cake, I first started by slowly placing each individual sprinkle on with my hands and tweezers.  After about 10 minutes, I found the process to be way too tedious and resorted to my standard method (which is a bit messier but much quicker, even with cleanup time!) and put a bunch of sprinkles in my palm, and carefully pressed them into the frosting while rolling my hand upwards on the cake.

Painting the fault line on my New Year Eve cake

Gold Fault Line

To create the gold fault line for my New Year’s Eve cake, I made an edible paint using a 1/2 teaspoon of gold luster dust and about 2 teaspoons of vodka and mixed them together until smooth.  I then used a fine pastry brush to paint on the lines.  Initially, I painted a rough fault line but later came back and smoothed it out, liking the appearance of a neater gold trim better.

New Years Eve Cake with Rope Braid

If you make my New Year’s Eve cake, please let me know how it turns out! It’s such a fun cake and I love the Fancy Sprinkles on it.  I’m almost tempted to make a second just to stare at in my kitchen on New Year’s Eve!

Happy New Year, Friends!

New Year's Eve Fault Line Cake
 
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Serves: 12 pieces
Ingredients
  • Three 6-inch chocolate cakes, recipe below
  • 6 cups black chocolate buttercream, recipe below
  • 1½ cups sprinkles of choice
  • gold edible paint*
  • Piping bag + tips of choice
  • Bench scraper
  • Offset spatula
  • Thin pastry brush
Instructions
  1. Place one chocolate cake on the serving tray and coat the top of it with a thick layer of chocolate frosting.
  2. Take the second chocolate cake and place this cake on top of the first and frost with chocolate buttercream
  3. Place the third cake on top of the second and frost the sides and top of the cake with chocolate buttercream, this is your base coat. Place it in the fridge to set for 20 minutes.
  4. Place 1½ cups of chocolate buttercream in a piping bag and snip off the tip to make a ½ inch hole.
  5. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and pipe a 4-5 inch section of frosting around the center of the cake (this is where the sprinkles will go). Use a bench scraper to smooth out this middle section (do not worry about the top and bottom portions of the cake looking rough, we'll deal with this later)
  6. Add your sprinkles to the middle section of the cake, covering as much of the area as possible.
  7. Add more frosting to your piping bag and draw thick frosting lines around the top and bottom of your sprinkle area (as if adding a border to hold in the sprinkles). Now fill in the rest of the top and bottom of the cake with the frosting and smooth it with an offset spatula.
  8. Use a bench scraper, smooth out the top and bottom of the frosting you just added, careful not to press too hard or you'll knock off the sprinkles. Set into the fridge to set up for 20-minutes.
  9. Using your gold paint, paint edges of the fault line you created and allow it to dry.
  10. Pipe on your desired cake topping (I chose a rope feature) and add more sprinkles, if desired.
Notes
*Make your own edible paint by mixing a ½ teaspoon of gold luster dust with 2 teaspoons of vodka.
** If you need a little help, check out this YouTube tutorial

 
Chocolate Cake Recipe
 
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Ingredients
  • 1½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup Dutch-processed cocoa sifted
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¾ cup hot water
  • 2 tsp instant coffee
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup buttermilk room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Grease three 6-inch cake pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment then set aside.
  3. Place all dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir on low to combine.
  4. Dissolve the coffee in the hot water then set aside.
  5. In a medium bowl whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
  6. Temper the egg-milk mixture by slowly whisking in the hot coffee (you don't want to cook the eggs!)
  7. Add the coffee-egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. The batter will be very thin, that's okay!
  8. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. (I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.)
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans in oven halfway through. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean.
  10. Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Black Chocolate Buttercream
 
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Serves: 6 cups
Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup vegetable shortening
  • 2 tablespoons meringue powder
  • 8 cups confectioners' sugar
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup half & half (heavy cream or milk will work)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons black food coloring
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the softened butter, shortening, and meringue powder until creamy.
  2. Add in the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla extract. Mix on low to combine.
  3. With the mixer on low, stream in the half & half until you have a thick, chocolate buttercream. Adjust the frosting consistency by adding 1 additional tablespoon of frosting at a time.
  4. Add in the black food coloring and mix to fully combine.

 

Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake

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If you’re looking for a great summertime dessert recipe, I highly suggest this Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake, served a la mode, obviously.

Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake a la mode overhead

It’s obvious from my last post that I wasn’t happy with the end result of my first June baking challenge so I set out to give it another whirl with a tastier combination, making this Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake.

For context, the whole purpose of my baking bucket list this year is for me to master a recipe or technique.  And while I do believe I mastered the upside down technique with the original rhubarb upside down cake, it wasn’t a delicious cake.  It was nothing I’d want to make again and I felt a bit disappointed in the overall experience. So I set out to make a cake worth eating.

Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake a la mode

And this Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake is a winner!

The recipe uses fresh, seasonal peaches, lots of brown sugar, and a splash of bourbon mixed with warm spices to make a deliciously comforting cake all topped with a scoop of melty vanilla bean ice cream.  It’s a serious bite of summer and it takes me back to my childhood patio on a warm summer night.

I used this Food Network recipe as my base cake recipe but made a couple of changes to meet my own taste preferences. I’m pretty sure the changes I made make this stellar recipe even more delicious.  My full recipe details are below.

Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake Stand

Brown sugar & butter makes everything tastes better

While the original recipe called for granulated sugar melted with water to make the syrup that goes on the bottom of the cake pan, I chose to swap granulated sugar for brown sugar and water for butter.  I melted the two together in a saucepan until it was thick and sticky.  I then spread it into a bottom of a 10-inch cake pan and topped it with sliced peaches.

Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake Overhead

Pumpkin spice isn’t just for lattes

I love using pumpkin pie spice when baking with fruits because it’s the perfect mixture of warm baking spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice, and ginger.  All of these flavors play well with peaches and bourbon so for maximum flavor I added a dash of pumpkin spice into the cake batter, making the crumb have a slight spice-cake taste to it.

Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake a la mode 3

Who doesn’t love a la mode?

I love peaches and vanilla ice cream and there was no way I could eat this Bourbon Peach Upside Down cake without a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Obviously, I used Halo Top because it’s my go-to.  If you haven’t tried their vanilla ice cream, it’s delicious and pairs perfectly with the cake. I especially loved it when it gets melty and mixes with the bourbon & peach topping.

Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake Pin

If you’re looking for a great summertime dessert recipe, I highly suggest this Bourbon Peach Upside Down cake, and don’t forget to make it a la mode!

Check out my past baking bucket list challenges here. Up next is a lattice top blueberry pie! 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Bourbon Peach Upside Down Cake
 
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Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • ¾ cups light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large peaches, cut into ½-inch wedges (firm but ripe)
  • 3 tablespoons bourbon (like Bulleit)
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 ounces pecan pieces ground into a powder or small crumb
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick + 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375F and prepare a 10-inch cake pan (or similar) by spraying the bottom and sides with a non-stick baking spray. Set aside.
  2. Add the brown sugar and 3 tablespoons of butter to a small saucepan. Melt over medium heat until it thickens into a paste.
  3. Spread the paste into the bottom of the prepared cake pan in an even layer. Place the peach slices evenly on top of the brown sugar. Pour 3 tablespoons of bourbon on top and set aside.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, ground pecans, cinnamon, pie spice, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.
  5. Using an electric mixer, cream together the stick of butter and granulated sugar. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each followed by the vanilla extract.
  6. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, and mix until just incorporated. Pour the batter over the peaches and spread evenly. Place the cake pan onto a large baking sheet (in case there's run over) and bake 45-50 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
  7. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 20-25 minutes on a wire rack. After cooling, run a small knife around the outer edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Place a large cake plate on top of the cake and quickly flip the two to dislodge the cake from the pan. You may need to tap it lightly on the counter to get it to fall out.
  8. Slice and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

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My baking bucket list challenge continues this month with an upside down cake. Rather than classic pineapple, I had a baking adventure with a rhubarb upside down cake.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake Sliced

Sometimes, even when a recipe looks like a success, it’s still a failure.  And, that’s what happened with this month’s baking bucket list challenge when baking this rhubarb upside down cake.  Originally, I was going to make a classic pineapple upside down cake but then my mind got stuck on rhubarb…

Let me tell you how this happened…

My grandma used to make rhubarb pie every summer.  I remember it being a regular part of Sunday dinner.  She served it with a dollop of whipped cream on top and my family loved it.  Except me.  For some reason, I avoided it and can’t even recall ever tasting her rhubarb pie. I think it was because rhubarb looked like celery and I didn’t see a celery-flavored pie being very appetizing.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake Uncut

So, I waited until this year to finally try rhubarb. My first time using the ingredient was in a strawberry rhubarb crisp and while the recipe called for fresh rhubarb, I was only able to find frozen.  I loved the crisp (recipe here!).  It was sweet from the strawberry and tart from the rhubarb and that’s when I became stuck on rhubarb, wanting to bake with it more.

I looked everywhere for fresh rhubarb and wasn’t able to find it because it was towards the end of rhubarb season in Texas.  Then, one night I walked into Whole Foods and just happened to spot fresh rhubarb. I bought two bunches of rhubarb and was set on baking something with it and that’s when I decided I’d turn my June baking bucket list challenge of upside down cake into a rhubarb upside down cake.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Making my rhubarb upside down cake

I chose this recipe for my rhubarb cake.  And to be honest, I chose it not because of the recipe but because of the photo. I loved the criss-cross look of the rhubarb on top and just fell in love. After purchasing all the ingredient to make the cake I dug into the recipe this past Sunday.  And as soon as I read step two, I started to have hesitations.

Below I’ve shared the red flags I saw with this rhubarb upside down cake recipe that should have stopped me from baking it.  But since I didn’t, I’ve also shared what I’d do next time around (there won’t be a next time around but you can use these tips if you want to make this cake!)

The recipe said to prepare a 9-inch cake pan.

  • My gut was telling me this pan was way too small to adequately house rhubarb and cake batter while it baked in the oven. I knew it would be too small and bubble over but I used the 9-inch pan anyways.
  • When I finally got my rhubarb and cake batter into the pan, I had about a half-inch of free space left for the cake to bake into.  In order to save my oven, should it bake over the edge, I placed my cake pan on a large baking sheet to catch any overflow (which it did, it formed a bubbly caramel mess on my sheet pan and around the edge of the cake).
  • If I make this recipe again, I’d use a tall, springform pan, similar to what I’d use for a cheesecake.

