Sorghum Orange-Ginger Layer Cake

Tonight is a little gathering in the church community called Gallery Night, where friends come together with their artistic gifts and talents and share them with each other. Perhaps they're a painter, a singer, a crafter, a tapper, a baker, or perhaps  just an appreciator of all things artsy. The theme for the evening is "You Are Here". And this is what I made, and this is the poem that I wrote about it.

Gather the Goods
cake
2.5 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1Tb. baking powder
1Tb. ground ginger
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 c. unsalted butter at room temp
1.5 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. vanilla bourbon sorghum
2 large eggs
1 c. whole milk

frosting
 3.5 c. confectioners' sugar
5 Tb. heavy cream
6 Tb. unsalted butter
1 Tb. vanilla bourbon sorghum

extras
1 bar of orange dark chocolate, plus some chocolate chips
a jar of orange marmalade (I added some freshly grated ginger to mine)

Create
1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and line the bottoms of three circle cake pans with parchment paper... you can also make this as a sheet cake using a 13x9x2 pan.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, ground ginger, fresh ginger, black pepper, and salt. In a large bowl combine butter and sugar. Beat the butter-sugar mix until it's light and fluffy for about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, add in the sorghum. Beat in eggs. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture bit by bit.
3. Pour into cake pans and let it remain for about 32 minutes, checking it to be sure of it's readiness.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting! Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, butter, and sorghum. Let it cool a bit, then pour it over the sugar, stirring all together until it's smooth.
5. As you assemble the cakes, spread a moderately thick layer of orange-ginger marmalade in between each cake.
6. Spread the frosting over the entire cake.
7. For the dark chocolate decorations, melt your chocolate in a double boiler, or in the microwave. Then pour that into a frosting bag or a secure ziplock baggy, cutting a tiny whole at the end. Draw out whatever design you wish on parchment paper, then put a small fan in front to aid in the drying. It'll take about 30 min. to fully dry. Peel it off and place it on!

and voila. cake!

enjoy!

Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate Cakelettes with Basil Buttercream Frosting

Oh my. This is dense and magnificent. Prepare your tummies (a.k.a. do not eat a huge dinner). As a compliment to the Italian-themed dinner we had tonight, I found this lovely recipe combining fresh basil and rich dark chocolate. My, my. And this was so much fun to make! There are a lot of steps, so it's pretty time-consuming, but if you have a spare morning, I recommend it. I probably should have been studying for my test that I had this afternoon.... but I think the test still went swell so it's okay. Don't do this at home, kids.

I hope that you can enjoy this dessert and its process as much as I have!
Also, I recommend a good playlist to serve as your inspiration... mine was Tyler Lyle's "The Golden Age & The Silver Girl".

So here we go...

this makes about 8 cakelettes from a cakelette mold or 12 smaller cakelettes in a cupcake pan

for cake:
10 Tbspn butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
6 eggs, separated
12 oz. dark chocolate, melted and cooled
1 1/2 Tbspn espresso
1 Tbspn vanilla
1/2 tspn salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour the cakelette molds or cake pans or cupcake pan (I used a cupcake pan and it was fine!). Line the bottom with parchment paper and grease again. Set aside.
2. In a mixer bowl, beat the butter and light brown sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the egg yolks one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well between each addition.
4. Beat the melted dark chocolate, espresso, vanilla, and salt into the batter until well-combined.
5. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks.
6. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate batter, then fold the remaining egg whites into the batter just until combined.  Be careful not to overmix!
7. Divide the batter evenly amongst the prepared pans. Immediately place in the oven and bake for 15 - 18 minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare the meringue.

for meringue layer:
2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
1/2 Tbspn cornstarch
2 egg whites
2 Tbspn sugar

1. Combine the dark chocolate, hazelnuts, and cornstarch
2. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, gradually adding the sugar as you whisk.
3. Fold in the hazelnuts and chocolate mixture to the egg whites, being careful not to deflate the whites too much.
4. Remove the chocolate cakes from the oven and spoon the meringue over the chocolate cakes.
5. Return the cakes to the oven for ~15-20 minutes until the meringues are set.
6. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Using a knife, unmold the cakelettes and let cool completely before frosting.

for basil buttercream:
1 cup whole milk
2 large handfuls of basil, roughly shredded
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup AP flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
green food coloring, optional

1. In a small saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, combine the milk and the basil. Bring to just a simmer, cover, and let steep for ~30 minutes.
2. Strain the basil from the milk and discard the basil. Set the milk aside.
3. Whisk together the sugar and flour in a saucepan. Gradually whisk in the prepared basil milk and the cream, making sure that there are no clumps.
4. Cook the flour and milk mixture over medium heat until it boils and thickens, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer into a bowl.
5. Beat with a paddle attachment (or just with a regular mixer because that's all I had...) on high until the flour and milk mixture is completely cool.
6. With the mixer on low, gradually add the butter. Then, increase speed to medium-high and whip until light and fluffy. (If the buttercream gets too soft, put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes before re-beating.) Briefly beat in a few drops of green food coloring, if desired. I didn't because food coloring is loaded with yucko chemicals.
7. Use immediately to frost the cakelettes.


serve them up and watch your friends melt.

enjoy! 

