September Challenge: Cheesecake

Posted by - Rena

I almost forgot what day it is! I can't believe it's already September 1st! Time is flying by.

Our challenge this month is cheesecake. I'm shocked we haven't tackled this one before. I saw a photo on Pinterest this week which sparked my interest in trying to make cheesecake from scratch.

We used to live near an Italian diner when I was little. My mom loved Italian style cheesecake while I was a NY cheesecake kind of gal. Curious to see what your favorites are. I just bought a canister of matcha powder so I think there is a green tea cheesecake in my future.

Happy Baking!

photo from MarthaStewart.com

August Roundup

Thanks to everyone for the lovely anniversary wishes and thanks for participating in the chocolate challenge. 

Makin' Whoopie... Pies, that is...

Posted by - Dorrie

First, congratulations to my beloved friend Rena and Have the Cake on the blog's three year anniversary this month.  Who among us knew three years ago that the blog would become this big, this popular (and that I would participate so little)? Sorry about that Rena!

But this month, with an open-ended challenge of anything chocolate, I found time to participate, went for it with gusto and made Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies with Chocolate Ganache filling.

Whoopie Pies are not something I know much about, as this is not a food served much here in the Rocky Mountains, but we have some close friends who are natives of New Hampshire who did grow up with this treat.  They recent gave me a book by Viola Goren, aptly titled "Whoopie Pies" and kindly told me that I was a good enough baker to be trusted to recreate them.

As with all sea-level baking recipes, I made a few high altitude adjustments in order to save myself the disappointment of sunken cavities in the centers of the cakes.  6,000 feet high in the Rockies is a wonderful place to live, but not to bake, unless you know how to fix sea-level recipes.  The moisture (sugar, oil, eggs, etc.) must be reduced in a few places to allow for the lack of oxygen up here.

Below is the original recipe with my high-altitude adjustments noted:

Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pie
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 oz. butter (1 stick) at room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar (reduced to 1 cup for high altitude)
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream (reduced to 3/4 cup for high altitude)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet (or sheets) with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside.  In a stand mixer beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment until light.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients until well blended and then add sour cream and chocolate chips (I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips).

Drop the batter onto the previously prepared baking sheets, ensuring at least 2 inches of space between each.  Bake for 7-10 minutes, testing for the cakes to spring back from a gentle finger touch in the center.

Allow to cool before filling.

Chocolate Ganache Filling
10 oz coarsely chopped dark chocolate
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons butter

Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from the heat immediately.  Pour the cream over the chocolate and butter in a bowl and allow to stand for about 1 minute.  Stir or whisk until the mixture is smooth and shiny.  Set aside or put in the refrigerator to cool and firm up until spreadable.
Spread the ganache on the flat bottom of one cake and press another on top to make sandwiches.

Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pie with Ganache Filling

If you're like me, then make every attempt to hold off eating one until you've had a square meal that involves plenty of vegetables, fail miserably and eat one while the ganache is still a little warm.  And then have another for dessert, because you're the chef and you deserve a little Whoopie! for your Whoopie Pie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Posted by -colleen

Chocolate Chip Cookies are my all-time favorite cookie so I will try just about any recipe in my search for the best one. It's been a while since I've posted for Have the Cake, but this month's challenge presented an excuse to try another variation!

I have been finding tons of recipes on Pinterest and this particular one caught my eye last week:

http://tendercrumb.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-favorite-chocolate-chip-cookie.html


The author's description made these sound too good to be true so it seemed like a no-brainer. Sadly, they are not my new favorite. I didn't do my usual recipe-tweaking (replacing butter, oils, sugars, etc) and stayed mostly true to the post. The only change was the amount of chocolate. 2 pounds seemed like too much. I was was wrong. I ended up with a lot of plain cookies. Also, this recipe makes A LOT so be prepared! I still have some dough to bake up in my fridge!

Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Makes twenty-six 5-inch cookies or 8 1/2 dozen 1 1/4-inch cookies
Ingredients
1 pound unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour
3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Reduce speed to low and add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and chocolate; mix until well combined.
- Using a 4-ounce scoop for larger cookies or a 1-ounce scoop for smaller cookies, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies.
- Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Here's my take on these: They were too buttery and probably could have used more brown sugar. The texture was perfect but the taste was just not quite right. I brought them to work and people loved them so I guess it was just me.

August Monthly Challenge - Chocolate

Posted by - Cynthia L. at Feeding Big

Baking for One

Big is out of town, so I am cooking for myself again. I must admit, this week I have been busy canning and freezing vegetables and haven't felt much like cooking. I did make some Sopa De Fideo on Wednesday. It was delicious!

I am a lover of sweets but have always hated to bake for myself because that means I have to eat it all! I grew up with my parents telling my brother and I to eat everything on our plates. I guess I still feel that way and will not waste food.

