Oven-Puffed Pancake with Berries

I love brunch.

If that's all I wrote and walked away from my computer I think you'd get an idea how this goes down. I'd talk about breakfast potatoes/hash browns, coffee in kitschy cups and tucked away cafes. Maybe I'd mention a light Pacific Northwest sprinkle and lament on the art of a coffee bean. However, I think I'll ramble about berries and the beauty of a cast iron pan.

Very rarely do A and I make the same thing for brunch. Sure, we've had more pancakes before mountain adventures than I can even count, but the ingredients we're never the same. Fine, there has been an egg or two but rarely are they prepared in the same way nor are the veggie mix-ins repeated. So it goes without saying that this oven puffed pancake is a winner based on the fact that it's on a second run. Same ingredients, same preparation, maybe a bit warmer weather. Well, it is Juneuary so that last part may not be true.

As it comes together quickly and can incorporate whatever produce is in season, I highly recommend making this when entertaining guests or impressing your parents when visiting home. If they don't already own a cast iron pan (side note: Mom & Dad - suggestion for the one I got you for Christmas), buy them one now. They raised you, it's the least you can do. Peer pressure!

Saturday morning is only 3 days away so ready the kitchen for the greatest brunch you've ever tasted!

Oven-Puffed Pancake with Berries

Adapted from Two Tarts

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs goat butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries (or combination), fresh or frozen

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Place the goat butter in a 10-in cast iron skillet, and place it in the oven.
2. Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, almond milk milk, and vanilla. Add this to the dry ingredients, and whisk until combined and smooth.
3. Wearing an oven mitt, remove the hot skillet from the oven (the butter should be bubbling), and pour in the batter all at once. Sprinkle the berries evenly over the top, and return the skillet to the oven. Bake until the pancake is nicely browned and puffed around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes.
4. Remove the pancake from the oven (don't forget that oven mitt!). Cut into wedges and serve with a bit of maple syrup or powdered sugar.

Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream

Did you know, before today, I hadn't had a cup of coffee in almost a week?  I'm trying to make changes here people and my complete and total dependence on coffee was a good start.  That, and I really hate cleaning my French press.  Today is a different story.  As I type, I am waiting for my friends to show up so we can head into the Cascades to do some hiking.  Guess what time I woke up?  6:30 am.  Without an alarm.  Can someone please tell me why I naturally wake up so early on the weekends yet it is feat of strength for me to even pull the eye-shades off before 7:30 during the week?

Regardless, I had coffee this morning.  A whole French press of coffee.  I haven't done this since college and now I am remembering why I don't do this on a regular basis.  I feel like I'm on magical cocktail of all the mood enhancing drugs in the universe.  I sorted my laundry!  I'm writing a blog post!  I made my lunch!  WEEE!  Let's hope the inevitable crash comes AFTER I'm done hiking for the day. [fact: it didn't]

Now that I've forewarned you to how drugged I am, tally-ho!  Onto the food!

This is a cake I made for my friend Sasha's birthday.  We play kickball & bar trivia together, so she knows about my baked goods.  When her birthday rolled around, she asked for a birthday cake knowing that I willingly make extravagant cakes.  After questioning her about cake flavors (Chocolate?  White?  Yellow?  Neon Green?) and toppings of choice (Rainbow sprinkles? Fruit? Fluffy clouds?) she decided on her favorite flavor combination: chocolate and raspberry.

Easy for me as I've made cakes & cupcakes with this combo countless times! As far as the raspberry buttercream goes, you can use either fresh or frozen raspberries, just make sure you strain the puree before reducing it.  I made this mistake once… I almost lost a friend over a rogue raspberry seed.  Even after adding some preserves to the puree, if the color isn't to your liking, feel free to add a pin prick of rose food coloring.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry/Raspberry Buttercream

Here's a little secret: I use cupcakes to woo boys and make friends.  I know, it may seem a little shady and unsavory, but hey, I'm in a new city!  Cut me a break!

I actually made these cupcakes a long time (read: 3 weeks) ago.  Soon after moving to Seattle, I went to a rooftop BBQ in Belltown (downtown Seattle) because my roommate and a friend Nick knew the people who were hosting through some other people.  Sorry, let me clarify.  A friend of a friend of a friend was hosting a BBQ.  Clear?  No?  Moving on… Anyways, we chatted and hot tubbed and swore to meet up again.  Cut to two weeks later, I go out on a Friday night in Capitol Hill with about 5 of the people I met at the BBQ.  More merriness ensued, we exchanged numbers, discovered that we were all new to Seattle and wanted friends!  That Sunday we all got together for a game/"make your own pizza" night and thus the cupcakes were born!!! (Along with some sourdough pizza, but more on that later)

This is another successful recipe procured from my "More from Magnolia" cookbook that I picked up when I was in New York City this year.  Not only is it an amazing cookbook, it is also incredibly ironic that it is my new "go to" cookbook because I live in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle.  Spooky!!  The actual cupcake is incredibly fluffy and moist with a strong vanilla flavor.  When baking, then don't form too much of a dome but just enough that they are a perfect  canvas for decorating.

