a week of cakes

This week started with a carrot cake. A ginger carrot cake - it was supposed to be orange ginger carrot but ended up being a lemon ginger carrot cake, from here. I baked it in my new-to-me bundt pan and drizzled a cream cheese glaze over the top. (The bundt pan was a bargain at a recent flea market at $.35!) It was the ending to a lovely family dinner last Sunday, where I served  market microgreen spicy greens topped with toasted chopped hazelnuts, thinly sliced pear and crumbled goat cheese with a balsamic vinegrette, followed by a leek and cheese topped shepherd's pie from here followed by the cake. The cake was lovely - dense and flavourful. Thankfully there were a few slices left after the supper, so we did get to have it another day.

 While I was beating up the carrot cake, I flipped through the cookbook and came up to a recipe for an easy apple snack cake, featuring additions of applesauce and diced apple. It sounded like a perfect recipe for T's lunchbox during the week, especially given the new chocolate ban for our boy (imposed by us) - especially given his thumbs up to an apple muffin sample at Starbucks earlier in the day. So while the carrot cake was baking, I whipped up the apple cake.

D and T loved it.

Tuesday night at supper, T announced that he needed me to make him something yummy for his Hallowe'en preschool party on Thursday. Having read this, I decided a wheat free version would be just the ticket. So Wednesday night, I turned on the oven and the mixer and made it.

Here is how I did it - adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Spiced Pearsauce Cake (wheat free)

1 c brown rice flour

1 c Bob's Red Mill's gluten free flour mix

1 tsp baking soda

4 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tspn ground cloves

1 stick butter, softened

1 c packed light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c unsweetened pearsauce (or applesauce)

Icing
5 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 tbsp butter, softened

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 c icing sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt and spices.

In a stand mixer, beat the sugar, vanilla and butter until light and fluffy (~ 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add the pearsauce. At low speed, mix the flour mixture in until all incorporated.

Scrape into a greased 8x8 baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 deg F. Cool.

For the icing, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla with the mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and cinnamon and beat until all incorporated, adding more sugar to achieve the icing consistency you want. Ice the cooled cake.

(The icing also works on the earlier apple snack cake).

 

And to round out the week, when I picked T up on Thursday afternoon, he announced that there was another party on Friday and we needed to bring apple juice and cupcakes for it. Once I pointed out that I had neither, he deep sixed the idea of apple juice but clung to the idea of cupcakes. I was fairly wrung out by the week in general (including two nights of frantic shark costume makery) and couldn't face making another cake. T really was hoping for the box of gluten free chocolate cake to be make either into cake or cupcakes but I couldn't face breaking the chocolate embargo (ridiculous given the looming Hallowe'en treat bags) - so I whipped up apple banana wheat free muffins and frosted them with orange buttercream. Done. And I think I'm over cake for the moment.