Hi friends! It’s been too long since I’ve been able to post here. I have lots to share with you, including a recipe as well as a few “real life” things. The biggest thing that has kept me away from the blog has been a move- into a house! Yes, I bought a house! I can’t actually find a lot of my baking equipment, my internet is having all kinds of problems, but I have a house!

Also, I got engaged! This was probably the most unexpected, because I have the sneakiest fiancé on the planet, and I had no clue. Aaron and I met almost four years ago while we were both training for a 5k. Over the years, we have done several 5ks, some 10ks, and a few half marathons. Running has been a big part of our lives, so it was really fitting when Aaron proposed to me while I was running with a friend at White Rock Lake in Dallas. I thought it was just an ordinary Sunday morning run, so imagine my surprise when I saw Aaron waiting there for me a mile into the run, with flowers and a ring!

As last but not least, we have a new addition to the family. No, no babies. But we did adopt a dog. His name is Bigsby, and he is the sweetest pup on the planet! I’ve wanted a dog ever since I was a little kid. It only took 31 years, but it finally happened. Welcome to the family, Bigsby!

These last few weeks have been so crazy, I’ve hardly had time to bake, but I did manage to squeeze in a celebration cake before the move. I chose a yellow cake with a chocolate cream cheese frosting. To be honest, the chocolate cream cheese frosting happened more out of necessity than intention. I was running low on butter, and I didn’t want to go to the grocery store before the move, so I threw a block of cream cheese into the frosting. As it turned out,the tanginess of the cream cheese was a perfect match for the sweet yellow cake.

I’ll have my kitchen up and running again soon, but in the mean time, enjoy this cake!

Notes:
Cake recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma
Watch the cake carefully at the end of baking. This cake is dry and crumbly if over baked.
The frosting recipe is loose, and not suitable for piping. If you want a stiffer frosting, add more powdered sugar.

Today, I’m excited to be posting again over at one of my favorite dessert websites, Best Friends For Frosting. This time, I’m contributing a light and fun spring dessert, Strawberry Sprinkle Meringues. They’re super easy to make and low in calories! For the recipe, click over HERE.

Today, I’m excited to be joining some of my favorite food bloggers to throw a virtual housewarming party for fellow food blogger Ashton. Ashton is the blogger behind Something Swanky, and while I follow her blog regularly, I’ve never met her in person. However, I know that Ashton and I share a love for Nutella, so I wanted to “bring” a chocolate layer cake with Nutella frosting.

I wanted an intense chocolate cake to go along with the light and creamy Nutella frosting, so I chose David Lebovitz’s Devil’s Food Cake recipe. The original recipe makes a double layer 9-inch cake, but I halved to it to make a little 5-inch cake.

I also split each layer in half to make a 4-layer cake so that I could have a higher frosting to cake ratio. Let’s face it, more frosting is always better, especially if that frosting tastes like Nutella.

A 5-inch cake makes baby slices, but really, I have no shame in diving right into a cake this size with a fork. Or face first. Who can find utensils when you’re moving, anyway?

Little Chocolate Layer Cake with Nutella Buttercream Frosting
makes one 4 layer 5-inch cake (double the recipe for a 9-inch cake)
cake recipe adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients

For the Cake:
4 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
3/4 cups cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup strong coffee (or water)
1/4 cup whole or low-fat milk

For the Frosting:
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup nutella
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Directions

For the Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 5″ x 2″ cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat until fully incorporated.
4. In a measuring cup, mix together the coffee (or water) and milk. With the mixer on low, add half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Add the coffee and milk, and then add the remainder of the dry ingredients.
5. Divide the batter between the two cake pans (I used a scale for this) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

For the Frosting:
1. With an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until light and creamy (about 2-3 minutes).
2. Add the powdered sugar, mix on low until combined, then beat on medium for an additional 2-3 minutes.
3. Add in the Nutella and vanilla, and beat to combine.
4. Add salt to taste, and beat until incorporated.

Assembly:
1. Use a serrated knife to divide each cake layer in half.
2. Place one layer of the cake on an 5-inch cake board. Place a dollop frosting on top, and spread evenly with a palette knife. Place the second layer on top of the first, followed more frosting, and spread evenly. Do the same with the third layer. Place the fourth layer on top and put a generous scoop of frosting on the top of the cake. Spread evenly across the top of the cake. Work your way around the sides until the entire cake is covered with a thin layer of frosting. I find that a turntable is helpful when frosting a layer cake. Let the crumb coat set in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
3. Once the crumb coat has set, spread a thicker layer of frosting on the top and sides of the crumb coat to create a smooth finish. Use the leftover frosting to pipe onto the cake and top with hazelnuts.

Want to see what everyone else is bringing to the party? Be sure to check out the links below!

