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I’d really like to conjure up some useful information for you.  That would be nice, right?  I could tell you all about avocados.  Where they came from.  What a lovely shade of green they are.  Why they’re so expensive at the grocery store… you know, things like that.  

But you didn’t come here for boring old information… did you!?  

I didn’t think so.  

You came here  because you want me to admit to eating Pepperidge Farm Soft Bake Cookies…which is totally happening right now.  You came here because you want me to admit to rrreeeeaaaalllllyyyy wanting to watch the season finale of The Bachelor… it’s true… it’s a problem.  You came here because you want me to admit to wearing my big fluffy slipper socks.  The dreaded socks/shoes that will keep me single for eternity.  Well… I’m wearing them and I’m loving it.  

So there, friends.  It’s all out on the table.  Now can we talk about cake?  

I’ve baked with avocado before.  Remember the Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake with Avocado Buttercream?  Yea… that was intense… and surprising… and bright green.  Amazing. 

I got my hands on another round of avocados and made some magic happen.  This recipe makes two glorious loaves of cake.  I’ve cut back on the butter and thrown in some ripe mashed avocados.  The batter is moistened with buttermilk and bakes up with a lovely golden top and faintly green center.  

Can you taste the avocado after the cake is baked?  Heck yes you can!  It’s subtle but distinct with a nice sweetness and a hint of crunch from cornmeal.  I love this pound cake.  It’s a home run.  

We served this pound cake for The Violet Hour supper brunch with  blood orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo segments and a lightly sweetened rose whipped cream.  Whoa!  Whole lotta yum. 

Avocado Pound Cake

     makes 2 9×4x3-inch loaves

     Print this Recipe!

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk

flesh of 1 1/2 ripe avocados, just over a cup to a cup and a half of avocado, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two loaf pans and set aside.  

In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Set aside.  Set the four eggs out on the counter to come to room temperature while you beat the butter and sugar.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until softened and pliable.  Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Add the avocado and beat another minute to incorporate.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is thoroughly mixed.  

Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after the addition of each egg.  Beat in vanilla extract.  

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture, all of the buttermilk, and then the rest of the flour mixture.  Beat just until combined.  

Divide the dough between the two loaf pans and place in the oven.  Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F.   Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.  I checked my cakes every ten minutes or so after the 30 minute mark.   Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Autumn is settling in.  Autumn has settled in, and here I am ready to accept it.  I’m also ready to accept the fact that my days in the kitchen are about to dramatically increase (if you can believe that) as my cravings for apple crisp (lovelovelovelovelovelovelove), pumpkin cookies and cranberry treats become harder to ignore.  I’m less ready to embrace the way my jeans are tightening around my thighs… or maybe it’s my thighs growing inside my jeans.  Either way, the tightness and the sucking in of the tummy seems to be just a part of the season.

What are you up to in the kitchen these days?  Here’s some food for thought  Yes… I totally just said that. 

Mocha Hazelnut Marble Cake.  This cake was gorgeous, classy and utterly fine… until I tried to transport it in a fancy cake stand and got this glistening chocolate glaze exactly everywhere.  Everywhere.  Lesson learned. 

Sweet and soft Ginger Chewies.  Full of molasses attitude.  

Spiced Pear Walnut Cake with a praline walnut glaze.  How about I just go ahead and make the glaze and then spoon it into my mouth… forget the cake.  This beauty is all about the glaze.

Cinnamon Spice Buns.  The dough is spiced.  The filling is sugar and spice.  There’s butter and glaze.  Make this a part of your life please.

Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding.  I ate the whole pot.  The whole pot.  By myself.  

Pizza.  Homemade pizza.  Easy.  Not hard. Worth it’s weight in gold and precious stones.  

I sometimes wish that my future self could just pop into my present world just to… you know… say hi, and let me know that everything in the future is going along just swimmingly.  That never happens, but maybe I just haven’t given future me enough guidance.  With this in mind…  here’s a quick letter to future me.  Now maybe 48 year old me will get crackin’ on some answers.  Slacker.  

