Cake | Eat Your Heart Out

Lime Poppy Seed Sourdough Bundt Cake

May 29, 2013 by Stephie 8 Comments

Well guys, I diddly done did it.

I done put sourdough in my dessert.

It was really only a matter of time.

I promise you won’t even be able to tell that it’s there. Like we’ve discussed before, using starter in quick breads or cakes really just adds a subtle tang and {sorry} moistness similar to that of buttermilk.

Plus, it gives you something to do with that extra starter instead of simply discarding it at each feeding. I mean, technically it is alive. I may or may not be somewhat attached to Methuselah. Let’s not talk about it now.

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Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Baked goods, Cake, Dessert, sourdough, Summer

Coconut Mango Cupcakes {Cupcake Couture Blog Party}

May 21, 2013 by Stephie 32 Comments

I know I promised you a savory recipe last week.

I accidentally lied.

I say “accidentally” because I really did intend to give you my great-grandmother’s pimento cheese recipe at the end of last week. But has anyone else noticed that life has the fun habit of not going quite according to plan most of the time? So you’ll have to wait for pimento cheese (it’s coming, I promise you) and take cupcakes for now.

Today I am joining 20 other awesome bloggers to bring you these cupcakes as part of the Cupcake Couture Blog Party. Dreamed up by Carrie from Bella Cupcake Couture and Betsy from Java Cupcake and Cupcakes Take the Cake, the idea behind the blog party is to show all of our readers not only how easy it is to make gorgeous cupcakes, but how simple and affordable it can be to create a lovely cupcake display for any party or event.

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Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Baked goods, Cake, coconut, cupcakes, Dessert, Holidays

Coconut Cake {and a Fair Trade Giveaway!}

May 10, 2013 by Stephie 48 Comments

Happy Friday, loves! Before I jump into talking about cake and giveaways, I want to make a quick little mention.

Tomorrow – that would be Saturday, May 11, 2013 – I am joining My Daily Find Chicago and some of Chicago’s best bloggers, writers, and foodies for the 4th Annual Chicago Pop-Up Bake Sale benefitting No Kid Hungry. We will be at 900 North Michigan Shops, Level 2, from noon-3 pm with a number of gorgeous, homemade treats to help eliminate childhood hunger in the United States. If you are in the city tomorrow or would like to take a day to explore downtown, make sure to stop by and say hi! I’d love to meet you and sell you a cupcake or two.

And now, for our next order of business…

Since this week has been all about Mother’s Day desserts, let’s talk about moms for a minute, shall we?

Did you know that this year, Mother’s Day and World Fair Trade Day fall on the same weekend? To celebrate, Fair Trade USA is highlighting stories of moms around the world – just like Maria, pictured above – who, because of fair trade cooperatives, are better able to provide for their families and see their dreams realized.

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Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Baked goods, Cake, coconut, Dessert, Giveaway, Holidays

Angel Food Cake

May 7, 2013 by Stephie 13 Comments

When my great-grandmother got married, she knew how to make exactly two things: fried chicken and angel food cake.

How these were the only two things she knew how to cook, we will never know, but the angel food cake was pretty convenient, given that it was my great-grandfather’s favorite dessert. All these years later, it is now my mother’s favorite dessert and her birthday cake every year.

Homemade angel food cake seems to have a reputation for being difficult or unapproachable, mostly likely due to its light, airy nature. Yet the recipe is really quite simple – you just need to understand what you are doing, and be gentle with your batter. Angel food cake batter is essentially a foam, so it relies on those little air bubbles you create when whipping your egg whites. Gentle folding will keep those in place. To fold in your flour, sprinkle it over the top of your whipped whites in installments; then, with a large spatula, cut down the middle of the batter to the bottom of the bowl and bring the spatula up the side, folding the batter over as you bring the spatula up. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. This will incorporate your dry ingredients without dismantling the foam you have already created.

