White Chocolate Peppermint Torte

  Hi friends. It feels good to be back in this blog space. Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been focusing my attention on my latest project, My New Roots Grow – an online universe of wellness education – which will launch soon. Grow…

The post White Chocolate Peppermint Torte appeared first on My New Roots.

white chocolate peppermint torte

 

Hi friends.

It feels good to be back in this blog space. Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been focusing my attention on my latest project, My New Roots Grow – an online universe of wellness education – which will launch soon. Grow is the most energy-intensive and large-scale project since my cookbooks, and once again it feels like birthing something major. The blog has been on the back burner giving more space for Grow to, well, grow, but I thought I’d pop in with this stellar holiday dessert because ’tis the season for a White Chocolate Peppermint Torte!

I actually developed this recipe last winter, but wasn’t sure what to do with it. I thought about keeping it exclusively on Grow (since that is where a lot of my recipe content will live from now on!), but because it is so special and delicious, I felt that it should just be out in the world. Inspired by the Spiced Chocolate Torte that I make on the retreats in Mexico (remember places?!), I wanted to make a festive holiday version with white chocolate and peppermint… enter the White Chocolate Peppermint Torte.

The crust is dark chocolate and pecan, so rich and delicious with just the right amount of salt. The interior is velvety smooth and beguilingly creamy, made with cashews, coconut oil, and white chocolate. I love the kiss of peppermint in the filling, which is definitely present but not overwhelming. I didn’t want anyone to feel like they were eating dessert and brushing your teeth at the same time!

white chocolate peppermint torte

 

Some notes on the recipe…


If you’re using peppermint essential oil to flavour the filling, I find it helpful to measure it out on a spoon first, just in case the bottle is in a giving mood – one too many drops of this stuff will ruin a good torte with too much minty-ness! I like to use about 6 or 7 drops total, but if it comes out too fast, I have no way of controlling the amount. If you’re using peppermint extract, start at a quarter of a teaspoon and work your way up to the flavour that suits you.

If you eat a vegan diet, you can use maple syrup instead of honey in the filling, but the colour is going to be more brown / beige than creamy. Also, make sure to find dairy-free white chocolate, since the vast majority of commercially-made white chocolate contains milk solids. And then, if you do find vegan white chocolate, read the ingredient list to make sure that is doesn’t contain any hydrogenated oils or weird emulsifiers (or just pick your battles!).

 

white chocolate peppermint torte

The torte decorating is entirely up to you, although pomegranate seeds create a striking display of holiday cheer! Other options include fresh mint leaves, cacao nibs, or shaved dark chocolate. You could even include them all, if you’re feeling extra festive.

Store the torte in the freezer until you’re ready to enjoy it, then bring it out about 15-20 minutes before serving so that it’s not rock hard. It’s easier to slice and eat when it’s warmed up a tad. Use a smooth, very sharp chef’s knife, and run it under hot water before cutting into the torte to make it glide.

If you’re not in the mood to make a crust, you can turn this dessert into freezer fudge by preparing only the filling. Pour the filling into an 8-inch / 20 cm square pan lined with plastic wrap; top with ½ cup / 65g toasted pecans, cacao nibs, or chocolate shards, and freeze until solid (about 2 hours). Slice into squares and enjoy straight from the freezer!

white chocolate peppermint torte

 

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White Chocolate Peppermint Torte

Author Sarah Britton

Ingredients

  • For the crust:
  • 1 cup / 100g pecans
  • ¼ cup / 60ml coconut oil preferably flavour-neutral
  • 3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
  • ¼ tsp. fine-grain sea salt
  • 1 ½ cups / 150g rolled oats divided, gluten-free if necessary
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • For the filling:
  • 1 ½ cups / 200g cashews soaked for at least 4 hours
  • ¾ cup / 175 ml creamed honey sub with maple syrup, but be warned the colour of the filling will be brown
  • ½ cup / 125 ml coconut oil
  • 75 g / 2.6 oz. white chocolate melted (dairy-free / vegan if desired)
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp. fine-grain sea salt
  • a few drops peppermint essential oil or extract to taste
  • pomegranate, mint, cacao nibs, shaved dark chocolate, for garnish, optional

