Cakes Archives - The Midnight Baker

Molasses Raisin Buns

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 13 Nov 2022 00:00:11 +0000

Molasses raisin buns are an old-fashioned treat. Easy to make and totally delicious.

Molasses Raisin Buns–Old-Time Treat

If you’re looking for a real old-fashioned treat for Christmas, these molasses raisin buns are just what you’re looking for.

They have a real old-fashioned flavor from the molasses. That’s a deep rich flavor which we’ve gotten away from lately. Molasses used to be used so much more years ago and I really don’t know why it seemed to fall out of favor as an ingredient. Sure, it’s used in gingerbread and all, but it was a more common ingredient not so long ago.

For my UK readers, black treacle is almost the same as the US standard molasses, so just substitute that.

Forming The Dough

First thing to know is even though this recipe has four cups of flour, its yield isn’t big. The reason is you form them into balls about the size of a golf ball (maybe a tad larger) so you are not overrun with buns.

The one thing to remember here is the dough is pretty sticky so you’ll want to form the balls with damp hands. The good thing is you can just scoop–I use an ice cream scoop–(affiliate link) them into a standard muffin pan. Do make sure to grease the cups of the muffin pan if you choose to use one. I didn’t–I used a large baking sheet lined with parchment that I sprayed with non-stick spray. Nothing stuck.

Raisins Or Not

Originally, these molasses buns contained no raisins. I add them because they give them a very interesting flavor.

Funny given the molasses and all, these are not overly sweet. Of course the raisins add a touch of sweetness, but they are still not sugary. They’re excellent for dunking if you have any left over the next day

The Recipe

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Molasses Raisin Buns

Old-fashioned flavor

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: molasses buns, molasses cookies with raisins

Servings: 15 (varies)

Calories: 359kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter
4 cups flour
1 cup raisins

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Combine milk, egg, molasses, cinnamon and baking soda.
Stir well. Add sugar and butter.
Mix well and warm mixture in microwave for 40 seconds.
Add flour and mix well. Form into balls and place in rows in a greased baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted
into the center comes out clean.
Can also be made in muffins pans

Nutrition

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Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 23:00:06 +0000

Chewy peanut butter brownies will satisfy an peanut butter lover.

Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies–YUM!

Let me start by saying that I am a huge peanut butter fanatic. I love the stuff so much that I eat it straight from the jar with a spoon. So when I saw these chewy peanut butter brownies, I knew I had to make them.

All I can say is they are really very good. Surprisingly, they’re not too sweet either. That was something I appreciated since most of these types of food are a little heavy on the sugar. The amounts in the recipe are just right.

Peanut Butter

Since the flavor depends upon it, use a good-tasting peanut butter. This can be your favorite brand and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. For my taste, the best one is Walmart’s house label. It has a rich, deep peanutty taste that beats the more expensive brand in my opinion.

A honey roasted variety would work well here too. As far as crunchy peanut butter goes, it would probably be OK to use although I have never tried it. If. you use it and get good results, please let me know so I can list it as an option.

Like Chocolate?

OK I know–who doesn’t. However you can dress up these brownies by drizzling some melted chocolate on top. You could really get bold and top them with chocolate frosting.

Personally, I think the drizzle would work best here. That way there’s no overkill with flavor. Chocolate is strong so it may mask the peanutty taste.

The drizzle I’d use is a simple ganache. That’s about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream where you just nuke and stir. The best part is whatever is left over hardens to a great bark-like texture. I spread the leftover on wax paper and just let it solidify. Delicious!

The Recipe

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Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

For peanut butter lovers

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: brownies that don't have chocolate, peanut butter brownies

Servings: 9

Calories: 315kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup unsalted butter softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking pan. Set aside
In a medium bowl, cream the peanut butter and butter. Gradually add the sugars, beating until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, beating well after each. Blend in the vanilla.
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into the peanut butter mixture, blending well.
Turn into prepared pan, making an even layer.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and cut into 9 portions.

Nutrition

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Chocolate Loaf

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 10 Sep 2022 23:00:10 +0000

This chocolate loaf is sure to be a hit with all who try it.

