Melanie's Angel Food Cake

...or should I say Disaster Food Cake?

They said it's fool proof, but I proved them wrong! I honestly don't know what happened. I followed the recipe exactly! I even watched the online episode as I made it to make sure I did everything Alton did. I was just going to use a bundt pan but happened to find a regular tube pan at a thrift store. I even bought a sifter since I didn't have one. I let the egg whites warm up to room temperature. I carefully folded in the flour/sugar mixture. I let it cool upside down. The only thing I did different was use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour (and I subtracted 2 Tbsp. of the all-purpose because I read that was an appropriate substitution). I don't think that alone would cause my cake to fall and taste like an omelet. It was so dense and eggy! Maybe I didn't beat the egg whites long enough? After baking for 35 minutes and checking its doneness with a skewer I put the cake back in the oven for about 8 minutes longer because it was still gooey in the middle. Maybe poking a hole and putting it back in the oven let all the air out of the cake? Whatever happened, it was a big disappointment. This was meant to be for my husband's birthday. Looks like he'll have to settle for a Duncan Hines cake instead. I'd like to try this again, but I'm hesitant so I might just give up on making homemade angel food cake for now!

The Egg Files III: Let Them Eat Foam

This week's episode only has one recipe -- angel food cake. We had a bunch of extra egg whites left over from something else we made, so this was the perfect choice. It's pg. 224 in the book, and you can find the recipe online here.

This recipe gets excellent reviews on the Food Network. A bunch of people said it was fool proof, and I'm inclined to agree. I did a few things differently than the recipe called for and mine turned out great.

Here are the things I did differently --

• I didn't have cake flour, so I used all purpose flour and substituted 2 Tbsp of it with corn starch (got the idea from one of the comments on the recipe).
• My eggs were straight from the fridge. Someone told me recently that she's never been able to tell the difference between whipping cold eggs vs. room temperature eggs. But to be safe, I put my egg whites in my mixing bowl and put it over a bowl of hot water to warm them a bit.
• I used my stand mixer instead of a hand mixer, and it worked out fine.

I used vanilla extract in my cake. I ended up baking mine for a few minutes extra to make sure it was done in the middle. Also, I like it a little extra browned on top (that's the best part!). This cake was delicious. I love the texture and the flavor. And it was easy to make. I can't say it was super quick, but I wasn't very organized when I was making it. It wasn't too bad though. It didn't take me as long as most Baked recipes!

Anyway, if you like angel food cake, this is a good one. Yum!

Cami's Grasshopper Cupcakes

This is a delicious recipe. Like always, I made cupcakes instead of cake. It's just so much easier you know? Plus then I can send them to work with Jason or take them to friends without having it be awkward that they are only getting 1/4 of a cake. I followed the recipe exactly but decreased the cooking time to 23 minutes. Perfect.

The cake has a rich, dark flavor. It may just be my favorite chocolate cake recipe in Baked due to it's depth. I LOVE the chocolate ganache and applied it liberally to the top of the cupcakes. The ganache without mint would be a great addition to any chocolate cake. The frosting is of course delicious. I think if I were to do it again I would decrease the butter by a stick. It is very buttery, which isn't a bad thing but I think it would work with less. I don't know if this is because I make cupcakes or what but I always have tons of frosting left over. Does anyone else have this problem?

I did the 'kid friendly' recipe and I don't think it was missing any flavor. The mint is just right, not too heavy and not too light. I will definitely make these again.

Grasshopper Cake

I have to admit, this particular cake seems slightly intimidating for some reason. Perhaps it is the long laundry list of ingredients, or the slightly complex assembly process. But you can't deny the draw of chocolate and mint! And it's gorgeous. . .

So the batter came together fairly easily. I baked the cakes on the lower end (35 minutes), and they looked great, but the centers did sink a bit after I took them out. So I suggest leaving them in for a few minutes longer. The cake is also extremely delicate, and will fall apart if you aren't gentle with it. But it does taste great!

The peppermint buttercream is pretty awesome! I've never made a cooked frosting with flour before, but it turned out great! It's light and fluffy without being as rich as a Swiss meringue buttercream. I also added 3 drops of green food coloring to get that lovely mint color. Tip for this frosting - make sure you beat the sugar/milk/flour mixture long enough! The texture will change completely, but it does take quite a bit of time. I also added an extra 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract to get a decent mint flavor.

