happy weekend

Elliot turned seven last week, and ever since then, he's been gelling his hair before school and looking way too grown up. Ah! I don't know if I can take it. Elliot is full of personality, a good playmate, and a great baseball player. He is always getting his siblings outside to jump on the trampoline or ride vehicles, and likes to be in the middle of the action. He'd eat oatmeal every morning if he could and still likes a good snuggle first thing when he wakes up. And also, he looks exactly like his dad. :)

Two things we tried this week for dinner (and most of us liked): Spicy Instant Pot Carrot Soup (not too spicy and served over rice) and Breakfast Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce (assembled in the morning, kept in the fridge, and then popped in the oven at dinner time--I love when I can do that!).

What I'm making myself for Mother's Day: The Best Yellow Cake. I haven't been eating sugar all week, saving it up for Mother's Day, so I am really looking forward to eating this cake. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting will always be one of my most favorite desserts, but I've never made a successful homemade version. I am excited to try this recipe!

I hope you have a happy weekend, especially on Sunday.

happy weekend

I think Elliot really thought he could beat Mike at stick pull the other night during Stella's volleyball practice. He certainly gave it everything he had. Look at that face! Mike surprised us and showed up at Stella's practice. We seriously never see him anymore, he is so busy at school. Honestly, I feel like a single mom most of the time. (I have enormous respect for real single moms. You are strong, capable ladies.) It is hard but it will be worth it, I think.

A list of things I have found upon waking in the last three weeks:
a bat flying around my kitchen
a rat hiding under my kitchen table
a rat under our dresser, being chased by our cat*
and the worst one-- a rat trying to escape out my opened but screened bedroom window, inches from my head.*

*occurred in the middle of the night

Our cat is officially (I mean it this time) fired. It used to drive me nuts that she'd bring dead birds and lizards into the house, but I'd take that over the live animals she's been bringing in lately. I can't even. . . I mean, I'm just glad we found and caught these things before Mike left for the day. Otherwise I'd really have to put my brave face on, and I don't think I could do it.

Have your kids picked out their Halloween costumes yet? We are still trying to decide on a few at our house, but time is running out!

Some recipes I tried and at least half of us liked this week: Ree's Quinoa with Buttery Roasted Vegetables (I doubled the vegetables), Ree's Veggie Tortellini Soup (this came together in like 20 minutes), Cha Cha's White Chicken Chili (minus the jalapeno), and Pumpkin Magic Cake (go heavy on the glaze).

I wish I could say it felt like fall here, but we have another week or so of hot (and I mean hot) weather. And then, then, it will be in the 70s! Happy day.

I hope you have a good weekend full of fall things. We have the school carnival, which is always a good time.

apple sharlotka

Have I mentioned that Mabel has fully taken the reigns of our family baking (minus the bread--I still do that)? It is the best. She eagerly awaits our turn to bring dessert to Sunday dinner, and this past Sunday she made a really great apple cake. It was simple and light and not too sweet. I thought I'd share the recipe here in case you want to try it.

Apple Sharlotka

6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into medium sized chunks
3 eggs
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
cinnamon and powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

In a large bowl, mix the eggs and sugars until thick ribbons form on the surface of the beaten eggs. Beat in the vanilla. Then stir in the flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg until just combined. It should be very thick. Add the apple chunks and mix well.

Pour everything into a nicely greased 9 inch springform pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Dust with more cinnamon. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

We ate ours warm with whipped cream, but I think it'd be really great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Original recipe from smitten kitchen here.

happy weekend

I feel like we're really earning our weekends these days. And this one is even a long one! Hurray! Mike is looking forward to using it to catch up on school work, which is totally sad. But the rest of us are going to let loose. And by let loose, I mean lay around and relax. We're low energy people.

Right before the summer heat started, Mike and I did some work on our yard. Lots of the plants we added or moved didn't survive, but these aloe sure are happy. And that jasmine, too. I am anxious for the weather to change so that we can finish up some planting.

Two things that helped me feel good this week: Making dinner for a friend who is going through something really hard. And giving myself a project. I've been wanting to do something with the little office off of our kitchen for a long time, and this week I did it! I'll post pictures next week, but first I need to finish up a few things.

Good news! Ryan Tanner released a new album. His music is my favorite-- slow and quiet and easy. You can find it here.

This macaroni and cheese recipe was a big winner at our house the other night. I even used whole wheat pasta and bread and it was still delicious. And Mabel made Martha's Triple Chocolate Cheesecake for my birthday last weekend. If you are in the mood for the richest, most delicious cheesecake, this is the recipe for you.

