What to do with Extra Beets

Make a cake, that's what!

I had someone give me a large paper sack full of red beets one time. I love beets. I canned some of them. I baked some of them, in Lemon Garlic Beets, I put them in salads, made Root Vegetable and Greens Soup, and I still had some beets leftover. Someone suggested a Chocolate Beet Cake. I said, "What???" I'd never heard of such a thing in all my nearly 70 years (at that time) of life!" But as I Googled, I found many recipes for Chocolate Beet Cake out there, so color me shocked!

Chocolate Beet Cake

Okay, all that is well and good, but I am not personally over fond of chocolate. Chocolate cakes (I eat them occasionally, not at all often) or chocolate ice cream (I really dislike chocolate ice cream), um, no thank you. I wondered, "Is there a cake made with beets that does not include chocolate?"

At the time I created this cake, and searching for recipes in existence, the pickings were mighty slim. Most cakes made with beets, and this still holds true, having done a cursory search just now, have chocolate as an ingredient. As an observation, when I did make the Chocolate Beet Cake originally, the batter was a lovely dark red. Once baked, however, the color was just simply that of a chocolate cake - no particular red color left as "evidence," making it something my husband, a confirmed beet-hater, truly enjoyed.

And so, I hoped this would hold true if I made a cake without the chocolate to hide the evidence of beets as an ingredient. My thought process was to go with a spice cake. We both love spice cakes, my Prune Spice Cake being one in particular I have made fairly often. The prunes give it a bit more depth of color, but a spice cake on its own is still darker than any white or yellow cake. I proceeded with the idea of a Beet Spice Cake. 

Beet Spice Sheet Cake

My instinct payed off; there was absolutely no evidence of pinkness in the final cake. Looking back at the recipe (I never stop tweaking, even with my own recipes!), I used some of my Mocha Spice Blend II, but that gave me the idea of maybe just adding in some instant expresso powder, maybe 1 to 3 teaspoons, depending on how much you love coffee flavor! If a fine powder, this can be added with dry ingredients. If it is in crystal form, then mixed with a tablespoon of water to melt first and added with the eggs and oil would work. 

Beet Spice Sheet Cake

Makes one 18 x 24-inch sheet cake, or one 8 or 9-inch round, two-layer cake

1 cup pureed, cooked beets (about 3 medium beets)

Beet Spice Sheet Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons Mocha Spice, optional (or substitute your favorite Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix)
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup ground pecans or walnuts

Boil the whole beets in water to cover for 45 minutes to an hour, until easily pierced with a fork. Cool completely. This can be done a day earlier. Peel the beets and puree finely in a food processor, food mill, or on a small holed grater.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray with cooking spray a sheet pan (about 18 x 24-inches, with a rim at least ½-inch high). Line the pan bottom with parchment and spray again with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice and Mocha Spice blend. Separately, whisk together the vegetable oil, eggs, both sugars and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir well until all the dry ingredients are moistened, then fold in the ground nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan and spread batter evenly. Bake the cake for about 13 to 15 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

On Rice and Peaches

Last month I had made a dinner for my son's birthday, that consisted of Chicken Madeira and a Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Risotto. Both were exceptionally great, flavors sublime, and I learned just how very important it is to not cook the risotto too quickly. With that in mind, I wanted to try a risotto again, and this time I was working on other flavors totally, so instead of using vermouth or Sherry in the mixture, I went with Tequila. I also used Romano Cheese rather than Parmesan, and the Romano gave a really great tang to the finished dish. As it happened, the flavors were so amazing that I think it is my new favorite rice dish. There are not huge changes in this dish from the last one, but this one came out perfectly cooked, just a bit al dente, and very creamy. I have learned to slow down the cooking time!

Roasted Garlic Tequila Risotto

Serves about 6

Roasted Garlic Tequila Risotto

FOR ROASTED GARLIC:

1 head garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
--------
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large shallots, chopped finely
1½ cups arborio rice
½ cup Tequila (or just use dry white wine or omit)
4 - 5 cups hot beef, chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
¼ cup cilantro, finely minced

Make Roasted Garlic. This part can be done earlier in the day (or up to three days in advance and refrigerated in a sealed container). 

