The Cake Merchant

Chocolate Raspberry Crunch Cake

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Behold, I made a cake! It’s been a while folks, and I’ve missed it. I took a break. A much needed break from all things blog and internet and social media. I stopped checking my instagram likes every five minutes. I did waaay less dishes. I cooked more savory food. I baked stuff that I actually wanted to eat! And most importantly, I stopped comparing myself to other bloggers and their beautiful photos and perfect lives. Comparing yourself is never a good thing in any aspect of your your life. It can make you feel really discouraged and kill your motivation, which is exactly what happened. But, I missed baking and I missed blogging and I’m going to try really hard to keep doing it without it taking over my life and my mental health.

So let’s talk about cake. This tiny tall cake that re-inspired me to blog after a long hiatus, and was based entirely on my own cravings. It’s chocolaty and crunchy and full of raspberries, and it’s made in 5-inch cake pans. I know what you’re thinking, who has 5-inch cake pans and why don’t you just post recipes for normal sized cakes? Here’s my logic- there are a gazillion recipes on the internet for normal sized cakes. There must be some weirdos out there who love their 5-inch cake pans as much as I do, and are looking for ways to use them. But just in case I’m the lone weirdo, I’ve listed some options for alternate pan sizes below.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

This cake is a recipe that I’ve been dying to try from the Baked Elements cookbook. It’s made with mayo rather than butter or oil, and I can’t say that I’ve ever had a bad experience with chocolate mayo cake. The frosting is made with milk chocolate, because I’ve recently discovered that I really love the stuff. I think milk chocolate gets a bad rap because a lot of people associate it with some of the lower quality stuff that you find in the impulse section of the grocery store, but high end milk chocolate is not something to turn your nose up at. My favorite brand of milk chocolate is Scharffen Berger, but it’s on the pricy side and somewhat hard to find. For frostings, I usually use Guittard milk chocolate chips. It’s still a big step up from most and melts really well.

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

You can bake this cake in two 6-inch cake pans, and it also makes 12 cupcakes. The baking times for these will vary.

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Coffee and Donuts Cake

Coffee and Donuts Cake

Happy National Donut Day! Does this mean we can eat all the donuts we want and calories don’t count today? If so, you should make three of these cakes. Actually, I didn’t even know Donut Day was a thing until I saw donuts popping up all over Instagram yesterday. I made this cake a couple of months ago for a silent auction, but hadn’t gotten around to posting it out of sheer laziness, so the stars aligned and it’s coming to you on National Donut Day!

The cake itself is a super simple chocolate cake recipe that I got from here. I doubled the recipe to get a 3 layer 6-inch cake plus about 16 mini donuts (or really, donut shaped cakes). Although this cake recipe is vegan, I used cow’s milk since the frosting is not vegan. Speaking of frosting, coffee swiss meringue buttercream is quite possibly the most heavenly creation on earth. I used 2 shots of espresso from my favorite local coffee shop in the frosting, but you could also use 2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water, or 2 tablespoons of coffee extract (I like Nielsen Massey brand).

The frosting recipe makes a lot, so before you tell me that this recipe makes too much frosting, here’s why (also, please stop complaining about an overabundance of frosting). I wanted to crumb coat the cake and have enough frosting to get a really smooth finish since I knew that people would be bidding on this cake. The leftovers freeze really well (or taste good spooned directly into your mouth). Plus, it’s always nice to have some extra Swiss Buttercream in your freezer.

If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know that I use pasteurized liquid egg whites 99 percent of the time when I make SMB. I’ve tried it with both fresh and liquid egg whites, and while the liquid egg whites whip up slightly fluffier, I don’t find that it makes a difference in the finished product. Plus, you don’t need to heat liquid egg whites past 120 degrees, which makes the whole process go faster. So unless I know I have to make a very large batch of pudding in the near future, liquid egg whites it is. And don’t forget to wipe down all your tools with vinegar before you start. Any traces of grease will prevent your meringue from whipping up properly.

As for the butter, the ideal temperature should but soft, but it should still retain it’s shape. If the butter starts to get greasy or mushy, you may have a harder time getting your SMB to come together. In case your butter is too soft (or your egg whites are too warm), just stick the whole bowl of frosting in the refrigerator and try beating it again.

Coffee and Donuts Cake

Coffee and Donuts Cake
Coffee and Donuts Cake
Coffee and Donuts Cake

For the cake, double the recipe here. This makes a 3 layer 6-inch cake plus about 16-20 mini donuts. You’ll need a mini donut pan like this one. Make the glaze in the recipe below. Dip one side of the donuts into the glaze, and then cover with sprinkles. Let the glaze dry while you frost the cake.

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Australia

Australia

Australia! I went there and now I want to move there. I drank flat whites like it was my job, ate my weight in Tim Tams, and finally got my hands on some of those pretty sprinkles I’ve been eyeballing on Aussie food blogs. Rather than gushing about my love for Australia and using the word “amazing” more times than the Bachelor, I’ll let the photos do most of the talking. Most of these are from a food photography workshop I attended in Sydney with Luisa Brimble and Sneh Roy. If you make it all the way to the end, I may even have a recipe for you.

Australia

I did not have a bad cup of coffee while I was here. I had better coffee at the airport here than I do at most gourmet coffee shops in the US.

Australia
Sprinkles

Here are some of the workshop pics. Sneh welcomed us with all the tea and coffee we could drink, and of course, cake!

Food Photo Workshop
Food Photo Workshop-16

She has the most amazing collection of props I have ever seen.

Food Photo Workshop

Luisa discusses how she captures hands in photography…

Food Photo Workshop
Food Photo Workshop
Food Photo Workshop
Food Photo Workshop

…and shows us how she gets her stunning tablescape shots.

Food Photo Workshop

This delicious lunch was cooked by Sneh, along with the beautiful carrot cake.

Food Photo Workshop
Food Photo Workshop
Food Photo Workshop

Yay, you’re still here! Ok, here’s the recipe that wasn’t enough of a recipe to warrant a separate post. Lemon Lime Bitters is as authentically Australian as Vegemite, but tastes way better. I drank these things like they were going out of style.
You’ll need:
An glass full of ice.
5-6 dashes of Angostura Bitters
An ounce of limeade or sweetened lime juice (homemade or store-bought)
Lemon-lime soda (I used Zevia to cut back on the sugar)
Stir everything together and enjoy!