Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache . . .

Last week in my Bakery Merchandising class, my fellow students and I spent hours preparing for a sale in the culinary school's retail bakery. One of my duties included piping huge swirls of fluffy vanilla buttercream onto dozens of yellow cupcakes, chilling them until firm, then suspending them upside down, one by one, and dipping them into a deep bowl of warm chocolate ganache.

At first my task progressed smoothly, but then the big white swirls started plopping off as I lifted the cold cupcakes out of the chocolate. Cursing under my breath with each failed attempt, I nervously fished out big globs of buttercream--once, twice, three times. Speed was of the essence that day and, not wanting to gum up the works, I took immediate steps to remedy the problem. Soldiering on, I carefully refrosted some of the cupcakes, chilled them longer, rewarmed the ganache, and crossed my fingers.

Meanwhile, directly across from me a much younger student, who told me she'd been working in a bakery since high school, was deftly enrobing iced layer cakes in ganache. I kept glancing over as she ladled the fluid chocolate atop each cake, letting it move languidly down the sides before picking up a small offset spatula to cover any bare spots. Her sense of calm bordered on the meditative, and her technique produced beautiful results.

It made me want to do the same thing at home. Damn the cupcakes, I said to myself, full speed ahead with a big round layer cake in my own kitchen. 

Thus was the inspiration for today's cake. (A cake that would, I believe, make a sensational Valentine's Day dessert!)

About this recipe . . . 

From the book Welcome to Junior's! Remembering Brooklyn with Recipes and Memories from its Favorite Restaurant, this fudge cake is moist and densely textured. The recipe actually produces three hefty layers, but they were each so tall and obviously substantive, I decided to save and freeze the third one. If I'd actually used all three layers the iced and coated cake would probably have been 10" tall. (If you need a truly lofty layer cake, go ahead and use all three.) The vanilla buttercream recipe is also adapted from Junior's. The decision to apply a luxurious dark-chocolate ganache over the whole thing was, as you know, quite my own.

I bought this book last April in Junior's Restaurant (the one in Times Square) during a trip to NYC, and I have to admit I'm pretty fond of it (the book, yes, and also the restaurant!). My family and I visited Junior's twice while we were there, one night just for dessert (that famous cheesecake, of course), and again on our last morning in town before heading to the airport. We'd finished breakfast and were getting up to leave when it hit me that I could not exit Manhattan without my own copy, bright stacks of which were displayed near the entrance. Along with solid recipes, this volume offers an honest and deeply affectionate homage to Brooklyn--as it was decades ago, and as it is now. It's full of historical tidbits that are pretty engrossing for anyone who's interested in the evolution of a classic, family-owned, American restaurant. I began reading it at the airport, while awaiting our flight, and hardly put it down until our plane landed back in Detroit. I used one of Junior's cute paper coasters as my bookmark.

Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Vanilla Buttercream 
and Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache
(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Yield: Makes one large, tall, 3-layer cake that, when iced and ganached, could probably serve 20 or more people.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three round 9"x2" cake pans, place parchment paper circles in the bottom, and then butter the parchment (it's easiest to do this with a pastry brush, and do use unsalted butter). Place a rack in the middle of your oven.

Ingredients for the cake layers:

3 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 generous teaspoon of coarse kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp.
1/2 cup vegetable shortening 
1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
7 large eggs, not cold
9 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 and 1/4 cups milk (I used 2 percent.)

Onto parchment, or into a medium size bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

In the large bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment on high speed, cream together the butter, shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat for several minutes, until the mixture turns light yellow. Scrape the bowl and beaters. Again on high speed, add in the eggs one at a time, beating for a couple of minutes after each addition. Stop and scrape the bowl and beaters.

Pour in all of the chocolate and vanilla, and continue mixing on high speed for up to 20 minutes. (Yes, I said 20 minutes--that's what the instructions indicate, and that's what I did. The batter is quite fluffy when you're done with this step.) Take the bowl off of the mixer now, and gently scrape again with your spatula.

Now, sift one quarter of the dry mixture over the batter and carefully stir (as opposed to just folding, which you will be inclined to do) it in. Then pour in one third of the milk, stirring to blend. Continue in this fashion, until you've incorporated all the flour and milk, stirring well after each addition.

