Peanut Butter Banana Cake

My gluten-free peanut butter banana cake was inspired by a sandwich.

It has been an awful week. Our hearts ache for the profound and inconceivable loss suffered by Japan. To conjure sweet nothings about cake or cookies, or celebrating the first day of spring rings a tinny, grating note. So I am excavating a recipe from the archives instead, sharing it now for those of you new to the blog, or those of you who may have missed it the first time around. It's a simple, sugar-free recipe based upon a childhood favorite- the peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Continue reading

Karina's Chocolate Truffle Cake

Truffle Cake is a flourless chocolate cake worthy of Spring.

The intricate lace of bare oak branches reaching to the piece of schoolyard sky framed by my kitchen window is softening, filling in with bursts of tender green leaves so young and sweet you miss them at first glance. Spring has arrived. The oaks say so.

To celebrate the season of reawakening, I say we bake a cake.

Yes, another cake. I know, I know. I baked a luxurious Coconut Layer Cake for you just last week. But. It was a cake with flour (albeit gluten-free flours). And what do I feel like baking this week? A flourless cake. A cake so rich it tastes like a truffle. Not the infamous pig snuffled treasure. No, Darling. The chocolate truffle. That heavenly impostor, hiding in the guise of that woodsy French piggery fungi. Spoonfuls of deep, dark ganache rolled in cocoa powder (to look like dirt, of course).

And I didn't want just a chocolate cake topped with ganache, either. I wanted to bake the ganache itself. I wanted the cake to taste like a sweet and satiny truffle- I wanted the cake to live up to its name. Truffle Cake inspires expectations. So I fiddled around with my Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe and rustled up a divine and creamy chocolate cake so special you'll want to share it with company. It's simply too good to keep to yourself. Try it. It's shockingly easy to make. Just give yourself time to make it ahead. It is at its best chilled overnight.

Silky satin chocolate cake with a dusting of dirt- I mean- organic cacao powder with a secret ingredient. Raw maca powder.

Throw in a little superfood magic. Why not?


Continue reading

Gluten-Free Coconut Layer Cake

Coconut cake heaven. Gluten-free and dairy-free deliciousness.

Birthdays are complicated when you reach a certain age. Oh, don't get me wrong. You're grateful for another year. I mean. You're still alive and kicking, right? Waking up to a fresh start. Starting a spanking new year on the planet with one more number under your (slightly pinching) belt. A number that grants you a whisker more authority in the world. A tad more wisdom.

If you've been paying attention to the lessons life likes to offer up as experience, and not sleepwalking, that is. Not acquiescing to the expectations of others. Or choosing safety over the challenge of the new. Or worse- finding yourself somewhere, in some situation, or relationship, strictly for the sake of momentum, chafing inside a role you don't remember signing up for.

Birthdays can be markers like that.

Defining where we've been. And how far we've come. Or not.

It was my husband's birthday this weekend. And yes, I baked a cake. And as I stirred the batter and scooped it into cake pans, I thought about the other cakes I have baked for him. The chocolate cake in our first year of marriage. Children beneath our roof. Blue balloons and candles. The newness of each others' dreams. The shine of our ideas. The belief in what was possible.

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake

Gluten-Free vegan pumpkin cheesecake- creamy and dairy-free.

Darling. It's Monday. Post Boxing Day. And yes, I'm going to be bad. I'm not going to write about Hoppin' John or some healthy New Year's bean soup with kale.  I am going to tease you. I am going to tempt you. I am going to revel in one more dessert recipe before the final eve of 2010 -- a rich and creamy pumpkin cheesecake recipe that is worthy of a party. One last hurrah before the pale glare of January dawns in all her cold and sober glory. One last indulgent dessert before I gingerly step on the reality check scale. And sigh.

