Showing posts with label Snack cakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snack cakes. Show all posts
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.
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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!
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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!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
Spice Cake with a Spicy Mocha Frosting. The recipe I am sharing with you today is for a delicious nut studded spice cake with a fabulous old fashioned mocha icing.
I love snack cakes and this is one of the best. Not only is it one of my favorite spice cakes, but it has a ribbon of cream cheese filling running through the middle of it.
Back before I moved over to the UK you used to be able to buy these small recipe magazines put out by Pillsbury, Betty Crocker etc. in the grocery stores. They would be situated near the tils.
Something for you to peruse while you were waiting for your turn to empty your shopping trolley onto the conveyor belt. I could never resist looking at them.
I had collected quite a few through the years. Sadly I lost them all when I moved back to Canada last autumn, save a few of them that I somehow had the forethought to pop into my luggage.
This recipe comes from one entitled Fall Baking by the people who make Gold Medal flour. It was published in 2000, and was always one of my favorite of those little books.
I cut the original recipe in half. The original made a 13 by 9 inch cake. Far too much cake for just me, and in all truth so is an 8-inch square cake. Its a good thing I have some family to share it with!
Spice cake is something I have always loved. Flavored with warm baking spices, it is just a cake I have always enjoyed, in any way shape or form.
Flavored with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and all spice, some cakes will also use molasses to sweeten them. This cake does not.
Instead it uses brown sugar, which also goes very well with warm baking flavors.
The batter is enriched by the use of sour cream, which produces a lovely, moist cake. I know there are some people who don't like the word moist. I am not one of them.
I embrace moistness. To me moist spells delicious!
What makes this cake a bit unique however is that it has that ribbon of cheesecake running through the middle of it. Oh my goodness.
What's not to fall in love with when you are talking about something like that? Spice cake, moist and spicy . . . cheesecake, rich and decadent. Oh my my . . .
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SPICE CAKE WITH SPICY MOCHA FROSTING
Simple ordinary ingredients most of us always have in our homes, that's what!
For the cake:
- all purpose flour
- brown sugar
- sour cream
- chopped toasted walnuts
- butter
- water
- warm baking spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and ginger)
- baking soda and baking powder
- salt
- egg (1)
The filling uses equally simple ingredients and only three of them:
- cream cheese
- sugar
- egg yolk
And then the frosting is simple as well:
- icing sugar
- butter
- cocoa powder
- hot water
- cinnamon
- instant coffee
You see, nothing complicated there in the least.
HOW TO MAKE SPICE CAKE WITH A SPICY MOCHA FROSTING
Again, this is a very simple cake to make. You want to make the cheesecake filling before you start the cake. This is easily done by whisking them all together until smooth.
Likewise the cake batter is also very easy to make. Once more, you simply whisk everything together until smooth.
I do like to use toasted nuts in all of my bakes. This isn't really necessary, but I like the extra nuttiness that results from toasting them. Again a simple thing, spread on a baking sheet in a single layer, in a moderate oven for about 8 minutes. Let them cool before using.
I often do a whole bag at a time, keeping them in an airtight container in the freezer so they don't go rancid. Ready to take out and use whenever I need toasted nuts.
Once you have the filling and the cake batter done, it is a simple matter of layering them in a prepared baking tin. I used an 8-inch square tin which was buttered and lined with baking paper.
You may wonder why I always line my tins if I am buttering them anyways. Its simple really. It helps me to be able to safely lift the baked cake out of the tin when it is done.
This is a matter of practicality when you are talking about smaller 8-inch cakes and bakes such as brownies and other bars. Also, if you don't want the grid marks on the top of your cakes and bakes, being able to lift them out prevents that.
Layering the cake layers and cheesecake layers is probably the most complicated part of this recipe, but even that is easy to do.
Just spoon and spread half of the cake batter in the prepped pan. Dot the cheesecake filling over top and then spread it as evenly as you can over the cake batter. This is quite easy if you use the back of a metal spoon.