Portion the batter equally into the three prepared pans, and smooth it out. Gently tap each pan on your work surface to help release air bubbles. Bake the pans side by side on the middle rack, but don't let them touch each other. (The cookbook suggests delaying the baking of one layer if you don't have an oven large enough to accomplish this, rather than baking one of the layers on an upper- or lower rack.)


Bake the layers for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each one comes out clean, and the sides of the cakes just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool the layers on racks for 30 minutes before inverting them onto racks (and removing any parchment still stuck to them) to finish cooling.

Ingredients for Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

2 lbs. (8 cups) of confectioners' sugar, well sifted (I always use Domino's 10x for frosting. Much less lumpy than the cheaper stuff.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup margarine or high-ratio shortening, not cold (I did not use margarine, which the original recipe indicates. Instead, I used Sweetex, which is a "high-ratio" shortening typically used by cake decorators. Trans-fat free, it adds stability to frostings--ie., helps them hold up without softening in warm temps--and doesn't lend a greasy mouth-feel the way vegetable shortening can. It also helps make frosting easier to spread. You can buy it at cake decorating supply stores, but be forewarned that it's not cheap.)
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. and 2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 scant tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup heavy cream, not too cold

Onto a parchment sheet, or into a large bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and the salt, being sure to break up out any stubborn sugar lumps. In the large bowl of your electric mixer, using the paddle attachment on high speed, cream together the butter and margarine/Sweetex; beat for about three minutes, until light yellow. Still on high speed, add in the corn syrup and vanilla. Stop and scrape the beaters and bowl. Now on low speed, add the sugar in two additions, beating well after each one. Pour in the cream and blend until the frosting seems of reasonable spreading consistency; if it seems too thick, add in more cream as needed, a teaspoon or so at a time. Keep the frosting tightly covered until you're ready to use it. If you won't be using it within a couple of hours, cover and refrigerate it. 

Ingredients for the Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache:

8-10 oz. good quality dark chocolate (I tend to use Ghirardelli if I don't want to spend a fortune. If I'm flush with cash, I'm more likely to use Callebaut, and more rarely Valrhona. Bittersweet ganache works well with this cake since it balances the sweetness of the buttercream frosting.)
5-6 oz. heavy cream (The amount can vary a little bit, depending upon how soft you want your ganache to be.)
2 tsp. soft unsalted butter

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a heatproof bowl.

In a small sauce pan, heat the cream slowly until it simmers. Pour it over the chocolate, add the butter, and do not stir. Let the mixture sit undisturbed for a couple of minutes. Stir until the chocolate is obviously completely melted; don't whisk, as you don't want to add bubbles. As the ganache begins to cool, you'll be able to get an idea of its texture. If it seems it will be too thick to ladle onto your cake, stir in a little bit more warm cream, adjusting as needed. If you won't be using the ganache right away, keep it well covered in the fridge. It can be warmed up in a double boiler, or gradually in the microwave if watched very closely. 


To assemble the cake:

Place your first layer of cake on a cardboard cake-circle so you can more easily lift and move it; this will be a big help when it comes time to add the ganache coating. Frost the top of the bottom layer.  Frost the top of the middle layer. Frost the top of the top layer and the sides of the cake as smoothly as you can, ideally with an offset spatula. It doesn't matter too much if some crumbs show through in the frosting at this point since the cake will be covered in chocolate, but any obvious lumps should be smoothed out to ensure a nice finish. 

Place the cake, still on its cardboard circle, over a cake rack that's been placed atop a rimmed baking sheet. 


When your ganache is at the right consistency (it should drip easily from a ladle, like a very pourable gravy), ladle it directly onto the top center of the cake, letting it spread out and drip down the sides. The excess ganache will drip off the bottom edges of the cake onto your baking sheet (that excess can be saved and used again, assuming it doesn't contain crumbs, etc.). Use a small, metal, offset spatula to smooth out, and dab delicately at, any bare spots on the top and sides of the cake; work fairly quickly since the ganache will start to set up as it cools. Let the ganache-covered cake sit on the cooling rack over the baking sheet until the ganache seems somewhat firm. Move the cake onto its serving plate, sliding a firm metal spatula beneath it to help lift it up off the cooling rack. Before serving, add on any decorations you prefer (whipped cream swirls, piped frosting, chocolate-dipped strawberries, whatever you like).

