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Buttermilk Avocado Pound Cake

28 Mar

I dropped the cake. I dropped my Buttermilk Avocado Pound Cake midway through it’s baking cycle. I dropped the cake all over the oven, in the oven.

And here was my attempt to salvage the cake:


Sort of looks like a cheesy baked…something or other.


But alas, it is cake, not cheese. Sweet, not savory. Despite my clumsiness, the parts that I managed to salvage actually tasted quite, well, tasty. I had a grand time picking off all the browned spots (my favorite)! At least I had another loaf pan of cake that I did not drop. Phew.

My clumsiness was like “heyday” for the dogs. The following series of photographs chronicles Penny the dog’s happiness/determination regarding my dropping the cake/her trying to help me clean up the delicious green gooey mess (NOTE: I cleaned up the mess hours before I took these photographs; apparently Penny could still taste the yumminess).


“What? I’m just casually lingering by the oven, looking all innocent”

“mmmm, oh yah, this is good”“I’ve got to get into every crevice, who knows where some extra cake goup may be hiding”
“Searching, searching…”

“Got it!”

“This is my last lick, I swear”

“Ok really, I’m almost done. Lickity Split”

Finnegan the dog usually enjoys a steady diet of dirty, sweaty socks and tomato plants + their fertilized soil, but whenever I come visit, he is also thrilled to lick up my baking accidents.

So yes, cake. Buttermilk Avocado Pound Cake. Different. Strange. Wonderfully moist and one of the best cakes that I have eaten/made in a while. Plus, it’s green!

Ever since I saw this cake posted on Joy’s blog, I knew I needed to make it. The combination of buttermilk and avocado is utter bliss. Joy notes how the avocado taste is “subtle but distinct with a nice sweetness and a hint of crunch from cornmeal.” A home run, indeed, Joy.

Want to get fancy? Try pairing the cake with creme fraiche ice cream and candied kumquats. Oh, or an olive oil whipped cream! But really, this cake is perfect on its own. Really, perfect.

Just try not to drop it like I did.

Buttermilk Avocado Pound Cake

recipe from www.joythebaker.com

makes 2 9x4x3-inch loaves

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I used my own homemade extract!)

3/4 cup buttermilk

flesh of 1 1/2 ripe avocados, just over a cup of avocado, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two loaf pans and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Set the four eggs out on the counter to come to room temperature while you beat the butter and sugar.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until softened and pliable. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the avocado and beat another minute to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is thoroughly mixed.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after the addition of each egg. Beat in vanilla extract.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture, all of the buttermilk, and then the rest of the flour mixture. Beat just until combined.

Divide the dough between the two loaf pans and place in the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean (Here is where I messed up. I wanted to rotate my cakes halfway through baking, and plop, I missed a beat and it fell EVERYWHERE. Go Steph). Check the cakes every ten minutes or so after the 30 minute mark. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

IMG_1763

New picture: June 2015

Avocado pound cake with plain yogurt and homemade apple sauce

Co-op Food + Lemon Ginger Molasses Pinwheel Cookies

1 Mar


I come home from a good sweaty yoga sesh only to find myself munching on a frosted chocolate cake. Oh, living in a co-op. Food is EVERYWHERE at every hour of the day. I come home to a huge hotel pan of chocolate cake, to the smell of homemade granola just out of the oven, to waffles wafting throughout the house, to cookies and flan and pie.

Aside from all of the sweet stuff, I come home to dinner every night at 7pm. Salads and roasted veggies and grains and beans and meats and cheese. To something new and exciting. To soups, stews, and casseroles. Comfort food, health food, vegan food, ethnic food.

Fresh baked bread. Fresh baked bread made with wheat gluten instead of flour: an accidental miracle. Snack shift. Oh, snack shift. Brownies, salsa, midnight madness.