Instructions

  • Make the Crust: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease a 9-inch (23 cm) spring form pan or pie dish with coconut oil.
  • In a food processor, blend ½ cup (50g) of the rolled oats on high until you have a rough flour, place a small bowl and set aside. Without cleaning the machine, process the pecans into a fine crumb with the texture of sand. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, oat flour and cacao powder, and process again until the dough comes together. Finally, add the remaining 1 cup of rolled oats and pulse until the oats are chopped, but still have some texture to them. The dough should stick together slightly when pressed between your fingers. If it doesn’t, try adding a bit more maple syrup or processing a bit longer.
  • Crumble roughly half of the dough evenly over the base of the pan. Starting from the middle, press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom, moving outward and upward along the side of the pie dish. The harder you press the crumbs into the dish, the better the crust will hold together. Taking a small section at a time, use the remaining crust to go up the sides, all around the form until complete. Poke a few fork holes into the bottom of the crust to let the steam escape.
  • Bake the crust, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, until fragrant and slightly darker around the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
  • Make the filling: Drain and rinse the cashews. In a high-speed blender, combine the soaked cashews, honey, oil, melted chocolate, vanilla, salt, and peppermint, then blend on high until the filling is completely smooth. It can take a few minutes of blending to get it smooth, depending on your blender. If the blender needs more liquid to get it going, add a tablespoon (15 mL) of plant-based milk (or a bit more) to help it along.
  • Pour the filling into the prepared crust, smoothing out the top evenly. Place the torte on an even surface in the freezer, uncovered. Freeze for a couple of hours, and then cover the dish with foil and freeze overnight, or for a minimum of 4 to 6 hours, until the torte sets.
  • Remove the torte from the freezer and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes before slicing. It is meant to be served cold. Garnish with mint leaves, pomegranate seeds, cacao nibs, melted or shaved chocolate, if desired.

I hope that wherever you are and whatever you’re celebrating this month, you are safe, healthy, and grateful. This year has thrown us all for the biggest loop of our lives, and finding the small joys and tiny triumphs (like getting out for some fresh air, putting dinner on the table) is enough to make me feel proud, anyway. The holidays will undoubtedly look different this year, but I know that I am just thankful to have a roof over my head and a torte to share with the ones I love. I hope the same for you, dear friend.

In light and love, best wishes for the season ahead.

Sarah B

The post White Chocolate Peppermint Torte appeared first on My New Roots.

Skillet Cranberry and Apple Cake

This easy skillet cake with cranberries and apples highlights some of my favorite fall flavors – in a lightly spiced batter.

This easy skillet cake with cranberries and apples highlights some of my favorite fall flavors – in a lightly spiced batter.

 Fall and winter are such cozy seasons for baking that I find myself with something in the oven at least a few times a week. This skillet cake is a wonderfully versatile recipe that you can really serve any time of day.


This post is sponsored by Lodge Cast Iron. Their new bakeware line is gorgeous, sturdy, super versatile (hello, stove to oven to table!) and sure to become some of your favorites. I’ve used Lodge Cast Iron for years in my kitchen and I was very excited to learn about their new line of bakeware including this Baker’s Skillet which is perfect for everything from a savory quiche to a simple and comforting cake like this one. 


Have a slice with tea or coffee in the afternoon, but make sure to save a bit for breakfast the next day too. Or, you can dress it up with a little bit of confectioner’s sugar and whipped crème fraiche for a gorgeous, low lift dessert.

 The addition of rye flour here makes the cake exceptionally tender and I love the addition of tart cranberries for both color and a little pop of bright flavor that offsets the sweet and spice. If you don’t keep rye flour you can substitute and equal amount of all purpose or whole wheat flour, and feel free to sub pears for the apples too. 


Skillet Rye Cranberry Apple Cake

Makes one 9 or 10-inch cake


 3/4 cup (150g) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup (160g) crème fraiche

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup (130g) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (65g) light rye flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped apple, from 1 large apple

3/4 cup (75g) fresh or frozen cranberries

4 teaspoons crunchy sugar like turbinado 

Confectioners sugar and whipped crème fraiche to serve, if desired


1. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter the Lodge Bakers’s Skillet or 9-inch cake pan

2. In a large bowl, whisk the brown sugar and eggs until pale and foamy, about 1 minute. Add the melted butter, crème fraiche, and spices. Whisk until smooth and emulsified. 

3. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until almost combined. 

4. Switch to a rubber spatula and add the cranberries and apples. Fold to combine making sure no streaks of flour remain.

4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top of the batter with an offset spatula. Sprinkle the sugar over the top. 

5. Bake until puffed and golden, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Serve warm or room temperature with a dusting of confectioners sugar and whipped crème fraiche if desired.

Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake with Maple Olive Oil Glaze from Snacking Cakes

This one-bowl Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake with Maple Olive Oil Glaze is as easy as can be. It’s a great alternative to pie for Thanksgiving too. The maple olive oil glaze is sweet and savory all at once and has the most velvety texture.

This one-bowl Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake with Maple Olive Oil Glaze is as easy as can be. It’s a great alternative to pie for Thanksgiving too. The maple olive oil glaze is sweet and savory all at once and has the most velvety texture.

If you’re feeling to tired or to stressed for pie this Thanksgiving, or maybe you just don’t like pie (I know you’re out there!) - let me humbly suggest this Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake that comes together in one bowl without much fuss. You have probably guessed this already, but it’s a recipe from my new book Snacking Cakes!

It has all of the warm spices you could possibly want, and is topped with maple olive oil glaze and a pinch of sea salt for a sweet and savory vibe that makes it a great snack for anytime of day. You might even want to make one now to snack on as you’re cooking today and tomorrow…Just a thought!

It’s the perfect size for the small gatherings we are all having this year, and if you have leftovers they make an excellent breakfast the next day. We baked it as a loaf for the book, but you can certainly bake it in a round or square pan too.

Stay safe out there everyone. Happy Thanksgiving!


Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake with Maple Olive Oil Glaze from Snacking Cakes

Pumpkin cake isn’t just for the fall, and this version, spiked with a bit of allspice and black pepper, has a hit of warmth that makes it more exciting than your average pumpkin spice mix. The glaze has a sweet and savory thing going on that pairs beautifully with the spices. If you prefer your pumpkin cake unadorned, feel free to skip the glaze and just sprinkle a few tablespoons of untoasted pepitas over the top of the cake batter before it goes into the oven.



Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake

1 cup (200g) light brown sugar

2 large eggs


1 cup (230g) pumpkin puree


½ cup (120ml) olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

A few grinds of black pepper

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1½ cups (190g) all-purpose our

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons chopped toasted pepitas (optional)

 

Maple Olive Oil Glaze

1 cup (100g) confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil


2 tablespoons maple syrup


1 to 2 tablespoons hot water

Pinch of kosher salt

Chopped pepitas (optional)

Flaky salt (optional)



1. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or coat an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Line the pan with a strip of parchment paper that hangs over two of the edges.

2. MAKE THE CAKE: In a large bowl, whisk the brown sugar and eggs until pale and foamy, about 1 minute. Add the pumpkin puree, olive oil, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, pepper, and kosher salt. Whisk until smooth and emulsified.

 3. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk until well-combined and smooth.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, tap the pan gently on the counter to release any air bubbles, and smooth the top of the batter with an offset spatula. Sprinkle the pepitas over the top if you are not going to glaze the cake.

5. Bake until puffed and golden, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool for about 15 minutes. Then use the parchment paper
to lift the cake out of the pan and set it on the rack to cool completely.

6. MAKE THE GLAZE: Combine the confectioners’ sugar, olive oil, maple syrup, 1 tablespoon of the hot water, and a pinch of kosher salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth, adding more water as necessary to make a thick but pourable glaze.

7. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and sprinkle with the pepitas and flaky salt, if desired. Let the glaze set for about 20 minutes before slicing the cake. (Store the cake, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to three days.)

Use Another Pan

LOAF: Bake in a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan until puffed and golden, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. You’ll need a half batch of glaze to coat the cake in a thin layer.

ROUND: Bake in a 9-inch round pan until puffed and golden, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes.

SHEET: Double the ingredients for the cake and bake in a
9 x 13-inch pan until puffed and golden, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Double the ingredients for the glaze, too.

Dress It Up

Add a dollop of Brown Sugar Whip (page 180) or a scoop of ice cream (or both!) to slices of cake before serving.

Flavor Variations

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE: Prepare the cake as directed, then fold in ½ cup (85g) chopped bittersweet chocolate just before pouring the batter into the pan. Top with Cocoa Glaze (page 135).

