shaloop

Did you really use 1 1/2 cups of oil? I thought that was a typo. I couldn't imagine a cake with that much oil being light and fluffy. I'm glad it turned out well for you.

I looked at this recipe. It looks good, but the 1 1/2 cups of oil seems like way too much to me. I wondered if it should have been 1/2 cup of oil. I doubt that mixing that much oil with eggs and sugar would ever end up with something "light and fluffy". I intend to try it in the next few days with 1/2 cup oil.

I just checked this out and it looks wonderful. May I ask, how did you make the lemon cake? It's so impeccably neat! is it frosted on each side or just on the top?

These are the ones I ended up making for my son's class. My son was very happy. (of course, he's only 6, lol.)

I don't know. I've made them twice and they didn't last around my house more than 24 hours either time!

Hopefully someone else responds, as I'm not too adept at troubleshooting, but I will post my cupcake recipe for you and maybe you can compare. I just made these last week for my son's kindergarden class. I've been testing cupcake recipes for a while now, and so far these are my favorite. They are tender and very light. 2 c flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 eggs 1 cup cold water 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 c butter 1 c sugar Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake papers. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Measure water into large measuring cup. Add eggs and vanilla and lightly mix and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until light. alternately add flour and liquid mixtures, beginning and ending with flour. (three additions of dry, two additions of wet.) scoop evenly into pans and bake about 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. DO NOT BROWN cupcakes or they will be dry. Remove to wire rack and let cool. Frost as desired.

I've never seen a bundt pan with a removeable bottom. Do you mean a tube pan or angelfood cake pan? When I think of bundt I also think of the nordicware style pan such as linked to above. I think nonstick and heavy are good features in a bundt pan. But not too dark in color. Bundt pans are good for thick/heavy batters like pound cakes and the hole in the middle acts like a heating core that allows the inside to cook evenly and all in one pan. It would be hard to bake a cake with a pound each of flour/sugar/butter and eggs in one flat round pan and have the middle get done before the edges burned.

Another vote for in the cake and on the cake. I also like some kind of coconut flavor to the cake as well. (extract or cream of coconut or coconut milk or something.)

Does anyone know of any COOL sites for decorating kids cupcakes? I'm looking for creative ideas. I need to make 26 cupcakes for my son's kindergarden class (it's his turn for snack) for Monday. I usually make cookies but since this is his last turn, and only two weeks of school left, I want to do something really fun. I found these and I'm keeping them in mind as they recently studied butterflies. But I'm still looking. That site (familyfun.com) actually has the most ideas I've seen, but I'd like to find a few more sites. ( have a 4yo daughter too, so I can't have too many ideas, lol.) Since it's also teacher appreciation week, I'd like to make something nice for his two teachers. Maybe a 4" or 6" personal cake for each of them. Any ideas?

I also tried Becca's pound cake. I'd been searching for the perfect plain pound cake for about a year. I have great recipes for other flavors/ingredients (like sweet potato or cream cheese or sour cream.) I love the texture of cream cheese pound cake: very moist and tender. I'm also from the (deep) south USA and am used to rich, moist, melt-in-your mouth, tender, velvety pound cake. Yep, all that. I found Becca's pound cake to be a little dry also. I also made a half recipe with 3 whole eggs. I'm wondering if our findings indicate that the one extra egg white is making the difference. (as it does with chocolate chip cookies.) I felt that next time I would either use more butter or omit a whole egg or at least a white. Otherwise the cake was very good. (and it was all eaten at my house!) Shalisha

I just made this exact recipe with my daughter Friday. They came out good and my husband asked me how they kept their shape so well. The rise, if any, is unnoticeable. They were soft about an hour out of the oven, then crisp later that day but by the next day they softened a little. I thought they were a good base recipe, but lacked a little in the flavor department and I personally like slightly softer/chewier cookies. My daughter (4yo) just finished off the last one this morning. She loved them. (Maybe that had something to do with them being flower shaped)

I see the Apricot and Ginger Loaf cafe and the Suzy's Cake, but I don't see the cocoa cake or the pastry cream.

Would you happen to have recipes for the cocoa cake and pastry cream (or maybe direct me to where I might find them?). Sounds and looks delish!!

This one may not fit your request exactly, but it is a wonderful cake. It came from Cooking Light. Cinnamon Apple Cake It has a unique crunchy cinnamon sugar top crust. I make it often and everyone loves it. I'd call it somewhat of a coffeecake.

Cinnamon Apple Cake Delicious cinnamon apple cake with crunchy cinnamon-sugar top crust. Originally from Cooking Light. 1-3/4 c sugar, divided 1/2 c stick margarine, softened 1 tsp vanilla extract 6 oz block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened(about 3/4 cup) 2 large eggs 1-1/2 c all-purpose flour 1-1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp ground cinnamon 3 c chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large) Preheat oven to 350`. Spray 8" springform pan evenly with nonstick spray. Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture. Bake at 350` for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife. I prefer to use granny smith apples and real butter and bake in a 9" springform pan at 325 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours or until done. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Cake ( RG1696 )

Could someone please post the CI recipe? I tried the link above, but it didn't work. I would like to test a few of these recipes (along with some from another CC cookie thread.) Thanks.

