Green Tea Cake

The first time I made this cake was in high school. Surprisingly, a lot of my staples come from my high school baking days. I suppose running 5+ miles a day all year round made me want to bake year round too. Anyways, when my friends and I made this cake, one of the girls accidentally baked the teaspoon into the cake. While it was baking, we looked for it to no avail. Then while slicing our dessert, my knife hit something solid. Kind of like king cake, right? Anyways, it was pretty hilarious as we all figured out where the teaspoon ended up. The cake tasted, just fine by the way! It still continues to be my mom's favorite. I made this green tea cake to celebrate her birthday right after Christmas. We also got her a spa day, chocolates, and cleaned the house since she is one amazing momma. The recipe is from All Recipes.

Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/4 cup matcha powder latte mix (I use trader joe's)

1 cup white sugar 

1 cup vegetable oil 

3 eggs 

1 cup plain yogurt 

1 vanilla bean

Hershey's Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

I've been making this cake ever since high school. It was a standard birthday cake among my cross-country friends. The first time I had it, I couldn't believe how good it was! Occasionally I make different variations such as adding in some almond extract or lavender flowers. This time, I fancied it up even more since the cake was made for my dad and Nick's birthdays. Browned butter frosting, coffee, and real vanilla bean made this cake extra special.

For the cake:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup Hershey's special dark cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk or almond milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 vanilla beans, split and scraped
1 cup strong, hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2-9 inch cake pans or 1 -9x13 inch baking pan. These make great cupcakes too. Just take them out a little earlier.
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well and add eggs, milk, yogurt, vegetable oil, and vanilla bean goo. Whisk together until everything is incorporated. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot coffee until the batter is smooth.
Pour into pans and bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick can be removed cleanly from the center of the cake. Let cool completely before unfolding and icing, preferably overnight. The flavors of this cake really develop after a day or so.

For the frosting:
1 stick butter
2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup whole milk
1 whole vanilla bean, scraped

Brown the butter! In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Stir constantly until the butter foams up twice and you can see reddish brown particles on the bottom. The butter will smell nutty and toasted. Immediately take off heat and whisk in cocoa powder. Add the vanilla bean insides. Then add the powdered sugar alternating with the milk, whisking until smooth.
I have to say, the frosting is the best part and this recipe makes a lot! All the better for eating right off the whisk!!

Crazy Coconut Cake

 

 Coconut Cake, with Coconut Buttercream Frosting, topped with coconut flakes. Obviously for the hardcore coconut lover.

Much to my aggravation, my fiance Mark's birthday happens to be three days after Christmas. It's killer for me because he's already hard to buy for, and I have to think of enough present ideas for two occasions in the same week.

His food tastes, however, are pretty easy to figure out. When I saw the recipe for Coconut Cake in the June/July 2012 issue of BUST magazine several months ago, I knew I had to keep it in mind to try.
So, the morning of his birthday, I woke up at 8 a.m. to put the thing together. I never made a homemade cake before, let alone a layered one, but I was extra motivated by the fact that his mom just bought us a Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas. It was also my first time making homemade buttercream frosting.

This recipe I found in BUST, but they cited the recipe from The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, by Cheryl Day & Griffith Day. This recipe is repeated nearly verbatim from the magazine.

Cake Ingredients:
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
3/4 cup cream of coconut (could not find this stuff in the store anywhere, so opted for coconut milk instead)
1 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 lb. (three sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Prep time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Cook time: 45-50 minutes
Serves: 10 - 12