The recipe said to mix 4-inch pieces of rhubarb with sugar and corn starch in a bowl and let it sit.

  • Rhubarb is a dry fruit and typically the purpose of mixing fruit with sugar & corn starch is so the juices mix with the sugar and starch to sweeten the fruit while forming a ‘sauce’ when it bakes to help everything thicken.
  • Because these were basically dry stalks of wood in sugar, nothing happened.  The sugar didn’t stick to the stalks, there wasn’t any sweetening of the rhubarb, and the sugar basically sat at the bottom of the bowl.
  • My instinct was to cut the rhubarb into the 4-inch pieces as directed but also split the pieces in half so the width of the stalks was exposed to mix with the sugar and cornstarch.  Cutting them into less-wide pieces would also help with the above pan issue.  I also think cutting the rhubarb up into small pieces like cubes would make this step successful.

The recipe then directed me to place the rhubarb sticks into the bottom of a pan and include the ‘remaining’ sugar they were mixed with.

  • However, because the sugar never mixed with the rhubarb I was basically dumping a half cup of sugar into the bottom of the pan.  A pan that was already covered in a melted brown sugar, butter, and thyme mixture.
  • My workaround was to place the rhubarb in a single layer and sprinkle some of the remaining sugar on top.  I definitely didn’t add the entire half cup.
  • If you make this recipe, I believe cutting the rhubarb into smaller pieces would eliminate the excess sugar because a syrup would have truly formed.

The recipe didn’t have any reviews.

  • In fact, it didn’t even have a way to LEAVE reviews which should have been a giant red flag to me.
  • So, in place of my ability to leave a review or comment on the actual recipe, I’ve dedicated a whole blog post to it providing a very thorough review (haha!).

Sliced cake with greek yogurt

So how did the cake turn out?

By some miracle, the cake did bake up without being a complete wreck.  It came out of the pan and had a similar criss-cross pattern from the rhubarb as the recipe photo.  However, the taste was just ‘meh.’

The rhubarb was stringy when cutting into it and the thyme on top included in the brown sugar layer looked like little bugs which made for an unappealing experience.  The rhubarb layer also didn’t have a ton of flavor.  The cake part itself, though, was quite delicious.  It was a dense vanilla cake with a slightly citrus note from the orange zest.  If each part were eaten separately, it could have probably been considered good.  But consuming both the stringy rhubarb top and dense cake together just left me underwhelmed.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

So, in short, I will NOT be making this cake again.

But I am checking this off for my June baking bucket list challenge, though, I may still explore making another upside down cake in July along with the blueberry pie I have planned.  Stay tuned and follow me on Instagram for updates if you’re interested in my upside down baking journey.

Check out my other baking bucket list adventures here! 

Drip Cake Tutorial

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With bright colors, fun decorations, and lots of sprinkles, drip cakes create showstopping moments which is why I chose them as my April baking bucket list challenge.

This post is way overdue because drip cakes were my April baking challenge and here we are nearing the end of May.  And, while I did complete this bucket list item in April, I’ve been a bit tied up with work and life to get a blog post up.

Cactus Drip Cake 2

Since April’s my birthday month, I thought it was only appropriate to choose a cake for my April baking challenge and chose to knock out this challenge by making the drip cake as my own birthday cake.  I love drip cakes because they are so over the top. They’re typically made with bright colors, fun topper decor, and lots of sprinkles (my favorite!) making them perfect for a birthday celebration while creating real ‘wow’ moments when others see them.

Birthday_Drip_Cake

What I really enjoyed about this challenge was that a few weeks after completing my own birthday drip cake, my friend Vanessa asked me to make her a 30th birthday cake giving me another opportunity to practice my drip technique — which is now something I believe I’ve truly mastered.

White Chocolate Ganache Drip

What I learned about drip cakes is that the ‘drip’ part is really the simplest and quickest part about the entire decor.  It’s really nothing more than a chocolate ganache that’s been cooled to room temperature then spread over the top and slowly pushed over the edge of the cake.  I then used a piping bag to make additional drips along the edge of the cake.

Birthday Drip Cake Cut

Chocolate cake with mocha filling & vanilla Swiss buttercream

For a drip cake’s chocolate ganache, you can use either white chocolate chips and heavy cream then tint the ganache to a color of your choosing with food coloring (be sure to choose chocolate food coloring or add color-flo to your chocolate before adding gel or you may seize up your chocolate) or you can use colored melting chocolate, like Candy Melts.  The key to the drip though is ensuring it’s cooled to room temperature.  If it’s not properly cooled, the ganache will melt the frosting on the cake and cause your colors to bleed.

Below I share my ganache recipe!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This drip cakes challenge also gave me the opportunity to practice my Swiss meringue buttercream recipe.  I love Swiss meringue buttercream because it’s so light and silky smooth.  However, it intimidated me because it involved cooking egg whites and sugar over a double boiler then whipping that into a meringue before finally adding in the butter.

What I learned while making Swiss meringue buttercream is, much like the ganache, the importance of cooling the meringue before adding the butter.  If the whipped meringue is too warm when the butter is added, the butter ends up melting which result in either frosting that’s more like soup or frosting that tastes like straight up butter.