Now the buttercream.  It's my forte, there is no skirting around that.  Earlier in the year I found out that I am pretty good at making buttercreams in most flavor combinations just off the top of my head.  I know, it's a gift, or what four years (or the baking induced "stress relieving" nights) at the University of Michigan taught me.  Recently I've been on a fresh fruit buttercream kick.  This results in a more naturally sweet buttercream (but don't discount the powdered sugar, there is still plenty of that) and I usually use less butter to achieve my desired consistency.  So maybe I can sell this buttercream off as "health food?"  Anyways, for this buttercream I used a combination of strawberries and raspberries.  While these fruits are both wonderful, they also have 'seeds' and must be smushed through a strainer before being beaten into buttercream.

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes
Adapted from: More from Magnolia
Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I also used a vanilla bean, but that is completely optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream (preferably with an electric mixer) the butter until smooth and light yellow in color.  Gradually beat in the sugar until fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.  Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.  This is key: after each addition, make sure to beat enough to incorporate the ingredients, but do not overbeat.  (This will create gluten and you will have rough and dry cupcakes)
5. Using a spring loaded ice cream scoop (or other preferred dispensing method), carefully dispense the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester is inserted into the center of the cupcake and comes out clean.

Strawberry/Raspberry Buttercream
Ingredients:

• 1 cup strawberries, cored and halved
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 stick butter, softened
• splash of vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar (approx).

Directions:

1. Puree strawberries and raspberries in a food processor until smooth.  Smush through a large strainer into a bowl.  Add softened butter and vanilla extract, beat until well incorporated.
2. Add powdered sugar slowly, about 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time, until desired consistency is reached (needs to be thicker for piping).
3. Can be stored in a air tight container in a refrigerator for up to a week.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate/Raspberry Swirled Frosting Topped with Tempered Chocolate

Who knew cupcakes could be so evil.  In my mind, they represent all that is pure and good in this world.  But apparently the day I decided to make them in my new kitchen, they had other plans.  Saying that everything around me fell apart, stopped working and generally just did not work is not an understatement.

When Alex was visiting (part one) last week, I got the urge to bake one sunny Seattle day (yes, they do exist).  Having not baked anything sweet in a long time, I decided the best way to start back up again was with cupcakes.  Cute, pink, chocolate and fruity cupcakes.  The universe had other plans.

I have always had gas stoves and always want one.  Alas, my condo has an electric stove.  Albeit a nice one, but it will still take me some time to get used to. This was the first time I had used my oven in Seattle; I had no idea if it'd run a little hotter or colder.  If definitely runs hotter - WAY hotter.  My cute little cupcakes that, according to More from Magnolia, should have taken 25 to 30 minutes to cook.  25 minutes after popping those babies in the oven, I was disturbed to sniff the faint smell of burning as I approached the oven.  That's right, about half of the cupcakes were dry and crumbly (through not burnt).  No, I didn't over crowd my oven.  Yes, I let it preheat for 20 minutes after it reached 350 degrees.  Yes, I was sad.  The next batch of cupcakes turned out well, but they baked for only 21 minutes.

Oh, but that's not the worst of it.  One, the drawer that utensils are in literally fell apart when I opened it to get a spoon out.  Alex fixed that for me.  Then when I was mixing the raspberry frosting with my tiny little hand beater (the chocolate was already finished in the Kitchen Aid stand mixer), I blew a fuse... the same fuse that the fridge is on.  My fridge shut off.  No big deal, right?  Just go back to the circuit breaker and flip the switch.  Wrong. So very wrong.

After frantically flipping the fuses, and one phone call to my landlord later, Alex and I had no success.  We though maybe they was a surge protected outlet behind the fridge, but who would do that?  Apparently whoever designed my condo.  After pulling out the fridge we pressed one button and the fridge whirled back on.

Phew.

But at least the buttercream turned out wonderfully and the frosted cupcakes were still as cute as can be.  No matter what is thrown at me, I seem to have a surprising knack for making buttercream's.  I just though you all should what lengths I went through to bring these beauties to the masses... well, to mainly Alex & Rachel... and a few people at a downtown Seattle rooftop BBQ.