To Make Risotto: Heat a saucepan with the 4 - 5 cups of stock and have nearby. Heat a 4 - 6 quart saucepan and add in the tablespoon of oil and butter. Saute the chopped shallots until very soft. Mash the roasted garlic with a fork, and stir in, then add in the Tequila and cook quickly to evaporate most of the liquid. What remains should be very thick. Pour in the rice and stir well to coat all the rice grains with the thick mixture. Over medium to medium low heat (you do not want to cook the mixture too quickly, or the rice will still be hard at the end) begin adding in the hot stock, one ladle full at a time, stirring the rice until each ladle of stock is absorbed. To use all the stock should take about 20 to 25 minutes. Be sure to leave a little bit of the liquid in the rice after the last ladle full of stock has been added, so the mixture remains soupy. More liquid will absorb even after off the heat, so remain vigilant.

When ready to serve, stir in the Parmesan cheese and the cilantro, reserving a bit of cilantro as garnish on top.

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Recently, I had opened up my last jars of Spiced Pickled Peaches, with the intention of making an upside down cake with them. Which I did, and then ended up with some of the peaches leftover. I went on to make a dessert loaf I called Just Peachy Loaf, and while making the batter, I utterly forgot about adding in the eggs. The loaf tasted amazing, but was hugely sunken in the center. Obviously, as I had used the last of my Spiced Pickled Peaches, that wasn't going to be an exact repeat any time soon, so I used canned peaches instead, and that time WITH eggs in the batter, it came out great! 

But then I realized I never put my upside down cake recipe here! So I am rectifying that now!

Spiced Peach Upside Down Cake

Spiced Peach Upside-Down Cake

Spiced Peach Upside Down Cake

Serves  8 to 10

CARAMEL TOPPING:
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
-----
- Spiced Pickled Peaches, or canned peaches in syrup
pistachios or other nuts, or cherries

CAKE:
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
    (or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract + 1 teaspoon peach flavoring)
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
1 cup sour cream

Make the Caramel: In a saucepan over medium heat, melt together the first cup of sugar and the ¼-cup of water. Stir until sugar is melted and bring to boil. Cover the pan tightly and cook for 4 minutes, to ensure all sugar crystals have been melted down. Uncover and continue to cook until the syrup turns to a light amber in color, 8 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, grease an 8- or 9-inch cake pan, or an 8 to 9-inch square oven safe pan with butter or spray with nonstick spray. Once the syrup becomes amber colored, set the prepared pan onto an unlit burner or other surface that will tolerate high heat. Pour the syrup into the pan and using hot pads, swirl the pan to allow the syrup to reach all the edges. Set aside for about 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the peaches by cutting them into narrow wedges. Set the peaches into the pan in a pleasing pattern, such as lining them along the outer edges first, then filling the center with more peach wedges. Use nuts of choice, or maraschino cherry halves to fill in open spaces. Remember that the pattern created by the fruits and nuts will be reversed when the finished cake is turned out. Set the pan aside, then make the cake:

In a mixer bowl, cream together the butter and ¾-cup of sugar. Once very creamy, add in eggs, one at a time, mixing until completely incorporated before adding in the next. Add in the vanilla and or peach flavoring. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice and whisk to combine. Slowly, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until completely incorporated. Stir in the sour cream until combined. Gently, plop small mounds of batter all over the peaches in the prepared pan. Once all the batter is in the pan, ease the batter together to fill any gaps, making sure it reaches the edges of the pan.

Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, or with only a crumb or two. Remove the cake to a rack to cool for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the outer edges to loosen. Set a plate upside-down over top of the cake pan, then quickly invert the cake plate. Set it down and gently lift the pan off the cake. 
 
 

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Settling in After a Move

It has been quite some time since I last wrote; over 2 months, as a matter of fact. After packing up a household of stuff, traveling cross country and now doing the whole thing in reverse, I've had little time to think of anything but getting things in enough order to function, if not yet at optimal levels.

