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A Piece of Cake
January 2006: First Slice
Newsletter written by Anne Byrn January 27, 2006
A Word from Anne
A Word from Workman
Recipe Swap
Do Share
Hot Tips
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A Word from Anne
Fortunately I did not resolve to give up cake this year. I would have trouble making it through the 40 days of Lent without cake so I cannot fathom 365! But if you are of the mind and fortitude to cut back on sweets this year, that doesn't mean you have to stop baking. Bake a cake for others, or bake and halve it, placing some in the freezer for nibbling this summer. Baking is a low-stress, creative endeavor. Just knowing how to bake a great cake is something you should be proud of...an artistic accomplishment right up there with being able to play the piano, paint, take photographs, scrapbook, carry a tune, even garden. My problem is constantly tweaking recipes. I can't just bake a layer cake anymore. I've got to split it into four layers, or sandwich a filling in between, or frost one half with a warm frosting, the other with a creamy buttercream. In fact, I was just testing a sugar cookie for a new book and first put in toffee bits, then toffee bits and finely chopped pecans, then cinnamon sugar on top. Some cookies I baked for 9 minutes, others 11. After I sampled nine cookies, I wondered if the calorie count might be lower since I savored and scrutinized them crumb by crumb. (I don't think so.)
Here's to new years, new projects, new friends, new recipes, and more home-cooked food. You know the best way to keep your weight down and not necessarily give up cake or cookies? Cook and eat at home.
Happy Baking to all 43,679 of you (My, we have grown!),
Anne
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A Word from Workman
While you're at the store picking up a cake mix, be sure keep your eyes out for Slow Cooking magazine, on newsstands now, with some delicious recipes from The Dinner Doctor. Anne's cupcakes will be featured in Quick & Simple Magazine on February 21, and in the April 2006 issue of Cottage Living. Also watch for Anne to be in Cooking with Paula Deen and Woman's Day magazines in the Spring.
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Recipe Swap
I've got two recipes to share with you this month. The first was requested a while back, and after I couldn't find it asking the experts—all of you—I decided to come up with a recipe of my own.
Toffee Layer Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Linda Cochran of Elizabethtown, KY, had misplaced a recipe for a white cake with toffee candy bars. "It is made with a white cake mix and it uses toffee bars crushed in the mix, and in the icing. You have to split the cake layers, making four." With some testing and obsessing, I have a wonderful recipe for Linda and you all. It is not assembled in four layers, but you could split the two layers and make four. And the toffee bits (found on the supermarket aisle) are only sprinkled on the frosting, not folded into the cake batter. You could fold them in if you like, but we liked the contrast of smooth cake and crunchy topping. The frosting is unbelievably good. I'll have to say this is now a family favorite.
CAKE:
1 package (18.25 ounces) white cake mix with pudding
1 cup sour cream
1 cup warm water
3 large eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
BROWN BUTTER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
4 tablespoons butter
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, chilled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
GARNISH:
1 cup toffee bits (Heath)
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips, if desired
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans, if desired
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mist two 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil and dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pans aside.
2. Place the cake mix, sour cream, water, eggs, flour, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until ingredients come together, then stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, or until the batter is smooth and thickened. Pour the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side-by-side.
3. Bake the layers until they are lightly browned and just spring back when touched in the center, 25 to 28 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake, give the pan a few good shakes to further loosen the cake, then invert the layers onto one wire rack, then invert them again onto another wire rack so that they rest right-side-up. Let them cool completely, 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting and garnish. For the frosting, place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the butter browns, about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, place the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot butter over the cream cheese, and add the vanilla. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the butter and cream cheese are smooth and combined. Add the sugar, a little at a time, beating on low until the sugar is incorporated. Once it has all been added, increase the mixer speed to medium for 20 seconds and beat until fluffy. For the garnish, combine the toffee bits with the chocolate chips and pecans, if desired.
5. To assemble the cake, place one layer on a serving plate, topping it generously with frosting, and smoothing it out with a metal spatula. Add a generous, even coating of the topping. Place the second layer on top of this, and frost the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the remaining toffee mixture on top of the cake, or add as much as you desire. Slice and serve. Store the remaining cake in a cake saver in the refrigerator.
Jane's Low-Fat Chocolate Cake
Many of you have written to tell me about low-fat cakes made with a cake mix and a can of pumpkin. I'll admit I was skeptical but curious, so when Jane Osowiecki of Ocoee, FL, sent me her recipe, I gave it a try. If you are on a very low fat diet or cannot eat eggs or dairy products, this might be a cake to bake. I felt it needed something— a handful of mini chocolate chips scattered over the top before baking, a scoop of vanilla ice cream on serving...I baked this in a 13- by 9-inch pan, but you could just as easily bake the recipe in two layers.
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
1/2 cup warm water
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 13- by 9-inch baking pan. Shake out the excess flour, and set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, pumpkin, and water in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Turn the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top of the batter. Place the pan in the oven.
3. Bake the cake until the center is firm when pressed lightly with your finger, 30 to 35 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar, slice and serve warm.
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Do Share
Lots of requests from your cakemixdoctor friends:
Laura Williams of Milan, MI, wants to bake a Williamsburg Orange Cake beginning with a cake mix. Any ideas?
Pam is looking for Queens Cake. "It is chocolate and has chocolate icing and grated Hershey bar on top."
Sandy Linson of Kansas City is looking for a King Cake recipe (that uses a cake mix). What with Mardi Gras around the corner. Sandy, please check out the Mardi Gras Cupcakes on page 172 of Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor.
Send recipes and suggestions for these bakers to anne@cakemixdoctor.com
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Hot Tips
Laurie Averitt of Monrovia, CA, made the Monster Monkey Cupcakes from the Cupcakes book for her daughter's 10th birthday. She has a great idea on how to create the smile line on the monkey's face:
"Betty Crocker has a new item called Drizzlers and it comes in a microwaveable 6-ounce pouch in milk and white chocolate flavors. It has a decorator's tip at the top attached to the pouch. You just zap the package in the microwave for about 30 seconds (sometimes a little longer) and knead it. I used it for the smile line and it was great."... Laurie also turned this recipe into basketball cupcakes. "I tinted the buttercream icing orange and used the Drizzlers to outline the basketball lines on the cupcakes so they all looked like basketballs. My teams loved them."
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Next Issue: February 2006
Lovely Valentine ideas from your cakemixdoctor.com moderators, and more questions and answers.
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