Blueberry lemon curd cake

I made this cake for my friend's BBQ. It didn't last long!  Instead of the lemon cream I used lemon curd and it was what made the cake. I got a little confused by this recipe and ended up reading it wrong and not baking enough cake to make all 4 layers, so I suggest doubling this recipe and baking it in two 9-inch pans, then cutting each one in 2 to yield 4 layers.

Blueberry Lemon Curd Cake
Adapted from Lu Lu's Sweet Secrets


Cake Ingredients: (makes 1/2 the cake- double this recipe for 2 cakes/ 4 layers once cut)

• 1 1/2 cups flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 cups fresh Blueberries

Lemon Curd Recipe Here

Whipped Cream Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavycream, cold
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease two 9" cake pans.
Mix flour, b powder, and salt in small bowl, set aside.
Mix 1/4 cup of the sugar, milk, oil, vanilla, lemon juice, and zest in, bowl set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat egg whites until foamy then slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, beat until the eggs hold stiff peaks.
Fold half the flour mixture into milk mixture, then fold in 1/3 of the egg whites, then more flour, then whites and flour two more times until all folded in.
Add blueberries and divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans.
Bake for 30 minutes and test the center with a toothpick.
Add addition time in 3 min intervals until toothpick comes out clean.

Make lemon curd while cake is baking.

Once cake layers are completely cool you can cut each in half horizontally and spread the cooled lemon curd between each layer.

Make the whipped cream by beating the cream until it starts to stiffen.
Add the 10x sugar and vanilla and beat until it is firm.

The whipped cream gets dumped on top of the cake and then with a long off-set knife grab some from the top and apply to the sides. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, leave it a little lumpy and rustic.

Red Velvet Cake a la The Cheesecake Factory

A friend asked me to make him a red velvet cake. Of course I started searching recipes on taste spotting and food gawker, looking for a recipe first based on the pictures of the cake and then the ease of the recipe and the availability of ingredients. But this weekend someone told me that the best red velvet cake they've ever had came from The Cheesecake Factory of all places. I've never even been there but I hear that it's pretty generic food and the menu is overwhelmingly large. The only thing I know about that place is that there is never less than a mile-long line at the one in the King of Prussia Mall and Chris Rock once said that his favorite sandwich is their shrimp and bacon sandwich. That sounds so gross. Anyway, I googled this cake and of course someone has broken it down for me and duplicated it.

I should have known that it is a red velvet cake with a cheesecake layer in the middle (duh- it's from The Cheesecake Factory). Then it gets a cream cheese icing and voila- Elias Grimm's own personal heaven. I decided to bake this before this Wed/Thurs 105 degree heat wave we're about to get when the oven will be shut down until further notice. Marie has declared- "cooktop and bbq cooking only- no oven Sam".

This recipe comes from Recipe Girl. I've never made a cheesecake before so this was new for me. Turns out they are incredibly easy. A little more expensive with all the cream cheese, heavy cream, and sour cream that I usually buy fresh for each recipe, but this is a special cake so I made an exception.

The only thing that I changed for this recipe was to use all egg yolks instead of whole eggs. However I left the original recipe alone and pasted it below with the whole eggs. I also used a gel food coloring instead of the bottled liquid kind listed below.



Cheesecake Layer Ingredients:

Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Red Velvet Cake Layer Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup (two 1-ounce bottles) red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons white vinegar

Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted lightly to remove any lumps
Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Prepare the cheesecake layer: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a large roasting pan on the lower third rack of the oven. Place a kettle of water on the stove to boil. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Wrap a double layer of foil around the bottom and up the sides of the pan (you want to seal it so the water from the water bath doesn't seep into the pan). In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to mix the cream cheese- blend until it is nice and smooth and creamy. Mix in sugar and salt and blend for 2 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, blending after each addition. Finally, mix in sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Set the pan into the roasting pan in the pre-heated oven. Carefully pour the hot water from your kettle into the roasting pan (it will fill the pan surrounding the cheesecake). Pour enough water so that there is about an inch of water coming up the foil along the sides of the cheesecake pan. Bake the cheesecake for 45 minutes. It should be set to the touch and not jiggly. Remove the cheesecake from the roasting pan and let it cool on a wire rack for at least an hour. When it has cooled, place the pan into the freezer and let the cheesecake freeze completely. This can be done in several hours- or overnight.

2. Prepare the cake layers: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round metal baking pans (or spray with nonstick baking spray with flour). In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar to the flour mixture. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat for 1 minute, until blended. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pans, dividing equally. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pans, then invert cakes onto a rack to cool completely.