We keep comparing the Epicurious Double Chocolate Cake to the Hershey's Black Magic cake so I decided to get both original recipes straight from their respective websites and compare the two. The first difference was that the DCC recipe is for two 10" pans and the BMC is for two 9" pans. I used mastercook to scale down the DCC recipe for two 9" pans (scaled down by 1/3) and here are the two ingredient lists: Black Magic Cake 2 cups sugar 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup coffee 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract DOUBLE CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE 2 ounces semisweet chocolate 1 cup coffee 2 cups sugar 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 7/8 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla They are indeed very similar. The DCC has the addition of two ounces chocolate, 1/4 c more cocoa (a few grams less flour) and slightly less leavening. The two do use different mixing methods, however, and bake at different temps.

I'm so sorry this happened. I hope this will just be part of your education in how to open a tearoom! I had a similar thing happen to me. I took over (should say, reopened) a small cafe, but in my own style. The opportunity of a lifetime, I thought. I only had to put in about $2000 for more cooking utensils, beginning inventory and supplies. Things were going well, but I was getting overwhelmed. I could only afford one employee. Though business was picking up and customers were very happy with the cafe, I didn't have ANY budget to hire more employees, but I needed to increase my hours. I couldn't do it. (I have two young children also.) I finally, after 2 months, closed the doors. I was ill prepared from the beginning. I should have had a few months operating expenses and a partner or at least very dependable and skilled employee in tow before opening. Lesson learned. I'm now working on my business plan and learning and organizing and preparing so that once my youngest is in school in another year and a half, I can do it again. This time with a few lessons learned under my belt. Hopefully it will all work out for you!

Thank you! Being my first attempt, I realized after making them some things I should do different next time. I didn't brush them with an egg wash or add salt or sugar, all of which I'll do next time. As for the recipe, I'm sorry I can't give credit to the proper source as I just scribbled it down from another poster (Maybe here at e-gullet) who said it was a basic, all purpose recipe. The recipe is: 1 c water 1/2 c butter 1 c AP flour 4 eggs Preheat oven to 400. Bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour all at once and continue to cook, stirring until doughs balls up. Remove from heat and stir in eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. Stir till smooth and shiny. Drop by rounded tablespoonfulls (I used cookie scoop) onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Thanks to whoever posted the original recipe!

I made two firsts today; cream puffs and bavarian cream. I, too, made the same mistake of not bringing my pastry cream to a boil and it was a little thin. However, since I added gelatin to make bavarian cream, it didn't matter so much and turned out fine once cooled and whipped cream was mixed in and chilled. Here are my finished puffs: I didn't photograph the bavarian cream, but it was good, especially for a first. The cream puffs were good too, but the recipe didn't call for salt and I didn't think of adding it till they were baking. Next time...

I've been wanting to start a small "Dessert" business for about a year now. I read alot on the subject and became familiar with local and state regulations. I found a small cafe that was going to lease space to me and I began looking for wholesale clients before signing any papers. I took samples and found two clients (coffee shops) who wanted me to begin right away. Several others were interested. The cafe I was to rent from closed due to the owner's personal situation and I have been unable to find another suitable/reasonable location. I produced products for those two clients from my home (until Hurricane Katrina shut them both down.) Since then I haven't pursued it any further as I do want to do things the right way. I have a spare bedroom with an outside door that I would like to turn into a commercial kitchen, but my husband is opposed to his home "being a business." I know I have a good product and response to my product has been very great. (A small sandwich shop just opened nearby that called and asked for my products.) Also, there are NO, I repeat, No dessert cafes, coffee houses, bakeries, wholesale dessert suppliers or any of the like in my area. I feel my research and response from the community indicate it is a viable business, but I don't know how to begin. I've been a stay-at-home mom for the past several years without an income or credit history. My goal is to continue adding to my knowledge and skills, honing my craft, working on my business plan and wait until my youngest is in school (another 1 1/2 years) and go from there. Any thoughts or ideas would be great.

I prefer to make my cheesecakes without flour or cornstarch. But, when I have used four or starch I whisk them thoroughly with the sugar. I beat the cream cheese by itself until smooth and creamy. Then I scrape the bowl and beat some more. Then I add the smooth, lump free sugar/flour mixture and mix till smooth, scrape bowl and mix more. Then add eggs on low speed one at a time till smooth. Then add cream or sourcream and flavorings and mix till smooth. Then scrape bowl one last time and mix a few more seconds. After removing bowl from the mixer I do one last scrape around bowl, bottom especially and make sure there no unbeaten batter and if there is I smoosh it against sides of bowl with spatula and stir to make sure it's smooth and lump free. Although I hate the hassle of wrapping my cheesecake pan to bake in a water bath, I do prefer the creamier texture of the finished product when baked in a waterbath. The cheesecake can be baked without a waterbath at a low (Like 250 degree) temp for about 1 1/2 hours (9" cheesecake, 2 lbs cream cheese) and pan of water for moisture in the bottom of the oven, but when finished the cheesecake is firmer, denser and chewier.

How do you make Vietnamese coffee?

I put the Cream Cheese Poundcake recipe into Recipe Gullet here. Hope you enjoy!

I just have to say that I love this thread. I get on the computer first thing in the morning (after getting 6yo son off to school) with my morning hot beverage (tea or coffee) and excitedly check to see if any desserts were posted overnight. And when (like today) there are several, well, that just makes my day!!