Green Tea Chiffon Cake

This morning, I woke up to the Santa Ana Winds rattling my windows. I knew it was going to be a chilly, blustery day. As I walked downstairs, wrapped in my fuzzy blanket, I couldn't help but wander to my little baking cupboard. The first thing I saw was the last of my matcha green tea powder. After an ingredients check, I realized that I had plenty of eggs, but no butter. So what choice does a girl have but to make a chiffon cake, right? 

This chiffon cake is pillowy soft and not too sweet with just a wonderful balance of green tea flavor. My parents already inhaled a chunk of the cake. They're Asian, so anything that's overly sweet is definitely overly despised. Onwards to the process!

The starting line-up...


My wonderful scale, for all my delicate cakes and macarons.


First off, combine the flour, green tea powder, baking powder, and salt. Sift together in a bowl and set aside.


Next, combine the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk until pale.




I combined the water and oil in one cup, and then I added it into the egg yolk mixture a little at a time.


In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix the egg whites until foamy. Once it's foamy, slowly add the sugar. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Look at those stiff peaks!


Fold the egg whites into the wet ingredients in 3 installments. Fold gently.








Pour into an angel food cake pan and bake in a 340F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the cake.


Voila!

Ingredients

Part A

• 6 egg yolks 
• 80 g white sugar 
• 200 g cake flour 
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• Pinch of salt 
• 2 tbsp green tea powder
• 100 ml vegetable oil 
• 150 ml water 

Part B

• 6 egg whites 
• 80 g white sugar 

1. Sift together the flour, green tea powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale. Slowly add in the water and oil until all is combined.

3. Add the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Don't over-mix!

4. Using a stand/hand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk egg whites until foamy. Add sugar slowly. On medium speed, whip eggs to stiff peaks. 

5. Add the egg whites into the wet ingredients in 3 installments, folding gently until there are no more white streaks. 

6. Pour into a 10" tube pan and bake at 340F for about 45 minutes. 

7. Once the cake is done, take it out of the oven and turn it upside down so that the cake can maintain its volume. Cool completely. 

Lemon Pound Cake

The best thing I like about this recipe is that it is so simple. It's a true "no fuss, no muss" type of loaf. And what's even better, you probably already have all the ingredients in your kitchen! The only advice I can give for those of you who wish to make this lemon cake is to watch how much you mix the batter. You don't want to over mix as this will cause the cake to become tough. Mix just until the ingredients are incorporated together. Then stop. Just stop. Leave it alone. It's okay if there are lumps. The final cake will be soft and moist. I really like that this cake is more of a mix between pound cake (dense) and normal cake (fluffy). Delicious.

So here is the recipe for Easy Lemon Pound Cake:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Mix together 1 cup sugar and butter.
   
   
   Add eggs and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice; mix well. (I also added the zest of 1 lemon)
2. Add salt, flour, and baking powder to mixture.
3. Add milk and stir until it becomes a smooth batter. (Don't overmix!)
4. Bake at 325°F in a well greased loaf pan for 1 hour,or until golden brown.
5. Mix 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar.
6. Use a toothpick to make holes in top of cake and drizzle lemon juice and sugar mixture over the top of the cake when removed from the oven.
7. Serve warm or cool. 

Meyers Lemon Bundt Cake

Last week, I won a new Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer in an online auction for $2.75. Yup, you read that right - $2.75. With shipping and handling, the total came out to a whopping $30. With these stand mixers retailing at $300, I was beside myself with joy and vowed to make everyone I knew some type of baked good with all the money I saved. Well, the stand mixer came in the mail. It was quite an adventure opening up the box, within a box, within a box. Pretty intense packaging if you ask me, but I don't mind as long as it keeps my baby safe!

Box 1

Box 2

At last! The last box!

It's just so beautiful...and NEW!

It just so happens that my wonderful aunt supplies me with a steady supply of Meyers lemons. Meyers lemons, if you don't know, are a little different from regular lemons. They are slightly sweeter and have an orange tint to the peel making them perfect for baking. I was recently browsing through a few blogs and found this mouth-watering Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake recipe that I wanted to try. So here we go!

Meyers Lemons

Here are the lemons graciously provided by my aunt...beautiful, aren't they?

The ingredients that you'll need.

Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Lemon juice...

Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake by Baking Bites

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 tbsp Meyer lemon zest

1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice

1 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup bundt pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by lemon zest. Stir 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, followed by the Meyer lemon juice. Add in additional 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk. Stir in all remaining flour, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain visible. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs attached. Let cake rest in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the glaze, whisk together lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Serves 12-14

About-face!

Drill Sergeant: Gump! What's your sole purpose in this Army?
Forrest: To do whatever you tell me, Drill Sergeant!

I love that movie and I love the acting of Tom Hanks as Forrest, Forrest Gump. Another good friend left for the army last week and in honor of him leaving, I baked a special cake. It is a little boy's dream come true - an army tank! Although my friend is not a little boy, I hope he liked it anyways.

It was really fun making this cake, and I can see how cake decorators must have so much fun designing their creations. I used 2 box cakes for the whole thing, chocolate and yellow. Originally, I wanted just the cupcakes to be chocolate, but I had so much chocolate batter left over that I just swirled it into the yellow cake. So first things first, the tank....

Bake the cake according to the directions on the box using a 13x9 pan. You're going to cut the final COOLED cake about 1/3 of the way in. Look below.