3. Prepare the frosting: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla until it is smooth and creamy (do not overbeat).

4. Assemble the cake: Place one cake layer into the center of a cake plate or platter. Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, take off the sides of the pan, and slide a knife under the parchment to remove the cheesecake from the pan. Peel off the parchment. Measure your cheesecake layer against the cake layers. If the cheesecake layer turns out to be a slightly larger round than your cake, move it to a cutting board and gently shave off some of the exterior of the cheesecake to get it to the same size as your cake layers. Place the cheesecake layer on top of the first cake layer. Place the 2nd cake layer on top of the cheesecake.

5. Frost the cake: Apply a crumb coat layer to the cake- use a long, thin spatula to cover the cake completely with a thin and even layer of frosting. Be sure to wipe off your spatula each time you are about to dip it back into the bowl to get more frosting (this way you won't be transferring any red crumbs into the bowl of frosting). Don't worry at this point about the crumbs being visible in the frosting on the cake. When your cake has a thin layer of frosting all over it, place it into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to "set" the frosting. Once the first layer of frosting is set, apply the 2nd layer. Start by adding a large scoop of frosting onto the top of the cake. Use a long, thin spatula to spread the frosting evenly across the top and then spread it down the sides of the cake too. Because you applied a crumb-coat layer, you shouldn't have any red crumbs floating around in the final frosting layer. Decorate, as desired.

*A little chocolate ganache drizzled around the edge never hurt!!*

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Fresh Whipped Cream and Chocolate Ganache

That's a mouthful. This recipe comes from Plump Me Up. A perfect cake for a BBQ to share with friend and neighbors.

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

4 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup apple sauce

3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips

Whipped Cream Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
4 tsp instant coffee
16 oz (2 1/2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips



Method:

Let's start with the cake shall we? No mixer required here! Preheat oven to 350. Combine all dry ingredients into one bowl and eggs, oil, and apple sauce in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until almost combined. Add the zucchini and the chocolate chips to the batter and mix to combine. Pour into two greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans and bake for 50 minutes or until a knife comes out almost completely clean from the cake. It's ok if there are still some moist crumbs on the knife because zucchini is a little wet any way. You want this cake to stay nice and moist, right Molly? (We like a moist cake around here) Let the cakes cool for a bit in the pan and then run a knife around the edges to remove them from the pan. Once they are room temp you can cut them each into two layers giving you a total of four layers.

While the cake is in the oven you can make the ganache by heating the cream until little bubbles form, but don't let it boil, then stir in the coffee until it is combined and then add in the chocolate chips and remove from the heat. Stir in the chocolate chips until you have a smooth ganache. Yum.

Right before you are ready to assemble the cake (once the cake layers are cool so the whip doesn't melt) make your whipped cream. With the whisk attachment of your electric mixer whip cream, sugar, and vanilla until it looks like whipped cream, duh.

Assemble the cake by layering cake then whipped cream, using all four pieces of cake with whip between layers. On the top pour ganache and spread it with an off-set knife until it drips over the sides. Put a strawberry on top and you're done!

Revani: Turkish Semolina Cake

For my fam's mother's day dinner I made an awesome semolina cake layered with lemon curd and topped with fresh whipped cream and berries. I doubled the original recipe from Food For Poems to make two 9 in round cakes and instead of soaking the cake in simple syrup after it was cooked, I used orange juice. I thought the cake had enough sugar baked into it and I think the orange complimented the lemon curd nicely. This was really just a spin on a summery strawberry short cake that is one of my favorite cakes to assemble.

For the Cake:

Dry:
1 cup semolina
1 1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 eggs

Lemon Curd Recipe Here

Whipped Cream:

2 C Heavy Cream
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla or lemon- your choice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 and grease and flour two 9" cake pans.
Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and all wet in another bowl.
Combine dry into wet and mix until just combined.
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until they are firm to the touch and a knife comes out clean from the center.
Let the cakes cools in the pans on wire racks.
Once cooled, loosen around the edge with a knife and knock the side of the pans with the heel of your hand until you can feel the cake is loose from the bottom.
Flip onto wire rack.
Cut each cake into 2 layers making 4 layers total.
Starting with the first layer soak the cut side up with OJ and then put a layer of lemon curd. Keep soaking with OJ and spreading with lemon curd for each layer until all 4 are assembled.
Make the whipped cream by combining all 3 ingredients and whipping with whisk or beater until the cream holds a nice shape and is stiff with incorporated air. Pile the entire batch on the top of the cake- about an inch and a half to 2 inches thick- wow I know.
Layer the very top with fresh berries.