half japanese cake... kickin' off a month of matcha!

hello fellow sweet lovers. for the next month i am going to attempt to bake lots of delicious things with matcha! my parents brought me some all the way from japan and now that it's opened, i have to take full advantage of the delicious green goodness.

i wanted to make something seriously yummy in honor of my (former) co-worker pammie, she had her last day a week ago. she is someone who enjoys more non traditional dessert, and i thought something with matcha would be right up her ally. also- we have an (oh so amazing) tea trolley we set up in our little communications den at work. i wanted something that would go well with tea. i looked for many desserts with matcha before i made my decision. the amount of butter in this cake would make paula deen very proud ya'll!

lemon and matcha marble pound cake
adapted from joy the baker

makes 2 cakes

4 cups flour (sifted)
3 3/4 tsp baking powder
3/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
9 eggs
1 cup sour cream
juice of one lemon, zest of 2
1 1/2 tbsp MATCHA powder
3 sticks (minus 1 tablespoon - put that aside for greasing the pans) of unsalted butter melted

*set oven to 350º F

*sift together flour, salt, baking powder in a bowl and set aside

*wisk eggs and sugar until well mixed. mix in vanilla, then sour cream. mix on a slow speed until well blended

*melt the butter and put aside

*very slowly mix the flour mixture into the egg/sugar/sour cream mixture

*mix in butter slowly. make sure the batter is very mixed.

*split the batter into two bowls.

*add lemon juice and zest to one bowl. add matcha to the other.

*layer (4 layers- 2 of each batter) the batter in 2 pans that have been greased and dusted with flour. one layer of lemon on the bottom, one layer of matcha on that, one layer of lemon on that, one more of matcha on top. take a knife, put it all the way to the bottom, and make a swirl pattern.

*cook for 1 hour



*let the cake sit before removing from pan.

this cake is delicious with a small spread of lemon curd. but really, it's delicious on its own.




this cake was lovely. it's beautiful to look at and tastes divine! go matcha go!

cake balls, brooklyn's best and vintage tins!

one of my favorite west coast ladies got married this summer. i sadly could not attend the wedding. as a little post wedding treat, i sent a care package. other than the horrible experience of waiting in line at the post office (a fate worse than death), it was so much fun to assemble this package. it included homemade banana cake balls, mast bros chocolate, a baked brownie, brooklyn gum, 1" story pin, goucher college sticker (it's where we met after all), john waters postcard and cards from atomic books--- i put it all in a vintage 50's tin from holland. i love vintage tins, and to find one in such beautiful condition was divine!



cake balls are something i rediscovered recently. they are always a BIG hit at the office. making cake balls can be a bit messy, but they are pretty easy to make otherwise. i recently starting thinking about all the flavor combos that could be made... and one that i needed to try was banana cake with cream cheese frosting and dark chocolate. i followed bakarella's 'instructions' while incorporating different flavor cake. i also put a single sugar pearl on each cake ball, which i thought was a romantic touch.



so much deliciousness being sent with love from east to west <3

rhubarb + strawberry coffee cake

during a recent trip to the catskils, i discovered a new farmers market. it was full of amazing fruits, veg, cheese and baked goods... including one of the BEST coffee cakes i have ever had. full stop. it was baked in a basic tin, with an unassuming label in plain type: 'strawberry rhubarb'... but boy oh boy, when i bit into that moist coffee cake it had the perfect balance of sugar, cinnamon, fruit and crunch. i wanted to buy more to bring home, but there were none left the next day. so i decided when i got home i would attempt my own.

adapted from martha 'lady jesus' stewart

for the crumble topping:

4 tblspns unsalted melted butter- plus more for dish
3/4 cup cake flour- plus more for dish
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tspn salt
1/4 tspn cinnamon

for the cake:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups of strawberries and rhubarb that have been diced

*oven to 350° F.
*butter a 9-inch round baking dish, dust with flour, tap out excess.
*stir together butter, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon. set topping aside.

*mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

*in another bowl cream butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. beat in eggs and vanilla.
*working in alternating batches, add flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. stir until just combined.
*fold in fruit. pour into dish. sprinkle with crumb topping.

bake about 1 hour. sprinkle with powdered sugar.





give half to your boyfriend and bring half into work. endless praise. enjoy with whipped cream or if you're feeling really glutenous- cinnamon ice cream.

athletes like cupcakes

recently my good friend pete was visiting from london. pete is an amazing sound genius and he tours with lots of awesome bands. last year i met up with pete and his girlfriend (my good friend) gil in melbourne. pete was on tour with spiritualized and we saw them perform at mt. buller. it was beautiful. other than one scary encounter with a big spider, the weekend was magic.

so... pete was just recently in nyc with athlete. i have seen the athlete perform before, and it's always a good show. to top it off, the guys in the band are beyond lovely. we had only exchanged a few words last time i met them, but for this trip pete let me know they would all have some free time in BROOKLYN. athlete were performing at the bell house (great venue) and there was going to be time for dinner beforehand. i suggested we go to get fresh-- they have an amazing prix fix. dessert was not included in the prix fix, so i decided to make dessert myself. ALSO-- pete brought me lardy bread all the way from the UK, so i felt he really earned a cupcake :)

these cupcakes are always a hit!

