My Recipe Reviews

Recipe Reviews, Recommendations, Tips and Musings. Thanks for visiting!

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Siren’s Chocolate Cake

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What could be better than Siren’s Chocolate Cake – a mini chocolate cake with fluffy chocolate ganache frosting!

Sliced chocolate cake on a white plate with fresh raspberries.

My choice for this month’s Cake Slice Baker’s cake is Siren’s Chocolate Cake from Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd.  The cake choices from this book have been fantastic!

I don’t know if we’ve enjoyed them more because the recipes are so good or if it’s because they’re little mini cakes – perfect for us two to nibble on for a couple of days and not throw any away.

The cake itself is very deeply chocolate and moist with an excellent crumb.  That ganache frosting is silky and tastes buttery, even though there’s no actual butter in it (except for the butter in the 1 1/2 cups of cream of course).

A slice of Siren Chocolate cake in the background. In the front is the cake with one slice cut.

The recipe is fairly easy to put together.  It calls for a double-boiler for the butter and chocolate, but you can also melt them together in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, while stirring in between.  It’ll save you from having to wash the double-boiler.

Siren Chocolate Cake

Have you ever had a bad day in the kitchen?  Well, I did.  Somehow I ended up with chocolate on my arms, feet, and almost every surface in the  kitchen.

I didn’t let the ganache firm up enough in the refrigerator before beating it in the mixer and it never got fluffy and spreadable.  Started over, and the second time was more successful. 

I did find that when turned on high, a mixer will slop liquid out of the bowl and onto anything or anyone standing close enough. Again: be sure and let your ganache firm up in the refrigerator before beating it.

A mini-chocolate cake with one slice out of it. Raspberries are scattered on top of the cake.

I’m not sure why they call this a Siren’s Chocolate Cake.  Maybe because it lures you in with all that chocolate!

I’ll make this little cake again – it’s terrific.  It’s good room temperature or right out of the refrigerator, too.  Milk is recommended, coffee would be great with it, too!

You might also enjoy this other Little Everyday Cakes recipe (one of my favorites!):  Chocolate Malt Cake

Sliced chocolate cake on a white plate with fresh raspberries.

Siren's Chocolate Cake

Yield: 8 slices
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Additional Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Tender, deep chocolate cake with a silky chocolate ganache frosting

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C butter
  • 2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 C buttermilk
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Frosting (Chocolate Ganache):
  • 8 oz semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 C heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare two 6" round cake pans - spray the pans with cooking spray. Line each with parchment, spray again, then dust lightly with cocoa powder.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.
  4. In a stand-mixer bowl, combine the egg and buttermilk. Beat until blended. Add the sugar and vanilla and again, beat until blended.
  5. Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture, beating until just blended. Pour the chocolate/butter mixture into the bowl and again beat until just blended. Pour the batter evenly between the two cake pans.
  6. Bake for 25-27 minutes, switching the pans around on the rack halfway through baking.
  7. Remove pans from the oven and run a sharp knife around the inside edges of the pans. Place the pans on a wire rack and let the cakes cool 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the parchment paper and place on rack to cool completely.
  8. For the Frosting:
  9. Place the chocolate chips into a stand-mixer bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until there are bubbles around the edges. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and let sit without stirring for about 10 minutes. Then, stir the mixture until the chips are completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
  10. Place the bowl in the refrigerator with plastic wrap pressed down on it for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour, until set.
  11. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and peel off the plastic wrap. Attach a wire whisk to the mixer and beat the mixture on high speed until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.
  12. Frost the layers of the cake and serve.

Notes

Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go. That way, the cake will come together quickly and deliciously!

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 574Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 346mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 3gSugar: 43gProtein: 7g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Candace Floyd
Category: Cakes
 
 

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th – never before – we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

 

 

 

It is a new year and a new book – Little Everyday Cakes – and our choices for May 2021 were ~ 

Siren’s Chocolate Cake

Peanut Butter Snack Cake

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Coconut Streusel

Maple Layer Cake (#TheCakeSliceBakers)

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Updated: September 2020

Maple Layer Cake

I zeroed in on the Maple Layer Cake from The Perfect Cake for The Cake Slice Bakers’s choice this month. There were three other great choices: Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cider-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake, and Pear-Walnut Upside Down Cake, but I just love anything maple!

