There Are Ants on My Cake.

The story behind the "Ants on My Cake" cake is pretty simple; basically it was what do I do with a lopsided cake?  After frosting the first layer, placing the second layer on didn't come out as planned; I missed centering it, and it started to crack when trying to move it further into place.  I frosted the top and sides; decided to sprinkle a little cocoa powder on top and have ants (raisins) walking up and over this hill.  Moral to this story is a bit like when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  When life gives you a lopsided cake, pretend you meant to do it that way and decorate accordingly.

 

Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

(aka Ants on My Cake)

Ingredients:

Spice Cake

3 and ½ cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup salted butter, softened
1 and ½ cups brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
1 and ½ cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup raisins, split in half

Frosting

12 Tbsp. salted butter, softened

12 oz. cream cheese, softened
6 cups Confectioners’ Sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. raisins

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F, spray 2 – 8” baking pans with nonstick baking spray; or lightly grease and flour pans

Sift together, into medium sized bowl, flour, spices, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Set aside.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until fluffy; slowly beat in oil.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed. 

In a small bowl, stir buttermilk and vanilla together.  Into bowl with wet mixture, add flour mixture 1/3 at a time, alternating with 1/3 of buttermilk/vanilla mixture.  Mix well before adding next 1/3 combination.  Pour batter evenly between both prepared pans, sprinkle ¼ cup of raisins over batter in each pan; bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack before inverting cakes onto plates.

 

After Baking

 

Cooled Cakes Ready for Frosting

While cake is cooling, prepare frosting; beat butter and cream cheese together smooth and creamy.  Mix in vanilla, powdered sugar, salt on low speed; increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy.  Spread 1/3 frosting on top of first cake layer; place second cake layer on top of first; frost with 1/3 frosting; frost sides of cakes with remaining 1/3 of frosting.  Sprinkle cocoa powder over top of cake; make a trail of “ants” with the two tablespoons of raisins.

 

1/3 Frosting on 1st Cake Layer

 

 

2nd Cake Layer on top of Frosted 1st

Frost top and sides

Dust with Cocoa Powder

 

Makes 12 servings.

Mary Cokenour

A Spot of Tea and a Warm Scone, or Role Playing can be Quite Delicious.

Cold weather, while invigorating, also brings images of being bundled up in a warm blanket, perhaps a mug of hot chocolate soothing the trembles. For hubby and I though, we enjoy hot cups of tea with warm scones to munch on at our leisure. We put on our English accents, which we do quite well, and pretend to be in our lovely cottage in a quaint little village. Oh, you might be saying, "that's too silly for me" or "seriously?", but for us, the role play keeps the relationship fresh, new and adventurous. If more married couples indulged in each other, instead of everyone and everything else around them, the rate of divorce would certainly decline.

But I digress once again, this post is about scones, not relationship counseling.  Now back in September 2011, I did a post on the basics of scone making. There was a basic recipe and a few ideas for flavoring and textures. Now I have another recipe for you, very different from the basic one; but just as yummy. What I really love in this recipe is the addition of cinnamon chips which has become available in the baking aisle of supermarkets. They especially go wonderfully with cookie recipes. You must try them!

So without much ado, here's the latest in scone recipes.

 

 Cinnamon Oatmeal Scones with Raisins

Ingredients:

¼ cup milk
¼ cup heavy cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
10 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into separate tablespoon pieces
1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
½ cup raisins
¼ cup cinnamon chips
2 Tbsp milk for brushing
1 Tbsp sugar for sprinkling

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the milk, cream and egg; set aside. In a large bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add in the oats, raisins, cinnamon chips and liquid from small bowl; mix until dough forms a solid mass; firm, but still soft and pliable.

Turn dough out onto board lined with lightly floured parchment paper; shape the dough into a one inch thick circle. Score the circle to make 8 triangles; gently transfer parchment paper with dough onto a baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle sugar over dough. Bake for 20-25 minutes; until golden brown. Remove parchment paper to wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Completely cut through previously made score marks; remove scones to wire rack to cool separately; about 30 minutes.

Makes 8 scones.

Mary Cokenour

Dreary Days are great for Cookie Baking.

Woke up this morning to a very dark sky and cool breezes coming down from the mountain; it smelled of rain. This was the perfect weather for cookie baking; nothing like a cool breeze to cool a hot kitchen, and carry the scent of baking cookies throughout the house. Nothing fancy, just two types of cookies that Roy and I enjoy; we deserved a bit of a treat.

The first is an oatmeal cookie, but I don't just use raisins, but also another dried fruit...very comforting. In the recipe I usually use dried dates, but today I decided to use dried cherries; that's how flexible this recipe is. The second is a sugar cookie with tiny pieces of mint candy dispersed throughout...sweet but refreshing. Also a flexible recipe as toffee bits can be used, or no candy at all.

Double Fruit Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter
1 large egg
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
¾ tsp each baking powder and soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ cup each diced dates and golden raisins
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups Old Fashioned Quaker Oats

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F. Use nonstick baking sheets, or spray with baking spray (contains flour).

In a large bowl, cream together butter, egg and sugars. In another bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix dry ingredients into creamed mixture.

Add dates, raisins, vanilla and oats; mix thoroughly. Place tablespoons of batter 2” apart on baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes; until cookies are golden brown; remove to wire baking racks to cool.

Makes 3 dozen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sugar Mint Cookies

Ingredients:

2 ¾ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup salted butter, completely softened, but not melted
1 ½ cups sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Andes Candies mint pieces

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375F (350F if using dark or nonstick baking sheets).

Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and powder; set aside.

In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar; gradually beat in the egg and vanilla. Add creamed mixture and candy pieces into the large bowl of dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.

Measure out the dough by teaspoon, roll into a ball and place on ungreased (or nonstick) cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and let rest on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cookie wire racks for final settling (about 5 minutes).

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Mary Cokenour