 RYE PUMPKIN CAKE: Substitute ½ cup (65g) light rye flour for the all-purpose flour. This version is also quite nice with a bit of chocolate folded into the batter.

birthday battenberg

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hello, hi! how are you doing? are you enjoying this weather? can you believe that it is... summer kind of?? bernie and i have been lapping up the sun like thirsty puppies. nearly every afternoon, we pack a little bag of water, bamba or freeze-dried berries, sunscreen, books, and toys, and bring it out to a blanket on our lawn where we bask and play and listen to the sound of music. sometimes my phone doesn't get very good reception however so instead of julie andrews serenading us it becomes me squeaking out i-am-16-going-on-17-doo-doo-dee-doo-dee-doo because i don't know the words and the whole time i have to ignore the vision in my head of john mulaney doing the creepy version on SNL. it's really awful when we have to resort to me singing, i can’t wait for the future when cell phone reception is better. regardless, these pre-mosquito days are idyllic. bernie is in this painfully perfect sweet spot where she has learned not to put everything in her mouth (dirt, bugs, the cold noodles leftover in the grass from her sensory play weeks ago) and she can't yet walk or run very fast so i don't have to chase after her worried that she's going to run into the construction hole in our yard (more on that eventually…!). we can just sit contentedly on the blanket with crayons or balls for hours and i love it.

so that's what we did on my birthday last friday! nick was planting sugar beets and bernie and i spent the day outside. we blew up her new kiddie pool and tested out what it would be like to sit in it (it was still a little chilly for water) and zoomed with all of our people. we had homemade egg mcmuffins, as is tradition on my birthday, and sausagey pizza for dinner. after bernie went to bed, i zoom aperol spritz’d with rob and brian and then watched center stage. center stage is SO GOOD. 

for my birthday cake this year, i decided to make a battenberg cake! 1) because it’s been a long time since the last time i made a battenberg, 2) it's fun, and 3) it's a great cake for a tiny party of three because it's small yet festive. it also lasts for a good few days so you can chip away at it without feeling the rush to gobble it up, and the fact that it has no frosting gives it this sense of snackiness which lends a tiny bit more legitimacy to the urge you'll have when you’re passing through the kitchen and just want to shave off one bite. 

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the cake itself is dense and delicious, with a hint of rose. as with most of my butter-based cakes, i added a little coconut oil to ensure that this cake has no choice but to be moist. you can use unrefined to add some coconut flavor, but i chose to go with refined so that it wouldn't interfere with the power couple of marzipan and rose. for the jam, i used an amazing strawberry rhubarb kumquat situation that my aunt gifted me from sqirl. design wise, my laziness to fully knead the food coloring into the marzipan made it look like my tie dye sweats that i wear every day so i just went with it! then i cut out marzipan "stickers" using tiny cookie cutters and smooshed them right on. 

my biggest battenberg tips are: roll the marzipan out on a silicone mat! you don’t get the scrunchy lines in it like you would if it was on parchment and you don't get it messy with powdered sugar (which is fine for the interior surface of the marzipan but on the outside it’s not a great look). also, let the cakes cool completely before trimming them so you can get the cleanest edges, and use a very sharp knife (i’ve been loving this knife for this). once the cakes are trimmed, you can definitely stick them in the freezer, wrapped in plastic, for up to a few weeks until you're ready to decorate (or up to a few months if you also wrap in foil). once you decorate, let the cake come to room temp before serving!

happy battenberg-ing, everyone!

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Birthday Battenberg

Makes 1 loaf cake

Ingredients

Cake:

2 2/3 c (347g) all-purpose flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 c (240g) heavy cream

1/4 c (60g) sour cream

3/4 c (169g) unsalted butter, softened

6 tb (75g) refined coconut oil

1 1/2 c (300g) sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp rosewater

3 tb (36g) rainbow sprinkles (classic cylinders are ideal, not nonpareils)

Pink food coloring


Assembly:

14 oz marzipan, plus more for decorations as desired

Food coloring

Powdered sugar, for dusting

6 tb (120g) jam

Clues:

preheat the oven to 350ºf. turn an 8” square baking pan into a battenberg pan: first, fold a long piece of foil onto itself a couple of times to a create a foil barrier to divide your pan in half, making sure that the barrier is at least the height of the pan or even a little more. then spray the pan and each side of the foil with cooking spray (to help the parchment stick) and line each half of the pan with two overlapping pieces of parchment paper, one going widthwise and one going lengthwise, with enough parchment paper to come all the way up the sides and then some. get your scissors out and trim the parchment so that it lays nicely and doesn’t curl around the corners and make you go crazy. sorry, i know this is a lot of parchment paper (i reuse parchment all the time!). ok, set this aside.

in a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, and then lightly stir in the salt and set aside. in a large measuring cup, whisk together the heavy cream and sour cream and set aside. 

