Knock You Naked Brownies

   

Well it certainly has been some time since I sat down to do some writing.  I have been busy playing scramble on the ipad and reading a book (if you can actually picture that), those are in addition to the things life generally brings like dinner, laundry and kids activities.

     I haven't gotten away from baking and crafting, as those are things that I do love to do.  So one night I was headed to my friend Barb's for a night of card making, I didn't want to go empty handed so I broke out my new Pioneer Woman cookbook.  I flipped through the pages looking for just the right dessert to bring and what did I see but "Knock You Naked" Brownies.  If the name wasn't catchy enough I don't know what would be.  A quick view of the recipe and I was off to the supermarket for a bag of caramels.

     So I get home and I start unwrapping caramels to get them in my new double boiler, I was itching to use that thing.  The for the can of evaporated milk...sh--!  I only had sweetened condensed milk in the house, but I was not going back to the supermarket, I can improvise.  I used the sweetened condensed milk, but I also added a splash of regular milk as sweetened condensed milk is thicker than the evaporated.

     The recipe also called for a 9X9 baking pan, which I didn't have.  I did have a 8X8 baker so that was going to have to do.

     I have to tell you these brownies were a hit with my husband and I quote "Please don't leave those brownies at home again, take the whole pan with you next time.  I was like a junkie eating them, they are so good."

Let the baking begin.

It is that time of year, cookie swaps, holiday parties, gift giving.  I always make a ton of cookies, my co-workers and the kids teachers looked forward to the home baked gifts.  I find something relaxing about baking in the midst of all the holiday hustle and bustle.

This year I started a little later than normal, but I also don't want to make as many as normal.  I really don't need an extra 10 pounds of Christmas cookies floating around the house after Christmas and into the New Year.

I started with Chocolate Chip Cookies, not just any recipe but my friend Amy's recipe.  I don't quite know what makes this recipe come out better than any other chocolate chip recipe I have ever tried, but these really ROCK!

As a matter of fact the only person I ever heard say they didn't love these cookies was my little guy, Francis, and he loves anything with chocolate.  I think it is the fact he is home sick and we are waiting the results of some tests from the doctors office, and I think right about now in his world nothing is good.

Just Sinful

Once again I have a bunch of mushy bananas laying on my counter.  Bananas in this house sometimes get eaten within hours of coming home, sometimes they just sit and get mushy calling my name to bake with them.

I wanted to do something a little different this time around.  I have added chocolate chips.  I have added nuts.  I have added coconut.  I have never added NUTELLA.  Imagine finding a recipe out there that contains something as sinful as Nutella, just dangerous.

This recipe produced a delicious, moist banana bread.  I made one full sized loaf and a bunch of mini loaves to share, as I am trying not to over indulge myself.  Plus who doesn't love a fresh baked gift?

Nutella Banana Bread

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two full sized loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add in the eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon and combine.

3. Mix in salt, baking soda, and flour just until combined. Mix in nutella.

4.Divide batter into prepared pans and bake for 35-45minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Happy 4th of July Cake

I originally saw this cake over at Crafty Mama, I love the look of it but did not love the recipe.  I am all for baking from scratch, but I really felt a cake mix would do in this case.  This cake was more about the look for me at least.

I used two cake mixes for all the layers.  In each of the two 8 inch cake pans I would pour 1 cup of cake batter in, and bake them two at a time as all I own is two 8 inch pans.  The layers still came out a little thicker than I had planned.

The blue layer was made with 2 cups of batter as it had to be the thickness of 2 red layers.  If you follow the directions from Crafty Mama, you will cut a circle out of a piece of parchment or wax paper for the top layer.  Well I guess you can say I cheated, or made this step a little easier.  I used a large biscuit cutter to cut the center out of the blue layer, and then cut the center of a red layer to fill in the blue layer.  Okay did I confuse you yet?

Well the cake was a really tall layer cake and I really didn't think it would survive the icing part, it tilted from side to side and I did panic a little bit.  The cake at least made it to the table and I was able to cut a few slices before it took a mysterious nose dive off the plate when I turned my back.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

At some time yesterday I read on Facebook that it was National Peanut Butter Cookie Day on June 12th.  I love peanut butter cookies, so this was just an excuse for me to fire up the oven and bake a batch.  One of my favorite peanut butter cookie recipes comes from America's Test Kitchen, but I saw that Peanut Butter & Company was selling Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies for the "holiday".  I love peanut butter, and I love oatmeal so I went in search of a recipe.