Here is a photo of a typical co-op meal made by moi:


Mini grilled cheese bites (with a rosemary butter), balsamic roasted asparagus with sautéed chard, couscous salad with chickpeas, roasted bell peppers, olives, onion, and peas, and a spring mix salad with citrus (blood oranges, cara cara oranges, and grapefruit), cranberries, and feta cheese. Oh yes, and lemon ginger molasses pinwheel cookies as well as vegan sugar cookies for the vegans.
And here is a picture of a strawberry streusel coffee cake that I made last week (recipe from JoytheBaker):

Buttermilk Biscuit Bonanza:

A Whole Lotta Breaded n’ Baked Chicken:

With the gargantuan amount of food that a cook makes for the house (I live with 60 people, some other co-ops have only 20 people, and some 160 people), it can be difficult to take nice photos because everything is made in large, industrial pots and pans, and I am usually rushing to finish cooking so I do not have a moment to photograph in nice lighting before someone devours the food.

What a rewarding experience it is to cook here. I get everything delivered (no grocery shopping necessary) and I get to cook with a variety of ingredients that come in seasonally. I can experiment and people will eat my experiments and compliment me, yay!

We even bought and entire cow to be more “green” and to save money for the house. We also recently switched to having all-organic Straus milk and yogurt in the house. Our eggs are organic, too.

While cooking for and living with 60 college students can be tough at times, it is nice to have a “family” to eat dinner with every night.

Oh, and here is the recipe for the Lemon Ginger Molasses Pinwheel Cookies. These cookies require a bit of time just because the dough has to be refrigerated a few times and rolled out and rolled up and cut. Worth it. I taste real ingredients and I taste something sweet, satisfying, and soothing for my body.

Alice in Wonderland, the movie, is coming out next weekend, and these cookies would be great to make if you are hosting a “mad hatter” themed party in honor of Alice. They’ve got that Treshire Cat vibe going on.

Lemon Ginger Molasses Pinwheel Cookies
From CookingLightyield: 40 cookies, serving size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

  • Ginger dough:
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 6 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/3 cups)
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Dash of ground allspice
  • Lemon dough:
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg white
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/3 cups)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. To prepare ginger dough, place 1/4 cup butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well combined (about 3 minutes). Add molasses and egg yolk; beat until well blended. Weigh or lightly spoon 6 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 6 ounces flour, ginger, and next 4 ingredients (through allspice); stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat at low speed just until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; chill 30 minutes.

2. To prepare lemon dough, place 5 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended (about 3 minutes). Add egg white; beat until blended. Beat in rind and vanilla. Weigh or lightly spoon 6 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 6 ounces flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat at low speed just until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; chill 30 minutes.

3. Unwrap ginger dough. Roll ginger dough between sheets of plastic wrap into a 13 x 8 1/2–inch rectangle (3/16 inch thick); chill 10 minutes. Unwrap lemon dough. Roll lemon dough between sheets of plastic wrap into a 13 x 9–inch rectangle (3/16 inch thick); chill 10 minutes. Carefully stack ginger dough on top of lemon dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border along one long edge. Starting with the long side without a border, roll up dough, jelly-roll fashion. Seal edges (do not seal ends of roll). Cover with plastic wrap; freeze 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F.

5. Unwrap dough. Cut with a sharp knife into 40 slices (about 1/4 inch thick). Reshape rounds, if necessary. Arrange slices 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake, 1 batch at a time, at 350° for 8 to 9 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 81
Fat: 2.8g (sat 1.7g,mono 0.7g,poly 0.2g)
Protein: 1.1g
Carbohydrate: 13.1g
Fiber: 0.3g
Cholesterol: 12mg
Iron: 0.6mg
Sodium: 33mg
Calcium: 9mg

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>Kiss My Bundt Goodbye: An Ode To Apple Spice Cake Sans Bundt Pan

6 Feb

>
So I live in a house. I live in a house with 60 college students. I live in a house with an industrial kitchen, with a seemingly endless amount of food. And with all of the fun and happy times comes dirt, smell, and disorganization. We’ve gone from soap hockey to sudsy and soaking wet dance party, from Mariah Carey sing-alongs to eating cereal with a fork out of an old dijon mustard jar.

My point is, I wanted to make a cake. I wanted to make this apple cake. I wanted to make this apple cake and bake it in a bundt pan. The only problem was finding a bundt pan amongst the calamity of pots and pans and lids and tops. I knew we used to have one somewhere, but who knows where it could be now? After searching and asking around the house, I finally stumbled across a bent and dented angle food cake pan. Or at least I think it was an angle food cake pan?

