Cannoli Cake

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Holy Moly Cannoli! This is a BIG cake!! It is certainly big in size and most definitely big in flavor. Before you are three 9-inch round layers of delicious yellow cake filled with a mixture of mascarpone, mini chocolate chips, and a touch of cinnamon, then frosted with lightly sweetened whipped cream. To take it up a notch, the sides of the cake are garnished with rolled wafer cookies that, when served immediately, give you that flaky crunch reminiscent of the fried pastry dough of a bakery cannoli. It truly is the classic Italian pastry in cake form.

Now, let's talk about execution.  After reading the recipe, I knew the baked cake layers would be slightly denser (almost pound cake-like), so I decided to make a simple syrup (just equal parts sugar and water) to keep the cakes moist. On Saturday, while the cakes were baking, I made the simple syrup. While the cakes were cooling, I made the filling.  By the end of the day, the cakes were brushed with the syrup, filled, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight. 

On Sunday (the day of serving), I brought the cake to room temperature. About 2 hours before serving, I started on the whipped cream, but not a basic whipped cream. Basic whipped cream for desserts will weep liquid if made in advance. There are many ways to stabilize whipped cream, but this recipe calls for a gelatin mixture (I use Knox's powdered gelatin). The gelatin binds with liquid to keep it from weeping in order to keep it light and airy. This allows the frosted cake to sit out for a couple of hours (But keep it in a cool place and out of the sun.).  If you choose to garnish the cake with rolled wafer cookies, like Pepperidge Farm Priouettes, wait until just before serving.  Otherwise, the cookies will become soft.  So, if you know you will have leftovers, serve the cookies on the side for that sweet little crunch.

I may not be in love with the Queen of Cannoli (cue the Tom Torriglia song -listen here), but I am in love with this cake! Happy baking!

Sunday Dinner

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Caramelized Onion and Black Truffle Cheddar-Gruyère Mini-Phyllo Tarts

Butterflied Roast Chicken

Warm Bread and Arugula Salad

Low-Fat Lemon Pound Cake

Blueberry Compote

I call this a "Use What's in the Refrigerator/Freezer/Pantry/Leftover" Sunday Dinner.  Please let me take a moment to explain.

Appetizer- Onions is in the pantry, 4-ounces cheese is leftover in the refrigerator and the Mini-Pyllo Tart Shells I almost always have in the freezer for a quick little bite.

Main Course- A whole chicken (or two or three) is always in my freezer, the warm bread I will make into croutons from my No-Knead Country Bread recipe and there was about 4-ounces of arugula that needed to be eaten up from a dinner earlier this week.

Dessert- I had quite a few lemons and wanted a little treat for breakfast this morning, so I baked this cake last night and we had a few slices this morning. The leftovers will be enjoyed for dessert tonight along with a compote from about 1 cup blueberries that were hanging out in my refrigerator. 

And that's how my Sunday Dinners roll some times.

This is a wonderful light little cake.  Low-fat sour-cream is used to knock out some of the fat without compromising the butter flavor of a traditional pound cake.  It bakes up beautifully with a nice dome, but just make sure you use an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.  Anything bigger may put a damper on the dome.  My only change to the recipe was to triple the glaze because I love me some glaze.  Having said that, you could even make this cake without the glaze and enjoy it by itself or to be used in another layered dessert. Enjoy it for breakfast, as a tea time treat, dessert, or a "just passing-by" snack and you'll be glad it is low-fat😉. Happy Sunday!

Peanut Butter and Banana Pupcakes

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Yesterday was a special day in this house.  Black Lab #4, my Ruby, turned 10! When your a dog in this house and you make it to 10 years of age, that calls for a celebration! And if you know me personally, you'll know that one of my favorite ways to celebrate a birthday is with cupcakes! So, PUPcakes it was.

