the upside down

Apple upside-down cake. Stranger Things fan girl, right here!

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upside down or inside out

For some reason, German chocolate cake doesn't really excite me. I love both coconut and chocolate, so what's my deal? I wish I knew.


One of our Thanksgiving desserts was an upside-down German chocolate cake, expertly-made by my dear grandma. This is not to be confused with the inside-out German chocolate cake, which is different (but no less decadent), with multiple layers of coconut-pecan filling and a chocolate ganache. This upside-down version is simply and magically composed of pecans and coconut on the bottom of a frosting-less chocolate cake, speckled with blobs of cream cheese goodness (see below).


It was a big hit with my family (after all, you saw that behemoth box of chocolates we attacked). You and yours might like it, too.

Me? I'm sticking with apple pie.

Upside-Down German Chocolate Cake
(a la my Grandma Alma)
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup coconut
1 package German chocolate cake mix
1 pound powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup margarine, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch pan.
Scatter the coconut and pecans around the bottom of the pan. Prepare the cake mix according to directions on box and pour the batter over the nuts and coconut. Mix cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar until well-blended and drop by spoonfuls onto the top of the cake. Bake for 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

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nuts about nuts

In all my life, I've never seen an upside-down cake that didn't involve some sort of fruit.

Granted, I've only really been paying close attention to such things for about 6 years (egadders, have I been blogging that long?*), but still, have you ever encountered or heard of such a thing?

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turkey trot

I'm sure most of you are on top of your game and already have Thanksgiving dessert all planned out. If not, here are a few of my favorites that might inspire you (or, at the very least, make you hungry).

Cranberry walnut upside down cake.

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plum(b)ing the depths

Plum upside-down cake. I got on a real plum kick last summer, but little Eva has greatly limited my kitchen time this year.

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farms of hickory (and an awesome giveaway)

I think my new favorite item to make is the upside-down cake.

Granted, there aren't quite as many things that you can change up as in cheesecakes, but its potential for versatility is still pretty great. Plus, there's that small added bonus of being something I actually enjoy eating...

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a gustatory conflict

Have you ever seen someone knock back a shot of melted butter? I have.


It was at Red Lobster (home of some cheese biscuits that'll make ya want to skip the rest of the meal), and it was repulsive. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy butter as much as the next gal, but witnessing that scene made me squirm in my seat.

On a semi-related note, I was recently reminded of one of my favorite candies when I was growing up--butter rum lifesavers. I really loved their rich flavor. I can recall hearing about a beverage called hot buttered rum and because I want to know everything, I looked up its description. Imagine my surprise (and initial disgust) when I learned that it’s made by beating together butter, brown sugar, and spices and melting this mixture into a combination of rum and hot water. To my mind, that doesn’t sound like a very far cry from taking down a shot of melted butter. Have any of you had hot buttered rum? Is it not as nauseating as I think?

I was recently given a little bottle of butter rum flavoring, and I decided to try it out in some mega-muffins. Would they taste wonderful like those lovely little lifesavers, or would they turn my tummy inside out and upside down like a dose of tepid fat?


Good news--they’re delicious. The flavor is subtle, but not too understated that you don’t immediately think buttah upon taking a bite. The moral of this post? For once I actually like an artificial flavor much, much more than the real thing. Yes, when it comes to butter rum, I think I’ll stick with candy and baked goods and leave the cocktails (and shots o’ pure fat) to the more psychotic daring among us.

Better-Than-a-Shot-of-Butter Butter Rum Muffins
(alternately, Artificially-Flavored-and-Proud-of-It Butter Rum Muffins)
(based on these beauties)

Muffins:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon butter rum flavoring

Glaze:
1/4 teaspoon butter rum flavoring
3 tablespoons sugar
milk, if needed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line 12 regular muffin cups or 6 mega-muffin cups.
Beat the butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and beat well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cloves and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
In a third bowl, combine the milk and butter rum flavoring.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, ending with flour mixture and combining only until JUST blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes for regular muffins (or 30-35 minutes for mega-muffins) or until golden. Remove from the pans immediately and cool on a wire rack.
For the glaze, combine 1/4 teaspoon butter rum flavoring and 3 tablespoons of sugar in a small saucepan; heat slowly, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. If the mixture gets too thick, add a little milk. Brush the glaze over warm muffins and sprinkle with coarse sugar for a tasty finish.

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flaky.

Flaky is a word that seems to have mostly negative connotations. For example, a flaky person is someone who's scatterbrained or ditzy, and a flaky scalp implies poor hygiene (which is usually not the case)(not that I have dandruff or anything)(really)(not that there's anything wrong with that)(if it is, in fact, unavoidable).


