Strawberry Cream Cake and Frank 'n Mac

My oldest son celebrated the anniversary of his baptism last week.  This is a tradition that my parents started, to make a special day out of the birthday in which we were born into Christ's Church.  N. got to pick whatever he wanted for dinner that night.

This is how we ended up with the menu we did.  In order of N.'s own priorities we had: stawberry cream cake, mac and cheese with hot dogs added, and tomato-cucumber salad.

So that brings me to a very important question, at least from the point of view of a mother of toddlers.  What is your favorite mac and cheese mix-ins?  I grew up thinking my dad was the king of mac and cheese with tuna, tomatoes and peas.  Usually we just throw in whatever is hanging around the fridge.  This is how I discovered that Candian bacon and roasted red peppers are a nice combo.  But what is your favorite, the add-ins you actually plan on adding in?


Oh, and the cake recipe.  I made it as a 4 layer, 6" round, halving the recipe.  Its a very tall cake so the full 9" round can serve 16-24 easily.  If you live in Colorado, Wyoming or New Mexico and want the altitude adjustments, please comment to let me know to include them. 

How to Make Strawberry Cream Cake:
For the Strawberry Cream Frosting:
Ingredients:
1 8-oz. packages of cream cheese, room temp.
1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temp.
2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. strawberry jam
1/2 c. chilled heavy whipping cream

1. Using mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth, stopping to scrap down the sides of the bowl.  Beat in sugar, then jam.

2.  Beat cream in medium bowl until peaks form.  Fold whipping cream into frosting.  Cover and chill until firm enough to spread, about 2 hours.


For the cake:

Ingredients:
3 c. cake flour
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
3 c. sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, room temp.
7 large eggs
2 T. vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream
6 T. plus 1/3 c. strawberry jam

1. Butter bottom of two 9" cake pans with 2" high sides.  Line with parchment paper.  Butter and flour pans.  Sift flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda into medium bowl.  Using mixer, beat sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Beat in vanilla.  Add sour cream, beating for 30 sec.  Add flour mixture in 3 additions, beating to blend after each addition.  Divide batter between prepared pans.

2.  Bake cakes until tester comes out clean, about 50 min.  Cool in pan on rack 10 min.  Run small sharp knife around sides of pans and turn out onto cooling racks.  Cool completely. 

3.  Using large serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half.  Place 1 cake on cake plate.  Spread 2 T. strawberry jam over and top with another cake layer.  Repeat 2 more time with the next two layers.  Top with top layer.  Spread frosting over top and sides.  Spoon teaspoons of jam onto the top and sides and lightly spread over the frosting to give it a slightly glazed look.  Refrigerate cake if not served immediately.

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine May 2009, adapted from J. Morgan's Steakhouse in Montpelier, VT

Cinnamon Rolls, or How I Met My Husband

They say that smell has a direct link to memory.  I know that this has scientific bearing but more importantly, I know this through experience. 

Case in point, cinnamon rolls.   I've used this recipe twice now and they make the moistest cinnamon rolls ever.  And they bring me right back to 2006.  I used to work in a mall book store right out of college.  (What else does one do with an English degree?)  The coffee shop across from the store sold spicy Mexican mochas and gooey cinnamon rolls.  They were baked in-house and the aroma was intoxicating.  Great days were the ones in which the owner of this coffee shop would bring us gifts of the last rolls of the day, which either had to be eaten or tossed.  They might have been hours old at that point, but the recipe was so good that they were still soft and moist.

I didn't always love working at this bookstore but I can love cinnamon rolls and the memories they evoke for one reason.  It was there at this bookstore that I met a man.  A man with expressive hazel eyes, who would buy any book I put in his hands just so he could talk to me.  The man I now sit across from, drinking coffee while we watch our sons rub sugary glaze through their hair.  Yeast and cinnamon and brown sugar are what I connect with the beginning of our lives together.  Not the cologne he wore, not the smell of new print, but the smell of cinnamon rolls.

