Showing posts with label Snack cakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snack cakes. Show all posts
I am a huge fan of crazy cakes as they are known. Cakes which magically don't contain any butter, milk or eggs. These are great cakes for those who are following a strict diet or for those who are vegan and wanting a cake. You can also, in most cases, substitute a one for one gluten free baking flour for them quite successfully.
When I saw this Crazy Gingerbread Cake on a blog called Little Bluebird, I knew that I had to bake it! I had never heard of a crazy gingerbread cake and with gingerbread cake being one of my favorite types of cakes, it was a "must bake" on my list of things I wished to bake!
Gingerbread is one of those things that everyone just loves. Just the smell of it baking is enough to get everyone excited. The warmth of those spices . . . ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg . . . along with the warm smokiness of molasses. Who doesn't like that???
I added a lush and simple lemon sauce to the recipe. It is completely optional, but oh boy do the two ever taste yummy together. Served warm, this is destined to be the highlight of any meal you choose to serve it after. People will be lining up for this quick, easy and delicious recipe, I guarantee!!
The fact that there is no butter, milk or eggs in the recipe makes it the perfect cake for anyone with those kinds of allergies to enjoy!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CRAZY GINGERBREAD CAKE with lemon sauce
Simple every day baking cupboard ingredients. There is nothing outrageous here. The sauce is optional, but very nice.
For the lemon sauce:
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 TBS cornstarch (corn flour)
- pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup (240ml) boiling water
- 1 TBS butter
- the juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp finely grated fresh lemon zest
For the cake:
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- scant 1/2 tsp of baking soda (3/8 tsp)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (60ml) neutral flavored oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 TBS cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) molasses (in the UK, use half dark treacle and half golden syrup)
- 1 cup (240ml) water
I recommend using only fresh lemon juice for the sauce. You could use the one in the squeeze bottle, but I find it always has a bit of a strange taste. Fresh lemon juice is much better flavor-wise.
In the U.K. molasses is hard to come by. I always used equal measures of dark treacle and golden corn syrup when I lived there with excellent results. Dark treacle on its own has far too strong a flavor.
You can use white vinegar for the cake if you prefer. Apple cider does go very well with this mix of spices however.
HOW TO MAKE CRAZY GINGERBREAD CAKE with optional lemon sauce
This is one of those crazy cakes that involves only folding together dry and wet ingredients until combined and pouring the batter into a pan. The sauce is also very simple to make. The two together are fabulous!
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Grease an 8-inch square baking tin really well and set aside.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, all of the spices and the salt together in a medium bowl until well combined. Make a well in the center.
Whisk the water, molasses, vanilla, vinegar and oil together in a beaker and add all at once to the dry ingredients, pouring into the well.
Mix together by hand to blend until you have a smooth batter without overmixing. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. The top should spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
Leave to cool to room temperature before cutting.
While the cake is baking, make the sauce. Whisk the cornstarch, sugar, nutmeg and salt together in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the boiling water until smooth.
Simmer over medium low heat, whisking constantly until thickened.
Whisk in the butter, lemon juice and zest. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Serve spooned over squares of the cake.
HINTS AND TIPS FOR SUCCESS
- Make sure your leavening ingredients are within date. (Baking powder, and soda) Most times when a cake doesn't rise it will be because these have expired.
- Have all of your ingredients at room temperature.
- Do not over mix this cake as that will result in a tougher cake.
This cake is lovely served either warm or at room temperature. I dusted mine with icing sugar to give it a pretty finish. I put a paper doily on top before dusting and then just carefully lifted it off.
You could also make a simple glace icing using icing sugar and lemon juice. ( 1 cup (130g) icing sugar whisked together with just enough lemon juice to make it of a drizzle consistency.)
If you are not fond of lemon sauce, this is also delicious served with a nice dollop of whipped cream on top, or even a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
This was quite simply delicious.
We love gingerbread anything here in The English Kitchen, but we especially adore it in cake form. Here are some other favorites we have baked that we think you might also enjoy!
BLUE RIBBON GINGERBREAD - This has to be one of the best Ginger breads you could ever want to bake. Its a recipe I adapted from an old book of mine written by the late Marion Cunningham called "Lost Suppers." Every recipe in this book is a winner. This is cozy, cozy, cozy . . . and filled with lots of warm flavors, cinnamon, ginger, cloves . . . and I added some ground cardamom, which worked very well. It is delicious!