Vanessa_Drip_Cake

The trick I learned here is to chill the bowl of my stand mixer in the fridge which helps quicken the cooling process.  I use a different bowl for the double boiler then transfer the cooked egg whites & sugar into the chilled bowl to whip into a meringue.  Once the meringue forms stiff peaks and the meringue & bowl are both no warmer than room temperature, I begin to add the butter which forms into the deliciously light buttercream.

Below I share my Swiss buttercream recipe! 

Cake Toppers

Since cakes take a ton of work, I chose to keep my cake toppers simple.  For my own birthday cake, I created striped meringue cookies which, like the Swiss buttercream, is cooked egg whites & sugar whipped to stiff peaks.  I then striped a piping bag with gel food coloring and used a 1M frosting tip to make tall swirls.  Later, I colored the remaining meringue and made little dots all of which dried in the oven for 2-hours until set. (Find the meringue cookie recipe here!)

For added height on my cake, I used white candy melts to make thin sheets of chocolate and added colorful sprinkles on top.  Once hardened, I broke the chocolate into pieces to add dimension to the cake.

Drip Cake Top

My friend requested a specific cake for her birthday so I made cactus cookies out of my go-to sugar cookie dough and decorated them with flood frosting, created royal frosting cacti flowers, and added cactus ‘tines’ using food decorating pens.

Overall, I’m so happy I chose drip cakes as my April baking bucket list challenge.  I love the end results and they’re cakes I’m very proud of.  However, after creating two complicated cakes back to back, I’m sure glad my May baking challenge is simple, just classic lemon bars and homemade raspberry sauce.

Vanessa Drip Cake Cut

Vanessa’s drip cake: lemon poppyseed cake with cream cheese filling & vanilla Swiss buttercream

Have you ever made a drip cake? What would you use as cake toppers on top of your drip cake?

Check out the full Baking Bucket List here.

Chocolate Ganache Drip
 
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Serves: ½ cup
Ingredients
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips or 1 cup candy melts
  • ⅓ cup heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Place the chocolate into a medium sized bowl and set aside.
  2. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it just begins to boil with tiny bubbles around the edges.
  3. Pour the heavy cream over the white chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute.
  4. Using a whisk, mix together the chocolate and cream until it's fully blended. Then mix in your coloring.
  5. Let the ganache cool to room temperature for about 15 minutes before creating the drip onto the cake.
  6. Pour a small portion of the ganache onto the top of the cake and using an offset spatula gently smooth it over the top and over the edge.
  7. Put the remaining ganache into a piping bag and cut a small piece off the tip. Use the piping bag to add more drips along the edge of the cake or to elongate drips that have already started.
  8. Place in the fridge to set completely before adding topper decorations.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
 
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Serves: 6 cups
Ingredients
  • 4 ounces egg whites (fresh, not packaged)
  • 8 ounces granulated sugar
  • 12 ounces unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 1-2 tablespoon-size pieces
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Place the bowl of your stand mixer in the fridge to chill for 15-20 minutes while you cook the egg whites & sugar.
  2. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites and sugar until foamy.
  3. Create a double boiler on the stove with the large bowl your egg whites are mixed into until the water is just simmering (ensure the water doesn't touch the bowl on top of the double boiler).
  4. Whisk the egg whites and sugar together on top of the double boiler constantly until the mixture reaches 165°F to 180°F -- this is when the egg whites will be cooked and the sugar melted.
  5. Remove the bowl from the double boil and transfer the egg white mixture to the chilled bowl of your stand mixer.
  6. Whip the egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer on high using the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, about 10-minutes. Once stiff peaks form, check to ensure both the bowl and egg whites are at room temperature. If they are too warm, you will melt the butter. If still too warm, place in the fridge to cool or use ice packs on the bottom of the bowl to cool the meringue and bowl.
  7. Once the meringue and bowl are cooled, switch to the paddle attachment and begin adding your butter with the mixer on low speed. Do this gradually over 5-7 minutes. If the mixture begins to break, just keep mixing. Once the butter is fully added, increase the mixer speed to high for 2-3 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. At this point, you can add the pinch of salt, extract and if desired, food coloring.
Notes
This recipe should yield you enough to frost and fill a 10″ double layer, round cake or about 2½ dozen standard cupcakes. Or fill & frost a 6" 3-layer cake. Or frost the outside of a 4 layer 8" cake.

 

Festive Italian Cream Cake with Cranberry Curd

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Make this festive cake the star of your holiday table with traditional Italian cream cake, tart cranberry curd and simple sugared cranberries.

This post was updated on December 20, 2018 with new photos and revised recipe instructions.

Italian Cream Cake is a forgotten cake flavor and not something you often find in bakeries. Traditionally, this cake is frosted with a cream cheese frosting but in my version, I chose to use a vanilla buttercream in place of the cream cheese frosting and layer the cake with a creamy, tart cranberry curd for the holidays!

Italian Cream Cake with Cranberry CUrd

The cake itself is heavenly light, made so by incorporating whipped egg whites into the batter right before baking. The cake bakes up to a beautiful brown color, you’ll know it’s done when you gently touch the sponge-like top and it springs back into place.   The cake is slightly sweet from the sweetened, shredded coconut in the batter. Some people don’t care for coconut but in this cake, the flavor is so subtle that it truly adds more of a sweetness than a full-on coconut flavor.

