TWD: Tiger Cakes

I’ve missed a few bakes but I’m back with October’s first selection- Tiger Cakes!

First the good: the cakes came together in a very easy fashion and the flavor was really tasty. Now, the not so good: getting these bad boys out of the pan was a bear! I doused the pan with Baker’s Joy and still had many stay behind. I’m not sure if I should have left them in the pan longer to cool or maybe I should have taken the time to cut up strips of parchment paper to make X’s to help pull them out (if that would have helped). They reminded me more of mini muffins than mini cakes. I think if I had topped them with chocolate they would have felt more mini cake like to me.

The photo of the pan isn’t entirely accurate. I treated myself to eating most of the cake that was left behind 🙂

I would like to make these again because of their ease and taste but would be reluctant because of how tricky they were to remove from the pan.

TWD: Rhubarb Upside Down Cake (May 26th recipe)

I made this rhubarb upside down cake (with plenty of whipped cream!) for friends that we had over for dinner. It was a great summer dessert (because while it may be spring, it sure feels like summer in Atlanta) and was a great accompaniment to paella! While I love rhubarb, this wasn’t my most favorite use of it. The cake was a little too sweet for me so I think the next time I will cut back a little bit on the sugar. Still waiting to enjoy that rhubarb syrup though!

Triple-Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake (Southern Living)

Yes, this cake is absolutely as rich and delicious as the name suggests it would be! It’s the cover recipe for this month’s Southern Living magazine and will definitely make you pause (and drool) just by ogling the cover. Southern Living is pretty smart- you could never get away with including this recipe in January when people are entertaining thoughts of heating healthier, reducing sweets, etc but give it a month and we are ready for chocolate and Valentine’s Day! 🙂

My co-worker & good friend celebrated a birthday this week so it was the PERFECT opportunity to try this recipe. It’s a great celebration cake! I just failed to bring in a gallon of milk for my coworkers to accompany this rich, delicious, chocolatey goodness.

The only hiccup I had with the recipe was removing it from the pan. The recipe said the cake needed to cool for 20 minutes before removal but that wasn’t enough time for the top of the bundt and I ended up with a few potholes.

The good news is that the icing worked just fine to fill in and cover up the imperfections. Next time I’ll use even more Baker’s Joy in the top of the pan and wait a little longer to remove it. The only other changes to the recipe included: accidentally forgetting the vanilla in the chocolate icing (no one noticed) and substituting regular milk for the buttermilk in the vanilla icing. I use the buttermilk powder and just didn’t want to bother with trying to make buttermilk for just a tablespoon.

I would absolutely make this cake again. Sure, the recipe might cause your blood sugar to increase just by reading it but that’s what makes it a great cake for indulging. Celebrate and check out the recipe from SL.

TWD: Brown Butter and Vanilla Bean Weekend Cake

The last January recipe from Baking Chez Moi is the Brown Butter and Vanilla Bean Weekend Cake and it is a winner! And if you happened to be snowed in right now and have an itch to bake something delicious that would last for several days (or at least until you eat it all), well, this is a great choice!

This cake came together very quickly. So quickly in fact that I forgot to take pictures before putting it into the oven. Pretend that there is a photo here that magically includes the scent of the butter boiling on the stove. That was an amazing smell. The only choices that I made with this recipe were to use the vanilla extract since I didn’t have any vanilla beans on hand & amaretto instead of the dark rum (because I just love amaretto).

I decided to make this cake using my mini loaf pans for the first time so that I could share them with a friend. They took about 30 minutes to bake and came out beautifully.

I will absolutely make this recipe again. Perfect cake for visiting, gifts or because you just need delicious cake to enjoy with your tea & coffee. Check out the rest of our cakes here and bake along with us in February!