Spiced Zucchini Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

 I'd like to take a moment to talk about mutant vegetables. Zucchini, to be more exact.
Around this time of year, food bloggers tend to start a trail of complaints along the lines of, "OMG, I can't even deal with how much zucchini is growing in my backyard and I'm so overwhelmed and it's taking over my kitchen and my life is really hard."
 The thing is, I live in New York City, where if your backyard is big enough to hold one small zucchini, you should consider yourself lucky. So I don't have a whole lot of sympathy.

Above is my dog, lying next to a zucchini we were given by a friend with her own little vegetable patch. Guys, this was one crazy zucchini - it was over a foot long. I didn't even know this ridiculous, genetically outrageous thing was possible in nature. Seriously, what?!

Regardless, I suddenly had a lot more understanding of the complaints popping up on my computer screen constantly, and I decided to tone down my own sass. And that's my life lesson for the day. (Is there even a lesson in there? I don't know. You're welcome anyway.)

This cake is crazy delicious. As in, way better than I ever thought a dessert based on a vegetable could be. (Although to be fair, that's pretty much the only healthy thing about it.) It's full of shredded zucchini, making it really moist, and it's studded with bittersweet chocolate chips. (These make everything better. We've been through this before.) I topped it with a quick cream cheese frosting made with both orange zest and juice (I used a blood orange, but you can use any kind), which adds a nice little pop of flavor to this summery cake.
Enjoy!

Spiced Zucchini Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

(adapted from Emeril Lagasse's Farm to Fork)

for the cake:

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)

for the frosting: 

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons orange juice

grated zest of one orange

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, and grease an 8" square cake pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the vegetable oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder, and mix until well blended. Stir in the chocolate. Pour the batter into the pan, and tap it gently on the counter to release any air bubbles.
Bake until the cake has risen and is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes; then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.
Once the cake is completely cooled to room temperature, make the frosting. With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, the orange juice and the orange zest. Add more sugar or juice, until it reaches the desired consistency. Spread on top of cake (if you'd like to frost the sides as well, double the frosting recipe).

Blueberry Buttermilk Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

 When I was about eight years old, my parents and I drove to Massachusetts to spend the 4th of July with our friends. We planned a fun weekend, stocked the fridge with the makings of quite the barbeque, and bought plenty of glow sticks to wear at night.

   On the 4th, after our little backyard party, we walked up the road to an open field and settled in in our lawn chairs to watch the fireworks. (Side note: it still amazes me that for some people, this is an everyday occurrence; in New York, the most we can do is climb up a fire escape to get to somebody's roof and watch fireworks. This is probably illegal. I will forever be jealous of the small-town life.)

   Just as the fireworks started, our friends' dog started to bark uncontrollably. It took us all of two seconds to realize that we were about to be hit with a rainstorm emitting from the sprinklers on the field. That night, we walked back to our friends' house soaking wet, but it's a moment we still laugh about every 4th of July.

    This year, I'm spending the 4th at Westminster Choir College, where I'm doing a voice program for a couple of weeks; it's great here, but our cafeteria food certainly doesn't compare to the homemade picnic lunch my parents will be putting together. So before I left home, I made this cake as my own little celebration of the start of summer. It's light, moist, not too sweet, full of fresh blueberries, and topped with a thin, almost crunchy glaze. I think I just found myself a new favorite tradition (with quite the tongue-twister recipe title).
   Enjoy!

Blueberry Buttermilk Brown Sugar Bundt Cake 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine)

For the cake:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups blueberries (about 1 pint)

For the glaze:

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

4-5 tablespoons milk

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a nonstick 12-cup Bundt pan. Whisk 3 cups flour, the baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat 2 sticks butter, the brown sugar and vegetable oil in a bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, at least 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low; beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla. Add about one-third of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk; beat until almost incorporated. Add another one-third of the flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk. Beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until just combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat 30 seconds. Finish incorporating the flour by hand to avoid overmixing.

Toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl. Spoon one-third of the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle in half of the blueberries, then top with another one-third of the batter. Scatter the remaining blueberries on top and cover with the rest of the batter; smooth the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour, 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 30 minutes in the pan. Run a small sharp knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, then invert onto the rack to cool completely. 

