Vanilla 4-Layer Dot Cake

Saturday night I got back from an amazing weekend. I went on a school trip, but it’s not one of those annoying trips, in my school  we go all out, and it’s something people look forward to every year.

But I think it’s safe to say I may have gotten around 4-5 hours of sleep the entire weekend, and then I got home and went to sleep at around 2. The funny thing is, that’s a semi-typical weekend sleep-wise.I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

So I have been saying for a while that I’m going to make a large layer cake. The flavor was undoubtedly going to be vanilla, just because there is no other flavor that is better then that.

I was deciding on what design to actually make on the cake with the icing. It was between dots, roses, or just a pretty blend of a few colors.

I decided to combine two of the three choices. I put dots around the side and blended colors on top. I think the cake turned out really well. The cake baked perfectly. It was fluffy and moist.

Song of the Day – Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools

The Whiteout Cake

Yield: 1 (8-inch) cake

For the white cake layers

2 1/2 cups of cake flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups ice cold water

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the over the 325 degrees F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Dust with flour, and knock out the excess flour.

Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, add the egg, and beat until just combined. Turn the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the ice water, in three separate additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl, then mix on low speed for a few more seconds.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Do not overbeat. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the rack, remove the pans, and let cool completely. Remove the parchment

All the best,

Mish

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

 

Due to parent teacher interviews – the best ❤ – I don’t have school until Thursday. I know I said I was going to make a 6-layer cake, but I had a interesting night and didn’t get much sleep. So by the time I got home today I was quite exhausted, and therefore only felt like making something little. Speaking of little, I recently went baking supply shopping and got a mini muffin tin among other things. I was very excited about it, I mean who wouldn’t be? Doesn’t everyone get jittery at the thought of making little bite size muffins and cupcakes? Oops that’s just me. 

So anyway, when I got home, I as usual looked through my ever-growing pile of recipes and decided to make apple cinnamon muffins. As per the name of this blog and the amount of posts that have cinnamon in them, I think it’s pretty obvious that I really like cinnamon, so these muffins were a clear choice.

This was the first time I made this recipe. I was originally going to make a different muffin recipe, but after I read the method I realized it made no sense, so I then moved on to this recipe. The apple in the muffins really help keep it nice and moist. I would definitely make this recipe again.

Song of the Day – Lupe Fiasco – Unforgivable Youth

Apple Streusel Cinnamon Swirl Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Swirl & Topping
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Cupcakes
1 cup grated, peeled apple (1 large apple)
2 Tbsp cinnamon-sugar (from above)
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola or corn oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F and line a dozen cupcake tin cups with paper liners.

2. Using an apple peeler/corer/slicer (or by hand), peel, core and slice one apple and then dice into small bits. In a medium bowl, toss the apple with 2 Tbsp of the cinnamon-sugar. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Make a small well in the center and the eggs, oil and vanilla. Mix until just blended and smooth. Stir in the apple/sugar mixture, as well as any apple juice that was released.

4. Drop 2 Tbsp of batter into each muffin cup. Spoon 1/2 tsp of cinnamon-sugar on top of the batter. Drop another scant 2 Tbsp of batter on top. Then brush or dollop melted butter on top of the batter in each cup. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar on top of each cup of batter.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Then carefully remove cupcakes from tin to cool completely. You can do this picking them out individually (careful not to burn yourself) or flipping them out by inverting them onto a wire rack and inverting them again.

All the best,

Mish

Soft Sugar Cookies

I was in the mood to make something really time consuming, so I was debating between making a 8 layer cake or sugar cookies. It has occurred to me that I haven’t made a real cake on this blog yet. While I have made many cakes of all varieties, including specialized cakes with fondant and the whole nine yards.

I decided that I was going to bake cookies for tomorrow, and the 8 layer tuesday since I don’t have school due to parent teacher interviews. But more on that later.

While doing my normal rounds on baking blogs, I stumbled upon a novel idea; I saw someone that actually painted on their cookies, with food coloring of course. I obviously had to try it.

The cookie I made is an amazing moist soft cookie, it is my go -to recipe for sugar cookies.

Song of the Day – The King’s Dead – Hennessy At Cookouts

Soft Sugar Cookies
by Alison Tolbert
1 cup sour cream
2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter, slightly softened
4 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla (I like almond)
6 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine sour cream, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla/almond extract. Beat for 2-3 minutes.

Add dry ingredients and mix well. Dough will still be wet and sticky. Let the dough chill in fridge for 25 minutes or until firm.
Roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters to make shapes or circles. You may have to add a little flour to roll them out so the dough is workable but remember the less flour you use the softer your cookie will be.

Bake until LIGHT golden brown about 8-10 minutes. When you take them out they will seem underdone but they aren’t. Let them cool on the pan and they will be perfect and moist. It you like them harder and more crunchy just bake them a little longer.

