Out of this World Strawberry Shortcake - THM

Hello everybody! I can't believe I am at home blogging instead of in church praising... We've had a little bit of a rough start this year with "colds and flus" ... fever, chills, sweats, coughs have been filling our home ... but also snuggles and thankfulness that we have a roof, heat and everything we need RIGHT INSIDE our home.... I always praise God for running water in my sink... in my shower! I will tell you more about that soon! But for now.... I am thankful that it seems the worst of this flu is behind us.

So... the recipe that I bring to you today is not of my own creation (at least not the whole thing) .... the actual cake "batter" recipe is from Karen at: The Fruit of Her Hands.

Now... Without further ado.... I bring to you this delicious cake recipe... if you are a Trim Healthy Mama, then you... like me... don't need a birthday to eat cake!

You eat cake because you are free.... because you can and... because you love it!

 Here it is:

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE (FP or S)

 Yield: It's ALL yours! No need to share! (1 serving)

(The Cake itself is FP, - if you are a Trim Healthy Mama you know what I am talking about... if not ... make it anyway!) 

FOR THE CAKE

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup oat fiber - From THM -  or this one
• a couple of pinches sea salt
• 3/4 tsp. glucomannan - this is what I use
• 1/2 tsp. aluminum free baking powder - like this
• 3 packets of. Truvia - (or make it with your sweetener of choice to taste)
• 1/3 cup egg whites - (I buy the carton of 100% liquid egg whites, don't waste egg yolks)
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla

(To keep FP you will also need Reddi Whip, Strawberries and Truvia for the topping)

Now... if you're ok turning this dessert into an "S"

TOP WITH MY HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM (S)

• 1/4 - 1/3 cup VERY COLD heavy whipping cream
• 1 doonk of stevia extract (or sweetener to taste)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Note of Caution: Oat Fiber and Oat Flour ARE NOT the same... oat fiber has 0 carbs and 0 calories... it can be used in any setting (on thm plan), while oat flour is great for you but it's an E, higher on calories and carbs, should be kept in an E setting.


Preparation:

Mix dry ingredients in  a bowl (I actually use a medium Pyrex Bowl to mix and bake all in the same thing), then add wet ingredients and mix well. Cook in microwave for about 1 minute 30 seconds (it will be oh so slightly wet on top). -each microwave varies but that works for me-.If you prefer not to use a microwave, you can bake this in a 350° oven for 20-25 minutes or until done. Once it comes out I use a spatula to help loosen the edges and dump it out onto a clean kitchen towel to cool.

While the cake is cooling off... I get the topping going:

Cut up some strawberries and sprinkle with Truvia. Allowing the strawberries to sit a while will make them juicier and more sweet. Ne sure use no more than 1 cup of strawberries.

When your cake has cooled off, serve on a plate, top with Reddi Whip (to keep it FP)

Or... let's whip that cream!

With a mixer.... mix all the ingredients (heavy cream, sweetener, vanilla) on high until soft peak forms .... serve immediately over your cake! Top with the strawberry slices.

Enjoy! (and... would you let me know how you liked it?)


© Paloma K.

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Banana Pecan Cake - THM Style

What? Two recipes in a row? Well... I just had this for breakfast and I loved it so much that I knew IMPATIENT ME wouldn't be able to wait another day to share this with all of you... because it is absolutely

A - MAZING!!!

I am a baker.... it's in my nature... my dad is a baker... his family is a family of bakers (and even candy makers) ... So .... joining a "sugar free, regular flour free" eating plan... broke my heart a little bit! What was I to do? I don't enjoy baking with stevia! I want the REAL DEAL! I don't like baking with other flours... If you look back into my blog you'll see what I am talking about... I am a cake baker! I am a sugar lover! It's in my blood (figuratively speaking because thank God sugar is not REALLY/LITERALLY in my blood!) But at least the love for all pastry/baked stuff IS!

Well... of course I had to wait for my palate to adjust ... so if you don't like this cake... TRUST ME... give it some time until your taste buds are detoxed from all the sugar and TRY IT! You'll really like it! It is delicious! and I, the baker, am not embarrassed to admit it!