Italian Cream Cake with Cranberry Curd - Sugared Cranberry Top

Making the Cranberry Curd

The Italian cream cake is filled with a tart and creamy cranberry curd. The curd is creamy from a mixture of eggs and butter. And while homemade curd is a sensitive beast, it’s nothing you can’t handle.  When it comes time to add the egg into the buttery, cranberry mixture make sure you slowly temper the eggs first with a few tablespoons of the hot liquid.  Once the eggs are acclimated, feel free to whisk them fully into the warm, buttery cranberries.  Once complete, the curd is a beautiful pink color that adds  excitement to the white cake & frosting when you cut into it.

Italian Cream Cranberry Curd Cake sliced

Decorating with Buttercream & Sugared Cranberries

The tartness of the cranberry curd is balanced with a fluffy, vanilla buttercream. My preference is to frost this cake with a thin layer of buttercream so it doesn’t overpower the light Italian cream cake. But if you’re a frosting fanatic, go ahead and pile it on thick, the frosting recipe makes more than enough to support both preferences!

Sugared cranberries bring rustic simplicity to this festive holiday cake! Piled on top of the cake, they hint to the cranberry curd hidden inside, dazzling your guests with their beautiful, frosted coating when you slice into the cake. I loved piling the cranberries on top and around the edges of the cake, creating mock holly with sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme.

Sugared Cranberries Drying

Sugared Cranberries

You’ll have plenty of sugared cranberries remaining which make the perfect addition to your holiday drink station! Throw them in a glass of champagne, top your mulled wine, or float them in your morning mimosa! They’re a festive holiday treat that will add a bit of fancy to your event.

Prep the Cake in Advance

Although this Italian Cream Cake requires a bit of attention to make it’s many components, some of these can be made a day ahead of time and assembled the day of your event.  When I made this cake, I made the cranberry curd and frosting the day before then the morning of the event, I made the cake and sugared cranberries, assembling everything about an hour before leaving. If you’re really in a pinch the day of the event, feel free to also make the cake and sugared cranberries the day before, carefully storing everything until assembly.

This cake is sure to be a hit at your holiday party! It’s a show stopping cake that’s sweet, tart & creamy.

 

Italian Cream Cake with Cranberry Curd Pinterest

5.0 from 5 reviews
Festive Italian Cream Cake with Cranberry Curd
 
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Author:
Serves: 10-12
Ingredients
  • Three 8-inch Italian cream cakes, recipe below
  • 1½ cups cranberry curd, recipe below
  • 3 cups vanilla butter cream, recipe below
  • 2 cups sugared cranberries, recipe below
  • fresh rosemary or thyme, optional
Instructions
  1. Place a single cake on the bottom of your serving platter
  2. Create a dam around the top of the cake with vanilla buttercream then fill the dam with cranberry curd. Repeat the process for the second layer.
  3. Place the third cake on top of the second layer
  4. Remove 1 cup of vanilla frosting and place it in a small bowl. Thin the frosting with 2-3 tablespoons of water and ice the top and outside of the cake with the thin vanilla buttercream. This is your crumb boating
  5. Let the crumb coating dry from 30-60 minutes then frost the outside of the cake with the remaining, thicker, vanilla butter cream.
  6. Decorate the cake with the sugared cranberries and fresh herbs, if using

 
5.0 from 5 reviews
Italian Cream Cake
 
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Serves: 3 cakes
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 5 large eggs, separated
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup finely chopped pecans
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • Cooking spray
  • flour for dusting the cake pans
Instructions
  1. For the cake:
  2. Preheat the oven to 350°F
  3. Grease and lightly flour three 8-inch cake pans. Line the bottom of the pans with parchment circles.
  4. Cream the butter and shortening with the sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  5. Add the vanilla
  6. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating between each new addition
  7. In a medium bowl, whisk together the baking soda and flour.
  8. Add the flour mixture and whole milk alternately, beginning and ending with milk
  9. With the mixer on low, stir in the coconut and pecans
  10. In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites to stiff peaks
  11. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter
  12. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake pin inserted into the center comes out clean
  13. Cool cakes completely then level the cakes, removing the dome before assembling

5.0 from 5 reviews
Cranberry Curd
 
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Festive Italian Cream Cake with Cranberry Curd Prep time: 3 hours Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 3 hours 25 mins Serves: 18 pieces
Author:
Serves: 1.5 cups
Ingredients
  • 12 ounces fresh cranberries
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • juice and orange zest from 1 large orange
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks, beaten
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and set aside
  2. Bring the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and peel to boil over medium heat. Stirring occasionally until the cranberries burst
  3. Carefully pour the mixture into a sieve or small strainer placed over a large bowl
  4. Press the mixture into a bowl until mostly pulp and peel remains
  5. While still hot, whisk the butter into pressed liquid
  6. Remove 1 cup of liquid and whisk it gradually into the eggs to temper
  7. Slowly whisk the tempered eggs into the remaining cranberry liquid
  8. Return the mixture to a pot and cook over low heat until nearly bubbling and thick, about 10 minutes.
  9. Cool completely before using. If storing, place plastic wrap tightly on top of the curd to keep out air so a skin layer doesn't form prior to use

5.0 from 5 reviews
Vanilla Buttercream
 
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Serves: 3-4 cups
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted softened butter
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons powdered egg whites
  • 4-6 cups confectioner's sugar
  • 6-8 tablespoons milk
Instructions
  1. In a mixer, mix together butter, shortening, egg whites, and 1 cup of confectioner's sugar. Add in vanilla. Gradually add more sugar, alternating with milk until desired consistency is reached.

