Coffee Cake

So, in the past I've listed for you guys a few things this New England girl is totally missing out here in paradise. Now, I would never ever in a million years move back to Massachusetts because Hawaii living is just too darn amazing. However, I miss 2 items in particular sooo much: Coffee Milk and Fluff.

Those reading who aren't familiar with these items, let me explain. Coffee Milk is a Rhode Island thing apparently but anywhere you go in MA, you can find it. It almost tastes like those frappuchino in the glass bottles things that Starbucks sells. Fluff is marshmallow creme. Out here they offer the Kraft brand and no offense to Kraft but they ain't got nothin' on the Fluff brand. Not to mention its three times the price I paid for Fluff back east.

My wonderful friend Casey sent me Fluff and Coffee Syrup to make coffee milk and I was beyond excited. It inspired me to get a little creative, so I chose to use some of the coffee syrup in this Coffee Cake. (If you don't have access to coffee syrup like me, I would just substitute some vanilla extract or even a little Kahlua if you're feeling sassy.) I always wondered why it was called Coffee Cake and it had no coffee flavor. Then I realized it's because you're supposed to eat it alongside coffee. Duh, Cait.


Anyways, When making this coffee cake, I realized a little too late I didn't have enough all purpose flour. So, I ended up using some whole wheat flour. I wanted to explain because I didn't want you to read the recipe like "dude, this has 2 sticks of butter in it, did this chick honestly think swapping in some whole wheat flour was going to make a difference?!" So, I'm listing the recipe exactly how I made it but you can feel free to go all purpose, all the way if you'd like!

Total fail on getting a decent picture of this one, Sorry!

2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coffee syrup
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Crumble:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
5 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coffee syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13 baking dish. Beat together butter and sugars. Add in egg one at a time. Mix in sour cream, vanilla extract and coffee syrup. In a separate bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly add into wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, sugar, melted butter, cinnamon and coffee syrup until well combined and "crumbly".

Pour half of the wet mixture into baking dish. Cover with half the crumble. Layer remaining wet mixture and top with remaining crumble mixture. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Drizzle with a glaze if desired (1 cup powdered sugar whisked with 2-3 tbsp milk).

Red Velvet Cake

Ok, so first I'd like to apologize for my absense. I've had a stupid cold for over a week now and haven't felt like standing, never mind testing out new recipes. I got back in the kitchen today and tested out a recipe for Red Velvet Cake and it came out perfect! I was so pumped. I was really nervous the cake would be dry but it was perfect!

Next, I'd like to apologize for the lack of picture. I had leftover frosting from some cupcakes I made last week. However, the frosting was purple and I just couldn't bring myself to put a mismatched cake + frosting combo up here. I will be making this in the future and hopefully I'll remember to update it with a picture when I make it with normal white frosting.

Cake:
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup cocoa
2 oz red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch pans.

Using an electric mixer, beat shortening, oil and sugar together until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix together cocoa and food coloring. Add in to shortening mixture.

In another bowl, mix together buttermilk, salt, vanilla, and almond extract. Add into mixture 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with adding 1/2 cup flour at a time.

Next, mix together baking soda and vinegar. Fold into batter. Do not beat into mixture, gently fold it in. Pour into prepared cake pans and bake for 30 minutes.

Beat together cream cheese, butter and sugar with electric mixer. Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time until well combined and no clumps. Add in vanilla and almond extracts.
Allow cake to fully cool and frost cake.

Fake Out! Black Tie Mousse Cake

Living in Hawaii definitely has its perks. First of all, the lowest temperature I've seen since living here is like 64 degrees. Also, 80 degrees here is sooo different from 80 degrees in New England. New England is super humid and you feel the need to take a shower the minute you walk out your door. Hawaii is breezy and hot, not humid.

Also, we have such a diverse array of delicious food here it is ridiculous. The one category Hawaii could work on is Italian cuisine. Which of course, is my favorite kind of food. In a way, this is a blessing because I have had to experiment in the kitchen. This has undoubtedly saved me a truckload of cash from how much I spent going to Italian restaurants. I know that Olive Garden to "real" Italian chefs is frowned upon. I really don't care. I love Olive Garden. I would give up my left foot to have some breadsticks with an alfredo boat and 23 tiramisus right now. Jon would give up his left eye right now to have the breadsticks and 44 black tie mousse cakes.

 

I'm always forcing Jon to try recipes he would never agree to if I didn't have this blog. I decided he deserved a reward for all the spinach, mushrooms and onions he'd been consuming in the name of Cooking With Cait. That reward was a Black Tie Mousse Cake. I immediately turned to google with the search "Olive Garden Black Tie Mousse Cake". I landed on this recipe. I am sure this mousse cake is delicious and very close to Olive Garden's, as most of her reviews say it is. I, unfortunately, came up with this idea at 8pm and was not about to go through that long of a baking process. I decided to pick up some instant puddings, mix it with homemade whipped cream and get this thing in the fridge to set within an hour. I hope you all enjoy this as much as Jon and I did.

