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Tag Archives: Cake

Irish Whiskey Cake

17 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Baking, Desserts, Easy, Holidays

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Cake, green, irish, pistachio, st. patrick's day, st. patty's day, Whiskey, yellow cake

IMG_1669 (2)

For St. Patrick’s Day, I took our favorite (and super easy) Rum Cake recipe and adapted it with Irish Whiskey and green pistachio pudding to give it a green hue. Say what you will about boxed cake mixes, but the addition of booze sure makes for a moist, rich, and tasty cake! I thought about trying one of those car bomb recipes with whiskey, beer, and irish cream, but the choice was easy when this cake was in the oven in about 10 minutes. When you have a cute baby two feet away it’s hard to concentrate on complicated recipes!

IMG_1663 (2)

Continue reading →

The Fruitcake Phase

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Boozy, Cookies, Desserts, Entertaining, Holidays, LuLu's Classics, Throwback Thursday

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Tags

boozy, brandy, brown sugar, Cake, candied cherries, candied ginger, cookies, fruit, fruitcake, fruitcake mix, holiday baking, holiday cookies, nuts, pecans, sherry, walnuts

Fruitcake...with a cat

It happens at this time every year…you can’t avoid it…the fruitcake joke. I have to admit, I never really understood it, since I was never subjected to fruitcake growing up. I was never gifted it, never tried it, never really thought about it. All I knew is it must be really, really bad for it to somehow come up as this terrible thing every year.

Fruitcake Cookies

Enter Christmas 2014 – what I am deeming as the “fruitcake phase.” I found out from my mom and aunt that not only did they grow up with my grandpa making fruitcake every year, but he never really gave it away…since he loved it so much. To this day, it is the only thing he has ever baked in his entire life – that is how much he loves the stuff. So, we found the old recipe he used, from a 1950 copy of the Gourmet Cookbook. Still having this cookbook is a treasure in itself, and I think this is about as classic of a fruitcake as you can get.

fuitcake

So, we made a few loaves…and I started to understand the stigma around the dreaded dessert. It’s a dense cake full of weird candied fruit whose sole purpose is to put in the cakes, and then it literally “ripens” in booze for a few weeks. What? I’m all about things chillin in booze, but it was a little weird. However, this fruitcake is real, it’s not a store-bought 10 pound bowling ball that’s already wrapped and easy to regift. It’s real, old-school ingredients, that really don’t end up tasting that bad, if you are into that sort of thing. Which my family is. Jordan and I are still on the fence about classic fruitcake, but I totally get it now (finally). But I couldn’t stop there, I had to go on and make fruitcake cookies…

Fruitcake Cookies...and a Cat.

Don’t ask about the cat…He was apparently going through a fruitcake phase as well. Anyways though, I was a tad skeptical about these cookies. I hoped they would be lighter than actual fruitcake while I was letting the fruit soak in some booze. I hoped people would actually want to eat them…and they turned out great! They are not the prettiest cookie in the world…Sort of like the ugly duckling of cookies, not too cute, but once they hit your lips…so good! Continue reading →

Tres Leches Cake

06 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Baking, Bloggerific, Desserts, Entertaining, Holidays

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Tags

Cake, cherries, cinco de mayo, cinnamon, cream, dairy, evaporated milk, fiesta, may 5th, mexican, milk, rum, sweetened condensed milk, three milks, tres leches, tres leches cake, whipped cream

Tres LechesHello friends and Happy Cinco Seis de Mayo! Of course, this is one of the best food holidays of the year. I don’t think I’m the only person in the universe who loves to take any opportunity to shove my face with chips, salsa, queso, guac, margaritas or Mexican beer…However, this year I finally tackled a cinco (er, seis) inspired dessert that I have been wanting to try for a very long time. Tres Leches Cake!