On the upside, a flaky pie crust is terrific, and I've just discovered that a flaky bar is pretty outstanding too.

Okay, so this is a different kind of flakeage altogether. These bars are made flaky by the use of cereal flakes--Caramel Nut Crunch, in this case. They bear a strong resemblance to your good ol' Rice Krispies (or Cheerios) Treat, but they're much more sophisticated. How so, you ask? Why, there's coconut in them! And sliced almonds! And bits of caramel-coated nuts!


These bars are easy to throw together and really tasty. The original recipe called for corn flakes, but I truly doubt that a version using Caramel Nut Crunch could be improved upon--the cereal adds a sweetness and nuttiness I suspect no other selection would provide.


Those caramel clusters are something else, folks.

Ah...I do love a quick fix. And the next time someone calls me flaky, I'll take it as a compliment.

Flaky Marshmallow Bars
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 10 oz. package marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup shredded coconut
4 cups flaky cereal

Grease a 9x9-inch pan or line it with wax paper.
Melt the butter in the microwave; add the marshmallows and heat at 30-second intervals until melted and combined. Stir in the vanilla and cinnamon. Dump in the flakes and coconut, and stir to coat evenly. Press into the prepared pan and let set before cutting into bars.

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cuckoo for coconut #margaritaweek

If you peruse as many food blogs as I do, you undoubtedly know that Cinco de Mayo is near. It (and Mother's Day) have been the focus of oh-so-many posts for oh-so-many weeks! My fellow bloggers are always well-prepared for just about any occasion involving food.

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why didn't i think of that?

I missed the boat on National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, but I made up for it this morning.



I happily stumbled upon The Peanut Butter Boy's Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal and got inspired. It's such an obvious combination, but it truly had never occurred to me to make it. Be honest, how many of you have actually eaten it? Eh, it could very well be that I'm just completely oblivious and unworthy of being associated with foodies.


Here's the bevy of ingredients involved in this masterpiece.


I used my delicious blueberry preserves because ever since I saw this Wild Blueberries & Cream Tart by Emiline, I've been deeply craving blueberries. Technically, preserves and jelly are two completely different animals, but dang it, I wanted blueberries. Don't judge me.

My oatmeal of choice these days is the honey & cinnamon variety by Kashi:


It's so hearty, and one of my favorite things about it is that it doesn't turn into complete mush as some of those whole grains retain a little bit of crunchiness. And look how healthy:


That's good stuff.

I was delighted by this breakfast. It was a little bit sweet, a little bit salty, a little bit smooth, and a little bit crunchy. Verily (yes, verily), a party in the mouth.


I thank you, Peanut Butter Boy, for slapping me upside the head with this stellar mishmash of flavors.

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gobble gobble!

The number of potential Thanksgiving desserts is astronomical, but I wanted to show you some of my best recommendations. A few of these have definitely graced our holiday table in the past, but this year, it'll be something new: Pecan Pie Cheesecake. You'll want to stay tuned for that one.

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behold the power of lemon

It's on. Welcome to the Battle of the Buns. The Rumble of the Rolls. The Ultimate Cinnamon Skirmish.


I've decided to take it upon myself to experiment with different cinnamon roll recipes, mixing and matching and melding and meshing until I find the one that pleases me most.

The rolls I picked as my starting point come from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice and you can find the original recipe on any number of sites around the web. I was (perhaps mistakenly) impressed by the oddly specific amounts of certain ingredients--6 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, for example. Would half of a tablespoon of sugar make that much difference? Clearly Mr. Reinhart and his crew had done some thorough recipe work. Not a bad way to earn a living, eh?


Even though I hadn't tested it in its untouched form, I decided to make some changes anyway based on things I had read in various posts:

*I added half a box of instant vanilla pudding mix to the dough, as it has proven to provide mucho moistness.
*I used brown sugar, much more cinnamon, and butter in the filling. More butter is better--that's a rule, right?
*Due to a woeful lack of cream cheese, I used ol' Pete's white fondant glaze (sans lemon extract) on top.

So, what did I think about these? On the upside, the dough was a breeze to handle. However...[brace yourself for Negative Nelly]...the bready part was more cake-like than anything else (perhaps that pudding mix didn't have the desired effect), and the lemon flavor dominated. Thank heavens I didn't add lemon extract to the glaze as Mr Reinhart suggested. There was nowhere near enough cinnamon in the filling--it didn't stand a chance to be tasted against that pesky lemon. Also, the brown sugar probably wasn't as conducive to carrying that spice of all spices into the sense receptors. Finally, and most tragically, the glaze was entirely too sweet and I ended up scraping most of it off.