5.0 from 5 reviews
Sugared Cranberries
 
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Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • 1½ cups sugar (for rolling)
  • 12 ounces fresh cranberries
Instructions
  1. Place a wire rack over a large baking pan (to catch sugar while cranberries dry)
  2. In a medium pot, combine ½ cup sugar and water over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, about 2-3 minutes.
  3. Gently stir in cranberries until well coated
  4. With a slotted spoon, transfer to the prepared wire rack and let dry for at least 30 minutes
  5. Roll cranberries in 1½ cups sugar until well coated, placing the cranberries back on the wire rack to dry. You may need to work in batches.

 

Celebrate America with a Patriotic Red, White & Blue Cake

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This Patriotic Red, White & Blue cake is perfect for upcoming 4th of July celebrations. It’s a show-stopper of a cake with the vibrant red and blue layers striped with a tangy cream cheese frosting.

Patriotic Red, White & Blue Cake 2

I really enjoyed the process of making the Milk Bar Birthday Cake and chose to use the same technique for my Patriotic Red, White & Blue Cake.  However, I wasn’t a fan of the overall Milke Bar Birthday Cake flavor.  It was much too sweet for my liking and although I do enjoy baked goods with a hint of salt, the salt in the cake, again, was more than I preferred.

Patriotic Red, White & Blue Cake Portrait

Patriotic Red, White & Blue Cake . Top

Since the Milk Bar Birthday Cake assembly process is fun, easy, and creates a stunning cake, I used the same technique to create my Patriotic Red, White & Blue cake. My recipe modifications resulted in a cake that’s less sweet when compared to the traditional Milk Bar recipe. The cake also has less of a salty finish and overall, it’s easier to make.

Although I enjoyed the multi-layer texture of the Milk Bar Birthday Cake, it required a lot of time to make — cake, frosting, crumbs, milk soak.  The Patriotic Red, White, and Blue cake has fewer components (no soak or crumbs) which make it easier to bake and assemble because I’m all about saving time and dishes!

Stella with Cake

Alyssa with Cake

Rather than getting too fancy with the Patriotic Red, White & Blue Cake decorations, I chose to keep things simple on top with a few dollops of vanilla buttercream, a light dusting of , and a few shimmery to mimick fireworks on the 4th of July!

Here’s to celebrating America with cake, friends, and fun. Happy 4th of July, y’all! 

5.0 from 6 reviews
Patriotic Red, White & Blue Cake
 
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Ingredients
  • ½ unsalted butter, softened
  • ⅔ cup shortening, like Crisco
  • 2½ cups granulated sugar
  • 36 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • ⅔ cup vegetable oil
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4cups cake flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 quarte sheet pans with non-stick cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  4. Cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes.
  6. On low speed, gradually pour in the milk mixture.
  7. Increase the speed and combine on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until fully emulsified.
  8. On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix just until the batter comes together.
  9. Split the cake batter into two bowls (use a scale to ensure even measurement).
  10. To one bowl, add 4-6 drops red food coloring and gently stir until fully distributed.
  11. To the other bowl, add 4-6 drops blue food coloring and mix until combined.
  12. Pour each cake batter into the prepared quarter sheet pans.
  13. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes.
  14. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

5.0 from 6 reviews
Cream Cheese Frosting
 
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Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup vegetable shortening
  • 2 ounces whipped cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2¼ cups powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Pinch baking powder
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the corn syrup and vanilla extract.
  2. Cream together the butter, shortening and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.
  3. With the mixer on its lowest speed, pour in the corn syrup mixture and beat for 2 minutes until glossy.
  4. Add the powdered sugar, salt, baking powder and mix until smooth.

5.0 from 6 reviews
Buttercream Frosting
 
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Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup vegetable shortening, like Crisco
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon meringue powder
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons whole milk
  • pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Cream together the butter, shortening, vanilla extract and meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.
  2. With the mixer on its lowest speed, add in 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk and mix until combined.
  3. Add in an additional cup of powdered sugar and salt and mix until combined.
  4. Depending on the consistency add in more sugar or milk until mixture becomes a stiff buttercream for piping.