When I was at the library a couple weeks ago, I found the book, Small Batch Baking. The book has recipes for Cakes, Tarts, Pies, Cookies and even some breads and muffins. Most recipes serve 2.

I enjoyed making the recipe. It was quick and easy to pull together. The brownie was moist and chewy and very flavorful. I am looking forward to trying many more of the recipes!


White Chocolate Blondies
Adapted from Small Batch Baking
by Debbie Maugans Nakos

Makes 4 Brownies - Serves 2 - 4


Ingredients:

Unsalted butter, at room temperature, for greasing the loaf pan

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 TBL well beaten egg
1 TBL unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup coarsely chopped almonds, lightly toasted
1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Pan required - 1 standard loaf pan (9 X 5 inches)

Directions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line the bottom of the loaf pan with a strip of aluminum foil to fit down the length and up the short sides, with enough extra length to extend over the edges by about 1 1/2 inches. Lightly grease the foil and set the pan aside. (Note: I used a small square corning ware dish and used parchment paper to line the bottom and up the sides.)

Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-size mixing bowl and whisk to blend

Place the brown sugar, egg, butter and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk to blend.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until blended. Stir in the white chocolate chips and the almonds.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and bake until the top is golden and dry, 22 to 23 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and transfer it to a wire rack. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan. Then, use the edges of the foil to lift the brownies out of the pan and cut into 4 bars.

I hope you will consider trying this recipe. It would be good as an after school snack, a date night desert or something you make for yourself when the house is empty and you want to treat yourself!

Thanks for stopping by! Look forward to seeing you again!

Linking to: Have the Cake, monthly challenge (Chocolate)

Chocolate Hedgehog Cupcakes

Posted by - bakingaddict 

Happy Anniversary Have the Cake!!

As soon as I saw these super cute chocolate hedgehog cupcakes on one of my favourite blogs Not Quite Nigella I knew I had to make them. They were bumped up to the top of my to bake list and I'm glad I did as they are really fun to make and tastes deliciously chocolatey. It's a chocolate mud cupcake with a chocolate sour cream frosting decorated with even more chocolate in the form of Twirl bars - a true choc-a-holic's heaven :)

As I used Twirl bars which contain the letter "T", I am entering them to AlphaBakes which is hosted by myself this month and co-hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. There will be a very special prize for AlphaBakes this month so check back later to see what it is and get baking in the kitchen for a chance to win - trust me you won't want to miss it :)

I'm also entering this to bookmarked recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes who was recently voted top vegetarian food blogs by Red magazine online - congratulations!

As these are cupcakes, I'm entering them to Cupcake Tuesday hosted by Liz from Hoosier Homemade, the Cupcake Lady!

 The batter will be quite liquid but don't worry

 Lots of cracks but no one will know once you've decorated them :)

 making the sour cream chocolate frosting - yum! 

 I used twirl bars as they are one of my favourites - you can also use flake bars which might look more realistic. I used a tube of white chocolate writing icing for the eyes and edible black 'eyes' that I bought at Cake International earlier this year. 

 Smooth the icing on top of the cupcake - don't worry about neatness. Form the eyes and nose as shown 

 add chopped twirl bars vertically to create a hedgehog effect 

 so cute! 

 2D version  as I ran out of twirl bars and only had the crumbs left! 

Addendum 4/8/12 - My friend Kate loved these so much she decided to make a giant hedgehog cake for her sister-in-law's birthday! Awesome job! 

 Victoria sponge cake with chocolate buttercream decorated with flakes and M&M's 

Recipe from Not Quite Nigella

Makes 15 cupcakes 

For chocolate mud cupcakes

165g butter
120g dark chocolate broken up into pieces
225g light brown sugar
1 cup water
1 cup plain flour
30g cornflour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 egg

Chocolate sour cream frosting

40g unsalted butter
85g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
150g icing sugar
1/2 tablespoon golden syrup
65 ml sour cream

To decorate:

8 twin twirl bars, chopped into 2cm/1 inch pieces and crumbled up
Edible eyes 

White chocolate writing icing

1. Preheat oven to 150c fan forced or 170c non fan forced.

2. Place butter, chocolate, sugar, the water in small saucepan over low heat until melted and combined. Cool for 15 minutes.

3. Using a whisk, add flour, cocoa and then egg (at this stage it will look like liquidey dark chocolate ganache). Spoon into cupcake cases. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool in tin.

4. To make the frosting, melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or in a microwave. In a food processor, whizz the icing sugar to get rid of any lumps and then add the sour cream, melted chocolate and butter and golden syrup.

5. Spread over the cupcake generously (you will need it a thickish coating to allow the chocolate to sit up. Refrigerate to make the icing a bit firmer.

6. Decorate as shown above.

Happy Anniversary & August Challenge

Today is Have the Cake's THIRD anniversary!

