How to bake a cake without eggs, butter or milk

I was going to have guests that evening for the weekly pizza night, with my dear old friends. The pizza and the friends are always the same – the only two new things in this gatherings are the conversation (new gossip every time) and the dessert (my job, obviously)

But… it was raining, cold and sad outside, I had ZERO eggs or mood to buy some.

I remembered this humble cake I’ve tried some time ago. Check the recipe out: I bet you have every ingredient in your pantry, and nobody can tell it is an eggless, butterless, milkless cake. Super tender, moist and light, this one is not very sweet – perfect for other delicious additions, like the vanilla ice cream my friend Paula brought.

Oh, yeah, I guess you can call it a vegan cake. Without the ice-cream, of course. Or the oh my god so delicious hot fudge sauce I served along.

And if you excuse me, I’ll be in the kitchen having another piece.

Chocolate Cake (adapted from the Martha Stewart Living Magazine/ Dec 2007)

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil (used corn oil)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (I was out of vanilla)
• 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat an 8-inch round cake pan with spray (I greased with vegetable oil and coated with cocoa).
2. Whisk water and cocoa in a small bowl until smooth. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, and make a well in center. Add cocoa mixture, oil, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in vinegar. Pour into pan.
3. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, invert it onto rack, and turn cake right side up. Let cool completely. Transfer cake to a serving plate or a cake stand. Cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Hot Fudge Sauce (from Baking, from my Home to Yours)

• 50g (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut in 8 pieces
• 170g/ 6 ounces finely chopped semisweet chocolate
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tbsp light corn syrup
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring once in a while. Keep the heat low, or the chocolate and butter will separate. Transfer the bowl to the counter when mixture is smooth.
2. In a small heavy saucepan, mix the cream, corn syrup, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute and remove from heat.
3. Pour about 1/4  of the hot cream over the chocolate mixture. Stir until smooth. Pour over the rest of the cream in two more additions, stirring gently until the sauce is shiny and smooth again. Let the sauce cool for 10 minutes before using.
4. You can keep the sauce for up to 3 weeks in the fridge. Reheat carefully in the microwave.

Playing with the Food VI – play dough

In my endless quest for children’s activities and games, I ended up finding not one, but two real keepers.

The first one is a really good recipe for homemade playdough, pretty similar to the real thing. It’s very simple to make, and apparently the stuff lasts forever if  stored in airtight containers. There it is:

Since the clay has been a total hit with the resident kiddo and eventual visitors, here’s my thought: “she might like to start cooking with mommy… look how much fun she is having with her play dough!”

I had this recipe for a while in my list, and I was dying to make it. The prep is the usual for sugar cookies, except for the tinting part (I found that a little time consuming).

All ready and set, I call the little girl. At that point, I had the strong belief I was going to be THE COOLEST MOM EVER.

Well, the little girl came, looked at the whole circus, ate a ball of raw dough, and just LEFT. No, she never came back – I was stuck with a ton of very colorful cookie dough and a floured table. These are the results:

But I was not all alone! Soon enough my husband was at home to help me:

That’s what you get when you let boys play.

Play Dough Cookies

The original recipe proposes cookies in lollipop form, but I couldn’t help myself and worked freestyle. There’s a fabulous tutorial here, if you decide to go for the lollies. Just be careful to bake similar sized cookies at a time. Besides their super cute looks, these really delivered tastewise – they are sugar cookies after all, with a pleasent crumbly texture from the cream cheese.

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• assorted colors of paste food coloring
• 24 lollipop sticks (optional)

1. In the electric mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until  light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir till soft dough forms. Divide dough into fourths. Tint each with a different food color. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Working with half of each color, shape dough into 3/4 inch balls and for each cookie place 1 pink, 1 green, 1 blue and 1 orange (I used red, yellow, blue and green) ball together to make 1 large ball. Shape into a 12 inch long roll (like a snake), starting at one end, coil roll to make a 2 3/4 inch round cookie. Place cookies 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Carefully insert lollipop sticks into bottoms of cookies.
4. Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Banana Upside Down Cake

I’m in the middle of a super, super busy week, lots of orders, so I decided to post this little cake.