I have cooked, but only simple, well-used recipes. No time for experimentation just yet, though today I finally decided to take a step in the right direction. Having been used to making all my bread for years and years and years, it has been hard to have to go back to store bought. I've been buying Oroweat brand breads, which taste okay, but I have been itching to get back to making our bread. 

When we prepared to move, I had to make a decision whether to try and take my old Sourdough Starter dough with me, or just toss it and start afresh. Since we were going to be traveling to a very hot part of the country, I felt it would be better not to put such stress on the poor starter, so I tossed it. Today, I got out one of Peter Reinhart's books, "Whole Grain Breads," to try out his Seed Culture, in preparation for a new batch of Starter. In this book, he talks of people having trouble getting a seed starter to get going, and many people complaining that their seed starter went bad. Apparently there is a bacteria called leuconostoc that does this, and using an acidic liquid seems to prevent this from happening. His recipe uses unsweetened pineapple juice, but he suggests that lemon juice or orange juice can work as well, or even ascorbic acid powder.

Making my first Seed Starter in 2014

When I made my first Seed Starter, back in May of 2014, from the first Peter Reinhart book I received, called "The Bread Baker's Apprentice," I followed his instructions and my starter proceeded perfectly as described, with no off odors or mold or anything at all untoward happening. Possibly, as I make bread all the time, the right kinds of yeasts and bacteria were present and I had no problems. Whatever it was, I maintained that starter batter these 5 ensuing years, with no problems. I am in a totally different part of the country now, with high heat as the norm, and I have no idea how all this will affect the whole process of starters and bread making, so I am starting all new. I will keep tabs on how it all goes. 

Foods I have made since moving in, mostly in the last 2 weeks, are spaghetti (using a jar of sauce), Sloppy Joes (using a can), simple cooked chicken, Uniquely Fine Chicken Salad, Rhubarb Pineapple Pie, Roasted Corn and Poblano Chowder, Rhubarb Cake (using coconut oil - at liquid state in these temperatures) with Whipped Buttercream Frosting, Chopped Radish Salad (Picado de Rabano, a Guatemalan salad that I love, though I generally do not care for radishes at all), and Creamy Corn Casserole. Here are some of the recipes, below.

Rhubarb Cake

Rhubarb Cake

Makes one 9 x 13-inch cake

1½ cups rhubarb, chopped into small pieces
½ cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup oil OR 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk

TOPPING:
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup coconut
⅔ cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk
½ cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or lightly spray with cooking spray an oven-safe 9 x 13-inch pan. Set aside.

Combine the rhubarb and the ½ cup sugar and set aside. In a mixing bowl combine the flour, the 1½ cups sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Separately whisk together the buttermilk, egg and oil or melted butter. Mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined. Add in the reserved rhubarb mixture and fold to combine. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, prepare the topping. Combine all the topping ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring the ingredients to a boil, stirring, and boil for 3 minutes. Pour over the warm cake.

NOTES: This type of topping is often broiled once on the cake. If you choose this method, watch closely so as not to burn the topping. Another alternative is to prepare a streusel and sprinkle this over the unbaked cake. This yields a cake with topping already in place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Picado de Rabano or Chopped Radish Salad

Picado de Rabano or Chopped Radish Salad

Serves 2 to 4

12 radishes, trimmed
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion
½ cup fresh mint, chopped fine
2 limes, juiced
Salt, to taste

Place onion and radishes in food processor and pulse just enough to chop relatively fine - do not over process. Place in a bowl and add all the other ingredients and mix well.

NOTES: If this dish is made with a similar amount (to the whole of the radish recipe) of chopped pork rinds chopped and added, it is called Chojin (pronounced cho-HEEN). If one adds an equal amount (to the whole amount of the radish recipe) finely chopped roast beef (I use cooked brisket), it is called Salpicon.

Chopped Radish Salad with Meat or Salpicon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Creamy Corn Casserole

Creamy Corn Casserole

Serves 6 to 8

1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can cream-style corn
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 box "Jiffy" corn muffin mix

Combine all ingredients in a 13 x 9-inch casserole. No need to even grease the pan! Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35 to 40 minutes or till golden.

NOTES: This recipe can be made gluten free by using a similar amount of gluten free corn muffin mix, such as Bob's Red Mill. 