I'm not sure about the ganache. I used Scharffen Berger 70% chocolate, which I think was too dark considering the recipe has no added sugar. I had to end up adding powdered sugar to make it balanced, which didn't hurt the texture.

The assembly of the cake is not as bad as I thought it would be. I put the ganache layered cake in the freezer instead of the fridge because my kitchen was a bit warm. The buttercream spreads on like a dream. You can really have a lot of fun with decorating this cake, but I wanted to keep it simple, so I just used chocolate chips.

All in all, I think this recipe is pretty good, and with one or two more tries, it could be pretty perfect! Oh, and try to have a kitchen helper, the dirty dishes are intense!

Danielle's Lemon Drop Cake

*Sorry, no pictures of the inside of the cake since the pieces I cut fell apart.

Isn't it cute? I love 6" cakes!

Today is Max's birthday, so this is Max's birthday cake. (Such a mean wife... he didn't even get to pick the flavor.) But lucky for me, he also really likes lemon flavored things. And we both thought this was such a delicious cake!

My experience with this recipe may not be all that helpful for the rest of you because the only part I followed out of the recipe was the cake layers. I made more of a traditional buttercream frosting because that is Max's favorite. And as I said before, I wanted to use up the curd I had leftover. However, the recipe I used for my lemon curd is very similar to the one in the book, and the curd I used made a delicious filling.

The cake itself was my favorite part. The only thing I changed was the ratio of butter to shortening. Instead of 50/50, I used a 75/25 ratio (more butter, less shortening). The cake was perfectly moist and light and had a great flavor. I'm interested in trying this recipe to make cupcakes sometime.

For anyone else who tries this, let me know how you like the frosting. I'd like to try it with the Baked frosting next time if it's good.

One thing I wanted to do was crush up a bunch of lemon heads and press them into the sides of the cake, but I went to two stores and couldn't find any! Do people not sell lemon heads anymore? Sad.

Lemon Drop Cake -- pg. 63

Happy New Year! I'm excited to be kicking off the next round of tasty new recipes!

So first off, some news... I'm pregnant! Cami mentioned that "several" of us are pregnant, and yep, that includes me! I'm super excited. I'm due July 24. (You know you're from Utah if your first thought was, "Hey, that's Pioneer Day!" I'm not, but I have been notified of the holiday coincidence a number of times.)

Anyway, my only real pregnancy craving so far has been lemons. That's right, actual lemons. As in, I have a strange urge to suck on lemons after I've squeezed the juice out of them (be a shame to waste any of it). And it actually tastes pretty good to me.

In order to harness that craving into actual tasty treats, I made lemon cookies the other day and a ton of lemon curd. I didn't know what I was going to do with the rest of my lemon curd till I came across this recipe that calls for lemon curd filling.

So this week's recipe is the Lemon Drop Cake on page 63. I haven't made it yet (because I forgot I was picking this week... oops), but I'm going to try to make it and post about it on Tuesday.

Side Note:
My new strategy with desserts is to always halve the recipe so we don't end up eating fattening desserts all week long. With cakes that seems a little difficult, but I'm going to pick up some 6-inch cake pans and halve all the ingredients. So that's my plan for this recipe. I'll let you know how it works out.

Sweet and Salty Cake

It finally happened. I made this crazy cake with the help of three others. Cami and Danielle weren't lying when they said it took awhile. We had fun though and it turned out pretty well but I think that it was a little too rich for me. Ta da!

Cami's Sweet & Salty Cake

This was only half way bad for me. As you can see, I have a leaning cake. I think the problem was that the caramel doesn't sink into the cake very well, creating a slick spot for the next layer. The cake is very tasty and I have a plan for the next time I make this cake. (Yes, I will be making it again. Maybe for a special occasion or something.) It will add a lot of time to the already time intensive (5 hour) cake, but it should be worth it to have a pretty cake. I would frost the first layer with warm caramel and then frosting. Put it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to set the frosting. Repeat with the other two layers. If the caramel is warm maybe it will seep into the layers better. I was too impatient to do this since it was around 10:00 when I finished the cake. The actual cake didn't take that long to make, it was more the caramel and the frosting that needed constant attention and time.

As you can see, my slices still came out looking pretty and I had extra caramel that I drizzled on top. I love this caramel and will probably make it for popcorn or ice cream fairly regularly.

This was my first three layer cake. I walked right in to Walmart and picked up my 3 eight inch pans. Thanks for doing the ground work Danielle! I will try another three layer cake before I attempt this one again though.