Finally the remaining cake batter is spread over top of the cheesecake layer. Again, done in dollops and spread with the back of a spoon.
That's it just bake and then let it cool. If you frost the cake before it is completely cold, the frosting will melt.
The frosting is as easy as measuring everything into a bowl and whipping it all together until it is smooth and light and fluffy. Spread that on the top of the cake and you are done!
This really is a lovely cake. Moist and delicious and filled with Autumn flavors, all spicy and warm. I loved the mocha frosting, but then again my favorite chocolate bar is the coffee crisp bar. I may not drink coffee, but I do enjoy eating it.
Altogether this is a fabulous snack cake. If you are not fond of mocha, then just leave out the coffee in the frosting. It will still be a really tasty cake. I really hope that you will be inspired to bake it and that when you do, you enjoy it as much as I have!
Spice Cake with a Spicy Mocha Frosting
Yield: 9
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min
A small batch recipe for a snacking spice cake that has a ribbon of cream cheese running through it and a lush mocha cinnamon frosting on top. Delicious!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup (140g) of all purpose plain flour
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (60g) dairy sour cream
- 1/4 cup (28g) chopped toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 large free range egg
For the cheesecake filling:
- 1/2 package (4 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 3 TBS sugar
- 1 large free range egg yolk
For the mocha spice frosting:
- 1 cup (130g) sifted icing sugar
- 2 TBS butter, softened
- 1 TBS cocoa powder, sifted (not drink mix)
- 1 TBS hot water
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp instant coffee (dry)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8-inch square cake tin and line with baking paper.
- Make the cream cheese filling by popping all of the ingredients into a bowl and beating together until smooth.
- Make the cake batter by combining all of the cake ingredients in a bowl and beating with an electric whisk until smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl occasionally.
- Spread half of the cake batter in the tin. Dollop the cream cheese filling over top and then spread it out as well as you can in an even layer. Finish with the remaining cake batter, spreading it evenly over top as much as possible.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cake is cooled, measure all of the frosting ingredients into a bowl and beat together with an electric whisk until smooth and spreadable. Spread this mixture over top of the cake.
- Cut into squares to serve. Delicious!
I confess. I am a bit of an old fashioned girl. I am not a huge fan of bells and whistles. I have always thought that if something isn't broken, why fix it. I am like that with most things in life.
I like simple and uncomplicated things and I love good old fashioned powdered donuts. The cake type of donuts. not the yeast ones. Heavily flavored with nutmeg and drenched in powdered sugar.
So much powdered sugar that it is almost a health hazard to breathe around it. This Powdered Donut Cake is all that and more.
The main bonus of this cake is that there is no deep frying involved. You end up with a cake that tastes just like a donut, but without any of the fuss and faff surrounding making donuts. I am all for that.
Not a donut, but a delicious snacking cake, adapted from a recipe I found in a book entitled "Snacking Cakes," by Yossy Arefi. Every cake I have made from this book has been a huge success, and this one was no different.
Easy to make, quick to bake and deliciously easy to eat. This would make a great snack cake to put into the kids lunches, or to serve as a simple weeknight or weekend dessert, with ice cream.
We never had yeasted donuts when we were growing up. Only cake donuts. And they were a real treat. My Aunt Orabelle used to make donuts from scratch.
They were lovely, big and puffy and covered with cinnamon sugar. You can find my recipe for Old Fashioned Doughnuts here. These are the cake kind of donuts.
I have also shared my recipe for Old Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts on here. They are equally as delicious and again a cake style of donut.
But, fried. Most donuts are fried. They had little donut shops all over the UK on most High Streets, which is what they call the main shopping thoroughfares of towns and cities. There was one in Chester just below the Victoria clock. The smell of the donuts cooking was always really tantalizing.
When I was a child sometimes as a treat mom would pick up a bag of cake type of donuts at the grocery store. She would only get the plain ones. They did not have any kind of sugar on them, in her attempt to make us eat healthier.