Dear Future Me,

Hi.  How’s it going?  You look really pretty in that sweater.  

I have a few questions for you.  I hope you’ll indulge me.  

Are you still unreasonably afraid of spiders?  Probably.  You know what?  That’s ok.  That’s what spouses are for… clearing spiders from anywhere that might interfere with you.  

Speaking of spouses… do you have one?  How’s that going?  Awesome.  I hope it’s awesome.  I hope you two hold hands and take morning walks and go out on dates.  

Do you still buy the cheap mascara?  Have you been to Italy yet?  

Tell me you still wear a little black dress and heels on occasion.  Please.  

Kids.  Do we have Mom hands yet? Oooh, I love Mom hands.  I can’t wait to have Mom hands… well I can wait.  I’m waiting right this very second and I don’t feel bad.  But Mom hands…. I bet we totally have Mom hands. 

How do you feel about eggplant?  Do you like eggplant yet?

What’s been good?  What’s been not so good?  Are you livin’ the dream?

Let me know how we are.  Send me a sign… maybe a paper airplane with your answers… whatever you need to do.

I’ll be sitting here with a cup of tea and my Spiced Apple Cake waiting to hear from you.

Love,

Present Me

Quick Blurb of Shamelessness

Hi… it’s me, Joy the Baker.  I hang out here a lot.  So do you.  I like that.  Thanks. 

Last week I was nominated for the Foodbuzz Blog Awards.  The Best Baking Blog… go figure.  If you’re feeling… votey, you might head on over to Foodbuzz to vote for all the fine folks that are up for an award.  Yea?  Thanks!

I love this apple cake.  LOVE IT!  It’s perfectly spiced, full of tart fall apples and moistened with sour cream.  I baked my apple cake in an old fashioned tube pan, but I think this recipe is best made in a 8″ or 9″ spring form pan.  Bonus!  This cake freezes well.  I sliced my cake and wrapped up pieces individually to grab as an afternoon snack at work.  Spiced Apple Cake with hot tea… a perfect world. 

Spiced Apple Cake

     from The Sweet Life

     Print this Recipe!

Sauteed Apples

2 tart apples (about 1 pound)

2 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons sugar

Cake

12 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

4 egg yolks, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon clove

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon sour cream

1/4 cup raw sugar (or granulated if you don’t have raw on hand)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place a rack in the center of the oven.  Butter and flour an 8-inch spring form pan and set aside.

To sautee the apples: peel, core and dice the apples into 1/4-inch cubes.  Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat until butter beings to bubble.  Add the diced apples and cook for one minute, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Add the sugar and continue to cook for 2 minutes.  Turn the heat to low and cook the apples, uncovered for 4-5 minutes until they are softened.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  You’ll only use the sauteed apples for the recipe so you can discard any liquids that may have accumulated.  

To make the cake:  cream the butter, sugar and spices in a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment until light in color and fluffy.  This may take 6 to 8 minutes.  Stop the mixer occasionally, to scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolks one at a time and continue beating until fluffy and glossy.  

Measure out the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  With the mixer set on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients to the batter.  Mix until no flour streaks remain.  Add the sour cream all at once and incorporate.  Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until no traces remain.  Fold in the cooked apples with a rubber spatula.  The cake batter will be thick.  

Spread the cake batter into the prepared pan and distribute evenly.  Take a knife and run it in a singular circular motion through the batter 1-inch from the edge of the pan.  This will help the cake to rise evenly.  Sprinkle the cake with the raw or granulated sugar and bake for 60- 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing the sides of the spring form pan.

Cake flour.  Let’s face facts:  I never have cake flour on hand when I need it.  Luckily, there’s a super easy way to turn good old all-purpose flour into cake flour, lightening your cake crumb, making it super soft and delicious.    Maybe you already know this trick.  It’s a good one.  

Here’s a step by step.  From me to you!

How to Turn All-Purpose Flour into Cake Flour

Step One:  Measure out the all-purpose flour that you’ll need for your recipe.  

Step Two: For every cup of flour you use, take out two tablespoons of flour and return it to the flour bin.  Throw the cup of flour (minus the two tablespoons) into a sifter set over a bowl. 