My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Fresh Fruit on a Cake Saga

This post was supposed to come first, but I wanted the better cake (for this recipe) to be available, so I posted my recipe for Borracho Cake first. 

For the 4th of July, I wanted to make a pretty shortcake type cake, using a pan I had never used. The pan is about 11-inches across the top and 10-inches across the bottom. The bottom of the pan is indented upwards, so when the cake is turned out, it forms a bit of a well. 

My plan was to make a spongy cake that would absorb juices nicely, if they should get through, much like those little individual shortbread cakes sold in stores everywhere. I wanted a sponge cake, and while I have made sponge cakes many times over the years, I strayed from the tried and true and looked up cakes similar to a Victoria Sponge. Suffice to say, this is not in any way a sponge cake as I know it. Turns out, what the British call Sponge Cake is what we in the U.S. call Pound Cake. 😮 Read more about all that, here. 

Fresh Fruit Shortcake with Mascarpone Cream

★So, I ended up with a pound cake instead of the light and airy cake I had intended. The cake tasted great, so if that is what you would prefer, then just follow this recipe and you're all set. If you want more moisture, make a simple syrup of some kind, add a little liqueur of your choice for flavor, and moisten the cake with this syrup BEFORE topping with the cream and fruit.

If you prefer the soft, airy, absorbent cake I wanted, then make the cake I used for this Borracho Cake.

Cake and Cake Pan

All in all, the cake came out beautifully, and the cake pan I used has a well in the center, perfect for fillings. In this one, I wanted to make some kind of creamy filling, but absolutely not using something like cream cheese and Cool Whip! My desire, my plan, was to use Mascarpone somehow. Should I just make Mascarpone Whipped Cream? That was my first plan, but then I got thinking. I wanted something more, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I thought eggs! I wanted something a bit more cooked in texture, much though I love my Mascarpone Whipped Cream. So I started thinking about what to do.

I wanted to use some sort of liqueur, and finally settled on Limoncello. Lemony flavors go great with fruit. I mixed Limoncello into the Mascarpone cheese and set that aside. I planned to lighten the whole mass with plain whipped cream, and looking for flavors to incorporate, I went with a little Orange Flower Water, for its light, flowery and uplifting scent, and then a few drops of Angostura bitters just to mitigate sweetness levels. This might sound convoluted, but the flavors are stellar!

Mascarpone Cream & Fresh Fruit Cake

Makes one 10-inch, single layer cake
 

Fresh Fruit Shortcake with Mascarpone Cream

(POUND) CAKE:
1½ sticks (6 ounces) softened unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
¼ cup boiling water
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract

LIMONCELLO MASCARPONE CREAM:
6 ounces / ¾ cup Mascarpone cream, room temperature
2 tablespoons Limoncello
2 eggs
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
¾ cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon orange flower water
3 drops Angostura bitters

Fresh Fruit for decorating: sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries
2 tablespoons red currant jelly, melted

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch baking tin and line with parchment. Grease the parchment. Set aside. 

In a bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine. Set aside. In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until very light colored and fluffy. Add one egg to the butter mixture along with a tablespoon or so of the dry mixture and beat until incorporated. Add a second egg with another tablespoon or so of the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated. Repeat this with the third egg and another tablespoon of dry ingredients. Add in the extracts, the boiling water and then the remaining dry ingredients and stir to combine. 

Bake the cake for about 25 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let rest in pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out to a rack to cool.

Make the Limoncello Mascarpone Cream: Stir the Limoncello into the Mascarpone in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Place the two eggs and 3 tablespoons of sugar into a wide mixing bowl, either glass or metal. Have a large saucepan with about 1 - 2 inches of water in the bottom at a simmer on the stove. The bowl with the eggs should be able to set atop the saucepan without the bottom of the bowl touching the simmering water. Off the heat, whisk the eggs and sugar with a large wire whisk until somewhat foamy. Set the bowl over the simmering water and continue to whisk until the mixture has started to thicken and has fine foamy bubbles.

