Half Scratch Apple Spice Cake

I love this time of year! Head colds, runny nose, missing work....LOVE IT (NOT!). No but really I do love this time of year. Its the time when you have to switch (clothing) gears and start wearing a sweater and closing the windows! Ahhh autumn...gotta love you! But then this is also the only time of year when I can make a pumpkin cake!

Ok so normally I'm not a fan of 'box' cakes but this recipe has converted me! Its sooo good! I know I know, a true baker doesn't use a box cake mix but come guys.....it really isn't that bad...TRUST ME! This recipe is really moist and dense and has a firm crumb that works very well for decorating cakes.

Half Scratch Apple Spice Cake
Adapted from Sweet Celebrations

1 Spice cake mix
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup water
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
3 large eggs
6 oz sour cream
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp butter flavoring
1/4 tsp coconut flavoring
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 Figi apple, peeled, cored and finely diced

Mix together dry ingredients. Measure wet ingredients and add all to dry (just like a regular mix). Mix on medium speed for two minutes. Fold in apples and mix until combined. Fill greased and floured pans 2/3 full. Bake as usual for your pans and your oven. Generally speaking, an 8” round pan will bake at 350*F degrees for approx. 35 to 40 minutes.

Frost with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ok, so I have a really good friend who just discovered that he is gluten intolerant and switched to a gluten-free diet. He was asking me about my business and how it was going and hinted that he wanted me to make something gluten-free on the menu. Trust me, he was hinting...HARD!!! ;-p So I did what any OCD baker would do and started surfing the net for a good recipe. I looked and looked and of course everyone was claiming that their's was the BEST. Well, being the pessimistic baker that I am, decided to have a mini THROWDOWN!!! Yep, a good ol' throwdown. I went to Whole Foods and picked up a gluten-free box chocolate cake mix (highly recommended brand from several GF sites) and paired it up against a GF chocolate cake made from scratch.

VERDICT? Let's just say here's the one that won!! I swear to you I couldn't tell the difference between the 'regular' chocolate cake recipe that I make. Its damn good! OMG and the frosting...the frosting is the freakin BOMB BABY!!! This is definitely going on my business menu!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
Adapted from RecipeZaar

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix (Gluten-Free Flour Blend)
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum
5 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350*F.
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add all liquid ingredients and mix well. Bake in greased and floured 9" pan (or lined with waxed paper) for 30 - 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

NOTE: for cupcakes, bake for 15-18 minutes
NOTE: double the recipe if you want a double layered cake!

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Adapted from RecipeZaar

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
dash of salt
6 oz white chocolate or white baking bar, melted and cooled
3-5 Tbsp whipping cream or half-and-half

In a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners sugar at low speed until fluffy.
Add in melted and cooled white chocolate and whipping cream (start with 3 Tbsp and add in more to achieve desired consistency).
Beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl with a spatula.

NOTE: double the recipe will frost a 9inx4in cake!

Turkey Meatballs

Howdy folks. Sorry I've been a stranger but my life has been a whirlwind of events. The latest being that I went to Toronto for a work conference and they lost my luggage and didn't 'find it' until the night before I was leaving. Gotta love Air Canada...NOT!

Anyways, I've been jone'zing for some spaghetti and meatballs. And of course being a person who doesn't like the taste of beef (go ahead, I've heard it all...eyes rolling in back of head) I needed to find a SIMPLE yet tasty recipe....oooh and quick!!! Giada came to the recipe. While I'm not a fan of her boobs....I mean show...I have found that some of her recipes are quite tasty...this being one of them!


Turkey Meatballs
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan/Regiano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground dark turkey meat
3 tablespoons olive oil
26 ounces store-bought marinara sauce

Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a large plate or baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Pour off any excess oil. Add the marinara sauce, about 3 cups. Return all the meatballs to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly and the flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the meatball mixture to a serving bowl. Serve with pasta. YUMMMM

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

I made these last night with left over lemon cake batter. They are simply TO DIE FOR. I changed up the recipe just a bit because I wanted the finished cake to be a little firmer than normal (I'm making a topsy turvy cake...I'll post it soon) but the cupcakes turned out just fine! I had some leftover raspberries so I just threw them on top! It really does taste like raspberry lemonade when you bite into all the aspects of the cupcake! This was super easy and totally a KEEPER!! ENJOY!


Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Adapted from justJENN

1 cup butter, (2 sticks) softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting, later in the assembly

Preheat the oven to 350*F and prepare cupcake pan with liners.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one. Mix in sour cream until blended.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt.

Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk. Here’s a tip, always end with the milk. It makes for a smoother batter. Now mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest.

Fill the cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes, test with a toothpick, and cool on a wire rack.

While the cupcakes are cooling - make the frosting.

Pink Lemon Frosting
4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
pink coloring gel

With an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter. Add the lemon juice and zest until combined. Add the milk - speed it way up until it becomes light and fluffy, then add coloring gel (pink) and mix til the color settles in. Generously pipe or spread onto cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a single fresh raspberry.

White Chocolate Raspberry Mini Cupcakes

Howdy folks! I've been around but just not here. I'm actually off this week on vacation. Well actually I'm one of these people that have worked at a place soo long that I accumulate too much vacation too fast and I actually lose vacation days if I don't take them regularly (forced vacation!!!!). Anyways, its hot here in the bay area and I didn't realize that it would be sooo hot when I turned on the oven (bad move in an non-AC apt) but the end results were wonderful. These cupcakes are AWESOME!! I mean really good!! I'm definitely keeping this recipe in the forefront of my pile of recipes!!! Its a keeper! I did make a few small changes, I added white chocolate to the icing and I put a little red food gel to make the icing redish. I think next time I'll just add raspberries in the icing mixture. It really truly is good! Thanks Gigi!

White Chocolate Raspberry Mini Cupcakes
Adapted by Gigi Cakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, room temp
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp Raspberry extract
1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Line a mini muffin pan with liners. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Add the sour cream & raspberry extract. Slowly add the flour to the butter mixture. Then stir in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter evenly among the liners and bake for 15-20 minutes, until done. For mini cupcakes, bake 12-14 minutes.

For the icing:

1/4 cup butter, room temp
4oz cream cheese
3oz white chocolate chunks, melted & slightly cooled
1 cup of sifted powder sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp raspberry extract
A half pint of fresh raspberries

To make frosting, beat butter or margarine and cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in melted chocolate. Slowly add confectioner's sugar until creamy. Add extracts and beat until fluffy (add more sugar if you need it, until you get the right texture). Generously pipe or spread onto filled cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a single fresh raspberry.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all!

Diaper Cake

I've been seeing these around lately. They are the latest 'new thing' in the baby shower arena (apparently----I wouldn't know) but when I had to host my assistant's baby shower at work, I just knew I had to make these. After much research on 'how to make a diaper cake' I finally settled on a process and set out to buy all the 'ingredients' (aka products). I used alot of the products that were on my assistant's baby registry at Baby's R Us but I'm sure if I had to do it again (which I will) it will be much cheaper. (dude, that place is a total rip off!!!! babies...they suck your $ even b4 they are born!) I digress.... (can you tell I'm not a baby lover....so sad...)



Diaper Cake
Used Instructions from The Cook Duke