I know I've made it sound like these were dreadful, but that's not true--they're a tasty treat to be sure. Further, I learned several things about the process and about the components I must include (more cinnamon!), omit (lemon!), and replace (fondant glaze!). All in all, I found them enjoyable, but I can't in good conscience call them cinnamon rolls.

Rolls of Lemon Cake with a Hint of Cinnamon
Makes 8-12 large or 12-16 smaller buns

Dough:
6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 3.4-oz box instant vanilla pudding
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, room temperature

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare dough:
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, salt, and softened butter. Whip in the egg and lemon extract until smooth. Then add the flour, vanilla pudding mix, yeast, and milk and mix until the dough forms a ball. Plop out onto a floured surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes, or until the dough is tacky but not sticky. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to cover it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

Shape rolls:
Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top of the dough with flour. Roll it into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick and 14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger buns, or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller buns. Slather the softened butter all over the dough and sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar evenly over that. Roll the dough up into a log, creating a tight spiral as you roll. With the seam side down, cut the dough into 8 to 12 even pieces, each about 1-3/4 inches thick for larger buns; or 12 to 16 pieces each 1-1/4 inches thick for smaller buns.
Line one or more sheet pans with baking parchment or grease with cooking spray. Place the buns on the pan(s) approximately 1/2 inch apart.
Proof at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size.

Bake rolls:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Bake the buns for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool the buns in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then glaze the tops.

Prepare glaze:
Stir the ingredients together and add milk as needed to obtain desired consistency.

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jack of all trades, master of none (also, a giveaway)

There are a lot of activities for which my skills are passable, and sometimes even impressive, but I've never been called a master. The same cannot be said of Whitney Miller, winner of last year's season of MasterChef.

She handled both the snarling and temperamental Gordon Ramsay and dour, cantankerous Joe Bastianich with good ol' Southern class and aplomb. I was really impressed by that and pulled for her from the get-go. To add to my respect for her, she's now come out with a terrific cookbook called Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm, in which dear Whitney treats readers to a fresh take on classic dishes that have been passed down throughout generations of Southern women in her family. The book features everything from comforting beef chili to clever upside-down quiches to surprising sun-dried tomato and cranberry ketchup, complete with lovely pictures and short descriptions of each dish.

One of the recipes I opted to use as a gauge for her greatness was for Toasted Coconut Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze, and it yielded some magnificent little treats. Although I went ahead and frosted some with a bit of coconut swiss meringue buttercream (yeah, I did it), the lemon glaze was a wonderful accompaniment to the soft, fluffy, nutty cakes.

Toasted Coconut Cupcakes
from Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm by Whitney Miller

Cupcakes
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon canned coconut water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Lemon Glaze
3/8 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the cups of one 12-cup muffin tin and 4 cups of a second 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
To make the cupcakes: Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Place the butter in a large bowl and stir until it reaches a creamy consistency. Slowly stir the sugar into the butter. Slowly stir in the egg mixture. Add one-third of the flour mixture. Add one-half of the milk. Continue adding them alternately, ending with the flour mixture. Stir the batter after each addition. Stir in the coconut water and vanilla.
Fill the paper liners half full of batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 14 minutes. Leave the oven on. Transfer cupcakes to a rack to cool, about 20 minutes.
To make the topping: Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned and fragrant, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a shallow bowl and let cool.
To make the lemon glaze: Mix together the lemon zest, lemon juice, 2 T water, and confectioners' sugar in a small shallow bowl.
To assemble, dip the top of a cooled cupcake in the glaze. Immediately dip the glazed top in the coconut. Allow the glaze to set before serving or storing the cupcakes.

I also tried a recipe that required me to step out of my comfort zone. Although I enjoy basil pesto, I had my doubts that anything involving turnip greens could be edible, much less delicious. To my surprise, Whitney's Turnip Greens Pesto was flavorful and perfect to use as dressing for a batch of Mediterranean pasta salad.

Turnip Greens Pesto
from Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm by Whitney Miller

11 turnip green leaves, ribs removed
2 1/2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 garlic clove, peeled
Salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Place the turnip greens two at a time in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove the leaves and drain on paper towels and pat dry. Stack the leaves on top of one another. Roll into a cigar and cut crosswise into 1-inch-wide strips.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.
Place the turnip green strips in a food processor. Add the toasted walnuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Process until it begins to form a paste, about 2 minutes. With the processor running, drizzle in oil and butter. Add the Parmesan andpulse 2 or 3 times. Season to taste with more salt and pepper. Transfer the pesto to a small bowl.