 

Meanwhile, make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar, butter and 4 tablespoons milk in a bowl; if the glaze is too thick, whisk in up to 1 more tablespoon milk, a little at a time. Pour the glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

From New York to New Orleans!

instagramming cakes all day every day

 There are a lot of great aspects to baking for events. For me, it's a ton of fun to go back and forth with whoever is throwing the event and figure out the perfect desserts for the occasion (and in the case of cakes, how best to flavor and decorate them). I think that the greatest part, though, is getting to feel like in some small way, I'm helping somebody celebrate. Last year, I had a sweet sixteen, and while the bakers who made the cupcakes, the people who set up the chairs before guests arrived, and the DJ's assistant weren't there during the party, they were all a part of my celebration in some way. So, I like to think that even though I'm not at some of the events my cakes go to, I'm actually contributing a little bit to their fun.
  My friend's dad is a caterer, and a few weeks ago, he asked me to make cakes for a dinner he was cooking for; it was for a couple who was moving from New York to New Orleans. They wanted three cakes centered around the theme of their trip, somehow tying in the NOLA flag and Mardi Gras colors, but the rest was basically up to me. We played around with some flavor combos, and one long night later, I had three pretty cute cakes.

Given that they were leaving New York, I figured the big city had to be represented in some way. There's nothing more symbolic of here than the "I Heart NY" logo, so I traced white chocolate shapes and painted them with gel food coloring.
 This cake was the most interesting of the three in terms of flavor - it was made up of layers of spice cake, filled with Meyer lemon curd and frosted with vanilla buttercream (as were all of the cakes).

The next cake was supposed to represent the flag of New Orleans. I'm all for gold accents, so I kept the borders simple and used edible spray paint and glitter to glam up the white chocolate fleur-de-lis. This was definitely my favorite of the three cakes!

Flavor-wise, this cake was pretty simple, but I'm sure it was also the most popular; it was a chocolate cake with whipped bittersweet chocolate ganache filling layered with fresh strawberries.

The final cake was so much fun to make. All I was told was to include Mardi Gras colors, and the rest was up to me; so I made more white chocolate shapes, this time a crown and two eye masks, and painted them gold. I sprayed the entire cake with edible purple spray paint (seriously, this stuff is awesome), and threw in a bright green border to make it pop. The cake flavor was pretty simple, but it was a yummy combination: vanilla cake with a mixed berry cream filling.
  I'm still learning when it comes to cake decorating, and there's a lot that could be improved about these, but I had a great time making them. It's easy to get totally wrapped up in this kind of thing, and although I don't even know the names of the couple, I'm so glad I got to be a little part of their goodbye! 

French Apple Custard Cake

 Describing anything with the word "French" adds a certain connotation to the phrase. This varies depending on the situation; French fashion is considered chic, French music is much admired (deservedly so), and let's not forget the beauty of France itself. When it comes to food, French cuisine is often thought of as not only delicious, but also fancy and super complicated to prepare. French pastry chefs have the reputation of being... exacting, to put it mildly.

 This French apple cake goes against everything you probably think of at the mention of French desserts. You won't spend hours folding egg whites or piping frosting, and this doesn't involve an ingredient list as long as the history textbook sitting on your desk (or maybe that's just me...)
  This batter is whipped up in a matter of minutes, and the most work you'll have is the quick chopping of some apples. The thin batter and abundance of fruit create a super moist cake that is almost custard-like, making this perfectly acceptable either as an afternoon snack or as an impressing dessert. If you're going with the latter, I like to add a drizzle of salted caramel sauce and a scoop of this earl grey ice cream. Because let's be honest, doesn't that make everything better?
  Enjoy!

French Apple Custard Cake

(from Around My French Table)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

4 large apples (if you can, choose 4 different kinds)

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons dark rum

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan and put it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and put the springform on it.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl.
Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1- to 2-inch chunks.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until they’re foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half the flour and when it is incorporated, add half the melted butter, followed by the rest of the flour and the remaining butter, mixing gently after each addition so that you have a smooth, rather thick batter. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, turning the fruit so that it's coated with batter. Scrape the mixture into the pan and poke it around a little with the spatula so that it's evenish.
Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean; the cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes.
Carefully run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the springform pan. (Open the springform slowly, and before it’s fully opened, make sure there aren't any apples stuck to it.) Allow the cake to cool until it is just slightly warm or at room temperature. If you want to remove the cake from the bottom of the springform pan, wait until the cake is almost cooled, then run a long spatula between the cake and the pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving dish.
Serve with caramel sauce, ice cream, whipped cream... or all on its own. Whatever floats your boat.

