Guinness Gingerbread
I realize this is not a traditional St. Patrick’s Day recipe by any means, but it is a tasty way to use Guinness Stout, the king of Irish stouts, in your baking. Guinness and chocolate are a perfect pair, and they work especially well with the spicy ginger, pepper, and smoky cinnamon. The gingerbread only takes a few minutes to mix up, so it’s a quick and easy dessert to serve at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration or any time of year.
The gingerbread was a hit at our house and Michael even said it was the best gingerbread he’d ever tasted as he went back for seconds. The flavor and moistness kept us coming back for more.
More Recipes For St. Patrick’s Day
Cranberry Orange Upside Down Cake
When I was a kid thought of upside down cakes as “dump cakes.” You know, you dump the cake out of the pan and stuff runs everywhere. It seemed reasonable at the time, even if it sounded less than palatable to the average ear. My boys think upside down cakes are magic, and I had an audience when I turned this one out onto the serving plate. Top Gun stood as patiently as he possibly could, his eyes big as saucers when I lifted off the pan, and he simply said, “Wow.” Then after tasting a few crumbs he wanted to know when we were having dessert.
I like upside down cakes because the fruit and glaze looks so pretty on the top, and for the most part they are easy to make. You can serve them as is or dress it up for guests with a little whipped cream or ice cream; either way, you have a simple cake that looks beautiful and works well for dessert or brunch.
With cranberries in season, this is an easy and tasty way to use them. The tartness of the berries and the orange juice balances the sweetness of the brown sugar, the orange zest carries on the theme in the cake, and the whipped cream has just a touch of orange flavor with Grand Marnier.
Brown Sugar Cake with Prunes and Apples
November 5, 2008 by Andrea
Filed under Autumn Dishes, Dessert
This week marked the end of the first quarter for school and the teachers had work days to prepare report cards and attend staff development. Oh, how I remember those days! Even though I was an early adopter of electronic grade books—I kept all my grades in ClarisWorks spreadsheets on my first Mac—I always had tons of work to do on those days between quarters. Nothing has changed and teachers still have long lists of things to accomplish on those brief days without students.
I have fond memories of my years teaching, and though I’m no longer in the classroom, I continue to support educators and their work. Our PTA sponsored a luncheon for the teachers on Monday, and I volunteered to bring dessert. I had plenty of cakes I had made before, but I wanted to try another one of Dorie’s recipes from Baking From My Home to Yours, and I selected this Bundt cake since apples are in season. Dorie’s original recipe uses pears, but I have a slew of apples on hand because Michael’s parents sent us a wonderful gift of two boxes of Cortland apples from Beak & Skiff in New York, so a couple of them went into this cake.
The crumbs tasted delicious, and the boys asked me repeatedly for a taste as I sliced it and arranged the pieces on a serving plate. They were disappointed that none stayed home for them to enjoy. Apparently the cake went over very well with the teachers and staff, and I heard from one administrator about his disappointment that he didn’t get a slice, so this cake will definitely get a repeat performance.
The Daring Bakers Make Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream
Michael’s birthday was last weekend, and when I saw The Daring Bakers challenge for this month, I immediately announced what his birthday cake would be. “Whatever you want to do, Sweet Pea,” was his response. Thank goodness he’s so flexible about food!
And thank goodness for chocolate ganache because it not only tastes good, but it can hide a multitude of errors, though not all. I would have many things to be thankful for by the time I finished the cake!
I split the preparation over two days, making the cake, the praline paste, and the soaking syrup the first day; followed by the Swiss buttercream, whipping cream, apricot glaze, chocolate ganache, and the assembly. All in all, including time correcting mistakes, I estimate I spent 15 hours on this cake. It is a long recipe because there are seven distinct parts to make before putting it all together. It was delicious and quite rich, and I let out a huge sigh when it was done. Thank goodness the genoise (cake) and ganache turned out near perfect, because other parts were much more of a challenge due to mishaps along the way. Read more
Zucchini-Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Crunch Glaze
July 7, 2008 by Andrea
Filed under Dessert, Italian foods
It’s that zucchini time of year. If you planted it in your garden you may already have a trickle coming in, but if not don’t fret, you will have some very soon and the trickle will turn into a flood. Zucchini plants are very prolific and sometimes leave gardeners feeling overwhelmed with the harvest and neighbors tired of all the zucchini deliveries. If your zucchini plants are threatening to stage a garden takeover, harvest the prized flowers to control production and make yourself a special treat of fried zucchini blossoms. Zucchini is very versatile and can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. We like to throw it on the grill or into a pot of chili, and I have very fond memories of my mother’s batter-dipped fried zucchini, but I think my favorite way to use zucchini is to put it in bread or cakes, which is very appropriate since zucchini is technically a fruit.
I think zucchini bread/cake/cupcakes/muffins must be a universal treat because I come across recipes all the time and find the basics to be remarkably similar. Take my mother’s delicious, homey zucchini bread and this wonderful recipe for Italian zucchini cake, for example. The essential ingredients are virtually identical with slight variations in amounts: flour, sugar, oil, cinnamon, walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, eggs, grated zucchini. My mother uses canola oil, the Italian cake uses extra-virgin olive oil. My mother uses slightly less leavening, and the cake uses more to achieve a bigger rise and more cake-like texture. The cake calls for ginger and nutmeg as well as cinnamon, but it’s the the lemon crunch glaze that you brush on while the cake is still hot that gives it an elegant touch.
If you require more inspiration for what to do with all your zucchini or the blossoms, Read more
Airplane Birthday Cake
In November we made a Lightening McQueen cake for Bob the Builder’s birthday, and at the time Top Gun repeated over and over how he wanted a Mater cake for his birthday. Well, two months ago he changed his tune after becoming obsessed with airplanes. “Mommy, Daddy, I want a crashed airplane cake. Mommy, you make the cake, and Daddy, you decorate it.” A crashed airplane? Huh? We pictured an airplane upside down in a pile of dirt and smashed parts or tail end up in a body of water, and that’s just a little too dark for a four-year-old’s birthday cake.
So even though Michael had been planning that Mater cake for three months (sometimes planning ahead can backfire), we switched gears and started thinking airplanes, not that Michael really minded since he’s an aerospace engineer and has an obsession with aircraft going back to his own childhood and seeing the Apollo 11 moon landing on television in 1969. Yes, the love of all things that fly is deeply rooted. Top Gun chose one of his airplanes to be the model, a Tonka Lil’ Chuck airplane, which is based on a GeeBee Model Z. Michael took that model and designed the shape of the cake but made the vertical tail, or the rudder, larger so it would have room for the birthday boy’s age.