These are so easy to make and you probably have all the ingredients on hand.  For the cake I used a super-ripe mashed banana and some applesauce as the base of the wet ingredients.  If you don't have one of those ingredients, pumpkin purée or smoother puréed fruit would be fine. You might even stroll down the baby food isle. (I really don't think your doggers will be too picky.)  The frosting is simple a 1:1 ration of cream cheese and peanut butter (I just used traditional peanut butter, not the natural or organic).  I don't know one dog that doesn't like peanut butter.  As for the garnish, it's just Milkbones and finely chopped bacon because I felt like getting fancy and let's face it, even in the dog world, bacon makes everything better.  

Now, I made these treats for my dogs, but really, there isn't anything in the cake that a human couldn't eat outside of any allergies.  In fact, when my husband walked in he saw them on the table and asked if he could eat one.  I said sure, but you might want to take off the Milkbone first😂.

There was a lot of smelling and drooling as I was making these, but if they could speak, I think they would say the wait was worth it!

Happy Birthday, Rubes!!

Apple Butter Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

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OMG! Why did it take me six years to make this?!? This is one unbelievable cake!! It tastes like Fall in sugar form! There really aren't enough words to tell you how good this cake is! (I have writer's block trying to think about how to describe how incredible it tastes, so let me just write about the recipe because you will need to make this cake ASAP.)

This is a cold-oven pound cake. And by that, I mean you turn the oven on AFTER you put the pan in the oven.  It is an old technique that produces a tall cake with a nice crisp crust. I love the crispy bits, don't you? The one thing that I want to point out is the bake time; it will vary depending on how quickly your oven heats up. The pilot light in my gas oven is a little slow to start (because I use it so much), therefore it took my cake a bit longer than 80 minutes to bake. To keep the top from browning too much, I lightly covered it with a sheet of aluminum foil towards the end of the bake time. 

As far as the recipe, I really didn't change much to the cake, but I did to the glaze/frosting.  The original recipe called it a glaze, but I knew by looking at the magazine photo that it was more of a pourable frosting than a glaze.  So to achieve that, I made sure that the base of the frosting was completely cooled before I beat in the confectioners' sugar.  And let me tell you that I am super glad that I went for the pourable frosting.  Holy yum and cue the sugar rush! 

The cake and frosting is all you need, but if you feel like getting fancy, dress the top of the cake with some dried apple chips like I did. Just make sure you wait to garnish until you are going to serve the cake, otherwise the apple chips will soften and loose their crunch.

Now, please don't do what I did and wait six years to make this cake!  It is sooooo good!!

Fruit Coffee Cake (Raspberry Version)

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The weekend is upon us and for me, that means brunch is on the brain.  And when there is brunch in my house, there is usually coffee cake.  

I made this coffee cake few weeks ago for the first time and it is definitely a keeper!  The beauty of this recipe  is that you can use almost any fruit (hence the name fruit coffee cake), but I chose to go with one of my favorites; raspberries. (Other fruit fillings will follow in the future😉.)

It is a pretty straight forward recipe with two options for preparation. What in the world do you mean, Nicole? You see, the original recipe called for "cutting" the butter into the dry ingredients, but I wanted to speed up the process first thing in the am, so I pulled out both my mini and my large food processor.  The only down side to my method is the number of dishes that I had to clean, but I am no stranger to that in my kitchen.  So please, use whichever method works best for you.

You can serve this cake warm or at room temperature, but I found that it is best if devoured within the day so that the bottom layer doesn't get too soggy from the filling. And my dear readers, that is what makes coffee cakes so wonderful. It is acceptable to eat them any time of day! Enjoy!

Sunday Dinner

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Lemon-Herb Goat Cheese Ball

with Green Zebra Tomatoes

Grilled Butterflied Brown Sugar Chicken

Creamy Corn Pudding

Simple Green Salad

Lemonade Pound Cake

Summer is quickly coming to an end and I want to "squeeze" (pun intended for this post) in as many seasonal good eats as possible.  