in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream together the butter, coconut oil, and sugar on medium high for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each and periodically scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. add the vanilla and rosewater and mix to combine. reduce the mixer to medium low and add the dry mixture and cream mixture in 3 alternating additions, mixing until 80% combined. divide the mixture in half. in the first half, fold in the sprinkles as you mix until the batter is combined. pour into one side of the pan and use a small offset spatula or a spoon to carefully spread it out evenly. in the second half of the batter, add a few drops of pink food coloring and fold it in as you mix until the batter is combined. pour into the other side of the pan and use a small offset spatula or a spoon to carefully spread it out evenly. bake until the tops of the cakes are browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs on it; begin checking for doneness at 45 minutes. let cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then use the parchment wings to left them out of the pans and onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

once the cakes are cooled, level them and trim off the sides if they're uneven. cut into 4 equal rectangles that are as wide as they are thick (measure the thickness of the cake once it’s leveled and then turn your ruler 90º to measure that same amount on top of the cake and score with an accordion pastry cutter). enjoy a bite of cake scraps and set these aside.

knead the marzipan with food coloring to get your desired color, dusting with powdered sugar if it gets too sticky. on a silicone mat (or a big piece of parchment or a counter dusted with powdered sugar, but i strongly recommend a silicone mat so that you don't get powdered sugar all over what will eventually become the outside surface of the marzipan) roll the marzipan out into a rectangle that's about 7 1/2” wide by about 13” long, dusting the top with powdered sugar as needed to prevent sticking. trim the edges so they’re straight. brush all over with a thin layer of jam and place a rectangle of pink cake at one end. brush the exposed surfaces with a thin layer of jam. squish a rectangle of sprinkle cake right next to it and brush the exposed surfaces with a layer of jam. stack the other two rectangles of cake on top, brushing with jam, to form a checkerboard pattern. carefully roll it onto its side, pressing the marzipan all over so that it sticks, and then continue to roll until the cake is covered. trim off any excess marzipan, wrap in firmly plastic wrap and let set in the fridge for a couple of hours. decorated with additional marzipan decorations and sprinkles as desired. let come to room temperature and enjoy!

this cake will last at room temperature, wrapped in plastic or in an airtight container for up to a week.

Print this recipe

-yeh!

naturally colored rainbow cake + bernie is one!!

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Bernie is ONE!! Yes, it went by so quickly! Yes, she gets more delicious every day!! Yes, I began planning her vegetable-themed birthday party more than six months ago and spent hours and hours searching for the perfect garlands and outfits, hand drawing her invitations, developing new recipes, sketching out her table scape, typewriter-ing the seed packet party favors, and scheduling the prep down to the minute. (And yes, in retrospect, I see what Nick meant when he said that I am… crazy…) And then yes, we had to cancel it ☹️! But!! Even though we missed our fronds and family dearly, it was truly a magical beautiful Bernie day and we loved every single moment of it. We had sprinkle pancakes and blueberries for breakfast, homemade chicken and stars soup for lunch, and turkey spinach meatballs with freshly made fettuccine for dinner. In between, we played in pools of Cheerios and visited the farm cats. And then we had cake! Obviously!

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I am so pleased with how this naturally colored rainbow cake turned out. It took a bunch of experimenting and tweaking to get the shades to match and to figure out a method that wouldn’t require too much fussiness/juicing/boiling of beets/etc. I tried using turmeric but that was too bright, and I tried using a store-bought precooked beet but that wasn’t bright enough and just got messy. In the end, I went with a combination of store-bought carrot juice, store-bought beet juice, and a big bunch of fresh mint. The cake is based on my go-to vanilla butter cake that is so incredibly moist, dense, and delicious. It’s one of my proudest cakes! The flavor of the beets and the carrots is undetectable and the flavor of the fresh mint shines through just a wee bit, enough to lend its herby flavor but it’s far from overpowering. I went with a basic cream cheese frosting to add some nice tang and decorated with Fimo clay cake toppers.

For Bernie’s mini cake, I stacked up the scraps that I cut off from leveling the layers and cut out tiny layers with a biscuit cutter. No separate cake pans necessary. I was so excited when I realized this would work! The cake is so moist that the scrap layers stuck together without a need for frosting between them. Bernie loved it! I took enough photos of her eating it to break my phone and she didn’t even make a huge mess which makes me think that one day she’ll make a great cook that will be good at the whole clean-as-you-go thing. 

