Tag Archives: cake

05Oct / 2010

Super Simple Chocolate Birthday Cake

I’ve been making this Moosewood Restaurant vegan chocolate cake since I was in high school. The frosting is a really easy basic chocolate frosting whose origin I can’t begin to recall. For vegans, Moosewood has an optional chocolate glaze that goes with this cake, but I’ve never had much luck with it due to the impossibility of finding fancy chocolate in Northeast Mississippi.

I couldn't wait for the cake to cool, so the icing is a little melted.

To make this cake, you’ll need:

  • 1 ½ C unbleached white flour
  • ⅓ C unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 t baking soda
  • ½ t salt
  • 1 C sugar
  • ½ C vegetable oil
  • 1 C cold water or coffee
  • 2 t pure vanilla extract
  • 2 T cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 375º. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar in the cake pan. In a small bowl mix the oil, cold water or coffee, and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients into the baking pan and mix the batter with a fork or a small whisk. When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. There will be pale swirls in the batter as the baking soda and vinegar react. Stir until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes then set aside to cool.

For the icing, you’ll need:

  • 2 C confectioners sugar
  • 1 stick butter, chopped
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 2/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
  • at least 2 T milk

Beat first four ingredients in stand mixer.  Add the milk slowly until the mixture is smooth.  Ice cake and save remainder for spreading on graham crackers, cookies, or eating by the spoonful.

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23Aug / 2010

Cast Iron Skillet Cookie Cake

The last thing I need is a cookie cake. Nevertheless, when I ran across this recipe at The Kitchn, I decided to make one anyway anyway.  We had almost everything we needed to make this cookie happen, so when we bought groceries the other night we made sure to get the only missing ingredients: chocolate chips and butter.  While Ms. Dianne and I were working on the muslin slipcover I posted about recently, this cookie cake baked in the oven. The only hitch we encountered was the size of the skillet–the recipe calls for baking the cookie 40 to 45 minutes in a 10″ skillet.  Our two cast iron skillets are 8″ and 20,” and I like a thinner cookie anyway, so we decided to use the 20″ skillet and decrease the cooking time by about 15 minutes.  This worked out well for us, as the center was still soft and chewy while the edges were crispy but not burned.

Throw on some homemade cream cheese icing and this cookie cake becomes an unstoppable force.

To make this, you’ll need:

  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 3/4 C unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 3/4 C packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 t pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 C (about 9 oz) mixed milk- and semisweet chocolate chips

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt then set aside. This next part calls for an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, but if (like us) you don’t have one, a big bowl with a spatula works just fine.  Cream together  the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy–the original recipe says this should take about 2 minutes in an electric mixer, but I imagine it will take longer if mixing by hand. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until they’re fully incorporated. Pour in the flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Transfer the dough to your skillet (the recipe recommends a 10″ skillet) and press to flatten, covering bottom of pan. Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 40 to 45 minutes. If you’re using a different-sized skillet then adjust the baking time to accommodate for the difference in thickness of the cookie.  Don’t overbake, because it will continue to cook a few minutes out of the oven. Cut with a pizza slicer and serve warm.  Both The Kitchn and Martha Stewart recommend topping this with vanilla ice cream.  I’m not the biggest ice cream fan, but I have a feeling that homemade cream cheese icing would make this cookie cake unstoppable.

(Via TheKitchn, Martha Stewart)

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15Jul / 2010

More milk glass!

When I saw these beauties sitting on top of my grandmother's washing machine, I gasped.

I believe I’ve made my love of milk glass known, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that whenever I visit thrift stores I’m always on the lookout for interesting pieces.  I wasn’t on the lookout for anything, however, when I was at my grandmother’s house earlier this week helping her make jam.  I went into the laundry room and saw these two beautiful serving dishes sitting on top of the washing machine, and I literally gasped.  After informing me that she never uses them and making me promise not to break them, my grandmother told me I could have them.  I am ecstatic!  Wouldn’t a strawberry cake (my grandmother’s recipe, of course) look beautiful on the larger one?

I can just imagine serving a hot and gooey blueberry pie in this.

Then yesterday I went to Columbus to visit with friends and family, and I dropped a trunkful of clothes off at the thrift store.  Although I’m really trying to spend any money, since I was already there I figured it wouldn’t hurt to just take a peek inside.  I’m so glad I did!  In addition to the big bag of dinnerplate dahlia bulbs I scored for only $2, I found this sweet little milk glass pie plate.  I’m so excited at how my little collection is growing!

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