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United Layers of Carrot Cake . . .

I don't know about you, but carrot cake sure seems like a distinctly American dessert to me. Despite the fact that carrots have for centuries been used in just about every conceivable culinary form, I want to believe that the modern carrot layer cake, blanketed in cream cheese frosting, stands tall as an American invention. Having moved beyond trendiness decades ago, the lofty treat has become a classic fixture on menus from coast to coast. A really good carrot cake is not something to be disregarded. A really good carrot cake is, on the contrary, something to be revered.

Famed Cake Love bakery owner Warren Brown, in his fun (and whimsically designed) cookbook, United Cakes of America, offers up a carrot cake recipe that I found pretty intriguing. One of its unique aspects involves mixing the shredded carrots with sugar and then letting them sit for a while to drain. I don't recall ever before seeing a carrot cake recipe that suggested doing that, but I don't think I'll ever make a carrot cake again that doesn't require this step.

It allows some of the excess juice to drain off while the carrots take on the sugar's sweetness. On top of that, the recipe calls for a relatively small amount of carrots--only 3/4 of a cup, which I also liked. Often, it seems to me, cakes featuring one particular ingredient (carrots, beets, bananas, etc.) tend to go overboard in its use. Not so in this case.

Though I made several small adjustments to Brown's recipe, rewriting it in the process, I tried to keep with the spirit of his formula. One ingredient that undoubtedly makes his cake special, and that I unfortunately did not have on hand, was dried, chopped pineapple; I decided to substitute moist raisins instead, knowing that my husband likes them. Also, Brown calls for 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour; instead of regular whole wheat I opted to use white whole wheat flour, which is somewhat lighter and fluffier. Brown's version calls for the use of no spices at all. Though I found that omission interesting, I decided to add in a modicum of cinnamon, a dab of ground ginger, and a scant pinch of allspice. I also reduced the amount of chopped nuts in the batter from 1 cup to 3/4 cup.

This cake also differs from the norm in that it's not as super-moist and heavy as most typical carrot cakes seem to be. It's not oil-saturated, if you know what I mean. It uses a combo of melted butter along with a little oil, and it produces a carrot cake that, texturally, won't necessarily weigh you down the way some of them are bound to do. It has nice chewy bits of carrot and coconut. It's just really good. 

I also think it's a cake that tastes best after being frosted and spending at least a day in the fridge. Gives the flavors a nice chance to mingle before serving. (Oh, and before I forget . . . you won't need your mixer to make the cake batter, but you will need it for the frosting.)

Carrot Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)


Wet ingredients:
3/4 cup shredded carrots (I grated mine small, using a hand grater, and used well cleaned but unpeeled organic carrots.)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (Brown recommends superfine sugar, so use that if you want to.)
1 and 1/2 sticks (6 oz.) unsalted butter, melted
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I used canola oil.)
5 large eggs, lightly beaten

Dry ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar (Again, Brown suggests superfine sugar; use that if you like.)
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached.)
1/4 white whole wheat flour (Brown suggests regular whole wheat flour, but white whole wheat is lighter and has the same nutritional value.)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt (I used 1 generous tsp. of kosher salt.)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 scant pinch allspice
1 cup coconut, dried, unsweetened, and finely shredded (This "dessicated" coconut can be found in health food stores; look there if you can't find it in the grocery store. If you can't find this, you can still use sweetened coconut, but chop it finely before adding it to the batter.)

3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped small
1 cup raisins (Use moist raisins to start with, or soak your raisins in warm water for about 15 minutes then drain them thoroughly before adding to the batter.)


For the cream cheese frosting:

16 oz. of cream cheese at room temperature (Definitely use a thick, rich brand like Philadelphia.)
3/4 of a stick (3 oz.) of unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups (about 16 oz.) confectioners' sugar
1 very scant pinch of fine-grain salt (Add this if you like. I think it helps cut the sweetness.)

*****

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9" round baking pans. Line them with circles of parchment paper, and then lightly grease the parchment.

Mix the carrots and 3/4 cup of sugar in a medium size bowl and dump them into a sieve or colander. Set it over the bowl and let this drain while you prepare the rest of the batter. You'll end up discarding the drained juice.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the melted butter, oil, and lightly beaten eggs.