The Cake, pre-leches

The Cake, pre-leches

If you have ever heard of Tres Leches, you probably already know it translates to “three milks” even though this cake has more than just 3 dairy products in it. If you are lactose challenged, I’m sorry, this cake is not for you. However if you are willing to take on Tres Leches, it’s pretty damn worth it!

Tres Leches

This cake is most def a “make ahead” recipe, as it gets better with time! The particular recipe I adapted is a very spongy, airy cake that soaks up the decadent leches mixture like a champ. I was kind of skeptical, since you don’t even use butter for this cake (this always seems weird to me) but it turned out delish and was a hit at the pre-cinco get together we had.

Tres Leches

Make this for your next fiesta, it’s a very special treat that you can impress your friends with!

Recipe
Tres Leches Cake
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

  • 1 cup All-purpose Flour
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 5 whole Eggs, divided
  • 1 cup Sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1/3 cup Milk

For the Leches:

  • 1 can Evaporated Milk
  • 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
  • 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
  • small splash of rum (optional)

For the Topping:

  • 1/2 – 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping (based off of how thick of layer of topping you want, I did about 3/4 pint)
  • 3 Tablespoons powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • cinnamon for dusting top of cake (optional)
  • maraschino cherries for topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine only took about 30 minutes, it can be tricky but the top should be nice and browned! Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream and rum in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can. You will probably have some liquid left over, you can discard or save if to add to the cake later, if you’d like.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for at least 30 minutes or up to a few days. To ice the cake, whip 1/2 – 1 pint (depending on preference) of heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until thick and spreadable.

Spread over the surface of the cake. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

 

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

06 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Baking, Cookies, Desserts

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Tags

butter, Cake, cinnamon, gooey, honey, snickerdoodles, squares, sugar

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

I have never been a big Snickerdoodle person. Given the choice, I will always choose chocolate chip over a Snickerdoodle. It seems weird, since some of my favorite treats are churros, elephant ears…just about anything else with cinnamon and sugar. When I saw this recipe for gooey cinnamon squares, I knew I had to make them. And holy crap. They are like Snickerdoodles elevated to the highest level.

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

These portable (yet trust me, gooey) treats are perfect just about any time of year. Make them for anyone who loves a snickerdoodle…they won’t be disappointed. Even before I put these in the oven, I could tell they were going to be prettttty awesome.

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

The gooey part is key – when I made these the edges may have gotten a little crisp, so beware of that. Slightly under-baked is ok in this situation.

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

Per Usual, Smitten Kitchen just kills it. I have about 12398210938120 more of her recipes archived in hopes I can get to them all one day, so get ready for more.

Recipe
Gooey Cinnamon Squares
from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
makes about 6 dozen squares

Ingredients

Soft Cookie Base

  • 1 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup  (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup milk
Gooey Layer

  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup milk (I used nonfat)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/4 cups  all-purpose flour

Topping

  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch cake pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

2. Make the cookie base: Stir together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 min. Add the egg and milk and beat until combined. Stir in flour mixture until just incorporated. Spread dough into an even layer in the prepared pan; set aside.

3. Make the gooey layer: Whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla in a bowl and set aside. In an electric mixer cream butter, 1 cup sugar and salt until fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the flour and honey mixture alternately, mixing each time until all ingredients are incorporated. Dollop over the cookie base and spread into an even layer.

4. Mix together the remaining 2 tbsp sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the gooey layer. Bake until edges have set and center is still gooey, about 25 minutes. The gooey layer will rise and fall in the oven but will still be a bit gooey under the cinnamon crust when the squares are done. Let cool on a rack, for at least an hour, then cut into small squares.

Very Berry Summer Pudding Cake

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Desserts, Easy, Entertaining, Events, Healthy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

berries, berry, blueberries, Cake, ladyfingers, limoncello, pudding, raspberries, strawberries, summer

Very Berry Summer Pudding Cake

Very Berry Summer Pudding Cake

This cake was a very pleasant surprise. I have my mother, the lovely Lulu, to Thank for this one.

