Yesterday, in preparation for a New Year’s Eve get together, I decided to make the final cake.  A Root Beer Cake!  Now choosing cake #52 was not an easy decision, but I love root beer and chocolate – so it seemed like this was the cake to finish up the “Cake-aWeek” year well!

I found this recipe in a “Sifted” magazine by King Arthur Flour, which is a fantastic baking resource.   It looked so amazing in the photos.   I my imagination it is a lot like a coca-cola cake.  But, of course, I don’t that for sure yet since I haven’t tasted it. Confession:  I did not use freshly grated ginger or smoked cinnamon (whatever that is…).

Root Beer Cake with Chocolate Root Beer Ganache.

CAKE
2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground star anise
1 1/2 cups root beer, flat or fizzy
16 tablespoons (1 cup) unsalted butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-process or natural
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
*The original recipe calls for smoked cinnamon; if you can find it, by all means use it.

GANACHE
1/4 cup root beer, flat or fizzy
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder, Dutch-process or natural
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground star anise
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, a 9″ x 13″ pan, or two 9″ round cake pans.
To make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a medium saucepan, bring the root beer, butter, and cocoa powder to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, cool for 5 minutes, then mix into the flour mixture.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and stir into the flour mixture. Fold in the grated ginger.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan(s) and bake for 50 minutes for a Bundt cake, 35 minutes for a 9″ x 13″ cake, or 33 to 35 minutes for 9″ layers, until the edge of the cake begins to pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven. Gently loosen it from the pan around the edge, if you can. Place a cooling rack on top, across the surface of the cake. Very carefully turn the cake and rack over so that the cake (in its pan) is resting on the rack. Wait 15 minutes, then carefully lift the pan off the cake, jiggling it gently first to make sure it’s not stuck.

To make the ganache: Bring the root beer to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and cocoa powder, stirring until smooth. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, then whisk in the confectioners’ sugar, spices, and salt until smooth and glossy. Pour over the top of the cake while still warm.

In case you’re concerned, or sad to see the year of the bundt cake end, be of good cheer:  I’m not done baking. In fact, I have a few plans up my sleeve for this coming year – and I hope you’ll keep reading, baking with me and dreaming about cake! There are many more recipes to be tested!

It’s coming  down to the wire folks! I’ve been baking tons of cake for gifts to give to precious friends and family, and trying to keep up with the rest of a busy holiday schedule!  But I’m determined to cross this finish line – 52 cakes WILL happen!

I realized a friend’s birthday was happening right on Christmas Eve! So I took her an early birthday cake – an Egg Nog Bundt cake!

Here’s what I did:

ingredients:
1 golden cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 Cup egg nog
1 tsp nut meg

instructions:(I coated the pan with bakers spray, then gave a good coat of cinnamon sugar.)Heat the oven to 350.  Mix all of the cake ingredients on medium speed for two minutes.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or so.

Frosting ingredients:

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 stick of butter
Tsp rum extract
tbsp or two of cream ( or enough for desired consistency)
whip these ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Spread over cake.

Heres the thing- I covered only the top of the cake, but really it would be good with a thick layer of frosting all over the cake! I think in the future I might pour a good voting of spiced rum sauce all over the cake (this is the sauce I make for the coconut rum cake) that would move this cake from yummy status to Divine!!

A few weeks ago I found out a friend’s birthday was coming up- And I discovered she loves peanut butter and chocolate.  Well, this is the perfect time of year to love peanut butter and chocolate in my kitchen because: Buckeyes! (Also known as peanut butter balls in the south)

I decided to try something a little different- I created a chocolate cake and I hid Buckeyes inside the batter.  Here’s what I did:

for the cake:

To a devils food cake mix I added a cup of milk, four eggs and a 1/2 cup of oil.  I beat on medium for two minutes and then poured the batter into a greased Bundt pan.  Then I took 8 well chilled Buckeyes and gently set them on top of the batter – I knew they would sink into the cake as it baked and probably melt some!  I baked the cake for about 45 minutes at 350.