Devil's Food Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from More from Magnolia

Ingredients:

• 2 cups All-Purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa 
• 1 ½ teaspoons soda 
• ½ teaspoon salt 
• 1 ½ cups light brown sugar 
• ½ cup sugar 
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened 
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers, set aside.
3. Sift the dry ingredients together, set aside.
4. Using the medium speed of a stand mixer, cream butter until smooth and light in color.
5. Add sugar, beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
7. Add the dry ingredient mixture, in thirds, alternating with buttermilk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until ingredients are well mixed, but do not overbeat.
8. Using spatula, scrape down bowl, making sure ingredients are well-blended.
9. Carefully spoon into pans, filling 3/4 full.
10. Bake 25-30 minutes.  Cool in tins 15 min.Remove and cool completely on wire rack before icing. Makes about 30 cupcakes.

Chocolate Raspberry Buttercream

Adapted from More from Magnolia

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons strained raspberry puree
• 1 tablespoons almond milk
• 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Note: to melt the chocolate, place in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat for 5-10 minutes; stir occasionally until the chocolate is completely smooth and no pieces remain; remove from heat and let cool 5-15 minutes or until lukewarm. 

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter using an electric mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until creamy. 
2. Add the milk and raspberry puree carefully and beat until smooth. 
3. Add the melted chocolate and beat well for 2 minutes. 
4. Add the vanilla and beat for 3 minutes. 
5. Gradually add in the sugar and beat on low speed until creamy and of desired consistency.

Raspberry Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup (approx) strained raspberry puree
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter using an electric mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until creamy.
2. Beat in the raspberry puree until smooth.
3. Add in the powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time until creamy and of desired consistency.

Jake Trithart's 22nd Birthday Cake - White Cake with Fresh Raspberry Buttercream

Happy Birthday…about a month ago… Jake Trithart!  He did get this cake on his birthday, but I have been relatively busy and haven't been able to update as much as I'd like to.  When asking the Jake's what they wanted for their cakes, Mr. Trithart said "A white cake."  I said that's great and all, but I doubt you want just a white cake with no frosting.  He said I know my way around a kitchen and gave me the freedom to come up with something.  I was, and still am, very into experimenting with fresh fruit buttercream's and thought the taste of raspberries would compliment the white cake.  I also added some dark chocolate ganache just to make it even prettier.  Too bad I'm not always good at judging space - I wrote "Happy" in the middle of the cake thinking I'd have enough room to write "Happy Birthday Jake!"  Instead, I had to write "Jake, Happy Birthday"… not as aesthetically pleasing but it tastes just the same! 

It was so adorable when I went over to have Jake blow out his candles and eat some cake.  All the boys in the house rushed down to the living room as soon as I yelled "BOYS!  I HAVE CAKE!"  Jake was quite appropriately dressed in wolf pajama bottoms and a Zoltan Mesko shirt.  And good news - Jake was still able to blow ALL his candles out in one blow!  After cutting the cake and inhaling a slice, we popped in the always amazing Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

White Cake

Adapted from Culinary Concoctions 

• 1 ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
• 9 egg whites
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 ⅜ cups cake flour
• 2 ⅝ cups granulated sugar
• 6 tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1 ⅛ cup unsalted butter (9 oz), softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Grease three 9 inch cake pans, line the bottom with parchment paper, grease the parchment paper and flour the pans.
3. Combine milk, eggs whites and extract in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside.
4. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in an electric mixer and mix at slow speed with a paddle attachment. Add butter. Continue beating at slow speed until mixture looks like wet sand (If you’re doing this by hand, sift the dry ingredients together and rub in butter).
5. Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Do not overmix.
6. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and gently shake to smooth batter. Bake 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Let cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes then invert onto racks to cool completely before frosting (I froze mine overnight, wrapped in Saran wrap and placed in a freezer lock ziplock bag).

Fresh Raspberry Buttercream

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups (may need more or less) powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 cup raspberries, purred in a food processor
• ½ cup seedless raspberry preserves
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt

1. Puree raspberries in food processor with raspberry preserves, set aside.
2. Beat butter and 1 cup powdered sugar on medium speed for 1 minute.
3. Add vanilla and raspberry puree and beat for 1 minute.
4. Adding 1 cup at a time, add the remaining powdered sugar. You may find that you need less than 4 cups or more than 4 cups depending on the consistency of the frosting you are going for. I wanted a stiff buttercream so I added more like 5 cups.