Brass knuckles don't seem like the right topic for Serious Eats. But cupcake knuckles? Yes, please. There's not enough cupcake tats out there on otherwise bland fingers, which is why we love this framed cross-stitch, available on Etsy by seller citydown. She is the same woman responsible for stitching another embroidered essential which displays the wise proverb: Cake is the New Black. [via Craftzine]
In celebration of its 30th birthday a few weeks ago Ben & Jerry's released Cake Batter ice cream. The flavor, which is a mixture of vanilla ice cream, yellow cake batter, and chocolate frosting, joins the ranks of more than 200 others the company has produced over the past three decades. From the simple (Strawberry, Butter Pecan, Chocolate Fudge Brownie) to the sensational (Bananas on the Rum, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Coconut Seven Layer Bar), there's no denying that Ben & Jerry's makes some great scoops. But I must admit, while I love ice cream, cake, and ice cream cake, I'm not a fan of cake ice cream.
Are you?
"Florida has the key lime pie, Massachusetts has the Boston cream pie and, hopefully, Maryland will have the Smith Island Cake": The iconic multi-layered cake made of flour, butter, eggs and chocolate could soon become Maryland's official dessert. Originally brought over by the settlers who came to Smith Island in the 17th century, the cake originally consisted of four layers but has gradually grown in size to around eight or 10 layers, with filling variations depending on who you got your recipe from. The Maryland Senate voted 44-1 in favor of the cake – all that's left now is approval from the House... [photo via On the Record]
Because I like bringing the food porn to you, here's Mandy's vanilla bean chiffon cake with lemon buttercream. Those rings of lil' frosting plops and blueberries may not be anything fancy, but they add a lot of eye candy (and make me hungry). Learn how to make this cake at Mandy's blog, Fresh From the Oven.
Previously:
Photo of the Day: Custom Cake From Wal-Mart
Photo of the Day: M&M Candy Wedding Cake
Photo of the Day: Henry Darger Cake
Photo of the Day: Homer Cake
After reading through the comments on A Red Velvet Affair, it seems that there is a lot of curiosity and/or confusion about red velvet cake and its origins. Though, as far I know, nobody has managed to verify the cake’s exact genesis, here is what I have pieced together from my own observations and research.
Apparently dating from around the first third or so of the 20th century, sort of the heyday of the homemade layer cake—when chemical leaveners and hydrogenated fats were widely available; finely-ground, moisture-loving cake flour had been introduced; and the electric mixer was making its way into more homes—right before the advent of inexpensive packaged mixes, there are a number of recipes for American-style cakes * known simply as "velvet cake." These cakes (like most red velvet cakes) were neutrally flavored, meant primarily as moist, rich vehicles for sweet icings.
Bakerella made these beautiful chocolate cake balls, or "cakesicles," by mixing together crumbled chocolate cake and frosting, rolling the mixture into little balls, popping them onto sticks, and dipping them in melted candy. Why are foods more fun when you eat them off a stick?
Travis's Homer cake contains the three crucial Homer components: Duff beer, a sprinkled donut, and the pièce de résistance—a trickle of drool. I think Homer would approve of such craftsmanship...and then proceed to shovel the cake down his throat in five seconds.
Kitty Crider of the Austin American-Statesman recently interviewed pastry chef Dunia Borga, known in Dallas for her Cuatro Leches cake—a twist on the traditional tres leches (three milks) cake—that "begins with a vanilla sponge cake, coarser than American butter cakes but strong enough to hold up to the sauce of three milks poured over it. Then it is covered with a caramelized Swiss meringue and dotted with the arequipe [dulce de leche, or caramel sauce]."
Still not sold? Sarah Phillips of Baking911 sampled Borga's cake at her restaurant La Duni a few years ago and says, "It beats any tres leches cake on the planet, and I have eaten a lot of them! I was interested in the recipe because a few years ago I was on the best tres leche cake quest, and I think this one is the best I have EVER EVER tried in my whole life, and it still holds the title, in my mind. My friends and I must have had a dozen pieces (and then some) of this cake in two days...."
If you're nowhere near Dallas but would like to try cuatro leches, Borga's put the recipe up on her website so you can bake it yourself. Send me a slice if you do!
"We are intrepid cake tourists, travelling the globe in search of amazing cake. Aghast at the lack of cake information in tour guides we will tell you the reader where to go for the best cake, wherever you are in the world. Obviously this may take some time but we're willing to do what it takes: eating lots of cake." The Cake Tourism blog, where the cake lovers of the world unite!
[via justhungry del.icio.us]
Yesterday we discussed how buying from online bakeshops is a leap of faith, one that I don't think I'm cut out for. Well, if you're ready to make that leap you might as well make it deluxe and order a $100 Ultimate Coconut Cake from Charleston's Peninsula Grill. The cake serves 16 people and weighs 12 pounds—shipping isn't included in the price and will run you a whopping $34 to $60 extra.
GreatGrub's reference page allows users to expand or improve cooking tips and definitions. Add your two cents about moister cakes, freezing lemon zest, the history of PB&J, and so on. It's limited (still in beta version) but shows promise.
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