I've decided that these rolls are going to become a special smell for our whole family.  Breakfast treats for birthdays, first days of school, Easter and Christmas mornings, "Proud of You" celebrations.  My boys might not grow up thinking of cinnamon rolls as "Mom met Dad" smells but I want them to connect something special with them, like I do. 

By the way, the secret to incredibly moist and gooey cinnamon rolls is Yukon Gold potatoes.  That's right.  Potatoes. 

How to Make Yukon Gold Cinnamon Rolls:
Makes 12 large rolls or 24 medium (seen here)

 Ingredients:
Dough:
1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2" pieces
1 T. coarse kosher salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter
3 large eggs
4 1/2 c. (or more) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 c. warm water
3 1/4-oz. envelopes dry active yeast
2 T. sugar


Filling:
1 1/3 c. (packed) golden brown sugar
2 1/2 T. ground cinnamon
3 T. unbleached all purpose flour
9 T. unsalted butter, room temp.


Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
2 T. (or more) whole milk
1 t. vanilla extract
1/8 t. coarse kosher salt

1.  Combine potatoes, 2 cups water, and 1 tablespoon coarse salt in large saucepan. Boil until potatoes are very tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Mash potatoes with water in pan (do not drain water). Add butter and mash until butter is melted. Whisk in eggs, then 1 cup flour; mash until very smooth. Let potatoes stand until barely lukewarm, about 10 minutes. 

2.  Meanwhile, pour 1/2 cup warm water into large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment; stir in yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add potato mixture to yeast mixture; mix on low speed until well blended, 2 minutes. Mix in 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, beating well. Beat until sticky dough forms. 

3.  Spread 1/2 cup flour on work surface. Scrape dough out onto floured work surface. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 8 minutes.   May take a LOT more flour.  (I add about 1-2 cups extra.)

4.  Coat large bowl with butter. Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

5.  Meanwhile, make filling: mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in medium bowl. Using fork, mix in butter. 

6.  Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Turn dough out onto well-floured work surface. Roll out dough to 24x16-inch rectangle. Or to make medium rolls, divide dough in quarters.  Roll each piece into 12x6 inch rectangle.  Sprinkle filling evenly over dough. Starting at 1 long side, roll up dough jelly-roll style, enclosing filling. Using large knife dipped in flour, cut roll crosswise into 12 pieces, or 6 pieces for medium rolls.  Transfer rolls to baking sheet, spacing rolls about 3/4 inch apart. Cover baking sheet loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes (rolls will be very puffy).  Or if making the night before, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-24 hours.  

7.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Bake cinnamon rolls until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool rolls 10 minutes on baking sheet.

8.  Meanwhile, make glaze: whisk powdered sugar, melted butter, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, and coarse salt in small bowl. If glaze is too thick to spread, add more milk by 1/2 teaspoonfuls as needed. Spread glaze over warm rolls.

 
Recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine, March 2009.

"There's No Place Like Blueberries"

This is what my three-year-old had to say about my husband's birthday cake.  No, he hasn't seen Wizard of Oz and I have no idea where he heard this phrase.  He also said, "This is the awesome cake you make EVER!"

Originally called "Blueberry Hill  Cupcakes" by Bon Appetit, to me it is "Mark's New England Cake".  First of all, it was for my Connecticut-born husband's birthday.  More importantly, it combined those quitessential New England classic flavors: blueberry and maple.  However, once I was taking the hot cakes out of the oven, it occurred to me that I perhaps should be calling it "IHOP Meets Ace of Cakes".  It smelled exactly like blueberry pancakes.  So I was honestly quite relieved that no matter what it smelled like, it didn't taste like a breakfast course at all.  It was definitely cake.  That lovely summer kind of cake with a sweet frosting that hinted of maple.  I don't know if I would call it "the awesome cake I've made EVER" but it was pretty darn good. 