Well done, Whitney. Keep up the good work--you're doing us Southern gals proud!

Good news! I have an extra copy of Whitney's cookbook, so if you'd like a shot to have it on your bookshelf, leave a comment below and you'll be entered to win. Tell me who intimidates you more, Gordon or Joe? Tell me if you agree that Graham is almost completely useless as a judge. Tell me who you're pulling for this season. Tell me you've never seen the show before in your life and have better things to do with your time. Regardless, I'll close the comments on August 14th, do a random drawing, and contact the winner shortly thereafter (assuming he or she leaves a way to be reached). Good luck!

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fa la la #SingWithPost #CerealAnytime

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SingWithPost #CerealAnytime #CollectiveBias

I wish I was a better singer. I can carry a tune, but my voice is weak and I have zero confidence.

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chow on chow-chow

Have you heard of chow-chow? If you're on a pickle kick even remotely as extreme as the one I'm currently experiencing, you need to familiarize yourself with it.


Apparently, chow-chow is a unique type of relish well-suited for topping a bowl of pinto beans, hot dogs, and a variety of other foods. More importantly, it has a great name. If you like pickled shtuff, you should give her a go.


Chow-Chow
2 quarts shredded cabbage, about one medium head
1/2 cup sweet onions, chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped green or red bell peppers
2 tablespoons salt

Combine chopped vegetables and sprinkle with salt. Let stand 4 to 6 hours in the refrigerator. Drain well.
Combine the following ingredients and simmer 10 minutes (using a pot large enough to put the vegetable mix in later):

2 cups vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons celery seeds
2 teaspoons mustard seed

Add vegetables to brine mixture and simmer another 10 minutes. Bring to a boil. Then pack, boiling hot, into clean, heated canning jars, leaving only an 1/8-inch headspace. Place canning lids and rings on jars and tighten. Turn the jars upside down so that all the heat is on the seals and let cool completely.

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on a cake kick

Sometimes I become obsessed with certain foods. Prime example--my mission to find the best chicken wrap in all of the Capital Region.


Usually, though, the fixation is of the sweet and sugary variety. That's the case with my latest infatuation--apple cake.

In addition to my beloved apple dapple cake, I’ve recently tried two other recipes with delightful and drool-worthy results. After taking a one-tenth-of-a-second glimpse of Kate’s caramel apple cake, I decided to test it out too.

The recipe doesn’t differ much from my apple dapple cake. In fact, the only divergence is that a combination of white and brown sugar is used in both the cake and the glaze. Being a self-proclaimed apple cake connoisseur, I decided to make a few adjustments of my own. I used applesauce in lieu of most of the oil and also added a bit of whole wheat flour in place of some of the all-purpose flour. Now before you get all worked up about me trying to make this more healthy, I guess I should mention another change I made--I doubled the glaze. It’s been well-documented that I have a mean sweet tooth and I make no excuses. I doubled the glaze, dang it, and it was good.


I did one other thing about which I'm quite excited--I tossed some marshmallows into the batter. While they completely disappeared into the baked cake, a subtle hint of their flavor (a taste that I find particularly enjoyable) still remained. It's my belief that they dissolved into the cake and migrated upwards, forming a little bit of a crust on top. Yes, I'll be pulling this trick again.

Future apple cakes to try? Lisa's apple and cream cheese cake, Sandie's toffee apple upside-down cake, and Melanie's apple cider pudding cake.

Another Amazing Apple Cake
(based heavily on this recipe)

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup applesauce
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Honeycrisp apples, diced
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup mini marshmallows

Caramel Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325F. Butter and flour a 13x9 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, beat both sugars, oil, and applesauce until well-blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add the sugar mixture until just blended. Fold in the apples and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in the pan whilst making the glaze.
To make the glaze, melt the butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in both sugars and salt and cook over medium low heat for 2 minutes. Add the milk and boil for 5 more minutes, stirring constantly. Poke holes in the cake with a fork or skewer. Pour on the glaze and let set.

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say again?

What's that now? I beg your pardon? Hmmm?

That's the reaction I got when I announced that I had made pineapple muffins. For a hot second, I was miffed that puzzlement was the first response rather than excitement, but I quickly realized that my eaters were right--pineapple is a rare ingredient in baked goods.

Yeah, you've got the ubiquitous ol' pineapple upside-down cake. Yes, anything pina colada is bound to involve pineapple. But really, there's not much, is there? And what a shame--it's such a tasty fruit...when it's fresh and ripe. Occasions when it's not fresh and ripe, however, are another story.

