Mini Cinnamon Pumpkin Cakes with Brown Butter Glaze

Fall is nearly here... which means it's time for delicious fall desserts. As a fall candle burned in the kitchen and the rain came down outside, I experimented with making mini cakes. These are perfect for any event or even for a simple after dinner treat.

It's a good idea to make these out of a cake that is strong enough to handle being cut into small pieces. I used a recipe for pumpkin roll since it's a delicious, sturdy cake, but obviously didn't make it into an actual roll. The recipe for the pumpkin roll can be found below.

Let the cake completely cool on a rack while making the filling for the mini cakes.

I made a cinnamon buttercream frosting for filling and put it into a piping bag. The recipe for this frosting can also be found below.

You don't need many tools to make these mini cakes - just your piping bag full of frosting, a square cookie cutter (or whatever shape you want), and the cake itself. You'll also need to make an outer glaze for them later.

Use the cookie cutter to cut small squares of the cake. Try to avoid the outer edge of the cake. It doesn't matter too much if the cake is uneven, since you can use the frosting to level them. 

Stack the squares of cake to however tall you want them, adding frosting between the layers. My cakes ended up three layers high.

Now is the time to make the brown butter glaze. The recipe for the glaze can be found below. I put the glaze in another piping bag, but set the bag in a cup so the glaze didn't drip everywhere. 

Since the glaze is so thin, you can basically pipe the top edges of the cakes and let it drip down the sides. Then add more glaze to the top if need be. I used a small offset knife to smooth out the glaze a bit. The cakes ended up somewhat messy because the glaze dries quickly, but I figured that these were more for their delicious flavor than looks. You can definitely smooth them out more or add edible decorations if they're for a formal occasion. 

The insides of these mini cakes look cool when you cut into them, since the layers of cake are so thin. 

Enjoy!

Recipes:

Pumpkin Roll Cake:

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground cloves
• 1/4 t. salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup pumpkin (not pie filling)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour jelly-roll pan. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake 13-15 minutes or until cake springs back when touches. Loosen and turn onto a cooling rack.

 

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting:

• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2-1 t. ground cinnamon

Combine butter, cinnamon, and 1 cup of powdered sugar in large mixer bowl. Add vanilla. Gradually add the milk and remaining cup of powdered sugar. Beat until fluffy.

 

Brown Butter Glaze:

• 2-3 T butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 t. vanilla
• 1-2 T hot water

Brown butter in small pan. Remove from heat and quickly stir in remaining ingredients with wire whip; alternating dry and wet until desired consistency.

 

 

Orange Cream Cheese Cake

I was recently in the mood to bake a different flavor of cake. Instead of going to the store and buying a box mix, I decided to look online for the best recipe. I found an orange cake recipe that ended up being the perfect flavor and not difficult to make.

This recipe is not my own but I modified it slightly, due to the fact that I didn't use the ingredients listed for the frosting and found that the baking time would have been too long. Here is the recipe, called "Beat and Bake Orange Cake Recipe" from allrecipes.com:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. orange zest
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.
2. In a measuring cup, combine milk, orange juice, oil, beaten eggs, and orange zest. Set aside.
3.  Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Mix in sugar. Pour in the milk mixture, and mix until completely combined.
4. Divide the batter between the two pans, and bake for 25-35 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean).
5. Let cakes cool for 10-15 minutes in their pans, then flip the cakes onto cooling racks.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/beat-and-bake-orange-cake/

I'm glad that when I first read the original recipe, I thought 35 minutes sounded pretty long and ended up checking them at 25 minutes (at which time they were perfectly done).

For frosting, I used our cream cheese frosting recipe:

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 T milk
• 3-6 oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter

1. Soften the cream cheese and butter, then place them in a mixing bowl with 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 T milk. Mix until thoroughly combined.
2. Gradually add the remaining powdered sugar and milk, and beat until combined.

I doubled this cream cheese frosting recipe, which allowed me to fill between the two cake layers, do a crumb coat, and do a final coat of frosting. For the final coat of frosting, I actually added about one teaspoon of orange extract before frosting it. This was because I tried a couple crumbs of the cake and decided I wanted the whole cake to be bursting with orange flavor. If you prefer only a slight orange flavor, you could leave out that teaspoon of orange extract.



The final result- an orange cream cheese cake with fondant ruffles and flowers!



Dreamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

If you're looking for something sweet, but rich for dessert, chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are the way to go. The peanut butter frosting has enough sweetness to go with the bold flavor of the chocolate cake, but the peanut butter prevents the dessert from becoming overly sweet.

To make these delicious chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, start off with a rich chocolate cake. I make a chocolate cake that contains a small amount of instant coffee and quite a bit of baking cocoa to give it that bold flavor.

Make sure to let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.

For the frosting, mix one cup of powdered sugar, one-half cup of peanut butter, one-fourth cup of butter, and a half teaspoon of vanilla together in a mixer. Then, gradually add one-fourth cup of milk, along with the remaining three cups of powdered sugar. Add a bit more milk if the frosting seems dry or crumbly. The frosting should appear slightly fluffy, but should still be stiff enough to hold its shape once on the cupcakes.

Spread the peanut butter frosting on the cupcakes, or pipe it on using whichever decorating tip you'd like. For these cupcakes, I used the Wilton 1M Open Star decorating tip.

Before the frosting dries, use a cheese grater or vegetable peeler to shave some chocolate (I used a semisweet baking bar) onto the peanut butter frosting.

