Zebra Cake

February 14, 2010 | Filed Under Baking, Cakes, Lululu at Home blog, Valentine's Day, Vanilla Extract, Zebra Cake | 16 Comments

Yes, that’s supposed to be a heart-shaped cake. However, no one ~~could~~ would wait for me to take a photo of my finished product and I was too tired to fight off the cake eaters.

When I first saw this cake on Lululu at Home, the stripes immediately captured my attention (It’s actually more mesmerizing on a round-shaped cake). I was eager to find out how to get that pattern. Turns out that it was very easy and fun to prepare. Next time I make this cake, I’ll use the round cake pan. Oh, I used my homemade vanilla extract. I’m still so excited that I made my own vanilla extract. It and the cake were made with love. Did you know vanilla is an aphrodisiac?

By the way, can any one tell me why the top of my cake cracked?

Happy Valentine’s day to all.

Paz

Zebra Cake

Lululu’s Home Cooking

(makes 9" cake)

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

4 large eggs, at room temp

1 cup white sugar

1 cup whole milk, at room temp

1 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cocoa powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9" round cake pan. Line with a parchment circle and butter the parchment.

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

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs and sugar. On medium speed, beat until the mixture is light and creamy. Add milk, oil, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.

On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until the flour is just incorporated.

Divide batter into 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain. Add cocoa powder into another and mix well.

Scoop 1/4 cup of plain batter into the middle of the cake pan. Then scoop 1/4 cup of cocoa batter and pour it in the center (right on top) of the plain batter. Continue to alternate between the plain and cocoa batters (always pouring it in the center right on top of the previous batter) until you use up the batters.

Bake at 350F until golden or until a cake tested comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Cool for 15 minutes in pan and then remove cake from pan to cool on a wire rack.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

February 3, 2010 | Filed Under Baking, Cakes, Chocolate Cakes | 20 Comments

Melting chocolate chips and butter for the cake.

Neither my family nor I really care for chocolate cake. We rarely eat it and prefer yellow cake over a chocolate one. Recently, I saw a Mexican chocolate cake recipe on Canela and Comino . One ingredient in particular intrigued me. Ground cayenne pepper. Ground cayenne pepper in a cake — in a chocolate cake? I HAD to try this recipe.

My mom recently celebrated her birthday and so I decided to make the cake for her birthday. Yikes! God help me if she and the rest of the family didn’t like it. Can you imagine hating your birthday cake. LOL!

As I melted the chocolate to make the cake, it reminded me of the first time that I’d melted chocolate. It was a disaster. I’d burnt the chocolate. Oy vey! What an experience it was. Thankfully, I’ve come a long way, today. I no longer burn chocolate.

Putting the cake ingredients was relatively stress-free. I had no problems. I mixed all the ingredients, including the intriguing cayenne pepper and put the mixture in the oven.

Later, I made the decadent-tasting icing (glaze) and poured it over the cake, watching with fascination as it landed on the top and dripped in large puddles at the bottom of the cake. It looked really good. Better yet, it tasted REALLY good. The chocolate, pepper and other ingredients mixed well together. Luckily, everyone, especially the Birthday Girl, enjoyed the cake (and the icing!). They all ate a second slice. Whew!

If you’re a chocolate cake lover, then this is definitely the cake for you. Even if chocolate cake isn’t your thing, I believe you’ll still like a slice of this Mexican Chocolate cake. I’m so glad my family of non-chocolate cake lovers loved this Mexican chocolate cake.

I have to share with you, though, that I had a plan B, in case the Mexican Chocolate cake didn’t go over nicely. I bought a cheesecake. What? LOL! I’m adventurous but I try not to be dumb, especially when it comes to my mom’s birthday cake. Ha! So, we ended up enjoying BOTH cakes.

Paz

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

As seen on Canela y Comino

(Adapted from Nestle)

Serves 16

CAKE
3/4 cup of butter
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 cup of packed light brown sugar
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 1/4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2-3/4 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper
1 cup of whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate chips over medium heat, taking care not to burn the chocolate. Remove from the heat and add both types of sugar and vanilla. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Add eggs one at a time, whisking to incorporate completely.

4. In a small bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper. Alternately add a third of the flour mixture and half of the milk, stirring to combine after each addition. Pour into a 12 cup Bundt pan, coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes.

5. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out to a cooling rack. Drizzle with chocolate glaze.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE
1/4 cup of butter, melted
1/4 cup of chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream, room temperature
Pinch of salt

1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate chips over medium heat, taking care not to burn the chocolate. Allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

2. Add powdered sugar to a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add melted, cooled chocolate, whipping cream and salt. Stir until blended. If necessary, add additional powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time.