Raspberry Upside-Down (Pan)Cake

I mean, really, what other title do you need?  This recipe came about one night after a batch of pancakes went very wrong. I've no idea what happened, since directions were followed to the T, but the pancake batter turned out runny. So runny it couldn't go onto the griddle (at least not without also making its way to the floor).  But, I didn't want to waist a bowlful of potential pancakey goodness, so I poured it into a casserole and baked it. Nom.

What You'll Need

Supplies

Medium mixing bowl                                                  9 x 9" casserole

Measuring cups                                                          Knife

Whisk

Ingredients

Stick of butter                                                            Water

Pancake mix                                                               8 oz package raspberries

Now Let's Make Raspberry Pancake Cake!
The great thing about this recipe is its simplicity. Start by preheating your oven to 350F. Grease your baking dish by peeling the wrapper away from the stick of butter and rubbing the stick against the bottom and sides of the dish (Kinda like coloring, but with butter). Rewrap your butter and put it away; set the dish aside.

Prepare your pancake mix in the medium bowl according to the directions on the box. I use the one for 12-18 pancakes (and when does it ever make that many?), which called for 2 cups mix to 1 1/3 cup water. Find the comparable amounts on your box, measure, and mix! Use your whisk and make sure all the lumps are gone, but do not overmix or you'll have a really tough cake.

Rinse off the raspberries and pat them dry with a paper towel very gently.  Layer the bottom of your casserole dish with raspberries, making sure to space them as evenly as possible.

Next, pour the pancake batter on top of the raspberries, making sure to pour evenly across the dish. If any of your raspberries are uncovered, push a little batter over the top of them.

Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven.  Start checking at about 18 minutes, but do not check too frequently or the warmth will escape the oven. Remove from oven when top is just starting to turn golden and an inserted knife comes out clean.

Cut the cake into squares. Dust with confectioner's sugar or the topping of your choice and serve. There's a lot of toppings that go well with this: whipped cream, cream cheese, maple syrup, raspberry preserves, honey, caramel etc. This cake relies on toppings to sweeten it, so don't skimp. Pick one and enjoy!

   

Super Easy Sunday: Poor Boy Cake

As usual on a Sunday I've worked, the last thing I wanted to do tonight was get in the kitchen.  Time to pull a easy recipe out of my hat.  This one is so easy, it hardly qualifies as a recipe really (but hey, I'm shameless).  Tonight, I made a Poor Boy Cake.  I've been making this cake with only small alterations since I started cooking; it was one of the first things I learned to make (aaaahhhh, nostalgia *tear*).  A little online research reveals a lot of variation for this cake, so let's just call this my version and leave it at that.

What You'll Need

Supplies

Large mixing bowl                                                        13 x 9" casserole dish

Mixing spoon                                                                Fork

Cooking spray

Ingredients

Box chocolate cake mix                                                 Water

Eggs                                                                               14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Vegetable Oil

Now Let's Make Poor Boy Cake

Preheat your oven according to the directions on the box. Yep, that's right: boxed cake mix.  Choose your favorite chocolate variety, or if you have a basic chocolate cake recipe, use that.  

Prepare the cake batter according to the directions on the box. Most basic box mixes call for a combo of eggs, water, and vegetable oil, so that's what I listed above. Use the amounts indicated on the box.

Pour the batter into the 13 x 9" casserole dish, scraping the bowl. Tilt the casserole from side to side and corner to corner to force the batter to spread out thoroughly. Bake according to the time listed on the back of the box. Do not overcook. Cake is done when a knife inserted comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.  Take your fork and stab the cake until it is covered in holes (make like a senator in Julius Caesar). Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour over the top of the cake. 

 Et tu, Brute?

Allow the milk to settle into the cake and the cake to cool. Serve and enjoy! It goes great with vanilla ice cream.

It's not a pretty cake, but it's a tasty one!

