not-so-guilty pleasure / zucchini cupcakes

Is this the healthiest recipe in the book?  I don't know, but I do feel a lot better about eating Zucchini Cupcakes (page 73) than, say, a butter cake with chocolate ganache.  Not to mention, these little zucchini breads taste amazing, low-fat or not.  I did use whole eggs and brown sugar, but omitted the raisins.  I grated three medium sized zucchinis, which was more than ample for two recipes worth (weight-based).  I used the food processor with the shredding disk to grate the zucchini, and it worked great.  Bake time was on the low end of the range (20 minutes).  The resulting cupcakes are super moist, with great flavor, and they keep well, too.  I will definitely make these again.

 

Ratings:

Overall - 9

Crumb - 8 / very moist, with a slight chew

Flavor - 9 / just the right amount of sweetness

Appearance - 7 / the surface is a little rough and a bit on the brown side, but the zucchini pieces add nice color

Ease of baking - 6 / grating the zucchini is an extra step, but quick and easy with a food processor

 

Details:

Bakeware - Muffin tin (makes more than 12--I poured the excess into a ramekin)

Oven temperature - 350 degrees

Bake time - 20 minutes

Notes - I think the cupcakes are a great way to bake this--better and faster than a traditional loaf pan for zucchini bread.

get the good stuff / golden grand marnier cake

In The Cake Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum writes that she used to ship the Golden Grand Marnier Cake (page 44) to her daughter for her birthday.  Several things about this statement suggested that this cake would be a hit: first, that, out of her huge cake repertoire, she chose to make this one for her daughter each year.  Second, the fact that it shipped and kept so well indicated that it must have been sufficiently moist so as not to dry out during transit.  And, seriously, how could you go wrong with Grand Marnier?

The ingredient list has a lot of tasty elements going for it--Grand Marnier (of course), the use of ground almonds in place of some of the flour, sour cream, orange zest.  I did not have orange flower water, so I substituted vanilla as suggested.  With the zest in the batter and the Grand Marnier/fresh OJ syrup, I felt that there was adequate orange flavor as it was. The recipe required the zest of 3 oranges and juice from about 1 orange.  I had only large Ghirardelli bittersweet baking chips, so I cut the chips in half to make them smaller.

I felt that I overbaked the cake a bit, even though I checked the cake at 55 minutes (the low end of the given time range). The sides were a bit overbrowned, but the crumb was still very moist.  So far, sour cream cakes have never once disappointed in terms of the crumb.  The chocolate bits were quite nice, and the amount of Grand Marnier was just right. 

I think I'd like to try this cake again in a different pan.  The book suggests baking in little bundtlette pans, which would make nice individual servings.  I would also probably go with mini chocolate chips next time, as the halved baking chips were still a bit large.  All in all, I agree that this is a fabulous recipe that I probably would request for my birthday, too.

Ratings:

Overall - 9

Crumb - 8 / very moist and soft, and not too wet, just as the book states

Flavor - 9 / terrific orange flavor, complemented nicely by the small bits of chocolate; just the right amount of liqueur

Appearance - 7 / a little overbrowned; use caution when brushing on the syrup as the cake crumbles easily

Ease of baking - 5 / some extra effort required to zest and juice the oranges and grind up almonds; more ingredients than many

Details:

Bakeware - 9-cup Bundt pan

Oven temperature - 350 degrees

Bake time - 55 minutes

Notes - slightly overbrowned at this bake time.  Half of the syrup was brushed on immediately after baking with cake in pan on rack.  Cake was then cooled 10 minutes and inverted onto serving plate and brushed with remaining syrup. Cake was served day of baking after cooling.

 

it begins / sour cream coffee cake

So, I have already been baking out of The Cake Bible (as well as Rose's Heavenly Cakes) for a couple of months now, but I haven't been totally diligent about documenting, so we'll start over for the most part.  I'll begin with the sour cream coffee cake (page 90).

This is an egg yolk-only recipe, and uses sour cream as the liquid base.  Generally, I have been a big fan of Rose's sour cream recipes, as it gives the cakes a nice, moist, silky texture.  The cake is simple to prepare, but does require a food processor or mini-prep to make the streusel topping and filling.  My feelings toward coffee cake had been rather lukewarm, but this recipe is definitely a hit.  The crumb is soft and not too dense, the sweetness is just right, and the streusel provides a great crunch.

Ratings:
Overall - 8
Crumb - 8 / moist and light
Flavor - 8 / not too sweet
Appearance - 7 / edges came out a little lumpy and it could have used more streusel topping
Ease of baking - 6 / the streusel takes some extra prep time, but the cake itself couldn't be easier

 

Details:

Bakeware - 9"x2" black/glass springform pan

Oven temperature - 325 degrees

Bake time - 75 minutes

Cool time - 10 minutes in pan on rack

Notes - Cake pan covered with foil at 45 minutes to prevent overbrowning.  For future reference, I would make more streusel topping, in order to cover the whole top and avoid the lumpy edges.  Also, I might try adding apple slices as suggested in the book.