GINGERBREAD MUFFINS - These are moist and delicious with a lovely crumb and beautiful ginger/cinnamon flavor. I like to sprinkle a bit of coarse sugar on top prior to baking for a bit of sparkle. These go beautifully with a hot drink and are one of my favorite muffins to bake and to eat!!
Yield: 9 servings
Crazy Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Sauce
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min
Dairy free, egg free and delicious. This qualifies as being Vegan and is a lovely moist cake with beautiful gingerbread flavors. The Lemon Sauce is optional but incredibly tasty spooned over the warm cake.
Ingredients
For the lemon sauce:
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 TBS cornstarch (cornflour)
- pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup (240ml) boiling water
- 1 TBS butter
- the juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp finely grated fresh lemon zest
For the cake:
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- scant 1/2 tsp of baking soda (3/8 tsp)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (60ml) neutral flavored oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 TBS cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) molasses (in the UK, use half dark treacle and half golden syrup)
- 1 cup (240ml) water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Grease an 8-inch square baking tin really well and set aside.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, all of the spices and the salt together in a medium bowl until well combined. Make a well in the center.
- Whisk the water, molasses, vanilla, vinegar and oil together in a beaker and add all at once to the dry ingredients, pouring into the well.
- Mix together by hand to blend until you have a smooth batter without overmixing. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. The top should spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Leave to cool to room temperature before cutting.
- While the cake is baking, make the sauce. Whisk the cornstarch, sugar, nutmeg and salt together in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the boiling water until smooth.
- Simmer over medium low heat, whisking constantly until thickened.
- Whisk in the butter, lemon juice and zest. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Serve spooned over squares of the cake.
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It looked delicious and to be honest I did not and could not use a full sized cake, so I just cut everything in half and made an 8-inch square cake rather than a 9 by 13-inch cake.
I also opted for a plain vanilla buttercream frosting than a cream cheese frosting. I am probably one of the few people around that don't really enjoy cream cheese frosting all that much!
Cakes like this are a fabulous way of using up overripe bananas. When I was married and living in the U.K. I could never keep bananas in the house long enough for them to really ripen. My husband used to eat them all up. I found that I used to have to hide a couple if I was wanting to make banana bread or some such.
Now I am all on my own, I can never keep them in the house without them getting overripe! I hate waste and so often end up baking them into breads and/or cakes. I do usually try to small batch most of my bakes these days as well, as I just can't eat up a full batch of anything all by myself!
Ahh, the travails of living on your own! I have two cats but they don't eat human food like a dog might. Human food is not great for either one in any case!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE AMAZING BANANA BREAD SNACK CAKE
These are pretty simple ingredients and some might question why I share them with you like this, but there are some people who are only new to baking and might need a bit of a longer explanation when it comes to ingredients. I hope we can all be nice and respectful of their journey!
For the cake:
- 1/4 cup (57g) salted butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large free range egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup (60g) full fat sour cream
- 1 cup (140g) all purpose plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- pinch salt
- 2 medium bananas, overripe, peeled and mashed
For the frosting and finishing:
- 1 1/2 cups (190g) sifted icing sugar
- 1/4 cup (57g) butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 - 2 TBS heavy cream or milk
- chopped toasted walnuts to sprinkle on top (4 or 5 walnuts)
I used two smallish bananas, altogether they made about 1/2 cup of mashed banana. To mash the banana I use my immersion blender which gets them nice and smooth. You can also use a fork, but will have a lumpier finish if you do.
The "secret ingredient" to this recipe is the sour cream. Using full fat gives you a lovely rich batter that is incredibly moist.
A large egg in North America is the equivalent of a medium egg in the U.K. , although to be honest I have never noticed the slight difference in size to make much of a difference.
I use only salted butter in my home. I cannot afford to keep in both salted and unsalted butters. If I worry about the salt in a recipe because of the butter, then I just cut back on any regular salt required, or leave it out altogether.
I try to use the best quality ingredients that I can afford to buy of everything. Unbleached organic flour. Organic granulated sugar (I buy it by the large bag at Costco.) Free range, organic eggs.
To toast my walnuts, I turned the oven off after I removed the cake from the oven, threw the nuts onto a baking tray and put them into the residual heat of the oven. I left them for about 8 minutes or so and they were perfect!
HOW TO MAKE AMAZING BANANA BREAD SNACK CAKE
You will need an electric mixer for this, or else you will need to really beat it well with a wooden spoon. I opt for the mixer myself! It makes short work of it!
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan and dust lightly with flour, or line with baking paper. Sift the flour, soda and salt together to combine.
Cream the butter and sugar together using an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. This will take a few minutes.