Julianne at Beyond Frosting – Pound cake with Champagne Glaze
Kate at Food Babbles – Raspberry Lemon Coffee Cake
Anna at Crunchy Creamy Sweet – Glazed Vanilla Donut Muffins
Loretta at A Finn in the Kitchen – Caramelized Almond Nougat Mousse Ice-cream
Joanne at Fifteen Spatulas – Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
Ashley at Kitchen Meets Girl – Blueberry Muffins
Amber at Bluebonnets and Brownies – Lemon Drop Cookies
Dorothy at Crazy for Crust – Reese’s Fudge
Joan at Chocolate Chocolate and more – Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese Quiche
Roxana at Roxana’s Home Baking – Banana Sheet Cake
Julie at White Lights on Wednesday – Mocha Cupcake Milkshake
Hayley at The Domestic Rebel – Banana Split Poke Cake
Tanya at Lemons for Lulu – Lemon Muffins
Jocelyn at Inside Brucrew Life – Butterscoth Banana Muffins

Have I mentioned how much I love my Bouchon Bakery cookbook? I got it for my birthday back in February, and even though I’ve spent hours staring at the lovely photographs (it’s my new coffee table book), I’ve hardly made any of the recipes. I’ve been dying to try the devil’s food cake, since it’s one of my very favorite desserts ever, so I was really xcited to try Thomas Keller’s version. You might remember the devil’s food cake I made for my birthday this year, which I absolutely loved, so I wanted to see how this would compare.

The recipe differs quite a bit from the Baking Illustrated version. There’s no melted chocolate, and mayonnaise is used instead of milk or sour cream. I know what you’re thinking. Mayonnaise? In a fancy French cookbook? I thought the same thing. Chocolate mayonnaise cake was popular in during World War 2, when certain ingredients were in short supply and people had to get creative. If you think about it, it makes sense. Mayo is made of egg, oil, and vinegar, which are all common ingredients in cakes anyway.

I hate to use the word moist, because it makes me cringe a little bit, but for lack of a better word, this cake was moist. The moistest chocolate cake I have ever made. Like with any cake, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to make this. Not only is it more accurate, but it creates less dishes.

I normally use real or instant espresso in my espresso frosting, but this time, I tried coffee extract. I have to say, I liked it better. It gave a strong coffee flavor without being too bitter. Plus, I didn’t have to wait for the espresso to cool or the espresso powder to dissolve. I also added a few teaspoons of coffee extract to the cupcakes to give them a mocha flavor. Of course, you can sub either of these ingredients for coffee extract if you don’t have any on hand.

The original recipe calls for a 9-inch cake, but I wanted to try it in cupcake form. I managed to squeeze out 12 cupcakes by getting every last ounce of batter out of the mixer, but next time, I’ll probably make 11 so each one will be a little bit bigger.

Cupcake recipe adapted from Bouchon Bakery

I have 3 words for you- peanut butter oreos. These were totally an impulse buy at the grocery store, but since peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination on earth, I knew they were going to be amazing. How did I just now discover these?

Remember these cupcakes I made around Christmas time? These use the same (vegan) chocolate cupcake recipe. In fact, the entire cupcake is vegan. Instead of Oreo’s, I used Newman O’s this time, which is a slightly healthier version of the cookie. Don’t get me wrong, this is by no means health food. Newman O’s still contain a lot of sugar, but it’s organic sugar instead of HFCS. Hey, I’ll take what I can get. They’re also egg and dairy free, so no animals were harmed in the making of these cupcakes.

The cupcake recipe is from one of my go to baking books, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I love this chocolate cupcake recipe. It’s so simple, and you don’t even need a mixer! Just whisk together the ingredients, and you have a perfect one bowl chocolate cupcake. If you don’t have non-dairy milk on hand and you’re not concerned about the cupcakes being vegan, just sub regular milk (I’ve made it with skim, 2%, and whole). This recipe works well with both natural and Dutch process cocoa powder.

Cupcake and frosting recipe adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! St Patty’s tends to be a holiday that I forget about. I’m always the girl who gets pinched because she doesn’t wear green, but I couldn’t let the day go by without posting something with at least a little bit of green in it.

Holiday or not, I love shortbread. Remember these cookies? And these? Yes, my love of shortbread runs deep, and when I found a recipe for chocolate shortbread in my new beloved Bouchon Bakery cookbook, I new I had to give it a try. This shortbread recipe is so simple to make, and requires ingredients that you probabaly already have on hand- flour, butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt. Mix ‘em up, roll ‘em out, and you have the perfect tea time snack. These were delicious right out of the oven, but I took them a step further and dipped them in bittersweet chocolate. I also added some chopped pistachio and a few flakes of Fleur de Sel, a French sea salt with a delicate flavor.

