Beautiful, Stef…Happy Easter Sunday!
Gee wish i could share as many slices as you want with my apricot jam.
2 Likes
My friend wanted a birthday cake and I tried to get her into something like bienenstich, but in true Dominican fashion the desire for a frosted cake won out (though she did think the bienenstich looked nice when I showed her). So I was left to make another layer cake. 
So Stella Parks’ almond cake with chocolate American buttercream. Chocolate is the rare buttercream where I almost prefer American buttercream because it’s not so heavy on the butter and the chocolate tames the sweetness. In fact I actually like using 57% chocolate in this rather than the recommended 70%, because I find the sweetness lacking. I put the powdered sugar to dissolve with the cream to eliminate grittiness as much as possible since the powdered sugar here is not great. I left out the espresso powder to keep it more kid-friendly. And I blitzed the finished buttercream with the immersion blender to bring out a richer, darker chocolate color. Before using the immersion blender the color was a bit anemic.
13 Likes
INPUT APPRECIATED:
What’s your favorite lemon blueberry loaf recipe?
Beautiful, so professional
1 Like
Thanks! It’s rough with the temps here to frost anything with buttercream, but I think it came out pretty well.
The cake is so light and tender and one I’ll definitely make again. I only tasted some crumbs of it because it comes out nice and flat and there’s nothing to trim, but it was delicious. I cut the almond extract by half because I find the one I have now is very potent, and I’d use no more than that. In fact, I might cut it to just 1 tsp since the flavor from the almond flour is enough.
I made a raspberry sauce that I was going to put between the layers, but left it for serving on the side.
The toasted almonds taste really delicious with the buttercream, so I wouldn’t mind covering the sides entirely with them.
3 Likes
I like Dorie’s Blueberry Thyme Yogurt Cake.
I know some swear by Ottolenghi’s Blueberry Almond Lemon Cake. I haven’t made this one, but I should.
1 Like
Southern Lemon Pound Cake today for dessert.
Ichose NOT to use a bundt pan but used 2 loaf pans so I could bring one in to work tomorrow.
Unfortunately i slightly overbaked, but it was still good with crushed and whole raspberries and freshly whipped cream.
12 Likes
The raspberry sauce went so well with the cake that if I were to make it again I’d fill it with raspberry filling and cover the outside only in chocolate buttercream. In general it’s become hard for me to enjoy buttercream even when it’s great on its own. I just find it too rich and heavy these days, so things like cream cheese frosting, whipped cream, and ganache are all I want to put in and on a cake along with jam and similar fillings.
Btw I only made 1.5X the buttercream rather than 2x as recommended and I still had extra.
I’d cut 1.5-2 oz of sugar from the cake next time. And use the 70% chocolate for a non-chocolate cake. When I made a chocolate and raspberry cake I liked the sweeter chocolate better. Since this cake is sweeter it can take the 70% chocolate.
2 Likes
Almond Cookies from Mooncakes and Milk Bread. I live almond cookies, with their yolky glaze and almond in the centre. These weren’t my favourite. You can see how much they spread, but the glaze stayed in the centre. I prefer the ones made with lard.
6 Likes
Coconut cream pie from the Redpath Baking Book. Everyone loved this. Custard is made with coconut milk. Topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut.
11 Likes
Oh that is tempting. I didn’t grow up eating coconut anything but now I really crave it.
1 Like
I <3 those almond cookies so much.
I’ve never gotten around to trying to make them myself. Do you have a preferred recipe?
I think the only other time I’ve made them was from a 1987 cookbook called Cookies, I think. I will try to remember to get the recipe next time I’m at my mom’s.
This was the first non-hit from Mooncakes and Milk Bread, and they are still good, but the texture is not as Sandy/crumbly as I prefer.
Dorie Greenspan’s white cheddar scones, modified.
I upped the sugar to a full tablespoon., added a pinch of cayenne, a few cranks of black pepper, and ¼ c. chopped, toasted pecans. I used two egg yolks instead of one whole egg, and mixed the dough by hand (not by food processor). The scones were chilled in the freezer for 15 minutes before baking, and the oven was preheated to 425 and dropped to 375 after inserting the scones. I made a half-batch of six - two disappeared before I could get the photo.
I am very, very happy with the results. I thought the original recipe was OK, but the texture was a little cakey for my taste. These came out buttery and flaky, with golden bottoms.
A nod and thanks to @ginnyhw for introducing me to the original recipe back on CH.
13 Likes
Have you ever made her cheddar and apple scones?
I have not, but I have the book. I’ll check it out - thanks!
1 Like
easter dessert: chocolate coconut cake ( largely to use up 1/2 can of coconut milk!). Another variation of the lime coconut cake from Snacking Cakes… also good!
13 Likes
I thought you might like them since they include dried apple rather than fresh as some others do and you mentioned preferring scones with dried fruit. I remember liking them though wishing they were a bit more salty-sweet. But back then I wasn’t as likely to increase salt, so they likely just needed more salt.