'better than magnolia' (so says athlete) blueberry cupcakes with maple icing

cupcakes
3 1/4 cups cake flour sifted
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tblspn baking powder
1/2 tspn coarse kosher salt
1/4 tspn baking soda
6 tblspn (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole milk
1 tspn vanilla extract
1 tspn grated lemon peel
1 tblspn maple syrup
1 pinch cinnamon
1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries, frozen for 4 hours


*oven to 350°F.
*sift flour and next 4 ingredients into large bowl
*whisk melted butter and oil in medium bowl.
*add eggs; whisk to blend.
*whisk in buttermilk, milk, vanilla extract, and peel.
*add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just to blend.
*stir in frozen blueberries.

*bake cupcakes 20-25 minutes

frosting
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
10 tblspns (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
maple syrup (to taste) (14 - 1/2 cup)
1/2 tspn salt
1 1/4 tspns vanilla extract
4 tspns (or more) whole milk

cream sugar and butter. add salt. add vanilla, add syrup. still in milk slowly till you reach desired consistency. chill for 30 minutes.

1 cup chilled fresh blueberries covered in sugar (for decoration)





the boys really liked the cupcakes, and dinner was delicious. the band played well and the crowd was so joyous. to top it off they recorded a little video for my friend willa, who is a big athlete fan, and was out of town!

paging dr pepper!

my boyfriend loves his sweets. there is one thing in particular that he is very well known for loving (other than me)- and that is dr pepper soda. i knew i wanted to make him something with dr pepper- and a dr pepper cake seemed like a great option. i have had chocolate coca-cola cake before, and boy, did i love it. for these cupcakes i used a coca-cola chocolate cake recipe and added dr pepper instead. the batter seemed a bit runny when i first filled the cups, but the end product was rich and moist. i am happy i decided to make a simple vanilla frosting to go with it, because the flavor of the cake itself shouldn't compete with anything too rich. these cupcakes were a huge hit at sheep station. in fact, they went over so well with the bar staff that i got a few free drinks out of it! most importantly, boyfriend loved them too :)


i call these sweeney-pie's cocoa pepper cola cakes :)

CAKE:

1 1/2 cup dr. pepper soda
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 stick salted butter (good quality)
4 tablespoons cocoa powder (i used some i got as a gift from belgium- any high quality cocoa works)
2 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

oven to 350° F

combine the dr. pepper, oil, butter and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat. when it comes to a simmer, mix well and turn stove off.

mix dry ingredients together - then add to mixture in saucepan and mix well, by hand. don’t over mix.

in a separate small bowl lightly beat the eggs and buttermilk together, and add them to the cocoa cola mixture and mix lightly- not too much.

pour into cupcake cups and bake at 350° for approx. 20-23 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

cool on rack. put in fridge till cool.



FROSTIN:

2 sticks of unsalted butter - very soft
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cup confectioner sugar
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon of buttermilk


beat butter 3 minutes, slowly add sugar

in saucepan, simmer milk, buttermilk and flour till it forms a warm paste. stir constantly- it will burn otherwise.

add warm mixture to butter/sugar. mix well.

put in fridge for 30 minutes.






FROST CUPCAKES. EAT, ENJOY!

from queen victoria to the queen of graphic design

i spent about two weeks in london, and it reminded me of a few culinary facts:

*london DOES have great coffee (broadway market!)
*some curries are worth hiking up a mountain for (or so stated the menu write up for the best curry i ever had)
*sharon's in stamford hill is worth a bus trip on the 149
*victoria sponge cake- when made right- is AMAZING!

so when i realized i had a very special birthday at the end of my first week back, i set out to make my first victoria sponge cake. shocking that an anglophile such as myself hasn't made one before- i know! i turned to the queen of british cooking, one of my idols, nigella. the cake was for one of my favorite people at work, and in general- willa. not only is she the queen of graphic design, but she's the queen of many hearts at our office. she is also always very complimentary of everything i cook / bake.

the victoria sponge is a pretty basic cake- so i think investing in quality ingredients is important more so than usual. they now sell kerrygold butter at trader joe's which makes me very happy. this cakes takes lots of butter, so this new development made my day. i decided on trader joe's blackberry preserves, because it's my absolute favorite jam they make. i wanted to use clotted cream, but couldn't find any... anywhere! i made fresh whipped cream at the last minute which was nice.

this cake can all be done using one big bowl, and a hand mixer. yes. mix in all the following ingredients- save the milk for last and mix that in slowly.