If you’re vegan, have no fear. This recipe is really easy to veganize. Sub vegan buttery sticks (like Earth Balance) for regular butter. A lot of bittersweet chocolate is already dairy free, but if you’re concerned, you can get certified vegan chocolate or chocolate chips at a lot of grocery stores such as Whole Foods or Fresh Market.

Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with Pistachios and Sea Salt
cookie recipe adapted from Bouchon Bakery

For the cookies:
13 tablespoons (180 grams) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (90 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon (2 grams) kosher salt
1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 3 (240 grams) tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (30 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy and smooth.
2. Add the sugar and salt and beat on medium until combined, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
4. Add the flour and cocoa in 2 additions, beating on low after each addition. Beat on low until the flour and cocoa have just disappeared into the dough.
5. Form the dough into a block, and roll out in between 2 pieces of parchment paper. I rolled mine out about 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.
6. After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Cut the cookies into squares or use a cookie cutter (I used a round cutter). Place the cookies one inch apart on the parchment paper and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the cookies are firm to the touch.
8. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

For the chocolate/pistachio coating:
4 oz. (113 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup chopped pistachio meats
A few flakes of Fleur de Sel or other good quality sea salt (such as Maldon)

Directions:

1. One the cookies have baked and cooled, line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper.
2. Microwave the chocolate in 30 second intervals until smooth, dip each cookie in chocolate, and place on waxed paper.
3. While the chocolate is still wet, top with pistachios and a few flakes of Fleur de Sel.

New Years resolutions. Remember those? Yup, me too. I vaguely recall something about eating less sugar…

As much as I love baking layer cakes, the dessert that I crave most often is chocolate chip cookies. To me, they’re like potato chips- you can’t eat just one (or two, or three, or four). I’ve been known to eat half a batch right out of the oven, which is why I love the recipe that I’m about to share with you. The entire batch is pictured above. Yes, this recipe makes only 6 cookies. I can totally eat half the batch and not feel guilty about it. Gotta love built in portion control.

People often ask me how I bake so much without gaining a ton of weight. In order to eat dessert every day, I can’t eat a large quantity of it. I often create my own small batch recipes by cutting an original recipe in half, or sometimes even a quarter. Here are some of my favorite tools for halving recipes.

CIA Measuring Spoon Set- I like these because unlike most measuring spoon sets, this one has an 1/8 teaspoon measure as well as a 1/2 tablespoon measure. That way, when a recipe calls for 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda/powder and a want to cut it in half, I can measure out 3/8 accurately.

A Kitchen Scale- I love this for so many reasons. Whether or not you are scaling down a recipe, accurate measurements are essential for a good cake. But sometimes I can’t eat a 9-inch layer cake. This allows me to accurately measure ingredients for a 4, 5, or 6-inch layer cake.

Recipe adapted from Small-Batch Baking by Debbie Maugans Nakos
Note: I always chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour before baking, since it improves the texture of the finished cookie. If you’re patient enough, I highly recommend this.

Has February come and gone already? I’m not sure when that happened, but I have one last birthday post for you (I told you I could really drag out the celebration). In previous years, I have made elaborate cakes exotic flavor combinations, but this year, I kept it simple. One vanilla cake and one chocolate cake. And while I have become more open to vanilla cakes in my 30′s, chocolate is where my heart is and always will be. Is there anything better in the world than a good chocolate cake? I think not. The more chocolatey, the better.

After scouring through some old recipe books, I came across a few different recipes in Baking Illustrated. I love making cakes from this book, since it gives a long explanation and the science behind each recipe. I have made the Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake and the Sour Cream Chocolate Cake and loved them both, but I was looking for something richer for my birthday cake. This Devil’s Food recipe boasted “a velvety, more intense chocolate experience” than regular chocolate cakes, so I was sold. I also loved that it made a 3 layer, 8-inch cake, which is my favorite cake profile. Is it weird to have a favorite size for a cake?

The result: exactly what I was craving, and quite possibly my new favorite chocolate cake (sorry, Ina). I paired it with a rich and creamy but not too sweet chocolate buttercream. The frosting recipe that I’ve included makes a lot- enough to crumb coat, frost, and pipe lots of decorations.

Notes:
The cake layers are thin and rather fragile. I would recommend using a cake lifter to move them.
I’ve cut back significantly on the sugar from the original recipe. It was plenty sweet for me, but if you want a sweeter frosting (or a frosting with a more stiff texture), you can use 3-4 cups powdered sugar.
Cake recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated
Frosting adapted from Magnolia Bakery via Food.com

Cake, glorious cake!

It’s hard to believe that until recently, I rarely made vanilla cakes from scratch. In fact, I rarely made them at all. I found them to be too tempermental, bland in taste, and not worth the effort. All I can say in my defense is, what was I thinking?! It’s true, when not done right, vanilla cakes can be dull and dry, but they can also be magnificent! The recipe I’m sharing today is my favorite so far. It’s light, fluffy, and full of vanilla flavor.

