Graham Cracker Torte

I had a major baking fail. Let’s just call it… The Cake Pops Conundrum.

I won’t go into all the dirty details, as there were several and they were all very dirty. But I will leave you with some cake pop “tips” and very important pieces of advice-

1. “The arrogant army will lose the battle for sure.” – Some old guy

Yes, this is probably only relevant to Confucius and myself. But, it’s safe to assume that when you think you’re “hot in the kitchen”, you’re probably also going to make a hot mess.

2. “Pint of frosting does not a cake pop make” – Madonna

Basically, what this is really saying is add a small amount of frosting to the cake pops when making them. If you add all of the frosting you made (and you made quite a lot), you will have cake pop frosting. I promise, you’re friends will find this wayyyy less cool than cake pops.

3. “The store of groceries giveth us Whole-Wheat bread and Corn Flakes. These shall not be added to the pops of cake.”  – Flavor Flav

If you do end up getting “cake pop frosting” (see #2), don’t go rooting through your kitchen for stuff to thicken it. You’ll just end up with cake pop frosting with bread and cereal mixed in. Then you’ll feel really dumb for thinking it would have worked in the first place.

4. “The wise man will start over instead of beating a dead horse/cake pop.” – Abraham Lincoln

Once you’ve added all those “tasty mixins” (see #3), there is no going back.

Old-Fashioned Gooey Butter Cake

10 things I’ve learned in my 10 days at Cornell and Ithaca, NY.

Saturday, June 2: Crashing weddings is fun and dangerous bad bad bad. So is wandering around the giant, gorgeous building where the wedding took place and taking pictures as if you’re a guest.

Sunday, June 3: Ithaca is full of full, beautiful, vegan hippies and I absolutely love it.

Monday, June 4: Cornell University is basically situated on a giant hill. And you still have to climb it even when it’s raining.

Tuesday, June 5: Venus crossing the Sun is a big deal. It won’t happen again until 2117. It’s good that I got to see it now. I don’t think I can wait that long for the next one.

Wednesday, June 6: GPS lies.

Thursday, June 7: New friends are wonderful. Especially when they fill your belly with food.

Friday, June 8: Cornell has the most beautiful gardens and tiny hide aways. It’s like a theme park for horticulturists.

Saturday, June 9: The Farmer’s Market is the home to all great things including tasty Sri Lankan food, ice cream, flowers, and the hippies whom I lovingly met on Monday.

Sunday, June 10: When you park your car at the top of a steep hill and run down it, you have to run back up it.

Monday, June 11: If you get a smoothie sample every time you walk into Wegman’s, the smoothie guy will eventually remember you. And proceed to question you. Telling him that that must have been your twin will just get you a blank stare.

Warm Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Today is a very special day.

No, it’s not just because I’m giving you the recipe for this amazing coffee cake. Although, this cake is very special.

Today is special because of a birthday.

Today is my grandma’s birthday (She is 35 this year). While I wish I could be spending the day with her soaking up the sun in southern California, I’m in New York state dreaming about coffee cake in her honor.

My grandma and poppy (that’s my grandpa, not my grandma’s favorite bagel) used to treat themselves to a large slab of coffee cake almost weekly. I remember how she used to rave about this amazing coffee cake with big crumbs and a tender, sweet cake that they would get from the market.

Every. single. time. she told me about it, the inner depths of my stomach began to rumble. I mean, who doesn’t like a huge sugar rush of sugar, flour, and butter at 7:00 AM with their morning coffee?

Coffee cake soon made it to my Wish List and I finally made it a few weeks ago. Though this recipe isn’t what you’d eat if you’re planning on hitting the beach in your new itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny yellow polka-dot bikini, it is definitely much lighter than most coffee cakes without sacrificing taste or texture. Talk about win-win.

It has a wonderful apple flavor with a hint of cinnamon. I also made it with whole-wheat flour instead of all purpose, cut out 6 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, and subbed in vanilla yogurt for sour cream.

What’s your favorite morning breakfast treat?

Warm Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Ingredients

For the topping:

• 1 and 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 7/8 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

For the filling:

• 2 cups minced apple
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (or a but more if you really like it)
• pinch of salt

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 and 1/4 cups almond milk (cow’s milk works too)

Method

1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-in. baking pan and set aside (if using stoneware, you don’t have to grease).

2. To make topping: whisk together sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the butter and applesauce and stir until thoroughly combined and mixture resembles moist, course meal. Set aside.

3. To make the filling: Combine apple, cinnamon, sugar, flour, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

4. To make the cake: in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, applesauce, and both sugars together until well-combined, about 2-4 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add the eggs and beat until throughly mixed, about three minutes (The original recipe calls for each egg to be added separately, but I messed up. I still came out perfectly though). Scrape your bowl.

5. In a small bowl mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In another small bowl whisk together yogurt and milk. It may be a bit lumpy, that’s okay.