Traditional Financiers

 Financiers are my new favorite thing. Ever. I bet you're dying to know why, so here's a list (partly because I like lists, but also partly because my SAT-practice-test-brain can't handle much more than that right now).
1. They are chewy with crisp edges, which is always lovely.
2. They have a wonderfully nutty flavor from the almonds and browned butter in them.
3. They are just about the most perfect snack to have with a cup of tea or coffee.
4. They are the namesake of one of my favorite bakeries. 
5. They gave me an excuse to use one of my new baking molds I bought in France this summer (because let's be honest here, what isn't better when it comes from France?).
6. They are insanely easy to make.

I baked the extra batter in tiny tart pans for an even more bite-sized treat

 I totally wasn't kidding about #6. The batter for these comes together in the time it takes to preheat the oven, and you can have a perfect snack, dessert, or breakfast (because I won't judge you) in under half an hour. When isn't that a good thing?

 These are also perfect for tons of different variations. Sick of making almond-flour-everything? Substitute ground pistachios (plus you'll get a lovely light green color). Want something fruity? Thrown in some berries. Something richer? Chocolate chips would be delicious. Anyway you make them, they're quick, easy, and will be gone in less time than it took to throw them together.
  Enjoy!

 Traditional Financiers 

(from Bouchon Bakery)

1/2 cup + 1-1/2 T. (120 g) sugar
1/4 cup + 1 T. (40 g) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup + 2 t. (60 g) almond meal
100 g egg whites (from about 3 large eggs)
1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter, browned (still hot)

Preheat oven to 425F degrees, and butter 12 financier molds, roughly 1-1/4" x 2-1/4". (My tin only makes 7 financiers - if yours is like this, either set aside batter and wait to use the tin again or bake in a mini muffin tin or mini tart pans.) Refrigerate buttered tin.
Sift together sugar, flour and almond meal into a medium bowl.
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in egg whites; whisk together by hand until ingredients have been combined.
While still hot, slowly pour browned butter into batter, simultaneously whisking the batter until combined.
Evenly distribute batter among molds or mini-muffin tin wells, leaving about 1/8" of space from the rim.
Lower oven temperature to 350F degrees, and bake on the center rake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool unmolded financiers on a wire rack.

Fig and Almond Cake

 Sometimes you get to a place, and you know. You know that that place is special, and you have to be there. That one day, somehow, you're going to live there, and it's going to be amazing. This view of the city is skewed, sure, due to the fact that you're probably on vacation at the time, but the feeling is real all the same.

 That's exactly how I felt about Paris. When I was in Berlin and London a couple of weeks ago,  I loved the cities and thought they were beautiful. But when I got to Paris, something was different - it felt, somehow, like that was where I should be.

 Maybe it was the city's beauty, or the pastry school I visited where I was surrounded by young bakers like me for the fist time, or the meals out with some great people, or the hours spent walking around with no particular destination. Either way, it was perfect. And I need to go back.

 Coming back to New York has been a bit of a shock. It's been fun seeing friends, sleeping in my own bed again, and even getting ready for the start of the school year - but I miss Paris. I miss walking along the river at midnight on the way back from the Eiffel Tower, trying to learn phrases beyond "Bonjour!" and "Merci!" in French, and searching for the city's best bakeries.

 So until I can go to Paris again, I'm trying to bring some parts of that vacation into New York life. Yesterday, my friend and I walked 70 blocks through the city, from the financial district all the way up to midtown, to get used to it all again and see what tourists are so fascinated by. I've been spending time online, looking at more Parisian pastry schools and apartments for rent. Most importantly, I'm trying to recreate some of the wonderful food we had there.