I am so thankful for the THM style that allows me to be "me" :) Do I prefer the "real deal" when it comes to baking? Absolutely! Nobody will ever make me deny that... BUT... this is sooo good that I can actually feel satisfied with the results.

So... here it is:

Banana Pecan Cake  (S)
(Gluten-free, grain-free, low carb)
(This is a variation of a THM muffin in a mug from the THM Book)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole egg
• 1 tbsp. coconut flour  I use this one
• 3 tbsp. almond flour (I get mine from Trader Joe's or the organic "Simple Truth" one from Kroger)
• 1/2 tsp.aluminum free baking powder I use this one 
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. banana extract 
• 3 tsp. of truvia + 1 doonk* (See note) of pure THM stevia extract (or sweeten to taste)
• 1 tbsp. chopped pecans

Note: A "doonk" is a measure created by the sisters "Serene and Pearl", it is equal to "a pinch" (or 1/32 of a teaspoon to be more exact)

Directions:

In a microwavable mug mix the whole egg, add the rest of the ingredients (except pecans) and whisk until it's all properly mixed, add pecans and fold in, microwave on high for 1 min. (no longer)

Top with whipped cream (I mix on high 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1 doonk of pure stevia -or truvia to taste-, 1/2 tsp. vanilla), you can also use FF Reddi Whip instead, sprinkle with some extra chopped pecans if desired.

Enjoy!!!!

NOTE/UPDATE 12/5/2014 - My original recipe called for a mix of 2 tbsp. golden flaxseed meal and 2 tbsp. almond flour (instead of the 1 tbsp. coconut flour and 3 tbsp. almond flour) but I then tweaked it to create the most perfect cake like texture... and I am very pleased with it!!! It is pretty awesome :) I just still wanted you to give you the original amounts in case you find yourself with flaxseed instead of coconut flour or wanting more fiber, you can still use it, it still works (and it's delicious) but not such a cake texture.

© Paloma K.

Healthy (Gluten Free/Sugar Free) Blueberry Crisps

Hello everybody! If you've been following my journey with food you now know that I am not only not eating sugar but also keeping my family away from it... In the past, when my only focus was "to lose weight" I stopped eating sugar but my pantry was still loaded with sugar, all purpose flour, shortening and all the "good stuff" (I do love baking with all those ingredients to be honest) ... but the more I read and learned about food I realized my way of thinking started to change and not only I wanted to avoid sugar but I wanted my family to avoid it as well... I am not trying to be preachy or anything... I am just sharing with you what *I* have changed for *my* family... not throwing stones or anything... trust me... in the journey with food we all kind of have to learn for ourselves and realize what works best for our families and lifestyles... Anyway... so... after I embraced this whole healthy eating/living thing I felt great but at the same time I felt "lost" when it came to baking... I must say I hate the culinary properties (if there are any) of stevia... although I do love the fact that if you find a good one (with no aftertaste) it's great to know that you can sweeten some things with it (like I do with my smoothies) ... Since nobody else here at home needs to lose weight I do use some other healthier sweeteners -than refined sugar- (with great caution and extreme moderation) for my girls and husband... so... today is 4th of July and I thought I would bake something for everyone to enjoy... I was amazed with the results and how easy it was to put together (I am actually regretting having made it so early... now I realize I could've made it right before serving tonight!!) But I guess it's ok... that way I can share with you "early enough" for you to try it and have a very Happy and Healthy 4th of July!!!

I love this recipe because you can pretty much adapt and personalize to your specific needs (dairy free/sugar free, grain free, etc.) and taste...  (Trim Healthy Mama friends sweeten with stevia and omit the rolled oats for a perfect "S Dessert", Paleo friends avoid the oats as well and sweeten with honey, Strict Vegans use pure maple syrup instead of honey)

So... Here goes!

Berry Crisps
(Yield: 4-6 servings)

Ingredients

Filling:
3 cups of berries (blueberries or a mix of berries, they can be frozen or fresh, frozen works great!)
1 tbsp. of coconut palm sugar or a hint of pure stevia extract
1 tbsp. lemon or lime juice

Topping:
1 cup almond meal/flour

1/4 cup of rolled fashioned rolled oats (if you don't have any grain restrictions, omit for Paleo Diet)

1/4 cup of melted coconut oil (or butter)

2 tbsp. pure maple syrup (or a bit of liquid stevia to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (or pecans or hazelnuts)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. (Lightly grease ramekins with coconut oil or butter)

Filling:
Mix berries, sugar, and lime (or lemon) juice in a large bowl.
Pour mixture into individual small ramekins.