How to Make New England Summer Layer Cake:
Makes a 3-layer 9" cake

For Blueberry Cake
Ingredients:
 1 1/4 c. fresh blueberries
3 1/4 c. cake flour
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. coarse kosher salt
1/4 t. baking soda
6 T. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. grated lemon zest
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. whole milk 


Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
1 c. fresh bluberries, for garnish
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish


1. Wash blueberries, drain and lay out on paper towels to dry.  Freeze for between 1-4 hours.  (This keeps them from bleeding into the cake too much.  Store-bought frozen WILL bleed and sink.  Do not attempt it.)

2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut out 3-9" circles of parchment paper for 3-9" cake rounds.  Grease pan bottoms with butter and lay down parchment.  Grease over the parchment and the sides of the pans.  Dust with flour inside the pans, taping out excess. 

3.  Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl.  Place butter and sugar inside bowl of mixer and, using whisk attachment, whisk together.  Add eggs one at a time, whisking to blend.  Whisk in vanilla and lemon zest.  Combine buttermilk and milk together in a bowl.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, whisking to combine.  Add 1/2 of the milk mixture.  Add 1/3 of the flour and then the remainder of the milk.  Finish by adding the rest of the flour mixture. 

4.  Divide batter evenly between 3 pans.  Bake for about 45 minutes, until tester comes out clean.  Remove from oven.  Let cool for 5 minutes in pans.  Then invert cakes onto cooling racks.  Cool completely before frosting.

5.  Frost cake, using maple frosting and blueberries in between layers as filling.  Finish with maple frosting and blueberries and mint for top.  (I would use more mint than shown here, actually.  It gave a nice bright balance to the sweetness.)  Keep cake refrigerated once frosted.

For the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Note: It is imperative that your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature.  To do otherwise results in uneven lumps.


Ingredients:
16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 T. pure maple syrup
4 c. powdered sugar, sifted to remove any lumps

Place cream cheese and butter in bowl of mixer and whisk until smooth.  Add maple syrup.  Add powdered sugar gradually, whisking to fully incorporate after each addition.   Adjust the sugar until you get the right consistency for your taste.  I usually chill my cream cheese frosting for about 30 minutes so they aren't too soft to work with. 



Some notes on taking cupcake to layer cake and vice-versa:
This is not the first time I've come across a fantastic cupcake concept and really wanted to change it into a layer cake.  I just prefer a layer cake if I'm not traveling with it or trying to feed a large crowd.  They look classier and I love fillings. 

If you want to make cupcakes out of your cake recipes or cakes out of your cupcake recipes, here's some tips to keep in mind.  Cupcakes should be firmer than layer cakes.  Layer cakes can be much more moist and tender.  This quality in a cupcake will make it fall apart in your hand.  And you don't want a layer cake that's dry.  So...

When making cake out of a cupcake recipe, substitute the all-purpose flour for cake flour.  It will make for a more tender cake and softer crumb.  Vice-versa, if a cake recipe calls for cake flour, switch it out for all-purpose when making cupcakes. 

Some cake recipes just don't work well as cupcakes.  If you know one to be extremely moist, like my fantastic carrot cake recipe, then just don't try to make it into cupcakes.  Butter-based recipes are your best bets for cupcakes.  Oil-based are much moister, hence messier.

One 8" or 9" round equals a 8-10 cupcakes.  Give or take.  This is not a solid rule but often changes from recipe to recipe.  Most of my cake recipes are for 2-9" rounds so I can count on 18-20 cupcakes.  Yes, that means that if you must hit a certain number, make extra batter.

Cupcakes bake in 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of time cakes do.  Generally.  Use that as a rule of thumb, but rely on toothpicks or testers for done-ness.  However, don't open your oven to much before that target time.  That draft of cold air can cause the cupcake tops to falls. 

If you've got any other helpful cake-cupcake tips, please share!  I'm always looking to learn and improve.

New England Summer Layer Cake adapted from Blueberry Hill Cupcakes, Bon Appetit, June 2005
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting taken from www.joyofbaking.com