        Mascarpone   -   Whisking eggs    - over simmering water     -   combined with Mascarpone

Without cooling, dump the egg mixture into the Mascarpone and whisk to combine.

In another large mixing bowl, combine the heavy whipping cream with the orange flower water and Angostura bitters. Beat the mixture until it holds stiff peaks, then fold into the Mascarpone egg mixture. 

Set the cake onto a serving plate and top with this Mascarpone cream, then set sliced fruit on top, as desired.

Mascarpone Cream         -          Spread over cake         -         Fresh fruit to decorate

Once fruit is in place, brush the fruit with the melted Currant Jelly; this helps keep the fruit looking pretty. Chill the cake for 2 to 4 hours before serving. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Sweet Potatoes and Cornmeal

I know that these two ingredients sound like there should be a savory outcome, though that wasn't my idea. And, for once, it appeared to be a pretty novel idea. 

Most of the time, when I sit thinking about what I would like to try, despite how unusual the combinations may seem in my mind, I will find on hunting online that it is not a new idea at all, but one that hundreds of people have already done before. This just says to me that the combination is a sound one, and reinforces my belief that there is really nothing new at all. 

Sweet Potato Cornmeal Cake

Tweaking an existing recipe can result in something totally new. Sometimes new is better, but sometimes not. That is what experimentation is all about. It is rare for me to make a recipe just "as is." I can't help myself. The reason is often simply just that maybe an ingredient doesn't appeal and I take flavors into a different direction. In this particular case, there was only one recipe I could find for a cake made with sweet potato and cornmeal. It seemed unusually long and complex, with too many tiny amounts of things I don't keep on hand, like a tablespoon each of apple juice and orange juice. 

One tablespoon. 

Each. 

Really? 

Anyway, when I first gave thought to sweet potato and cornmeal together in a cake, I knew:

1. I wanted it to be a tube cake
2. I wanted about half and half cornmeal and all-purpose flour
3. It would be a heavy cake, sort of pound cake style
4. I thought of using a glaze instead of other icing

When looking at ingredients in some other cakes of this type, a lot of oil is used. I know whether it is butter or oil, it is fat. I first went with the idea of using olive oil, but then switched to coconut oil when I thought of using coconut milk for the liquid and orange extract for the flavoring. I felt that orange and coconut would be a nice combo. I did lower the amount of oil and used applesauce for part of it, to conserve a few calories (but who am I kidding?). I thought of whether to use 3 or 4 eggs, finally going with four, since it is a heavy cake. How much sweet potato? I had two of them, and weighed them before peeling. They came to just barely over one pound. I peeled them and cooked them in salted water, drained them and put them through a ricer (though mashed would have been fine), and measured out 1½ cups. There was just a little left, which I ate for lunch.😀 

Sweet Potato Cornmeal Cake

Something else that occurred to me, going with a somewhat tropical theme (coconut oil, coconut milk and orange extract) was using fresh ginger. I've never used fresh ginger in a sweet application, though I use it all the time in savory. Why is that? So I got out my ginger root. 

The idea of a glaze - didn't quite go as well as I had wanted, because I thought the glaze would penetrate the cake more than it did. In the pan, hot from the oven, while some glaze did penetrate, it left the top of the cake so sticky that once it came out of the pan and onto the plate slightly off center - there was no budging it! It was there to stay. Since I had glaze left, I drizzled it over the partially cooled cake, and it looked far prettier.

All in all, the ingredients came together easily, the cake baked perfectly, came out of the pan just right. But then, I had some sort of stomach flu all day yesterday, so I could not even think of tasting it. 😨 My husband was happy though, and that is always good! Today I gave it a taste, and I am happy as well. It has a very pronounced flavor of cornmeal. I love cornmeal, and that is why I wanted to use it half and half with the flour. If you cannot think about "cornmeal" and "sweet," in the same sentence, then this cake would not be for you. For myself, I am very pleased with it.