Makes around 4 dozen.

All the best,

Mish

Rogelach

The aroma of cinnamon is haunting me right now. The rogelach are in the oven, and they smell so good I kinda just want to pull one out and eat it.

My mom has been making this recipe ever since I can remember. Making these made me think of all the times I sat in the kitchen helping her roll all the little circles into crescents. Good times, good times.

These are reminiscent of a cinnamon bun and a cookie in one, it has the texture and over all feel of a cookie and the amazing yummy cinnamon filling of a cinnamon bun.

Song of the Day – Childish Gambino – Bonfire

Rogelach

 

Dough:

1 package of yeast

1/2 cup of warm water

1 cup margerine

5 tablespoons sugar

3 cups flour

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

oil for brushing

Filling:

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze:

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon water

 

1. Combine yeast with water

2. Mix margarine sugar and flour in separate bowl

3. stir in remaining ingredients including yeast

4. Put in fridge for 2 hours

5. Divide dough into 8 equal balls

6. roll each ball into 7 inch circle

7. spread oil generously on

8. combine filling

9. put on dough  circles

10. cut each circle into 8 wedges, then roll up into cresents

11. mix glaze and brush on top of the rogelach

12. bake in 350 oven for 30 min

 

All the best,

Mish

 

 

 

 

Twix Bars

Since I went to the gym this morning, I had alot of time to bake today, so I decided upon something complex. I found a recipe for this a while back, and I have been wanting to try it ever since.

I’ll be the first to admit that these aren’t the prettiest things ever (I have no idea how other people make them look so good). But they do taste really good, they are definitely competition for the real deal.

Song of the Day – Upper West – Nothing We Can Do

Homemade Twix Bars

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Shortbread layer

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

Caramel layer

2 cups caramel candies

3 tablespoons half and half

Chocolate layer

1 cup semi sweet chocolate

1 cup white chocolate

Directions:

1) FOR THE CRUST: Preheat your oven to 300°F. Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan lightly with cooking spray (or line with parchment) and set aside.

2) In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the flour. Mix until well combined.

3) Take the dough (it will be thick) and press evenly into the bottom of the pan.

4) Prick the crust all over with a fork. The holes allow the steam to escape and the crust will bake evenly with fewer bubbles.

5) Bake the crust until the edges are golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately run a knife around the edges to loosen the crust. Set aside to cool completely.

6) FOR THE CARAMEL LAYER: Melt the caramel and cream over low heat in a small saucepan – this takes about 10 minutes. Spread the caramel evenly over the cooled crust and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill and firm up.

7) FOR THE CHOCOLATE LAYER: After the caramel layer has chilled, cut down the length of the pan, splitting the bars into two long, narrow bars (see notes below). Then cut the bar horizontally, creating 24 bars. Melt chocolates; using two utensils, dip the chilled bars into melted chocolate and place on wax paper to set.

All the best,

Mish

Cake Pops

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.

I was in a complicated baking mood. So as I was going through my giant folder of recipes and happened upon chocolate chip cookie dough truffles. Instead of that since I wasn’t in the mood to make cookie dough, I made cake pops.

Cake pops are interesting. It’s cake and icing all in one, it’s surprisingly tasty. I mean I wouldn’t think that cake mushed with icing would taste good; when you describe it, it just sounds kinda nasty. But have no fear, they’re really good.

Song of the Day – Tayyib Ali – Ride With Us

Double-Vanilla Buttermilk Cake

• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla
• 1/4 vanilla bean, scraped
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

In a medium bowl, mix together salt, baking powder and flour. Stir to combine then set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl, then add in egg. Add vanilla extract and the seeds of half a vanilla bean. Beat until well combined.

Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the butter/sugar mixture. Start with flour, end with flour.

If you’re adding food coloring to your batter, evenly separate the batter into as many bowls as you need- one for each color. Add food color to the desired color and mix well. Repeat until all the colors are well mixed.

Spoon or pipe your batter into the muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes for regular cupcakes and about 15 minutes for mini cupcakes.

Makes 10 cupcakes.

Vanilla Icing

1/2 cup butter

2 cups icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1. Mix butter with sugar

2. Add in milk and vanilla

Crumble the cake in a bowl

Add icing and mix

Roll into balls, and dip sticks in chocolate then stick into balls.

All the best,

Mish

Baked Donuts

So after yesterdays success with the yeast cinnamon buns, I thought I would try my luck with yeast baked donuts. I have made baked donuts before but without yeast and they kinda just turned out like muffins. 

These are soft just like normal donuts. Although the dough didn’t really rise for me during either rising time, they still puffed up while they were baking.