Chocolate Loaf–Best Chocolate Pound Cake Ever

I just love this chocolate loaf. In fact, I think it’s the best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. There’s a reason for that and it’s not only the rich, deep chocolate flavor.It’s the crumb that I find to be the best part. Reason for that is the crumb is so fine that this cake literally melts in your mouth.

Now for the chocolate flavor–that’s obtained by using a good-quality cocoa. Here is not the place to skimp by using a generic. You have your choice as to whether to use regular or dutch-processed. The dutch process would probably yield a better flavor, but the difference is so slight that it’s immaterial–at least to me. Anyway dutched cocoa is pretty hard to find in the supermarket now and as I said, the difference is probably not worth it.

The Topping–Happy Accident

Originally I made this cake without a topping, but I wanted to try something new.

Have you seen some chocolate cakes that are topped with chocolate chips? Especially where the chips have their shape but still look melty? Well, that’s what I wanted but I didn’t get it.

What happened was the chips actually cooked into the top of the cake and made a nice crunchy chocolaty topping which is a lot like crumbs. It was super! Sometimes the accident turns out to be happy and that’s the case with this. The last “disaster” was years ago with my maple meatloaf, so check that one out.

Butter

It goes without saying that unsalted butter is the shortening used in this. Resist the urge to use baking spread (YUCK).

The butter flavor really comes through in this so it’s a pretty major component of the taste. If all you have is salted butter, then leave out the salt in the recipe.

The Recipe

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Chocolate Loaf

Rich, buttery and chocolaty

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate loaf cake, milk chocolate pound cake, rich chocolate cake

Servings: 12

Calories: 267kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

8 tbs unsalted butter room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup cocoa regular or Dutch process
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup chocolate chips

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F180C. Lightly grease a 9x5 or 8.5x4.5-inch loaf pan--the smaller pan will produce a higher dome and take the maximum baking time.
In a medium bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, baking powder and cocoa. The mixture will look clumpy--this is OK
Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add half of the flour, beating at low speed. Then add all the milk, again beating at low speed. Add the rest of the flour, beating until well mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and loosen the edges then cool for 10 minutes then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.

Video

Nutrition

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Victoria Sponge

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 23:00:22 +0000

Victoria sponge is one of the easiest yet elegant British cakes.

Victoria Sponge For Tea Time

The Victoria sponge has got to be Britain’s favorite cake for tea time. First of all, it’s very tasty but did you know it’s one of the easiest things you’ll ever make?

There’s a number of ways you can go about making one. You can start with a from-scratch cake as I do or you can use a cake mix. You can even buy a pound cake from the bakery!

The only thing that is a must is a red jam and whipped cream. The dusting of confectioner’s sugar is also optional.

The Cake

Britons always refer to making a cake batter as “making the sponge.” I have no idea where that came from because they apply it to every cake batter, most of which are not sponge cakes as Americans know them.

British cakes have a slightly different texture to American cakes. They don’t go in for that super-moist texture. Most cakes have body–much like American pound cake. So if you opt to use a mix, then the one to choose is the butter-based yellow or gold mixes. Also if using a mix and round cake pans, you’ll want the 9-inch/23-cm sized pans. My from-scratch recipe uses 8-inch/20-cm pans but you’ll have more batter from a mix so use the larger pan.

For thinner layers using a mix, 10-inch/25-cm would probably be your best bet.

You will also have to level off at least one of the layers so it sits nicely on the serving plate. I do both because I like a flat top as well, so I level both and invert the top layer.

Just a note, but when I bake I generally use the metric system and weigh. This produces consistent results. For US measures see the “NOTES” section in the recipe card.

Red Jam & Cream

Raspberry is traditional, but strawberry is a close second.

The two jams mentioned are used most, but any flavor you like will do..

When it comes to the cream filling, I never skimp and make old-fashioned whipped cream. However, unless you’re going to eat it very soon after you put the cake together, the whipped cream needs to be stabilized. Some do this with cream cheese, but my preferred method is using instant modified food starch–that’s sold under the name of Instant Clear Jel.