Have a good weekend!

pumpkin crumb cake

I've happily turned the household baking reigns over to Mabel. Last weekend she made a delicious pumpkin crumb cake for Sunday dinner. It was moist and fluffy and sweet and I'm not going to lie, I had the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. It's a good one, if you're looking for a new pumpkin recipe to try.

Banana Cake

I had some very ripe bananas sitting on my shelf this past weekend, but banana bread didn't seem to fit the bill for a Sunday dinner Super Bowl treat. So I found this recipe for a classic Banana Cake instead. I had just enough of the ingredients listed to make one little layer. There would be a few other desserts at Mike's parents' house that night, so I knew a small cake would be plenty. I halved this recipe:

Banana Cake
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3)
2 1/2 cups cake flour (If you don't have cake flour, replace 2 tbl flour per cup with 2 tbl cornstarch.)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and prepare two 9-inch pans (grease and flour). Mash the bananas in a small bowl. I like mine nice and smooth, but you can leave chunks, if you'd prefer. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a second bowl. In a third bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Add the buttermilk to the mashed bananas, and then mix it into the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Once it's cooled completely, frost it with this:

Banana Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup mashed bananas (about 1)
3 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mash the banana. In another bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla and the lemon juice. Then mix in the mashed banana. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a little bit at a time.


The frosting really packs a banana punch and makes this cake extra special. The cake was light and moist, and the frosting was creamy and rich. We all loved it. I might not go back to banana bread ever again.

Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Isn't that the craziest thing you've ever heard? I was really skeptical when I saw the recipe, but I am here to tell you that chocolate quinoa cake is real and it is delicious. And you can't even tell that it's made with quinoa instead of all-purpose flour. I promise. Granted, it's been a while since I've had regular chocolate cake, so I'm not sure how it would hold up in a side by side taste test, but I thought it was really good.

You can find the recipe here.

My notes: I baked the cake in a 9x13 pan. It sounded like it was going to be sort of fragile, and I didn't want to have to worry about layers crumbling. It ended up being sturdier than I thought, but I am still glad I went with a sheet cake. (I baked it for the recommended round-pan-30 minutes and it was just right.) I used regular whole milk, and regular butter in place of the Earth Balance. I knew the frosting was going to be plenty sweet, so I cut the sugar in half, and only used half a cup of regular granulated sugar (in the whole cake!). Make sure you have cooked the quinoa ahead of time, as it is supposed to be cool when you add it to the batter, and you're not going to want to wait for it.

And now some notes on the frosting: the frosting! Oh man, I wanted to eat the entire bowl with a spoon. It was so, so good. I used one full can of coconut cream (Sprouts brand, with no added sweeteners) and 10 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips. I refrigerated the coconut cream for a few hours, but not overnight since I didn't think there would be anything to separate out like there would have been if I had used the coconut milk called for in the recipe. Once I melted them together on the stove, I refrigerated the mixture until it was firm, making sure to take a swipe with my finger (or a spoon) every time I opened the fridge. When I was ready to frost the cake, I whipped the cream for a minute with a hand mixer. Here's the thing, it is more like a heavy whipped cream than a thick frosting, and that is just fine. But that's one reason why I am glad I made a sheet cake and not a layer cake. I think the frosting would have oozed right out of the layers. The consistency of the frosting didn't bother me because it tasted SO good. It has a very slight coconutty flavor. It is so slight that even if coconut isn't your thing, you would probably like it. I still can't believe it only has two ingredients. It couldn't be simpler. Just make sure to keep your cake in the fridge.

Have you ever made this cake before? Do you think you'd like to try it?


Thanks to my friend, Jill, for passing this recipe along to me.

a birthday and a cake

Yesterday was my birthday. I almost didn't make myself a cake. I almost let myself be mopey. Sometimes birthdays make me grumpy. Instead, I bought myself some presents and made Mike take me out to lunch. (We had the most delicious tacos here.) While Elliot napped, I baked this cake. And yesterday ended up being pretty fantastic after all. A lot of that had to do with all of the sweet notes that were left on my instagram account. Man alive, thank you, friends! I had a permanent smile on my face all day long.

But yes, the cake. Bake one immediately, please. It is the pumpkin cake of your dreams. (I brought out my latent math skills and only made one squat little layer instead of three. One was just the right amount for our little family of 6. I didn't want to have to face any leftovers this morning, as I surely would have eaten them for breakfast and regretted it immediately.)

Cinnamon Roll Cake

This cake in no way replaces cinnamon rolls. But it comes awfully close. It is more like a coffee cake, and would be good to serve at a brunch or a baby shower. This weekend, I brought it to a funeral. That worked, too, I guess.

