Snickerdoodle Cake!

This cake was awesome! It was our first baking attempt of the year - it's definitely going to be interesting with no easily accessible kitchen! We made up the batter in our room and then ran it down to the kitchen next door to bake it... worked just fine! I see a lot of "no bake" items in our future though!

Okay so this Snickerdoodle cake is from pinterest and the picture looked incredible! So when we were trying to figure out what to make - I kept returning to that recipe and... well pretty soon it was in progress!

Ours wasn't nearly as pretty as the one in the original link - but it sure tasted fantastic!!!

Snickerdoodle Cake
Makes 1 9/13 or 2 round cakes (to layer)
Recipe from foodwithfamily

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour (we substituted with 1 1/3 cups AP flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch)
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
2 sticks butter, softened to room temp.
1 3/4 cups fine or superfine sugar (we just used regular)
4 large eggs, room temp.
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole milk, warmed to room temp.

For the buttercream: (we made this up because we didn't have enough butter but it was still really good so i'll share it with you. Find the directions to the original recipe in the link above)
1 stick of butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 Tbs ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
These are REALLY rough estimates. We really just eyeballed it until it tasted/looked good :)

To Bake the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 235. Butter and flour your pan(s) (tip is to use the butter wrappers from the butter you're about to use!)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in color.

Beat the eggs in one at a time, fully incorporating each egg and scraping down the bowl in between each addition. Beat in vanilla.

Add about 1/3 of the milk, beat to incorporate, then 1/3 of the flour mixture, again beating to incorporate.

Repeat this process, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until all of the milk and flour are mixed in evenly - starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

Pour the batter into the bans and bake, rotating midway through, for about 35 minutes (we did 40) or until it tests done.

Let the cakes cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes before turning onto the racks to finish cooling.

To Make the Buttercream:

Beat together butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat. Add milk to desired consistency.

Frost and you're good to go!

Lemonade Cake

I know you're saying, "what?! lemonade in a cake?!" 

Yeah. I did too. So I made it. And woah. Woah. WOAH. 

Lemonade Cake

Cake:

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

6 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind

3 Tbsp. thawed lemonade concentrate

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups fat-free buttermilk

Cooking spray

Frosting:

2 Tbsp. butter, softened 

2 tsp. grated lemon rind

2 tsp. thawed lemonade concentrate

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

8 oz. 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Serve with raspberries and yogurt ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare cake, place sugar, butter, lemon rind, lemonade concentrate and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at at time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture; beat well after each addition. 

Using wax paper, trace two circles of the bottom of a round 9-inch cake pan and cut out. Place into the bottom of the pan and it will really help the cake to come out cleanly after it is baked. Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes on a wire rack, remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack and remove wax paper from bottom once cooled. 

To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter, lemon rind, lemonade concentrate, vanilla extract and cream cheese in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour. 

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator. 

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Moist chocolate cake filled with homemade caramel... topped with vanilla butter cream and seasalt? What could be better?!!

I am in love with salted caramel anything - chocolates, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, you name it!

This is one of my favorite salted caramel concotions - they are my go-to "need to take cupcakes to a party" cupcakes and they are always a hit!

I made them last weekend because I had told so many people here at school about them, but hadn't made them yet! They are on the complicated side - with lots of ingredients - so it's been hard to find the time and all the ingredients! But with classes behind me and reading week ahead of me - I went for it! My floor and all my friends loved them!

The chocolate cake that I use is pretty incredible too. So if you're just looking for a basic chocolate cupcake recipe - try these out!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes – Makes 36


Cupcakes
2 C. flour
1 C cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 C granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick melted butter
2/3 c melted chocolate
2 tsp vanilla
1 C sour cream


Chardonnay Caramel Sauce (Store bought caramel works just as well)
1 C sugar
1 stick butter
½ C heavy whipping cream
1/4 C oak vatted Chardonnay


Butter Cream
2 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
6 C powdered sugar
3-5 tbsp milk



Make the caramel sauce first and stick it in the fridge; it will still pour just fine after being in there and won't be completely absorbed by the cake when you fill the cupcakes.


Caramel Sauce
Heat sugar and on medium high (any hotter and you'll have sugar flying all over your kitchen!) in heavy 2 quart saucepan and stir. When the sugar starts to boil (and all the sugar is melted) add butter to pan and whisk until melted. Remove pan from heat and let cool about 5 seconds. Whisk in cream. (It will foam and that’s good) Whisk until smooth. Add Chardonnay while hot and whisk together. Remove from pan into a glass jar to store. Can be premade. 

CupCakes
Preheat oven to 350. Line Muffin Tins with Cupcake Liners. Sift together Flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Salt. Beat eggs and sugar. Add Milk, Butter, Chocolate, Vanilla and Sour Cream. Add Dry ingredients. Beat at medium for 2-3 minutes. Pour Batter 2/3 full in muffin tins. Cook for 8-12 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. The cake is pretty fine (read: crumbles easily) and the less you handle the cake the better.


Butter Cream
Cream butter and vanilla. Add Confectioner’s Sugar in 1 cup increments. Add Milk to desired thickness. Beat on high about 4 minutes


Assembly
Once cupcakes are cooled, use a teaspoon to scoop out a hole in the top of the cupcake. Take that part out but keep it! No eating! Pour caramel sauce into the hole. Replace the top and then frost the cupcakes! Drizzle caramel sauce over the top if you'd like and sprinkle with sea salt. Enjoy!