Sweet Potato Cornmeal Cake

Makes one 10-inch tube cake

Sweet Potato Cornmeal Cake

¾ - 1 pound sweet potatoes
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup coconut oil or vegetable oil
½ cup applesauce (or another half cup of coconut oil)
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
1½ teaspoons orange extract
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
-----
1½ cups yellow cornmeal
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

GLAZE:
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cane or corn syrup
⅓ cup buttermilk
¼ teaspoon baking soda

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1½-inch chunks. Place the sweet potato chunks in a small pan and just barely cover with water. Add a teaspoon of salt and bring to boil. Lower heat and cook until easily pierced with a knife. Drain the sweet potatoes, then mash or rice. Measure out 1½ cups of the puree and place into a mixing bowl. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With cooking spray, grease a 10-inch tube pan, then sprinkle with flour to coat well. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together well and set aside.

To the sweet potatoes, add in the sugar, coconut oil, applesauce, coconut milk, ginger and extracts and stir well to blend. Add in the eggs, one at a time, stirring to completely incorporate before adding the next.

Stir in the dry ingredients a third at a time, allowing all the flour to be mixed in before adding in the next third. Once all the ingredients are mixed, pour the batter into the prepared tube pan. Place the pan in the oven and bake for approximately 55 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack or a plate and drizzle with the glaze. 

GLAZE:  Before the cake is done baking, make the glaze. Stir together the granulated sugar with the cane (or corn) syrup and buttermilk to combine. Bring the mixture to boil, then lower the heat and add the ¼ teaspoon baking soda. Simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for about 5 or 6 minutes. Let cool slightly before using to glaze the cake.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

An Amazing Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

I have seen many carrot cake recipes quite similar to mine, but I have been making my version of Carrot Cake for about 35 years, so I have had lots of practice, despite forgetting to ever put it here in my blog! What I hadn't done is take proper photos of it. I did get some photos the last time I made it, but I am still not happy with them, though they will have to do.

I have made very simple carrot cakes, which have been very good. And then this one, which ticks everyone's boxes, has all sorts of good things in it. I cannot begin to say how delightful and moist this cake is, so I will just proceed to giving out the recipe, and let things go at that!

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Makes one 2-layer 9-inch cake, or one 13 x 9-inch cake

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup melted butter or coconut oil
¾ cup buttermilk
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar 
2 carrots, finely grated
⅔ cup pecans, chopped
⅔ cup drained, crushed pineapple
⅔ cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 or 9-inch cake pans and line bottoms with parchment. Grease the parchment. (Or, simply grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish).

Sift together the first four ingredients and set aside. In another bowl, combine the melted butter or oil with the buttermilk, eggs, sugar, grated carrots, pecans, pineapple and coconut. Thoroughly mix together these ingredients and then add in the dry ingredients, stirring until no white remains. Divide the batter evenly between the round tins, or pour all the batter into the 13 x 9-inch pan. Bake the round pans for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center has just a crumb or two clinging to the tester. If baking in a 13 x 9-inch pan, bake for about 40 to 45 minutes. 

This cake is absolutely perfect with Cream Cheese Frosting. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Fun with Cake Decorating

My First Wedding Cake Accomplishment

I took a Wilton cake decorating class back in 1995, starting at three weeks prior to my daughter's wedding. I was planning to make and decorate her wedding cake, with no knowledge of stacking a tiered cake or making a flower with an icing tip and bag. When I entered the store that offered the classes, I went in search of a book that could show me how to do what I needed. The woman who helped me out kind of rolled her eyes when I stated my needs and my intent!

All things considered, the wedding cake turned out pretty well. It was a very small wedding, so I didn't have to make a really huge cake, and aside from the fact that it had the tiniest "lean" to it, it came out great. I made what are termed "drop flowers" and kept it simple. 

Gum Paste Flowers & Fondant

I went on to complete the three part Wilton cake decorating course and was quite proud of my accomplishments, then going on to take a course on fondant as well. That was the last actual class I took, but over the years I learned to make gum paste flowers, some quite realistic, if I do say so myself. I made a lovely wedding cake for my son and his wife, and the theme was beachy. Julia loves all things beach and bright tropical flowers. I made flowers and seashells out of gum paste for their cake. Keep in mind, I had 14 years of experience by this time. Still, it took me countless hours creating all the flowers and shells, making plenty in case of any breakage. 

