1 Year!

Tags

1 year old, apple cake, apples, bananas, Ben, birthday, Birthday Cake, caramel, caramel sauce, low sugar, Luke, no sugar, whole wheat

Ben and Luke turned one year old today, hurray! Someone help me as Thomas is going back to work today too after a long, one year paternity leave. Things are going to get interesting for me around here during the day, to say the least. I made a double batch of apple cake for the boys and a caramel syrup to go over it for the adults as it is a very low sugar, not so sweet cake for a one year old (who has never had processed sugars before). You could omit the sugar all together and use pureed dates but I didn’t have any on hand and had no time to go to the store today. I wonder why? I think the boys enjoyed their first cake though, even if half of it ended up on their laps and on the floor!

Crown Confusion

Prince Benjamin

Prince Lukas (and an attemped decrowning)

Apple-Banana Cake

Getting ready for some cake…

Making a Mess

Yum! Yum!

Twin Whole Grain, Apple-Banana Cake

Adapted from Momtastic’s Applesauce Spice Cake

Makes two 9inch round cakes

For the cakes

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 ripe bananas mashed
• 2 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2+ cups apple juice
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped dates* (or cane sugar, brown sugar or other sweetener)
• 2-3 apples – peeled, cored and thickly sliced

*If using dates I would puree them first then add them when adding the bananas and applesauce to the cake.

Preheat your oven to 350° F. In a large bowl beat with a hand or standing mixer the eggs and sugar (if using) until pale and fluffy, this might take a few minutes. Add the oil, vanilla extract then the applesauce and bananas beating well after each addition. In another large bowl mix together the flours, baking soda, and cinnamon and whisk together well. Slowly add the dry ingredients and the apple juice to the egg mixture alternating and mixing carfully with a spatula. If the batter seems too dry or dense add more apple juice. Grease and flour two 9inch round cake pans. Lay the apple slices in the bottom and pour half the batter in each pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Let cool then transfer to a plate for serving. Decorate with banana or cooked apple cutouts to serve with the cake.

For the caramel syrup (for the big kids/adults)

• 3/4 cup brown sugar (I used Demerara sugar)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 Tbs butter
• pinch of salt

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan combine the sugar, salt and heavy cream stirring over medium to medium/high heat until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Boil while stirring until the caramel sticks to your spoon and coats it. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. If any clumps form put the saucepan back on the heat and stir until the clumps have dissolved. Pour warm over the cake when serving.

 

Anna Is 5!

Tags

Anna, apples, baking, birthday, Birthday Cake, bread, cake, cake pops, caramel, dessert, friends, recipe, stick bread, stockbrot, strawberries, twist bread, vegetarian

Anna turned 5 yesterday! I just can’t believe what a big girl she’s getting to be now. We had a party for her with her friends on Friday afternoon and made stick-bread upon her request over a wood fire in our barbeque grill outside. We got lucky that the weather was actually quite nice for this time of year and we were able to spend most of the birthday party with the kids and their parents outdoors. I served cut up Elstar apples from a local apple orchard and homemade caramel sauce for dipping. Anna and I made chocolate cake pops for the kids the night before and kept them in the freezer until just before the party and at Anna’s request we served her favorite salad: cut up cucumbers and cherry tomatoes with feta cheese served with olive oil, salt and pepper. It was a pretty basic party but we had fun grilling our own bread on an open fire and spending the afternoon outside with family and friends on a lovely fall day.

Today we had a quiet day at home, as the weather was not as nice. And this afternoon we had a small family party, just Thomas, Anna and me, with a surprise birthday cake that I made for Anna while she was at Kindergarten yesterday morning. We gave her our few gifts that we had for her today and the big gift (Fluttershy from My Little Pony, as seen in the first picture above) she got from us on her birthday last night. She was very excited to turn 5 this year and I think her birthday weekend has been pretty full so far with family, friends and fun. She even told us last night after everyone went home after the party and we cleaned up and were getting ready for bed that she loved her birthday day but it was almost “too much birthday”! Oh I love my little, big girl!

 

Strawberries & Cream Layer Cake

Cake recipe adapted from Kristina’s Raspberry Cake via Sugar and Cloth
Frosting recipe adapted from Posie Gets Cozy’s Cloudburst Frosting

For the Cakes

• 1 3/4 cups granulated Sugar
• 2 sticks of unsalted Butter
• 3 cups Cake Flour, sifted
• 2 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 3 Eggs, room temperature
• 3 Egg Yolks, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups whole Milk
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Red Food Coloring (All natural if possible) *optional

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare 3 nine inch cake pans with butter and flour. Sift the flour into a medium sized bowl. Add the baking powder and salt and whisk together. In a larger bowl cream the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer or in a standing mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture one at a time and beat in well between additions to incorporate. Add the three yolks all together and beat until everything is well combined. Blend in the vanilla extract. Then alternating between dry and wet ingredients add the flour mixture and the milk (in thirds) into the batter, beating well between additions. Add food coloring at this point, if using, and blend in well. Divide the batter evenly between the three nine inch pans and bake for 20-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. If you bake the cakes on more than one level in your oven you’ll need to rotate them half way through the projected baking time. Let the cakes cool slightly and then remove them from their pans to cool on a rack.

For the Frosting

• 1/4 cup all-purpose Flour
• 1 cup of whole Milk
• 2 sticks of softened Butter
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract or 1 packet of Dr. Oetker’s Bourbon Vanilla Extract
• 2 cups sifted Powdered Sugar
• Red Food Coloring (All natural if possible)

In a saucepan over medium heat combine the flour with the milk, whisking in the milk very slowly to avoid clumps. Whisk constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and is the consistency of pudding. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature until it has completely cooled. This may take a couple of hours. I left mine to cool for three hours so plan accordingly. In a large bowl cream the butter with the vanilla extract and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the roux to the frosting and continue to beat until well incorporated and becomes fluffy again. Add the desired amount of food coloring, if using, and blend in well.

To Assemble

• 1-2 jars of high fruit content Strawberry Jam (I used 75% fruit jam)
• 1 pint (about 400-500 ml) of Heavy Whipping Cream, whipped firmly
• 1-2 packages each of fresh Strawberries/Raspberries

Place a cooled cake on your serving platter. Spread evenly almost to the edges, but not quite with a layer of strawberry jam. Cover the jam layer with a generous layer of whipped cream. Lay a second cake on top of the cream layer and press down gently until the filling comes out to the edge and the top of the cake is even. Repeat with a layer of jam and whipped cream. Place the third cake on top pressing down gently again until level on top and the filling just comes to the edges. Cover the entire cake with frosting and smooth it out as best you can. Let the cake chill for at least 3 hours before serving and up to one day. Smooth the frosting out again if needed, it will be easier once it has chilled thoroughly. Add whole strawberries to the top and raspberries along the bottom before serving. Enjoy!