And you're done! These cupcakes don't require a lot of time or money, and can be altered to your liking.

Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup milk
• 4 cups powdered sugar

 

Strawberry Swirl Cake

I recently volunteered to make a cake for my sister-in-law's friend. It was for her daughter's birthday, and fortunately, her daughter knew exactly what she wanted for the cake (which is really helpful for me). She really loves strawberries, so I was asked to put a lot of strawberries on the cake, along with white flowers. She also wanted green frosting or fondant, and since I have always just done fondant, I decided to try frosting it without covering it with fondant. She showed me a picture of a cake that had swirls of frosting on it, so I attempted to frost similar swirls on the cake.

This was actually a lot of fun! Once I was able to get the hang of it, I enjoyed piping the swirls. I'm happy to know that I can use this frosting method!

Here are some pictures of the finished cake.

The flowers were made out of fondant, and were placed into egg trays to dry in a curved position. I used a shell tool to create texture on the large flowers.

I also made sure to crumb coat the cake before piping the swirls. Some people have said that it isn't necessary, but I'm glad that I went through the extra effort- I could see that crumbs might have mixed into the swirls if I hadn't, and the crumb coat helped to make the cake extra firm and stable.

The cake went into the fridge anytime I wasn't working on it- after I layered and filled it, after I did the crumb coat, after I piped the swirls, and before I put the decorations on.

Since I needed to wait until last minute to put the decorations on, and the frosting swirls were hardened by then, I just piped a bit of fresh frosting on the bottom of each decoration before putting it on. I made sure not to press the decorations into the cake, because I didn't want them to crack the swirls.

And that's about it!
Thanks for reading, have a great Wednesday!

Time for Tea

I don't actually like the taste of tea, no matter what flavor. However, there is something so elegant about tea that makes me wish that I enjoyed it more. This most likely comes from watching too many Jane Austen movies! I can imagine myself drinking tea out of a beautiful teacup, as I wrap myself in a cozy blanket and watch the sunrise. I can imagine a wonderful tea party on our back patio, with the sunshine warming the cold air. I would love to have the opportunity to put on a fancy dress and set the table with fine teacups and plates, and to simply sit around and converse with friends. It sounds so wonderful and relaxing! 

Do you ever take time to relax and drink a cup of tea with your friends?

  

Love and Cake

Have you ever done something for someone, which seemed so insignificant at the time- but ended up meaning so much to them, that it made you absolutely grin with pleasure? An experience like this recently happened to me, as I was asked to bake a cake. "Bake a cake"- that sounds so meaningless when no further details are given. But, this cake was special. This was a cake created to recognize my Grandpa for his years of service as the treasurer of the Finn Hill Cemetery Association. He had served 44 whole years, and had hardly been recognized at all for his dedication, and my mom came up with this great idea to show appreciation! Though I thoroughly enjoyed planning, preparing, and designing this cake, the thought never occurred to me that this simple thing would mean so much to my Grandpa. But, as soon as I pulled that cake out of the back of our car, his eyes lit up with excitement, and I could practically see his smile from miles away. "Ooooh!", he exclaimed, as he watched me carefully balancing the cake in my hands and trying to hide it from his curious eyes. It was supposed to be a surprise, and I wished that he wouldn't spot the heavily decorated cake as I walked into their house. I smiled at his remark and quickly dashed into the kitchen and pushed the cake into the far corner, hoping that no one else would see it before it was finished, and that no young children would decide that the decorations would be quite tasty to pick off and consume. Luckily, all of it stayed intact while I was out on my Grandpa and Grandma's famous swing, and my mom beautifully finished it off when I went back inside. She wrote "44 years of service" on the front in green royal icing, as I preferred that she do the writing on my cake (My own cake writing is more like what you'd call "interesting";). She also helped me by piping the trees of the cake. I really wasn't up to making them this time, so I was thankful for her help, especially considering how late at night it was!
Unfortunately, the writing on the tombstones started to bleed as we had to run through the rain to present the cake, but I'm happy that nothing else was ruined! I decided that it would be appropriate to add some cheerful flowers around the tombstones and the base of the cake, as it would have been quite dreary without them. Both types of flowers and the tombstones are made out of homemade fondant, as well as the yellow ribbon around the cake. The trees, the grass, the writing, and the piped swirls are all made out of some tasty, green royal icing.

I presented the cake to him during our Mother's Day celebration, and am delighted to say that everyone loved the cake and the overall thought of it. Even chocolate cake crumbs became scarce, as people scarfed it down.This experience has definitely boosted my desire to bake cakes for people and events even more!

Spritz Cookies

There are certain types of cookies which simply can't be beaten. Spritz cookies is definitely one of those type of cookies. My family and I used to bake these just around Christmas time in large quantities for all of our different Christmas celebrations. I remember the long hours (it probably seemed a lot longer than it really was since young children usually exaggerate on things a bit:) of bustling around the kitchen with my family trying to get all of the cookies out of the oven and decorated. It always seemed like such a fun tradition, and on the years that my mom would even think about not making spritz cookies, I sure would protest. I simply loved the time spent with my family during the baking as much as I enjoyed baking the cookies and even eating them! Spritz cookies always seem so complicated to make, but if you have a nice sturdy spritz gun and a bit of time, they can be a great treat for the Christmas season! But while we are busy with so much baking and running around during this season, let us not forget what (or Who) this CHRISTmas season is about! Our love for baking, buying presents, and preparing for our celebrations this year should not interrupt our love for the One whom this season is all about! :)
Happy baking, everyone!