shaloop

Cream Cheese Pound Cake Serves 16. This is a moist, rich, tender poundcake. Melts in your mouth. 1-1/2 c butter 8 oz cream cheese 3 c white sugar 1 T vanilla extract 1 tsp almond extract 6 eggs 3 c all purpose flour Grease one 10 inch tube pan. Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light. Stir in the vanilla and the almond extracts. Add the flour and the eggs alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Place cake in cold oven. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Make take from 1 hr 15 mins to 1 hr 45 mins. Usually 1 1/2 hrs is about right. Keywords: Dessert, Cake ( RG1596 )

No, they are very small seeds with more juicy flesh than seed. When I was a kid, I used to put a whole bunch of pomegranate seeds in my mouth at once, chew and shallow the delicous juice, then spit the seeds and tough bits into the garbage...but I've since learned that it's ALL edible! They are often used in salads as well as desserts. ← As I remember, they were about the size of dried corn kernels, right? I, also, would chew it, then spit out the hard seed in the middle. So the hard part is edible too? I'm asking because I haven't had them as an adult. Although I loved the flavor, I hated eating them. Maybe I'll try one again just to see what I think, lol.

I once did pound cake trials and started off with this basic recipe. It looked and tasted very good, but was very heavy. I then started tweaking to get the flavor I liked. I finally got to the perfect poundcake recipe. Moist, light, flavorful and smooth. And promptly lost the recipe. I made so many, I can't for the life of me remember the "perfect" recipe. (I have about 10 recipes and variances written down in the notebook I was working from). I guess I have to start over. But I know the recipe had milk and baking powder. Oh, I do have a cream cheese poundcake recipe, though, that is wonderful and doesn't use a raising agent. Let me know if you would like it.

OK. Dumb question. Arent pomegranite seeds mainly just a big seed with a little flesh on it? I remember having them when I was little. I liked the taste, but didn't like eating them because there seemed to be more seed than flesh. Am I correct? They are pretty, and tasty, but I just don't think I'd enjoy having pomegranite seeds in a dessert. Are you supposed to eat them, or are they just for presentation?

OK. Very basic question. How do you knead rather wet and tacky dough? Also, I've been reading that you shouldn't add more flour. Many recipes tell you to knead in as much flour as you can. How do you know when it has enough flour in it if it's supposed to be wet and tacky?

My standard cream cheese frosting recipe is 8 oz (1 block) cream cheese, 4 oz (1 stick) butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 4 c powdered sugar. For creamier frosting I also add 1 or 2 tbsp heavy cream and whip it all together for a while in the mixer. I think the slight tang of the cream cheese is part of the appeal. But, I would think you could simply replace some of the cream cheese with more butter. I do not melt the butter or cream cheese, just slightly softened. Maybe try 4 oz cream cheese and 8 oz butter and same 4 cups sugar and tsp vanilla.

I use both. I think some things benefit from the consistency of buttermilk. I can't imagine that an Italian Cream Cake would taste as good with powdered buttermilk or that the texture would be right. If I need buttermilk for something and have some left over, I use it up. Pancakes, waffles, cornbread, batter for frying fish or chicken or chicken strips, coleslaw, salad dressing, etc. But I also keep powdered buttermilk on hand for certain things that I dont HAVE to use fresh for, such as, biscuits, waffles and pancakes. IMO it makes excellent buttermilk biscuits.

Is there any chance we could get an actual recipe for the icing? I'm sure you're very busy and I'm not in any hurry But I"d love it if you can spare it. Your cakes are gorgeous! (Just left your website.)

