Lemon Bundt Cake

So, buddy Ila moved. Thus, a housewarming gift = cake. Cake made with the kugelhopf bundt pan she gave me!

Lemon Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze (not pictured)

2.75C AP Flour
1.5 tsp Baking Powder
0.75 tsp Salt
8oz unsalted Butter
1.5C Granulated Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
0.75C Milk
0.25C Lemon Juice (approx 2)
Lemon Zest from juiced lemons (approx 2)

Sift dry ingredients. Set aside.
Beat butter (at room temp) with sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs until combined. Then beat in vanilla extract.
Alternated adding in the dry and the liquid. Starting with the dry and ending with the dry.
Scrape down bowl as needed.
Spoon batter into prepared pan; Spread so that sides are higher than the center.
Bake at 325 for 55 to 60 min, toothpick test.
Once toothpick comes out clean and cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, transfer to wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes.
Then turn out cake and drizzle with lemon glaze. (OR, let cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar.)

Lemon Glaze (based off of Gonna Want Second's Kathleen Meyer Lemon Cake recipe)
0.25C Lemon Juice
8oz Powdered Sugar
2oz unsalted Butter, room temp

Just beat all together until smooth. Throw in some lemon zest too, if you like!


It was my first time using the pan, so I wasn't sure about how well it would release the cake after baking. I HEAVILY buttered and floured it all. But I must not have done a good job spreading in the butter into the nooks- or I should have tapped the pan to get out the airbubbles. Either way, I'm sure next time will be better.

The usuals...

I'm always getting orders for these "usuals"... why? BECAUSE they are awesome. :)
I got to play around with some old china plates I got at an estate sale too!

Sea Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cheerios Marshmallow Treats

Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Marshmallow Filling

Rice Krispy Treats

"Crack" Fish

Krispy Marshmallowy Peanut Buttery Chocolatey Brownie

Dark Espresso Brownie

Cap'n Crunch Marshmallow Treats

Chewy Ooey Gooey Brownies

These. Are. The. Best. Chewy. Ooey. Gooey. Brownies. Ever.

Made with Valrhona cocoa powder, Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate and espresso powder...

You know you want one (or ten) with a tall glass of cold milk!

Bread in the oven

My favorite thing about baking bread? The smell! MmmmMMMMMmmm! Oh, and eating the warm bread right outta the oven too!

Rustic Country White Bread

Divided and packaged up for sharing!

One of my favorite breads... brioche! My brioche a tete is still in practice, obviously.

I love that nutty brown color! MMMM!

Happy Valentine's Day (p2)!

Oh Valentine's Day... you have come and gone once again. Your obnoxiously commercialized pinks and reds and hearts each year continue to nauseate me every time I walk into a store. Too bad I still end up buying into all of it...

and this year I actually CELEBRATED IT! With a boy! ♥
A homemade dinner of teriyaki salmon, brown rice and steamed asparagus, followed by our attempted dessert of individual molten chocolate cakes.

Based off the recipe I found from America's Test Kitchen. I thought it would be perfect for Valentine's since it was portioned exactly for 2!

After folding the beaten egg mixture with the melted chocolate mixture, my hopes (like the batter) deflated. So that was obviously the major problem.

It was still edible... but no molten chocolate center either. Hmmm. Must have baked too long. Sad face.

Happy Valentine's Day (p1)!

Valentine's Day includes pink and red and flowers and mushy gushy stuff and sweets! Lots of sweets!
Here's a kickback to some of the sweets of V-Day's past.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Scones + Treat Bags
Gift Baskets with a whole mess of homemade treats

And what was in store for this year's Valentine's sweets orders?

Why, a TOOL BOX (a red one no less) filled with treats!

Contents include:

Pink(Strawberry) Rice Krispy Treats

Sea Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies (of course!)

Heart Shaped Chocolate Whoopie Pies (whoopie!)

Tiramisu for me, Tiramisu for you!

Homemade tiramisu... not as daunting as it might seem.

 I pared down the recipe to serve just two (instead of a whopping 8 people).

Recipe from my CIA book:

Yields 2 4" rounds - used springform pans

1/3C Espresso
2T+2t Kahlua/coffee liquer
1/2C Granulated Sugar- divided into 1/3C and the remainder
2 Egg yolks
1/3 of an Egg (tricky tricky - I divided using weight)
13oz. Mascarpone Cheese
1/3t Vanilla Extract
1 Large Egg White
16 stale Ladyfingers (approximately, I used a whole package of 24)
Cocoa powder for dusting
Powdered sugar for dusting

Combine espresso and Kahlua. Set aside.
Whisk together the 1/3C granulated sugar, egg yolks and the 1/3 of a whole egg. In the stand mixer bowl, set over simmering water, whisk until volume nearly doubles and becomes a light lemon yellow color.
Transfer bowl to mixer with whisk attachment and whip at high speed until mixture is cooled to room temperature.
Add half of the mascarpone cheese and vanilla extract at low speed until very smooth. Scrape bowl as needed. Add remaining mascarpone and mix enough to combine evenly.

In a separate bowl, whip egg white with remaining sugar until forms medium peaks. (This won't be very much). Fold beaten egg white into the mascarpone mixture.

Press 3-4 ladyfingers into the bottom of springform pan. Generously brush with espresso/Kahlua mix. Spread mascarpone filling on top. Top with ladyfingers and brush with espresso/Kahula. Repeat 3-4 times depending on height of your pan. End with mascarpone on top. Dust entire top with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
Wrap and chill overnight in the fridge.

Carefully unmold! And enjoy!