Because I've noticed my jeans have shrunk again. That familiar jolly pie roll affectionately known as Doris is rolling her merry way up and out of my favorite roomy cargo pants. But is this the week to start counting calories? Is this the week to shun dessert in favor of lettuce? I can answer that. The answer is no. As in N. As in O. No. Nope. Not gonna happen.

If you've got your own alarming version of Doris making her annual appearance around your middle, don't worry. There will be plenty of time in 2011 for detoxing and courting virtue with cabbage soup, recipes that will encourage our collective Doris's -- or would the plural be Dori? -- to skedaddle. I promise. I'll be first in line with smoothie and cleansing soup recipes come January. But this week? Well. Not so much.

Because there's one more cake to share in 2010. And it's cheesecake. And no one will suspect it is vegan and gluten-free. (I won't tell, if you won't.)


Continue reading

Apple Cake with Cranberries

A gluten-free cranberry apple cake- with a sweet-tart kick.

No philosophy today. Instead, a cake. A beautiful gluten-free cake to bake for the holidays- or any day you feel like celebrating. So dust off your cake pan, Babycakes.

This is a moist and tender apple cake laced with a hint of cinnamon and studded with fresh tart berries. After seven eight nine years of baking various gluten-free incarnations of my tried and true Jewish apple cake recipe, this could be our favorite. Maybe it's the sweet-tart combo. The subtlety of flavors. In a food culture obsessed with kicking up recipes with more for the sake of more (white chocolate peanut butter bacon swirled maple mouse drizzled in dulche de leche coconut marshmallow and dusted with sugared lime zest and shaved dark chocolate, anyone?) the clean and classic flavor contrast of apples and cranberries is somehow new again. Even, refreshing. 

I don't need dessert to taste like candy. I like my cake to taste like cake. 

How about you?

Continue reading

It's my birthday and I'll *gain10pounds* if I want to . . .

* Please sing along to the tune of "It's My Party." *

Have you ever made yourself a birthday cake?  After reading The Pastry Queen , I decided that this would be my year to bake my own cake.

I'm gonna tell you right now....I am NOT a cake decorator.  (That's probably obvious by now.)  It wasn't gorgeous, but it was GOOD!

The Pastry Queen is one of those cookbooks where you feel like you've gained 10 pounds just from READING it.  I LOVE reading the stories behind recipes; they actually make me a bit teary...the back story and memories behind the food.

One of the recipes that caught me eye was the White-on-White Buttermilk Cake with Jack Daniel's Buttercream.  I changed it up just a bit, adding vanilla bean paste and almond extract to the cake and the buttercream I changed to amaretto.

BE WARNED....this buttercream is RICH.  And buttery.  REALLY buttery.  As in, I think Paula Deen would marry it.  Delicious, yes, but I might switch it up for a less buttery buttercream next go-round.

Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cake with Amaretto Buttercream
{adapted from The Pastry Queen}

3 c. cake flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
2 and 1/3 c. sugar
3 large egg whites, room temp.
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 and 1/2 c. buttermilk, room temp.

Place oven racks on the upper and lower thirds of the oven.  Preheat to 350.  Line the bottom of three 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper.  Butter the pans and coat with flour.

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs whites, vanilla bean past and almond extract.  Beat on medium speed until combined, scraping down bowl as needed.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low, until combined.  Add half the buttermilk, beat until combined.  Continue alternating ingredients, ending with the flour.  Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl as needed.

Spoon the batter into prepared pans.  Place 2 pans on the top rack and the third on the bottom rack.  Bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  (The pans may be done at different times.)

Allow the cakes to cool in the pans on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Invert the cakes onto the cooling racks and cool completely.

Amaretto Buttercream

3 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 c. water
2 c. sugar
6 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
1/4 tsp. salt
3 TBSP. amaretto

Using the whisk attachment of your mixer, whip the eggs and yolks on high speed for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar.  Simmer until the mixture registers between 234-240 degrees (soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer.  Immediately pour the mixture into a heatproof measuring cup with a spout.  With the mixer on low, add the sugar mixture to the eggs in a slow, thin stream.  Increase the speed to medium and beat about 7 minutes, until the syrup has cooled.  (The bowl should be barely warm.)