I have made all sorts of cakes, small and large, in the years since I took that first Wilton class, and the classes kept me learning and trying new things. I don't go all-out in cake decorating unless it is for someone I love and care for. I would never do it commercially - it is just too much work. But I have always been artistic, and this is just one more of many creative outlets for me. 

And then recently I started seeing ads on Facebook for "Russian Icing Tips" and seeing how with one quick squeeze you had a whole flower. Granted, not as realistic as I generally go for, but still, it was intriguing. I finally broke down and ordered a small set through Amazon (where else?). It arrived over a week ago, but I didn't get around to trying them until yesterday. 
 

Maple Pecan Pound Cake with Basic Stabilized American Buttercream

First off, I found a cake recipe I wanted to try. I needed a cake to decorate, of course. I was online, possibly on Pinterest, though I cannot recall exactly, and found a cake called Cold Oven Brown Sugar Whipping Cream Pound Cake. (Quite a mouthful!) Click on the name to take you to see that cake and recipe. I had only ever tried one pound cake that went into a cold oven and it has always and unfailingly stuck to the pan. So understandably, I was leery of trying this, but hey!

The cake sounded awfully sweet, yet called for no salt. I added salt. It called for a TABLESPOON of vanilla! I used one teaspoon, plus a teaspoon of maple flavoring. I was capitalizing on the brown sugar theme with the maple flavor, so I added pecans as well. Another change I made was substituting lard for the shortening. I avoid shortening in anything if possible, and always go to butter first. Still, I know that shortening has a somewhat stabilizing effect. So does lard. Though I had not yet used lard in a cake, I had used olive oil in cakes, so I knew that despite the pronounced flavor of olive oil, it does not remain apparent once the cake is baked. So, lard it was.
 

Making Two-toned Icing Packets

I whipped up the cake and with some trepidation set it into the cold oven and baked it. It took 1 hour and 23 minutes for the cake to be done. The recipe stated "80 to 90 minutes," so I'd say that was about right at 83 minutes. While it was baking, I went on to read a bit about the type of icing needed to accomplish nice flowers with the new Russian Icing Tips. Once set, I used as a basis a Wilton recipe that uses some meringue powder in it. The meringue powder helps stabilize the icing, so that if making flowers, they will hold nice, sharp edges, and stand up under heat if needed. I found a video from Global Sugar Art that really helped me understand a bit more about the hows and whys and some pitfalls with Russian Icing Tips and it also showed about making two-toned flowers using the method I used in the photo collage above. I made one mistake.

Icing Bag with Tip & Icing Bag
with Coupler and Tip

When I ordered the icing tips, I also ordered the couplers. These icing tips are large, so they do not in any way fit with the little regular sized icing tip couplers. The reason for couplers, in case you have not used them before, is to allow the ability to switch out different icing tips, while using the same icing color. For example, if I wanted to write "Happy Birthday" in blue on top of the cake with round icing tip #3, but also wanted to make pretty shells around the border in the same blue icing, I would just unscrew the outside of the coupler, remove the one tip, replace with the next one and screw the outside piece of the coupler back in place. 

Three Tips (top with coupler)
& Three Color Combinations

Since I was trying out three specific icing tips with three different combinations of icing colors, I really didn't need the couplers at all. I combined orange with yellow centers, white with orange centers and yellow with green centers. In the video, Chef Alan just set one of the tips into the bag, cutting just enough off the end of the bag to allow the tip to peek through, then snipped off the end of one of his icing packets (as I've shown above), and dropped the cut end into the icing bag. This way, if you choose to switch tips you can simply turn the icing bag upside down and the whole plastic wrapped tube of icing with the tip still stuck to it just falls out! With a coupler, this was not the case. 

Also, as the tips themselves are really large, the couplers are also very large. VERY large. And with that you end up with a huge amount of icing stuck down in there between icing tip and coupler. You can only squeeze just so far before you are at the rigid edge of the coupler, and then you are left with all that icing down in there and no way to neatly press it out into a flower. Watch the video!!!