Very Berry

When I was originally skimming through Southern Living I saw this beautiful photo of the cake, but I wasn’t sure what to think. Is that some weird jello mold with fruit? How is it not falling apart everywhere? Weird, I thought, blowing it off and not really paying attention to how easy, simple, and healthy this dessert is overall! No jello whatsoever! Fruit, sugar, booze and ladyfingers, that’s it! A perfect make-ahead summer dessert that’s totally different from your standard strawberry shortcake.

Very Berry

My mom swapped out orange liqueur for Limoncello, and used some frozen berries instead of fresh (the original recipe also calls for cherries, probably a very good way to go but we aren’t quite to cherry season here yet).

Very Berry

She called me and said, “I really want to make that berry cake from Southern Living!” At first I didn’t even know what she was talking about, then I said, “Oh, that weird berry cake mold thing? It looks…difficult.” Nope. Moms are always right. This is worth making again and again. It’s easy, and you don’t even have to feel guilty about having dessert!

Very Berry

Recipe
Very Berry Summer Pudding Cake
Adapted from Southern Living
Serves 8-10

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
  • 5 cups frozen mixed berries (we used a mixed bag of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries from Costco)
  • 2 cups fresh raspberries
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup limoncello
  • 3 (3-oz.) packages soft ladyfingers
  • Garnishes: fresh berries, fresh mint sprigs, whipped cream or ice cream

Preparation

  1. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large, heavy stainless steel saucepan; let stand 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup water, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes or just until berries begin to break down and release their juices. Remove from heat, and stir in limoncello; cool 20 minutes.
  2. Line a 2-qt. soufflé dish or spring-form pan with plastic wrap. Spoon 1 cup berry mixture into prepared dish, spreading to cover bottom. Arrange ladyfingers in a single layer on berry mixture, pressing together and trimming as needed to fit snugly and cover berry mixture. Repeat layers twice, dividing remaining berry mixture evenly between layers.
  3. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and place a small plate (approximately the same diameter as the inside of the dish) directly on top. Place 2 or 3 heavy cans on plate, and chill 12 hours. Unmold pudding onto a serving plate.

YUM Rum Cake!

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Baking, Boozy, Breads, Desserts, Easy, Entertaining, Events, Holidays, LuLu's Classics, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bacardi, butterscotch pudding, Cake, nuts, rum, rum cake, yellow cake mix

photo 2

This cake was a classic in my household growing up. Super easy to make, and always a crowd pleaser. Moist and…rum-a-licious? Rum was not made for mai-tai’s and Coke and BS drinks…it was made for this cake.

I decided to make this on Christmas Eve while visiting the future in-laws in Alaska. It’s   scary baking something in a kitchen that isn’t yours (wait…the kitchen in Bellevue isn’t even my own) but this cake is foolproof. Everyone loved it, and I think it tastes even better the next day after the rum has marinated into the cake and settled. Who doesn’t love that?

Recipe
Rum Cake
From Lulu…who adapted it from a 1980’s magazine ad. Retro, and still delicious after all these years.

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
  • 1 package yellow cake mix
  • 1 (3 & 3/4 ounce) package Jello butterscotch instant pudding mix
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 Cup cold water (this is the part where you could possibly add 1/4 cup water and an extra 1/4 cup rum. If you want. boozy!)
  • 1/2 Cup Vegetable oil/Canola oil
  • 1/2 Cup Rum (80 proof Bacardi gold works great)

Glaze

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter
  • 1/4 Cup Water
  • 1 Cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 Cup rum (80 proof)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease and flour a 10 inch tube or 12 cup bundt pan.  Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan.
Mix all cake ingredients together with an electric mixer.  Pour batter over nuts.  Bake for 1 hour. Cool.  Invert cake on serving plate.
Prick top of cake and drizzle glaze over top and sides.  Allow cake to absorb glaze.  Repeat until glaze is used up.

Glaze:  Melt butter in saucepan.  Stir in water and sugar.  Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat. Stir in rum.

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