In a large bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, light brown sugar, all purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, spices, coconut, and chopped nuts.

In a small bowl, stir together the raisins and carrots.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients (butter, oil, eggs). Stir well to combine. Toss in the raisin and carrot mixture, stirring just to blend evenly.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and smooth it out with an offset spatula or the back of a large spoon.

Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the top comes out mostly clean. Don't overbake; the sides of the cake should just be starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cakes in their pans, on a rack, to room almost temperature. Invert them onto racks and peel off the parchment paper. Let them finish cooling completely before assembling with frosting.

To make the frosting:

In the large bowl of your mixer, on medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the butter and vanilla until well combined. Gradually add in the confectioners' sugar on low speed, stopping to scrape as needed. If the frosting is extremely soft, chill it a bit before frosting the cake. Frost the layers when they're cool and, if you like, pat more chopped nuts onto the sides of the cake all around (you'll need about another cup of chopped nuts for this). Keep the finished cake in the fridge until shortly before serving.

*(And if you'd like to see another carrot layer-cake recipe that I posted previously, for a very moist cake made with crushed pineapple in the batter, check out this link).

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Classic Vanilla Layer Cake with Mocha Swiss Meringue Buttercream . . . and My Favorite Swimmer

A while ago my older son Charlie asked me if I'd bake the big cake for his swim team's end-of-year banquet and I agreed. The banquet's being held early next week, so I need to get cracking. It's been a blast watching that kid swim in high school and, since he graduates this year, I will miss it. Forgive me if this sounds too cloyingly corny, but I must say it's been a remarkably gratifying and heart-warming thing for me to witness his passion, perseverance, and joy as a member of that team. Charlie's had a great experience and has grown so much. I'm proud of that guy. So proud, in fact, that I spent the entire morning on Thursday whipping up a crate full of his favorite, hefty oatmeal raisin cookies for the swim team to take with them to the state meet this weekend. There he is, below. (Check out that dimple. Go Bears!)

Anyway, now with just a few days to go, I find myself still wondering how the heck I should decorate the banquet cake. Like Hamlet, I'm plagued with indecision. Plagued, I tell you. I don't want the cake to look like I just carried it out of Costco, nor do I want it to look like it's for a bunch of eight-year old girls. Should I make little swimmers out of fondant? A pool out of piping gel? Ugh. This kind of thing always presents me with a quandary.

Recipe selection, on the other hand is usually much less complicated. With the team's cake in mind, I tested out this vanilla cake from Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America. A classic butter-based layer cake, it has warm well-rounded flavor and fine texture. It reminded me, in fact, of the sumptuous layer cakes we used to buy occasionally from Sanders stores when I was a child. Sanders was the purveyor of choice, in the Detroit area, for rich baked goods, incomparably smooth ice cream, and velvety chocolates. If you're from around here and you're at least forty years old, you probably know all about the heyday of Sanders. It's sort of still around, in name at least, though sadly only as a pale version of its former self.

But I digress. Pardon me.

About this recipe . . . 

I altered the cake recipe only by upping the vanilla ante a bit, adding in the seeds from half a vanilla bean. For the icing, I used a swiss meringue buttercream that I found in an old copy of  Icing the Cake, by Jill Van Cleave, and I customized it by adding in a dash of Kahlua to turn it into a tasty mocha buttercream. A swiss meringue buttercream isn't nearly as nerve-wracking to make an as Italian meringue buttercream, and I think it's just as good. No hot sugar syrup to pour slowly between the spinning beaters and the side of the mixing bowl, thank heaven. You just whisk the sugar and egg whites over a double boiler for a while, then put the bowl onto the mixer, slowly add in the butter, then the flavorings, and beat-beat-beat until the cows come home. Eventually, it all comes together into something soft, silky, and supernaturally spreadable.

I reworded both recipes, as usual. Can't help myself.

Vanilla Layer Cake with Mocha Swiss Meringue Buttercream

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or grease two 8" round pans, or use baking spray. Cut out 8" rounds out of parchment and place one in the bottom of each pan. Butter/grease the parchment.

3 and 1/2 cups cake flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder (Yes, one whole tablespoon.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, diced into small chunks, at room temperature
1 cup milk (I used 2 percent.)
4 eggs, large
2 egg whites, from large eggs
1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Seeds scraped from half of one vanilla bean (I used a Madagascar bean.)