Topping:
Combine almond meal/flour, coconut oil (or butter), maple syrup, oats (if using), cinnamon and nuts
in a medium sized bowl with a fork or your fingers. Sprinkle over top of berries.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until fruit is bubbly and topping is browned. Serve warm by itself or topped with a scoop of healthy and plan appropriate ice-cream (coconut ice cream sweetened with stevia or erythritol is great!)

Enjoy!!! Happy 4th of July!

© Paloma K.

Velvety, Lemony, Perfect!

Hello everybody! I can't believe another month has gone by! Where are days going? How can it almost be March? Wasn't it just Christmas? I feel like time is just escaping right in front of me! I am almost 35 as well!!! What in the world? Wasn't I just the age of my friend's daughter? How dare she be 18? How dare she have her prom in April? Wasn't I just 18? Anyway... I guess it's just starting to hit me! like... really hit me!

But... in Mexico we say "Las penas con pan son buenas" which translated means "Even pain is good if there's bread" and of course we have these weird expressions for everything in Mexico... and I guess if you pay attention to that "saying" you'll understand why we, Mexicans, are sooooo into food! Like... really into it! It's almost like a cult! LOL!  And there's obviously always truth in those popular sayings... Everything "feels better" when you eat! (therefore so much obesity I guess!) ... So... let's make the pain of getting older go away if just for a second with a little cake!

It's time to reveal the "Cake of the Month" ... we, The Cake Slice Bakers are baking through the "Great Cakes" book (by Carole Walter) ... this book has turned out to be quite a disappointment for some... I've actually enjoyed baking from it! and hubby has not complained at all either... It is a very old fashioned book... but there's a certain enticing beauty to old fashioned recipes! This month the cake that won our poll was

Lemon Velvet Squares 

They were... delicious! SOOOOOOOOOOO delicious! At least... we truly, deeply loved them! For the very first time we all REALLY loved a lemon cake/dessert! It wasn't overly lemony at all... and the lemon glaze that Mrs. Walters suggests to go with this cake is just the perfect way to top this very perfect, subtle, delicate, beautiful cake!

Since the recipe has already been published online I will share it with you today as well:

Lemon Velvet Squares 
(slightly adapted from "Great Cakes" by Carole Walter Recipe)
Yield: ( about 8-10 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (I use aluminum free)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated navel orange rind
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice(or you can even use the "Simply Orange" juice which is all I had)
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, for garnish(or make a simple lemon glaze by creaming together 2 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature and 1 cup of powdered sugar and then just add 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp. hot water -add a few more drops if too thick-, 1/2 vanilla extract and blend until it is pourable and smooth.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°; butter a 13x9 inch baking pan. 
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. Cut the butter into 1" pieces and place in the large bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment.
4. Add in the lemon and orange rinds and soften on low speed.
5. Increase to med-high and cream until smooth and light in color, about 1 ½-2 minutes.
6. Add the sugar gradually and take a total time of about 6-8 minutes to blend it in well (scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally).
7. Add in eggs, 1 at a time (add the next one as the previous one has completely disappeared but don't overmix), scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
8. Decrease speed to low; in a small bowl, combine the water, lemon juice, and orange juice.
9. Add the dry ingredients alternating with the liquids, dividing the flour mixture into 3 parts and the liquid into two parts, starting and ending with the flour.
10. Mix just until incorporated after each addition; do not worry if the batter appears to curdle, it should smooth out after the flour is blended inches.
11. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 10 seconds longer. 
12. Spoon batter into prepared pan, smoothing with the back of a spoon.
13. Center the pan on the oven rack and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown on top, springy to touch, and begins to come away from the sides of the pan. 
14. Remove pan from oven and set on a cake rack to cool.
15. Just before serving, place powdered sugar in a fine mesh strainer and dust the top of the cake (or pour the easy lemon glaze that I mentioned in the ingredients section); cut into squares and serve.