Anyway, the bent and dented cake pan actually worked perfectly for letting my batter nestle in its crevices and sit in a hot oven for 45 mintues or so.

Dense and Delicious. Fruity and spice-y. This apple cake is so moist and hearty, you can’t just have one piece, it is really just impossible. Almost as impossible as shoving 10 saltine crackers in your mouth in under 1 minute. Or eating a tablespoon of cinnamon.

I intended to make a nice caramel sauce to accompany the apple cake, but, well, I got lazy. So then I decided that I would dust it with some powdered sugar. Usually we have a huge bucket full of powdered sugar, but it was just my luck we ran out. Actually, I do not even know where the bucket is. I found the lid, but no bucket.

Ho-hum. At least the cake was good, right?

Apple Spice Cake
from the CookieShop, who got the recipe from MarthaStewart.com

serves 10

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
  • 3 to 4 apples (I used Fugi), peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups)
  • 1 cup chopped assorted nuts, such as pecans and walnuts (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Caramel Sauce OR Powdered Sugar for drizzling or dusting

***maybe next time, I will add some freshly grated ginger into the batter, you know, just for kicks and giggles

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray; set aside.
  2. Working over a large sheet of parchment paper, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; gather sifted ingredients into center of sheet; set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or just mix by hand), combine vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs; mix on high speed until lemon yellow.
  4. Fold reserved parchment in half lengthwise; with mixer on medium speed, gradually shake in dry ingredients until just incorporated.
  5. Add apples and, if desired, nuts, to batter; mix to combine. Add vanilla, mixing until incorporated.
  6. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 75 to 90 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven, and cool slightly on a wire rack.
  8. Invert cake onto rack; turn cake right-side up to cool completely on rack, and serve drizzled with caramel sauce or dusted with powdered sugar.

Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake

16 Jan

Pucker up and get ready for some Meyer lemon madness. I’ve been busy with Meyer lemon yogurt cake, thumbprint cookies filled with Meyer lemon curd, Meyer lemon sorbet, and Meyer lemon marmalade => I think I’m in love.

According to Alice Waters’ book Chez Panisse Fruit, Meyer lemons “…are sweeter than other lemons, and…a hybrid of lemons and mandarins…they are juicier and their skin is more tender (than other lemons)…”

These lemons have super soft and smooth skin.

What I love about this Meyer lemon yogurt cake is how moist and wholesome it tastes. Four of us finished more than half of the loaf in one sitting. This is good stuff!

If you’ve got an overabundance of Meyer lemons, check out this website for some tantilizing Meyer lemon recipes.

AND…if you’re feelin’ frisky, this yogurt cake also likes the addition of berries or poppyseeds!

Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake
recipe adapted from Ina Garten

makes 1 loaf pan’s worth of cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 cup plain yogurt (I used non-fat)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 t. Meyer lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup lemon juice
~1/3 cup sugar (I used a little less than 1/3 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan and line with parchment and then grease and flour the pan.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, and vanilla.

4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the vegetable oil.

5. Bake for 50 minutes.

6. While the cake bakes, cook your lemon juice with your sugar until the sugar dissolves and the mixture runs clear. Pour it over the cake.

Oh My Gah…Rainbow Cake!!!!!!!!!!

31 Dec


Yesterday I spent the day making magic in the kitchen with the infamous Linda—chef extraordinaire, queen of the kitchen, best home-cook ever! I grew up going to Linda’s house every week for Friday night dinner. She would prepare fresh baked challah bread, a homemade soup made with fresh veggies (always a different soup each time, always delicious), and then a big main course with sides galore. And for dessert—fruit, little cookies or cakes, and tea.

I really cherish those days when our families came together and enjoyed a good meal, chatting about politics and gossiping about all of the shenanigans happening in the neighborhood. Now all of the kids are older and our dinners happen less often, but when they do happen, I cherish them.

I arrived at Linda’s house yesterday with a big bag full of tart shells, sprinkles, almond extract, parchment paper, butter, aprons, and a few other miscellaneous essentials. She provided the rest.

We went to work, and our first project was to conquer one of my favorite childhood treats, RAINBOW CAKE, also known as seven layer bars.

Rainbow cake is really just almond cake with jam spread between each layer and a nice smooth layer of chocolate on top. The food coloring and sprinkles are just for aesthetics, but as Linda and I both agree, “you eat with your eyes.”


