Dessert

I like to think of this little space on the internet as somewhere I can be honest. I mean, sure I urge you to put bacon in your cookies, throw rad chicken wing parties, and wax lyrical about roast potatoes. But I also wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to the people and places I love.

There are times when it’s not all perfect cakes and dainty scones. There are times when things go completely and utterly belly up.

If the title of this post tells you anything, it’s that the lovely little cupcakes you see before you are not primarily what we’re here to talk about today. These sweet little bites of loveliness came about as a result of a massive kitchen failure.

I made Dan a birthday cake a couple of weeks ago. He’s not a massive cake fan (who did I marry?!) and so this was the first time he had actually requested anything. He asked for carrot cake and I was stupidly excited to bake it for him. But it flopped. Miserably.

I imagine you might like to know what went wrong so as to avoid the same disaster that befell me. Well, I made the rookie move of trying to bake it in a different type of pan. The pan had the same volume as the original called for and so, I imagined, the cake would not be affected. How wrong I was. I ended up with an un-cooked cake (despite having tested it before removing it from the oven) that literally collapsed in a soggy mess before my eyes.

Friends, I cried.

I dunno, I just kind of take cake seriously. As someone who adores cake – eating it and making it – it’s hard to see things go wrong, especially when it’s for a special occasion or a special person. I know, of course, that it’s only cake and that it really did not matter, but ahhh, I so wanted that cake to turn out!

A few days later, once I’d picked myself up and dusted myself off, I decided to bake these cupcakes, solely to act as a vehicle for the cream cheese icing I’d already made, because I couldn’t bear for it to be wasted (you know me).

Somehow, I suspect through witchery or magic, I didn’t ruin anything; there were no tears. These are lovely, amazing cupcakes. And so there isn’t really a great moral here. Only a chance for me to say, hi! I’m human and I wreck things!, which kind of feels like a great thing to share.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
cupcake recipe via Sweetapolita

For each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

For the cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (190 grams/6.5 ounces) self-rising flour
  • 1 1/4 cups (160 grams/5.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (2 sticks/227 grams/8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups (400 grams/14 ounces) white sugar
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (250 ml) milk
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake papers.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.
  4. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.
  5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
  6. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

For the cream cheese icing

Ingredients

  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 4 oz/ 113.4g butter, softened
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups icing sugar

Directions

  1. Beat together room temperature cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
  2. Add vanilla and icing sugar and continue to beat until smooth.

Homemade ice cream without a machine? I was gob smacked when I realised how easy this is. Learning to bake and cook over the last few years has included a series of fun surprises: I never would have guessed that any old person could make ice cream at home so dang easily.

I started my ice cream adventure with one of my all-time favourite flavours, coffee. Everything about this is reminiscent of Vietnamese coffee for me – the intense sweetness from both the heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk immediately transported me back to backpacking in South-East Asia, enjoying iced coffee on hot, steamy mornings. Not a bad thing to reminisce about on these humid, 100F Minnesota days with a cold cup of ice cream in hand.

No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream
adapted from Vanilla Bean

Ingredients

  • 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup/4 oz strong coffee, chilled
  • 2 cups/16 oz cold heavy cream

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, stir together the condensed milk, vanilla, and coffee.
  2. In a separate bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. If you’re doing this by hand, as I was, prepare for a major arm ache. Tips for hand-whipping cream here.
  3. With a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into condensed milk mixture until incorporated. Pour into a 9×5-inch loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 6 hours or overnight.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

June 5, 2012

Minneapolis has reached that glorious point in the year where we’re having proper hot days. Sunny skies, warm air, endless possibilities. It makes me kind of ecstatic. It’s a little silly, but if you grew up in predictably unpredictable England, you understand.

It’s no secret that I love a good list. Inspired by Kimberly I started noting down my plans for the summer. It’s my favourite kind of list to make; what kinds of fun do you want to have this summer? Where do you want to go? (Side note: yes, I am whimsical and sentimental.)

This summer I must: take long bike rides to faraway places; go berry picking; lie on the lake beach with a book; eat pizza outside; take random road trips; swim in cold lakes; go camping; eat a million ice cream cones; bbq in the backyard; and eat tacos, tacos, tacos.

Also? I want to bake sweet, fruity desserts to enjoy with friends. This might be the perfect thing for summer. The cake is light and sweet-as-can-be, covered with a warm layer of soft rhubarb, and topped with crunchy streusel that has just a hint of saltiness to balance out all the sweet. All delivered in a hand-held square. This cake got me some serious high fives. I really think you should make it.

It would be a brilliant thing to bring to a bbq or something like that – easy, small, and grab-able. As Martha says, you could try doing a combo of strawberry and rhubarb but we had an abundance of the ‘barb on hand. I’m looking forward to adapting it to the other fruits of the season though – blueberries would be just spot on.

Now tell me – what does your summer list look like?

Rhubarb Coffee Cake
adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

For the streusel

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus room-temperature butter for pan
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt

For the cake

  • 1/2 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter and flour parchment and pan, tapping out excess flour.
  2. Make the streusel: Whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, and salt. Add flour and mix with a fork until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  3. Make the cake: In a medium bowl, combine rhubarb chunks, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup flour. In another medium bowl, whisk 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs, one at a time (add a touch of the flour mixture if it begins to curdle). Beat in the vanilla, then the flour mixture. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with rhubarb and top with streusel.
  4. Bake the cake until the crumb topping is golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Using paper overhang, lift cake from pan. Cut into 16 bars and serve. Enjoy!