Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cake

This recipe for old-fashioned gingerbread cake is dark, perfectly spiced and very moist. We wanted to create a cake that was authentic in taste, right down to the fresh ginger! We also chose to bake our cake in a vintage bundt pan (found on Etsy here) made by Kaiser and orginating from Germany. The combination of the old-fashioned gingerbread cake recipe and the vintage bundt pan was not a disappointment. The result was a truly classic dessert masterpiece!

To add a bit of color to the old-fashioned gingerbread cake we made a simple glaze of water, lemon juice and powdered sugar, tinted it yellow, and ran in over the grooves of the cake. Lemon sauce or lemon glaze is a complementary flavor to gingerbread, but not one often seen in most recipes these days.

If lemon is not your style, this cake is also delicious with heavy cream, whipped cream or just by itself!

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (grated)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups molasses (Grandma’s Molasses brand works well.)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Using a whisk, add in the spices and salt.
3. Melt the butter in the boiling water and whisk it into the flour mixture. 
4. Add the eggs and molasses and whisk until blended.
5. Turn into a preapred bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes, until well done and a toothpick plunged in the center comes out clean.

Lemon Glaze (optional)

Ingredients

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3  tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Water
• Yellow food gel (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium sized bowl, add your confectioner’s sugar and then stir in lemon juice. Add more sugar or lemon juice/water, if necessary so that the glaze is thick but still pourable. Tint with yellow food gel to desired shade. 

2. Pour the glaze into the molded grooves of the bundt cake very slowly, allowing the glaze to run down the sides, while staying within the grooves, for the effect pictured.

   To see the rest of the images from our Retro 50’s Style Christmas party and to download the FREE printable party decorations click here!

   Merry Christmas, Enjoy your Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cake!

Sweet Recipes: Citrus Cake, A Love Story

Last year I fell in love with a cake. June 14th, 2011.

There you are browsing Pinterest for the 3rd hour in a row when suddenly it smacks you in the face. Cake LOVE. A beautifully photographed and presented cake, for your viewing pleasure. The kind that makes you want to reach on in and grab a slice, if such thing were at all possible. Have you even had this happen to you? Well of course I pinned that sucker right then and there and have since been drooling over it.

Of course I never got around to making it. That is until we settled on a summer Citrus Brunch Celebration and started planning our menu. Then out came my “Cakes” board and the Citrus Cake was re-pinned to our “Citrus Brunch Ideas” board. It was finalized. This cake was going to happen. In my kitchen.

My cake love came at the hand of one Apollinas and her fashion inspired blog. About her cake inspiration she writes: “Those spring Stella McCartney prints we have all been seeing look delicious enough to eat.  So, now you can - in the form of cake…!”

Enough talk of my cake love though, here is the recipe we adapted from Apollinas.

Citrus Cake with Orange & Lemon

Ingredients

• 2 sticksunsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• grated zest of 2 oranges
• grated zest of 2 lemons
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• Non-stick baking spray
• Parchment Paper, cut to fit the bottoms of your baking pans.
• Assorted citrus fruits, sliced and drained to decorate with.
• Fresh mint leaves, for decoration.

Directions

1. Heat your oven to 350°F and prepare two 8″, 9″ or 10″ cake pans. I prefer to use Pam for baking, and spray the pans generously, then line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray again. I find it is easier than buttering and flouring. 
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then set it aside.
3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until fluffy, 2 - 3 minutes.  
4. Add the grated zest of the oranges and lemons.  
5. Add the vanilla.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides if needed.
7. Reduce speed to low, then add the dry mixture and the milk, alternating a little of each, and ending with the dry. Mix this until just until combined, and take care not to overmix.
8. Divide the batter equally between the prepared cake pans, leveling the top of each with a large spoon or rubber spatula.  
9. Bake until a toothpick from the center of the cake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes for 8-inch pans, 22 to 25 minutes for 9-inch pans and 20 to 22 minutes for a 10 inch pan.  
10. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool completely.

Citrus Curd Filling

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tbsp grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 stick unsalted butter, sliced

Directions

1. In a stainless or glass bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, zests and juices. 
2. Add the butter, then set the bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering water.
3. Cook the curd, whisking constantly, until the mixture has thickened, about 15 minutes. 
4. Pour into a medium bowl.  
5. Cover and refrigerate until completely cool, about 2 hours.

Fresh Orange Lemon Buttercream

Ingredients

• 4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 4 cups of powdered sugar

Directions

1. Beat the butter in your electric mixture until light and fluffy. 
2. Reduce the speed to low and add the orange juice and zest.
3. Add the sugar a cup at a time, waiting until one is fully in corporated before adding another.
4. Resume a medium-high speed and beat the buttercream until it is smooth and fluffy.
5. Store at room tempurature until you are ready to ice the cake. (Up to 2 days in an air-tight container.)