I entered the recipe into recipe gullet. Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Serves 12 as Dessert. Smooth, rich and creamy. Tastes like a peanut butter cup. Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake 1-1/2 lb cream cheese 1 c sugar 3 eggs 1 c peanut butter 1 tsp vanilla 3/4 c heavy cream Crushed roasted peanuts (reserve for garnish) Ganache 6 oz semisweet chocolate 3/4 c heavy cream 1/2 tsp vanilla Chocolate cookie crust 3/4 c flour 1/4 c cocoa 1/4 c sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 c butter 1 egg yolk For Crust: Pulse dry ingredients together in food processor. Add butter in cubes, pulsing until coarse crumbs form. Add egg yolk, pulsing just until combined. Spread crumbs in greased 9" pan. Pat down and bake in 350 degree oven until edges begin to brown and smell fragrant. Cool. Reduce oven temp. For the cheesecake: Preheat oven to 300. Cream softened cream cheese and peanut butter in bowl of electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and continue mixing. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Add heavy cream and vanilla and continue mixing, at low speed, until smooth and lump free. Scrape sides again. Add eggs one at a time, mixing till just incorporated. If using springform pan, wrap in double layer of heavy duty foil. Place pan inside larger pan and fill outer pan about 1" deep with hot water. Bake in a 300 degree oven in a waterbath for about 1 1/2 hours or until barely jiggles in center. Remove from waterbath and cool until room temp and then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight (or freeze for one or two hours). Then, unmold and place on a 9" cardboard. Cover with lukewarm ganache. Chill again briefly. Once ganache is almost set (about 10 minutes), Cover the sides with chopped roasted peanuts. Serve well chilled. For Ganache: Chop chocolate (or use 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips) and place in heatproof bowl. Bring heavy cream to simmer and pour over chocolate. Let stand about 5 minutes. Stir until mixture is smooth and shiny. Add vanilla and stir to incorporate. Let cool until warm, but still very pourable. Keywords: Cake, Dessert ( RG1591 )

I have a great peanut butter cup cheesecake recipe. Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese 1 cup sugar 3 eggs 1 cup peanut butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 cup heavy cream Crushed roasted peanuts (reserve for garnish) Ganache 6 ounces semisweet chocolate 3/4 cup heavy cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Chocolate cookie crust 3/4 cup flour 1/4 cup cocoa 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup butter 1 egg yolk Pulse dry ingredients together in food processor. Add butter in cubes, pulsing until coarse crumbs form. Add egg yolk, pulsing just until combined. Spread crumbs in greased 9" pan. Pat down and bake in 350 degree oven until edges begin to brown and smell fragrant. Cool. For the cheesecake I bake in a 300 degree oven in a waterbath for about 1 1/2 hours or until barely jiggles in center. Remove from waterbath and cool until room temp and then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. (or freeze for one or two hours). Then, unmold and place on a 9" cardboard. Cover with lukewarm ganache. Chill again. Once ganache is almost set, Cover the sides with chopped roasted peanuts. This cheesecake looks and tastes like a peanut butter cup and was a best seller at the cafes that I supplied. You could probably use a brownie base instead of the cookie crust if you wanted.

I haven't tried the cakes on this thread, but over the last several years, have tried many, MANY different chocolate cakes and always went back to the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake on the back of the cocoa can. So, I started just tweaking that recipe to make it even better. One day I came accross the mention of Hershey's Black Magic Cake and looked it up. It's almost exactly my tweaked Perfectly Chocolate cake recipe! (Great minds think alike ). So, I'd have to say that of the probably 20 different chocolate cakes I've tried, the Hershey's Black Magic cake is my favorite.

Any tried and true recipes for cupcakes? Basic vanilla or yellow or white cupcakes would be great to start. Something light and fluffy with a nice round top. Anything like that out there?

Is it possible to get the recipe for the glaze? It does look great!

I use Both the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate and Black Magic cakes all the time and slice and fill with whipped ganache or buttercream. Make sure to let the cake cool completely, even chilled is good. Use a serrated knife or a large cake leveler. Don't try to pick up the split layers, slide a cake circle/cardboard or even a flat cookie sheet or tart pan bottom between the cut pieces to lift the top off. Spread filling and then position top layer and slide support out. I then crumb coat and chill before final frosting or coating with ganache.

