Spice Cake with Penuche Frosting

Ingredients

• FOR THE SPICE CAKE:
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sour cream
• FOR THE PENUCHE FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1¾ – 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

1. For the spice cake:
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Have all ingredients at room temperature. Grease two 8-inch cake pans. Sift first 7 ingredients into a small bowl; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating will after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with the sour cream in 2 additions, beating well after each addition.
4. Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Set cake pans on a wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the pan perimeters and turn cakes onto rack. Let cool completely before frosting.
5. For the penuche frosting:
6. Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, stirring continuously for 2 minutes. Stir in milk. Return to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Allow mixture to cool to lukewarm temperature, then gradually stir in confectioners’ sugar until frosting has reached your desired consistency. For a thicker frosting, add more sugar; to thin it out, you can always add a bit of milk. Fill and frost the cooled cake. Enjoy!

Recipe from Dramatic Pancake

King's Cake

King Cake
makes 1 large coffeecake-sized ring

1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm milk (105 to 115 degrees F)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs

Cinnamon Filling
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 red bean, pecan half, or small plastic baby figurine

Frosting
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Purple, green, and yellow paste food coloring (or other colors depending upon the occasion)

For the dough: Pour the warm water into a large warmed bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir until it dissolves. Stir in the warm milk, butter, sugar, nutmeg, and salt. Add 1 cup of the flour and blend well. Stir in the eggs and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Lightly flour a flat work surface, and turn out the dough. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding more flour if the dough sticks. (Ed. Note: You can also do this in a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook, which is what I did. I still kneaded it for about 5 minutes, though. If doing it by hand I would recommend going for at least 10 minutes.)

Put in a large greased bowl, and turn to grease the top of the dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

For the filling: Punch the dough down. Transfer to the lightly floured work surface and use a rolling pin to roll into a 30-by-9-inch rectangle. Brush with the melted butter. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Beginning at the long end, roll up tightly, as for a jelly roll. Pinch the seam to seal.

With a sharp knife, cut the roll in half lengthwise, and carefully turn the halves so that cut sides face up. Join the ends, pinching them to form one ring, keeping the cut sides up so the filling is visible. Transfer the ring to a large greased baking sheet. 

If using a red bean or pecan half, push it into the underside of the dough to hide it. (A baby charm will go in after baking.) Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 20 to 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the cake from the baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack. If using a plastic baby figurine, push it into the underside of the cake.

For the frosting: In a small bowl mix together the sugar, almond extract, and milk until smooth. Divide among three smaller bowls. Tint one mixture purple, the second one green, and the third one gold, mixing each one well. Drizzle each color over the top of the cake.

From The Kitchn

hint o' cocoa bundt cake

So my first go at making a bundt cake went pretty well! This recipe is super moist and was a big hit with the family!

{dry ingredients}

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

{wet ingredients}

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

{creaming ingredients}

8 oz unsalted butter

2.5 cups + 2 TB superfine granulated sugar

6 eggs

{glaze ingredients}

1/2 cup milk or water

2 cups confectioners' sugar

{instructions}

1. Preheat oven to 335 degrees Fahrenheit, placing rack in the center of the oven. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with non-stick oil-and-startch spray {aka. grease and flour pan}.

2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Set aside.

3. Combine butter and sugar in a stand mixer with paddle attachment {or a large bowl and hand mixer} and mix on low for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time. Scrape bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.

5. Alternately add the dry then wet mixtures about a quarter at a time, without pausing between additions. Scrap the sides of the bowl and mix for another 20 seconds.

6. Scoop bater into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed and a wooden skewer inserted in the deepest part of the pan comes out clean.

7. Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, and then flip out onto a rack and let cool completely.

8. Combine glazing ingredients and whisk. Drizzle mixture over cake. If it will not pour well, add more liquid as needed.

{notes}

- I used about 2/3 spelt flour and 1/3 gluten-free flour and it tasted fabulous!

- I will use less liquid in my glaze next time, or let it sit for a bit before pouring because it was really runny.

- I also added 1oz of cocoa to the dry ingredients to give it a hint of chocolate taste. Recipe also suggests adding 1oz melted unsweetened and 3oz melted bittersweet chocolate to the wet ingredients for more chocolate taste <-- will be trying that next time!

- As you can see, I also sifted some extra powdered sugar on top to make it look pretty ;)

{please excuse the stand mixer in the photos!}

original recipe is from: United Cakes of America

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup oil

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup baking cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt or sour cream)

2 cups shredded zucchini

Frosting:

1 cup shredded coconut

6 TBS. butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup milk

In a large bowl, beat butter, oil, and sugar until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Beat in vanilla.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves;  add to batter alternately with buttermilk.  Fold in zucchini.  Pour into greased 13"X9"X2" pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes.  Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, combine frosting ingredients.  Spread over warm cake.  Broil 4-6 inces from heat for 2-3 minutes until golden brown (be careful...can burn very quickly!)  Cool completely before serving.   serves 12-15.

I made it without the frosting, and I used a little vanilla ice cream and fresh berries instead.  
From a friend, Debbie Terry

Healthier Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole-wheat pastry flour, (I used 1/2 cup cake flour [white flour sifted 3 times] plus 1/4 cup + 2T wheat flour, sifted together twice)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk, (or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 T lemon juice)
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup hot strong black coffee
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with a circle of wax paper.
2. Whisk flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add buttermilk, brown sugar, egg, oil and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add hot coffee and beat to blend. (The batter will be quite thin.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake the cake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from the pan, peel off the wax paper and let cool completely. Dust the top with confectioners’ sugar before slicing.

12 servings    Active Time: 25 minutes    Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Per serving: 139 calories; 3 g fat (1 g sat, 2 g mono); 18 mg cholesterol; 26 g carbohydrates; 2 g protein; 2 g fiber; 212 mg sodium; 60 mg potassium.

 

*I averaged mine out at 105 calories a serving, by having it sliced into 16 pieces instead of 12.