5.0 from 6 reviews
Patriotic Red, White & Blue Cake Assembly
 
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Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1 red quarter sheet cake
  • 1 red quarter sheet blue cake
  • 1 recipe cream cheese frosting
  • 1 recipe buttercream frosting
  • patriotic sprinkles
  • gold star toppers
  • 2 strips of acetate, each 3 inches wide x 18 inches long
  • 1 6-inch cake cutter
Instructions
  1. Using a 6-inch cake cutter cut two 6-inch cakes out of each of colored cakes (for a total of 4 round cakes).
  2. Set cut cakes aside for asseembly and discard the remaining cake or save for making cake balls.
  3. On a cake plate or stand, spread a tablespoon of cream cheese frosting and place the 6-inch cake cutter into the center of the cake stand, centering it around the cream cheese frosting. Line the inside of the cake ring with the first strip of acetate.
  4. Layer 1: Place one blue cake into the cake cutter/acetate. Using a spatula, spread one-third of the cream cheese frosting in an even layer over the blue cake.
  5. Layer 2: Carefully tuck the second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top ¼ inch of the first strip of acetate, so that you have a clear ring of acetate 5 to 6 inches tall. Set one of the red cakes on to the frosting and layer half of the remaining cream cheese frosting onto the red cake in an even layer.
  6. Layer 3 & 4: Place the second blue cake onto the frosting. Spread the remaining cream cheese frosting in an even layer onto the blue cake and top with the remaining red cake (you do not frost the top of the red cake just yet).
  7. Transfer the undecorated cake to the freezer and freeze for at least 8 hours.
  8. At least 2 hours before you are ready to serve the cake, remove the cake from the freezer and let it thaw for 10-15 minutes. Gently remove the cake ring and acetate from the cake by carefully pulling the ring upwards.
  9. Place the buttercream frosting into a piping bag with a 1M star tip.
  10. Decorate the top of the cake using the buttercream frosting by making large star-shaped dollops of frosting on top of the cake.
  11. Complete the cake deocrations by adding the patriotic sprinkles and 8-9 gold star toppers to the center of the cake
  12. Let the cake defrost completely before serving.

 

Celebrating 31 Years with Momofuku Milk Bar Birthday Cake

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In celebration of feeling young and not put together, I made myself the ultimate birthday cake, the Momofoku Milk Bar Birthday Cake. It just SCREAMS happy birthday, probably because it’s loaded with sprinkles and I loved the idea of making my own birthday cake to share with others.

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Holding

Today’s my birthday. The big 31. Is that big? I honestly don’t feel that much different than when I was 25, or 18 as a matter of fact. Maybe my life is a little bit more together but in reality, I still kind of feel like a kid who’s trying to figure it all out.

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Close-Up

Do you remember when you were a freshman in high school and you passed a senior in the hallway, and you were like ‘OMG, they’re so old and mature…and cool?!’ (No, just me? ) Well, all my life I’ve felt like I’d hit a certain age and be like NOW I’m an adult, I’ve made! I. Am. Mature.

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Portrait

But in reality, I AM an adult but I still feel like a kid. I’m still trying to figure everything out, learning, growing, exploring….

I think that’s a good thing though, right?

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Portrait 2

Thinking about it, I never want to get to the point in my life where it feels like ‘Now I know everything! I have nothing left to learn.’

I think that’s what’s awesome about growing up — I’m old(er) but still feel young and curious. And I’m totally okay that my life is ‘together’ but definitely NOT together all at the same time.

In celebration of feeling young and not put together, I made myself the ultimate birthday cake which in my mind, is the Momofoku Milk Bar Birthday Cake. I’ve never had this cake but to me, it just SCREAMS happy birthday, probably because it’s loaded with sprinkles. And I realllllyyy love sprinkles.

I found the original Milk Bar Birthday Cake recipe online and made it exactly as written.  The Milk Bar Birthday Cake has 4 key elements

Funfetti Cake, and not just any Funfetti Cake. It’s seriously the BEST funfetti cake you’ll ever taste so don’t even think about subbing a box mix here. Nothing beats homemade, from scratch cake.

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Stacked

Vanilla Birthday Cake Milk soak, or as I lovingly refer to, cereal milk.  Really it’s just milk & vanilla extract mixed together but it’s still delicious and it’s key to creating a moist cake.

Vanilla Birthday Cake frosting that’s decadently creamy with a hint of tang from cream cheese.

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Frosted

The Birthday Cake Cookie Crumb which tastes like crunchy cookie bits with a sweet, vanilla buttery taste, and sprinkles, obviously.

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Cookie Crumbs

Once you layer all of these sweet birthday cake flavored creations together, you freeze the Milk Bar Birthday Cake for at least 12 hours. I’m pretty sure this is done to help the vanilla-y, sugary, sprinkle flavors marinate (because cakes need to marinate, right?) and everything becomes ridiculously intense.

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Ready for freezer

After that, it’s time to celebrate! Sing! Slice! Eat!

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Portrait 2

I’m pretty sure I’m going have to make the Milk Bar Birthday Cake part of my regular birthday celebrations until forever. Or at least until I’m too old to do the dishes. 

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Holding

Have you ever tried the Milk Bar Birthday Cake? How do you celebrate your birthday?

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes with Chocolate Ganache Dip for Valentine’s Day

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If Valentine’s Day were a food, it’d be these heart-shaped Mocha Lotta Love Cakes — decadent chocolate cake, espresso buttercream, and dark chocolate ganache.  Make these cakes, and you’re sure to score a sweetheart on Valentine’s Day.

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes Cake Stand

My Mocha Lotta Love Cakes were 100% inspired by these sweet I saw on Amazon and just couldn’t pass up! I’m just way too easy when it comes to holiday-themed baked goods and sometimes go overboard. (These heart-shaped weren’t’ my only Valentine’s Day holiday splurge. Fortunately for you, My Mocha Lotta Love Cakes can also be made as cupcakes in case you have more willpower than I do, I provide directions below!)

