Hummingbird Cake

Can you believe this is the first time I've ever made a Hummingbird Cake?  I'd heard of this Southern dessert before but never actually got around to trying it for myself.  Ironic if you think about it because it contains so many things that I love: bananas, pineapple and pecans.

I found a no-fuss recipe from Cook's Country and decided to turn it into a bundt cake rather than the traditional layer.  I adore anything pineapple and what I love about this recipe is that the pineapple flavor is really amplified by reducing the juice to a concentrate. 

To finish the cake I made a simple icing using powdered sugar, pineapple juice and a drop or two of yellow food color.  It definitely has a technicolor effect, but I actually kind of like that!

Peanut Butter Cup No-Churn Ice Cream

Here's a great recipe to make delicious ice cream WITHOUT an ice cream maker.  At first I was a bit skeptical when I read about No-Churn Ice Cream on the Cook's Country website, but after making it for myself I'm now a complete convert.  All you need is a blender, which most households have over an ice cream machine.  The other plus with this recipe is that there's no eggs used, so no cooking a custard base.  The ice cream mixture literally came together in less than ten minutes, even better in my book!

Reese's cups are one of my favorite candies so I opted to go for the peanut butter cup version of the ice cream.  [The website has many other flavors if you don't like peanut butter.]   The recipe couldn't be simpler to make: whip heavy cream in the blender for about 30 seconds until heavy peaks form, add the rest of the ingredients (except the stir-in), pour into a loaf pan, mix in the stir-ins and then freeze for at least six hours.  That's it!

The ice cream is delicious served alone but I had some extra choux pastries so I filled them with the ice cream to turn them into profiteroles. [Yes, I know technically you need three pastries on the plate for profiteroles, but I didn't have a third one!]

Cranberry-Sour Cream Pound Cake

One fruit that I rarely ever use in baking is the cranberry.  I thought I'd remedy that by giving Cook's Country recipe for Cranberry-Sour Cream Pound Cake a try.  I love how dots of ruby fruit contrast so nicely against a creamy backdrop of cake.   Don't you think it would make a great homemade gift for the holidays?

After the cake was cooled I helped myself to a slice and was very happy with the end result.  The bursts of tart cranberries were so delicious combined with the moist, tender and rich butter cake.  All that was needed was a light dusting of powdered sugar and the cake was want for nothing.  Well, maybe a cup of tea!

Pineapple Cream Cheese Kolaches

Happy Black Friday!  I, for one, will be avoiding brick and mortar stores at all costs today.  Having worked more than a decade in the retail industry I remember the mayhem that could ensue with those door buster deals.  And don't even get me started on the parking drama. Thanks, but I'll pass!  I'm much rather stay at home and bake.  

Kolaches have been on my baking bucket list for quite some time now, but life seemed to get in the way and it fell by the wayside.   No better time than the present to give them a try.  I first became aware of these Czech pastries on an episode of Cook's Country.  Apparently they are quite popular in Texas and some Midwestern states.  Who would have known? 

What really intrigued me about the kolaches was the combination of a soft, buttery bread filled in the center with cream cheese or fruit.  Normally you see that combination in a laminated dough, like a Danish.  I decided to make my kolaches with cream cheese and fruit because two fillings are obviously better than one, right?   For the cream cheese filling I used a recipe I found for cheese Danish from the NY Times.  For the fruit filling I had to go with my all-time favorite, pineapple! 

The kolache dough was a dream to work with, i.e., really pliable and easy to shape.   Creating the round indentations in the center of the dough balls was a snap with a greased 1/3 cup measuring cup.  To fill the kolaches with limited mess I used pastry decorating bags but you can easily substitute with Ziploc bags.  A brush of egg wash and a generous sprinkle of streusel and the kolaches were ready for the oven.

The smells emanating from the oven while the kolaches baked were absolutely intoxicating and I couldn't wait to see how they turned out.  While they looked great I was really hoping that they tasted even better.  I'm very happy to report I wasn't disappointed!  The buttery bread was so soft and light and the duo of cream cheese and pineapple fillings was perfect.  No need to fly to Texas, I'll definitely be baking these kolaches again.

Bagel Bread

No one loves a bagel more than I do so how excited was I when I saw this recipe for Bagel Bread in the Oct/Nov 2018 issue of Cook's Country magazine?  Pure genius!  This was one of those things where you ask yourself, "how come I never thought of it before?"  Even better, I had a small bottle of Trader Joe's Everything But The Bagel seasoning blend lying around and thought it would be perfect to use for this recipe.