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Weeks ago, I baked the cake layers, let them cool, formed Bernie’s mini cake, wrapped everything in plastic wrap and froze them so that I could have one more thing checked off my to-do list for the party. It also made frosting them, especially the mini cake, way way easier. I always like to frost frozen cakes (and then allow to sit at room temperature for a few hours or overnight before serving). 

Important note about the layers! This cake was originally supposed to be three layers (pink, yellow, and green) but I added a blue layer at the last minute because we were going to be expecting more guests than my usual three-layer cake serves and also because I needed to test two of the layers again so figured I’d experiment with a blue layer for the third. The blue layer is not a part of the recipe below but if you’d like to make a blue layer, simply use the same method as the green layer but sub out the mint for wild blueberries (I used frozen). You’ll have to either add another third batch of batter (using a scale and weighted measurements will help with this and ugh sorry about the 1/3 of an egg thing!) or replace one of the other colors with the blue. I’m sorry for any confusion that this causes!!


Naturally Colored Rainbow Cake

Makes one 3-layer 8” cake (and a mini cake!)

Ingredients

3 1/2 c (450g) all-purpose flour

1 tb baking powder

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 c (225g) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 c (112g) refined coconut oil, room temperature

2 1/4 c (450g) sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tb vanilla bean paste or extract

1/2 c (120g) sour cream, room temperature

1 c (236g) whole milk, divided

1/4 c carrot juice

1/4 c beet juice (storebought is fine, the one I get has a little lemon juice added and that’s ok)

1/4 c firmly packed fresh mint leaves


Frosting:

1 c** (225g) good quality unsalted butter, room temperature

8 oz (224g) cream cheese, room temperature

4 c** (480g) powdered sugar

1/8 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

3 tb** (45g) heavy cream

**if you’re making a mini cake, I recommend adding another 1/2 c of butter, 1 c of sugar, and 1 tb of heavy cream to the frosting in order to have enough!

Clues

To make the cake layers: preheat the oven to 350ºf. Grease and line the bottoms of three 8” cake pans with parchment and set aside. (For a 4-layer cake, which is the one on the pictures, please see my note above!)

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, and then lightly stir in the salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, coconut oil, and sugar on medium high for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Reduce the mixer to low and add the vanilla and sour cream. Gradually add the dry mixture and mix until about 80% combined (you’re going to continue to mix once you add the coloring so only partially mixing at this stage prevents over mixing the batter). Divide the batter evenly into 3 bowls (using a scale helps with this!). In the first bowl, add 1/4 cup of milk and the carrot juice and fold together until smooth and just combined. In the second bowl, add 1/4 cup of milk and the beet juice and fold together until smooth and just combined. In a blender, blend together the mint leaves with the remaining 1/2 cup of milk until very smooth. Add this to the third bowl and fold together until smooth and just combined. Transfer the batters to the cake pans and spread them out evenly. 

Bake until the edges of the cakes are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs on it; begin checking for doneness at 30 minutes and try your darnedest not to let it over bake. Let in the pans for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the buttercream: 

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and cream cheese until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, and then mix in the salt, vanilla, and heavy cream. Mix until creamy.

To frost the cake, level the top of the layers and then stack them up with a layer of frosting in between. (The cakes bake up generally pretty flat so there won’t actually be that much to level off.) Frost all over and decorate as desired.

To make a mini cake, stack the leveled scraps of cake up, give them a good firm pat so they stick, and cut out four 2 1/2 inch circles with a biscuit cutter. Don’t worry if some of the scraps tear, the cake is moist enough that when you stack up the scraps, they’ll all smoosh together. Stack them on top of each other and, if you have the time, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for a few hours or even a few weeks. This will make frosting this tiny cake way easier! Frost while frozen and let come to room temp before serving.

This cake is super moist that you could definitely decorate the day before serving. Let it sit at room temperature overnight.

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-yeh!

valentine’s day almond cake

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Holy guacamole snowstorm almond paste, where did January and the better part of February go?? It seems like just yesterday that I was rolling around with Bernie under the Chrismukkah bush and staring down my kransekake asking what am I going to do with you? (Oh wait, that definitely was yesterday because a) we still have the bush up and b) nobody ate my kransekake and it’s still in our pantry/prop/piano room looking as handsome as ever.) My point is that wow time flies when you’re belting Sesame Street and braving the snowstorm to go to library story time. I’m so sorry I haven’t written to you in forever!!! Are we still fronds? Are we fronds on Instagram?? I find it’s much more manageable these days to document directly from my phone during nap time and in between readings of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs rather than opening up my computer for a longer form blog post. So for the time being, let’s just hover between Instagram and a less frequent but not totally infrequent blog post correspondence, ok??? Navigating the internet and balancing time with Bernie and other projects is hard! But I love them all so I promise to blog as often as I can!