The second time I made this cake, I doctored ATK’s (America’s Test Kitchen) recipe a little because I wanted more maple flavor. The end result – a fantastic maple cake with maple cream cheese frosting.

Maple Layer Cake

You whisk the batter ingredients together by hand and it’s unbelievably quick to come together. ATK provided a maple cream cheese frosting for the cake, but I wasn’t very impressed. The frosting isn’t sweet at all to me and has no maple flavor whatsoever.

I love cream cheese on bagels but unless sweetened, it isn’t so great on a cake! I ended up adding almost a half cup of powdered sugar and over a half teaspoon of really good maple flavoring to make it a nice creamy, still barely-sweet, maple-flavored frosting.

Since the frosting they offered wasn’t up to par, on my second cake bake I used a different ATK cream cheese frosting from another recipe of theirs. I included it on the recipe card below instead of the original. It’s great!

Maple Layer Cake

We’re enjoying the cake with the new and improved frosting. The sponge of the cake is moist and so very soft.

It’s kind of strange that after using 1 1/4 cups of maple syrup in the cake from the original recipe, it still had no maple flavoring. Maybe we don’t get the best quality maple syrup in Texas – go figure.

Will I make this cake again? Yes, using the updated recipe. This Maple Layer Cake will be a nice addition to holiday tables and a definite must for pot luck get-togethers.

Looking for more great cake recipes?

Maple Layer Cake

Maple Layer Cake

Yield: 10-12 slices
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Soft, tender maple layer cake with a tasty cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 C (10 oz)   Cake Flour
  • 2 tsp  Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp  Salt
  • 3/4 C plus 2 tbsp  Vegetable Oil
  • 1 1/4 C  Maple Syrup
  • 3 large  Eggs
  • 1/2 tsp  Maple Extract
  • 3 1/2 tsp  Vanilla Extract
  • For the Frosting:
  • 1 1/4 lb   Cream Cheese, softened
  • 12 tablespoons   Butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened
  • 2 tbsp  Sour Cream
  • 1 1/2 tsp  Maple Extract
  • 1/4 tsp  Salt
  • 2 1/2 C (10 oz)  Powdered Sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 9" round cake pans, line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper, then spray the parchment. Lightly flour both pans.
  2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, maple syrup, eggs, maple extract, and vanilla extract until smooth.
  3. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake until the cakes are set and the center is firm to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
  4. Remove cakes to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans, peeling off the parchment paper, and let cool completely on the wire rack, about 1 hour.
  5. For the frosting: Using a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, softened butter, sour cream, maple extract, and salt on medium-high until smooth, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. beat on medium until the sugar is fully incorporated and the frosting is smooth, about 4 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 4 more minutes. (Should yield about 5 cups)
  6. Place one layer of the cake on your cake platter. Spread 1 1/2 cups of the frosting evenly over the top, right to the edge of the cake. Top with the second layer and press down lightly. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Be sure and use cake flour for this cake. If you don't want to buy a whole box of cake flour, see if your local store (Central Market, Whole Foods, etc.) has bulk flours and just buy the amount you need.

I use salted butter in the frosting because that's what I have. I just use a pinch of salt in the frosting instead of the 1/4 tsp it calls for to make up for the salted butter.

I stored the leftover cake in the refrigerator. Before serving the refrigerated cake, I set it out on the counter to get it back to room temperature.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 497Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 126mgSodium: 489mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 7g
© America's Test Kitchen
Category: Cakes

Blum’s Coffee Crunch (#cakeslicebakers)

by

Updated: September 2020

Blums Coffee Crumble

It was hard to pick from this month’s Cake Slice Baker’s four choices, but I finally decided on Blum’s Coffee Crunch. This was a popular signature cake in the 70’s from a San Francisco bakery called Blum’s and I can understand why it was so popular.

The cake itself is a luscious two-layer, lightly-lemon chiffon cake. Then there’s the coffee-flavored, incredible whipped cream frosting. The most unique part of the cake, though, is the crunchy coffee candy pressed into the sides of top.

Blum's Coffee Crumble

The coffee crunch is caramely, pillowy, and crunchy, kind of like a honeycomb candy, but a bit stickier. The combination of the cake, whipped cream, and crunchy candy is incredible and decadent, but also light in a way.

I was excited because the baking phase was going swimmingly and I thought, hey, this one looks difficult but is actually fairly easy. The candy was fairly straightforward to make. The cake is one 9-inch layer cut into two layers, then slathered with the easy-to-throw-together whipped cream frosting. Easy.