Beat in the egg, vanilla and sour cream until thoroughly combined and creamy.
Add the flour mixture, on low speed, beating only to just combine. Fold in the mashed bananas, again making sure they are thoroughly combined.
Spread the batter in the prepared baking tin, smoothing over the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until well risen and the top springs back when lightly touched. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 to 10 minutes before lifting out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting, beat the butter together in a bowl with the icing sugar, cream and vanilla until smooth and fluffy! Spread this on top of the cake and garnish with toasted walnuts.
This was a really rich and dense banana cake, with a texture very similar to banana bread. It was very delicious as well. The original cake had a cream cheese frosting, I opted for a simple vanilla buttercream frosting in its place. This was perfect!
The toasted walnuts I sprinkled on top were an optional extra. I love the combination of walnuts and banana and thought they went quite well! You could top with a few fresh banana slices in their place or even toasted pecans if you wanted to. Note however, fresh banana slices should only be added just prior to serving.
Here are some other snacking cakes that you and your family might also enjoy! I know we sure do!
LUCIOUS LEMON SNACKING CAKE - This Lemon Snacking Cake Recipe is a bit different than most cake recipes in that it is mixed and baked and served all in the same pan. Yes, you heard that right! The batter is mixed right in the pan. The cake bakes in the pan. The cake is frosted in the pan (once cooled). And finally, the cake is served from that same pan. I also store this cake in the pan. Add to that the fact that it is delicious and this spells winner all round!
SALTED CARAMEL PEANUT BUTTER SNACK CAKE - This is a particularly lovely cake. Nice and moist with a beautiful crumb due to the buttermilk in the cake batter. Flavored beautifully with peanut butter and brown sugar. The brown sugar also adds to the moist crumb of this cake. The salted caramel frosting on the top is its crowning glory. It is very similar to the old school Penuche frosting. It is fudgy and rich and if a fabulous match for this sweet and salty cake!
Yield: 9
Amazing Banana Bread Snack Cake
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min
A rich and deliciously moist banana cake which is delicious unfrosted and eaten out of hand, but add a simple buttercream frosting and some toasted nuts on top and it is phenomenal! A great way to use up overripe bananas!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1/4 cup (57g) salted butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large free range egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup (60g) full fat sour cream
- 1 cup (140g) all purpose plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- pinch salt
- 2 medium bananas, overripe, peeled and mashed
For the frosting and finishing:
- 1 1/2 cups (190g) sifted icing sugar
- 1/4 cup (57g) butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 - 2 TBS heavy cream or milk
- chopped toasted walnuts to sprinkle on top (4 or 5 walnuts)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan and dust lightly with flour, or line with baking paper. Sift the flour, soda and salt together to combine.
- Cream the butter and sugar together using an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. This will take a few minutes.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla and sour cream until thoroughly combined and creamy.
- Add the flour mixture, on low speed, beating only to just combine. Fold in the mashed bananas, again making sure they are thoroughly combined.
- Spread the batter in the prepared baking tin, smoothing over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until well risen and the top springs back when lightly touched. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 to 10 minutes before lifting out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting beat the butter together in a bowl with the icing sugar, cream and vanilla until smooth and fluffy! Spread this on top of the cake and garnish with toasted walnuts.
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I recently subscribed to Discovery + and am enjoying all of the cooking shows that are available. Most of them are new to me. Having been in the UK for 21 years, many were shows that I just did not have a chance to see!
One that I am really enjoying is Girl Meets Farm, with Molly Yeh. She is such a cutie pie and I love her enthusiasm combined with her recipes. Another one I really enjoy is The Lost Kitchen.
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
The other day when I was watching she made the cutest cake for Christmas. Airline Cookie Sheet Cake. It was so sweet. Decorated with Marzipan houses, and gummy reindeer, candy button garland, rosemary Christmas Trees, etc.
I know . . . its not Christmas, but this recipe was calling my name. Not so much for the decorations, but for the airline cookies.
For those of you who may not be familiar with them, Airline cookies are Lotus Biscoff cookies. I think it is Delta Airlines that serves them in-flight. My boss from the Manor always used to bring home packages of them on their trips back and forth to America.
Actually they are very European. This is the cookie that, more often than not, will be served along side of your coffee when you pop into a Coffee Bistro in Europe.
Unlike North America, they may not give you a second cup or top up for free, but you always get a cookie!
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
Tres addictive. Those cookies are readily available in most grocery shops these days as well. Plus you can buy the cookie butter, which is even more addictive!
