Showing posts with label Cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cake. Show all posts
One of my all-time favorite cakes has been the Classic Pound Cake. Simple and yet delicious. Not fancy, there is no pretense there. Its pretty basic, most of the classics are.
Easy to make and even easier to eat. If you have a pound cake in the larder, you have the makings of something really tasty. It can be enjoyed and eaten simply sliced and served with a hot cup of tea, or sliced and adorned with fruit, cream, etc. to make a really fabulous dessert.
When I was growing up my mother would often buy a slab of pound cake. (That is how it is sold here in Nova Scotia.) She would sliced it up into thin slices and we would have it for dessert with some tinned fruit or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It was always my favorite of all the cakes. Dense. Buttery. Delicious.
I don't recall my mother ever baking one herself. We didn't mind. We were just happy to have cake! It was not a frequent occurrence in our home.
Its not something I have baked for myself either, now that I am all on my own. Baking a whole pound cake seems a bit excessive for only one. Until now.
I discovered this Mini Pound Cake recipe on a blog called One Dish Kitchen. I was intrigued. Could a person really bake a pound cake for one. Is it even still pound cake? I had to try it.
Classic Pound Cake is a recipe that dates back to the 1700's. The original pound cake recipe was composed of equal parts of flour, sugar, eggs and butter. Each one being one pound in weight. Hence the name, "Pound Cake."
Modern pound cakes are quite a bit different from these early cakes, most containing a flavoring of some sort, but I think the basic consistency remains the same. And its delicious, which is what matters most.
Initially this cake is a cake that would have weighed four pounds when done. Using one pound of each ingredient also mean you would need an awfully big pan, or at the very least more than one loaf tin. Much more cake than most modern families can consume.
I have heard it originated in France. I have also heard that when Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake," she was referring to bread, but could it be that she was actually referring to pound cake? Hmmm . . . we shall probably never know!
All we really need to know is that it is a very delicious cake, dense with a tight crumb, and most enjoyable to eat. As you can see, this cake is very true to the original pound cake in that it also boasts a dense, tight and moist crumb.
And it is most enjoyable to eat. MOST. Add to that the fact that it is a small more manageable size for the smaller family and we have a winner here.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE POUND CAKE (SMALL BATCH)
Every day baking ingredients, and not a lot of any of them. Certainly not a pound of each!
- 1/4 cup (57g) butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large free range egg
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (94g) all purpose, plain,unsifted flour
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
And so I used full fat milk. It worked fine. No problems there.
My eggs are always large and free range. I only use pure vanilla. Not a lot of lemon juice, but you can freeze the rest of the juice from your lemon to use another time. Just pop it into an ice cube tray. and then, once frozen, pop the cubes into an airtight container, ready to use any time you need fresh lemon juice.
HOW TO MAKE POUND CAKE (SMALL BATCH)
This is a really simple cake to make. My baking dish is a ceramic baking dish which measures 4 by 6 inches in size. You could also use a 5-inch square baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 4 by 6 inch baking dish really well and line with baking paper so that you have an overhang on both long sides for lifting out. Place the dish on top of a baking sheet.
Beat the butter and sugar together using an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and lemon juice, until combined
Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together.
Add the flour to the creamed mixture, mixing to combine, alternately with the milk, making three dry and two wet additions.
Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish, smoothing over the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and tests done. A toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the dish for 10 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack to finish cooling. Cut into slices to serve.
The original poster of this recipe suggested this cake was at its best served warm. You are certainly free to do that. I left mine overnight and cut it when it was stone cold and I have to tell you it was fabulous.
I dusted it with some icing sugar and cut it into 1 inch thick slices. It went beautifully with a hot cup of mint tea. I may channel my mother and serve some with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert tonight.
Oh, just a suggestion. Pound cake is also very nice toasted.
Some other small batch baking recipes in my English Kitchen that you might enjoy are:
GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH LEMON CREAM -This is a beautifully moist and perfectly spiced Gingerbread cake perfectly sized for two people. Its wonderful served warm, split and buttered with a nice hot cuppa, or as a dessert with a nice dollop of lemon cream on top.
