6.26.10 Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

...except not.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the fruit in the cake is actually strawberry, not raspberry. I also didn't use buttermilk; I used a mix of half-and-half and milk. So i guess technically my cake is a strawberry half-and-half/milk cake.

6.22.10 Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't like a mountain of cookies? I definitely love them. If anything, I probably love them a little too much for my own good.

So lately I've developed a little obsession with Smitten Kitchen, a food blog, partly because of Rebecca. I've pretty much been hooked since she sent me a link to the simple tomato and onion pasta sauce. Anyway, it has great pictures and recipes of delicious-looking and -sounding recipes, and I can't stop looking.

6.16.10 Cupcakes

We've had lots of guests over recently. First the potluck, this time a barbecue! Mallory's friends Ghis, Samantha, and Elise are staying in our apartment. We also had Don come over to do the actual barbecuing, fire and coals and all. As usual, I decided to bake something for dessert. Since I baked a chocolate cake for the potluck, I chose to make basic vanilla cupcakes. Plus, I had some cream cheese frosting left over from the cake, and cupcakes seemed the perfect thing to use up the frosting on.

6.13.10 Easy Chocolate Cake

We had a potluck dinner at our apartment the other day. Mallory and I had Brandon, Megan, Emily over for the dinner, as well as Ghis, Mallory's friend. Brandon brought lasagna which was super good, Megan made a drink out of bourbon and milk that ended up tasting like egg nog, Mallory made garlic bread, Ghis made kamaboko dip, and I made a salad and dessert.

The recipe for this cake actually called for a chocolate glaze, but I opted for a cream cheese icing with chocolate chips because my guests couldn't decide between chocolate and cream cheese. I used the cream cheese icing recipe from the carrot cake. The chocolate cake came out dense and really chocolatey, so the icing balanced the cake out. Overall, everyone seemed happy and satisfied so I guess everything turned out fine.

Next time:
try out chocolate glaze.

recipe from marthastewart.com

5.27(?).10 New York Crumb Cake

Cake!

Crumbs!

Library! ...depressing.

I don't remember when I made these... I just remember that I baked them before finals week.

I've made these before and Sarah REALLY liked them. Last time I substituted leftover heavy cream for the milk and they tasted great, but the batter was definitely thick. I baked the cake in an 8x8in. pyrex pan instead of a 9x12.5in. pan and they came out perfectly. I also had an overabundance of crumbs, but Sarah and Megan ended up eating those on their own.

This time around, I used milk, didn't have Sarah and Megan at hand, but I was forgetful in general. Obviously, things didn't turn out as well. First, I forgot that the recipe just says "4cups all purpose flour" when you're actually supposed to separate it into 1 1/2cups for the batter and 2 1/2cups for the crumbs. Confusing. Second, since I used milk, the batter was a lot more watery than before. It could have filled up a 9x12in. pan, but I used the 8x8 instead. Third, I forgot that the recipe makes an inordinate amount of crumbs. I piled up as much as I could and ate the rest with Emilia, but couldn't finish them off. I threw away the rest. The cake rose more than I remember.

The cake was still good though, but I prefer the denser one I made with heavy cream. But nothing really matters when you're dying from finals and you just want to stuff your face in misery anyway...

Next time:
1. don't forget to split the flour

If using HEAVY CREAM-
2. use 8x8in. pan
3. reduce crumb recipe by half

If using MILK-
4. use 9x12in. pan

recipe from marthastewart.com