As a way to ease myself back into the kitchen, I wanted something simple (before the eclairs I'm working on today...). My dad saw this recipe in the newspaper and begged me to make it for him - so I figured why not. And it was great.
A moist almond cake, slightly crunchy from the almonds ground at home (don't skip this step), is studded with sweet, ripe figs sprinkled with sugar right before baking. The figs and sugar become almost jam-like, and this cake is just as delicious as it is lovely to look at.
So maybe I can't live in Paris. But I know that I can bring some of its great qualities into my own life, with the help of some sugar and maybe a lot of butter.
Enjoy!

Fig and Almond Cake

(from The New York Times)

4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus butter for greasing pan

1 cup natural raw almonds (not blanched)

1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling (I used sparkling sugar for sprinkling)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

12 to 14 ripe figs

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9" fluted tart pan or pie pan; set aside. Put almonds and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor and grind to a coarse powder. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; pulse to combine.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, melted butter, honey and almond extract. Add almond mixture and beat for a minute until batter is just mixed. Pour batter into pan.
Remove stem from each fig and cut in half. Arrange fig halves cut-side up over the batter. Sprinkle figs with sugar and bake for 30 minutes, until golden outside and dry at center when probed with a cake tester. Cool before serving.

3-Ingredient Nutella Strawberry Cake

 I'm sorry for the absence. Really. Please let me explain. And then I promise I'll make it up to you with some really, really good cake.
   After my sweet 16, I had a couple of crazy weeks with tons of family here. During this time, my computer completely crashed. After a few days of having work done on it, I'm left with a completely clean slate, and a camera with a few pictures on it. The entire lineup of food pictures I had for a series of summery posts? Gone. So I curled up onto my couch for a little while. And then I got back into the kitchen to try to make up for my lost picture-taking time.

 I made this cake a few nights after my party, for a bunch of family members who were over at my house for dinner. It looked simple enough, it was naturally gluten-free, and, most importantly, it was a cake that required only two ingredients. A base of beaten eggs, followed by an insane amount of nutella. Sounds like a party to me.

    So of course I made it way more complicated than it had to be. When it came out of the oven, instead of just serving it as-is like a normal person, I decided to drizzle some more nutella on top. But it looked so chocolatey, I needed something to break the richness, so in came a crown of sliced strawberries. I also served it with some fresh, lightly sweetened whipped cream, but that's not really necessary.
     This cake was absolutely perfect for the crowd we had at my house. It's rich enough that a little slice will satisfy that chocolate craving, and I was impressed by how light it was made just by the eggs. Often when Nutella is used in baked goods, its flavor gets masked by all the other ingredients, but the short ingredients list for this recipe let the spread's flavor shine. My only regret? Learning that with eggs and nutella, I can have an entire delicious cake at my fingertips within the hour. Because that's an extremely dangerous skill to possess.
   Enjoy!

3-Ingredient Nutella Strawberry Cake

(adapted from Kirbie's Cravings)

8 large or extra large eggs
17 ounces Nutella (weigh this out on a scale), plus more for topping

1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced

Grease a 9 or 10 inch round springform pan. Then line with parchment paper on sides and on bottom. Preheat oven to 350F. Beat eggs on highest speed with stand mixer until about triple in volume, about 8 minutes. The egg consistency is the key to making this recipe work, so don't try to save time on this step.
Measure out 17 ounces of Nutella into a glass bowl. Microwave Nutella for about 20 seconds to make it more liquidy. Add in 1/3 of the egg mixture. Gently stir with a spatula in the same clockwise direction until all of the egg is mixed in and no streaks remain. Then add another 1/3 of egg mixture and fold again until no egg streaks remain. Pour in remaining third, making sure to scrape the foam that sticks to the mixing bowl into the batter, and stir until no streaks remain. Make sure to do this in 3 batches because otherwise the whipped eggs may lose too much of the air that has been whipped into them.
Pour batter into springform pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool completely before removing from pan.
Warm about 1/4 cup of remaining Nutella briefly in the microwave. Drizzle over cooled cake. Top with strawberries, and serve slices with lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional).

*Note: This recipe makes quite a large cake. Feel free to halve it and bake it in a 6 or 7 inch springform pan.

Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

Finalsfinalsfinalsfinals. That's just about what's going through everyone's head at my school right now - it seems like AP exams just ended and now we have to take our finals! Luckily, this time around none of mine are too bad, so I don't have to be studying all the time. I wanted to share this cake that I made back in April, which I have put off sharing mainly out of vanity (on behalf of my pictures) - see the picture of the full cake below.
When I was in Brazil, it was around midnight when my cousin realized that the next day was her friend's birthday, and we knew we had to make her a cake. Her favorite is white chocolate, so I decided to go with my go-to yellow cake, with a light white chocolate frosting. The problem was that we were at my grandma's house, who doesn't ever make layer cakes - so we had to make do with piping "Parabéns!" ("Happy Birthday!") out of chocolate syrup. Oh well...

This is really just ganache that has been whipped after being chilled. I had no idea it would be so delicious! It's light and fluffy, almost like a white-chocolate-flavored whipped cream (which I guess it is, but nevermind...). It's so easy to spread, and it pairs perfectly with the light vanilla flavor in the cake.
Enjoy!

my chocolate syrup piping...

Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

(adapted from Food.com)

6 ounces white chocolate, chopped

2 cups heavy cream

Have the white chocolate ready in a medium bowl of a stand mixer.
In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until boiling. Pour over the white chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds.
Stir in concentric circles, from the outside in and then the inside out, until the chocolate is completely melted. Cool in the fridge until cold.
Beat on high speed with the mixer until light and fluffy. Be careful not to over-beat.

A Millenium Falcon Birthday

     I don't talk about it too much, but I do get orders for various baked goods every now and then. Lately it's been happening more often, which is exciting, both for me and for my obsession with clothing and high heels! And my ever-growing collection of cook books ;)
     A few weeks ago, my mom's friend emailed me about a cake for her son's party. He was turning four and had decided that he really wanted a cake shaped like the millenium falcon from star wars. I said of course I would make it, and although it was supposed to be ready two days after my AP exam, I figured those two days would give me plenty of time.
    And then I looked up a picture of the millenium falcon.

     When I heard the name, it rang a bell - this was that rocket thing from Star... something... right? I had no idea this was what it looked like, and when I realized I had just agreed to make a cake that looked like it, I may or may not have squealed and looked at my friend in shock in the middle of a history study session.

      I knew I couldn't make anything like what some of these crazy cake bakeries make - besides not having the skill, even with all the practice in the world I wouldn't have the equipment necessary at my house. I decided to go with a simple, slightly cartoon-ized version of the ship, and (after checking that this was OK with the boy's mom!) got started as soon as my AP was over!

     It ended up going pretty smoothly - the round part was made of two 9" cake layers, and I baked up two 9x13" layers and carved them to make the wing things and little bumps on top (what are these? somebody who knows Star Wars, help me?). It was a chocolate cake filled with a layer of delicious dulce de leche buttercream filling.
     Start to finish, this took about four hours (and probably would have taken less time had I been more awake, seeing as how I started at 11 pm). If you want proof, just check out my 3 a.m. Instagram cake shots ;)
     I was so happy to have had my first ever sculpted (if you can call this sculpted) cake come out as planned. I hear the birthday boy loved it! Although, let's be real, when I was four, I would have much rather have had a princess barbie cake... as much as they scare me now.

all packed up, along with a hundred brigadeiros

Happy birthday Liam!!

Condensed Milk Vanilla Pound Cake

    As much as I love making layered cakes and complex pastries, sometimes I just need something simple. I spent most of last week itching to bake something - when I got home on Thursday afternoon, I decided that it had gone on for too long. When my mom had put dinner in the oven, I jumped into the kitchen and got to work.

       I had had my eye on this recipe for quite a while, and with a can of condensed milk in the pantry, it was time to try it. I was curious to see how this would work out; the batter is made in a food processor, which is unusual, and has a full 3/4 of a cup of sweetened condensed milk.

    It resulted in a really interesting cake. The texture was different from what I've tried in the past - it is slightly more dense, and has a unique flavor from the mixture of condensed milk and vanilla bean. It's delicious! This recipe is definitely a keeper - it is just as yummy as a great pound cake, but seems light enough in texture to justify having it for breakfast.
  Enjoy!