Danielle's Disaster Sweet & Salty Cake

As I was making this (spending ALL afternoon making this), I kept thinking, "Man, this cake better be worth it." Well, it maybe would have been worth it if my cake hadn't fallen to pieces as I slid the third layer on.

So I ended up with a pile of chocolate cake crumble, instead of a gorgeous three-layer cake. It could have been any of a number of things. Maybe I didn't cook them long enough (I was worried about over cooking them), maybe I didn't let them cool long enough, or maybe, and probably the most likely reason, because I used all butter and no shortening (I hate shortening and I didn't think I had any, however I saw some in the back of the fridge as I was sliding my mess of a cake in).

But hey, it's still super tasty. Although, I will not be making this cake again...

Sweet and Salty Cake

Hi everyone. I chose the Sweet and Salty Cake for this week because I don't have the cookbook so I looked on their website and it said this was a famous recipe. It looks a little intense. Who is up for a challenge?

When did you start baking/cooking?
Probably when I was around 12. I remember trying to make a lemon meringue pie about that age.

What is your favorite kitchen tool?
Lately I've been enjoying my zester.

Do you have a favorite spice?
Can't think of one.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
I want to go on a cruise--maybe Hawaii?

If you had to change your name right now, what would you change it to?
Tough question. I like my name. I've always liked the name Janie.

Where do you currently live?
We are living at my parents house in Pleasanton, California for the summer while my husband has an internship. Then back to Chicago!

Where are you from?
Pleasanton, California

If you could eat one thing for every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Definitely Jamba Juice. Can't get enough of them.

burgers and cake for daddy

First off...cheers to me that I finally bought the Baked cookbook. I confess I was being cheap and working off photo copies. But I figured it was silly to have all these recipes in my cooking repertoire and not have the book so now I have it.

Jeff requested burgers for Fathers' Day so I finally made the Turkey Burgers. What a great recipe! I love recipes with veggies and it is comforting to eat a healthy white meat rather than red. I used dried oregano and fresh basil (from my very own basil plant on the deck). Like Danielle, I used ~1.25 pounds of meat so I did 3 cloves of garlic and extra salt. I had plans to grill them, but we were out of propane. I did a combination of browning them in the olive oil on a skillet and broiling them in the oven. The consistency seemed like it would be fine for a grill, however, I realized after I shaped them into patties that I forgot the egg. I think it would have made them a little more moist. I'm going to make them again on Thursday for our ward recipe exchange (theme: 4th of July BBQ...perfect) and I will use the same amount of meat, remember the egg, and grill them. Though I don't think it would hurt to brown them with the olive oil first...I like the flavor of olive oil. Simon loves "cheegugers" so I figured he would eat this. He ate half of it and then said "no like it" to the rest...which he does often. I finished his and with no complaint.

I very seriously considered making Jeff the German Chocolate Cake since that is his favorite kind of cake. However, after reading through the comments I decided I will make it when more than one person will enjoy it. I don't like coconut so I don't like German Chocolate Cake...but maybe I will like this one. Instead I made the milk chocolate frosting and put it on a Devil's Food cake from a box. I had to make a few modifications. I only had just under 1 C of heavy cream so I made it 1 C with whole milk and then I made 2/3 of a recipe. It seemed a little runny even after I chilled it for 15 minutes so I added about 1/4 C powdered sugar. It might have been because it is rather humid here in Northern Virginia...but the kitchen wasn't especially warm or anything. I used Ghirardelli bittersweet baking chocolate and Hershey's milk chocolate chips so I felt like at least half of the chocolate was high quality. In the end I can't say I loved it. I was hopeful, but it was too bitter for my liking...and I'm even a dark chocolate lover. It was better than your usual homemade cocoa frosting. My favorite kind of chocolate frosting is the store bought dark chocolate, but I usually just stick with a cream cheese frosting on cakes. Jeff thought it was an 8 on 0-10 scale. I'd say a 6. I may try again when I am better prepared with all the ingredients. I will only make a 1/2 recipe next time because it makes a ton of frosting.


I hope to make the pasta this week. I was planning to get the ingredients yesterday, but I wrote my list on the back of my Border's coupon which I gave to the cashier at Border's before I went to the grocery store. I am a big fan of the concept of Deceptively Delicious, but I haven't tried a lot of the recipes so I'm looking forward to it.

