Orange Cardamom Cake

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I don’t know if I’ve mentioned before that I do all my blog photo shoots in a corner of my bedroom. I’ve got wide windowsills and my carrara marble pie board, so it’s a pretty sweet deal…except when it’s gray outside for days on end and my viewless east-facing window gets terrible light. I’ve made it work in the past, but just couldn’t bear the idea of taking grainy, sub-par photos of this Orange Cardamom Cake.So, uh, hello from my make-shift photo set-up in the living room! Look at this cake I made for you!If early autumn could be baked into a cake, it would be this Orange Cardamom beauty. It’s got plenty of brightness and tang from a triple hit of fresh orange, a little warmth from ground cardamom, and a moist, tight crumb that’ll have you going back for seconds. Orange Cardamom Cake It’s like the joyful feeling you get when you finally get to break out your chunky sweaters after a long, hot summer. You’re so happy to be wearing a sweater that you don’t even care that you’re wearing it with cut-offs and sandals.But you know, it’s cake. Really, really good cake. The sort of cake you eat when you’re not ready to go all-pumpkin/apple/pear all the time, but if you have to eat one more berry anything, you’ll scream.

Maybe that’s just me. Anyway… Orange Cardamom Cake This cake is stupid easy to make. Yesssssss. It requires a mixer, but just one bowl and three steps.

Put all the ingredients in one mixing bowl.
Mix ‘em on low for 30 seconds.
Turn up the speed to medium and mix for another three minutes.

Orange Cardamom Cake Seriously, that’s it. Put the batter in the pan and bake it for a little more than an hour.Once it’s cool, paint the cake with a fresh orange glaze.Top it with a thick orange icing. That’s the stuff.Make yourself a pot of tea, cut yourself a slice, cozy up, and enjoy.Chunky sweater optional, but encouraged. Orange Cardamom Cake

Orange Cardamom Cake
makes one 10 cup capacity bundt

Cake:
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 16 pieces
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 cup milk (preferably whole), room temperature

Glaze:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 orange)
2/3 cup granulated sugar

Icing:
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1/2 orange)
pinch of Kosher or sea salt

Place an oven rack in the center position. Preheat oven to 325F. Heavily grease a bundt pan with softened butter (or shortening) and dust with flour. Set aside.

Make the cake. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to mix on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes. Batter will be thick.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth the top with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. Tap full pan on the counter five times to release any large air bubbles. Bake 65-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in several places comes out clean.

Let cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a thin, flexible knife around all exposed edges. Invert cake onto a cooling rack and let cake cool completely. Cake may be made up to a day in advance; it will keep double-wrapped in plastic wrap.

Set the cooled cake, still on the rack, over a rimmed baking sheet. Make the glaze. Combine orange juice and sugar in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, just until the sugar granules dissolve. Alternatively, this may be done in a small pot on the stove.

Use a pastry brush to paint glaze all over the cake. Continue brushing until you’ve used all the glaze. Some will run off onto the rimmed baking sheet—that is okay. Let cake sit for 30 minutes to absorb the glaze.

Make the icing. In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together confectioners sugar, 2 tablespoons of orange juice, and salt. Mixture should be very thick, but pourable. If it’s too thick, add more orange juice by the teaspoon up to 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon). Pour over cake. Let sit for 20 minutes to set. Move cake to a serving plate before slicing and serving.

Leftover cake will keep covered at room temperature for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to five.
Orange Cardamom Cake

Cream Biscuits

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While making dinner at work last week, I decided to throw together a last-second batch of biscuits. Instead of making buttermilk biscuits, I opted for a batch of Cream Biscuits.Within five minutes, I had stirred together a dough, patted it out, sliced it into biscuits, and put a full pan into the oven. In addition, I had only used one bowl and one silicone spatula, and done absolutely zero rolling and folding. I didn’t even have to worry about cutting in chilled butter—there’s no butter at all, actually! Cream Biscuits Just five ingredients, five minutes of active work, and a twenty minute bake later, I pulled a pan of fluffy, golden biscuits from the oven.That got me thinking. I’ve used Cream Biscuit dough for all sorts things on this blog—yeast-free monkey bread, sliders, cinnamon rolls with too much frosting, and Thanksgiving stuffing—but I have never really given these delicious little morsels their due. Until today. Cream Biscuits Oh, yes. Today we’re talking about easy, tender biscuits that could rival any of my other biscuit recipes for taste and texture.We’re talking about a recipe so versatile that it can be used for everything from weekend breakfast to game day to a holiday menu.We’re talking about biscuits so quick and simple that they can be pulled together on a busy weeknight without a second thought……or spread with butter and honey on a lazy Saturday morning.In short, this is one of those recipes so delicious and deliciously easy that it’ll make you look like Ina Garten.So, what are you waiting for?! Make some Cream Biscuits tonight!

