Peanut Butter Overload

Deep down inside, doesn't everyone need a little more peanut butter in their lives? Okay, fine. Maybe not people like Sarah who claim to be allergic to those darling little nuts. But for the rest of us normal people, a jar of that creamy and/or crunchy nutty buttery stuff is always stocked in the pantry. A sometimes dangerous thing, but oh so delicious.

So it's my coworkers birthday this week and she's basically in love with peanut butter and most especially Reese's Pieces. This cake was designed with her tastebuds in mind...we'll find out tomorrow if it truly satisfied her PB-cravings!

[UPDATE: This cake didn't last long around the office, so I think it was a success!]

Peanut Butter Overload

Ingredients:

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. peanut butter

4 eggs

1-1/4 c. flour

3 T. potato starch, packed (if you can't find potato starch, you can substitute cornstarch, it just might slightly affect the flavor of the final product)

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 c. half and half

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream together sugar, butter and peanut butter on low speed until pale-ish tan and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to incorporate well between each addition.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. In another bowl, whisk together liquid ingredients. Alternate adding dry and wet ingredients to creamed mixture, in a total of 5 additions, beginning with dry. After ingredients are combined, beat on low for about 20 seconds.

Line bottom of 9" round baking pan with parchment paper; don't spray sides of pan. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for 55-65min. or until done.

The cake was filled and topped with chocolate peanut butter ganache and smothered in cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Garnished with crushed Reese's Pieces. Yummers.

Half Dozen: Edible Blogs

Maybe you don't actually wanna start chomping down on your computer screen, unless you're one of my adorable yet trouble-making one-yr old twin nephews. But the food and dessert you'll see as soon as you click on one of these links is sure gonna make you wanna try! These are just a few of the foodie websites I've absolutely fallen in love with recently...enjoy!

Sweetapolita

Annie's Eats

Smitten Kitchen

Cupcake Project

The Sugar Turntable

I Am Baker

Monday Musings: A Contest!

So I've been blog-stalking my new friend Kathryn at The Sugar Turntable for the last several weeks/months and she recently hosted a contest. My sister and I decided to be co-competitors in our first ever edible contest and it was a lot of fun! I designed and created a Pina Colada cake and my sister designed the photo shoot. Needless to say, the cake was a natural poser. And we won an honorable mention! Woot woot!

Doesn't this cake make you drool? Coconut is one of those flavors that I always felt like I had to be in the right mood to enjoy, but this cake changed my mind! Two layers of rich, buttery coconut cake sandwiching a sweet pineapple filling, frosted with a light pineapple buttercream. And to top it off, a bit of toasted coconut and slices of fresh candied pineapple! Oh, man, that extra "test" coconut cake is yelling at me from my freezer right now...I should probably share that with someone soon or I will be wearing it on my hips!

Fat Tuesday: Figs

I remember my mom telling me about picking figs from the trees in her backyard growing up in Arizona and just sucking the fresh fruit. It turns out there's a fig tree in the park across from my new apartment, so basically my backyard, and they should be ripe by the end of august! The more I thought about those figs, the more ideas I had. Doesn't a fig and date combo sound delicious? And because I lack patience, a few days after I found out about that little tree, I made a quick trip to the grocery store to buy just a few before our local figs are in season.

This cake doesn't have the traditional fancy pants american presentation with rich frosting and gooey filling, just a nice big blop of fresh whipped cream on top, and it sure is delicious! Oh, and the figs add a unique sweet flavor, too, so don't skip those even if they're hard to find! You'll want to chop at least 5 for the batter...and maybe a few more to taste while you work...

Date and Fig Spice Cake

(adapted from A World of Cake)

1 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

5 eggs

2 c. flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

3/4 c. half and half

1/4 c. water

1 c. dates and figs, chopped

1/2 c. pecans, chopped

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure eggs are incorporated fully before adding the next one.

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and whisk together. In another large, separate bowl, combine liquid ingredients and whisk together.

Slowly alternate adding dry ingredients and liquid ingredients to creamed mixture in about 5 additions. Gently stir in dates/figs and pecans.

Line bottom of 6" or 8" squaring baking pan with parchment paper, spray sides with nonstick spray and pour in batter. Bake at 350 for 45-55min.

Fat Tuesday: Fast and Fancy!

We all have those days where we just need something tasty and fancy real fast. Here's your quick sugar fix! For added flair, I garnished mine with turbinado sugar crystals (coarse grain sugar) and crushed walnuts.

(PS...I know it's Wednesday again, but I finally got internet set up at my new apt this afternoon and I'm back on track! Woot!)

Brown Sugar Crunch Torte

(Betty Crocker Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook)

1-1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1-1/2 c. vanilla wafer crumbs

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. butter, melted

1 box German chocolate cake mix

1-1/3 c. water

1/2 c. oil

3 eggs

8oz whipped topping

Mix walnuts, cookie crumbs, brown sugar and butter in large bowl. Spread about 3/4 c. walnut mixture in each pan; save the rest for later.

Prepare cake mix as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Pour slightly less than 1-1/4 c. batter over walnut mixture in each pan; spread evenly. Refrigerate remaining batter.

Bake about 22 min at 350 until done. Remove cake from pan and allow to cool on rack, walnut side up. Repeat with remaing walnut mixture and batter to make 4 layers. Allow layers to cool completely.

Fill each layer and top of cake, walnut sides up, with about 3/4 c. whipped topping and enjoy!