Orange-Ginger-Carrot Cake

happy birthday kailee-kins :)

Makin a cake... makin a cake! hey hey hey hey! Is that a song? I think it's a song. I've been blissfully happy lately, for reasons that are not to be mentioned on a food blog, but in wake of my joy, I've been in a constant baking frenzy. Why not? My lovely friend Kaylan and I wanted to have a baking day this past weekend, so we chose a random recipe, and it turned out to be absolutely phenomenal. This is topping the charts for my favorite carrot cake recipe now! And that's a pretty huge statement considering I've grown up eating Strongbow's delectable carrot cake... but I really like this one better now. It's so fresh, and not to heavy on the stomach. Plus, it's loaded with amazing flavors! Originally, the recipe was vegan, but then I added the cream cheese frosting.. it was necessary because any carrot cake seems to need cream cheese frosting. But for a breakfast treat, do without the frosting, and I'm sure that it would be delightful.

It was so good I made it twice in the past week. Once for Miss Kailee's twenty-second birthday (she's mah girl, so she deserved the heart-shape), and then again for theCanvas, where I tried doing more of a layer cake style, with the orange-maple glaze atop. I found the glaze was too much for the cake. It was soggy and too sweet. Don't do it unless you're looking for a cake like that...

kaylan with the SLAP CHOP!

The Fixins
makes one 9" round cake

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1/2 tspn freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tspn salt
3/4 cup unfiltered apple juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup maple syrup
zest of 1 orange, freshly grated
3 medium carrots, grated (~1 1/2 cups)
2 tspn freshly grated ginger
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Oil and flour a 9" round cake pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment and grease again.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Set aside.
3. In a blender or food processor, puree the apple juice, vegetable oil, raisins, maple syrup, and orange zest until smooth.
4. Add the grated ginger and carrots to the apple juice mix and pulse a few times until just combined.
5. Fold the carrot and apple juice mix into the prepared dry ingredients, using as few strokes as possible and being careful not to overmix.
6. Fold in the chopped walnuts.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out cleanly.  Meanwhile, make the frosting and/or glaze

for glaze:
3 Tbspn maple syrup
2 Tbspn freshly squeezed orange juice

1. Whisk together the syrup and orange juice.
2. When the cake has cooled for about 10 minutes, liberally brush the glaze on top of the entire cake.  Let cool completely.
3. Top cake, if desired, with mandarin orange slices and more glaze.

for frosting:
4 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. unsalted butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Whip it all together until smooth.
2. Gently smooth atop the cake!

Enjoy!

Black Bean Burger and Jicama Salad

This is probably due to the unnaturally warm weather that we've been having lately, but I've just been craving very fresh foods. Summery foods, if you will. I've discovered the best black bean burger recipe EVER and I'm not ashamed to say it. Super easy to make, and you can freeze the extras so that you always have a backup plan if life is to hectic to make a meal at the end of the day :) Also, the salad is so healthy and fresh... not much to it at all, but I just really love it and wanted to remember it.

Black Bean Burger

To Make:

• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• Flax eggs: 2.5 tbsp ground flax + 1/2 cup warm water, mixed in bowl (this makes them vegan!)
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1.5 cups bread crumbs (I processed like four pieces of fresh whole wheat bread)*
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and roughly pureed or mashed
• Heaping 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro, parsley, or whatever fresh herb you prefer
• 1/3 cup almonds, chopped (toasted if preferred)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, (toasted if preferred)
• 1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Tamari (soy sauce)
• 1.5 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. oregano
• Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp kosher salt)
• whatever other spices suit you! (cayenne, paprika, cinnamon, basil...) 

Put It Together:
1. Preheat oven to 350F (if baking). In a large skillet, sauté onions and garlic in 1/2 tbsp oil. Mix your flax egg together in a small bowl and set aside for at least 10 mins while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Place all ingredients (except spices and salt) into a large mixing bowl and stir very well. Now, add seasonings and salt to taste.
3. With slightly wet hands, shape dough into patties. Pack dough tightly as this will help it stick together. I made 8 medium patties.
4. Cooking methods: You can fry the burgers in a bit of oil on a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side. If baking in the oven, bake for 25-30 mins (15-17 minutes on each side) at 350F, until golden and crisp. For the BBQ, pre-bake the burgers for about 15 minutes in oven before placing on a pre-heated grill until golden and crisp on each side. Personally, I loved frying them in the skillet :)


Jicama Salad

Just combined some fresh baby spinach, chopped jicama, blueberries, cucumber and apple cider vinegar.

The reasons why this rocks: 
blueberries
   - loaded with antioxidants
apple cider vinegar
   - eliminates toxins at a faster rate, clears blemishes, helps break down fats, and relieves heartburn
   - contains malic acid (antibacterial), calcium, potassium, pectin (regulates blood pressure)
jicama
   - low calorie, high fiber, antioxidants, rich in vitamin C, B-vitamins, and heaps of essential minerals
cucumber
   - it's green. that's good, right?
   - it's high in fiber, the skin has vitamin C, and the pulp is loaded with potassium and magnesium



gosh, I just love food so much.

Sweet Potato Vegetarian Chili

In leu of a recent post-church lunch, I was asked to bring in chili and/or desserts, and had a real fun time making both. You know, I couldn't just make a regular old chili. But I was so excited to use my crock pot again because earlier this week I made the most amazing rosemary chicken with sweet potatoes and carrots in it... my sister and I have been oohing and ahhing over the splendor of slow cookers so much recently, that I'm really starting to feel more like an adult. But I mean it, slow cookers rock.

Throw All of This Into The Slow Cooker!!

• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 15 ounce can kidney beans
• 15 ounce can black beans
• then add even more spices to suit you: I put in a combo of cinnamon, curry, and cayenne

And turn on the slow cooker to simmer over night for 10 hours on low, and VOILA wake up to the smell of warm fantastical chili. Top it with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and a big hunk o' cornbread.

For what it's worth, I also made some bacon-chocolate chip cookies for the lunch, but they weren't bacony enough so I'm not posting the recipe yet until I try it again and actually make a good batch ;)

enjoy!