I recently had some fresh pineapple that got sadly overlooked in the fridge to the point where it could no longer be classified as tasty. I couldn't bear to waste it, so I hunted down a muffin recipe, confident that what the fruit lacked in flavor it would make up for in moistness.

Hot dang, I was right--the handfood I made had a marvelous crumb, and the slightly soured pineapple magically became delicious again. In a moment of weakness, I spiced them with ginger rather than cinnamon, and while it was good, cinnamon would've been better. For me, anyway. I have a thing for cinnamon.

Pineapple Pecan Loaves
(based on this recipe)

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 (3 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh pineapple, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup oil
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 425F and hose down pan of choice.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, pudding mix, and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, sour cream, pineapple, and oil. Add the egg-pineapple mixture to the flour mixture and stir until moistened. Fold in the nuts. Spoon the thick batter into the prepared molds and bake until the toothpick test is passed, about 15 minutes for muffins and 25 minutes for mini loaves.

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for the pyromaniac in us all

Even if, like me, you claim to dislike messing around with fire, you have to admit that it's pretty fun in controlled situations. I don't really consider alcohol and an open flame to fall into that category (it seems to me like a good way to lose eyebrow hairs), but I still had a blast making these cupcakes.

They're inspired by the classic pineapple upside-down cake, with an exciting blazing twist. What we have is an almond cake (made with actual ground almonds!) filled with DELICIOUS flambeed pineapple innards and topped with a lightly-flavored almond buttercream. The texture of the cupcakes was surprisingly delicate considering the presence of the ground almonds in the batter and the fact that the cakes get saturated with amaretto when they come out of the oven.

All in all, these go down as one of my favorite batches of cupcakes to date, and that's almost entirely to do with the filling. There's no doubt in my mind that I'll find other places in which to use it and frankly, I wouldn't be above making it and eating it with a little bit of ice cream on the side.

Pineapple Inside-Out Cupcakes
(makes 12 cupcakes)

Cakes:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unblanched almonds, finely ground in a food processor
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup amaretto (almond flavored liqueur)
1 cup heavy cream

Filling:
8 slices pineapple
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup amaretto
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and reserved, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Buttercream:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2-3 tablespoons milk, room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin tins with papers and lightly spray.
Whisk together flour, ground almonds, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in extracts. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and mixing until just combined.
Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks; immediately poke holes all over tops of cupcakes with a toothpick. Pour amaretto evenly on top; let cool completely before removing from tins.
To make the filling, first stack the pineapple slices and cut into quarters, then into a small dice. Heat sugar in a large skillet over medium-high, stirring, until sugar melts and turns golden brown. Add pineapple; toss. Carefully pour in amaretto; immediately tilt skillet slight to ignite alcohol. (If using an electric stove, use a long match to ignite alcohol.) When flames subside and caramel melts, carefully stir in cream, orange juice, and vanilla-bean seeds. Reduce heat to medium; boil, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Let cool completely before using or storing.
To make the frosting, beat the butter with an electric mixer for a few minutes. Add the extract and milk and briefly blend. Add the powdered sugar gradually until the frosting is thick enough to spread easily. If the frosting is too dry, add additional milk until the desired consistency is reached.
To fill the cupcakes, carve out a cone-shaped hole (and immediately eat the cone)(after schmearing it with filling and/or frosting, of course) and carefully spoon the pineapple innards into the hole. Apply frosting generously to cupcakes, sprinkle with toasted almonds, and devour.

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long live the queen

I'm slowly but surely becoming quite fond of the city I now call home.

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equal billing

Generally when a cake is made, there's an ingredient as the focus--German chocolate cake, carrot cake, pineapple upside-down cake, and on it goes. Sometimes, however, several components end up sharing center stage in such a way that you can't quite put your finger on what, if anything, is meant to stand out.

This is one of those cakes. Something about the quantity of each special ingredient combined with the texture of the cake makes each bite a bombardment of flavors.

Are the blueberries the star? Certainly, if you're only looking at the beauty. Does the coconut cream steal the spotlight? Not really--it just delivers a subtle hint of that tropical tang. What about the vanilla bean and vanilla yogurt--is that the first strong taste that you detect? My palate would argue that it's not and that the vanilla just enhances the complexity of the mouthful.

Deb called this her Yogurt Anything Cake. I'd say that's a pretty apt name, as the three random things I decided to add all danced together quite nicely and many other combinations would undoubtedly do the same.

Diva-less Cake
(based on this recipe)

1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup cream of coconut

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, coconut extract, oil, and vanilla bean seeds. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the cream of coconut over the cake and allow it to soak in (a pastry brush works great for this, as does using a toothpick to make tiny holes into which the sticky sweet stuff can flow). Cool.

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