Welcome to all our new bakers and thank you to my friends and fellow bakers who have been along for the ride since the beginning. 

To celebrate our third anniversary, our challenge this month is CHOCOLATE! GO CRAZY! Make anything you want with chocolate. I'm excited to see what you come up with.

photo from marthastewart.com

Posted by - Rena

Crepes with Marinated Beef and Olive and Basil Tapenade

Posted by - Maria from Box of Stolen Socks

Yesterday was not a good day for my cooking. It was a great day for my kitchen floor though! It got a pretty good taste of the Olive and Basil tapenade I was preparing for my French Fridays with Dorie entry and claimed the life of one of my favourite Delimano frying pans. They sure are earth and health friendly but they are not at all floor friendly.

Today, I woke up determined to change my bad karma in the kitchen. I burned some incense, planted a new basil plant next to the one I trimmed yesterday, and went ahead to sacrifice some grass fed beef to appease the angry carnivorous spirits that inhabit my tiny kitchen. 

I questioned my already overworked memory cells hard to figure out with what to accompany the beef and they came up with a wonderful idea: Crepes, this months challenge at Have the Cake. Ethereal, comforting crepes, just perfect to wrap then around succulent strips of herb marinated beef. Comfort food to compensate for today's sudden change in the weather - it is 18C outside and the sky is ominously black.

As for the Olive and Basil Tapenade, I owe it to Dorie and to myself to make it again. What little I managed to salvage yesterday tasted and smelled so good. Salt, lemon, olives and basil are the tastes of the Mediterranean summer and I am lucky enough to have my own organic, olive oil cured olives from a friend's olive groves in Chalkidiki. There was really no one to stop me from making it again...apart from my kitchen floor....

I marinated the beef for about two hours, while I was searching the food blogosphere for the perfect recipe for gluten free, egg free crepes. I did not want to use buckwheat flour, I wanted something lighter that could make a crispier, more elegant crepe. I found it in this great recipe from Scadi Foodie. My namesake, Maria, uses sorghum flour and potato starch to make light and crispy crepes that stay together in one piece so you can actually flip them over in the pan, exactly as I wanted them to be!

The three deterrent elements of this recipe came together beautifully and harmoniously as the flavours really complemented each other. The only dissonance in today's kitchen experience came again from the tapenade which found its way to the kitchen floor again but this time the bowl did not brake.

Should I take this as a sign and stop making it or should I defy the cosmic powers and make it again tomorrow?

Crepes with Herb Marinated Beef and Olive and Basil Tapenade

Serves 2

Olive and Basil Tapenade
Adapted from Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan
Ingredients
1/2 cup pitted oil-cured black olives, chopped
1 anchovy, drained
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Pinch of rosemary
Pinch of thyme

Herb Marinated Beef
Ingredients
300 gr grass fed beef cut in strips
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chives, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Gluten Free Soja sauce

Gluten Free, Egg Free, Lactose Free Crepes 
From Scadi Foodie 
Makes 4 medium or 2 large
Ingredients
250 ml soja milk
75g sorghum flour

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1 pinch of salt
Olive oil for frying
Procedure
Put the beef strips in a zip-lock bag and add the rest of the ingredients. Marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Make the tapenade:
Put all the ingredients in a small blender and blend, until the olives are puréed. If you like it thinner you can add more olive oil.
Make the beef:
Heat a deep frying pan and add the marinated beef. Stir fry for 5 - 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Make the Crepes:
Combine the milk, flours and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Brush a small frying pan with olive oil and pour a thin layer of the crepe batter on to the pan. Swirl the pan to spread the batter. Cook for a few minutes, then flip over to cook the other side. Continue with the rest of the batter.
Fill the crepe with the cooked beef, spread a little of the tapenade and serve.

July Challenge: Crepes

Posted by - Rena

This month's challenge is to make Crepes. I know this seems simple but you'd be wrong about that. It takes a lot of skill and the right amount of ingredients to make them correctly. Mine are usually way too thick. Being that it's summer now, I thought we'd give the oven a rest for a bit.

There is a little cake shop on the upper east side of NYC called Lady M Confections. They make a cake (pictured below) called Lady M® Mille Crêpes - twenty crepes layered with the most delicious pastry cream you've ever tasted. They are famous for this cake and I can vouch for its deliciousness. They also make a green tea version that is to die for. This cake was the inspiration for this challenge.

There are numerous ways to use crepes and please feel free to make something savory this time if that's the direction you're heading. There is an amazing creperie in Denver called Crepes n' Crepes with scrumptious savory crepes. You can browse their menu to see what delicious varieties they offer and if you ever visit Denver, or live there, please do stop by for a meal. You won't be disappointed.

Happy July!

 Lady M® Mille Crêpes - Lady M Confections

.......

June Roundup

What a month! Such amazing desserts with strawberries! Thank you for participating. Absolutely amazing.