Let me ketchup on what we’ve been doing this winter!

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We’ve been snowshoeing in the yard, finger painting, tasting the finger paint, cheering on Jason Brown’s quad, screaming for Mariah Bell’s nationals moment, testing Girl Meets Farm season 6 enchiladas again and again, avoiding the flu, going to the spa in Winnipeg, and scrubbing oatmeal off of a high chair three times a day every single day. We’ve reached peak coziness on the couch, taken swim lessons, and zipped down to Arizona to see the sun. We’ve eaten plenty of pot pies and kept up our pizza Friday habit, and Bernie’s had her first boureka, hawaij, harissa, and bamba. Next week we’ll get another little dose of sun in South Beach and then before we know it, we’ll be filming again and then after that it’s spring planting! Ugh I love winter so much. How have you been? Are you staying warm? Ready for the spring??

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On to the cake. It is time for Bernie’s very first annual Valentine’s Day almond cake and oh my good gosh geez, I’ve been dreaming of this moment for so very long. As you know, I make this same exact cake every single year for Valentine’s Day and have way too much fun thinking of different ways to decorate it. The cake itself is a light spongey almond cake with fluffy whipped cream and it’s so good and not too rich. (See below for links to the cakes I’ve made every year since the start of this blog.) This year I spent a really long time brainstorming ways for Bernie to help decorate, taking into account the fact that most Valentine’s candies are choking hazards and all she wants to do is put everything into her mouth. So inspired by a painting method that Hayley, the art director for Girl Meets Farm, did with Bernie to make paintings for our refrigerator, I taped a bag of melted (and mostly cooled) chocolate to her high chair tray and let her mush it around. She loves squishing things!! When she was done with her masterpiece, we put the bag in the freezer (carefully, to maintain Bernie’s artistic vision) and when the chocolate firmed up, we used it as the decorations on the cake!

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This is by far my favorite Valentine’s Day cake of all time. I’m so stinkin excited to eat it. We’re going to have it with heart shaped pizza and it’s gonna be the best!!! Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!!

(And you can see all of my past valentine’s cakes here! 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013 / 2012 / 2011 / 2010)


valentine's day almond cake

serves 10-12

ingredients

cake:

1/2 c (64g) all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

8 oz almond paste

6 large eggs, separated

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c (100g) sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract


whipped cream:

1 1/2 c (360g) heavy whipping cream

1/2 c (60g) powdered sugar

1 tsp almond extract

pink food coloring (the food coloring in the photo is americolor’s mauve colored gel), optional


assembly:

chocolate
sprinkles of all sorts

clues

preheat the oven to 350ºf. grease and line the bottom of a 9” springform pan and set aside.

in a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.

in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt to soft peaks and then gradually beat in the sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time. continue beating to stiff peaks and then set aside.

in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (i usually just scoop the whites out of the bowl and transfer them to a separate bowl and then reuse my stand mixer bowl without having to wash it for this step), combine the almond paste and egg yolks and beat on high for 2 minutes until pale and fluffy (but allow some almond paste chunks to remain in tact), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. mix in the vanilla and almond extract. gently fold the whites into the yolk mixture and then fold in the flour mixture. pour the batter into the pan and then bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at 30 minutes.

cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes and then remove to the rack to cool fully.

to make the whipped cream, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and almond extract to stiff peaks. add a few drops of pink food coloring if desired.

spread the whipped cream on top of the cake. decorate with chocolate and/or sprinkles as desired and enjoy!!

store leftovers in the fridge for up to a few days.

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-yeh!

a chrismukkah kransekake

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Around here, it just isn’t the holidays if, after being buried under a mountain of cookies all month, I don’t then emerge to make a holiday cake. It usually has marzipan or a storm of coconut snow or some type of gingerbread house-inspired element, and it’s typically my contribution to Nick’s extended family’s holiday party. This year I decided that it was time to tackle the magical Kransekake!

Kransekake is a Norwegian and Danish cake that’s traditional to have at big celebrations like weddings, Christmas celebrations, and Syttende Mai (Norwegian Constitution Day). In my eyes it’s the centerpiece of the celebration. It presides over the party. Whenever I’m in the room with one I just gaze at it with heart eyes because it’s so stunning and geometrically pleasing. The circles stacked up look so clean and pretty and I just always assumed that it would be extremely complicated and time consuming to make. So I started my research months ago and tapped friends and family for their recipes and tips. I learned of secret almond paste sources and admired Erin’s gingerbread version and got the story from Chantell and Brett on the wedding tradition of pulling off the top ring to see how many other rings stick to it and that symbolizes how many children you’ll have (!!!) Hah. I love it. 