But then….you put the coffee candy in a plastic bag and tap it with a mallet until it makes a little smaller than bite-sized pieces. A little too late I realized it didn’t take much force to break up the candy and I ended up with quite a bit more powdered candy than chunks. No problem, though. I sprinkled the tiniest pieces between the layers and used the bigger pieces on the outside of the cake. There was plenty to go around!

Blums Coffee Crumble

Would I make this cake again? Definitely. I think it tastes divine!

Now, if you’re making Blum’s Coffee Crunch cake for a special occasion, be sure and make it the same day. I stored mine in the refrigerator (because of the whipped cream, of course) and the candy got stickier and a little soggy. You’ll want to serve this the same day you make it.

Update: I stored it in the fridge and it actually seems to be getting better every day. The candy became softer, but still great and the cake and frosting became unbelievably richer and better!

Blum's Coffee Crunch

Blum's Coffee Crunch

Yield: 10-12 slices
Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Heavenly, decadent cake with honeycomb-like candy sprinkled on a coffee whipped cream frosting.

Ingredients

  • For the Coffee Candy:
  • 1 1/2 C (10 1/2 oz) sugar
  • 1/4 C brewed coffee
  • 1/4 C light corn syrup
  • 1 tbsp baking soda
  • For the Cake:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 C cake flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 5 large eggs (2 whole, 3 separated), room temperature
  • 6 tblsp butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp grated lemon zest, plus 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • For the Whipped Cream:
  • 2 C heavy cream, chilled
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee granules
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. For the coffee candy: Grease an 8" square baking pan and line with parchment paper, allowing extra paper to overhang the pan edges. Grease/spray the parchment.
  2. Heat sugar, coffee, and corn syrup in large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until mixture registers 310° on a candy thermometer. Stir in baking soda until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Mixture will puff up significantly. Pour the mixture immediately into the prepared pan and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
  3. Once cooled, remove coffee crunch block from the pan and place in a large zip-lock plastic bag; seal. Using a rolling pin, gently tap on the candy and crush into bite-sized pieces.
  4. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease a 9" round cake pan and line with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper and lightly flour the pan. Set aside 3 tbsp of the sugar. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and the remaining sugar together in a large bowl. Add 2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks from the separated eggs, melted cooled butter, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice and whisk until smooth.
  5. Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the remaining 3 egg whites from the separated eggs on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip whites to soft, billowy mounds, about another minute. Gradually add reserved sugar and whip until glossy, soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes.
  6. Using a rubber spoon, stir one-third of the whites into the batter bowl. Gently, very gently fold remaining whites into the batter until no white streaks remain.
  7. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan, discarding parchment paper, and let cool completely on a rack, about 2 hours.
  8. For the whipped cream frosting: Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream, sugar, espresso powder (or instant coffee granules), and vanilla on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes.
  9. Assemble the cake: Using a long, serrated knife, carefully cut the the cake horizontally into two even layers. Line edges of your cake platter with 4 strips of parchment paper to keep plate clean. Place 1 of the cake layers on the plate and spread 2 cups of frosting evenly over top, right to the edge of the cake.
  10. Top with the second cake layer and press lightly to adhere. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Gently press crushed coffee crunch candy all over the cake (top and sides). Slide the parchment strips out from under the cake before serving.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Read through the recipe at least once and have your ingredients, utensils, pans and bowls at the ready.

The original recipe calls for unsalted butter, I use salted. It also calls for instant espresso. I use instant coffee granules and it works perfectly.

Tap the candy gently in the zip-lock bag, as it crushes easily. If you have lots of tiny pieces that won't look right on the cake, just sprinkle them between layers.

If you're making this the day before for a special event, don't put the coffee candy on the cake until you're ready to serve. The candy gets a little soggy from the frosting after a few hours in the refrigerator (but still fantastic....).

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 381Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 138mgSodium: 516mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 0gSugar: 30gProtein: 5g
© America's Test Kitchen
Category: Cakes

The Incredible Empire Torte

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There are a few recipes that are very special to us and this is one of them.

Bret’s mom (Ma) used to make this special (and very time-consuming) Incredible Empire Torte.  At eight-layers, it’s not only beautiful, but is also one of the best cakes I’ve ever had!