Sift together, into the large bowl of your mixer, the first four ingredients. Using the whisk attachment, add in all of the butter and half of the milk. On medium speed, until smooth, mix for just about four minutes. Stop to scrape the bowl and beater as needed.

In a medium size bowl, blend together the eggs, egg whites, remaining milk, vanilla extract, and the vanilla bean seeds. In three additions, add this into the mixer bowl, beating on medium speed for no longer than two minutes for each addition. Be sure to stop and scrape as needed.

Portion the batter evenly into the two pans and bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cakes spring back lightly when touched.

Let the cakes cool almost completely on wire racks, in their pans. Run a thin knife or metal spatula around the sides, then carefully invert them out of the pans. 

Mocha Swiss Meringue Buttercream (Yield: 3 cups)

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2" chunks
2 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate, cut into very small pieces (I used Scharffenberger.)
3 large egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
1 Tbsp. Kahlua (coffee flavored liqueur)

In a small bowl, melt the chocolate, then let it cool to almost room temperature.

Put the sugar and egg whites into the large metal bowl of your mixer. Using a hand whisk, blend the sugar and egg whites. Place the bowl over a large saucepan on the stove, containing a couple inches of simmering water. Whisk continually by hand until the mixture feel very warm, but not hot.

Place the bowl on your mixer and, using the mixer's whisk attachment, beat on medium speed until the meringue begins to form; it should look white, shiny, and form medium-soft peaks. At this point, start to add in the butter one piece at a time, continually. The icing will begin to resemble butter. Still beating on medium speed, add in the melted chocolate, and then the Kahlua. Keep beating until the mixture begins to thicken. This could take at least ten minutes, so be patient. (Some recipes for meringue-based buttercreams, in fact, have you mixing for as long as thirty-five minutes! Don't believe me? Check out some of wedding-cake diva Sylvia Weinstock's recipes!)

If the mixture starts to look curdled, don't worry, just keep mixing and it will come back together. If the mixture looks okay but seems too warm, take the bowl off the mixer and refrigerate it for about five minutes then put it back on the mixer; chances are it will thicken up quickly after that. You want it to be soft and silky, and it should be extremely easy to spread.

Use the finished icing immediately to ice your cooled cake, or cover it well and refrigerate it until you need it.

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Valentine Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Whipped Cream . . . Will You Be Mine?

It's not just about hearts and flowers, you know. It's also about love and cupcakes. What would Valentine's day be without them? I shudder to think.

I associate Valentine's Day with cupcakes more than any other holiday. Must be a carryover from all of those Feb. 14th parties in elementary school. Cupcakes were plentiful at those events, along with an endless supply of conversation hearts. Deep vats of Hawaiian Punch stood at the ready to slake our pre-adolescent thirst. I recall how the perkiest Moms, who faithfully materialized to run the show, would ladle the weak red libation into little cups and place them carefully into our hands. The classrooms were always a flurry of red and pink, with cut-out hearts and cupids spinning on strings that had been taped to the ceiling.

And do you remember being required to give a valentine card to every single kid in your class, without any regard to your feelings about those kids--you know, the ones with a dark reputation for hooliganism? They were always the troublemakers who failed to bring in an empty milk-carton to transform into a mail-box.

While the rest of us were busy pasting construction-paper hearts onto our mailboxes, those few children stood morosely behind the teacher as she excavated the supply closet, hoping against hope that she'd find a few extra milk cartons. Valentine's Day, at that tender age, was an equal opportunity holiday.

About these cupcakes . . .

The recipe I used for today's cupcakes comes from the book, Great Cakes, by Carole Walter. This cake batter is somewhere on the spectrum between a sponge cake and a regular yellow butter cake. (You could use this recipe, in the same proportions listed, for a standard two-layer cake.) It has a satisfying crumb and a full vanilla flavor. It's not too eggy, and it's sturdy without being dense.

Though one might typically frost a cupcake like this with a good chocolate buttercream, or a fluffy white icing, I decided to opt for the subdued sweetness you get from flavored whipped cream. The raspberry aspect is provided by about a tablespoon or so of seedless preserves that you mix in after the cream has been whipped to firm peaks.