It didn't take long for me to find a keeper.  Allrecipes had one that had straight forward ingredients and the reviews were glowing.  I did however swap out the shortening and used butter.  I didn't have any shortening on hand, and I just usually prefer butter.  I have been known to have 20 pounds of butter in the freezer just in case of a baking frenzy.  I also didn't flatten with fork, they did fine on their own.

The result was a delicious cookie.  Could be adding this recipe to my make for Christmas present list.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups shortening
• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening and peanut butter. Add the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix well.
3. Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
4. Drop by the rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Flatten with fork. Bake for 12 minutes or until done.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am always looking something to do with very ripe bananas.  I came across this recipe in an email, I don't know which website it came from as I get a ton of recipes in my email almost on a daily basis.  This one called for ingredients I had on hand, which is always important.  

One of the ingredients I swapped out was regular chocolate chips for white chocolate chunks, that was because I just prefer a regular chocolate.  I also choose mini-chips over chunks, I felt that would give more chocolate flavor in every bite.

This recipe turned out to be a keeper, they were moist, tasty and easy to make.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 3/4 cups (225 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (100 grams) white granulated sugar

1/4 cup (55 grams) light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (2 ounces) (65 grams) chocolate chips or chunks

3 large ripe bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

I always start by mashing the bananas with a potato masher right in the bowl I am mixing everything in.  The pour the rest of the ingredients into the bowl.  Mix well, but don't over mix otherwise muffins will be tough.  Spoon evenly among a 12 cup muffin tin that has been coated with cooking spray.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, then test with a toothpick until it comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Probably one of my favorite products is Bisquick, I have three cookbooks dedicated to the mix.  I also buy it in bulk at Costco, the large box lasts about a month in our house.  From pancakes to waffles, biscuits to cake, I really use my fair share.

So I was having some friends over for a little crafting and I was looking for a quick easy dessert to make with what I had available in the house, as I was in no mood to make a run to the store last minute.  I reached for my Best Bisquick Recipe Cookbook and found the Cream Cheese Pound Cake.  About 5 minutes later all of the ingredients were mixed and waiting for the oven to finish preheating.  The recipe called for 55-60 minutes in the oven, and I have come to the conclusion I have a hot oven so I lessened the amount of time to 45 minutes and checked early.  It was done at the 45 minute mark.

I expected the cake to be moister, but I am going to attribute that to the hot oven and will be purchasing myself a thermometer for the oven.  All in all it was a tasty cake.

Field Trip: King Arthur Flour Baker's Store

Every year we take a winter vacation to Vermont, and every year I look at the King Arthur Flour website to see how far it is from where we are staying.  You know all of these years it has never gotten closer.  So this was the year we finally bit the bullet and took the 100 plus mile ride to the The Baker's Shop.  

At first glance I felt I had landed in baker's heaven, any ingredient you could possibly imagine could be found here, cookbooks galore, baking pans!   The possibilities were endless.  I almost felt like I should have gone with a plan, being a normally compulsive planner and all.  I didn't want to buy "random" ingredients, or buy things that I can find in my local grocery store.  

I decided to go with some mixes, I had tried some last year that I bought in another specialty store in Vermont.  I got a couple of different scone mixes, cakes mixes, a bread mix and a pizza dough mix.  The one actual ingredient I purchased that day was espresso powder, I have looked at a few recipes in the past that had called for it but never had any.  Now I do.

Funny side note.  The day after we visited the store I saw job listings for King Arthur Flour on Facebook, and thought now if I only lived 250 miles closer I might have found my next career.  I can dream.

Black Russian Cake

I can see how people tend to pack on the pounds during the snowy winter months, I feel the need to do some baking on a snowy day, followed up with eating of what I have baked on a snowy day.  With another pending storm today I broke out the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor as I had seen a recipe a few weeks ago that I had been itching to try.

A Black Russian is a cocktail made from Vodka and Kahlua, well the cake is no different.

Here are the rest of the ingredients:

Black Russian Cake
1 yellow cake mix
1 large package (5.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding
1 cup oil
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup Kahlua
1/4 cup Vodka

Glaze
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup Kahlua

Preheat over to 350 degrees and prepare a bundt pan with cooking spray or shortening.  Place all of the cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Mix until all ingredients are well blended.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes.