Thank me later 🙂 Cream Biscuits

Looking for more biscuits? I’ve got you covered! See here & here for buttermilk biscuits, here for brown butter biscuits, here for cheese biscuits, and here for vegan coconut oil biscuits!

Cream Biscuits
makes about 16 biscuits

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
2 cups (1 pint) cold heavy cream + more for brushing (optional)

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease and flour an 8- or 9-inch square pan. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour in heavy cream and fold into a sticky dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Give it 2-3 kneads before patting into a square that is about 1-inch thick. Flour a large, sharp chef’s knife before slicing the square into 16 biscuits. Be sure to slice directly down—do not saw.

Place biscuits close together in prepared pan. Brush the tops with more heavy cream, if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops turn golden. Let biscuits cool in the pan for 7-10 minutes before serving.

Leftover Cream Biscuits are best eaten the day they are made. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a day.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookie Squares

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The Autumnal Equinox may not technically be until tomorrow night, but it is now officially Fall in my kitchen and on this blog. Time for apples and warming spices and dark caramel and, of course, pumpkin!I’m starting off my Fall baking with these Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookie Squares. They’re made with the seasonal staple, pumpkin purée, along with my favorite pumpkin pie spice blend and a good hit of granulated espresso.Those ingredients, together with the usual suspects like all-purpose flour, butter, a touch of baking powder and a hint of vanilla, bake up into a thick, soft bar base. Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookie Squares This portion of the process takes all of 35 minutes and smells so. freaking. good. that you might have a hard time letting them cool completely before tearing into them.But you should, because the next step is topping them with a thick layer of fluffy vanilla buttercream.I think vanilla buttercream can enhance almost any dessert flavor combination, but it’s especially good here as a foil to the pumpkin spice and coffee flavors. I like to top these squares with sparkling sugar, too, for a little something extra.These bars slice like a dream—I love those clean edges! Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookie Squares are very visually appealing, making them perfect for any myriad of Fall occasions. Let’s start by celebrating that it’s Fall at all ❤

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookie Squares
makes one 9-inch pan, about 16 bars

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons espresso granules (I use Medaglia d’Oro)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup pure pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
sparkling sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch square pan. Line with parchment, leaving overhand at the edges, and grease again. Set aside.

Make the cookie layer. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, espresso granules, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium-large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in granulated sugar and light brown sugar, followed by egg, pumpkin purée, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients in two installments, beating just until combined. Dough will be thick.

Spread dough into prepared pan with a silicone spatula. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until no longer wet-looking. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Let cookie layer cool completely in the pan on a rack. Do not remove bars from pan.

Make vanilla buttercream. In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in confectioner’s sugar in two installments, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Beat in salt, followed by vanilla and heavy cream.

Use an offset icing knife to frost bars. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar, if desired. Freeze pan for 10 minutes to make bars easier to slice cleanly.

Use overhang to carefully lift bars onto a cutting board. Gently peel back edges of the parchment. Use a large, sharp chef’s knife to slice into 16 bars, wiping the knife clean between cuts.

Serve squares. Store leftovers in an airtight container with wax paper between layers. They will keep at room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for up to five. Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookie Squares

Pineapple Sweet Rolls

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You won’t believe the intense pineapple flavor of these Pineapple Sweet Rolls! Or maybe you will—I mean, they have four doses of the stuff.

These are for serious pineapple lovers only. I absolutely count myself as one and yet, somehow, these rolls were something I didn’t know I wanted. Pineapple Sweet Rolls But then a grocery store display of King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls caught my eye and I had a craving for pineapple sweet bread. Instead of purchasing a package of rolls though, my “baker brain” took over and I went home to make a buttery, sweet pastry dough with pineapple juice. Pineapple Sweet Rolls That went so well that I wrapped it around a layer of soft crushed pineapple filling…sliced it into rolls and let them rise…before baking them until golden.Then I topped them with a simple pineapple icing…and sprinkled them with sparkly, sugar-coated dried pineapple.And then I had the gall to put them on the internet in the middle of a work day so you’d have a craving, too. Pineapple Sweet Rolls Sorry, not sorry.