Eeeeee these are just so darling. I want to start a rainbow cake delivery service!!!!! I think that could be quite successful, don’t you? Everyone’s got a food truck these days, maybe I will start a rainbow cake truck and gallivant through different neighborhoods, putting smiles on faces.

IMG_4461
Ok, while I’m dreaming in LaLaLand, you should go ahead and start baking already. Once you have your cake batter, you just divide into three, drop some food coloring, spread into pans and bake, cool, and assemble. The hardest part about this recipe is the assembly, but don’t let that scare you. Enjoy the process because the end product will just make you plotz (Yiddish word for “burst” or “explode”) from so much deliciousness.

After Linda and I made the rainbow cakes, we moved on and made an apple tart with apples from her tree, and we baked challah bread (topped with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and black cumin seeds) and sticky buns. Our little friend Ezra enjoyed helping us sprinkle the seeds over the challahs!


This was the most fun that I have had in a while. Thanks Linda for always inspiring me to make magic.

Rainbow Cake
(aka seven layer bars)
Recipe inspired by SmittenKitchen

makes about 5 dozen bars, or more (or you can just leave it as a cake)

4 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 (8-oz) can almond paste (I used a 7-oz package and it worked just fine)
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
25 drops red food coloring
25 drops green food coloring
1 (12-oz) jar apricot preserves, heated and strained (I used raspberry preserves and did not strain them)
4-oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli)

Optional: sprinkles

Special equipment: a small offset spatula, a heavy-duty stand mixer if you have one; a hand-mixer should work as well.

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 13- by 9-inch baking pan (we decided that a cookie sheet may have been easier) and line bottom with wax paper, leaving a little overhang on 2 ends, then butter paper.

2. Beat whites in mixer fitted with whisk attachment at medium-high speed until they just hold stiff peaks. Add 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating at high speed until whites hold stiff, slightly glossy peaks. Transfer to another bowl.

3. Switch to paddle attachment, then beat together almond paste and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add butter and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and almond extract and beat until combined well, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and salt and mix until just combined.

 4. Fold half of egg white mixture into almond mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly (we found it a bit strange to be folding egg whites into a really thick batter, but it worked fine).

5. Divide batter among 3 bowls. Stir red food coloring into one and green food coloring into another, leaving the third batch plain. Pour green batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with offset spatula (layer will be about 1/4 inch thick). (If you own multiple pans, you can bake 2 layers at a time. We baked our green and white layers at the same time).

6. Bake your layers 8 to 10 minutes, until just set. (It is important to undercook. They’ll look like they’re not done, but a tester does come out clean).

7. Using paper overhang, transfer layer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Bake the remaining layer (s) in same manner as above. Transfer to a rack to cool.

8. When all layers are cool, invert green onto a parchment or wax-paper-lined large baking sheet. Discard paper from layer and spread with half of preserves. Invert white on top of green layer, discarding paper. Spread with remaining preserves. Invert red layer on top of white layer and discard wax or parchment paper.

9. Cover with plastic wrap and weight with a large baking pan. Chill at least 8 hours (We chilled for 2 hours and were just fine. The reason for chilling so long is so that the preserves can really get pressed down and incorporated into the cake layers).

10. Remove weight and plastic wrap. Bring layers to room temperature.

We decided to use one layer of chocolate on top instead of one on top and one on the bottom. Do as you please…***NOTE: If you want chocolate on both top and bottom, use 7-oz of chocolate and melt it 3.5-oz at a time.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Keep chocolate over water. (Alternately, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave, just stir it every 30 seconds).

11. Trim edges of assembled layers with a long serrated knife. Quickly spread chocolate in a thin layer on top of cake, and sprinkle with sprinkles! Chill, uncovered, until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. ***NOTE: If you are doing two layers of chocolate, spread your top with chocolate, refrigerate uncovered for about 15 minutes, invert, and spread your next layer with chocolate. Now you can add sprinkles. Chill.

12. Cut lengthwise into strips, Cut strips crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide cookies. Or, just leave the cake as a cake and cut slices as you please!

  • Do ahead: Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 2 weeks. They’ll keep even longer in the freezer.


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