Song of the Day – Hi-Rez – Open House

*Sorry For The Moment The Recipe Is Being Difficult And Won’t Paste*

All the best,

Mish

Cinnamon Buns

So today after getting back from a very tiring day at the gym, I got to baking. As always I was in the mood to make something with cinnamon.

I have only made legit cinnamon buns with yeast and all once. That is due to the one hour rising time, and because the first time I made these they didn’t rise. Whenever I wanted cinnamon buns I would make the non-yeast version, although still tasty, they aren’t those soft flavorful buns, that you associate with cinnamon buns of the yeast variety.

So I decided to have another go. This time they worked beautify, they are positively amazing. I was scared that they were all going to be gone in the morning, knowing my family. So I hid them and wrote a don’t touch sign, we’ll see how well that does at fending them off.

Song of the Day – Ram Jam – Black Betty

Cinnabon-Style Gourmet Cinnamon Buns

Yield: 12 large buns

Ingredients:

Dough

1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast

1 cup warm whole milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup margarine (or 80% margarine 20% butter spread)

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

4 1/2  cups all-purpose flour

Filling

1 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup margarine (or 80% margarine 20% butter spread)

Method:

• For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.

• Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.

• Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.

• Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide.

• It should be approx 1/4 thick.

• To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

• Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface, leaving about 1″ untouched around edges.

• Gently roll into a fairly tight roll, trying to keep the filling inside.

• With a sharp knife, slice into 12 pieces.

• Place on parchment lined cookie sheet about 2″ apart, cover with lint-free cloth, and let rise for another hour.

• Bake in 400 degree on rack just above centre, for about 10 minutes, or until light golden brown.

• Cool on cooling rack and gently place into airtight container when cool.

 
All the Best,

Mish

Funffeti Cupcakes

PD day today! Thank God, I really needed this extra day off to sit and do absolutely nothing; I haven’t been able to do that for a little while. 

I have been spending many hours looking for new and interesting things to bake. During this recipe quest I have come to the realization that I don’t like chocolate. I mean I used to love it when I was little, I would have at times 3 chocolate bars a day (Yes I was a chubby child, I mean sometimes I would just eat icing sugar…from a cup. How I wasn’t obese I have no idea). But I haven’t had a chocolate bar in years, it has no appeal to me, I can walk by it at the check out no problem. So what was the point to this little rant you ask? Well there isn’t really any except that you won’t really see many chocolate recipes here, like chocolate chip cookies is pushing it.

Irrelevant-no purpose rant aside, I woke up this morning, like every morning and was in the mood to bake, cupcakes in particular, and as rant above mentioned I don’t like chocolate, and therefore made vanilla cupcakes. I was perusing SprinkleBakes for some recipes, and came across a yummy looking vanilla cake. I was in a happy mood, so I added sprinkles to make funfetti cupcakes.

Song of the Day – Hoodie Allen – Swimming With Sharks

Lucky Vanilla Cupcakes

Yield: 15 Cupcakes

 Cake:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

6 Tbsp butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean, seeded and hull discarded

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp milk

 

Heat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with papers.

 

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until lightened in color and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions. Beat in vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract.

 

Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. When completely incorporated, divide batter evenly amongst liners, filling them 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes (check at 15). Cool completely before frosting.

 

All the best,

Mish

 

 

Brown Sugar Cookies

Hello readers,

Have no fear, I did indeed bake yesterday, keeping up my something like 3 week streak. I made banana bread. My reason for not posting was two-fold. One I was exhausted, which also extends into today. And two I didn’t really want to post my banana bread recipe. It’s not because I’m one of those annoying people that say that no one can know their recipe. No. It’s just that I have been making this recipe for so long that I don’t really measure anything, so if I were to approximate the amounts there is a large possibility that it wouldn’t turn out for those of you at home.

But it’s largely because I’m lazy and love sleep. I got home at like 8 from the gym, then showered procrastinated, then baked, did a little work I had, then passed out; then I woke up and went to the gym…. I can not wait for this long weekend coming up, my brain just isn’t working anymore, I need some rest.

So anyway.. After getting home I procrastinated by going on a couple blogs and found a really good recipe for brown sugar cookies.

These are the perfect combo of sugar cookie and gingerbread man. I hate spicy gingerbread men, and tend to only put a little ginger and a helluva lot of cinnamon. So these cookies taste pretty similar. While they do have that flavor it is very subtle, and you can still really taste the sugar cookie aspect.

Song of the Day – Left Boy – Jack Sparrow

Brown Sugar Cookies

makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

 

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.

Place butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat on medium speed for one minute more.

Add the dry ingredients, all at once, to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat on low speed until the dough begins to come together and the flour disappears. Stop the mixer and finish incorporating the ingredients with a spatula. Once all the flour is thoroughly mixed in, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place a rack in the center and upper third of the over and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Dollop tablespoons size balls of dough onto the baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will last, in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to 5 days.

 

 

All the best,

Mish