1 cup unsalted butter (very soft)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups cake flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
3-4 tablespoons milk (mix in with the hand mixer on low)

put in two 8" round pans that are buttered. bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.



after the cakes have cooled for a good while, put them on two plates, and put whipped cream on one side, and jam on the other. sandwich together. i used a good amount of jam, so it ran over. i just used a knife to smooth it all out, and covered with powdered sugar. make sure this cake goes in the fridge if you are not serving right away.

this cake was delicious! even my cream-phobic friend rachel was lovvvvving it.

also- a special thanks to my #1 bunny rabbit for serving as sous chef :)

muhn rolls for nahal

muhn (AKA poppy seed) cake is one of my favorite desserts. when i was last in germany (berlin) it was my quest to find the best muhn cake possible... funny enough, nothing came close to the muhn cake i used to get at spitalfields market in london, around 2002. these german cake ladies were unstoppable! my friends and i used to bring back large moist slices of poppy seed, apple and rhubarb and slowly eat them with cups of pg tips. delicious memories.

recently on a trip to sahadis, i spotted poppy seed filling! i was excited, because i had been talking about making poppy seed filled something for so long. most traditional recipes for the filling require quark, which is really hard to find outside of germany/austria/hungary... i am going to work on a homemade filling recipe soon, but this was a great way to get my muhn fix in the meantime. i should also mention that while i was in line waiting to buy the filling, michael shannon was sanding behind me singing christmas carols...




it was my friend nahal's last day of work friday. i thought it would be nice to make something for breakfast that a bunch of us could share. originally i was going to make cinnamon rolls and then i remembered the poppyseed filling. mmm! i used a basic cinnamon roll recipe and just used the poppyseed filling instead. it was quick, easy, delicious and it looked lovely when i was done!



the dough:
3/4 cup cottage cheese (4% milk fat)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour; more for rolling
1 tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
sugar for sprinkling when done*

filling:
poppyseed goodness
melted butter

icing:
3/4 cup powder sugar
2 tbs milk (maybe more, depending on how thick you like it)
splash vanilla

combine the cottage cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. process until smooth. add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. the dough will be soft and moist. put on a well floured surface. knead a few times. roll out into a rectangle. cover with melted butter. add poppyseed filling. slowly roll the dough to form a long roll. take a very sharp knife and cut out rolls. place in a well buttered dish/pan. sprinkle with sugar. bake at 400 for 20 minutes. after this has cooled, cover with icing.





nom nom nom! muhn rolls for nahal <3

a chocolate cake so decadent, it gets its own bath...

nigella! i love the woman... soft focus on film, curves, english accent, large appetite, domestic goddess to all. i got her cookbook from my secret santa, and i got it just in time to try something for xmas day at the bon bons (should i just rename this blog 'keeping up with the bon bons' ??)... i looked through the whole thing twice and the cake that seemed the most irresistible was her chocolate mousse cake. it's a lot of egg, a lot of chocolate, and a water bath!

i decided to bake it in the morning before heading over, and it really was quite easy for a cake this rich. i enjoyed melting the chocolate and butter in a double boiler--- breakfast of champions! the recipe (if you don't have the book) can be found here.



then the cake pan took a little bath...



and: MMM!





this cake went over very well at the bon bon xmas! also the next morning the bit i had left was destroyed by melissa, who consumed it all and demanded i make her her own cake next time.

a very merry jewmas indeed.



AND... the next day we went to buttercup bake shop for cupcakes. tasty weekend! jojo was NOT complaining.

egg nog cake + kelby: a love story

egg nog is just so delicious. because i grew up jewish, i never had it in the house... but i would always go to the bodega and get some which i would hide in the back of the fridge until my mom found it. she always seemed somewhat dissapointed that i liked it so much, as if it was a sign i might start going to church or something. i just like the egg nog! i mean, non jews eat bagel and lox, right?






let me tell you about some of my favorite people: the bon bons are a rowdy group of siblings that are my close friends--- practically family. they are michael, jojo and marianne; and they are fabulous. michael bon bon was turning 21, so i made his favorite- egg nog cake with cinnamon icing and pumpkin filling. i made it for the bon bons on christmas last year, and michael consumed nearly the whole thing in a weekend.







i followed this egg nog cake recipe. i followed this basic buttercream frosting recipe (but added cinnamon). i also put some pumpkin filling in the center with some frosting. i decided to do this brooklyn bridge design as a tribute to mr bon bon, who is also a born and raised brooklynite. the cake came out great.

i also purchased some amazing candles and party hats from annie's blue ribbon, which i LOVE. the candles are perfect for someone like michael, who thinks life goes downhill after 21.




everyone was oohing and ahhing over the cake... unfortunately, we left it unattended for minute too long, and kelby, the bon bon's akita, got a bite, broke a glass, but looked adorable when caught in the act (as usual). kelby had cake fever bad after that, he really wanted more- we wouldn't give in!