Enjoy!

© Paloma K.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake with The Cake Slice Bakers

This month  our group  picked a simple, traditional and may I say delicious Pound Cake... I think, for me, this will be my "go to" recipe when it comes to Pound Cake. Not too dense/heavy, very delicious vanilla flavor with a beautiful crumb! We are currently baking from Great Cakes by Carole Walter and this book is loaded with recipes (although not that many pictures) and so far, the recipes from this book have worked for me. I do look forward to baking a bit more challenging cakes, I miss making puddings and frostings for our group... but I must say my "lazy side" has enjoyed the easy method of the cakes that have been picked.

You can make this pound cake in a snap! It is great to enjoy over coffee when having guests, it doesn't use any unusual ingredients and ... it's so easy to make that I actually made 2  of these within the same week. You can choose from three versions of this cake, a "nutty" one, a "spirited" one and a "chocolate chip"... which is the one I picked and ah! I am so happy I did... The chocolate chips are processed to make them smaller (in a food processor)... ehem... believe it or not... I don't own a food processor yet... so I used the blender... which gave me a bit of trouble because the recipe warns to not over-process the chips (or you'll end up with lots of powder instead of smaller chips) What I did to fix this was that I actually used a sifter to separate the bigger chips from the smaller ones. The chocolate chips, once they were processed added to this cake a delicious chocolaty creaminess in every bite and I loved that the chocolate chips didn't have the "perfect chip shape" but were rather rustic and made it look more "from scratch" I feel.

The cake batter reminded me of a Dairy Queen "Oreo Blizzard"

 So... fear not! The delicious "chocolate chips" that turned into dust were put into good use though... I used them to garnish each slice of cake! I made a classic vanilla whipped cream and dusted it with the semi-sweet "powdered" chocolate chips. It was the perfect complement for the cake.

Get this book and you'll get this and many more recipes that I am sure will give you lots of fun in the kitchen and a good time with family and friends.


© Paloma K.

First Cake - New Book! Applesauce Spice Cake

Hello everybody! Today I am excited to make some revelations...

We are now baking from a New Book at "The Cake Slice" (like us on facebook here) ... it wasn't easy to let go of the amazing book Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson but it had to be done... We choose a different book every year and then we vote on a cake each month... so... I am about to reveal our new book that we'll be using from now until October 2014... ready? - Drumroll -

We all vote each year for a different book and this one was a winner based on the reviews, etc.... When I (and some of my fellow bakers) received it ... I must say we were a bit disappointed to see that it doesn't have many pictures, the whole "look" of the book, especially the way the recipes are put together seems very old fasioned... BUT... we are not giving up on it... I think there must be a reason why this book has pleased so many people for so long and Carole Walter is definitely known for her desserts and wonderful cakes... So.. our first Cake is the "Applesauce Spice Cake" and here's my experience with it:

 

1. Making this cake was a delight, the batter was rich and fluffy, the aroma of the spices and the apples flooded my kitchen! I couldn't wait to have a taste of it!
2. The book specifies that the baking time for this cake is from 55-60 minutes. Thankfully I was in a hurry so I kept checking on the cake, which was ready at about 34 minutes (and actually looking a bit too browned)
3. I got scared it could be overbaked (nothing better to ruin a cake than overbaking it!) so I didn't want to leave it in the pan for the recommended time to cool off because I knew it would continue "cooking" with the heat IN the pan so I forced it out of the bundt pan right away which resulted on big (BIG) pieces of cake getting stuck to the pan! I wanted to ... CRY!

   

   Doesn't look as bad as it could've looked -sigh-

4. I managed to get the pieces unstuck and kind of put them back on the cake, making it look as "good as possible" it still didn't look pretty but the delicious Brown Sugar Glaze on top of it definitely helped things. 
   
5. We loved the cake! Just loved it... Especially hubby! I decided to go for cubed granny Smith apples which I think was key to add some freshness/tartness to this cake, the grated lemon rind also helped brighten the rest of the flavors.

 Want a slice?

I also want to mention real quick that we have new members in our group (and even 2 returns)! We accepted people that would join and I am so excited to see how they enjoyed this first cake! If you'd like to join us stay tuned! We'll be opening another window of opportunity in the middle of our baking year around February/March and then another one at the end (around September).