The Recipe

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Victoria sponge

Britain's most beloved cake

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Keyword: britain's favorite cake, victoria sponge

Servings: 8

Calories: 627kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

235 g butter very soft
235 g sugar
4 eggs
235 g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla

Filling:

1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbs confectioner's sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease 2 8-inch cake pans and line the bottom with parchment rounds--grease the parchment too.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; about 4 minutes.
Add the eggs, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla.
Fold the flour into the butter mixture until you cannot see any flour particles.
Divide the mixture equally between the pans--weighing is the best way if you want it to look even and perfect.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely--you can safely cool the cakes in the pans.
To assemble, unmold the cakes from the pans, carefully peel off the parchment and level off the top of at least 1 layer so it will be flat on the serving plate. Likewise you can level off the top of the other layer if you want a flat top. If you don't mind a domed top, that isn't necessary.
Beat the cream until stiff peaks form (see post body on how I stabilize the cream). Spread the jan on top of the bottom layer then spread the whipped cream over that. Top with the other layer (leveled side on top of the cream if you want the flat top) and dust with confectioner's sugar if desired.

Notes

US measurements for cake:

1 cup + 1 tbs soft butter, 1 cup + 1 tbs sugar, 1 cup + 3/4 cup + 2 tbs self-raising flour. Other measurements remain the same

Video

Nutrition

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Coconut Pound Cake

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 23:00:45 +0000

Looking for an old-fashioned pound cake? This coconut pound cake is just what you’re looking for.

Coconut Pound Cake Has Old-Time Texture

This coconut pound cake has a dense and fine texture just like the original pound cakes did. This one relies on the power of eggs as a leavening. There’s no baking soda nor baking powder to be found in this cake.

This recipe comes from who I consider the pound cake queen–Paula Jones from Call Me PMc. Whenever I want a different pound cake from the usual, I go to her site first. She will also walk you through the whole process if you’re a novice at baking one.

Love Coconut?

For me, that answer is a definite yes.

I deviated only slightly from Paula’s recipe in that I upped the amount of coconut because I am so fond of it. The original amount was one cup if you don’t want too much coconut. The cake will still be delicious.

For the coconut to blend better into the batter and have less “strings,” it’s pulsed in a food processor so that it’s more evenly shaped (for lack of a better word). Believe it or not, I consider this an essential step which shouldn’t be omittled. If it is, the long strands of the coconut would ruin the lovely texture. Don’t skip this step.

Vegetable Shortening

At first I thought that the inclusion of a bit of vegetable shortening was odd, considering the rich butteriness of pound cake. However, after I thought about it more, it’s there to lighten up the batter somewhat. With a lot of butter plus cream cheese, this cake would be rather dense. I happen to like that texture, but many don’t. Don’t leave it out either as the cake may not come out as expected.

As an aside, I prefer to get the vegetable shortening in the sticks. Yes, it’s more expensive–in fact it got outrageous–but if you’ve ever cleaned a measuring cup that contained shortening, you’ll know why I don’t balk at the extra expense.

The Recipe

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Coconut Pound Cake

Old-fashioned pound cake texture

Prep Time25

Cook Time1 30

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: coconut pound cake, old-fashioned pound cake, retro pound cakes

Servings: 12

Calories: 704kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening like Crisco
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour sifted
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 tbs coconut extract
1 tsp vanilla
7 eggs US graded large
1 1/2 cups flaked sweetened coconut

Glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners icing sugar
1 tbs water
1/4 cup flaked coconut

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325F/160C. Grease a 12-cup tube or Bundt pan well.
Place coconut in a food processor and pulse about 5 times.
Using a stand mixer, beat butter, shortening and sugar until mixed then add the cream cheese and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl occasionally.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the extracts and blend well. Stir in the flour, blending well..
Stir in the coconut and pour batter into prepared pan
Bake for 85-90 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cake stand in the pan for 20 minutes then invert onto serving plate.
Mix the confectioners sugar and water until smooth. Brush over top of the cake and sprinkle with the 1/4 cup coconut.

Nutrition

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Peach Upside Down Dessert Cake

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 23:00:13 +0000

This peach upside down dessert cake can be made with fresh, frozen or canned peaches. It’s a year-round treat.

Peach Upside Down Dessert Cake–Perfect Dessert

Summer is peach season so lots of desserts feature them.