If you follow me on FB, you'll know that I have Green Zebra Tomatoes growing in my garden and they pair so well with the goat cheese appetizer we are having tonight.  It's ittle hard to post that appetizer recipe right now because I am sure many of you do not have that variety growing, but maybe I'll just share the goat cheese ball soon. I have previously shared the recipes for the main course and side; Grilled Butterflied Brown Sugar Chicken and the Creamy Corn Pudding, so I have linked those recipes above. What I am going to share today is the cake!  

I have already told you about my Great Aunt Margaret's Southern Pound Cake and that is "kinda" like a lemon pound cake, but this here cake...is a Lemonade🍋 Pound Cake. It is sweet and just a bit tangy like a tall glass of lemonade.  

Now, you might be wondering how the "lemonade" flavor is achieved.  Wait for it...good ole fashion lemonade concentrate.  Yep, the work is already done for you. Well except for the part of making the cake😉.  

The other ingredient that makes this a wonderful cake is the addition of sour cream.  Having said that, you can also use plain yogurt (not the Greek stuff).  They both have equally good results and make for a tender and moist end product.  The last thing to finish off this cake is the glaze.  Mmm...glaze. The original recipe called for drizzling the glaze over the still warm cake, but I like to see my glaze, so I let the cake cool a bit longer before pouring on the glaze

.

So, pucker-up, run to the store and get that can of lemonade concentrate! Happy Sunday! 

Rustic Peach Cake

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Let me start by saying that there is only one thing "rustic" about this cake and that is its appearance. I mean, shouldn't a rustic dessert be super easy?? Don't let me scare you from making this because it is incredibly delicious! For this post, I am going to use bullet points to explain part of the process. 

Here we go...

1.The original recipe calls for a 9-inch spring-form pan. Why? Go ahead an use an 8-inch cake pan.

2.The original recipe calls for two medium firm peaches. I used one large (about 8-ounces), but not overly ripe peach. And yes, I sliced my peach into 9 wedges; eight for the edges and one for the middle.

3.The peaches are macerated in a divided sugar and cinnamon mixture, but DO NOT use the juices when adding the peaches to the cake.

4.The original recipe calls for dried peaches or apricots (they are both similar in taste when dried and amplify the flavor). DO NOT use freeze dried fruit. 

5. Dried fruit is sticky to chop, so spray your knife with cooking spray and finely (and I mean finely) chop the dried fruit.  

6. I could tell you to pulse the dried fruit with the dry cake ingredients in a food processor (because it works), but also requires more dishes to clean.

7. Are you still with me?

So, how is this a "rustic" peach cake? I HAVE NO CLUE! I need to rename this recipe Very Good Peach Cake😋🍑.

If I just put peach on your brain, here are some links to some of my other peachy perfect recipes...

Caramelized Peaches with Burrata Cheese

Breakfast Grain Salad with Almonds, Blueberries and Peaches

Peach Buttermilk Sherbet

Peach Cobbler

Peach Streusel Coffee Cake

Peach and Blueberry Galette

Sunday Dinner

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Avocado-Dressed Shrimp

Pork Pernil

Rice and Onions

Black Beans

Cuban Bread

Tres Leches Cake

This Sunday's menu is feeling the love from several Latin American countries--a little from Mexico, a bit from Puerto Rico, and some from Cuba.  Since the origins of the Tres Leches Cake have been traced to many Latino culinary cultures, I thought it would be a perfect finish to this meal.

Tres Leches Cake is a sponge cake that is soaked with a mixture of "three milks" (sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and evaporated milk).  Some recipes call for just egg whites, but this recipe uses whole eggs, which makes for a sturdier, but still light in texture cake that can stand up to the milk mixture without becoming over saturated and soggy.  This recipe also takes it one step further by first reducing the condensed milk for a concentrated sugar taste and a thicker texture.  I also like to add a bit of rum to the milk mixture for a bit of spice that compliments the cinnamon in the batter.  