I ended up making a double batch of this recipe twice, four loaves in total!, over the span of one weekend.  Trust me, I didn't intend on doing this but I found that the first batch of loaves I made were way too salty for my taste.  Back to the drawing board it was!  So for the second batch I cut the amount of kosher salt from the recipe by half the resulting bread came out perfect!

Sliced and toasted and the bagel bread was absolutely delicious.  I think I might be a total convert to the loaf shape!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

September/October rolls around and all that people seem to talk about is the "PSL," or pumpkin spice latte.  Me, not so much.  Don't get me wrong, I love pumpkin in many forms but coffee is not one of them.  I'm much more on board the "PSM" train, aka Pumpkin Spice Muffin.

I have a go-to pumpkin bread recipe that I've been making for years and to this day still remains a favorite in my repertoire.  But after seeing these Cook's Country pumpkin spice muffins posted on America's Test Kitchen's Instagram account recently I was convinced to try something new.  Plus, I'm always a sucker for streusel topping!  For an additional crunch I sprinkled the muffins with pumpkin seeds to finish them off. 

I was very pleasantly surprised with how yummy these muffins were.  Granted, I did have my concerns about their sweetness after noting the two cups of sugar in the recipe but I couldn't have been more wrong.  The muffins were really delicious with just the right hint of sugar.  I highly recommend you make them for breakfast or your next brunch.  

Bee Sting Cake | Bienenstich

Bee Sting Cake.  The name of this dessert intrigued me when I saw it in the Oct/Nov 2014 issue of Cook's Country.  And where there is intrigue there is inevitably a strong inclination to action so I had to make it.  It's German in origin, Bienenstich, and is basically a honey and almond coated brioche cake filled with vanilla pastry cream.   

My family prefers desserts that aren't too sweet so this cake fit the bill perfectly.  They're favorite part, and mine, was the delicious and crunchy honey almond topping.  I could just eat that alone.   Oktoberfest is just around the corner and if you need a cake to accompany your beer and pretzel why not give this bee sting a try?

Icebox Oreo Cheesecake

I'm such a huge fan of Instagram.  Ever since I signed up for my account I check it daily, most times hourly!, for ideas and inspiration.   That's where I saw this Icebox Oreo Cheesecake from meringuedesigns, using a Cook's Country recipe.  The cookies and cream cake looked so good I had to make it for myself.   Another big plus was that it required absolutely no baking, not even for the crust, which is ideal for summer.  Love that!

 

I've made a few no-bake cheesecakes on this blog before but they all used gelatin to get their firmness.  This recipe uses a homemade pudding and white chocolate to mimic the velvety texture of a baked cheesecake.    It really couldn't have been easier to make so I highly recommend you give it a try.

Raspberry-White Chocolate Bombe

I've been wanting to make this Raspbery-White Chocolate Bombe for a while now but was waiting for the right occasion.  Mother's Day fit the bill perfectly.  I can't think of any mother - or grandmother, aunt, sister or daughter for that matter - who wouldn't love to receive a beautiful cake like this. 

"Pretty in pink" is the first thing that comes to mind when I see this cake.  The pink and white colors just make me smile.  This showstopper is yearning to be the center of attention at your next  celebration, e.g., bridal shower, baby shower, christening or birthday to name a few. 

Underneath a blanket of white chocolate curls lies fruit-studded raspberry mousse and moist, tender white cake.   Now I admit that I'm not much of a fan of white chocolate; it's just too sweet for my taste.  If you feel the same follow my lead and eat around it; the cake and filling are delicious!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

FYI: The cake stand is a 2012 limited edition from Martha Stewart Collection that I bought at Macys.  I added the ribbon embellishment.  The chocolate curls were purchased at my local cake decorating store,  Sugar 'N Spice.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

I live in constant fear that my gas oven will die on me.  It's happened before and for a baking fanatic like me it was my worst nightmare realized.  If you saw my oven for yourself you'd sympathize.  So can you blame me for always being on the lookout for no-bake desserts? 

My sister sent me this recipe for a chocolate eclair cake from Cook's Country a while back.   I'd never heard of it before but apparently it was quite well-known.   The no-fuss version is to layer a mixture of instant vanilla pudding and Cool-Whip between graham crackers, top the whole thing with ready-made chocolate frosting and refrigerate for a few hours.  Cook's Country amped it up big time by making everything, but the graham crackers, from scratch.

The flavors of the cake were great but I wish the graham crackers had held up their shape more, especially when it came time to slice.  Not sure how the folks at Cook's Country were able to get such nice, clean cuts because my crackers were kind of mushy.  Maybe next time I won't let the cake chill overnight; perhaps a few hours will suffice.