6. On low speed add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter. As it incorporates, add half of the milk mixture. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and the remainder of the milk mixture. Mix until barely incorporated and add remaining flour. Use a spatula to make sure that all the remaining ingredients are incorporated.

7. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. It’ll be less than 3 cups. Spread batter across the bottom of the pan all the way to the edges. Sprinkle the filling on top of the batter. Dollop the remaining batter across the top of the filling and use a spatula to spread the batter. If you want to make it swirly, you can use a butter knife and make a few gentle swirls. Sprinkle the topping over the batter and bake until golden brown, 55 to 60 minutes. Use a skewer or toothpick to test for doneness. It will come out clean when the cake is done. Remove from oven and allow to rest 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Cake will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for 4 to 5 days. It also freezes well for up to 3 months.

Inspired from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

Armenian Nutmeg Cake {Daring Bakers}

I used to have a dog named Snowy.

She was terribly cute and completely white (hence the insanely creative, original name).

Sometimes she would be the sweetest, most charming dog you’d ever met.

Most times, though, she wasn’t (just look at the photo below for evidence). It may have something to do with her wardrobe. But, what dog wouldn’t love to always being primped and dressed?

Don’t answer that.

I may also be forgetting to mention another part of the story.

Snowy wore a diaper too. I won’t get into the logistics, as mentioning her incontinence on the web might embarrass the late canine, but I think that maybe she felt that this diaper recked her style. Here she was, a nine pound, 18 inch wonder with no hope for a social life.

Because she wore a diaper and a parka.

And sometimes sunglasses.

If Snowy were still alive today, I’d bake her this cake and ask her to forgive me for putting her into all of those darling outfits. It is April’s Daring Bakers Challenge and it’s perhaps one of the most amazing treats I’ve ever tasted. It’s rich and buttery with a caramely sweetness. The staring ingredient, nutmeg, is prominent, but in the most perfect way.

This cake is a hug from a friend. It’s sleeping in on Saturday morning. It’s the feeling you get when you sit in front of a roaring campfire in the depths of summer. It can cure a broken heart or fix a flat tire. It would totally make Snowy feel better about her clothing predicament.

The crust is delicious and buttery. It reminds me of soft baked shortbread.

And nutmeg. I can’t even begin to describe it. I do like nutmeg, but often I’ve found that it can be overpowering. In this cake though, it is poi-fect! I only used a teaspoon, but if you enjoy the nutmeg-y flavor, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon.

The only modification I made to this glorious cake was using unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I’m certain regular milk would work just as well, but I wanted to try it.

Walnuts are an excellent addition to the top of the cake. They add a bit of a crunch and they become fragrant and nutty after baking.

It is so moist and tender. I’m sure it would pair excellently with coffee or tea or even cardboard.

Obviously I didn’t like the cake…

Looking for other cake recipes?

Summer Strawberry and Peach Cake

Chocolate Chickpea Cake

Pumpkin Cake with Caramel, Chocolate Chips, and Walnuts

Armenian Nutmeg Cake from Jason at Daily Candor

Makes 1 9-in cake (about 12 slices)

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml) milk (I used almond milk)**
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking soda
• 2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) all-purpose flour**
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) baking powder
• 2 cups (480 ml) (400 gm/14 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed**
• 3/4 cup (1½ sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature and cubed
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) (55 gm/2 oz) walnut pieces, or more to taste
• 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons (5 to 7 ½ ml) (5 to 8 gm) ground nutmeg (I used 1 tsp.)
• 1 egg

Method

1. Preheat your oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.

2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder; that’s for the next step) into the milk. Set it aside.

3. Sift together the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl. Add the brown sugar. Mix the flour and brown sugar together. Toss in the cubed butter. Mash the butter with a fork into the dry ingredients (you can also use your fingers too). You’ll want to achieve a uniform, tan-colored crumbly mixture.

4. Take HALF of the crumbly mixture and press it into a 9-in (23 cm) springform pan to form a crust (I used a cake pan with a removable bottom, like this one). Set remaining mixture aside.

5. In a mixed or a bowl, crack the egg and toss in the nutmeg. Start mixing slowly with a whisk attachment and then increase to medium speed, or mix with a hand whisk if you’re doing it manually. Once it’s mixed well and frothy (about 1 minute using a standing mixer, or about 2-3 minutes of vigorous beating with a whisk), pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until uniform. Pour in the rest of the crumbly mixture that you set aside earlier. Mix well, with either a paddle attachment, or a spatula.

6. Pour the batter over the base in the springform pan. Gently sprinkle the walnut pieces over the batter. Bake for about 30-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is a golden brown, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan, and then release the sides of the springform pan or remove from cake pan. Enjoy!

** Notes **

** I used almond milk instead of real milk because it was what I had. I thought that it was so incredible (although I haven’t tried it with real milk to know the difference).

**I weighed my ingredients. I found that there was quite a different between ingredients like flour and brown sugar that were measured in cups and measured on a scale. If you have access to a scale, I’d recommend it for this recipe.