The cake does need to soak for at least three hours, but preferably overnight.  The topping is a simple whipped cream mixture.  You might not think that it is enough to frost the top of the entire cake, but all you need is a little cream layer before sinking your fork into the creamy, soaked cake.  Once assembled, the cake can be made and kept in the refrigerator for up to three days.  Any make-ahead component to a Sunday meal is a bonus for me.

Sunday Dinner one year ago

Sunday Dinner two year ago

Sunday Dinner three years ago

Strawberry Preserves Cake

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I had two problems with this cake-- one good and one not so good.  The "not so good" problem was trying to find the energy to make it right after breakfast on Sunday after a day of doing spring clean-up in the yard on Saturday.  Hooboy, that left my muscles and joints with a stiff ouch that morning!  The good problem was trying to decide if we liked this cake as much as the Strawberry Dream Cake, the Fresh Strawberry Mousse Cake, or the Strawberry Poke Cake.  After much thought on the matter, we decided that each is good in its own berrylicious way.  

Unlike the other strawberry cakes, this one relies on sweet strawberry preserves to provide that "please get here Summer" essentia.  So if the berries at your local market aren't yet bursting with flavor, make this cake and you just might see the lazy, hazy days peeking at you from just around the corner.  Having said that, seek out the best preserves that you can find.  I like to use Bonne Maman preserves.  For this cake, I use the entire 13-ounce jar; some for the cake itself and some for the frosting.  The preserves do add a pale pink color, but I like to kick up the "pepto-bismol" color with a bit of red food coloring paste.  And yes, please use food coloring paste and not the liquid stuff.  The end result is much purtier.  

What do I have to say about the frosting??  Two things-- butter and cream cheese.  Nuff said. Now go on put your aprons on☺.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

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Love is in the air and for me that means chocolate is on the brain.  Ok who am I kidding, it's always on my brain.  Seriously, this is the third chocolate post in a row. I have been waiting to share this for that special occasion and with Valentines Day at the end of the week, I thought it was the perfect time. 

Chocolate cake with slightly crunchy edges and a gooey filling?? Mmmm-- Wipe the drool from the keyboard.  All the evils in the world (including this gosh forsaken winter) stop with one bite.  It is easy to prepare and it can even be made in advance before baking.  I add vanilla and espresso powder to boost the chocolate flavor to dangerous levels.  Want to make this dessert even better?  Add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream☺. 

♫"Oh I can't help falling in love with you." ♪♬

Sunday Dinner

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Shrimp Salad Cups

Southern Fried Chicken

Rice and Gravy

Southern Green Beans

Creamed Corn (frozen from summer harvest)

Old-Fashioned Coconut Sheet Cake

After a trip down South last weekend, the only thing my son has had on his mind (or should I say stomach) is a batch of my fried chicken.  That's an inherited craving that runs deep in his veins and I will most certainly oblige to that request for tonight's Sunday dinner.  And when you have Southern fried chicken on the menu, an old-fashioned Southern dessert is the only way to end the meal.  Well that and I had a craving for something with coconut after making the sweet rolls this past week.  Sweet rolls, fried chicken, and coconut cake?? Cue the comfy pants and put salads on the menu for the week, Nicole.

This is a classic sheet cake that triples down on the coconut flavor with shredded coconut, coconut extract, and coconut milk.  The egg whites are separated from the yolks and beaten until stiff peaks form before being folded into the batter.  This makes for a very light crumb to the cake while keeping it sturdy enough to hold up to the frosting.  As far as that frosting goes, keep any spoons (or fingers) hidden from sight.  I think you know what I mean--there won't be any frosting left for the cake!