I think that the turning point came for me when I got a kitchen scale. If you bake often, it’s worth the investment. Your cakes will turn out so much better if the measurements are accurate. I do everything by weight when I bake now, especially cakes. The results are so much more consistent. Oh, and if you don’t want your cake to be dry, don’t over bake this cake. Dry cakes are a sad, sad thing.

The original recipe, from The Cake Bible, makes two 9-inch layers, but I scaled it down to fit two 7-inch round pans. I love my 7-inch pans. They’re just the right size to make a cake for a small gathering. They’re also just big enough to make a proper looking birthday cake that’s not too diminutive (although I have nothing against diminutive desserts). This recipe will also work in 8-inch pans, but it won’t be as tall, and you may need to adjust the baking time by a few minutes.

I also added a healthy dose of vanilla bean paste to the batter, since I love flecks of vanilla bean in my cake. It just makes it feel more…vanilla-y. If you want a whiter cake, you can use clear vanilla extract, but if you’re going for taste, use the good stuff.

While I love a good vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream, my friends prefer the American variety. I was only 1/5 of the equation eating this cake, so I compromised and went with a not to sweet American Buttercream. However, I had to have my way when it came to the color, and in true Cake Merchant fashion, it had to be purple.

Notes:
Cake recipe adapted from The Cake Bible
Don’t open the oven too early. If you want to open the oven to check on the cake while it is baking, wait at least 20 minutes before you do, or the cake may fall.
A kitchen scale and an oven thermometer are invaluable tools when it comes to baking cakes.
My favorite video tutorials on crumb coating and smoothing a cake are from Zoe Bakes.
I use a turntable and an offset spatula for frosting the cake.

Since today is my birthday, I thought I would take a moment to tell you a little bit about myself. I always wanted to do one of those 25 random things about me notes on facebook, but I never got around to it, so, better late than never! I love getting to know my readers, so feel free to leave a comment with a random or interesting fact about yourself.

1. I was born on February 19th, 1982. That falls right on the cusp of Aquarius and Pisces, but I’m a Pisces in every way. And I only sort of believe in that stuff.

2. I am a coffee addict. I buy espresso beans from a local coffee shop, grind them fresh everyday, and make a 1 shot, 6 ounce cappuccino with organic 2% milk every morning.

3. I’m a certified scuba diver.

4. I have 2 cats that I love dearly, but I’m a dog person at heart. I hope to adopt one in the near future.

5. Layer cakes are my favorite desserts to make. I find the process of baking, frosting, and decorating them to be therapeutic. That being said, the dessert I crave the most (and make the most often) is chocolate chip cookies. Does that count as 2 things?

6. I’m a night owl, and the only time I will voluntarily get up early is when I have jet lag.

7. I have never liked milk, and the only time I will ever drink it is in my coffee or with warm chocolate chip cookies. I rarely put it on my cereal, and I will absolutely never drink cereal milk.

8. I’ve never met a vegetable I didn’t like. As much as I love sugary treats, I also love broccoli, brussels sprouts, and spinach.

9. By day, I’m a musician. It’s not the most lucrative job in the world, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.

10. I love British period dramas. I’ve read all the Jane Austen novels, I have a crush on Mr Darcy, and I’m completely obsessed with Downton Abbey.

11. I’m still trying to get my students to teach me how to use Twitter, and I totally don’t get the hash tag thing.  #iamreallyold

12. I’ve been playing tennis since I was a kid, and even though I’m still not especially good at it, I love to play. I’m currently on a women’s doubles team called the Lob Stars.

13. I am a pescetarian, which basically means I’m a vegetarian who occasionally eats seafood. I’ve tried to convince myself that it was because seafood is more sustainable, but really, it’s just because I haven’t found the discipline to give up sushi.

14. The only soda I like is Cherry Coke, and I will only drink it at the movie theater. With buttery popcorn. And Buncha Crunch.

15. I’m not much of a girly girl. I still don’t know how to put on makeup, I can’t walk in high heels to save my life, and I don’t like shopping (unless you count grocery shopping).

16. After grad school, my friend Cat and I wanted to take an international trip. We chose the location by the cheapest plane ticket we could find, and ended up having the trip of a lifetime in Peru.

17. My secret dream is to be a ballerina. I think ballet is an amazing form of art, but I’m way too old and not coordinated enough to take ballet, so I live vicariously through movies and documentaries about ballet dancing. I have seen Center Stage at least 50 times.

18. I turn into a whiny baby when I’m cold. I grew up in Indiana, so I’m happy to be living in a warmer climate now.

19.  When I was a kid, the only acceptable cake for me was chocolate. Now that I’m older, I have a new respect for vanilla, and this is the first year that one of my birthday cakes (I always make 2) will be vanilla. I can’t wait to share the recipe with you!