Empire Torte
Ma retired from making these shortly after Bret and I were married and passed the torch on to me. One of my best memories was the Saturday spent at her house, carefully taking notes while she taught me every step of how to make it correctly. She’s a precious woman.

The instructions are very detailed, but when followed correctly produce a lovely cake, or torte, with a mouth-watering frosting.

To begin with, you bake the dense, rough-crumbed cake on two cookie sheets and after cooled, cut it into eight similar rectangles. I say similar, because it’s challenging to get them perfectly the same.

I use a ruler and sometimes end up with a few small pieces left over.  Here’s what one of the sheets looked like after cooled, still in the aluminum foil form and then after they were cut:

Empire Torte Form

Empire Torte Squares

One-by-one they’re carefully stacked with that incredible frosting between each layer, then the final coating slathered all around the sides and tops of the cake. It’s a fight to see who gets to lick the frosting bowl, beater, spoon and whatever else it lands on.

Then, the final product. After being refrigerated for a couple of hours, which is necessary but tries your tastebuds’s patience, the cake is cut (again, another fight – this one for the end piece because it has the most frosting) and enjoyed with a tall glass of cold milk.

The Incredible Empire Torte has no fat in it, so it comes out very textured, but a perfect combination with the creamy frosting.

Empire Torte Plated

A little tip:  Sometimes if I don’t have the time to make the intricate vanilla cake part, I cheat a little and use a vanilla cake mix.  The cake turns out a little spongier, but almost as good (and it saves a TON of time).  

The Incredible Empire Torte

Empire Torte

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes

Time-consuming, but perfect for a special occasion to wow guests or to make and devour at home.

Ingredients

  • Cake:
  • 1 C sifted flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¾ C sugar
  • 4 egg whites
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/3 C sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ¼ C water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp orange extract
  • Frosting:
  • 1 ¼ C butter, , softened
  • 2 ½ squares melted unsweetened chocolate, (or 10 squares of the new quarter ounce squares)
  • 1 ¼ tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp maple flavoring
  • 2 ½ C sifted powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place 18x12 inch sheet of heavy-duty foil on baking sheet. Fold sides to form 14X10 inch pan. Grease or butter foil. Prepare a second pan the same way.
  2. To make cake, sift flour, baking powder and sugar into large mixing bowl. In another bowl, beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until soft mounds form. Gradually add 1/3 C. sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. In a small bowl, combine egg yolks, water, vanilla and orange extract; add to dry ingredients.
  3. Beat 1 minute at medium speed, then remove from mixer and gently fold beaten egg whites into batter mixture until just mixed in. Spread evenly in 2 foil pans. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
  4. Cool cake for 10 minutes.
  5. To make frosting, melt butter in a small pan over low heat. Turn off heat and pour into a mixing bowl.
  6. Melt chocolate squares in the paper or bowl (in microwave), 30 to 45 seconds and stir.  If necessary continue in 7 second increments until melted and smooth. Cool chocolate for a minute or two, then pour into butter. Add vanilla and maple flavoring. Beat until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar ½ C at a time and mix until smooth and entirely combined.
  7. While frosting is mixing,  cut each cake into even quarters and carefully  remove foil. Cover eight layers of cake tightly and separately with plastic wrap or frost immediately.
  8. Spread 2 1/2 to 3 tbsp. of frosting between each layer of cake and frost sides. Refrigerate cake for at least 2 hours. Use serrated knife or electric knife to cut ½ inch slices. Keep refrigerated.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Make sure you have no distractions while making this cake, and put aside a whole afternoon in which to do it.  Trust me. Read the recipe thoroughly and have ingredients on the counter when you begin.

When you start cutting the baked cake rectangles out of the aluminum foil, start with the pieces that may have browned and become crunchy on the ends. After you cut that off, use that rectangle to measure the rest. My last ones ended up about 8x4".

The frosting will take 20-30 minutes to thicken up using a stand mixer - don't be tempted to add more powdered sugar.  It won't be real thick like other cake frosting because it is so buttery and silky.  You'll see...

Keep refrigerated, keep refrigerated, keep refrigerated.  There's so much butter in the frosting that it will slide if you leave it out overnight!  I took it to a New Year's party and it sat out fine for that long, but keep refrigerated otherwise.

This sounds complicated, but is so satisfying both from a baker's point of view and an eating point of view.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 438Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 313mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 1gSugar: 42gProtein: 4g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© sblades
Category: Cakes