Probably my favorite thing that I learned was [whispers] that it’s actually easy to make. It may look delicate and time consuming, but in reality it’s quite sturdy and pretty difficult to screw up. The dough is easy to work with and there’s no gluten in it so you don’t have to worry about overworking it. The only thing that requires pre-planning is ordering the molds on Amazon. Past that, you don’t need a stand mixer or fancy ingredients or days and days of time. With good time management, you can crank one out in a day. 

Also!!!! It’s so tasty!!! It’s basically baked marzipan. Crisp on the outside, super chewy on the inside, it bursts with almond flavor, and it also kinda lasts forever so you can totally make it far in advance. I can’t sing enough praises about Kransekake. It’s officially my favorite Norwegian thing since Bernie. 

My version is a Chrismukkah Kransekake. It’s decorated with a paper chain that’s a miniature version of the rainbow felt chain that Nick and I made years ago for our Chrismukkah bush. (It’s rainbow because rather than going with a red/green Christmas theme or a blue/white Hanukkah theme, we just went with all of the colors!) It’s a pretty standard Kransekake recipe that I’ve embellished slightly with rosewater or orange blossom (both go so well with almond) and I like to grease the pans with coconut oil for a hint of coconut flavor. You could always go with butter though.

So if you’re looking to impress all of your fronds with a holiday party centerpiece that’s less labor intensive than a gingerbread house (and, well, much tastier), make this!!!! 


Kransekake

Makes 1 large Kransekake

Ingredients

500g (4 c + 7 tb) almond meal, plus more for dusting

500g (4 c + 3 tb) powdered sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

4 large egg whites

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp orange blossom water or rosewater, optional

Softened butter or coconut oil, for greasing

For assembly

Royal icing (I just bought meringue powder from my local grocery and followed the recipe on the back!)

Sprinkles, paper chains, flags, any other fun decor!

Clues

In a large bowl, whisk together the almond meal, powdered sugar, and salt. Add the egg whites, almond extract, and orange blossom water or rosewater (if using) and stir with a spatula to combine. At first it will seem like there is not enough liquid to hold everything together but just keep on mixing and it will eventually form a dough. Pat the dough into 2 discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400ºf and position the racks in the center of the oven. Use your hands to grease your kransekake molds liberally with butter or coconut oil and set aside. I prefer to set the molds on large baking sheets so that they’re easier to move around. 

Working with one dough disc at a time, chop off a piece of dough and roll it into a rope that’s a generous 1/2” thick (or, if you’re pulling your kitchen ruler out, just go with 5/8” thick…), dusting with additional almond flour if the dough is sticky. Coil the rope into the molds, pinch off any excess dough, and pinch the ends to seal them together. Continue this, re-rolling scraps as needed, until all of the molds are filled. Don’t worry about overworking the dough! Bake until golden; begin checking for doneness at 9 minutes. You’ll likely need to bake these layers in batches, which is totally fine, just keep any dough that you’re not working with covered and in the refrigerator. 

Let the rings cool in the pans and then carefully pop them out (a small offset spatula or butter knife will help) and transfer to a baking sheet or wire rack. 

Make your royal icing and stack the rings up and then pipe on your decorations or pipe on your decorations, let them dry, and then stack them up. When you stack them up, “glue” them together with dots of royal icing (I do dots at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock). Let the icing dry and then decorate with sprinkles, paper chains, flags, or other decor as desired! This is good for at least a few days uncovered at room temperature, so feel free to make this in advance!

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-yeh!

photos by chantell and brett quernemoen

The Classic Birthday Cake

It’s birthday season in Apartment 2 (we lost the B in our move, years ago) and you all know I love a big ol birthday cake. I have to admit that I have been a chocolate cake/vanilla frosting devotee for many years but after trying this yellow cake recipe my preference just may be flipping upside down. It is straight from King Arthur so you can head on over to their site to check it out.

The method for mixing the cake is a little unusual, but it gives this cake a really nice crumb and moist texture. I find yellow/white cakes can be kind of bland and dry, but not this one! Make sure to use high quality cocoa powder in the frosting, it makes a huge difference.