Another thing to remember is that the icing for these flowers needs to be far more stiff than what would normally be used to ice the cake itself. The cake will need at least a "skin coat" of icing so the flowers have something to adhere to. When making the icing, first make it without adding any liquids except for the vanilla. It should be the proper consistency, particularly if measuring by weight. If it really is too stiff, add in cream, 1 teaspoon at a time to loosen, but remember it needs to be thick to hold nice stiff edges and not flop over. When piping the flowers, the icing tip must be perpendicular (at 90 degrees) to the cake surface. The tip should be touching the icing on the cake, then squeeze, holding for a second to adhere the base, then continue to squeeze briefly while pulling upwards. Stop at between ½ to ¾-inches high. 

Maple Pecan Pound Cake

Makes one 10-inch tube pan cake

Maple Pecan Pound Cake

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, 4-ounces each), room temperature
½ cup lard, room temperature
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
¾ cup chopped pecans

Spray the inside of the tube pan with cooking spray and set aside. 

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Separately, measure the whipping cream and stir in the vanilla extract and maple syrup. Set these aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, lard and both sugars for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until each is incorporated thoroughly before adding the next. Ad in a third of the flour mixture and mix on very low speed to combine. Add half the whipping cream mixture and stir in. Add another third of the flour mixture, blend, add the remaining cream and then the remaining flour. Stir in the nuts, then turn speed up a couple of notches to completely blend the ingredients.

Turn the batter into the prepared pan and run a knife or spatula through the batter to release any trapped air bubbles. Set the pan on a baking sheet with rim and place in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 325 degrees and bake the cake for 1 hour and 20 to 30 minutes.  Check for doneness when a toothpick inserted into the center (between middle and edge of pan) comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow the cake to set for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the outer edge and remove the cake from the outer rim. Run the knife between the cake and bottom of the pan to loosen, then check to see that the cake is not stuck to the center post. Carefully turn upside down onto a plate, then reverse so that the cake is again right side up. Allow to cool completely before icing.

Basic Stabilized American Buttercream

Basic Stabilized American Buttercream for Piping

Makes about 4 cups icing suitable for use with Russian Piping Tips

1½ cups (12 ounces / 339 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1½ pounds / 681 grams confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon (0.30 ounces / 8 grams) meringue powder 
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream, if needed 

Sift the confectioners' sugar with the meringue powder and salt. Place the sifted ingredients in a mixer bowl. Add in the softened butter and mix on low speed until all the confectioners' sugar is moistened, then increase speed only slightly. Beating on higher speeds will incorporate air bubbles. Bubbles will cause breaks in the icing when decorating, causing unneeded headaches. Beat slowly. Add the vanilla extract and continue to beat gently until the icing is very smooth and creamy. 

To decorate as I have in these photos, separate the icing into 4 bowls. Leave one bowl white, and ensure there is just a little more in this white icing bowl than the others. To one bowl add yellow gel coloring to desired color, stirring with an icing spatula or table knife to mix well. Add orange gel color to another bowl and mix, then add green to another bowl and mix. 

Set out three pieces of plastic wrap, about a foot long and set them on a surface with the longer edge towards you. Scoop out about half the white icing onto the center of one piece of the plastic wrap and spread it to about a 6 x 8-inch rectangle. Down the center, perpendicular to you, place a small core of icing (I used orange). Lift one shorter edge of the plastic wrap to help lift the icing from one side to cover the center icing. Release the wrap so it is again lying flat and now lift the opposite side, bringing the icing up to meet over the top, encasing the center color. Wrap the plastic wrap all the way over, and roll to make a log. Twist the ends of the wrap to make a sausage shape. 

Repeat this with the other color combinations. Use the remaining orange colored icing to make the larger rectangle, and lay down a center in some of the yellow icing and wrap as above. For the third color combination, make the larger rectangle out of the remaining yellow, then lay a center of some of the green. Roll as above.

Reserve the remaining green icing and use it in an icing bag with a leaf tip.

To the remaining white icing in the bowl, stir in some of the whipping cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, as needed to make a spreadable icing, then use this to put on a very thin "skim coat" of icing to the top of the cake. Do not do this too long before piping the flowers. This icing will begin to form a crust. If the crust begins to form, the piped flowers will not adhere. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.