   

A Red Velvet Holiday

Happy New Year from The Book Pantry! This Christmas dinner, I served a Red Velvet Cake for dessert.  Red Velvet Cake is a southern tradition, although it seems pretty popular elsewhere, too. (And, really, what's not to like?). Mine is loosely based off a recipe for the cake in The Boozy Baker cookbook, to which I've made a few alterations of my own (mainly the type of alcohol and the amount of food coloring). The cream cheese icing recipe is my own, but there's only so many ways to make cream cheese icing, just saying.  This is a delicious and pretty cake sure to impress anyone you happen to serve it to.  Despite my usual low-tech approach to baking (enforced only because I lack toys), this recipe needs a mixer. You cannot mix the cake batter by hand and not over mix, thereby creating a tough cake.

What You'll Need

Supplies

2 nine inch cake pans                                          Measuring cups

Large mixing bowl                                              Measuring spoons

Medium mixing bowl                                           Mixing spoon

Small mixing bowl                                               Long serrated bread knife

Stand mixer                                                         Icing knife/spatula

Whisk                                                                  Cutting board

Cooking spray                                                      Chopping knife

Ingredients for Cake

3 cups cake flour                                                  1 tsp vanilla extract, running over

5 Tbsp cocoa powder                                           1 tsp white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda                                          3 oz red food coloring

1/2 tsp salt                                                           1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup buttermilk                                                2 cups sugar

1/4 cup rum                                                          3 eggs

Ingredients for Frosting

16 oz cream cheese, softened                               2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 sticks butter, softened                                       4 Tbsp vanilla

3 cups pecans

Now Let's Make Red Velvet Cake!

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Time for prep work: Remove your 16 oz of cream cheese and 2 sticks of butter from the refrigerator and set aside to soften until you're ready to do the icing. Also remove your 3 eggs so that they come close to room temperature by the time you need them.  Now, coarsely chop enough pecans to equal 3 cups: that's about 4 handfuls.

Spray your two cake pans with cooking spray.  Pour out a small pile of flour into each pan (click to enlarge photos for an example). Dust the pans with the flour by holding the pan up and tilted and tapping the bottom, rotating the pan as you go to allow a thorough coating.  Once the bottom of the pan is coated, continue this process with the remaining flour around the sides of the pan.  I recommend doing this over the kitchen sink, as it can get a little messy.  Set your coated pans aside.

 

Cocoa Powder! *shakes fist*

In your medium mixing bowl, measure out 3 cups cake flour, 5 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Whisk the ingredients together until they are evenly distributed and there are no large cocoa powder lumps (cocoa powder is sneaky and devious; be thorough in your eradication). Set the dry ingredients aside. 

In your small mixing bowl, measure out 3/4 cup buttermilk (not that non-fat gunk, either; that defeats the purpose of buttermilk), 1/4 cup of rum, 1 tsp vanilla extract (allowing the vanilla to run over into the bowl slightly as you measure), 1 tsp of white vinegar, and 3 oz of red food coloring. Whisk the ingredients together until you have a (very red) smooth liquid mixture.  For a brighter cake add food more food coloring, but be aware that it affects flavor a little.  If you'd like to avoid food coloring altogether, puree 1-2 cooked beets. Keep in mind that the interaction between the buttermilk and the cocoa should achieve a slight red color as it is (woot! Chemistry!). Set the liquid mixture aside.

No shells in this cake!

Place 1 1/2 sticks of butter in your large mixing bowl.  Soften in the microwave if necessary, being careful not to fully melt the butter.  Using your mixer at a low speed (about 2 on mine), beat the 2 cups of sugar into the butter until fluffy. Then, add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. I recommend stopping the mixer for each egg addition, so that you can fish out any stray pieces of eggshell that might make their way into the batter. (Remember, an easy way to remove pesky shells is to wet your finger before trying).

Set your mixer to medium-low speed (about 4 on mine, but don't turn it on yet).  For this step you are going to gradually add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, alternating between the two.  You want to do this is partial amounts; I typically wind up with four additions of each.  Start with the flour mixture and end with the buttermilk mixture to achieve the appropriate consistency for your batter. Be careful not to go too slowly and over mix your batter.  Over worked batter will result in a tough, chewy cake. (Blegh!)