Has anyone ever "fondanted" a cake? (Did I make up the word 'fondanted'? I guess fondant is a verb because when I google it I get things like "how to fondant a cake.") I'm thinking about it for Jack's birthday on Saturday. I don't think the frosting sounds all that tasty, but they look so beautiful.

Cami's German Chocolate Cake

Okay, I know this is late but I finally found my cable to import pictures. I made this awesome cake yesterday and oh my goodness was it worth it. It took me a lot longer than I expected but it wasn't hard and it turned out perfectly.

Like Melanie (and I assume Danielle) I used hot water instead of coffee. I used two 9 inch cake pans instead of three 8 inch. I am longing for 8 inch cake pans. Maybe I'll put them on my Christmas list. I did the coconut filling between the two layers and on the top. I made the milk chocolate frosting for the outside. That is some good frosting. Seriously. I still have a bunch in the fridge that I can't wait to use on something else. This is probably my new go to chocolate frosting.

I had a group of 9 over for lunch today and they all gave it rave reviews. If you didn't have a chance to make this recipe I think you should. Next time you have a party or want to impress the hubby, make this cake.

Danielle's German Chocolate Cupcakes

Well, as you can see, I made cupcakes instead of a three-layer cake. And besides the fact that these took me THREE HOURS to make, I totally love them! I am not at all disappointed in this recipe. So tasty!

I like how the cake was really light and fluffy, but it was rich and moist too. And the coconut filling was perfect. I ended up using some leftover dark chocolate frosting I had from something else I made, so I can't report on the milk chocolate frosting.

Anyway, super tasty cupcakes and I imagine it would be just as tasty as a layered cake. Maybe I'll try it that way next time.

German Chocolate Cake

When I first flipped through the Baked cookbook the one recipe I thought I absolutely had to try was this cake. Luckily my friend celebrated a birthday so I had the perfect excuse to bake it. I wouldn't normally make it for an everyday kind of dessert since it's pretty pricey and slightly time consuming but it was worth the one time splurge. So worth it.

A few changes I made:
- I used high quality semi sweet cocoa instead of dark cocoa.
- I used a cup of hot water with a few more tablespoons of cocoa instead of the cup of coffee.

I thought making the milk chocolate frosting (pg 60) might make it a little too rich but I liked the look of it from the picture so I made it. It was almost the best part of the cake, do not leave it out.

Sorry this is slightly helter skelter. To sum it up, if you love chocolate and coconut you will love this cake. You might need a little vanilla ice cream to counter balance it's richness. It's completely worth making but you might want to save it for a special occasion. Or at least for a time when you'll have several people to share it with.

Whiteout Frosting

I made this frosting and put it on cupcakes from a white cake mix for my niece who turned 19 today and is visiting. There is really something special about this frosting! There is part of me wondering where the sweetness is that I am used to, but still knowing it is perfect the way it is. It is the same experience I had while eating a cupcake from Cupcake Jones in Portland, OR...my most favoritest ever cupcake place. But be warned...do not make this frosting if you are on a diet...man...it is loaded with butter. I think it could have done with a bit less.

Heading Cami's warning of runny frosting I let mine reduce extra long...about 20 minutes. Then I mixed it for a while to get all the heat out and then I put it in the freezer for a couple minutes. My butter was room temperature and mixed in well. I was worried about my white chocolate being lumpy because it didn't look like it was melting smoothly, but it mixed in well. My frosting was smooth and light. I put it in the fridge for a couple of minutes before frosting my cupcakes.

I was relieved to read your post, Cami, because I had just returned from Treasure Island and Village Foods...neither of whom had cake flour. TI usually carries it, but was out...should have more tomorrow. VF didn't seem to carry it at all. I got a white cake mix. The task of finding these special ingredients is kind of cramping my cooking efforts lately. It is rewarding when I find everything I need and make yummy food, but can be frustrating. Oh well...like Walt Disney said..."keep moving forward."

Whiteout Cake

Oh the Whiteout Cake. I have to admit. This recipe was a dud for me. Twice. I made it last weekend as a cake. The cake was dense and not very good. The frosting was great, but lumpy and thin. I was mortified. There was no way I was taking a picture of that.

So, I was determined to try again yesterday. I whisked the egg whites longer, making them fluffier. I chose to do cupcakes instead of a full cake. I did as the instructions suggested and added an extra yolk to the batter. The batter looked so much better. I was hopeful. Unfortunately the cupcakes came out looking good but tasting and having the consistency of corn bread. Yikes. I was so discouraged I didn't even attempt the frosting again. I will though. I will. I think I've had it with the cake recipe. I'll find another white cake recipe to use the frosting with because it was really good.