Sunday Dinner one year ago

Sunday Dinner two year ago

Sunday Dinner three years ago

Sticky Coconut Pecan Spice Cake

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A certain someone celebrated her 21st birthday (again) yesterday.  I kept the dinner menu simple starting with Shrimp and Sherry Cheese Spread, then Roast Chicken and one of my favorite green salads with bacon and croutons (I'll get to that one soon) so I could save room for dessert.  Chocolate is certainly my favorite flavor, but for some reason I have always craved a type of Italian Cream Cake or a Spice Cake.  It's what Mom always made me. Luckily for me, this cake satisfies both of those cravings.  It has the coconuts and pecans like the cream cake and the warm spices from the spice cake.  I like to think of it as a love child between oatmeal snack cake and spice cake that fell in love with German Chocolate.  It has all the great qualities of some of my favorites.  And go ahead, put a dollop of sweetened whipped crème fraîche on the side... now I am in love!

Mississippi Mud Cake

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I have to admit that I was pretty scared this week.  At one point I thought thegalleygourmet.net was gone for good.  *Poof *  Fortunately that did not happen and I am back up and running so that I can share great recipes like this one!

Mississippi Mud Cake is named for its appearance.  The dense cake resembles the banks of the Mississippi River and the gooey chocolate sauce resembles the mud.  Thankfully, it tastes positively choco-rific and nothing like the muddy waters of the mighty river.

It is best served immediately after drizzling the cake with some of the chocolate sauce while serving the remaining sauce on the side (yes, drag your fork full of cake through the muddy pool), but it is also great the next day, cut into squares and eaten out of hand like a cake-bar.  Either way, it will be delicious!

Southern Caramel Layer Cake

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You may recall that this past Sunday was a birthday Sunday dinner menu.  Since we enjoyed his favorite lamb roast for that dinner, I put his other favorite, Southern Fried Chicken, on the menu for his actual birthday.  When you serve a Southern chicken classic, you certainly need to serve a classic Southern cake for dessert.  

This is a basic buttermilk cake with a sweet caramel frosting.  The cake calls for self-rising flour which makes the prep a little easier.  I must note that if you use White-Lily self-rising flour like I do, you will need to add an additional 6 Tablespoons of self-rising flour to the recipe.  

The frosting, oh the frosting... You start out by making a caramel sauce (reserving some for garnish) and then use it as a base for the buttercream.  I like a nice, fluffy frosting instead of a spreadable one, so I whip the frosting until light and fluffy.  Alternatively, you could just mix the frosting until smooth, then allow it to set until it is spreadable.  Either way you make it, it will be very good.  A garnish of toasted pecans adds a little texture and provides a good savory balance to the sweetness of the frosting. So channel your inner y'all and make this cake!

Sunday Dinner

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Crunchy Grits-Fried Pickles with Ranch Dressing

Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Western Carolina Barbecue Sauce

South Carolina Mustard Sauce

Stove-Top Baked Beans

Classic Creamy Coleslaw

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

This Sunday is a belated birthday dinner menu.  My husband celebrated a birthday this past week, so it was his turn to choose the menu--and a good one it is.  Especially since I had a little pork left in the freezer (takes a little of the Sunday dinner work load off of me).

I made this cake a couple months back for my father's birthday.  My husband wasn't able to join us for the celebration, so I thought this would be a good excuse to make it again.  But once you taste this cake, you will realize there is no need to have an excuse to make it.  The cake itself is made with Nutella and ground hazelnuts.  It is light and moist, but sturdy enough to hold the frosting.  The frosting is a basic cream cheese frosting with Nutella added.  It is lick-the-bowl good and takes the cake from delicious to ridiculous.

Sunday Dinner one year ago

Sunday Dinner two years ago

Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake

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I took the day off this past Sunday from blogging our dinner menu in order to spend a wonderful Mother's day with my family, but I didn't take the day off from cooking.  It was a delicious dinner that ended with this dessert that conjured up memories of my childhood and my own mother.

One of mom's desserts that was always well received consisted of a bowl of fresh summer strawberries, a bowl of sour cream, and a third bowl of light brown sugar.  Pulling back the foliage and holding the stem end of the berries, we would dip the whole berry into the sour cream, then roll it into the brown sugar.  Mmmm... I'm sure many of you know just what I'm talking about.

Now take that idea and put a little elbow grease into the concept and you have this dinner finale (or afternoon hand held snack☺).