While the cake is baking prepare the glaze.  Once the cake is removed from the oven cool in pan for about 10 minutes and remove from pan.  Slowly pour the glaze over the warm cake.  Enjoy!

The final product was delicious.  The cake was so moist, and the alcohol was not over powering.  This will definately be made again.

Heart Cake Throwdown

I felt like I was on an episode of the Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, but mine was a Donna Buckley challenge. She threw it out there and I knew I had to give it my best attempt. The directions came from this webpage, http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2010/02/heart-cake-tutorial.html, and they gave a blow by blow direction. (P.S. I still have not figured out how to post a link on a blog, may make that a goal for 2011)

I didn't use the cake recipe provided on that blog, only because I had a bunch of cake mixes on hand I would have had to gone to the supermarket for alot of the required ingredients. This cake was more about the design than the cake to me. This cake actually required three different cakes, a red one for the heart and four white layers. They all needed to be baked and cooled completely. That is when the real fun began.

I read the directions step by step, as I sometimes miss a step here and there on regular occassions, but this one was a challenge and I needed to do my best. Plus it was so time consuming I may have smashed the cake if it didn't look good when I was done.



I had to make two 2-layered cakes. Each layer got cut at an angle, as if you were cutting a cone from each layer. One "cone" got filled with the mashed red cake, and the other "cone" got refilled slightly with an inverted cone and filled.



I was nervous about flipping one of the layers upside down to top the cake but that went better than expected. Then the cake got frosted and went into the fridge for the night. I was anxious to cut it, so we cut it after breakfast and ate it in our pajamas.



This was my official taste tester, and he approved.

Cookie Swap

If there is one thing I really love around the holidays it is going to a cookie swap. For the past few years I have had a cookie swap at my house and attended one at my friend Barbara's too. You can never have too many cookies. I love to see and taste everyones Christmas best, and well to be honest I get mad when people bring something other than there best. I guess one would say I can be a bit of a cookie swap snob.

This year we had some really great cookies. Barbara's tri-colored layer cookies are always a hit, Beth's Hungarian Nut Rolls are delicious, and this year Arlene pulled out a great Chocolate Florentine cookie that I know I will be making soon, just to name a few.



I seem to make something different every year, this year I made some Danish Oatmeal. I love just about anything with oats, and the recipe was light and delicate.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, or as needed

Directions

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate large bowl, mix the butter, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, and vanilla until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in the flour mixture; gently stir in the oatmeal and pecans and lightly mix until combined.
With a spoon, drop about 1 scant tablespoon of dough per cookie onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely before sprinkling cookies with confectioners' sugar.

Cannoli Cake

Earlier this week, on election day, my office was bustling with activity. Friends were in and out as we awaited the close of the polls, that's when we get real busy. Now everyone knows that I do alot of baking so one of the guys wanted to know if I could make cannoli's. The light bulb went off, I told him I don't know if I would do cannoli's but how about a cannoli cake. The search was on, I browsed through quite a few recipes and found one on the Sargento website that really caught my eye.

The recipe said to mix the ingredients with a mixer, I have to tell you next time around I will use a food processor. I wasn't that excited about the consistency of the cannoli cream, I felt it should have been smooth, but the taste was spot on delicious.

I also wanted to share some insight to my photos of this cake. Since this cake was a work request I wanted to take the pictures there. My office is not glamorous, my desk is piled with work. We use paper plates and cut with plastic. It was hard to get the cake there and be pretty. I transported the whipped cream separately and opted to frost it at its final destination, that is the real reason for a half frosted cake. Too much mess for my desk.




Cannoli Cake

Ingredients
4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1/4 cup chopped semisweet chocolate
1 recipe Ricotta Filling
1 recipe Whipped Cream Frosting
Fresh berries or candied cherries, for garnish
Ricotta Filling:
2 cups (15 oz.) Sargento® Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese
3 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
Whipped Cream Frosting:
2 cups whipping cream
2 Tbsp. confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Beat eggs and sugar on medium speed in bowl with an electric mixer 5 minutes or until thick. Gently fold in flour and butter; pour into greased and floured 8-inch round cake pan. Bake in preheated 350°F oven 40 minutes or until cake feels firm when touched in center. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

To make Ricotta Filling: Beat Ricotta cheese, sugar and vanilla on medium speed in bowl with electric mixer 3 minutes. Fold in whipped cream and chocolate chips.
To make Whipped Cream Frosting: Beat cream on high speed in bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar and vanilla.