Cinnamon Roll Cake, from my friend, Brooke

for the cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix everything together except for the butter. Then slowly stir the melted butter into the batter before pouring it all into a greased 9x13 pan.

for the topping:
1 cup softened butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Mix these ingredients together, then drop evenly over the top of the batter. Swirl into the cake batter with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-32 minutes.

for the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
5 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix these together and drizzle over the warm cake. (I needed to add a little more milk to make mine the right consistency for drizzling, just fyi.)

Everyday Chocolate Cake

On Saturday night, Mike and I went out for sushi with some friends. I love going out for sushi. It is delicious, and I love how I leave the restaurant feeling full, but not stuffed.

But then I went home and made this cake and ate a huge slice straight from the oven with vanilla ice cream. My good feeling was quickly ruined and I went to bed swearing off cake forever (again). When will I learn? Sheesh. But you know what? It was worth it. It seems like I am always on the hunt for a good chocolate cake recipe and this one is definitely a keeper.

It was moist and fudgey (I had no idea cake could even be fudgey), and soft and chocolatey. It is perfect served just by itself, no frosting or ice cream required. I love a good loaf cake, and this one is even better the next day! It would be the perfect gift for a friend or neighbor (if you don't eat it all first).

p.s. I used regular unsweetened cocoa (not dutch-processed) and 1/2 tsp baking soda, per the instructions. I baked mini loaves and they totally sunk in the middle (which I think indicates too much leavener?), but I didn't even care! They were so, so good.

Spring Break + Lemon Cake

Spring break is off to a great start. Mabel and Oliver are making a movie with the other kids in the neighborhood (with auditions and everything), Oliver had his first baseball practice last night (hooray for little league season!), and Stella and Elliot are still mostly good buddies.

After seven years in our house, I finally finished installing our baseboards, and now they just need a coat of paint. But first, wallpaper! Hopefully I'll have some photos to show you soon.

In the meantime, if you are looking for a recipe to try, this lemon cake is fantastic. It is so moist and lemony. I think it's the lemon syrup you spoon over the warm bread that makes it my favorite.

I hope spring has sprung wherever you are. It's supposed to be 95 here tomorrow, so I would say that winter is officially over. Sigh.

Chocolate Cake with Whipped Frosting

Yesterday seemed like a good day for cake. I tried Martha's Chocolate Cake with Whipped Frosting. They were a natural fit, since the cake calls for 3 egg yolks, and the frosting 3 egg whites. But the frosting was a little too meringue-y for me. Too light and airy. I decided that I like my frostings to be thick, heavy, and butter-based. I guess that makes me a buttercream person? The cake itself was delightful. I added just a touch more buttermilk than called for in the recipe to counteract our dry desert air, and it turned out moist and delicious. I'd definitely make it again, but next time I think I'll pair it with buttercream.

Elliot kept sneaking bites when I wasn't looking. I gave in and completely ruined his dinner by giving him a slice. Oh well. I have a hard time saying no to that little face.

Chocolate Spice Cake

I'm still thinking about this cake that I made for my friend Beth's Christmas dinner party last month. It was delicious, but mine ended up being a little on the dry side (I think I baked it a touch too long). I am itching to try it again. It had just the right amount of spiciness, and the chocolate cinnamon frosting was fantastic.

Alright, it's settled. I am off to bake another. Wish me luck!

*Update*

I increased the buttermilk to 1 1/4 cups this time and baked it for 45 minutes. It was soft and moist and the 8 kids in my house today inhaled it immediately. Hooray!

Buttermilk Cake

My friend, Sara, shared a slice of this cake with me last week and it sort of changed my life. It was warm from her oven, sweet and light, with a hint of lemon. It was so good that my kids and I ate the slice, every crumb, in about 2 seconds flat. I immediately begged her for the recipe.

I happily brought it to Sunday dinner last night. I swapped the shortening for butter and the lemon extract (my bottle was dry!) for lemon juice. It has a nice crust, was moist inside, and would be great paired with just about anything. I chose raspberries and peaches.

I love cakes like this. Thank you Sara!

p.s. My cake was done baking after an hour, not the hour and 15 minutes that is called for in the recipe.

chocolate zucchini cake

Fall is my season. If I close my eyes while I'm eating a bite of this cake, I can pretend that it's November and my windows are open and a cool breeze is blowing through my house. Oh, November, you can't get here soon enough! Until then, I guess this cake will have to do.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 or 3 small zucchinis, grated
3/4 cup chocolate chips
powdered sugar for dusting

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Then mix in eggs, oil, and buttermilk until combined. Stir in grated zucchini and chocolate chips. Bake for 50-55 minutes in a well-greased pan in a 350 degree oven.

Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.
 
It's so moist and chocolatey, but I think it's the bit of cinnamon that makes it a real winner.

recipe adapted slightly from allrecipes

My sister-in-law, Ginger, made another version of this cake here. If I'd had apple butter, I would have given her's a try. It sounds delicious!

white cupcakes with strawberry buttercream

Well, Martha did it again. She lured me in with her pretty pictures and delicious recipe titles. Half a day and about a thousand dirty dishes later, I had 24 completely disastrous-looking, but so very melt-in-your-mouth yummy white cupcakes with strawberry meringue buttercream frosting.

If you tried to make a cupcake version of strawberry shortcake, this is what you would get. The cake calls for eight egg whites, so it is almost like an angel food. It is light and moist and sweet. I may have over beaten my egg whites just a little bit, so be careful.

The icing is sort of frothy and meringue-y, with a fresh strawberry flavor that comes from jam added at the end. I like that there are little bits of real strawberry in the frosting. Also, they were the perfect shade of pink!

A note: These are not your average cupcakes. They take an awful lot of work, but they are worth it!

Chocolate Cake with Mint Chocolate Ganache

Mabel knew just what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday. She requested this chocolate cake with mint chocolate frosting.

The cake made two 9 inch rounds, plus about 8 cupcakes. It is very moist and sort of crumbly, so it can be kind of tricky to get out of the pan. Make sure you grease the pans really well and dust them with cocoa powder. I didn't have cupcake liners, so I lost about half of the cupcakes to sticking, but we didn't mind that one bit. We grabbed a fork and ate them right up. I made the cake the day before, then covered it in plastic and stored it in the fridge.

I used this ganache recipe and added 1 1/2 teaspoons of peppermint extract after the chocolate was mixed in. I liked this recipe better than the last Martha ganache recipe I tried. It made just the right amount to frost the cake, and it was sweeter. Also, no whipping was involved. Just chilling in the fridge until it was a spreadable consistency.

I loved this cake. It was super rich and fudgey, with a hint of mint in a nice, solid frosting.

carrot cake

Mike doesn't really care for cake. As someone who finds a lot of joy in baking (and then eating) cakes this is somewhat shocking. But even this cake is Mike approved. It is dense, rich, moist, and so delicious.

I swapped the oil for butter, the walnuts for pecans, and the crushed pineapple for a little milk instead. It was just right.

For the frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
2 teaspoons of vanilla
about 5 cups powdered sugar

Cream the cream cheese and butter together, then add the vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until completely combined.

Makes enough frosting to generously cover a double layer cake, with some to spare.

yellow cake

One of my favorite classes in college was a household equipment lab. One of our experiments was baking yellow cake in different pans, and under various circumstances, to see which produced the best result. There were many mornings that semester that I had warm yellow cake for breakfast. Oh, those were good days!

Last Sunday, our dinner assignment was dessert. We didn't have much in our pantry to work with, but we did have everything we needed for a homemade yellow cake with chocolate butter cream frosting. It is a classic and to this day, one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast.

In my household equipment class, we used box cake mixes. Now, I try to make as many things as I can from scratch. Yellow cake is really pretty simple, even Martha Stewart's version, which is what I brought to Sunday dinner.

I used this slightly salty melt-in-your-mouth recipe for chocolate butter cream frosting.

the cake

Mabel and I chose the cake for Elliot's birthday. We were flipping through my Baking Handbook, and this one stopped us in our tracks. We didn't think Elliot would mind. I was coming off of a sugar-free week, and I had a load of fancy chocolate that I inherited when my brother moved burning a hole in my pantry. So we went all out.

Our cake had a subtle mint-chocolate ganache, instead of the plain chocolate called for in the link above. (Just add 1 1/2 teaspoons of peppermint extract along with the corn syrup and salt.) I mostly used a very dark chocolate, which made the ganache a tad bitter, so when I was whipping it for the filling, I added about a cup and a half of powdered sugar. Then I decided that I didn't want to coat the cake in the final, glossy layer, so I left it just like this. I could have quartered the ganache recipe and still had plenty, I think. I baked it for the minimum time listed in the recipe, but that was just a tiny bit too long. If you decide to try it, make sure to check the cake before the timer beeps!

Like most of Martha's recipes, this one takes a while and dirties lots of bowls, but it was worth it. And it tasted even better the next day.