Step Three:  Replace the two tablespoons of flour that your removed with two tablespoons of cornstarch.  

Step Four:  Sift the flour and cornstarch together.  Sift it again, and again and again.  The cornstarch and flour need to be well incorporated and the flour aerated.  Sift the flour and cornstarch mixture about five times.  Look at that!  You just made cake flour!

Ok… first of all, stop looking at me like that.

Yea, I can see that crazy look of your face.  But it’s me.  The same person that brought you amazing Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls and Perfect Lemon Pound Cake. We trust each other.  We have an understanding.  Just go with me on this.

Something about hot summer weather gets me to thinking (or melts my brain) and brings some strange recipes to the surface.  Remember last year’s Blueberry Ice Cream with Homemade Hot Fudge?  Yea… I got a few strange looks for that too.

Because I still see those raised eyebrows on your face, let me tell you a little about this beast of a cake.  Believe me, I was super skeptical too.

The vegan chocolate cake is dense and moist, and everything you might want from a chocolate cake minus the eggs and butter.  The fat in the cake is almond oil (or anything you have on hand) and one whole mashed avocado.  It’s lovely, and I didn’t taste a lick of avocado in the cake.

The avocado buttercream is a dash more strange.  Yes, it’s bright green.  Yes, the only fat in the buttercream is avocado meat.  It’s sweet with slight hints of citrus.  I had my doubts, but when combined with the chocolate cake… holy wow!  It actually worked!  It was honest-to-goodness delicious!  Not to mention vegan and full of healthy fats!

Your thoughts?  Have I scared you off?

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado

makes 2 8-inch rounds or 2 thinner 9-inch rounds

from Vegetarian in the Middle East

Print this recipe!

3 cups all-purpose flour

6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used almond oil)

1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch rounds.  Set aside.

Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar.  Set that aside too.

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.

Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.

Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting with avocado buttercream.

Avocado Buttercream Frosting

from Alton Brown

8 ounces of avocado meat, about 2 small to medium, very ripe avocados

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peel and pit the soft avocados.  It’s important to use the ripest avocados you can get your hands on.  If the avocados have brown spots in the meat, avoid those spots when you scoop the meat into the bowl.

Place the avocado meat into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment.  Add lemon juice and whisk the avocado on medium speed, until slightly lightened in color and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat.  Add vanilla extract until combined.  If not using right away, store in the refrigerator.  Don’t worry.  It won’t turn brown!

Before I made this cake on Sunday afternoon, I sat down with a nice, tall root beer float.  Sure, it was 10:30 in the morning.  I suppose that technically that means I had a root beer float for breakfast.  That’s one of the great thing about being an adult, you can have a float for breakfast with no resistance.

Something about a root beet float puts me on a conveyor belt back to some really random childhood memories.  The taste, the bubbles, the increasingly creamy soda… it take me back to constantly skinned knees, playing in a beat-up old red wagon with my sister, and sitting in front of an old black and white television watching baseball with my grandfather.  Funny what a little ice cream and soda can do in your brain, right?

But cake!?  Root Beet Float Cake?  I have so many questions.  Will it have the same memory inducing effects as the real deal?  Is that asking too much?  Wait, is this cake chocolate or root beer?  Can I eat it for breakfast?  Will it change my life for the better?

Answers and cake, just a click away.

Here’s what you should know about the Root Beer Float Cake.  It’s a wonderfully moist, super chocolate Bundt Cake.  It’s the kind of cake that’s great to take to a outdoor summer party because it has the “hmmm” factor.  People will wonder what’s in it besides the chocolate.

The cake doesn’t have the same memory inducing effects as a real root beer float.  I blame that on all the chocolate.  The root beer flavor does intensify in the cake the next day.  I suggest making the cake a day ahead, wrapping it well, then frosting it and serving the next day.  And yes… cake for breakfast is always encouraged around these parts.  Cake for breakfast usually makes my life better.

Try this cake.  Maybe for Memorial Day.  Maybe put it on your summer baking list.  I’d love to hear what you think!

