Coffee and Walnut Cake

So I made another recipe from this really obcure baking book I received for Christmas. Obscure like, it has no author listed anywhere. My friend found it at Half Priced Books, and it's a little strange at times. Baking times and temperatures aren't always important, and neither is any kind of order. But that's only for some recipes=)

Anyways, I had been dying to try another recipe out of the book to see if it could actually produce some good stuff. I choose another coffee item. What can I say? I love coffee even though I don't drink it. Well that's actually a lie. I could drink any variation of iced coffee everyday for the rest of my life! Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, the cake. I happened to have some walnuts around and a perfect storm of flavors had my mind and taste buds intrigued.

I made this awhile ago, but I remember liking it a lot! I remember the frosting being pretty sugary, but then again I did go fristing heavy=) Overall this worked as a nice snack cake. I do not think I would serve it to use for a celebration cake, but tea time or a brunch would be a good option.

Coffee &Walnut Cake
from What's Cooking, Baking
serves 8

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp strong black coffee (I always use Nescafe packets and dissolve them into water)
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (I used regular flour with extra baking soda)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup walnut pieces
walnut halves to decorate with

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the bottoms of two 8-inch round layer cake pans.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Beat in the coffee.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture, then fold in lightly and evenly with a metal spoon. Fold in the walnut pieces.

Divide batter between the prepared cake pans and smooth level. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 mins, or until golden brown and springy to the touch. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp strong black coffee (same method as before)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat together the butter, powdered sugar, coffee and vanilla, mixing until smooth and creamy.

Use about half of the frosting to sandwich the cakes together, then spread the remaining frosting on top and swirl with a metal spatula. Decorate with walnut halves.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gasp!

Yepp. I'm making something with chocolate. And it's a cookie. My two least favorite things. But it's for a good cause. Remember that New York trip I told you about? The one for my honors chorus to sing live at Carnegie Hall? Well we're having a major 12-hour bake sale simultaneously at two different locations. This is going to be huge. Our amazing choir director has created so many fundraisers for us, but she's a bit nervous about this one. She wants to make sure we don't run, and I can't blame her. So I plan on doing my darnedest to help out the best I can. I mean, you really don't have to beg me to bake!


When you make things for a bake sale, there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration:

Mass appeal: You need to choose something that appeals to most people. A rhubarb galette would throw a lot of people off their horse and cause them to shrink away. Keep with chocolate and simple flavors, but that doesn't mean you can't get a little creative!

I ate a 1/5 of this before even forming the cookies... That's a lie.
(In all seriousness though, it's the truth)

Weather enduring: This bake sale is in July. It's bound to be hot. So that means nothing that could spoil, melt easily, or anything like that.

Accessible: Example: blueberry cobbler. Not an easy thing to serve or cut into portions. Bars and cookies or loaf slices are some of your best options. However, it's always good to have whole pies stored away for those people who would like to buy one to them bring to an occasion to impress their friends.

So of the multiple items I hoped to make, I thought having one chocolate chip recipe would be a good idea to bring. Everyone loves 'em, right? I will set my foot down on one item: brownies. No. No. No. You will not see those coming out of my kitchen! Hehehe...
Also, since these are going to the bake sale, I can put in walnuts like a good chocolate chip cookie ought to have! Usually in my house it's my sister and dad who eat cookies, and neither of them will allow nuts in. They can be so small minded.

Round, dark, and crispy

Okay so these are a tad on the dark side. But I was working with someone else's oven and this is sadly what happened=( In fact I used the minimum suggestion time but found my best results were 3 minutes lower than that. So the 15- 20 minute suggestion was better at 12 minutes!

Ya burnt kid!

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies (copy-cat recipe)
from How To Eat A Cupcake

2 sticks unsalted butter, cool but slightly softened
2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs, straight from the fridge
2 3/4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle, mix together butter and sugar on low speed until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat on low speed until incorporated.

Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop cookie dough onto parchment lined baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 15-20 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the tops are just lightly browned. (For smaller cookies, of course you'll need to watch them because they'll bake much faster.) Cool completely on wire racks. Store airtight until you eat them all!

Lemon Sour Cream Walnut Cake

I made this minutes after our power came back on.

It was a SMS recipe not too long ago, and I book marked it in hopes to someday make it. Now usually when I do that, it gathers dust in my queue. But not this time. I made sure I got around to making it within the same year!

It was pleasingly good! I didn't really have that high of expectations for it, but it deserves more credit. It was a real nice treat to have and I super glad I made it! The walnuts make this thing. WALNUTS! Sorry, I just really really loved the walnuts in it=)


There's not much to say about it. The glaze was money, though. Super, super good. Plus, it was easy to put together. And, it was gone the next day!!

What could be better than lemon on a cold day?


Lemon Walnut-Sour Cream Pound Cake
The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy
found here

The cake:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

The Glaze:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 1 1/2-quart loaf pan.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening, sugar and zest, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice, almond extract, and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter in two batches, alternating with the sour cream. Do not over mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gently fold in the walnuts, saving some to sprinkle on top.

3. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before inverting onto a rack for glazing.

4. For the glaze: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice and heat to a high simmer. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, or until reduced by half.

5. Using a pastry brush, brush the hot glaze on the still-warm unmolded cake. Brush again, if desired, after 10 minutes. Let cool before slicing.

The pound cake keeps well wrapped in plastic wrap for 3 to 4 days at room temperature. For longer storage, freeze well wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil for up to 1 month. Defrost still wrapped at room temperature.