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Double Chocolate Mocha Crunch Cake
My birthday was last week, and what better way to celebrate than by baking a fabulous cake? This year’s birthday cake inspiration came in the form of my friend Andrew’s Double Chocolate Cake from his cookbook, You Get It Honest (a great book chock full of delicious Southern cooking). But of course I had to make a few additions because, well, that’s just what I do. The result is this Double Chocolate Mocha Crunch Cake. Let’s dig in. A Case for Baking Your Own Birthday Cake Some may think it’s weird or even sad to bake your own birthday cake, but I disagree. I mean, if you hate baking, then…
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Whiteout Cake: White Cake With Whipped Vanilla Almond Buttercream
I’ve been craving white cake lately. Plain white cake with white frosting—the kind you have at weddings, office parties, kids’ birthdays…you get the idea. Normally I’m a chocolate cake fan (if I have to choose), but occasionally I just need something lighter, preferably topped with fruit. Thus, this white cake with whipped vanilla almond buttercream was born! The Classic White Cake I know that a plain white cake seems a little…boring. But if it’s done right, it’s anything but. First of all, you could keep your white cake just plain-old-vanilla (no judgement—vanilla can be delicious), but I like to add a smidge of almond to mine. It gives the cake…
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Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake
This past Tuesday was my birthday (we won’t talk about how old that makes me…let’s just say I’m old enough to remember the first time stirrup pants were in style). I genuinely love my birthday. I always take the day off of work and do whatever I want. This year my plans were pretty low key, but they did include a spectacular cake. The past few years for my birthday, I’ve made my own cake…partly because I’m picky and partly because I just love doing it. Two years ago it was this Chocolate Cake With Earl Grey Buttercream and Salted Caramel, and last year it was Aroshaliny’s Persian Love Cake.…
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Carrot Cake with Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
I’ve always wondered how carrot cake became an Easter tradition—in my mind, spice cake is really more of a fall treat. I suppose the Easter bunny has something to do with it, I’m not sure. But as it’s one of the tastiest cakes there is, I’m sure not going to complain. This is my version, with all of my favorite things: walnuts, no raisins(way overrated, IMO), and a sweet, fluffy, cinnamon-y cream cheese frosting. Let’s give a hearty springtime welcome to Carrot Cake with Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting! Carrot Cake History So it turns out that carrot cake has been around for a while. Or, at least, some version…
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Mud Pie Cake
Last month, I took a Creative Baking class online with monthly.com, taught by Christina Tosi of Milk Bar. It was such a fun class (and also a lot of work!), and I ended up with three new original recipes: Popcorn & Hot Chocolate Cookies, Brûléed Maple Latte Cheesecake Pie, and this Mud Pie Cake. This is a rich, chocolatey cake that’s doused with a Kahlúa-coffee soak, layered with chocolate pudding and bits of chocolate crunch (think Oreo-like cookie crumbles), then topped with a thick layer of whipped cream. This cake is, in a word, dreamy. A New (to Me) Way to Layer a Cake In the class, we learned Christina’s…
Recipes and Musings from the Zenith City
