Coconut Cake

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I’ve always loved Easter. Before Jon and I were even married, I made him dye easter eggs and did a little basket up of goodies for the two of us. So, now that we’re a family of four, we have even more fun getting into the holiday. The boys had a great time at an egg hunt last weekend, and we’re looking forward to dying eggs tomorrow. One of the things that really makes my Easter dinner table special is this coconut cake. I’ve been making it for as long as I’ve made him dye eggs, and it’s never let me down. Cook’s Illustrated is like that.

The one thing qualm I had about the recipe was the frosting, too sweet for my taste. So, I changed things up a bit and went with a coconut buttercream instead. I think it has a little more depth of flavor, and held up a little better under the pressure of all that delicious coconut piled on top. The cake gets a heavy dose of coconut flavor with the addition of cream of coconut (leftovers make fabulous Piña coladas) and coconut extract. I used those two ingredients in the frosting as well, and it really came out nice.

Have a happy and blessed holiday, and here’s hoping that the Easter bunny leaves you plenty of chocolate. Enough that your younger brother doesn’t can steal some out of your basket and you don’t mind. Happy Easter, everyone!


Coconut Cake

For the cake:
1 large egg
5 large egg whites
3/4 cup cream of coconut
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, softened, but still cool
2 cups packed sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:
1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened
5 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/4 cup cream of coconut
1/4 milk

or the cake: adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter and dust with flour. Beat egg whites and whole egg in large measuring cup with a fork to combine. Add cream of coconut, buttermilk, vanilla, and coconut extract and beat with fork until thoroughly combined.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on lowest speed to combine, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on lowest speed, add butter 1 piece at a time, then beat until mixture resembles coarse meal, with butter bits no larger than small peas, 2-2 1/2 minutes.

With the mixer still running, add half of the liquid ingredients. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. With mixer still running, add remaining liquid mixture in steady stream (this should take about 15 seconds). Stop mixer and scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then beat at medium-high speed to combine, about 15 seconds. (Batter will be thick.)

Divide batter between cake pans and level with offset or rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown. Cakes pull away from sides of pans, and toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks about 10 minutes, then loosen cakes from sides of pans with paring knife, invert cakes onto racks and then turn them right side up again. Cool to room temperature.

For the frosting,  add butter and extracts to mixing bowl. Cream on medium speed until combined and lightened, scraping bowl and paddle as needed.  Add powdered sugar, milk, and cream of coconut. Mix until light and creamy; adding an additional milk if needed for desired consistency.

To assemble, place 1 layer on a flat serving plate, top side down, and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top, top side up, and frost the top and sides. To decorate the cake, sprinkle the top with coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides. Serve at room temperature.

Source: highly adapted from Cook’s Illustrated’s New Best Recipe

Oreo Cupcakes with Oreo Buttercream

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I have yet to meet a cupcake that I didn’t like, but this one really “takes the cake” (heh, no pun intended!). My girlfriend Morgan made them for a cookout a couple years ago now, and they’ve been my favorite ever since. There are several variations on Oreo cupcakes floating around on the blogosphere. All of them contain the little treasure at the bottom of course, the Oreo cookie. Which, is such an unexpected and delightful treat.

Here is my take on it; a simple vanilla cupcake with an Oreo surprise on the bottom, topped with a rich Oreo buttercream frosting. It’s pretty much perfection. If you’re looking for something fun to bake this weekend, look no further. I’m sure they’ll quickly become your favorite cupcake too!

Oreo Cupcakes with Oreo Buttercream

3 cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
20 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
For the frosting:
8 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
4 cups powdered sugar (1 lb)
1/2 tsp butter flavoring or vanilla extract
6 tablespoons Oreo cookies, finely crushed
10 Oreo cookies, cut in half, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Twist Oreos in half and set aside the extra cookies for crushing for the frosting. Place the side with cream filling in the bottom of each cupcake liner, cream-side facing up.
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. In a 2 cup measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and vanilla. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the liquid to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
Fill lined cupcake tins with batter. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes in pan before transferring to a cooking rack.
For the frosting, in the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer) cream the butter and shortening on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, until thoroughly mixed. Add the butter flavoring, and Oreo crumbs; mix well. Frost cupcakes as desired. Top cupcakes with half of an Oreo cookie, for garnish.

Source: cupcakes adapted from Annie’s Eats, frosting adapted from Wilton

Triple Berry Pie

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Isn’t this one of the most gorgeous examples of pie that you’ve ever seen? I can’t claim it as my own, as I’m usually horrible with pies. I always screw some integral part up – like the filling is too runny, or I botch the crimping of the crust. Luckily, my good friend Colleen is great with pies. I’ve had 2 of hers now (a delightful apple crumble pie, and the beauty pictured here), and I can never get over how lovely they look, and how wonderful they tasted!

You can use whatever berries you like. This one was filled with plump blackberries, juicy blueberries, and tart raspberries. The tri-fecta of berries, in my humble opinion. I asked Colleen how difficult the gorgeous decorative crust was to make, and she said that surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad at all. The hardest part was “rolling” out the vine ropes and placing them on top, as they wanted to crack at the bends. Slightly wetting your hands when rolling will probably help that.

So, in short, a big shoutout and thanks to Colleen. I love a dessert that I can enjoy, but don’t have to bake myself. You’re a true friend! Hope everyone is able to enjoy this at some point this berry season. Enjoy!