© Paloma K.

Butterscotch Cream Roll-Up

Hello friends, this time I bring to you the "Cake of the Month" we, The Cake Slice Bakers, so joyfully baked for September!

The winner of the month was a "Butterscotch Cream Roll-Up" and I was worried about this cake being the winner for several reasons, here they are:

1. Hubby hates butterscotch candy and I am not a big fan of it, would this taste like that?
2. The "Roll-Up" method is not your usual "Swiss-Roll" style and I was afraid I would just "mess things up" -you'll soon see what I am talking about-
3. The recipe called for whiskey, we don't drink here and I wasn't going to buy a bottle of whiskey just to use a tablespoon in a recipe.
4. It seemed a "laborious" recipe and September is a very busy month for me. (My oldest turned 5 so talk about some emotional things going on here, realizing my baby is not a baby anymore!)

So... Before I tell you how I did... let me share with you a picture of my girl and her birthday cakes and cookies that mommy made for her:

 

Now, about The Cake Slice cake, this is one of our very last cakes of our baking year! We have been baking from "Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson" and it has been DELIGHTFUL! Almost every cake has been loved by everyone in our group! And for us, this butterscotch cream roll up has been one of the best! Made with chiffon cake, filled and frosted with whipped cream enhanced with a delicious butterscotch sauce and then drizzled with warmed butterscotch sauce, this dessert is heavenly! Honestly, we didn't miss the "whiskey" at all, I don't know of any way this cake could get any better! I only increased the amount of vanilla extract by a teaspoon but everything else I just followed the recipe exactly as it is! Please, make sure to get this amazing book! You need it in your kitchen!

Due to respect to copyright laws, the author and her work (Julie Richardson is a delight as a person, I know that just with a brief exchanged we had online) I am not sharing her recipes and only encouraging you to GET THIS BOOK as soon as possible (I am not getting paid or compensated in anyway, this is just my personal opinion) you will not regret it!

So... here go some pictures:

Chiffon cake, has to be sliced in same size stripes

Then, spread the filling and some toasted almonds

This could get tricky, although it was WAY EASIER than I thought

Once each stripe is rolled up, you frost it with the remainder whipped cream

I just used a spoon to create the "wavy effect" on the cream

I can tell you I don't think I'll ever "swiss-roll" a cake again! I loved this technique WAY BETTER!

I was worried about "how we would cut it" but we just sliced it like we would any other cake, I was happy it held up great!

An uneven slice on a paper plate, it's the only picture I took with the drizzled butterscotch sauce on top!

Now... I also have a confession to make... I burnt the butterscotch sauce in the first attempt (don't talk on the phone while trying to make this sauce, just sayin') but I am thankful my friend and fellow Cake Slice Baker, Anabel from Oven Delights, told me the sauce is delicious (it tasted really bitter, of course, the first time, the burnt one) so I gave it another try and... Oh! Was it worth it!!!

So, there you go, there's my cake of the month and my 5 yr. old! :) Two very special things for September!


© Paloma K.

How to make camouflage cupcakes FROM SCRATCH

Camo Cupcakes, that's what someone from church ordered last week for our "Choir Kick-off" in church... Don't ask me why it was camo cupcakes... let me just say it was fun! LOL!

So... if your hubby is a hunter or you want to make a special batch of cupcakes for Memorial Day/Veterans Day or if you want to make a birthday boy very happy these cupcakes are perfect for the occasion!

Now... It's just really simple, you just have to be a little patient... if you look anywhere else online you will see that everybody is using cake mixes for these... I guess they say "well, they're cute enough and there's enough work involved with the elaboration, why bother making them from scratch?", plus, there's a big reason why people use cake mixes for these, think about it, you want the batter to be "the same" so that it doesn't have any problem with different textures/rising levels, etc. BUT you can still make a delicious batter from scratch that is good for this purpose and it doesn't have to be too complicated.