Add the butter, a half stick at a time, and beat on medium speed about 30 seconds after each addition.  After all of the butter has been added, beat on medium speed for 3 additional minutes, until slightly thickened.  Stir in the salt and amaretto.

{It's so smooth and glossy!!!}

Frost the completely cooled cake.  Cover the cake....it will keep at room temperature for 2 days.

{I use strips of wax paper slipped underneath the cake when frosting.  Once the cake is frosted, pull out the strips and your cake plate will be clean around the edges.}

And those 10 pounds you'll gain from the buttercream?  I hear they plump up and smooth out wrinkles. ;)

Have you ever made your own birthday cake?

Gluten-Free Coconut Flour Apple Cake Recipe

A lovely gluten-free apple cake with coconut flour.

The weather here has hula-hooped back into summer. I kid you not. It is ninety-seven degrees here in Little Russia, my West Hollywood neighborhood. As in 97. That's three shy of one hundred, Bubbe. In September. And what am I doing? Baking a cake. Heating up the kitchen. It figures.


Continue reading

Gluten-Free Banana Almond Bundt® Cake Recipe

Almond flour makes this banana Bundt® cake gluten-free gorgeous.

Baking weather has arrived. Are you feeling the urge? I am. It's Bundt® Cake time. Time for stirring up gluten-free cake batters with soft ripe bananas,  pumpkin puree, and applesauce, filling the kitchen with the warm sweet scent of cinnamon. Time to tie on your cute little apron and invoke your inner Domestic Goddess. Because the groovy-spooky Fall Equinox is right around the corner, I am sorry to tell you. Summer fun is fading fast, Sweetpea. Your tan lines are disappearing.

Your vegan UGGs are calling.

So paw through your stash of rocket shaped Popsicle molds, drink umbrellas and pool party napkins. Get ready to retire the flamingo adorned lemonade pitcher (unless you happen to live in Boca Raton). Snake your way into the back dark corner of your kitchen closet. Liberate the Bundt® pan you haven't used since Ground Hog Day.

It's dusty but it cleans up nice.


Continue reading

Half Birthdays . . . Works for Me Wednesday

Half-birthdays.  Do you celebrate them?

I don't know where my mom got the idea, but we always celebrated half-birthdays growing up. There weren't presents, but there was always cake. Half of a cake. Half of a Bundt cake.

{Once we were older and had moved out of the house, my parents always sent us HALF a birthday card.  That's right....chopped right in half!}

My half birthday fell during the school year, so I always felt so special bringing in that half cake.  Even though my mom baked, our half-birthday cake was always from the grocery store. (Or at least *mine* was. Molly, yours, too?) Remember the grocery store used to sell half Bundt cakes?

Kiddo's half-birthday was last week and even though I don't usually make Bundt cakes for his, I decided to go traditional this year.

Almond-Crusted Butter Cake
{recipe adapted from Lou Seibert Pappas}

1/2 c. slivered almonds
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp. (plus more for pan)
1 lb. powdered sugar
6 eggs, room temp.
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 and 3/4 c. cake flour

Preheat oven to 300.  Butter a Bundt pan and then evenly coat the sides with the almonds. 

In a large bowl, cream the butter until fluffy and light.  Gradually add the sugar, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  Beat until fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed.  Beat in the extracts and salt.

Add in the flour in 3 additions, beating until smooth. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let the cake cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.  Invert the pan and remove the cake, right side up, and continue to cool completely on the cooling rack.

Serving suggestions:

• with a scoop of chocolate ice cream
• with fresh strawberries
• alongside a cappuccino for breakfast! (my favorite)

Half-birthdays work for our family.  What's your "unique" family tradition?