This looks wonderful! Is it possible to get the recipe?

I've compiled a list in Word with these recommendations. Maybe if I print it out my Hubby will accidentally stumble accross it......

I just visited my parents in Atlanta about 3 weeks ago. On the advice of this thread, I went to the Market. It was wonderful!!! I'm so jealous (that nothing like this exits near my hometown). It will be a must do every time I visit Atlanta. And I will have to keep a list of what I need or would like to try so I don't forget anything on my next precious visit. Even my husband and kids enjoyed it. Definitely the best market/grocery store I've ever been in.

I recently went to Atlanta and stopped at Alon's based on a recommendation from one of these threads and it was great! We don't have anything like that where I"m from. Also, on a tip from one of these threads, I went to Dekalb Farmer's Market. I LOVE that place!!! It will now be on my must do list every time I'm in Atlanta. (My parents live there, so I visit fairly often.) I wish there was something like that closer to me. (Gulf Coast Mississippi.) Anyhow, thanks to whoever it was for the recommendations.

Lemon Chiffon cake with lemon curd and strawberry puree. This is the first time I've posted to this thread. (Though I read it, drooling, daily.) As much as I LOVE sweets, I don't seem to have Ling's metabolism. This is actually the first time I've made a chiffon cake (I'm a butter cake type of girl) and it was very good. It's so light it almost seems like it shouldn't be that bad for you.

I've read many threads lately in which I've seen cookbooks mentioned many times which leads me to think they might be worth checking out, lol. I usually look for specific recipes on the web, but I really enjoy reading cookbooks, getting ideas and sometimes actually trying the recipes! So far, I have RLB's Cake Bible, Nick Malgieri's Chocolate (on loan from a friend), Le Cordon Bleu's Dessert Techniques, Colette Peter's 1st Cake Decorating book (Autographed at ICES convention in NO this year!) and my trusty BH&G red and white cookbook. I also have a few regional cookbooks. I'm a home baker. I LOVE to bake. My friends and family love for me to bake, lol. And I would like to hone my skills and repertoire to someday turn my love of baking into a career. I would like to get "Baking with Julia", Cook's Illustrated, something by Pierre Herme and Paris Sweets. Any other good basic ones and maybe specifically which ones from the above list?

That sounds like a good idea! Does anyone else do this? If so, does it have much effect on the appearance of the cheesecake? ← I don't think it would affect appearance, but it would certainly affect the density and "mouth feel" if you added enough egg whites. It could become more like a mousse and less like a cheesecake (dense). ← I don't personally like this texture. Too light and airy. However, I got the height I wanted. You also MUST use a waterbath or you will definitely get cracks. Shaloop

I found that the following things (probably among others) will make cheesecake taller. Increase the amount of batter. Add more eggs or even just whip the whites and fold in. Add cream. These latter two things will change the texture though and you will need to use a water bath. My preference is to double the batter and add a little cream. (I use 2 pounds cream cheese and 3/4 cup cream and bake in a 3" pan.)

I started with the above recipe (some time ago) and felt it was too heavy. I lightened it somewhat (for the sake of texture, not so much calories) and came up with this: Italian Cream Cake ½ cup Butter 1 1/2 cups Sugar 4 eggs, seperated 1 tsp baking soda 1 cup Buttermilk 2 cups cake flour, sifted 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 c coconut 1 tsp vanilla Preheat the oven to 325° Grease bottoms only of two - 9" cake pans. Line with parchment. Stir baking soda into buttermilk and set aside in large measuring cup (will increase in volume.) Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Add buttermilk alternately with dry ingredients, ending with flour. Stir in vanilla, and coconut. Beat egg whites. Fold into cake mixture. Bake in prepared pans in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until done. Cake will be golden on top and just beginning to pull away from sides of pan. Cool 10 minutes, then remove carefully from pan. Once completely cool, frost with Cream cheese frosting and toasted pecans.

Mmmmmm! Please tell me more!