Divide the cake batter between your two cake pans, scraping the bowl to get all the good bits. Lightly shake your pans from side to side to settle the batter evenly into the pans.  Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes.  Test the doneness of the cakes by inserting a toothpick (or fork prongs) into the center of the cake. Cakes are done when toothpick comes out clean.  Set cakes aside to cool.

Yes, it's upside down.

Once cakes are mostly cool, remove one cake from pan and place it on your icing station (work area, display, wherever you're planning to ice the cake).  Take your long serrated knife and evenly slice off the curved top of the cake, so that you'll have a flat bottom layer.  Offer the cake top to any circling family members that happen to be around. (Vultures!) Loosen the other cake in the pan, but leave in pan until cakes are completely cool.

Mmmmm... frosting.

While cakes are cooling the rest of the way. Wash out your large mixing bowl, so that you can begin whipping up the frosting.  Place your 16 oz of cream cheese, 2 sticks of butter, 2 cups of confectioner's sugar and 4 Tbsp of vanilla in the (now clean) bowl.  Stir the ingredients together with your mixing spoon until you have a thoroughly blended, smooth frosting. You can flavor the frosting with anything you'd like, simply replace the vanilla with your choice of flavor (lemon juice, more rum, orange liqueur, etc).

Spread some frosting on top of the already stationed cake.  (Do not do this if cake is not yet cool, or you'll have a melty, blobby cake and who wants that?). Smooth the frosting across the surface of the cake until you have a decent layer of frosting.  Remove the other cake layer from its pan and carefully place it centered over the bottom layer.  You can cut the top off this one, too, if you want a flat topped cake, but I never bother. Gently spread frosting over the entire cake, beginning with the top before moving on to the sides.  Try to avoid any bare or translucent spots where the cake shows through.  Once all the frosting is on the cake, smooth it out to make it purty.

Yum!

Now, take your chopped pecans and begin coating your cake.  Start with the top center and work your way outward.  You want some white to show through but don't want any bald spots, so try to be even handed.  "How do you coat the sides?" you ask. I grab a small handful of chopped pecans, get close to the cake and toss/press the nuts into the cake.  This is really messy, so have a broom handy (or a pecan loving dog, either will do).  

Isn't it pretty?!

Now, stand back and admire your handy work!  This cake goes really well with postprandial coffee.

Big thanks to my future step-brother, Stevie, for letting me use his Nikon and helping with the pictures. I'm actually in one! Le gasp.  Also, thank you to my lovely friend Jen for doing the second stage icing, thus preventing me from my annual apoplectic frosting rage.  

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Good with Food!

Or so Coca-Cola advertisements once told us.  Tonight's food posting features another classically southern recipe: Coca-Cola cake.  If you live/ were raised in the South and have somehow missed out the sheer, blissful deliciousness that is Coca-Cola Cake, then you have been jipped, cheated, deprived even (I'm looking at you Mom and Dad).  But not to worry, because you can rectify that problem now!  I got this recipe, with some minor adjustments and expansions of my own, from the discussion guide for Mark Childress's Georgia Bottoms (which suspiciously resembles one on several recipe sites. I wonder who copied whom).  Although, I had to figure out the frosting for myself since the recipe simply tells you to use Coca-Cola frosting (Gee, thanks).

What You'll Need

Supplies

Electric mixer                                                               1 knife for chopping

2 small mixing bowls                                                   Cutting board

1 medium mixing bowl                                                 13 x 9 casserole dish

Mixing spoon                                                                Whisk
Small Saucepan                                                            Small cooking spoon

Ingredients for Cake

1 cup Coca-Cola                                                            1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk                                                        2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour                                                2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup cocoa                                                                1 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows

1 tsp baking soda                                                          1 cup pecans, chopped

2 sticks butter, softened (1 cup)

Ingredients for Frosting

1 stick butter  16 oz powdered sugar                            16 oz confectioner's sugar

1/3 cup Coca-Cola                                                         1 Tbsp vanilla extract

3 Tbsp cocoa

Now Let's Make Coca-Cola Cake

Before we get down to the nitty gritty, let me make a quick note (veiled threat) about ingredients.  First, use real vanilla extract not the fake stuff (blegh!). Second, and most importantly, don't you dare use Diet Coke; it is not the same, so suck it up and deal with the calories (notice, I'm not even considering the possibility that someone might use Pepsi; you wouldn't do that, right? Right.)