---

Oh, I almost forgot!  If you are reading this through a reader, you may want to click on over.  There is a snazzy updated header and in the naviagation bar, you'll now be able to link to a "cookie index."  {The cookie index is a work in progress, but the link is there.}

And, once you click over, look up in the address bar.  See that, to the left of the www? It's my very own FAVICON!  That little thing  makes me feel so cool! {And it's very rare that I feel cool!}  Thank you, Jessica, of The Frilly Coconut for your design help and expertise!  You are a doll!

Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe

Blueberry crumb cake- gluten-free summer goodness.

Blueberries are in season so I thought I'd reprise a favorite recipe of mine. A tender blueberry crumb cake. Perfect for sharing with a friend.

And a glimpse back. Blogging is like a time machine. You get to thumb through not only recipes but bits of life and places you no longer inhabit. A year ago we were stuck in New Mexico, chained to Ojo Caliente by the unraveling real estate market, watching our nest egg crack and wither and blow in the dust to oblivion.  A year ago I wrote this post about coming to Santa Monica. ~Karina

Sometimes in life- when you least expect it- the stars are kind. Synchronicity smiles. And disparate pieces of your dreams bump up against one another and nestle snug into place. I'm referring, of course, to my dream of California. Summer by the Pacific, walking the beach, shopping the Farmers' Market, reuniting with my sons. Cooking. Writing. Haunting book stores and coffee shops.

I've been trying to get there for two years.

No, the house hasn't sold yet. But Plan B is under way. We found the elusive summer rental. Just when I thought it wasn't going to happen. A sublet in Santa Monica. In the nick of time. A lovely, light filled creative space. With a sweet kitchen. So I am back to making lists, mapping our drive south to Flagstaff, AZ, turning west to aim for the coast. I am lying in the dark alert, at 3 AM, pondering not the mysteries of the collective unconscious, not the properties of desire and effect, quantum attraction and Zen detachment, but favorite flavors of chocolate chip cookies. I am imagining herbed sandwich wraps (recipe soon!). Bags of salted popcorn. iTunes playlists. And this, a new blueberry cake recipe I felt inspired to bake. With a cinnamon crumb topping.

I think it's perfect to pack for a two-day road trip, don't you? Or even a two minute trip, scooting across the back yard barefoot to visit your best friend and neighbor. She'll make the coffee. Or iced chai. While you unrap the cake you get to eat, too.

Continue reading

Kiddo in the Kitchen: Chocolate Mint Icebox Cake

I wanted to put this in the post title, but it was too long: "5-ingredient, no-bake, Chocolate Mint Icebox Cake!"

Kiddo picked this recipe from my collection of Everyday Food magazines. Everyday Food is a wonderful little magazine from Martha Stewart. If you've never picked up a copy, you might want to. Unlike some of the more complicated ones in MS Living, Everyday Food is filled with EASY recipes. I had to stop subscribing after a few years because there were so many recipes I wanted to try...I couldn't take any more!

This recipe seems too simple...and like it can't be all that good. Wafers, cream? That's it? Well, once assembled, the wafers soak up that cream and become cakey and soft. Plus, it looks really cool once you cut into it.

Chocolate Mint Icebox Cake
{adapted from Everyday Food}

1 & 3/4 c. heavy cream
3/4 tsp mint extract
1/4 c. sugar
1 (9 oz.) pkg. chocolate wafers
1/3 c. mini chocolate chips

Beat the heavy cream, extract & sugar until stiff peaks form.

Spread about 1 teaspoon of cream on each wafer and form stacks on a plate.

{This would have gone a lot quicker had 5/6ths of the wafers not been cracked. Ahem, chocolate wafer packagers.}

Line a serving platter with two side-by-side sheets of wax paper. (You'll pull these out later.) Lay the stacks horizontally along the seam, pressing gently to form a log.

With an offset spatula, cover the log with the remaining cream. Refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

Before serving, gently pull wax paper from under the cake. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Slice cake diagonally with a serrated knife.