What I used is my easiest "go to" chocolate cupcake ingredients:

Delicious and Fluffy Chocolate Cupcakes (Yield: 12 cupcakes)

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (preferably safflower)
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

As you can see the recipe calls for cocoa powder and it yields 12 standard sized cupcakes. So I just recommend you to make 2 batches. 1 exactly like the recipe calls and an additional batch where you will omit the cocoa powder and just increase the amount of all purpose flour with an additional 1/3 of a cup and 2 tsp. of vanilla extract instead of only 1.

The ingredients above you just have to mix them all together, the order doesn't matter too much, but I do prefer to mix flour, salt and baking soda first (and cocoa for the chocolate batter) and then just incorporate sugar, oil, water, vinegar and vanilla.

Once you have both batters (chocolate and vanilla) you will divide each batter in half, so you will have two chocolate batters and two vanilla batters, having done this just add some black gel food coloring to 1 of the chocolate batters and some green gel food coloring to 1 of the vanilla batter (plus some extra tablespoons of chocolate batter just to create the dry hue of military green you need) and voila, you will have 4 different colors of two different batters, 1 black chocolate, 1 brown chocolate, 1 military green vanilla, 1 plain vanilla.

What you want to do at this point is preheat your oven at 350 F, line your muffin tin with baking cups (cupcake paper liners) and fill plastic bags (ziploc or piping bags will work) with each of the batters, pipe the batters into the cupcake liners starting with the plain vanilla (about 1 1/2 tbsp. or so) to cover the bottom of the cup and then just start incorporating alternately the rest of the colors (even if you have to do more than one layer). Make sure to not cover the layer of vanilla entirely with the next color, you are adding the rest of the colors in the form of "spots", let the batter make spots that take their own shape, the batter for these cupcakes is "runny enough" to blend with the rest of the batter and thick enough to not mix with it (if that makes sense?). So... when you add each color you can make your own pattern, for example:  In the left a green spot, then brown in the middle, then let some vanilla come through (or add more) and then the black, etc... Fill your cupcakes up to 3/4 but no more. Bake for about 15-16 minutes, insert a toothpick to check doneness, if the toothpick comes out clean the cupcakes are ready (do not overbake)

Here's how they will look:

 See? They turn out fluffy and beautiful! Now... for the frosting you can use your favorite vanilla buttercream recipe and just add neon orange gel food coloring (or you can even make a camo frosting if you use green, chocolate and vanilla and then just pipe it all together). But this is easier and I think way brighter as well! And people can still appreciate the "camo" part of the cupcakes!

If you want an easy buttercream recipe you can use this basic one:

1 cup of butter (room temperature)
3 cups of powdered sugar (sifted is better)
1 pinch of salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 or 3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

Cream the butter and sugar together, add the rest of the ingredients (add more or less whipping cream to reach the desired thickness/consistency) and mix on high until fluffy and airy. Ah! YUM! Easy and delicious! Then just add the food coloring and mix just until evenly blended. I piped it using a closed star tip starting in the outside and ending in the center (kind of overlapping with every turn and circle).

There you have it! Camo Cupcakes with Neon Orange Frosting... FROM SCRATCH!

Enjoy!


© Paloma K.

Boston Cream Pie-Lets

Hello everybody, it's again time to reveal our "Cake of the Month" if you've read this blog before then you know that I am part of: The Cake Slice Bakers  , we are an online group of bakers, we choose a different book each year and vote on a different cake each month, then we keep the secret for the entire month until it's time (every 20th) to finally reveal what we baked... Of course you don't have to wait a whole month to "be part of the fun" we also now have a Facebook Page where we get to talk, share tips, ideas and even our most embarrassing disasters in the kitchen! So go ahead and like us there, please.

So, this year we have been baking from the book Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson and it has been a lot of fun, there are definitely many recipes that I will be making again! This month we baked "Boston Cream Pie-Lets" and it was sooo good! Hubby wasn't that impressed... He said it reminded him of just a "Chocolate Eclair Torte" I agree, it does remind you of that but... just improved! I loved it that instead of having a whole "Boston Cream Pie" this version makes individual mini cakes... served in pudding cups (I just bought smaller glasses, didn't have pudding cups, my presentation is not that great, sorry!) but the flavor is incredible... The original recipe calls for a vanilla bean... but being that 1 vanilla pod costs about 9 dollars I just used vanilla extract for the pudding which is also made from scratch!
 