The original recipe hits the mark on flavor, but the form of stabilizer was lacking (trust me, I have tried it without out it; a.k.a cue the dogs to clean up the kitchen fail).  I used cream of tartar along with the lemon juice to ensure a tall and fluffy cake.

Raspberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake

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Time for brunchalicious recipe number two.  This time it's on the sweet side of the menu.  This raspberry buttermilk coffee cake has everything you could want in a brunch treat.  It is a light and tender coffee cake, making it the perfect sweet companion for hearty, savory dishes.  The slightly crunchy top of the cake gives way to a tender interior containing just the right amount of tangy raspberry goodness.  It is equally delectable served warm or at room temperature.          

Fresh Strawberry Mousse Cake

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If you are a long time reader, you might recall the Strawberry Dream Cake that I shared almost two years ago. Well, this cake here is its kissin' cousin.  Where the dream cake uses frozen strawberries and tastes like homemade strawberry ice cream in cake form, this cake uses fresh berries and has all the flavors of strawberry shortcake.  Having said that, make sure you use the sweetest and ripest berries you can find.  The strawberry flavor of the cake really depends on the quality of the berries.  

The cake itself is a basic white cake made with egg whites.  This provides a light, shortcake-like flavor.  The mousse filling is made of puréed strawberries that are set with powdered gelatin and then folded with whipped cream.  The frosting is a simple confectioners' sugar buttercream with fresh berries beaten in.  But be warned.  Do not taste the frosting until you have actually frosted the cake or you will be subject to questioning as to why there is an empty mixing bowl and an unfrosted cake on the counter (a.k.a.-- the crime scene).  Busted!

Meyer Lemon Molten Cakes with Raspberries and Cream

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When planning holiday or entertaining menus, I always start with dessert first.  Why? I have an arsenal of sweet recipes to choose from and it is always hard to narrow it down to the right one.  And it can be the more labor intensive part of the meal with the creaming of butter and sugar, the rolling of the dough, the baking, the frosting, on and on... Having said that, this recipe was not hard to decide on and it comes together in no time with just a whisk and a bowl.

However, before I talk about it I want to give you a little background.  My children and I are visiting my parents in Charleston, S.C. this week during their Spring Break vacation.  Unfortunately, my husband is not able to travel with us.  Since we will not be home to spend Easter with him, I made an Easter celebration dinner on Monday before I left.  He's happy to have leftover ham sandwiches while I am gone and I am happy that I have some of the recipes to share with you. 

I first made this last year and it was good, but I knew I could make it better.  After a reader (shout out to Bobbi☺) reminded me that I needed to finally share the recipe, I put it on my springtime menu to-do list. I knew it would be the perfect ending to our Easter meal.  

I am sure many of you are familiar with the popular chocolate molten lava cakes. Well, this is a unique and wonderful twist to that concept.  The original recipe called for lemon curd, but I prefer the balanced tartness of Meyer lemon curd.  I used some from a batch of homemade, but you can substitute store-bought with good results.  Raspberries and lemons go hand-in-hand for a sweet pairing.  A dusting of confectioners' sugar and a dollop of sweetened whipped cream help to finish the dessert.  Although not pictured, after one bite I knew there was one more layer that would really make this dessert sing.  A batch of Red Currant-Raspberry sauce in the freezer sealed the deal.  The bonus to this recipe is that the batter can be prepared and refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance.  So you can bake these while dinner is on the table,

Chocolate Caramel Poke Cake

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The descriptions of this cake seem to include a lot of superlatives.  Best this, greatest that, better than...Well, let's just say you might feel the earth move after just one bite.  Yeah, this is some really, really good cake.

Bake a simple chocolate cake, poke it all over with a skewer, drench it with a caramel/milk mixture, top it with a generous layer of sweetened whipped cream (trying to keep this PG rated) and you have a dessert that is loved equally by all ages and anyone with even a hint of a sweet tooth.