Coconut Cake with Chocolate Cloud Frosting

What happens if you're not ready to turn 27? When you feel like your life isn't where you imagined it to be in your youth? I didn't have concrete 5 or 10 year goals, but in my head, I had hoped to make decent progress in life. But then again, what defines someone as successful? It's subjective. One person's success might not mean the same thing to someone else. But I can't help but compare myself to my peers. Some friends I've grown up with are now married, popping out babies, or devoted mothers, and/or own a home. I don't have any of those things. I don't even have a dog (something I hope to change next year--hey look, an attainable goal!). I know that those things don't define you and everyone's timeline is different, but how does that reflect about you?

I feel like I haven't traveled enough, I want to eat and drink my way through Italy, stuff my face with platters of fresh pasta made by nonnas with wrinkled hands and sip homemade limonello followed by pistachio gelato. I want to visit New Orleans and blues dance with a hot stranger on the street with a saxophonist crooning in the background. I haven't read enough books! I want to lie on the beach in Santorini and read food memoirs. 

I want to own my own house and paint the bathroom a brilliant shade of pale turquoise to remind me of the Caribbean ocean, hang up a ton of photos I've taken of my friends and family to show off to my friends and family. I want a bright and open kitchen with grayish white marble countertops and host dinner parties like I used to during my Montreal days. I want to have a golden retriever and call him Brinkley (named after Tom Hank's dog in You've Got Mail) and throw frisbees for him to catch and bring back to me. That's only a tiny glimpse of the many things I want to do. I feel like I'm running out of time. Is it just me? Is this what a quarter-life crisis feels like?

Anyway, I made this layer cake for one of my best friend's birthday. I made the cake layers and froze it for a week since I knew there wouldn't be time to make it before her party. I whipped up the frosting which was definitely THE most decadent, buttery, and creamy frosting I've ever made. Other frostings I've made lean towards the sugary side or have sandier texture and who don't the words "Cloud Frosting" just beckon your name? The frosting has a high butter to sugar ratio which makes it uber smooth. I'd prefer a stronger chocolate flavour, but that didn't stop the compliments from flowing at the party. 

The cake is absolutely amaZING. It's moist and the flavour marries well with the frosting, there's just enough shredded coconut to give it some nibbly texture too. I put plenty of kosher salt in the frosting too because I can't resist that sweet and salty combination. There were no leftovers which made us sad, but I suppose it goes to show just how delicious it was. 

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Recipe here!

Chocolate Guinness Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I was intrigued when I first saw this cake in Nigella Lawson’s book, then it popped up again on Athena’s blog in which I was redirected to Design Sponge and ding ding! that’s when I knew it was a sign for me to make this cake. A cake like this beauty, reminiscent of a tall glass of stout, a cake with a glowing halo above it begs to be baked and frosted and shared among friends.

Despite the inky, lava-like batter threatening to overflow my mixing bowl, the cakes turned out beautifully. I did make one booboo though. One cake pan was actually larger in diameter than the other, so when I stacked them on top of another, it turned out wonky, not to mention that the cake itself is quite delicate and as I transferred it to my brand spanking new cake plate, I nearly split it in half. I’m not one to have the patience over layered cakes, I’m the kinda girl who prefers her desserts simple and rustic, but it’s always fun to have beautiful cakes, especially for birthdays (like me and my mom’s). 

For the first time in my life, I used fancy cocoa powder. By fancy, I mean I-treated-myself-as-if-I-were-the-Queen fancy. I went to the Delicious Food Show on Friday with a classmate and walked away with a kilo of Cacoa Barry Extra Brute cocoa powder and a spring in my step. I know that ideally, the best quality chocolate should be used in baked goods, though sometimes I can’t afford to buy expensive ingredients, there was something about the dark, musky scent of cocoa that lured me to splurge and splurge I did.

Nigella describes this cake having a “resonant, ferrous tang” and Katie deems it “one of the best chocolate cakes recipes out there” so come on, isn’t that enough to urge you to make it too? 

This cake is dreamy. In the oven, the signature bitterness of the Guinness evaporates, replaced with a cake that is moist, dense, with a soft, delicate crumb. This cake could be a fatal cavity-inducing treat in each bite, yet the beer adorns it with an unmistakable dampness, leaving it not overly sweet, but just right. 

I suspect the use of fancy cocoa powder amps up the richness of the cake. The white frothy frosting gives a striking contrast to the dark, charcoal layers and on your tongue, there’s the undeniable twang from silky cream cheese. And when the sparkler candles went off, it was a like a mini fireworks show. But nothing beats a chocolate birthday cake more than a night surrounded by the kindest, the funniest, the sweetest friends you could ever hope for.

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Recipe here!

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

When I was young, way before I learned to cook or even had the slightest interest in food, I had a small list of favourite snacks. Among them were peanut butter cracker sandwiches, really nothing special, just Skippy peanut butter squeezed between saltine crackers. Its taste was far from my concerns, rather, it was the sheer fun of playing with food that kept me making them, one after another, slowly and quietly in the hot, stuffy kitchen.

 

As the only child, I’ve learned early on to find ways to keep myself amused and making these square sandwiches was one of them. There was the ritual of opening the cracker package, I gingerly tore apart the thin, plastic wrapping, determined to keep the conjoined crackers intact. When I succeeded, I broke apart two crackers and with one swift hand, a thick, glossy layer of peanut butter covered one cracker; just enough to fill the sandwich, but not too much that it would squeeze out when pressed together. Finally I aligned another cracker on top, adding just enough pressure for the peanut butter to seep through the cracker peepholes but not too hard that it broke the layers.

I’d proudly stack 5 or 6 sandwiches on a plate, make my way to the living room, change my mind and rearrange them into a flat circle, lest they topple over. Sometimes, I’d make extra and save them for my dad, who like me, loved snacks and his eyes lit up when he found the leaning tower of crackers by the bedside table. I think that was one of the earliest moments where I recognized the satisfaction and pride in watching someone eat something you made.

Aside from the methodological measuring and mixing of flours, creaming butter and sugar to create air, baking is more than a science. It’s soothing, de-stressing and a little magical. My heart flutters like a butterfly when I watch my friends sink their teeth into a cake I made, the satisfied sounds that erupt, the empty dessert plates, the crumbs on the floor, a smear of icing on the nose, baking is all about sharing.

I take any opportunity I can to honour a special occasion, and what says happy birthday better than a chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting? I like cakes with a bit more heft, denser and strong in flavour and these cupcakes hit the spot. Based on Jill O’Connor’s recipe for Devil’s Food Cake, there’s a hint of coffee in the batter to enhance the chocolate flavour and brown sugar to give the cake dark and richer notes. I adjusted the amount of white sugar and replaced a little with malted chocolate powder.

For the first time, this frosting won me over. I find frostings too sweet, burning my throat, but this frosting from the popular Baked stole the show. The cream cheese gives it that tangy, lush quality, yet the peanut butter manages to tone down the cloying sweetness. On top of cupcakes, it’s like they were meant to be: chocolate and peanut butter.

At my friend’s birthday party, we held our cupcakes high in the air and toasted. There were moans, groans and big sighs of satisfaction, compliments flew my way and I smiled. I can feel the magic.

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Recipe here!