Now whisk! Whisk, I said!

Start by preheating the oven to 350F.  In one of your small bowls, mix together 1 cup Coca-Cola and 1/2 cup buttermilk.  Set this aside.  In the other small bowl combine 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup cocoa, and 1 tsp baking soda.  Whisk these together until there are no lumpy bits (doesn't that sound tasty!). If you don't have a whisk handy, you can always use a fork; it'll take a little longer, but don't sweat the small stuff.

Creamy butter

Add 2 sticks of butter to your large mixing bowl. If the butter hasn't gotten soft yet, microwave it for about 20-30 seconds.  The trick is to get the butter soft but not melted.  Beat the butter at a low speed with your electric mixer until creamy (or if you are lacking a mixer, go to your Da's house to use his, like me. *hint, hint*).  Since I think that all soft butter is kind of creamy, I have thoughtfully provided you with a photo of this step.  Sweet? I know.

Still mixing at a low speed, begin gradually adding the 1 1/2 cups sugar.  Beat until well-blended and kind of fluffy.  Crack your two eggs into the bowl. If you get some egg shell in there, just wet your finger and pull it out; that way you don't have to chase the shell around the bowl for 5 minutes (ask me how I know, heh heh).  Add 2 tsp of vanilla, letting it run over a little as you measure it out for extra tastiness.  Beat eggs and vanilla into butter mixture at a low speed until thoroughly blended.

Begin adding the flour mixture and the Coca-Cola mixture to the batter, blending at a low speed.  Alternate between the two as you add, but make sure you begin and end with the flour mixture.  This is particularly important since the Coke, which makes the cake tender and fluffy, will also make your batter somewhat mealy until the next addition of dry ingredients (which looks a little funky, I know).  Make sure that each addition is well-blended before adding more.

Remove the large mixing bowl from the mixer.  Measure out 1 1/2 cups of marshmallows, packing them down nice and tight as you do so (what can I say, I like marshmallows).  Add them to the batter, and stir them in with your mixing spoon.  Do NOT try to blend the marshmallows in with the mixer.  As you stir, make sure the marshmallows get mixed evenly throughout your batter; you don't want a concentration of marshmallows anywhere.

Pour the batter into a greased 13 x 9 inch casserole dish or pan.  Scrape the bowl thoroughly to get as much battery goodness into the cake as possible (let's not be wasteful, y'all), and spread the batter into the pan until all parts are even.  It's a thick batter, so you'll probably have to do a lot of scraping and spooning.  Bake the cake at 350F for 30-40 minutes.  When the cake is done a knife inserted into the middle will come out clean.

Sticky goodness

While the cake is cooling a bit, start preparing your Coca-Cola Frosting.   Cut one stick of butter into chunks into your small saucepan. Add the 1/3 cup Coca-Cola and 3 Tbsp cocoa. Heat over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until the butter is melted and the frosting comes to a light boil.  Remove from heat and whisk in the confectioner's sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla.  Again, if you don't have a whisk, and fork will do fine.

No cake picture for you!

Chop up some pecans into coarse pieces until you have 1 cup. Sprinkle the pecans over the top of the cake. Then, pour the frosting over your cake, spreading it evenly over the top of the cake so that it reaches all the edges and there are no bare bits.  This way your pecans get frosted, too.  However, if you prefer, you can frost the cake and then add the pecans. Both are equally tasty options. The longer the frosted cake sits, the more you'll notice the top of the frosting hardening a bit.  This is normal.

This cake is not a lie.

Let the cake cool for about 10-15 more minutes. Cut the cakes into squares and serve! My picture isn't as pretty as usual, because I got excited and cut the cake a little to soon.  Thus, my square didn't stay geometric, and went plop instead.  Still nommy! Now, where are my leftovers?

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