So, that being said, I am curious if other people have the same problem I do with this recipe. Maybe it's my stove. Maybe I over mixed it. Maybe I under mixed it. Maybe I didn't get the butter temperature just right. Maybe I over or under baked them. I don't know. I would love to know if this works for you. If I've scared you off and you don't want to try it, I understand. I would encourage you to at least try the frosting. It was delicious. I think I didn't have the butter cool enough, causing the frosting to be runny. I also think I didn't mix it enough, causing it to be lumpy. Please try it. Make a cake mix and throw this frosting on it. Whatever you do, please try it and tell me how it worked for you.

On to the questions:

When did you start baking / cooking?
I have been cooking and baking as long as I can remember. I remember helping my mom make playdough when I was really young. I started doing things on my own when I was about 8.

What is your favorite kitchen tool?
My KitchenAid mixer. I love that thing. I use it at least once or twice a week.

Do you have a favorite spice? If so, what is it?
My favorite spice is cumin. I discovered it within the last few years and add it to a lot of things. It has a deep, rich flavor.

What is your favorite book?
Um, I have a lot of favorites. I think Freakonomics is probably one I could read again and again.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
I would love to travel to Europe.

If you had to change your first name right now, what would you change it to?
Camilla.

Where do you currently live?
Chicago, for the next 25 days and then Columbus, Ohio.

Where are you from?
Hermiston, Oregon

If you could eat one thing for every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A hearty salad with turkey, black beans, corn and tomatoes with either southwest dressing or barbeque sauce and ranch.

*Updated to add a disastrous picture.

Cami's Flourless Chocolate Cake

Let me first explain why my flourless chocolate cake looks like two 4 inch torts stacked with chocolate ganache glaze in between. Well, I made a dessert for someone and sent them home with my springform pan. So, I have 4 inch springform pans that I used instead. I did scale back the baking time to 25 minutes and they came out perfectly.

I loved these. They were so good and rich and chocolatey. Honestly I think it is more the chocolate ganache glaze than the cake. The cake did improve overnight though.

I think you can make it even if you don't have a springform pan. It may stick to the bottom a little but it shouldn't be too bad.

Root Beer Bundt Cake

This week's recipe is Root Beer Bundt Cake on page 87 of the "Baked" cookbook. I made it over the weekend and I have a few comments.

First, I was disappointed that the cake didn't taste like root beer at all. We used Mug brand root beer, so I don't know if using a different root beer makes a difference (maybe Barq's or IBC would be better?). But my husband and I couldn't taste the root beer, and the flavor didn't "intensify" by the next day. You might want to try adding a little bit of root beer extract or making it with root beer schnapps. Second, go easy on the salt in the frosting. And the frosting makes a ton so lay it on thick!

Overall, the cake tastes great as just a chocolate cake, but the root beer flavor was lacking.


And now for Cami's questionnaire:

Q: When did you start baking / cooking?
A: I've been baking and cooking since I was a kid, and I've always liked it. Although, I've been much more excited about cooking since a couple of years ago when I got a cookbook that I love. I never used to use cookbooks, but now I love a good cookbook (good = hard back, lots of full-page pictures, and healthy-ish) I also wasn't much of a baker (beyond cookies) until recently.

Q: What is your favorite kitchen tool?
A: I'm not sentimental about my kitchen stuff, but I like my metal measuring cups, my bamboo spatula, and my large Cutco knife.

Q: Do you have a favorite spice? If so, what is it?
A: Black pepper. Makes just about everything taste better.

Q: What is your favorite book?
A: Recent favorite - Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Q: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
A: We want our next big vacation to be to Hawaii. I recently watched a special about the history of the Polynesian Cultural Center, and now I really want to go see it. Also, I hear Hawaii is amazing. :)

Q: If you had to change your first name right now, what would you change it to?
A: It's never occurred to me to want a different name. But if I HAD to change my name... I'd change it to Nelly since Max calls me that already anyway.

Q: Where do you currently live?
A: Chicago

Q: Where are you from?
A: Las Vegas

Q: If you could eat one thing for every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A: I'd get sick of anything I'd have to eat for every meal. But if I had to eat the same thing for every meal, I'd probably pick black beans and brown rice. Cause it's filling and healthy.