Condensed Milk Vanilla Poundcake

(slightly adapted from 17 and Baking)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more to grease the pan
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8.5 x 4.5″ loaf pan and set aside.
Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the sugar and chopped vanilla bean until the bean is finely ground. Sift to remove the large bits of vanilla, then return the sugar to the processor.
Add the butter and salt and process until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bottom occasionally. Add the condensed milk and pulse until well incorporated, about 15 times, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Add the sifted dry ingredients and pulse until no traces of flour remain, about 10 times. Add the eggs and pulse just until combined, about 5 times. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and finish mixing by hand to fully incorporate the eggs.
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until deep golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool completely in the loaf pan on a rack, then turn out onto a plate. Serve in thick slices.

Cinnamon-Topped Breakfast Cake

 Happy 2013!! I hope you all had a great night celebrating the new year - I know I had tons of fun drinking sparkling apple cider at midnight with visitors from out of town. This morning, I woke up a little earlier than everyone else, and wanted to make something quick to have as a treat for breakfast. This cake was perfect - it came together in about 5 minutes, was easily made gluten-free so that my mom could eat it, and was enjoyed by all of us.

This is a really simple cake - the bottom is slightly sweet and buttery (despite having very little fat in it), and the topping pulls adds a layer of great flavor with cinnamon and some chopped nuts (use your favorite kind). The recipe actually comes from a cookbook for little kids that I got about 10 years ago, but all that means is that it's super simple to make, and has a taste that will be loved by all ages! It was the perfect, sweet start to the year.
  Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Topped Breakfast Cake

(slightly adapted from The Everything Kids' Cookbook)

for the cake batter:

2 cups flour (see note)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

for the cinnamon topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup nuts of your choice, roughly chopped (I used walnuts)

1 teaspoon butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an 8" square cake pan.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk in the tablespoon of butter, egg and milk, mixing just until combined. Be careful not to over-mix. Pour into the prepared pan.
In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts and teaspoon of butter. Sprinkle evenly over the cake batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly. Enjoy, preferably warm!

Note: This can be made gluten-free by substituting the flour with an equal amount of gluten-free all-purpose flour and adding two teaspoons of xanthan gum.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

 Since I started baking six years ago, I have learned so much. I've learned that no, the bakers at Costco who pipe perfect buttercream flowers onto the big sheet cakes are not magical fairies, but yes, they have had hours of practice. I've learned that some supermarket staples are a hundred times better when made at home, like chocolate pudding, but that sometimes, like for a late night at home with friends, nothing beats the ease and classic taste of bake-n-break cookie dough. I've also learned that fall is simply the greatest season for sweet treats.

 The warm, spicy flavors of pumpkin, cranberries, apples, nuts, and cinnamon make me think of long afternoons sipping cider and morning walks in the crisp country air. Yesterday, I wanted a perfect fall recipe, but didn't even know where to start. I had a can of pumpkin and three big apples, so I figured a spicy cake was in the works.

 This recipe combines the best of all these fall flavors. A moist, spice-filled pumpkin cake, topped with a layer of apples sauteed in butter, sugar, and cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spice for this step too, not just for the cake batter) which tastes exactly like apple pie filling and is oh-so-addicting, and finally a sweet, crunchy crumb topping. It is perfectly sweet and hearty, making it wonderful for an October Saturday night filled with  preparations for this so-called "Frankenstorm" (officially no school tomorrow!) - good luck to anybody on East coast, and enjoy what will hopefully be nothing more than a relaxing day off tomorrow.
   Enjoy!

 Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

(from Bon Appétit)

Apples:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups diced peeled cored Granny Smith apples (about 4 large)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cake:
11/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup (firmly packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples; sauté until apples begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and cinnamon and sauté until golden brown, about 3 minutes longer. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. 

Combine flour, brown sugar, butter, and salt in large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside 2/3 cup of mixture for topping. 

Beat pumpkin, sour cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, spice, and baking soda into remaining flour mixture, beating just until smooth. Beat in eggs. 

Transfer batter to pan. Scatter apples evenly over top. Sprinkle reserved topping over apples.
Bake cake until topping is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Run a thin knife around the sides of the pan to loosen cake. Release pan sides from cake. Transfer cake to a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.