Triple Berry Pie

For the crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/4 – 1/2 cup ice water
1 egg, separated
1 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

For the filling:

5 – 6 cups mixed berries (I used blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries)
1/2 – 2/3 cup granulated white sugar (depending on your desired sweetness)
1/4 cup tapioca starch OR corn starch
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a food processor (or bowl, if that is what you have to work with). Add butter and pulse to combine until resembles course crumbs, about 10 to 15 seconds (if using bowl, cut the butter in with a pastry blender). Add ice water in a steady stream, starting with just 1/4 cup. Process just until the dough pinches together. If necessary add a little more water until you get to this state. You should not need more than 1/2 cup nor require longer than 30 seconds processing.Turn the dough out onto your work surface and divide in half. Shape into flattened discs, wrap each into plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Take one disc and roll it out onto your floured work surface until about 12″ in diameter. Roll from the center out and rotate your crust quarter turns occasionally to avoid sticking.  Transfer the crust to a 9″ pie pan.  (To transfer, I gently fold the dough into quarters and unfold in the pan.)  Trim the edges, leaving about 1/2″ overhang and then fold them under. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Repeat process with second disc. Cut about 3 to 5 long, thin pieces from the middle. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Gently pinch each piece all along the length, and then roll so it is rope-like. Using a small flower-shaped cookie cutter, cut out and transfer about 7 flowers to the cookie sheet. With the remaining dough, use an almond-shaped cookie cutter to obtain as many pieces as you can. From the scraps, cut out small circles that will be the center of your flowers.  To finish off the leaves, use a knife or clean razor blade to lightly etch “leaf lines” into each almond-shaped dough piece. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

For the filling, rinse and dry the berries.  Place them in a large mixing bowl, and stir in the remaining ingredients until uniformly coated. Remove the bottom crust from the refrigerator.  Use a pastry brush to apply a thin layer of egg white to the bottom.  Pour the filling into the crust-lined pie pan, and level with a spoon.

Whisk together the yolk and cream.  Brush a thin layer around the edge of the crust.

Remove the crust flowers, vines and leaves from the refrigerator and let sit for a couple of minutes.  Start by putting down one long piece of rope-like dough across the top of the berry filling in a loopy, simple way (like an S shape).  Just make sure each end overlaps the bottom crust edges.  Lay down the other rope-like pieces as branch offs, keeping the design simple and loopy.  Cut down the lengths of the dough rope as it suits you.  Don’t worry about bad branch connections or cracking/breaking pieces; you can always cover them up with leaves.  Once you are satisfied with the general vine shape, brush a thin layer of the yolk-cream mixture over it.

As you finish decorating from this point, apply the yolk-cream mixture on the tops of each piece as you go.  Use a little on the undersides of those that do not want to stay (especially the center of the flowers to their petals); it’ll work like a paste.

Wherever you want to designate as the ‘top’ of your pie, that is where you will place a flower.  First place a leaf lightly down on either side.  Place a flower down between them, slightly covering the inner corners of the leaves.  Place several more leaves around the edge.  You will have to raise the previous leaf slightly and slide the new one under.  You can place as many around the edge as you want.  I did not go all the way around but left a few inches opposite the flower uncovered.

Place as many leaves as desired hanging off the vine branches.  You do not need to pinch these down; just gently place each where you want them.  Place your flowers where ever looks good to you.  Overlapping a leaf or two looks nice.

Place the pie in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the pie in the oven on top of a cookie sheet.  At about 10 to 15 minutes into baking, place an aluminum foil ring over the pie edges to prevent them from burning.  Continue baking for another  35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Instructables user kathrynl

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey’s Buttercream

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In case you hadn’t taken notice, St. Patrick’s Day is this weekend. I love all the glittery shamrocks, leprechauns, and Irish booze. What better way to mark the occasion than by baking cupcakes laced with two of the green isle’s two favorite spirits? Bailey’s and Guinness.

A quick Google led to several different variations. Many recipes called for a whiskey ganache filling for the cake, which sounded divine, but I was kind of pressed for time.  So, I went with a basic recipe for a moist, chocolate Guinness cake topped with a Bailey’s buttercream frosting.

I made these for my ladies book club that I hosted last Friday night, and everyone really enjoyed them. There is just enough of a boozy bite from the frosting to give it a kick, and the Guinness cake was just perfect – light, airy, and moist. I was honestly a bit worried about the cupcakes before putting them in the oven. With a whole bottle of beer in the batter, it’s very thin. Next time I might try using a batter bowl to fill the cupcake liners, instead of a scoop. Whether you’re creating an Irish celebration at home this St. Patty’s Day, or going out for a wild night on the town…try to squeeze in some time to make these cupcakes!

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey’s Buttercream

1 bottle Guinness
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Bailey’s buttercream:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Bring Guinness and butter to a simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs and sour cream. Add Guinness-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat until just combined. Add flour mixture and beat on medium-low speed until combined.

Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely before frosting.

For the frosting, place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy.

Gradually add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes after each), until the icing is the consistency you desire. I like it relatively stiff for piping purposes. You may not need to add all of the sugar at this point.

After all sugar has been added, add Bailey’s and milk and blend until just combined. Add remaining sugar if the liqueur has made the frosting too soft.

Source: cupcakes from Dave Liberman, Bailey’s buttercream from Smitten Kitchen