Root Beer Float Cake

Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Print this recipe!

2 cups root beer (don’t use diet)

1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

Preheat even to 325 degrees F.  Spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, or butter generously and dust with flour, knocking out the excess.

In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until butter is melted.  Add sugars and whisk until dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl whisk the eggs until just beaten.  Then whisk into the cocoa mixture until combined.  Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.  The batter will be slightly lumpy.  You can give it a quick whisk if you like, but don’t over beat the batter or it could cause the cake to be tough.  Don’t worry, the batter is very loose.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and cook for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking until a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely then loosen edges with a butter knife and turn out onto a cake plate.

Chocolate Root Beer Frosting

2 ounces 60% cocoa, melted

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon salt (you may want to use less… maybe just 1/2 teaspoon)

1/4 cup root beer

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/2  cups powdered sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using an electric hand mixer, beat softened butter and cocoa powder.  Once combined add the melted chocolate, salt, powdered sugar and root beer.  Beat together until smooth.  Spread on top of cooled cake.  Slice and serve with  vanilla ice cream.

Please allow me this bright and promising Monday morning to keep it one hundred percent real with you.  While this gluten free cake was buttery, nutty, bright with the flavor of lemon and perfectly sweet, the truth is, it ended up all over my floor.  Well… ok, bits on the floor, chunks on the counter, and pieces in my dirty sink.  Basically, this cake landed everywhere except the cake plate where I wanted it.

I salvaged a few if the larger pieces to mock up a pretty picture for you.  For a few moments I thought I might not even tell you about my cake accident.  But… see, my cake didn’t just land on the floor because I’m clumsy, but because I was taking baking liberties that I shouldn’t have.  Fact.

This cake taught me a small lesson about baking pan choices and cooking times.  It also helped me get my cake dropping out of the way for the next several months.  I only drop a cake every three months or so.  I feels good to be free and clear for a few months to come.

Here’s what you should know about this cake.  The crumb is held together with butter, almond flour and eggs.  While the cake is full of great flavor, it’s a bit crumbly.  To best work with the crumb of this cake, I think it would be best baked in mini loaf pans, or mini bundt pans, or those long and skinny loaf pans (6×2 1/2-inches) if you have them.  Cupcakes also worked out well, baking for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges were nice and brown.  Regular sized, larger loaf pans will most likely create a cake that is sunken in the middle.  Bundt pans.. well that’s how I dropped my cake on the floor… no good.

When it comes to baking this beauty, you might be surprised when I say: longer is better.  We’re not looking for a lightly colored American style cake here.  We’re looking for a French brown:  a baked good left to bake until the sides are beautifully dark brown.  I think the longer cooking time will help the crumb stay together better.

I’m thinking my mistakes will help you create a better cake.  Go on… bake away!

Gluten Free Lemon, Almond and Polenta Cake

from Breakfast Lunch Tea, Rose Bakery

Print this recipe!

2 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened plus extra for greasing pans

2 1/4 cups sugar

grated zest of four lemons

juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 eggs

5 1/2 cups ground almonds

2 cups polenta

1/2 cup rice or corn flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Butter eight mini bread tins and line the bottoms with parchment paper, or line 3 cupcake pans with foil cupcake liners.

Measure out the sugar and lemon zest.  With the back of a spoon or a plastic bench knife, rub the lemon zest into the sugar, creating a lemony and fragrant sugar.  Beat the butter and sugar until very light and creamy.  Add the lemon juice and the vanilla extract.  Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition.

Mix together the flour, ground almonds, polenta, rice or corn flour, baking powder and salt and fold into the butter mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 35-40 minutes (20-25 minutes for cupcakes) or until a knife inserted in the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool the cakes in their tins before taking them out.

Sift some powdered sugar over the cooled cakes for decoration.

How are you going to share the love the Valentine’s Day?  How do you share the love every other day of the year?

At the restaurant, this Saturday night’s reservations are already fully booked.  We’re going to be packed to the gills with love birds.  We’ve got people calling trying to pull the VIP card.  What’s that?  Oh.. you happen to think you and the chef are bffs this week and you’d like a table for two at 8?  Tough luck.  Really…

But Friday night…?  Not a soul.