When I made the cake for this "pie-lets" and I got it out of the oven (which by the way... I halved the recipe) I was enchanted by the wonderful color and aroma... I loved even the fluffy/airiness of the cake batter and the flavor was just subtle and heavenly... perfect! When I tried it I even wondered if I really wanted to "do anything else" with it!

 Interestingly I have no round cookie cutters (or anything sharp enough that was the size of the serving glasses), so I used the "glass itself" (and it wasn't pretty, did you see that?) to cut the miniature cakes for each glass... I got 4 individual desserts... I only got to try a spoonful of one... I need to watch my calories! But I soooooooooooo wanted to keep eating! Definitely a keeper recipe! Hopefully I will make it look prettier next time...

The Miniature Cakes were then sliced in half horizontally to make "bottom and top" layers of cake.

From Bottom to top: Pudding, cake, pudding, cake and then it will be covered with chocolate ganache

This time was almost an "accidental" project... I was running out of time to make my cake and then... I chose a day when I almost was in a car accident and had a ton of other things to do... But still... it's an enjoyable dessert to make... the mini cakes are adorable! Go ahead and buy this book... You will not regret it!

I heard that the amount of pudding was very abundant but I think I overestimated it and miscalculated the size of the glass

Enjoy!

Edited to Add: After one whole day in the fridge, hubby had another one and LOVED IT! He devoured it! So I guess this is one of those desserts that are better the next day... I am so happy it was that successful! :) Loved it!

  © Paloma K.

Black and White never tasted better!

Hello friends... and patient readers... patient because I don't blog often anymore but those of you who remain faithful to "The Coffee Shop" wow... THANK YOU! I appreciate it! I continue to bake and enjoy cooking... I just don't find the time to blog as much as I used to... But... here I am ... at least once a month to share about my baking experiences with "The Cake Slice Bakers"  and by the way... we are now On Facebook TOO so you can join us there to see what we're baking and learn from our own experiences as we experiment in the kitchen, we'll share our successes and our fails as well!

We are currently baking from the "Vintage Cakes" book by Julie Richardson... most cakes in this book have been a great success for all of us! We have unanimously raved about some outstanding cakes from that book, so please make sure you get it...

I must say that the "Black and White" seems to be everyone's favorite so far... We had friends over who enjoyed it with us... Hubby was just in some other "dimension" while eating it! He ate so much he gave himself a stomachache... and my friend Laurie said she "never wanted it to end" it was THAT GOOD!

This cake is formed by 2 chocolate layers of cake, the batter calls for some warm coffee, then once the cakes are baked, and cooled off, you cover the first layer with a sumptuous chocolate ganache, then add some of the AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS vanilla bean buttercream, place the other layer, spread the rest of the ganache on top and then entirely frost it with the rest of the buttercream... It was a bit tricky for me to not get the ganache and frosting mixed... the top layer was easier because I left it longer in the fridge before completely frosting, the frosting by the way was amazing, this buttercream required you to make a "meringue kind of thing" it has almost a "marshmallow" texture to it ...and then, after all those egg whites have been whipped with the melted sugar, you start adding butter and more butter... for some of our bakers this proved to be a little bit challenging.... maybe I just "got lucky" and it turned out just FANTASTIC! I am definitely keeping this recipe close by so I can make it again and again!

If you want to know exactly how this cake tasted... remember you can make it too... Get this amazing book! You will not regret it!

Now... some pictures of my cake:

A lot of stuff going on in the background, lol! Here you can see the ganache both in the middle and on the top layer

Here I am ready to completely frost it, the crumbs have been sealed with a thin layer of white frosting

 I hope you will take some time to check out our Facebook Page and our Blogroll so you can see how the rest of the Cake Slice Bakers did as they reveal their cakes!

© Paloma K.

Craisins/Chocolate Chips Oatmeal Cookies

Hello everybody! You might be surprised with this post... It's been a while since I last wrote "out of the blue" I am usually just publishing something once a month (when it's time to reveal the "Cake of the Month" that I bake with my friends from "The Cake Slice Bakers" but two days ago I made a batch of absolutely delicious oatmeal cookies with craisins and chocolate chips and I thought I couldn't just keep this recipe to myself so I am sharing it today!