AMISH SUGAR COOKIES - This fabulous cookie recipe makes only 2 1/2 dozen perfectly soft and delicious, puffy and incredibly edible sugar cookies. You can ice or not as you wish. I also like to pop a bit of jam in the centers of some. These are fabulously tasty!
Yield: one 4X6 inch cake
Pound Cake (small batch)
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 45 MinInactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 1 H & 5 M
A classic cake transformed into a buttery, tender, golden mini pound cake. This is delicious and perfectly sized for one or two people.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (57g) butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large free range egg
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (94g) all purpose, plain, un-sifted flour
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 4 by 6 inch baking dish really well and line with baking paper so that you have an overhang on both long sides for lifting out. Place the dish on top of a baking sheet.
- Beat the butter and sugar together using an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and lemon juice, until combined
- Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together.
- Add the flour to the creamed mixture, mixing to combine, alternately with the milk, making three dry and two wet additions.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish, smoothing over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and tests done. A toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the dish for 10 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Cut into slices to serve.
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I am excited to share this delicious Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake recipe with you today! In the UK the term coffee cake usually refers to a cake that is highly flavored with coffee. Here in North America the term coffee cake refers instead to a cake which is meant to be enjoyed with a hot drink, such as tea or coffee.
Everyone has their favorite recipes for coffee cakes here in North American as well.
Wikipedia refers to a coffee cake as the following:
North American coffee cakes are typically presented in a single layer, flavored with either fruit or cinnamon, and leavened with baking soda (or baking powder), which results in a more cake-like texture, or yeast, which results in a more bread-like texture. They may be loaf-shaped or baked in a Bundt or tube pan.
.jpg "Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake")
The recipe I am sharing with you today is a North American style coffee cake which has been leavened with baking powder and soda. The original recipe comes from the King Arthur Baking Companion Cookbook, but you can also find it here.
I have downsized it to a loaf sized cake, which is much more welcome in my kitchen, and I have also converted the measurements to metric for European bakers. I actually prefer baking by metrics myself. It is a much more precise method of measuring.
Not all measuring cups are equal. Some hold more than others, but that is not a mistake you will ever run into when you are baking by weight. A gram is always a gram, is a gram!
Once you get used to baking that way, you never want to revert to the other. I would not want to be without a good set of electronic kitchen scales, and that is one of the first items I purchased for myself when I moved back to Canada.
This is a lovely and tender cake with a beautiful crumb and flavor. That is largely due to the use of sour cream in the batter. You can also use plain yogurt if you don't have sour cream.
I kept the amounts for the streusel which both fills and tops this cake as the full-sized measurements. In my opinion you can never have too much streusel!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CINNAMON PECAN COFFEE CAKE (SMALL BATCH)
Simple everyday baking cupboard ingredients. The only hint for success I would give you is to make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature, so take them out of the refrigerator about half an hour or so before you want to begin.
For the streusel:
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (60g) chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
For the cake:
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large free-range egg at room temperature
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature
There is the option for a more substantial and traditional streusel topping which I have not included in the recipe. You can find that option on the King Arthur Baking Page. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page.
The full-sized recipe is also there. It can be baked in a 9 1/2-inch Bundt pan or a 9-inch square pan. That is simply too much cake for little old me!
HOW TO MAKE CINNAMON PECAN COFFEE CAKE (SMALL BATCH)
This is a very easy cake to make. Just make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature and follow the instructions. Success will be yours.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour an 8X4X3-inch loaf tin, or butter and line with some baking paper. set aside.
Stir together all of the streusel ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.
Beat together in a medium sized bowl, the butter, sugar and egg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream or yogurt, stirring well to combine after each addition.
Spread half of the batter in the prepared loaf tin. Top with half of the streusel. top with the remainder of the batter and then top with the last of the streusel.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs sticking to it.
Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out to a wire rack to finish cooling. Can be served warm or at room temperature. Cut into thick slices to serve.
This really is a tender and moist cake to make. I have been baking this one or one similar to it for a great many years. When the children were growing up, I used to bake it in a 9-inch square baking tin. I also sometimes added mini chocolate chips to the streusel which they loved.
It's always been a real family favorite and if you bake it, you will know why. It's perfectly delicious!
Some other cake recipes I have shared on here that you might enjoy with a hot drink are:
SMALL BATCH ZUCCHINI COFFEE CAKE - Moist, delicious, flavored with browned butter and nicely spiced. Flecked with green specks of zucchini and topped with a moreish buttery sweet cinnamon brown sugar streusel and a sweet glaze.
BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE - A cake you will be proud to serve to anyone. A cake that you will be unable to resist sinking your fork into, again and again. You may even find yourself getting up in the middle of the night to enjoy a slice . . . if it lasts that long! A fabulously tasty cake with a lovely thread of cinnamon sugar swirl throughout . . . studded with plenty of plump sweet berries.
Yield: 1 (8X4X3) loaf
Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min
A tender and delicious loaf cake filled and topped with a moreish cinnamon nut streusel.
Ingredients
For the streusel:
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (60g) chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
For the cake:
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large free-range egg at room temperature
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour an 8X4X3-inch loaf tin, or butter and line with some baking paper. set aside.
- Stir together all of the streusel ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.
- Beat together in a medium sized bowl, the butter, sugar and egg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream or yogurt, stirring well to combine after each addition.
- Spread half of the batter in the prepared loaf tin. Top with half of the streusel. top with the remainder of the batter and then top with the last of the streusel.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs sticking to it.
- Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Can be served warm or at room temperature. Cut into thick slices to serve.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I like to try new recipes and I saw this recipe for a Christmas Candy Cane Cake on a blog called Preppy Kitchen the other day. It looked really pretty.
It was a delicious moist looking cake, riddled with pockets of crushed candy cane and topped with a peppermint icing and more crushed candy canes.
In the description of the cake, it promised to have pockets of candy cane liquid throughout, that popped in your mouth when you bit into it.
Having baked the cake now, I think that was a bit of an exaggeration, although I do have to say, that despite that, it is a very good cake!
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
It's basically a very easy cake. Super-moist and filled with lovely vanilla flavor. You would think that with the amount of crushed candy canes in the cake, the batter would be crunch, but they actually melt inside the cake.
This flavors and riddles the cake with pockets of candy cane flavor. Not a liquid as promised in the initial recipe, but still quite delicious!
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
A moist and delicious cake, it is topped with a rich peppermint flavored fluffy white frosting. More crushed candy canes are sprinkled on top to decorate it.
Of course, not everyone loved the texture of crushed candy on top of things like this, so you can totally leave them off. It's an optional decoration.
Don't worry, inside the cake the candy melts, so your cake is not filled with crunchy bits.
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
I actually bought a huge bin of crushed candy canes from Sweetpolita. They sell cake decorating supplies. They no longer seem to be available now, however.
No worries however as you can just crush regular candy canes. It's very easily done in a food processor, or in a baggie with a rolling pin. You want them to be somewhat coarse, but not overly chunky!
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CANDY CANE SHEET CAKE
Pretty basic ingredients apart from the candy canes.
For the cake:
- 1 TBS vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2/3 cup (100g) crushed candy canes (divided)
- 1 ¼ cups (300ml) whole milk
- 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (180 g) butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (60g) dairy sour cream
- 6 large free range egg whites
- 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose plain flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
For the frosting and decoration:
- 1 ½ cups (340g) butter, at room temperature
- 3 ½ cups (453g) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp peppermint extract
- ¼ cup (60ml) milk
- Crushed candy canes to sprinkle on top
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
You might wonder what you are going to do with all the leftover egg yolks. You can freeze them for later use, but I found a few delicious ideas on how to use them.