Cut cake in half horizontally using sharp serrated knife. Cut each layer in half again horizontally. Place 1 layer on serving platter; spread with one-third Ricotta filling. Repeat procedure, ending with cake layer. No sooner than 6 hours before serving, frost sides and top of cake with all but 1 cup frosting. Decorate with remaining frosting, chopped chocolate and fruit. Refrigerate until serving time.

Helpful Tips
This recipe produces a very dense cake layer. The only leavening is the air incorporated into the eggs when beaten. For best results, eggs should be at room temperature before beating with sugar.



I think Sean enjoyed his cake. Any more requests?

Carmel Apple Muffins

I had plenty of apples left from the apple picking we had done. I really wanted to make some sort of muffins with the apples but I couldn't find a recipe that appealed to me until I visited Chocoholic Anonymous to look at another recipe when this one caught my eye.

I made the batch and the house smelled abosolutely delicious. The recipe makes 24 muffins, more than this family could possibley eat which is okay for me because I just love to share my baked goods with my co-workers. They were a real hit for me and for them, this recipe is a keeper.

*Pecan Streusel Topping*
1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1/3 cup flour
3 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

*Muffins*
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups diced apple
2 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup caramel topping
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup granulated sugar (divided use)
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 tsp vanilla


Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 2 standard muffin tins (12 cups each) or line with paper muffin cups.

Place all of the ingredients for the pecan streusel topping in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers mix the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a mixture resembling coarse crumbs. Set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the diced apple, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice until the apples are well coated. Set aside.

In a medium bowl mix together the sour cream and baking soda, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together 1/2 cup sugar and the butter.

Beat in egg yolks two at a time, mixing completely after each addition.

Stir milk and caramel into the sour cream mixture.

Set your mixer on low and alternate adding flour and caramel mixtures. Mix just until combined; do not over mix.

In another bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Continue beating while gradually adding the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until stiff and glossy.

Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it. Fold in the remainder of the egg whites until just barely combined (some white may show in the batter).

Gently fold in the apple and spice mixture.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins filling about 2/3 full.

Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of streusel topping over the batter in each cup.

Place the pans in the heated oven for 16-18 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Store in a sealed container.

Peach Crisp

Well after picking all of that fruit I needed to prepare some fruit desserts. The peaches were ripe right off of the tree so I figured that was what I should start with. I really love cobbler made with oatmeal and nuts. Crunchy crumbs with tender sweet fruit yummy.



The recipe comes from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.

Peach Crisp

Fruit
3 pounds peaches
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar
1 tea lemon juice
1/4 tea almond extract

Crisp
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tea cinnamon
1/8 tea nutmeg
1/8 tea salt
6 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all fruit ingredients in a large bowl and pour into a 8X8 baking pan. Cover with foil and bake until fruit is hot and has released its juices, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, pulse almonds, oats, flour, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a food processor until nuts are chopped. Drizzle with the melted butter and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.

Remove fruit from oven and uncover. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit. Bake the crisp until the topping is a deep golden brown and the fruit is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Let the crisp cool for 10 minutes before serving.



It can be served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. I actually just poured a small amount of heavy cream over the top for some extra creaminess.

Banana Bread with Style

When the weekend comes around I often look at some speckled bananas on the counter and wonder why do I continue to buy bananas and what am I going to make with these now. I almost always make my mom's banana bread recipe but tonight I was looking for something a little different. After browsing Cooks Illustrated for banana recipes I decided on a Macadamia Coconut Banana Bread, sounds tropical. As I go to the cabinet that houses the macadamia nuts I don't see the bag where it usually sits. I pull over a chair to stand on to get a better look, still no macadamia nuts. So a minor setback no macadamia nuts, but I have been handling setbacks well all day. I was in BJ's earlier and Francis had to use the restroom, while in there someone swiped my cart, minor setback but I was irritated. So the nut thing is really no big deal, I have pecans.

I learned something new while reading this recipe. Often recipes call for just prepping the bottom of the pan, I always wondered why thinking the rest of the cake/bread will be stuck while the bottom isn't. The tip in the recipe said that if you prep the sides of the pan your cake/bread won't rise as high in the center. Thanks to Cooks Illustrated for the reason behind leaving the sides ungreased.

I don't know know how you may feel about coconut but I love it. I know it is usually a love hate thing with most people. I am the only one in my house that likes, more like loves coconut. When we go out for an ice cream treat with the boys and the ice cream shop has coconut ice cream I would be willing to bet that is what I am going to have. Tim thinks I get it just because I don't want to share a taste of my ice cream, that isn't it I really do LOVE coconut!