What a day Valentine’s Day is… so ripe with expectations, how can you satisfy?

I remove myself from the whole game.  There are so many other gorgeous days of my life that I prefer to share love with the world around me.  How do I do it?  It usually involves butter, brown sugar and cocoa powder, but that’s just my style.

Sometimes love is as simple as sending someone a goofy postcard.  As deliberate as looking someone in the eye and smiling as you pass on the street.  As tiring as staying up extra late to make your Mom a birthday cake.  We share more love than we might realize.  Everyday, in the little things.  Let’s remember that this week.  Let’s remember that always.  It’s those little touches that make this life seem loads brighter.

I made this triple layer Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for my Mom’s birthday.  My Dad aptly dubbed it “The Wall”.  I baked the smooth batter up in a single 9×13-inch pan, wrapped and froze the sucker, and the next day sliced it (still frozen) into thirds.  The layers measures 4×9-inches, producing a rather brick shaped cake.  Feel free to bake this cake in three 8-inch rounds or two 9-inch rounds.

What else do you need to know about this cake?

It’s moist, and beautifully flavored.  The coffee and dark brown sugars work wonders with the cocoa powder.  The chocolate frosting is an absolute dream, and fresh raspberries send the whole cake over the top.  Thin slices of “The Wall” will serve about 10 to 12 chocolate loving people.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and cake frosting tips after the recipe!

Devils Food Cake

makes a three layer 8-inch round cake

or a two layer 9-inch round cake

or a one layer 9×13-inch sheet cake

adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

Print this recipe!

1 cup hot brewed coffee

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1/2 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

Put racks in the upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.    Butter cake pans and line bottom with rounds of parchment or wax paper.  Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together boiling coffee and cocoa powder in a medium bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.  Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt into another bowl.

Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium sped until pale and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in flour and cocoa mixtures alternating in 3 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (batter may look slightly curdled).

Divide batter among pans and smooth tops.  Place two pans in middle of oven and one pan in bottom of oven.  Do not put top pans directly over bottom pans.  Stagger them in the oven so the heat circulates.  If you’re baking with a 9×13-inch sheet pan, feel free to bake on the middle rack.  Bake, switching positions of pans half way through baking, until a wooden skewer inserted in enter of cakes comes out clean and layers begin to pull away from the sides of pan, 20- 25 minutes.  25-30 minutes for 9-inch rounds and 35-40 minutes for a 9×13-inch cake.

Cool layers in pans on racks for 10 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper and cool completely.  I covered my 9×13-inch cake with plastic wrap while still in the pan, and put it in the freezer to rest until I had time to frost it the next day.

Once completely cool, put one layer right side up on a cake place and spread with about 1 cup of chocolate buttercream frosting.  Top with fresh raspberries and add another layer of cake.  Add another cup of frosting, fresh raspberries and the final cake later.  Top with buttercream and frost the top and sides of the cake.

If using a 9×13-inch pan, trim the sides slightly, and measure out the long side into three 4-inch sections.  Slice, creating three 4×9-inch layers.  Frost!

Notes:

These cake layers came be made two days in advance and kept, well wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature.  It can also be frozen for up to a week.  I kept the cake frozen while I trimmed and frosted it. I think it’s easier and less crumby.

The cake can be frosted one day ahead and kept refrigerated covered loosely in plastic wrap.  Bring to room temperature before serving.

You’ll need frosting right?

The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Cake frosting tips!? We have those too!

Allow me this space to keep it real.

Part of growing up (and oh how I want to wrestle that concept) is figuring out how to comfort myself.  Man alive… that’s a hard one.

We all have our shaky moments, when life flips itself upside down and reminds you that you’re not exactly the boss of everything around you.  In those moments, believe me when I say, I just want to hurl myself on the floor and throw a bona fide tantrum.  The only problem with tantrums, is that people don’t really cares much as they did when I was three,  and it just ruins my mascara.