Assorted Citrus Fruits & Mint Leaves

Chose which citrus fruits you want to feature on top of the cake.

Slice them thinly and pat dry with a paper towel before laying them on top of your cake.

Pluck your mint off the sprigs and scatter about the cake between your citrus slices to add a bit of greenery. We also added in a bit of sage as well for color around the base of our cake.

Please try this recipe and come back and let us know your thoughts!

Or share with us a cake you fell in LOVE with!

Sweet Ideas: Bumblebee, Honey Comb & Bee Hive Cupcakes

 

We have seen so many cuter than cute parties featuring yellow, bumble bees, honey, and bee hives that we thought we would share a few photos and a recipe for two of our favorite cupcakes.

This recipe is for a Banana Cake topped with Honey Buttercream and finished with a Hive Comb Sugar Cookie or just a simple Bumblebee.

Let me first say, this is one of our favorite recipes. Banana cake is very sweet, but not overly sweet. It is more like a muffin, only topped with frosting. I have personally consumed many of these for breakfast. The combination of banana cake with honey - cinnamon frosting is perfect.

Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Honey-Cinnamon Frosting (recipe below)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Top with Honey-Cinnamon Buttercream. 

Honey Cinnamon Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners’ sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes.

Sugar Cookie Honey Comb Shapes

Ingredients

•  2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons brandy, or milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Light Corn Syrup
• Yello Sanding Sugar

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg, brandy, and vanilla; mix until well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
2. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
5. Brush with a light coating of corn syrup and dust with yellow sanding sugar to complete the look.

 

Decorating Suggestions

Bee Hive Cupcakes: Pipe frosting using a large round tip. You can be as creative as you want here, doing just a few fat rings, or going really tall with several more. 

Honey Comb Cupcakes: Ice cupcakes with a spatula, then affix your sugar cookie shape on top, filling the center with fresh honey to finish.

Bumblebees: Create edible bumblebees to add to your frosted cupcake by combining large black jelly beans, almond slices and yellow tinted icing. (You can use store bought, or leftover honey buttercream.)

• Starting with your jelly beans, secure an almond slice to each side of each bean with dots of icing. You may find it helpful to let the almond slices set in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before attempting to proceed.
• Then stripe your yellowicing across in a zig-zag pattern using a sandwich baggie with  a very small hole snipped off the corner. Refrigerate again to harden icing.
• Nestle your bees onto the frosted cupcakes.

Sweet Recipes: Super Bowl Sunday Cupcakes aka The Cupcake for Men

Hello sports fans! We’ve got a super delicious recipe for you today just in time for the BIG GAME on Sunday! We’ve been huge fans of this cupcake recipe for quite a while now, they are super delicious, moist and best of all, for ADULTS. This is not a cupcake for children, let them have the chocolate frosted and sprinkled and all that jazz. We have BEER and BACON and CHEDDAR. That’s right, all in a cupcake. I know what you are thinking, that sounds weird, interesting perhaps, maybe even intriguing?

Trust us on this one, you want to make these, if for no other reason than to taste the High Gravity Beer Buttercream! There’s just something about beer and buttercream that form a harmoniously wonderful taste sensation.

This recipe is all about the ingredients. Use whatever kind of beer you like. Use a good quality smoked bacon that crisps up nice. Use a more expensive extra sharp cheddar, not the stuff that some pre-shredded. Remember this is for you and your discerning tastes, not the sugar crazed kids!

Sweet Cheddar Beer Cupcake Recipe

1 cup Beer , Your Preference.

1 stick Unsalted Butter

1 cup Sharp Cheddar, Grated. Get something nice and sharp, not the cheap stuff.

2 cups Dark Brown Sugar

3/4 cup Sour Cream

2 Eggs

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

2 cups Flour

2 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1. Heat beer and butter in a large saucepan on medium-high heat until butter is melted.
2. Add cheddar. 
3. Remove from heat, and whisk in the sugar.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla.
5. Mix the sour cream mixture into the beer mixture. 
6. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda.
7. Fold flour mixture into the batter. 
8. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 fill.
9. Bake at 350 F for 18-25 minutes, or until inserted cake tester comes out clean. Watch them closely you want them moist not dry. 
10. Let them cool completely before frosting.

High Gravity Beer Buttercream Recipe

2 sticks Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

4-6 cups Powdered Sugar

1 cup Beer

Grated Cheddar

Crispy Cooked Bacon Pieces (smoked tastes great)

1. Beat butter until creamy. 
2. Slowly mix in 4 cups powdered sugar. 
3. Add beer to taste, more for a stronger flavor if you prefer. 
4. Add in remaining sugar, or just enough to get your buttercream to the right consistency. Not too stiff, not too runny, spread-able. 
5. Top with cheddar and bacon and serve immediately.