This simple peach upside down dessert cake is one of those recipes. Since it’s simple to make, you’ll make it often and not only in summer! The reason is that you don’t need fresh peaches to make this cake.

Whatever variety you use, the topping is simply delicious–sweet and a bit tart and oh so buttery. This is sure to become a family favorite.

Rich Cake

There’s nothing light and fluffy about this cake. It’s a dense and rich dessert-textured cake.

Because of this, it doesn’t rise much. So when you go to test it, don’t think something’s wrong because it’s kind of flat. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. But despite it’s texture, this rich cake will literally melt in your mouth.

The cake is also made with the old-fashioned creaming method. And remember when adding the wet and dry ingredients that you begin and end with the dry ingredients.

Any Kind Of Peaches

The really great feature of this peach upside down dessert cake is you’re not limited to what type of peaches to use.

Here, I used sliced canned peaches. You can also use fresh and frozen. That make this very convenient since you can enjoy this dessert in any season.

With canned peaches, you may have to slice thicker slices in half. The can I had were pretty inconsistent in size, but I don’t consider that a huge issue. Same applies to frozen peaches.

The Recipe

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Peach Upside Down Dessert Cake

Easy dessert

Prep Time20

Cook Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cakes with peaches, peach desserts, peach upside down cake

Servings: 8

Calories: 416kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Cake:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs sour cream
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Topping:

2 cups sliced peaches fresh, frozen or canned
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

reheat oven to 350F/180C.
Place melted butter in an uncreased 9-inch/23 cm round cake pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over the butter and arrange peach slices evenly over the top.
Mix the flour baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.
Beat the 1/2 cup butter and the sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
Mix in the flour alternately with the milk, ending with the flour mixture.
Drop cake batter on top of the peaches and spread evenly over the top.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake stand for 10 minutes then invert onto a serving plate. Best served warm.

Nutrition

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Cold Oven Pound Cake

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 10 May 2022 23:00:31 +0000

Cold oven pound cake starts in…you guessed it…a cold oven.

Is Cold Oven Pound Cake Better?

I set out to find out ever since I saw this cold oven pound cake touted in Epicurious.

Starting things in a cold oven is hardly a new concept. Most recently I’ve heard it suggested for using a certain ceramic brand of bakeware. It does make sense from a theoretical standpoint, especially with the ceramic ware. But, is it better? I’m sure that there are many people who can tell you one way or another–especially about that bakeware. However, is this cake better than the more standard versions? That answer is that for me I see no real advantage. Therefore, I will leave you to decide for yourself.

By the way, this cake is extremely delicious. I don’t want to infer that the cake itself is a waste of time; it isn’t. It’s very dense and rich and has a lovely flavor,

Suggested Cake Pans

First of all, at least 10 cups is necessary and I’d even suggest a 12 cup pan. There’s a lot of batter and it filled my 10 cup brilliance pan right to the brim. The pan produces a stunning cake, but you might want to use the more conventional Bundt pan that has less nooks and crannies. This is an expensive cake to make so you’d want no failures when it’s released from the pan. A straight-sided tube pan would be your safest bet. I had no real issues releasing the cake, but I did spray it up really well with baking spray.

One thing I noticed was my cake was rather light but that was my error. I placed the cake pan on a baking sheet since the pan was full to capacity not realizing that there has to be air flow around the central tube. That was just a matter of aesthetics; the cake baked fine. This is why I suggested a larger-capacity pan. Equally, you can bake any excess batter in a smaller pan.

Very Rich

This cake has a lot of butter and a lot of eggs making it a very rich and delicious cake. Because of this, I’d save this one for special occasions as it’s not an every-day sort of dessert. Mainly that it’s pretty costly–not the calories as cake is hardly a diet item anyway.