This recipe was originally published in the super cool blog The Wicked Noodle, as a guest post. It’s as Brazilian as you can get: this buttery cake with the caramelized bananas on top can be found in almost every bakery around here.

Banana Upside Down Cake

For the caramel banana layer:

• 1 1/2 cup (170g) sugar

• 5 to 6 ripe bananas (make sure they are ripe, otherwise they will become hard)

For the cake:

• 2 cups (240g) all purpose flour
• 1 cup (90g) cornstarch
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 4 large eggs, divided
• 4 tbsp (56g) unsalted butter
• 2 cups (200g) sugar
• 1 cup (200ml) milk

Make the banana layer:

1. Put the sugar in a 10 in. (25cm) round pan, and bring it to a medium heat to
make a dry caramel. Once it’s fluid and light amber in color, with a wooden spoon,
distribute the caramel evenly all over the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aside.
2. Split the bananas lengthwise and distribute them with the cut side down, over the
caramel. Try to place them as close as you can (they will shrink a bit) and close to
the pan sides – it will be easier to release the cake later if you do so.

Make the cake:

1. Preheat the oven 350° F (180°C).
2. In a bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Set aside.
4. In the electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and egg yolks until very light and
creamy.
5. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk. Beat only
until the flour is all mixed. With a big spatula, fold the beaten egg whites
carefully.
6. Pour the batter over the banana layer, distributing evenly.
7. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until it’s golden and a toothpick inserted in the
center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake rest for a bit, but you want unmold it while it’s still warm.

When everything else fails – blondies

It was one of those weeks. You know, when EVERYTHING goes wrong? Let’s put in list form for illustrative purposes:

• cake #01 – trash can (totally collapsed)
• cake #02 – trash can (overflowed)
• cake #03 – ruined on transportation (those three on the same day)
• dulce de leche crème caramel – broken while being unmolded
• my first interview for a TV station to promote the blog: canceled because I caught a nasty flu, with fever and frog face included.

Don’t ask me why the recipes didn’t work this time – they were not even new. I wonder if Julia Child or Martha Stewart have ever had weeks like that. Doubt it.

For times like this, I make blondies – impossible to screw up and delish.

Blondies (adapted from the book  Chocolate Temptations, by Linda Collister)

Those are the best blondies I’ve ever made. Slightly chewy, with the caramel flavor from the brown sugar, this batter makes a very good base for whatever strikes your fancy: white, milk, dark chocolate, all kinds of nuts, even raisins if you like. I’ve never tried, but I think they might get a new dimension with some cinnamon in it. Maybe next time.

• 140g unsalted butter
• 400g light brown sugar (since we only have the dark molasses kind here in Brazil, I used 250g brown sugar and 150g granulated sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 300g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• a large pinch of salt
• 50g walnut pieces, roughly chopped (used walnuts and pecans)
• 50g white chocolate, roughly chopped (used milk chocolate)
• 50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line with foil a 30 X 22cm baking tray.

In a large, heavy pan, melt gently the butter. Add the sugar, stir well, and remove from the heat. Let cool for a minute, than add the eggs and vanilla, stirring well.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder over the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Stir only until thoroughly blended, but don’t beat or overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared tray, sprinkle the chocolates and nuts evenly.

Bake for 25 minutes until just firm.

Cool for a while in the baking tray, then lift the cake, transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the foil and cut into squares. Makes 48 pieces.

Playing with the Food V – brownie roll-out cookies

These cookies were made for a little boy’s birthday party. They were offered as favors, in cellophane bags, with MM’s, and tied with ribbon. This kind of packaging is pretty, but regular sugar cookies can loose their texture very easily in plastic bags. So, I went with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen for chocolate cutout cookies – they are a bit on the soft side, but sturdy enough to stay in one piece until their final destinations.

Very chocolatey, they really taste like a little piece of brownie – and I’m about to try Deb’s suggestion in a couple of minutes – use this babies as base and lid for ice cream sandwiches. See you later.

Brownie Roll-Out Cookies (70 – 80 cookies)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.

In ‘the electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth.

Divide dough in two halves, wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.

In a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

A trip down memory lane – Pink Anthill Cupcakes

When my mother passed away, she left for me a small vintage cookbook collection, with books from the 60′s and 70′s, and also her old recipe notebook.