A bit of sifted powdered sugar helps to stabilize the whipped cream and adds a touch of additional sweetness. The ultra-softness of whipped cream is a nice surprise when it appears on the top of a cupcake, especially a Valentine cupcake.


Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Whipped Cream

Makes 24 regular size cupcakes.

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. (You may have a little batter leftover, perhaps enough for one large cupcake. I just baked that one extra cupcake in a Pyrex glass custard cup.)

3 cups sifted cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, unsalted (The recipe doesn't specify, but I'd suggest the butter be at cool room temperature, not too soft.)
2 cups superfine sugar
4 eggs, large
1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I also added in about three drops of almond extract; it doesn't add in any obvious almond taste, but I think it gives the vanilla more dimension.)
1 cup milk (I used whole)

Sift together the salt, flour, and baking powder. Set aside.

Cut the butter into 1" pieces and put them in the large bowl of your mixer; using the paddle attachment, soften them on low speed. Then, increase the speed to medium-high and cream until smooth and light in color, about 1 and 1/2 to 2 minutes.


Still at medium-high speed, add in the sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time over a period of 8 to 10 minutes to blend it in well, scraping the bowl occasionally. (Not kidding--she really says to do this that slowly!)


Add the eggs in one at a time at one minute intervals, scraping as needed. Blend in the vanilla.


Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low. Add in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, starting and ending with flour; do four additions of flour and three additions of milk. Mix just until incorporated for each addition. Scrape the bowl, and then mix 10 seconds longer.


Spoon the batter into your muffin cups, filling each one about 2/3 full.


Bake the cupcakes for about 10 to 12 minutes, then check them with a toothpick inserted into the center. If it comes out clean, they're done. They should be just a little golden on top.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan, set on a rack, for just a few minutes, then take them out of the pan to cool completely on a rack.


For the raspberry whipped cream:

1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 to 2 Tbsp. seedless raspberry jam, or regular raspberry jam that have been well strained
2/3 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

Chill a small or medium-sized metal mixer bowl in your freezer for five minutes or in your fridge for ten minutes. Attach the bowl to your mixer and pour in 1 and 1/2 cups of very cold heavy cream. Beat on low speed for the first 30 seconds or so, then increase the speed to medium and beat until soft peaks just begin to form. Slowly add in about 2/3 of a cup of sifted confectioners' sugar. Beat until the peaks become obviously firm but not over-whipped and stiff.

Turn off the mixer and, using a flexible spatula, gently fold in 1 to 2 Tbsp. of seedless raspberry jam. The jam alone won't make the whipped cream very pink. If you want the whipped cream to be more pink, add in a tiny bit of gel food coloring; gel coloring is moist enough to mix in easily and its color is very potent so you need need a dab. Don't use liquid food coloring if you can help it, because it may add too much moisture to the cream.


Wait until the cupcakes are completely cool to frost them. Once you've frosted them, serve them soon. Store any extra frosted cupcakes in the fridge to prevent the whipped cream from separating.


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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing: It's Carrot Love, in Cake Form!

Just in case you haven't yet decided exactly which crowd-pleasin' dessert you're going to whip up for the big day, here's a really good carrot layer-cake recipe that I can recommend without reservation. It has very nice flavor, a soft texture, and it's perfectly moist. On top of all that, it's a complete cinch to prepare and darn near impossible to wreck in the process. The cake batter itself doesn't even require a mixer (not kidding)! I'm bringing one of these cakes to my mother- and father in-laws' house (that would be Nancy and Joe's) for dinner on Thursday.

The recipe I used is one that I adapted several months ago from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri. (This is one of my favorite cookbooks, as you may already know. I raved about it in a past post about banana layer cake, so I'll try to contain myself here and just keep my mind on the carrots.) Anyway, it turned out great the last time I made it, so I thought this might be a nice change from what I usually bring on Thanksgiving. An interesting cheesecake is what I normally show up with, and those have always gotten good reviews. This year, though, I just hope no one is feeling too resistant to change . . . after all, some diners are wedded to certain desserts on Thanksgiving, as you know. I've just, in fact, been informed by my youngest son, Nathan, that he most decidedly will not be partaking of said carrot cake (the poor misguided youngster).

Speaking of change . . .