Rich and creamy . . . its been my experience that anything you can eat with a spoon is dangerous. And this cookie butter is dangerous. But it's also a really great ingredient to have in the kitchen.
It make a great filling for things and is good spread on plain cookies, toast, etc.
And today it is being used to create a delicious cake! An Airline Cookie Snack cake! Every mouthful is pure delight!
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE AIRLINE COOKIE SNACK CAKE
Other than the cookie butter, you may well have everything you need in the house right now to make this delicious cake!
For the cake:
- 1 cup + 2 TBS (155g) plain all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk
- 1/2 cup (90g) speculoos spread (cookie butter)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 fluid ounces water
- 1 large free range egg
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
For the frosting:
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (45g) speculoos butter (cookie butter)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup (130g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 to 1 TBS whole milk
To decorate: (optional)
- Broken Biscoff/Lotus cookies
- small candy chocolate buttons
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
I actually used President's Choice Speculoos Cookie butter today for this cake. It is pretty much the same thing as the Biscoff Cookie Butter. It has that same cinnamon caramel flavor to it.
I always use regular salted butter in all my cooking. I just cut back on the salt a bit in the recipes. I always use large free range eggs, and pure vanilla extract.
You don't have to decorate the top with the crushed cookies and chocolate buttons if you don't want to, but I thought they added a nice touch.
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
HOW TO MAKE AIRLINE COOKIE SNACK CAKE
This is a pretty basic cake to make and actually goes together in a manner very similar to making muffins with the wet ingredients being stirred into the dry all at once!
Preheat the oven to 350*C/180*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch square cake tin and line with baking parchment paper leaving an overhang on two sides to lift it out when done.
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
Whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
Beat the cookie butter, oil, vanilla, buttermilk, egg and water together in another bowl. Add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir together to combine.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin.
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before lifting out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting beat all of the ingredients together until the mixture is thick and creamy only adding enough milk to give you the right consistency. Spread on the top of the cake.
Sprinkle with broken cookies and chocolate buttons if using.
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
As you can see it has a lovely moist and dense consistency. It also has a really beautiful slightly caramel, lightly spiced flavor. I liked the cookie crumbs on top as well as the chocolate buttons.
They added some colour and additional texture! But it is completely your choice as to whether you add it or not.
.JPG "Airline Cookie Snack Cake")
If I can think of anything that goes better with a cup of coffee than a cookie, it is cake every time, and this cake is wowsa coffee accompaniment perfection!
Some other cakes that would work well with a hot drink are:
SPANISH CAKE - I have really saved the best for the last. This is my all time, absolute favorite cake. So much so that I also recreated it in a small batch version. This cake is so good that I once baked it about three times in one week!
It has a lovely moist crumb, flavored with cinnamon and that brown sugar penuche frosting is to die for. It is the absolute best!
RASPBERRY YOGURT CAKE - I love cakes which are made with sour cream and yogurt. Adding sour cream or yogurt add moisture and makes for a lovely tender crumb. This is a beautiful cake, with a lovely moist crumb. It is light in texture and filled with pockets of sweet tart raspberries.
QUEEN ELIZABETH CAKE - We are especially fond of this old, old recipe for Queen Elizabeth Cake. I don't expect there is a Canadian community cookbook without a version of this in it. It goes way back.
It is a simple and delicious cake! The dates make it incredibly moist. It is also studded with plenty of toasted walnuts. Topped with a sweet caramel icing and sprinkle of coconut, this is a real treat!
Airline Cookie Snack Cake
Yield: one 8-inch square cake
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 1 Hour
I adapted this cake from a sheet pan sized cake by Molly Yeh. It is a delicious cake and perfectly sized for the smaller family. It is moist and delicious!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup + 2 TBS (155g) plain all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk
- 1/2 cup (90g) speculoos spread (cookie butter)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 fluid ounces water
- 1 large free range egg
For the frosting:
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (45g) speculoos butter (cookie butter)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup (130g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 to 1 TBS whole milk
To decorate: (optional)
- Broken Biscoff/Lotus cookies
- small candy chocolate buttons
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*C/180*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch square cake tin and line with baking parchment paper leaving an overhang on two sides to lift it out when done.
- Whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
- Beat the cookie butter, oil, vanilla, buttermilk, egg and water together in another bowl. Add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir together to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before lifting out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting beat all of the ingredients together until the mixture is thick and creamy only adding enough milk to give you the right consistency. Spread on the top of the cake.
- Sprinkle with broken cookies and chocolate buttons if using.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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