Kiddo gives this an 8.5....a perfect cold, minty treat for after tossing the football in the backyard.
{You can still see ours in the background.} :)

---

I'm linking this up to Tidymom's I'm Lovin' It Party. Have you been? Lots of great ideas and goodies are linked up every Friday!

Gluten-Free Vanilla Cornbread Recipe

A wedge of vanilla cornbread. Gluten-free vegan yum.

This is not your average weeknight cornbread. You know, the one you toss together from a gluten-free mix to serve with a bowl of chili as you gear up for the final season of Lost. Nope. This tender cake-like cornbread is a pinch more elegant. A treat you might serve at tea with a bunch of girlfriends- fresh cut flowers on the table, glasses filled with berries, Earl Grey and organic Chamomile steeping. The sort of cornbread that begs to be served with style. That longs to be gussied up. The kind of cornbread you eat with a fork.

A cornbread that secretly dreams of being cake.

Continue reading

Three Sweet P's (a giveaway)

Sweet P #1:

Pink Polka Dot Martini Glasses (that you can WIN!)

{How CUTE are these?!?!? For martinis, dessert, ICE CREAM?!? *swoon*}


Sweet P #2:

Pampered Chef! These martini glasses are from The Pampered Chef's Help Whip Cancer campaign. In May, when you purchase any product from their Whip Cancer collection, they donate $1 to the American Cancer Society.

I love that this takes place in May, just in time for Mother's Day! (I lost my mom to cancer 10 years ago.) Since 2000, The Pampered Chef has raised nearly $8 MILLION for the American Cancer Society.


Sweet P #3:

*Pink* Lemon Angel Cake

The recipe comes from The Pampered Chef, and you guys, it is delicious!!! It would be perfect for a baby or bridal shower, Mother's Day or a neighborhood cookout. It's a really light cake with a sweet and tart lemon glaze. Mmmmm....

{Because it's Angel Food cake, I can somehow convince myself it's ok to have 2 pieces at one sitting.}

Pink Lemon Angel Cake
(adapted from the Pampered Chef)

pink gel paste food coloring (or 5 drops liquid red coloring)
1 box Angel Food cake mix
3 lemons
2 c. powdered sugar
2 c. Cool Whip
raspberry sauce (for frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed...I couldn't find those)

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together a drop or 2 of pink gel food coloring in the amount of water called for on the box of cake mix.

Follow the instructions on the box for mixing the cake. Pour into a 13 x 9" pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until the cake is golden on the top and slightly sunken in the middle.

Invert pan into a cooling rack and let it cool (upside down) for about 1 & 1/2 hours.

Zest the lemons. Juice lemons to equal 1/3 c. lemon juice. Whisk the zest, juice and powdered sugar until smooth.

Flip cake back to right-side up. Poke holes in the cake with a fork, about 1 & 1/2 inches deep and 1/2 inch apart.

Pour glaze over the cake and spread across evenly. Let the glaze set for 30 minutes.

Cut cake and serve with raspberry sauce (or thawed raspberries in syrup) and top with whipped topping. To be extra fancy, transfer whipped topping to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. :)

{Of course, this cake would be just as good without the pink coloring, but the pink does make it fun!}

---

The giveaway:

• To enter, tell a story about your mom (or someone who has been a mother figure to you) in the comments. (I'm really looking forward to your stories!)
  
• For an additional entry, tweet the following: "Pink Polka Dot Martini Glasses giveaway from The Pampered Chef & @bakeat350tweets #WhipCancer http://ow.ly/1FWTC "
  ...and leave a separate comment letting me know you tweeted. :)

Giveaway ends May 9th at 8pm Central.

{I was not compensated by The Pampered Chef for this post...I just wanted to spread the word about their Help Whip Cancer campaign and I wanted one of you guys to have those darling glasses!!! Good luck!}