These cookies are absolutely fabulous, not overly sweet and just with a delicate hint of cinnamon which gives them a spicy background note, it's just very mild, you might not even be able to tell "it's cinnamon" but it's just perfect to blend with the rest of the flavors, so you can enjoy them all!

So... Here's my Recipe (which I adapted from the original Quaker Recipe for "Raisins Oatmeal Cookies")

Craisins and Chocolate Chips Oatmeal Cookies

Yield: Makes about 50 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup of butter (room temperature)
• 3/4  cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2  cup granulated sugar
• 2  eggs
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 3  cups of quick or old fashioned, uncooked oats
• 1  cup chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup craisins

Preparation
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
In a bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, whisk it all together until it's all incorporated. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium/high speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well (do not over-mix). Add oats mix well.Then using a spatula fold in the chocolate chips and craisins until it's all incorporated.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (you can use a small ice cream scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Enjoy!



© Paloma K.

The Pink Cake

Hello everybody, here I am again, with my monthly post! I feel weird to not be as active blogging here but I hope to be able to "get back at it" soon! Not much is going on here, we still have ONE car only, I mentioned 1 of our cars got stolen in my last post, we don't see the possibility of buying another car anytime soon... My 2 yr. old is potty trained! It took me a day! but I shouldn't say it took "ME" I should say that with God's help and with her good attitude this was done quickly! She only had 1 real day of being trained, three days ago, after that she hasn't had any accidents EVEN AT NIGHT! It's amazing that she just "GOT IT" she even wakes up in the middle of the night and lets me know she needs to go potty! What a big girl! It's a little bittersweet I must admit, as I see her grow up so quickly makes me realize I no longer have a "baby" ... But let's not talk more about potty training, especially because we're about to start talking about CAKE!... it's time to reveal the "cake of the month" ... as you know I bake with


 Which by the way, we're now on Facebook too! LIKE us here. Well, we, The Cake Slice Bakers, have to bake 1 different cake each month, as you may or many not know, this year we're baking from the book Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson, and it's been awesome! None of the cakes has disappointed, pretty much everyone has enjoyed each of the cakes so far and that makes me very happy! For May the Cake that won the "poll" was "The Pink Cake" which is a triple layered chocolate cake with a Raspberry Buttercream... I voted for this cake, and the cakes that I vote for usually never win LOL! so I was thrilled to try this one! I must say I was tempted to change the raspberries for strawberries because I am not that big of a fan for raspberries... but I usually like to adhere to the recipe just as it is, even when it calls for ingredients I would not normally use because I see it as an opportunity to try things that might not be my favorite or that I am not so "sure" of... and sometimes I get great results (not always) but I am happy to say that I am definitely happy it worked this time!

The intense color of the raspberries gave the frosting its beautiful pink (and totally natural) color and delicious fragrance! Plus the fact that the raspberries are pureed and strained to remove the seeds "did the trick" and made them "the special ingredient" of this cake! giving it a slight tart freshness that went great with the deep chocolate flavor of the cake.

I went for something simple and decided to make 2 9" layers instead of 3 8"

 I thought this cake would be perfect to have for hubby's birthday... I know it looks a lot like a very girly cake but trust me... any man that is not afraid to have "The Pink Cake" for his birthday will really enjoy it!

I used fresh raspberries for decoration

My husband wasn't sure if he'd like it or not, he's not a fan of raspberries either and he's just happy to have "chocolate on chocolate" kind of desserts... but he trusted me and he was actually shocked by the results, when he had the first bite he actually dropped his hands on the table in actual disbelief, his jaw dropped as well and he just managed to say "this is awesome"

he enjoyed it so much!

Dear friends of ours enjoyed the cake with us, they liked it very much as well.

Our friends Venessa and Bill were happy to enjoy this cake with us!

I am so happy with this cake, it will definitely be one of those "go to" recipes, plus it's pretty simple to make.

It's great that hubby's birthday is in May because I got to have a slice for Mother's Day as well!

If you would like the recipe for this cake, I encourage you to get this book! Really do! You will not regret it! If you love good cakes this is a must have!



© Paloma K.