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup flaked, sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3 very ripe bananas , soft, darkly speckled, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs , beaten lightly
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Toast coconut and macadamia nuts on small cookie sheet, stirring every 2 minutes, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Readjust oven rack to lower middle position. Grease bottom only of regular loaf pan, or grease and flour bottom and sides of nonstick 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. Combine first four ingredients, coconut, and nuts together in large bowl; set aside.

2. Mix mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with wooden spoon in medium bowl. Lightly fold banana mixture into dry ingredients with rubber spatula until just combined and batter looks thick and chunky. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan; bake until loaf is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

It all began with a trip to the local library. I always browse the new arrivals, I am not a big reader but I do love a good cookbook. This wasn't just any cookbook but a cookbook that had a little story that went along with each cake. Cakes that she shared with her co-workers, just like me. An added bonus was when I googled the cookbook, because I had to have it, I found it on a discount book website and scored it for $5 with FREE SHIPPING! This is just the first of many cakes to come from this must have cookbook.



All too often I have bananas on the counter that are past their eating prime, so it was a no brainer to start with a banana cake. The chocolate frosting that went with the cake is what made it real special in my eyes. Homemade chocolate frosting...YUM!

I had to adjust this recipe just a bit. First the shortening I had was rancid, so I replaced with butter. The frosting called for unsalted butter, I only keep salted in the house. Lastly I found that the frosting needed more cream to make it spreadable.



Recipe

Cake
2/3 cup shortening
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 1/1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 tea baking powder
1 tea baking soda
1 tea salt
1 1/4 cup ripe bananas mashed
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Frosting
Two 1 ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 tea vanilla
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup cream or sweetened condensed milk

To Make the CakePreheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare tube pan. Cream shortening, then gradually add sugar, mixing well. In a separate bowl, dry whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the creamed mixture and beat until blended. Add mashed bananas and half the buttermilk and mix until moistened, then increase mixer speed to med-high and mix for two minutes. Add the rest of the buttermilk and eggs, and beat another two minutes. Stir in walnuts. Bake in a tube pan for 50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and unmold.

To Make the Frosting
Melt chocolate in a double boiler or heat proof bowl. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool. With mixer on medium speed, cream butter, then gradually add half og th confectioner's sugar, blend well. Beat 2 tbsp cream into mix. Beat in remaining sugar and cream. Add melted chocolate to the creamed mixture and beat until smooth. Spread on cooled cake.

Rum Drenched Vanilla Cakes

It didn't require much thought when it came to making this cake. The name alone is very enticing, and the fact that I had all of the ingredients at home was an added bonus.

This is the where I first saw the recipe http://pinkstripes.wordpress.com. I love just about anything that calls for rum, especially dark rum. As I sit here writing this I can smell the sweet aroma of the vanilla filling the house. It doesn't matter that it is a hot summer night, I don't seem to mind the oven on for this one. I just checked the oven to make sure the cakes aren't getting too dark like the recipes says to do at the thirty minute mark, they are looking good.

I plan on sharing at least one of the cakes, as the recipe makes two, with the girls at work. They love when I bring in tasty treats. Not only that, but I really want to treat my good friend Marie to a great few weeks of work as she is retiring at the end of the month and will be greatly missed.

For the Cakes

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 1/3 cups of sugar
• 2 plump, moist vanilla beans, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved, or 1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 6 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 2/3 cup of heavy cream
• 2 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 stick plus 7 tablespoons (15 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the Syrup

• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup dark rum

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-x-2 1/2 -inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. (Even if the pans are nonstick, it’s a good idea to butter and flour them.) Place the pans on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Put the sugar and the pulp from the vanilla beans, if using them, in a large bowl and, working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist and thoroughly imbued with the fragrance of vanilla. (If you are using vanilla extract, add it later, after you’ve added the eggs.) Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the extract, if you are using it, then whisk in the cream, followed by the rum. Continuing with the whisk or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. (As soon as the cakes go into the oven, make the syrup.) After about 30 minutes in the oven, check the cakes for color–if they are browning too quickly, cover them lightly with foil tents.

Meanwhile, Make the Syrup: Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.

When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding them and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and, using a thin skewer, cake tester or thin-blade sharp knife, poke holes all over the cakes. Brush the cakes all over with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.