After it cooled and I removed it from the pan I made a ganache. ( 6 tbspoons of hot cream, poured over a cup of chocolate chips, stirred until smooth)

i spread the ganache over the cake and then covered the top with crushed peanut butter cups.

Apparently it was pretty good!

cake # 49

Peppermint hot cocoa bundt

Friends it is a busy time of year around here! So many rehearsals and concerts on the calendar, it’s hard to keep up. But I am working hard to keep up and finish these last few cakes of the year!

Last week’s cake, which I’m just now managing to post was wonderful! I combined to really yummy recipes to create something new! I used the recipe for milk chocolate pound cake, from several weeks ago and then the ganache from the recent Whoopi pie Bundt. I added peppermint extract to the cake and crushed candy canes to the top of the cake!

Guys! It was a winning combination! The cake is perfectly soft and dense with a milk chocolate flavor! Adding the peppermint made it just like tasting a cup of peppermint hot cocoa! Of course adding the ganache and candy cane put it over the top!

This is one of my favorites for sure!

pS: I made minis too, because that milk chocolate pound cake makes a huge amount of batter!!

Simply put, I needed something (and quick) to take to a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to bake something that would have a broad appeal.  I couldn’t help but think about funfetti cake mixes, so I decided to try a homemade version, with lots of brightly colored sprinkles.

And I do mean lots.

I found a recipe on Bunsen burner bakery’s blog.   This time I dont’ think I made any changes at all.  With all of the bright colors and the easy-going almond and vanilla flavors, it is sure to please everyone!

INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE CAKE:
4 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sprinkles

FOR THE GLAZE:
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
sprinkles, for decorating

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Grease and flour bundt pan.
Using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Continue to beat until ingredients are fully incorporated and smooth. Add in the sprinkles and mix until evenly dispersed.
Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, until a tester inserted into the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back gently when pressed with a finger. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely before glazing.
To make the glaze, whisk together the confectioners sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar for thicker glaze or more milk to thin. Pour over the cooled cake, letting the glaze drip down the sides of the cake. Decorate liberally with sprinkles.

On this cake journey, Ive found myself wishing for a diversion- something different.  I don’t always indulge in that desire because there are just too many cake recipes to test!

But this week, I let myself try a new idea!  A popcorn cake!    It was kind of like salty snacks meet rice krispy treats and combine into a cake! It was super yummy – the kids loved it and it was pretty simple, although sticky, to make! Really, it is a lot like a giant popcorn ball.   It seems like the perfect treat in the fall!

I used the recipe from cookiesandcups.com – its a great site with lots of good recipes!   Next time, I’m going to experiment and make this recipe more my own – maybe with other mix-ins, and some peanut butter somewhere in the gooey mixture.

Cake #37 Popcorn cake.

Ingredients:

• 2 bags of microwave popcorn, popped with unpopped kernels removed
• 2 cups M&M’s and Reese’s pieces
• 1½ cups broken pretzel sticks
• 16 oz mini marshmallows (8 cups)
• ½ cup butter

Instructions:

1. Prepare a large tube or bundt pan by spraying with cooking spray. (I actually lined my pan with press and seal instead – and the cake came out of the pan no sweat) In the bottom of the pan sprinkle a few m&ms to make the top of the cake look colorful.
2. Microwave the 2 bags of buttered popcorn, dump in a large bowl and pick out the unpopped kernels.  Add the other mix -ins- 2 cups of M&M’s and 1½ cups broken pretzel sticks to the bowl.
3. Melt 1 stick of butter over low in a large saucepan and then add in a 16 oz bag of mini marshmallows (8 cups). Stir until melted and smooth and remove from the heat.
4. Allow it to cool for about 2 minutes, while stirring constantly and then pour it over your popcorn mixture.
5. Stir until all the ingredients are combined and then press into the prepared pan (I make sure I grease my fingers really well for this step).
6. Cover with foil and let your cake set for at least an hour to cool and set up.
7. When you are ready to serve the cake, Flip your pan over onto your serving platter. Your cake should come out pretty easily if you lined with press n seal.