1 box Butter Fudge or Devil's Food Cake mix

Chocolate Mousse:

5.9oz instant chocolate pudding

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache:

1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp almond extract

Vanilla Mousse:

5.9oz instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
2 cup whipped cream (such as cool whip or homemade*recipe follows*)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Homemade Whipped Cream (yields 4-5 cups)
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

For Whipped Cream, put metal or glass bowl in freezer for 5-10 minutes. Whip cream, sugar and vanilla extract on high with electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks.
You're going to make TWO 9 inch cakes. One will be used for this Black Tie Mousse Cake, the other... Well, use your imagination ;). I ended up making a Pistachio Mousse Cake with it. You could also do some epic sundaes with cake in the bottom of the bowl. Yummm. Anyways, bake cakes as directed on box in a deep springform pan. Remove from oven when knife comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

Using a medium bowl, combine chocolate pudding mixture with milk and heavy cream until soft set. Add in cream cheese and vanilla extract.

Using a medium bowl, combine vanilla pudding mixture with milk and heavy cream until soft set. Add in cream cheese and vanilla extract. Fold in whipped cream gently until well combined.

Using a double boiler, melt chocolate chips, heavy cream and almond extract until smooth.

In the springform pan, pour chocolate pudding over cake base evenly and spread until smooth. Pour half of the ganache mixture over the pudding and spread until smooth. Then, pour vanilla pudding over ganache and spread until smooth. Add remaining ganache by rounded teaspoons "polka dotted" throughout vanilla pudding mixture. Use a knife to create a marble look. Set in refridgerator for 2-4 hours or overnight. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Hey there,

So since Thanksgiving is approaching us rather quickly, I wanted to get as many recipes up for you guys as fast as possible. Most of the time, I research and taste test recipes online and then adapt it to make it my own. This next recipe is perfect just as it is. Soooo delicious. Apparently Gooey Butter Cakes come from St. Louis, but I was introduced to them by a sweet little lady from Georgia. You guys may have heard of her before.. Paula Deen? It was one of the very first dessert recipes I tried of hers and it is to die for. It is like birthday cake meets cheesecake in Heaven. So good! Anyways, here's the link to the recipe on Food Network's website.

Love ya!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-gooey-butter-cakes-recipe/index.html

Cait vs. Cake

Hey Guys!

Today was my good friend Janine's baby shower. Janine is about to be blessed with triplets, ALL BOYS! OMG! So, my mom put me in charge of the cake! Awesomeness. This was my first time ever decorating a sheet cake. I was incredibly excited for the challenge.

I picked up a plain vanilla with buttercream cake at Costco. I asked for it with no borders, no decoration of any kind. I figured since it was my first time attempting the decorations, I better not try to be a hero and do the sheet cake itself too.

First, I had to make the fondant. I made this using 16 oz of marshmallows, melted with 2 tbsp of water and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Once that was melted, I used my kitchenaid mixer to beat in 2 lbs of sifted powdered sugar.Then, I kneaded that until it was a firm ball, covered it with plastic wrap and let it set in the fridge overnight.

Next, I made some white chocolate turtles that I had dyed green using food coloring. I used a mold I got at my favorite store Executive Chef. Then, I made all the fondant pieces for the cake. I made palm tree leaves and using a toothpick attached them to pretzel rods. I made shells for the beach. I made a green blanket for the babies to lay on on the beach with white chocolate polka dots. Then I made the babies! Three cute little boys. Check out some of the pictures of their evolution: (sorry the pictures are a little blurry, my camera hates me!)

 

Then, the best part, I got to put it all together! I used graham cracker crumbs mixed with some granulated sugar to make the sand. I used some frosting with blue and green food dye to make a turquoise colored sea. I added all my elements and wrote Congrats Janine & Kyle! I'm so happy with the way it turned out and the cake itself was delicious. Hope you guys enjoyed the pictures!

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey Cake

Aloooooooooooooha!

Okay so have you read the title yet?? Yeah, we're doing gooey butter cakes the way they're meant to be done, with Chocolate and Peanut Butter.

I fell in love with Gooey Butter Cakes watching Paula Deen on Food Network. She made a Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. Unfortunately Jon doesn't like Pumpkin so I was the only one who appreciated its yumminess. So I was forced to get creative and start reworking the gooey butter cake to something Jon and I both love. And after much experimenting I got this amazing cake out of it that is always requested for bake sales and parties.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey Cake

Filling:
1 8 oz container softened cream cheese
1 1 lb box powdered sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy, whichever you like)
1 stick melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

"Cake":
1 box brownie mix
1 egg, beaten
1 stick melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. First combine brownie mix, egg and melted butter in mixing bowl. Pat mix into prepared baking pan. Next, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. Add eggs one at a time to mix. Next, beat in peanut butter. Then mix in butter, vanilla and almond extracts. Make sure it is fully combined, and then pour over top of cake mix.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Cake will be slighty gooey in middle. Let cake cool before serving.

The cake is also very yummy if you let set in the fridge for an hour or so, it won't be warm, but it will be easy to serve and just as tasty!

Calories: 16 servings, 393 calories per serving

Feedback is always appreciated, cookingwithcait@gmail.com