I love this notebook – it has recipes from both of my grandmas, from mom, and even from myself – when I was a little girl. Most part of the recipes my mother collected from friends and family and some she clipped from old magazines. I’ve had tasted a lot of the dishes from the notebook by mom’s hands, some she has just copied but never tried.

Well, since I’m just fascinated about old recipes, why not jumping  into a journey through the family notebook?

I’ve decided to start the adventure with this one: Conceição’s Anthill Cake. Conceição was the housemaid at a mom’s friend house. She was already in her fifties, and people said she was a retired nun. She always made the famous cake when we visited -  a moist and tender coconut cake with chocolate jimmies in the batter, to resemble an anthill.

I didn’t have any chocolate jimmies, so I improvised with pink sprinkles I had left from another recipe. The frosting  comes from the notebook too: a never tested before recipe from some unknown 80′s magazine, kind of a marshmallow cream with red flavored Jell-O.

Conceição’s Anthill Cake – 24 cupcakes

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 4 egg whites
• 200g (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 100g desiccated grated coconut
• 1 cup milk
• 50g chocolate jimmies (I used pink sprinkles)

For the cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).  Line two 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.

In the electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Set aside.

In another bowl in the electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the coconut.

Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk. End with flour. Mix in the chocolate jimmies.

With a large spoon or spatula, fold the beaten egg whites in the batter.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes come out clean. Take the cupcakes from the tin and let cool over a wire rack before frosting.

Pink Frosting  (from somewhere in the 80′s)

• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 tbsp red flavored Jell-o/ gelatin (I used strawberry)
• 2 egg whites, beaten to soft peaks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (didn’t use)

In a saucepan, mix sugar, gelatin and water. Cook over medium heat until it boils and the sugar and gelatin are fully dissolved. In a steady stream, add the gelatin mixture to the beaten egg whites, with the electric mixer on high speed. Beat until it looks like a meringue and it’s cold, about 10 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix well. Use immediately. Decorate as desired.

Strawberry Time!

It’s strawberry time!

And it’s also winter break at my daughter’s preschool… For the first time in my life, I’m living the full time mom experience. You know, she’s almost two – talking, dancing, singing, running, crying, laughing, fighting, falling, all at once!

Strawberries are her absolute favorites. I’ve bought some to make this bonbons, but the little hurricane ate them all.

The reason I’m telling you all this is, in fact, to get some help! If you, more experienced mothers out there, happen to have any suggestions on how to entertain 20-month-old kids for a WHOLE MONTH, please drop me a line!

Now, back to business:

Strawberry Bonbons

These confections have a simple and delicious concept – strawberry covered in white brigadeiro covered again in chocolate. They demand a lot of work, but is totally worth it.

The strawberries must be washed and patted dry carefully – you don’t wanna poke them, or they will run juices and ruin the whole thing. Select the smaller, sweeter fruit for this recipe, and don’t let the little thieves still them.

Ingredients

• 20 strawberries (small to medium)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 400g milk chocolate, to cover
• 1/2 cup sugar

Prepare the strawberries

Wash carefully and pat dry the strawberries. Take the leaves out, but not the stems. If the stems are too long, trim them short. Leave it to air dry in a ventilated place.

Prepare the white brigadeiro

Butter a soup plate or platter. In a saucepan, mix the condensed milk and butter. Cook over medium flame, always stirring, till boil. Reduce heat. Stir constantly, scraping bottom and sides of the pan. When it thickens and pulls from bottom of the pan (about 105º/221F), it’s ready. It will firm a bit after cooled. Transfer to the buttered plate, let it cool completely. The cooled brigadeiro looks and feels like a soft fudge.

And here we go…

Place the sugar on a small bowl and set aside. Butter your hands a little and take small portions (about a teaspoon) of the brigadeiro dough and wrap each strawberry all the way through. Dip the base on sugar and reserve.

Line with parchment paper a tray big enough to hold all the strawberries. Melt and temper the chocolate.

Dip in the chocolate first the strawberries bottoms, one by one, and set on paper to harden. Then, dip the strawberries thoroughly very carefully,  lift it with a fork and let it drain a little to remove excess chocolate. Place them on the parchment paper and let the chocolate dry.

The bonbons are best eaten the same day they were made.