She would pop them into a paper bag and warm them up for us in a slow oven. Oh boy but they were some good. We always enjoyed them very much.
This delicious snacking cake very much mimics the flavors of a good old fashioned cake donut. Heavily flavored with fresh grated nutmeg and moist from the use of sour cream, it is a buttery dense cake.
The icing sugar topping is perfect as is. Thick and heavy, it will give you an icing sugar moustache, but that is what you expect when you eat something like this.
It is buttery and old fashioned and perfect just as it is. Do make sure you use full fat sour cream. I don't think you would get quite as dense and rich a batter if you were to use lower fat sour cream.
Baked in an 8-inch square pan, this cake can also be baked in a loaf tin. You will need a 9 X 5 X 3 inch loaf tin. It will take slightly longer to bake due to the shape and density of the pan. 40 to 50 minutes will do it.
You can also bake it in a 9-inch round pan if desired. It will take the same amount of time as the 8-inch square cake, 25 to 35 minutes.
Apparently you can also double the recipe and bake it in a Bundt tin. In this cake it will take about 50 to 60 minutes.
In all cases the finished warm cake is brushed with melted butter and drenched in a thick layer of icing sugar.
If you are not a fan of powdered sugar you could brush the finished cake with the melted butter and then drench the top in a mix of cinnamon sugar. 2 TBS of sugar and 2 tsp of ground cinnamon works well.
You can also glaze it rather than drench it, with a sweet icing glaze. A lemon glaze would go wonderfully with the flavor of the nutmeg. Just whisk about 1 1/2 cups (190g) of icing sugar with some lemon juice until you get a thick glaze icing and then spoon this over the cooled cake.
This cake cuts into 9 perfect squares. Perfect for eating out of hand, sturdy enough to do so quite easily. This is not a fragile cake.
Eileen and Tim came over for supper on Monday and this is what we had for dessert. Squares of this cake along with some ice cream. Tim and Eileen each had chocolate sauce drizzled over theirs.
I was happy with it just as is. Old fashioned girl that I am.
Eileen's comment, "This really does taste just like a donut!" High praise indeed. Do be warned however, you do need to like the flavor of nutmeg as it is rather predominant.
That was not a problem with me as I love nutmeg, so much so that I named one of my cats Nutmeg.
Oh but he is such a little dear. Love him to bits. He's 9 weeks old now and as cute as a button, and pretty mischievous as well.
Much more active than his sister Cinnamon. Altogether, they both keep me on my toes. I am so happy with their company. They are growing into a lovely pair of cats with endearingly sweet dispositions and personalities.
They are quite simply wonderful company. They are always at my feet while I am writing. I will not ever be alone or lonely so long as they are around!
Powdered Donut Cake
Yield: 9
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min
This buttery cake with its heavily powdered top and nutmeg flavored batter tastes just like an old fashioned donut, with none of the faff or fuss of frying.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 cup (120g) dairy sour cream
- 1/2 cup (115g) butter, melted
- 1 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
To finish:
- 1 TBS butter, melted
- 3 TBS sifted icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8-inch square baking tin really well and line the bottom of the tin with baking paper.
- Sift together the flour, soda and baking powder. Set aside.
- Whisk the sugar and eggs together until foamy and pale in color. Whisk in the sour cream, butter, nutmeg, vanilla and salt.
- Stir in the flour mixture until everything is well combined and you have a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes until risen and golden brown. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Set on a wire rack to cook for 15 minutes before carefully tipping out onto the wire rack to cool completely.
- When the cake is still slightly warm to the touch, brush the top with melted butter and then dust with the icing sugar. You should have a lovely thick layer of sugar.
- Cut into squares to serve.
- Store, covered tightly, for up to three days. It will probably absorb the sugar on top so you may need to redust it.
All nutritional data is calculated by the recipe card program and may not be entirely accurate.
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