The Recipe

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Cold Oven Pound Cake

Start this one in a cold oven

Prep Time20

Cook Time1 10

Cooling20

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cold oven pound cake, fancy bundt cakes, rich pound cakes

Servings: 12

Calories: 581kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter 3 sticks
3 cups sugar
6 eggs at room temperature
Confectioners icing sugar for dusting, optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Grease a 10-inch bundt pan and dust with flour making sure to get into the nooks and crannies of the pan. Non-stick baking spray is good as well.
Mis the flour baking powder and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
Mix the milk and vanilla in a large measuring cup.
Cream the butter on medium speed, using a sturdy stand mixer, until it's light and fluffy.
Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sugar. Continue beating for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is very light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure the batter is evenly mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly using a spatula.
Place the pan on the middle rack and set the oven temperature to 325F/160C.
Bake 60-70 minutes or until the cake is golden brown on the topped a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake on a rack for 20 minutes then invert on a serving plate. Once the cake is entirely cool, dust with confectioners sugar if desired.

Nutrition

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No-Bake Lime Cheesecake

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 00:00:30 +0000

A no-bake lime cheesecake that’s easy to make and divine to eat.

Do You Love Lime?

Then you are going to love this no-bake lime cheesecake!

It’s very easy to make and with things you might have on hand–if you’re a lover of lime flavored gelatin dessert then you have at least one of the ingredients.

I happened to have this on hand for the weirdest reason. My brother-in-law in England loves the stuff, meaning the American variety. So when my nephew visited a couple of years ago he bought a bunch of our gelatin mixes for his dad, but one of the lime ones was left behind. I am not into “jello” for dessert so it just went into the cupboard.

Cream Cheese

I always have this on hand–at least two large packages. However, I understand that there was a great cream cheese shortage over the holidays and it still may be hard to get in some locations. Last time I went to shop right after the New Year, my store had it on hand. If yours doesn’t just yet, then just save the recipe and make it when you can get it.

One caveat with the cream cheese is to use either the regular kind or Neufchatel, which is also known as “light” or “lower-fat” cream cheese. As an aside, it’s a cheese variety in itself and very close to cream cheese. Under no circumstances use a fat-free variety. It just won’t work out–and that’s something I know from experience. And it doesn’t work in baked nor no-bake cheesecakes.

The Crust

Pretty much any cookie will do here. Sandwich ones work the best. I used some leftover lemon sandwich cookies and that worked very nicely giving a delicious lemon-lime accent to the cheesecake.

If you don’t have sandwich cookies, then good ole graham crackers will do very nicely. Coconut would be good too for a tropical flair.

The Recipe

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No-Bake Lime Cheesecake

An awesome no-bake cheesecake

Prep Time30

Cook Time0

Chill Time4

Total Time4 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: citrus cheesecakes, no-bake lime cheesecake

Servings: 12

Calories: 535kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Cookie Crust:

15 oz lemon sandwich cookies
3 tbs melted butter
1 tbs sugar

Cheesecake Filling:

16 oz softened cream cheese
1 tbs lime juice
1 cup sugar
1 small box lime gelatin size that serves 4
16 oz heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioner's icing sugar

Topping

1 sliced lime
Whipped cream if desired

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cookie Crust

Pulse the lemon cookies in food processor, until crushed. Add melted butter and sugar. Pulse to mix. Press the crushed cookie mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and and partway up the sides. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes until crust is firm.

Cheesecake Filling

Beat cream cheese, lime juice and sugar until well mixed. Set aside.
In another bowl, add 1 cup of boiling water to gelatin and stir to dissolve, then set aside to cool.
Whip the heavy cream with powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Take care not to go to far, to a butter stage.
Once gelatin has cooled and begun to thicken, fold it into the whipped cream and mix gently.
Then, fold in the cream cheese mixture until evenly blended. Fill crust with the cheesecake mixture, spreading to even out if necessary. Top with lime slices and additional whipped cream if desired. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm.

Nutrition

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Bavarian Cream Biscuits

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 00:00:55 +0000

Whip up a batch of these Bavarian cream biscuits and surprise the family!

Bavarian Cream Biscuits?

Yep, that’s right! I know it may sound strange, but consider that many people are using refrigerated biscuits to make “donuts” in their air fryers. Not for nothing, those air-fried” donuts taste pretty darned good too.

Why not carry that principle further and apply it to filled donuts. I admit that the biscuit itself is nowhere near the taste nor the texture of filled raised-yeast donuts. However, that doesn’t mean that they won’t taste very good–they do. And what’s good about these is that they should be eaten the same day you make them.

Unlike their yeast cousins, biscuits don’t keep as well.