Next, you're going to cut the smaller 1/3 section into a square so that it can be places on top of the bigger piece of cake. You're going to need to cut the bottom cake so that it looks like the bottom part of a tank. Just play around with it. Now, you need to frost the bottom section first. Somehow, I played around with my food coloring and vanilla frosting to get this dirt colored/greenish looking frosting that reminded me of the army colors.



Frost the bigger cake, then place the smaller 1/3 section on top and frost. Now's the fun part. Grab a few oreos and split them in half. These are going to be the "wheels" of the tank. I bought some pirouettes, cut them into thirds, and placed them around the wheels. You can pretty much use any treat/cookie as long as it looks the part. Have fun!

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

When my friend first sent me this recipe, I started drooling. This bundt cake screamed to be made. I could almost taste the pumpkin cake from my laptop screen. So, what else could I do but make it?

The directions are pretty simple, and it uses ingredients that you can find around your house, minus the pumpkin puree. And unlike many other bundt cakes, this one only uses a stick of butter. Phew! See? A cake can be good with less butter! The cake was moist, fluffy, and had a good balance of pumpkin flavor. The cream cheese icing was a good complement to the spice of the cake, although I had to adapt it a little because I didn't have any milk on hand. So instead, I used water. Other than that, just follow the directions to the T and you should have no problems.



close-up shot.


Pumpkin Bundt Cake by Baking Bites:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by the vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
Whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree in a small bowl or measuring cup.
Stir about 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, followed by half of the pumpkin mix. Stir in another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining pumpkin and the remaining flour. Mix only until ingredients are just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain visible. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 45 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 bundt cake; serves 10-12

Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze
2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp milk
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small bowl, beat all ingredients together until very smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake.

The ultimate chocolate cake

I did it! I finally found a chocolate cake that I love. This will now and forever be my go-to chocolate cake for any occasion! And that's saying a lot! In the past, I have only found mediocre recipes that made even more mediocre cakes -- dull, lifeless, slightly dry pieces of flour and chocolate. Gross.



Many thanks to the worker at Williams and Sonoma who passed on this recipe to me. Her rave reviews about this cake made me really curious. In her exact words, "This is the best chocolate cake in the world!" Now, I don't know if it's the best chocolate cake in the WORLD, but it's pretty darn good. :) The secret is the mayo! Sounds strange, but it works. Apparently, it provides the moist texture that makes this cake so darn yummy.



This is any girl's chocolate dream and will satisfy any craving!




Ingredients
cake

* 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
* 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 3/4 cups boiling water
* 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
* 1 1/3 cups mayonnaise (do not use reduced-fat or fat-free)
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

frosting

* 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
* 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 3 cups powdered sugar
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

special equipment

* Three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides

Preparation
cake

*Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Combine chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in medium metal bowl. Add 13/4 cups boiling water and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
*Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat both sugars and mayonnaise in large bowl until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with chocolate mixture in 3 additions, beating until blended after each addition and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Divide batter among prepared cake pans (about 2 1/3 cups for each).
*Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes.
*Run small knife around sides of cakes to loosen. Carefully invert cakes onto racks and let cool completely.

FROSTING

*Place chopped chocolate in medium metal bowl; set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Carefully remove bowl from over water; let melted chocolate cool until lukewarm, stirring occasionally.
*Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth and creamy. Sift powdered sugar over butter and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add melted chocolate and beat until well blended and smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl.
*Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread 3/4 cup frosting over top of cake layer to edges. Top with second cake layer; spread 3/4 cup frosting over. Top with third cake layer. Spread remaining frosting decoratively over top and sides of cake. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature.

Lemon Heaven~

Thanks to my aunt for providing me a steady supply of lemons from her lemon tree, I have been baking up a frenzy these days. Lemon tarts, lemon cheesecakes, lemon cream. I looked at all my baking pans today and noticed that I haven't used my bundt pan in awhile, so lemon bundt cake it is!

This lemon cake is the most lemony-flavored cake I've ever tasted. And if you like lemons as much as I do, drop what you're doing and make this cake...RIGHT NOW! Not only does the cake contain lemons galore, you pour lemony syrup on top, followed by a generous amount of lemon icing to finish this heavenly treat. The cake itself is actually sugar-free because I substituted Splenda for the sugar...so eat away!

Here's my adaptation of Ina Garten's Lemon Cake using a bundt pan instead:

I love sifting!


The glaze on top. I didn't use as much sugar so it was kinda watery, but delicious!


My little baby out of the oven, ready for its lemon syrup bath.


Finishing touch...lemon glaze. I like that the icing wasn't think, but very light.




Final product: Moist, lemony, cake with a pound cake-like consistency, although it's not as dense as normal pound cakes.


Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar (Splenda is OK for you diabetics)
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup plus 3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour one bundt pan
2. Cream butter and 2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Mixing at medium speed, add eggs, one at a time, and lemon zest.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla. Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to butter and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Divide batter evenly between loaf pans or one bundt pan, smooth tops, and bake for ~45 minutes, until a cake tester (or toothpick) comes out clean.
4. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves.
5. When cake is done, carefully Invert it onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon lemon syrup over it. Let cakes cool completely.
6. For glaze, combine confectioners’ sugar and remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cakes, and allow glaze to drizzle down the sides.