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes Overhead

The truth is, I don’t really care about Valentine’s Day. <3M and I skip this holiday since our anniversary is 2 weeks after this universal day of love. Though, that doesn’t mean I won’t accept a sweet Valentine’s Day gesture if he decides to get me something (hint, hint if you’re reading this <3M!).

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes Pinterest

I love any kind of chocolate and coffee flavored dessert. In fact, our wedding cake was this same combination of rich chocolate cake filled with silky espresso buttercream which inspired these love cakes! It’s simply so decadent and feels so indulgent. Perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes Bite

I added to the cake’s chocolate decadence by ‘icing’ my Mocha Lotta Love Cakes with a rich, dark chocolate ganache. Ganache seems intimidating but it truly only 3 ingredients and continuous stirring. It’s like a magical frosting that’s hard to mess up and looks super fancy. My one recommendation here is to freeze the cakes before dipping. It will make them easier to handle and won’t break off in the ganache when you turn them upside down for a dunk in some chocolatey love.

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes pink Sprinkles

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes Drizzle

To finish off my Mocha Lotta Love Cakes, and to make them extra special, I loaded them with and a drizzle of white chocolate.

These impressive Mocha Lotta Love Cakes will be hard for your Valentine to pass up and are sure to score you some extra sweetheart lovin’. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes Sprinkles

Mocha Lotta Love Cakes Clean overhead shot

5.0 from 4 reviews
Chocolate Cake
 
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This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe. It never fails me, it's always delicious and ridiculously moist!
Author:
Serves: 18
Ingredients
  • Wilton Silicon Heart Molds or cupcake liners/tins
  • 1½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup Dutch-processed cocoa, preferrable sifted
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • ¾ cup hot water
  • 2 tsp instant coffee granules
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350*F
  2. Grease the baking molds with shortening (or baker's spray) and lightly dust with cocoa powder* then set aside
  3. Place all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, stir to combine.
  4. In a small bowl, warm the water then dissolve the coffee granules
  5. In a medium bowl whisk together the vegetable oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla
  6. Slowly, add the hot-coffee water to the rest of the wet ingredients temper the eggs**
  7. Once combined, add the wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2-3 minutes to create a thin batter
  8. Fill the prepared heart molds to about ¾ full***
  9. Bake for 17 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean (or 13-15 minutes for cupcakes)
  10. Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely
  11. Trim the cake bottoms and cut off any excess as needed to ensure they sit flat and maintain a heart shape (skip this step for cupcakes)
Notes
* If you're making cupcakes, simply line the cupcake tins with liners and set aside, no need to grease and dust with cocoa
** Adding the hot water too quickly will cook the eggs
*** If you only have one mold, you'll need to wash, grease/dust, and fill the molds an additional 2-3 times

5.0 from 4 reviews
Espresso Buttercream Filling
 
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Author:
Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients
  • ½ cup shortening
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon meringue powder, optional
  • ¼ cup luke-warm water
  • 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4¼-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
  • ¼ cup half and half
Instructions
  1. Dissolve the coffee granules in the water and set aside
  2. In a mixer, mix together the shortening, butter, and meringue powder (if using)
  3. Add in vanilla and coffee-water along with 2 cups of confectioner's sugar and mix to combine
  4. Gradually add more sugar, drizzling in the half and half until a soft, spreadable consistency is reached

5.0 from 4 reviews
Chocolate Ganache
 
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Author:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces dark chocolate chips
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon coffee granules
Instructions
  1. Pour all ingredients into a medium-sized saucepan
  2. Place the pan on the stove and melt the chocolate over low heat stirring continuously about 3-5 minutes
  3. When most of the lumps are melted, remove the chocolate from the heat and stir continuously until the ganache is smooth and shiny

5.0 from 4 reviews
Mocha Lotta Love Cae Assembly
 
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Author:
Serves: 18
Ingredients
  • chocolate cake hearts or cupcakes
  • mocha frosting
  • chocolate ganache
  • 1 cup white chocolate, melted*
  • sprinkles
Instructions
  1. Place the frosting into a piping bag fitted with anicing filling tip (Wilton 230)
  2. Fill the hearts from the bottom by gently squeezing the frosting into the center, right and left rounded tops of the heart and tip of the heart. While holding the cake you should be able to tell when it becomes full**
  3. Place the filled hearts onto a parchment lined tray and freeze for up to 2 hours before dipping in ganache. You must freeze the cakes before dipping so they don't break off into the ganache when dipped
  4. With the warm ganache, dip the tops of the frozen heart cakes (or cupcakes) into the ganache. If needed, use an offset spatula, spread the ganache evenly across the top of the cake to create a smooth, flat layer and cleaning up the edges as needed
  5. Let the ganache set a few minutes before drizzling with white chocolate or adorning with sprinkles
  6. Serve immediately or keep at room temperature for 2-3 days
Notes
* Melt the white chocolate using the same method as creating the ganache (omitting heavy cream and coffee). Place all the white chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. Stir continuously until fully melted. Pour the melted chocolate into a piping bag and snip a bit of the tip off to easily drizzle onto the cakes.
** If using cupcakes, simply fill as you would normally and freeze the cupcakes for at least 2 hours before dipping the tops into the ganache