How did I alter Malgieri's recipe? Well, I added in some coconut (not too much--don't worry), one extra egg, a little bit of vanilla extract, some freshly grated nutmeg, and a very modest amount of salt. The recipe doesn't call for any salt at all, which I think, frankly, is a mistake--though whether one of judgment or omission is anyone's guess. Malgieri also calls for chopped pecans in the batter but I've chosen to omit them since the frosted sides of the cake will ultimately be covered with those babies (yeah, toasted pecans . . . yum). Additionally, the recipe says to add in one 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple along with all of its juice. Now, that's a lot of juiciness--too much, I think--so I've reduced that amount to 3/4 of a cup of crushed pineapple, but I drain and lightly press quite a bit of the juice out first in order to get that 3/4 cup.

Fully frosted with Malgieri's cream cheese icing, and very simply decorated (if you're feeling in the pastry-bag mood, that is), this cake is not only pretty but potentially impressive. It's even pretty without special decorations on the top. The icing recipe is lusciously good; I haven't changed a hair on its head, figuratively speaking. I have no quarrel with it.

This is one cake, I think, that really illustrates the difference between home-baked and store-bought. I mean, really, there is just no comparison. So play your carrots right, bakers, and you'll be on the receiving end of some enthusiastic compliments on Turkey Day!

Carrot Layer Cake

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter the bottom of three 9" round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment, and butter the parchment.

2 cups All Purpose flour (I used bleached)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg (I used freshly grated; it's definitely better)
5 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I used canola)
2 cups peeled and finely grated carrots (I just shredded them in the food processor)
3/4 cup of crushed pineapple packed in its own juice, with most of the juice drained off
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir together well the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bow. Set aside.

By hand, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add in the sugar, continuing to whisk until the mixture looks light--about 1 minute. Pouring in a steady slow stream with one hand, add in the oil while continuing to whisk with the other.

Stir in the carrots, coconut, vanilla extract, and pineapple until well combined.

Fold in the dry ingredients, being careful not to over-mix.

Pour the batter equally into the three pans. Bake the cakes for about 30 to 40 minutes, checking them so they don't over-brown. When the tops are firm and golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, they're done.

Cool them on a rack, in their pans, for ten minutes. Run a knife around the edges of each pan. Invert each cake layer onto a cooling rack and remove it from the pan. If the buttered parchment is already peeling off, gently remove it the rest of the way. If the cake's still quite hot and the paper is adhering to it, wait until the cake is cooler to try peeling it off.

Cream Cheese Icing

12 oz. full-fat cream cheese
12 Tbsp. butter, unsalted, softened
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (or more, just to be on the safe side) coarsely chopped, lightly toasted pecans (To toast them, put them in a 350 oven on a rimmed baking sheet for 10 to 12 minutes; let them cool on the pan.)
6 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted after measuring (I confess I didn't sift! But if you don't feel like sifting, just be sure you use "10x"--aka Domino confectioners' sugar.)

In the large bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment on medium speed, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until very soft and light--about 5 minutes. Decrease the speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Once the sugar is mixed in, increase the speed to medium and beat 5 minutes longer.

It will be extremely helpful to put your bottom cake layer on a cardboard cake-round before you begin the frosting process. If you're going to hold the fully frosted cake in your hand to put the nuts around the sides, a firm flat surface under the bottom layer is imperative.

If you'd like to decorate the top of the cake, it's also extremely helpful to set it on a cake decorating turntable or even a large lazy susan. You can use a pastry bag and a couple of basic piping tips to add a simple border, if you like, and you could make a few easy rosettes, evenly spaced, using a star tip. Want to make those classic orange carrots with green carrot-tops? Use a round tip for the carrot, and a leaf tip for the carrot-tops. The choice is yours. Practice piping first on a flat surface for a few minutes before you actually do any piping on the cake though, if you're feeling less than confident. Don't worry about those details, though, everyone's going to love your cake and think it's wonderful.

Enjoy, and have a very happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. You might want to refrigerate this cake since the cream cheese icing can get pretty soft, and that can make the whole thing rather difficult to cut neatly since the cake layers are also softer than a typical carrot cake as well.



Recipe full disclosure! I adapted this recipe from the recipe called "Martha Turner's Carrot Cake," on pages 73 - 75 of Perfect Cakes (2002, Harper Collins) by Nick Malgieri.

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