Pasta Carbonara is aways a popular dish. Egg Custard is another way to use them up. I also like to beat them a few at a time into whole eggs to make scrambled eggs for breakfast, or into omelets. Don't worry about using them all up.
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
HOW TO MAKE CANDY CANE SHEET CAKE
It's actually a lot easier to make than you would think. Just follow the instructions and you can't go wrong.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter a 9-inch by 15-inch cake tin and line with baking paper. Set aside.
Whisk the milk and sour cream together. Set aside.
Sift the flour and baking powder together into a bowl. Set aside.
Cream the butter using an electric mixer until really soft. Add the sugar and then cream until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and salt.
Beat in the egg whites until thoroughly combined.
Alternately beat in the flour mixture and the milk/sour cream mixture, making three dry and two wet additions. Mix to combine fully.
Fold in 1/3 cup (50g) of the candy canes. Don’t overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, leveling it off. Sprinkle the remaining candy canes over top in little piles. Swirl in with a spatula.
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven until the cake is golden brown and tests done in the middle. (Mine actually took about 10 minutes longer.) A toothpick inserted should come out clean. Wait five minutes and then lift out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
To make the frosting, cream the butter and icing sugar together on low, slowly pour in the milk, peppermint extract and vanilla. Beat together until thoroughly combined and fluffy. Smooth over the top of the cake evenly. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
Cut into squares to serve.
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
This really is a lovely cake. Nice and dense and moist. Don't use too much peppermint extract in the frosting at the risk of ending up with a cake that tastes like toothpaste! I actually left it out altogether because I was afraid that it might.
There is plenty of peppermint flavor from the candy canes themselves. This makes for a very pretty cake that would be wonderful to take to a children's school party or to a Bible study or just as a holiday dessert, cut into squares and served with a bit of ice cream!
.JPG "Candy Cane Sheet Cake")
Some other holiday cakes that you might enjoy are:
CRANBERRY BREAKFAST CAKE - Stogged full of lots of berries and toasted walnuts! Stogged as in stuffed to the hilt!It cuts like a dream and is so delicious warm . . . the berries tart and delicious against the sweetness of the cake batter . . . with that lovely nutty crunch of walnuts. Perfect with your morning cuppa!
CHRISTMAS GINGER CAKE - Baked in a Bundt tin, the smell when this cake is baking is just heavenly. It smells like what you want Christmas to smell like . . . warm, and spicy and just plain festive! Moist, delicious and very pretty.
Yield: 15
Candy Cane Sheet Cake
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 1 Hour
This beautiful cake is riddled with crushed candy canes and topped with a fluffy peppermint icing and more crushed candy canes!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 TBS vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2/3 cup (100g) crushed candy cane (divided)
- 1 ¼ cups (300ml) whole milk
- 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (180 g) butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (60g) dairy sour cream
- 6 large free range egg whites
- 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose plain flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
For the frosting and decoration:
- 1 ½ cups (340g) butter, at room temperature
- 3 ½ cups (453g) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp peppermint extract
- ¼ cup (60ml) milk
- Crushed candy canes to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter a 9-inch by 15-inch cake tin and line with baking paper. Set aside.
- Whisk the milk and sour cream together. Set aside.
- Sift the flour and baking powder together into a bowl. Set aside.
- Cream the butter using an electric mixer until really soft. Add the sugar and then cream until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and salt.
- Beat in the egg whites until thoroughly combined.
- Alternately beat in the flour mixture and the milk/sour cream mixture, making three dry and two wet additions. Mix to combine fully.
- Fold in 1/3 cup (50g) of the candy canes. Don’t overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, leveling it off. Sprinkle the remaining candy canes over top in little piles. Swirl in with a spatula.
- Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven until the cake is golden brown and tests done in the middle. A toothpick inserted should come out clean. Wait five minutes and then lift out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, cream the butter and icing sugar together on low, slowly pour in the milk, peppermint extract and vanilla. Beat together until thoroughly combined and fluffy. Smooth over the top of the cake evenly. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
- Cut into squares to serve.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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