Then there’s french fries.  French fries are far better than tantrums.

Even better than french fries I’ve found, is a good, loud sing.  When I needed comfort yesterday, when I was feeling a little shaky, I literally stood in my living room and sang whatever songs came to mind.  Loud.  With my eyes closed.  Like I really meant it.  From the inside.  It felt so so good.

And then there’s cake.

This Pink Grapefruit Yogurt Cake is a little bit of sophisticated comfort.  There’s a lovely tang and moist crumb from the  whole-fat yogurt.  The trick to getting the most out of the grapefruit, is to rub the zest into the granulated sugar.  Really get in there, creating a super fragrant grapefruit sugar.

Comfort.  A cake or a song…  what works for you?

Pink Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

makes one 10-inch cake, about 12 servings

The Greyston Bakery Cookbook

Print this recipe!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup plain whole milk yogurt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Juice and zest of 1 pink grapefruit.  This ends up being about 1/2 cup of juice and 1 Tablespoon of zest.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 10-inch round springform pan and line the pan bottom with a parchment paper round and set aside.  I used a Bundt type springform pan, greased and floured well and skipped the parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt to blend.

On a clean surface, or in a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and zest.  With the back of a spoon or a flexible bench knife, rub the grapefruit zest into the sugar.  The essential oils will release into the sugar creating a beautifully fragrant sugar.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and grapefruit sugar until the eggs are thick and pale yellow.  Add the yogurt, oil, 1 Tablespoon of grapefruit juice and vanilla extract.  Stir well to combine.  Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted near the center.  Place the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake  Release and remove the pan sides.  Coo completely on the wire rack.

In a small saucepan, combine the powdered sugar and the remaining grapefruit juice and bring to a boil  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, or until the glaze is slightly thickened.  My glaze didn’t thicken significantly, but still seemed to do a great job on the cake.  Remove from heat.

To finish the cake, invert the cooled cake and remove the pan bottom.  Carefully peel away the parchment paper if you used it.  Reinvert the cake onto a serving plate.  Pierce the cake all over the top with a skewer and pour the warm grapefruit slowly over the cake.  I did this with the help of a pastry brush.

Store at room temperature, wrapped well for 2 days.

Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake.

For this cake, simple loaf pans just don’t measure up. After one slice of the perfect, absolutely perfect cake, it became clear that when I next bake this cake (tomorrow morning), I’ll need to devise some sort of pillow shaped cake pan.

This cake is going to be my new pillow. Forget goose feathers, cotton fluff, memory foam… I want, I need, I’m not sure how I’m going to live without a Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake Pillow.

For serious.

Lemon Drenched Lemon Cakes

adapted from Dorie Greenspan

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Think of this cake as a classy version of the store bought, chemical filled version of Sara Lee pound cake. The density is only matched by the soft, moist and lemony crumb. Sara Lee? Yea, I had my suspicions too, but this cake is without a doubt, the best pound-type cake I’ve ever encountered. Love. Love. Love.

I doubled the ingredients for the syrup and spread them between the two cakes. I liked lots of syrup.

For the Cakes:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

2 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 plump, moist vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved, or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

6 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

2/3 cups heavy cream

zest of two lemons, finely grated

1 stick, plus 7 Tablespoons (15 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the syrup:

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

juice of two lemons

Making the cakes:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8 1/2-4 1/2-inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Even if the pans are nonstick, it’s a good idea to butter and flour them. Place the pans on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Put the sugar and the lemon zest in a large bowl, working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist and thoroughly imbued with the fragrance of lemon. Add the vanilla bean seeds and work them into the sugar. If you are using vanilla extract, add it later, after you have added the eggs.

Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the extract (if using), then whisk in the cream. Continuing with the whisk, or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. As soon as the cake goes into the oven, make the syrup. After about 30 minutes in the oven, check the cakes for color- if they are browning too quickly, cover them lightly with foil tents.

Making the syrup:

Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil Remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.

When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding them and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and, using a thin skewer, cake tester or thin-bladed sharp knife, poke holes all over the cakes. Brush the cakes all over with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.