Tagged With: dessert
Lemon Thyme Rhubarb Cake
Tart, sweet and dramatically red, rhubarb never tasted so good in this Lemon Thyme Rhubarb cake. The cake is moist and fluffy on the inside with a slight crisp on the outside edge. The sharpness of the rhubarb combined with the delicate pungency of the lemon thyme make this a most wonderful offering of spring’s bountiful harvest.
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Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan or cast-iron pan
- In a small saucepan, over medium heat, add rhubarb, sugar and water
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb has softened
- Strain, reserve juice
- Set rhubarb aside to cool while you make the rest of the cake
- Cream butter and sugar together until smooth
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition (batter should look light and fluffy)
- Gently mix in the baking powder, salt, lemon thyme and flour - be careful not to over mix
- Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top of the batter
- Spoon the rhubarb compote over the top of the batter
- Using a butter knife, swirl the compote through the cake batter, being careful not to scrape the bottom of the pan
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the reserved rhubarb compote juice over the top
- Sprinkle with the rest of the lemon thyme and sugar
- Bake 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean
- Serve warm or room temperature
- Enjoy with more of the rhubarb compote mixed with whipped cream or Greek yogurt, served on the side
Ginger Snappiest Cookies
These Ginger Snaps are the snappiest in town and offer a classic belly warming tingle all season long. Equally at home with a glass of milk, egg nog, hot cocoa or a cocktail, they offer a petite bite of concentrated spice. We added a sprinkle of sugar to our finished cookies for some holiday sparkle.
Yum!
So pretty and delicious on the plate, and so yummy straight off the rack!
Do we have to wait?
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light. Then beat in the egg, followed by the molasses and maple syrup.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and incorporate well using a sturdy wooden spoon. This batter takes a little muscle.
- Cover the bowl and set aside to rest for half an hour.
- The dough could be refrigerated or frozen at this point for later use. I like to keep some around from November until January!
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a teaspoon for portioning, roll a small balls of dough lightly between your palms, and place onto the sheet pan. Fill the sheet, leaving about an inch or so between the balls of dough. Rinse your fingers with warm water and pat each ball flat.
- Bake 10-13 minutes until browned. Remove and slide parchment onto a rack to cool.
Chinese Five Spice Apple Cake
This simple apple cake was baked by my great-grandmother on a wood stove over 100 years ago, and I’m happy to still be cooking it today. This recipe is timeless, rustic and highlights the flavors of both the apples and the spice. This old family recipe was one of the first that I adapted to experiment with the amazing world of spices and I’m thrilled to share it. Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
Great Grandmother Carter’s Apple Cake….with Chinese 5 Spice
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla.
- Combine dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Fold in apples and nuts.
- Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees in a greased 9" x 13" pan.
Ghost Chile Honey Cake
The combination of chile and chocolate is irresistible, and this Ghost Chile Honey Cake is a mouth watering example. By infusing the chile into honey, we were able to mellow the heat and reveal the subtle fruity flavor of the Ghost Chile. The fudgy and fiery creaminess of the frosting, the moist chocolate cake, and the synergistic tang of the marmalade combine together to make one luscious cake. While it’s perfect for a Halloween party, we’ve made this cake for birthdays, holiday gatherings, and just when we wanted a thick slice of a really good chocolate cake. Enjoy!
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The Ghost Chile Honey infusion in progress.
Ingredients
Instructions
- To make the Ghost Chile infused honey - A "honey bear" works great for this, as it will also give you a container to store it in. Empty the honey into a small pan and turn the burner to low heat. Put a tiny slit in 3 Ghost Chile pods, and place in the honey. (Make sure you push them down in the honey, so you get all of that wonderful flavor.) Let steep for about 1/2 hour. Cool to room temperature and pour the honey and chile pods back in the "honey bear" (or a clean jar with a lid). This can be made ahead.
- Preheat 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with 2-inch sides with pan spray. Cut a piece of parchment to cover the bottom of the pan.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, whisk together sugar, infused honey, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Whisk in the vegetable oil, then half of the flour mixture. Whisk in all of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mixture. Pour into your prepared cake pan.
- Bake the cake about 55 minutes (or until your cake tester comes out clean). Your cake will have a slight "dome", but that's ok. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, then invert it onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. Remove parchment.
- While the cake is cooling, you can make the frosting. Fill a small saucepan halfway up with water, and put on a medium-high burner. Get a non-plastic bowl that will easily fit on top of the saucepan. You now have a double-boiler, which is used to melt chocolate (so that it doesn't burn). Put the chocolate in bowl, and stir until it's almost melted. Set bowl aside. Pour out the water from the saucepan and pour in the honey and cream. Bring to a boil, then pour over the melting chocolate and stir until smooth. Let it cool.
- Assembly - When cake is cool, carefully cut it in half horizontally. Place the bottom of the cake onto a plate. Spread the marmalade over the cake bottom, being careful not to spread it all of the way to the edge. Place the other half of the cake on top of the filling, and gently press down. (This is why you don't want to spread the filling all of the way to the edge - it will ooze out when you press on the cake.) With a butter knife (or offset spatula), frost the cake. (After you've put all of the frosting on the cake, you can 'smooth' it out by dipping a clean knife into hot water, wiping it off, then using the warm knife to 'smooth out' the frosting.)
- Keep cake in an airtight container, so that it won't dry out.
Quatre Epices Cake
This recipe from our friends at Sunset promises a citrus and sweet taste, followed by a glow or a kick — depending on whether the signature French four-spice blend is made with white or black pepper. Well, our Quatre Epices delivers the best of both, with prized Sarawak White and Tellicherry Black peppercorns!
This French Quatre Epices cake delights everyone who tastes it!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F, and butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. In large bowl, beat softened butter, brown sugar and zest until fluffy. Add eggs and beat batter until blended.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour and remaning dry cake ingredients.
- Blend into batter at low speed one third of dry mix and half of buttermilk, alternately. Spread batter in pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool on rack 10 minutes. Loosen cake from pan with slender spatula, and invert gently onto rack, then re-invert onto another rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Frosting: Set medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook butter until deep golden brown, swirling occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes. Pour into a mixer bowl and allow to cool.
- Chill butter bowl until butter is firm enough to beat, about 30 minutes. Add remaining frosting ingredients, except for nuts, and beat until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Split cake horizontally with long serrated knife. Lift off top layer with 2 large spatulas and carefully set aside. Set bottom layer on platter, and spread upper surface with half of frosting. Replace top layer, and spread upper surface with remaining frosting. Sprinkle with nuts.
Notes
Recipe and photo from Sunset Magazine, October 2010.