Also helpful: setting your oven to the correct temperature. Not that I set my oven 50 degrees too high the first time or anything…just don’t pay attention to that extra carton of eggs I went through making this…but DO pay attention to your recipe. *cough*

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Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Baked goods, Cake, Dessert, Holidays

Lemony Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

April 4, 2012 by Stephie 16 Comments

Can we talk for a quick minute about a totally real issue?

I love dessert. I come from a family that loves dessert. Even though we didn’t have dessert very often when I was growing up, when we did we did it right. We even have a term in our family known as a “Poor-sized piece of dessert” (Poor being my mother’s maiden name): in other words, an extra-large piece of dessert for any normal family is an average-sized piece of dessert for us.

But here is the issue: Sometimes, after consuming a couple of scones, some enchiladas, a piece of cake, maybe a stack of waffles…well, while I might still want dessert, by the end of the week the idea of finishing off anything with more calories in it than a carrot stick makes me want to resign myself to a future on the Biggest Loser.

Last Friday, after making dinner plans with some friends and promising to bring dessert, this was exactly where I was in life.

How do I fool everyone into believing I made a crazy decadent dessert when really, it’s not as bad for them as they think?

Enter this cheesecake recipe. Jenna, wonderful food genius that she is, has taken pounds of cream cheese, cups of sugar, pints of sour cream and multiple eggs (for one cheesecake!) and replaced them with…Greek yogurt.

Ok, I will admit, I was skeptical. For one, I don’t really like for sweet things to taste yogurt-y (I think we have been over this before). Would it taste like yogurt? For two, would it have that creamy texture that you get from all of the aforementioned ingredients?

And yet, I took a leap of faith and gave it a try. I swore Boyfriend to Greek yogurt secrecy and off we went, cheesecake in hand. When it came time for dessert I sliced it up and doled out the pieces, praying silently that no one would say, “There’s something different about this cheesecake,” in that bad-different kind of way.

And let me tell you: It was good! Better than good, actually. I promise I am telling you the truth when I say that no, it did not taste like yogurt (hallelujah, praise be to the Jesus) and it did have a lovely, creamy texture, quite akin to that of a regular cheesecake. In fact, no one guessed that it wasn’t a regular cheesecake. They were stunned when I finally confessed that it was made with Greek yogurt.

And the best part? It didn’t leave me with that heavy, “my butt is turning into a block of cream cheese” feeling that I typically get after a nice big Poor-sized piece of cheesecake.

Because no one wants a cream cheese butt.

Lemony Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

Yield: 1 9-inch cheesecake

Filling adapted slightly from Eat, Live, Run

Ingredients

For the crust:

1½ cups crushed pecan shortbread cookies*
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons butter, melted

For the filling:

2 cups full-fat or partial-fat Greek yogurt (not fat-free)
⅔ cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch springform pan; set aside. (Note: If you want your cheesecake to easily come off the bottom of the springform pan, I suggest lining the bottom with parchment paper as well as greasing the sides. Skip ahead to 4:30 in this video to see how Alton Brown prepares his pans.)
In a small bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs, brown sugar and lemon zest. Add in the melted butter; stir until all of the crumbs are moistened. Turn into the prepared pan; use your fingers to tightly pack the crust into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, combine the filling ingredients. Blend until smooth and fully incorporated. Pour into the hot crust. Bake for 35 minutes.
Cheesecake is done when it is still slightly jiggly in the center but has a “done” look to it and the edges have started to pull away from the sides of the pan. Be cautious not to overbake (or else, there goes your lovely texture!).
Let cheesecake cool, then chill for at least 2-3 hours in the fridge before removing springform.
Top with sliced fresh fruit.

Notes

*I used pecan shortbread cookies as the base of my crust. You could certainly just use plain shortbread, or go with a traditional graham cracker crust. If you do use the pecan shortbread, I suggest pulsing your cookies in a food processor to sufficiently break down any larger pieces of pecans that might otherwise impede your crust-making.

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Baked goods, Cake, Dessert, Healthier