Creamy Filling

This filling is rich and creamy. It’s delicious too, but of course you know that already.

I tend to use heavy or whipping cream for this type of concoction. Not only for taste but for texture. Light cream or half and half could probably be substituted, however, I can’t vouch for the texture as it may be too runny to be a good filling. Milk would definitely be out here because your end product wouldn’t be much like a pastry filling; it’d be exactly like it’s intended purpose–a pudding.

Chocolate Frosting

I give my favorite quickie chocolate ganache recipe for this and I highly recommend it. Reason for that is that it’s very easy, tastes delicious and it produces the right consistency for this use.

You can always use your favorite recipe for chocolate frosting. The caveat is it must be thin enough so that it drizzles. Another option is to use canned frosting and microwaving it so it becomes runny. However that frosting will lose it’s gloss where my quick ganache will not–so make a tad extra so you can lick out the bowl with the excess. It’s glorious.

The Recipe

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Bavarian Cream Biscuits

Simple yet delicious

Prep Time5

Cook Time0

Biscuit Bake Time20

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bavarian cream donuts, desserts using biscuits, donuts from biscuits

Servings: 8

Calories: 304kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

8 large biscuits refrigerated, frozen or your own
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix 1/2 of the box

Frosting:

1 cup chocolate chips
2-3 tbs cream

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a small bowl, beat the cream and the pudding mix with an electric mixer until it's thick. Cover and refrigerate.
Bake biscuits as per package direction or your own recipe. Allow biscuits to cool.
When ready to fill the biscuits, let the filling stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Place filling in a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip (you can also use a plastic freezer bag with a corner cut out).
Insert the tip into the side of each biscuit and squeeze about 2 tablespoons of the filling into the center.
For the frosting, combine the chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of cream in a small bowl and microwave on high for 15 seconds. Stir until smooth. The frosting should be of drizzling consistency; add additional cream if necessary to achieve this texture.
Swirl tops of the biscuits in the frosting.

Nutrition

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Seed Cake

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 23:00:25 +0000

Seed cake is one of those traditional British cakes that never goes out of style.

Seed Cake Is Very British

Here’s another “food of my people” recipe! While lemon drizzle cake is a perennial favorite, seed cake isn’t too far behind.

OK now it’s dressed up and some other things are added to make the recipe more modern, but nothing beats the simplest version.

My mom was pretty old school and this was the seed cake she grew up with. I remember the first time she made it. I was prepared not to like it because I wasn’t fond of caraway seeds. Since she always insisted that. you try a food before arbitrarily dismissing it, I had no choice in the matter. And you know, there’s just something about a nice pound cake with caraway seeds in it. I really loved it and it’s been a favorite ever since.

Cake Isn’t Huge

This is a cake that will disappear with no leftovers. The fact that it is delicious is one of those things, but it’s a relatively small cake.

It was originally made in a 7-inch cake tin (affiliate link) which is a popular size in the UK. I have one of them and you can purchase them here but they are generally springform pans.

I chose to use a small, but standard size, loaf pan. That pan is 8 x 4-inches. This size will produce smaller, shorter slices. But at any rate, the cake is not a huge one. It doesn’t rise much either so if you make it, don’t think that it’s a failure–it’s not.

If You Love Caraway…

Then feel free to add more than the suggested amount.

My mom used to add more because her’s was loaded with them. I kept to a lower amount because it added great flavor but was not overwhelming.

The Recipe

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Seed Cake

A British tradition

Prep Time15

Cook Time50

Course: Snack

Cuisine: British

Keyword: caraway seed in cake, seed cake, traditional british cakes

Servings: 8

Calories: 247kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

6 oz flour 1 1/3 cups
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 cup butter room temperature
2 eggs
1-2 tbs milk

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Spray a small loaf pan (8 x 4 inch) or a 7-inch/18 cm round cake pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 400F/299C.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and add the caraway seed; set aside.
Beat butter and sugar until mixture is pale, then add the eggs, one at a time, until well blended.
Stir in the flour mixture and add enough milk to get a dropping consistency (batter will be stiff, much like a pound cake).
Spread in prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the enter comes out clean.

Nutrition

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