Pineapple Sweet Rolls
makes 12 rolls

Filling:
16 ounces canned crushed pineapple in juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Dough:
1 3/4-2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup bread flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast (I use Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Yeast)
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/3 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup unsweetened pineapple juice (reserved from making filling)
2 large eggs, beaten, room temperature

Icing:
2 cups confectioners sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4-5 tablespoons unsweetened pineapple juice (reserved from making filling)

Sparkling Pineapple Garnish:
1/3 cup chopped unsweetened dried pineapple (about 1 ounce)
1 tablespoon coarse sugar (I use turbinado)

Make the filling. Set a sieve over a mixing bowl. Pour canned crushed pineapple into the sieve and use a spoon to press out excess juice. Set juice aside.

Combine pineapple, sugar, ginger, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until juices are clear and mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until cold (about 1 hour). Filling may be made up to a day in advance.

Make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar, instant yeast, and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat whole milk and butter until they reach 115F and are hot to the touch. Stir milk mixture into dry ingredients, followed by pineapple juice and beaten eggs. Stir in remaining flour in 2 tablespoon installments, just until a smooth, soft dough forms. Dough is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Knead dough on a floured surface for 5-6 minutes. Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes at room temperature.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 8×14-inch rectangle. Drop filling over the dough by the spoonful. Use an offset knife or spoon to spread filling mixture over the dough, using a 1/2-inch perimeter on all sides. Starting with the long edge furthest from your body, tightly roll filled dough toward you, smoothing any seams with your thumbs. Slice dough into 12 rolls. Place rolls close together in prepared pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap. Place covered pan in a warm, draft-free place for 60-90 minutes, until rolls have doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375F. Uncover rolls. Bake 25-30 minutes, tenting the pan with foil if anything begins to brown too quickly.

Let rolls cool for 10 minutes while you make the icing and garnish. In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together confectioners sugar, salt, vanilla, and 4 tablespoons of pineapple juice. Mixture should be very thick, but pourable. Add more pineapple juice by the teaspoon, up to 3 teaspoons (aka 1 tablespoon) until desired texture is achieved.

For the garnish, toss chopped dried pineapple with coarse sugar until well-combined and sparkly.

Pour/spread icing over warm rolls. Top with garnish. Serve immediately. Leftover rolls will keep for about a day, covered at room temperature. Icing will sink in over time.
Pineapple Sweet Rolls

Five Ingredient Fudgsicles

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Five Ingredient Fudgsicles Until last Wednesday, I had no plans to create a new Fudgsicle recipe. I have some vegan Raspberry Fudgsicles in my Recipe Index that are kind of a salad masquerading as dessert—they’re made with avocado, dates, and fresh raspberries. They’re super delicious, so it makes sense that my boss had requested them (sans berries) on that hot, miserable day. Five Ingredient Fudgsicles I trekked over to Trader Joe’s to buy the day’s groceries. It was only when I was turning onto the block where I work that I realized I hadn’t bought anything for Fudgsicles. I had been a bit distracted when my boss had requested them, and had forgotten to put the ingredients on my list. It was getting late and I needed to get started on dinner, so instead of going back to TJ’s, I determined that I’d figure out how to make Fudgsicles from things they had on-hand. Five Ingredient Fudgsicles Once I got dinner on, I started to look through the cabinets for ingredients. It went something like this:

I knew I had most of a container of cocoa powder tucked into the back of the pantry—it only ever gets used for WHAM Cakes—so the chocolate part was covered.
I found a can of coconut milk leftover from making coconut rice. That would work for creaminess.
I decided to add the dregs of a jar of coconut oil for richness and to mitigate any iciness from the water in the coconut milk. Fudgsicles are always a little soft (because otherwise they’d just be chocolate popsicles), so a lack of large ice crystals is pretty important.
For sweetener, I used maple syrup. Honey would have worked too, but they were fresh out.
Vanilla extract went into the mix because when it comes to desserts, it’s almost always a good idea.

Five Ingredient Fudgsicles I put all the ingredients in the blender, said a little prayer to Julia Child, and blitzed everything together until it was smooth. I divided the mixture among a set of ice pop molds and put them in the freezer.Before the Fudgsicles were completely frozen, it was time for me to go home. As you probably could have guessed, I spent the next 18 or so hours wondering if they were any good compared to my old favorites. Imagine how delighted I was when I got to work the next day to see that the family had already eaten most of them! Five Ingredient Fudgsicles Luckily, there was one left for me to try. It was deeply chocolaty, perfectly sweet, and soft enough that I could bite through it—so basically, exactly what I was going for. I love that a recipe that began as a guessing game worked on the first try. That rarely happens, so I’m calling it a victory.
Five Ingredient Fudgsicles I’ve made three more batches of these Fudgsicles since last week—two for work and one for me. I love how quick and easy they are and that they’re made from the sort of ingredients I always have on hand. And that’s to say nothing of the fact that they’re vegan and fairly low-calorie for an end of the day treat. I don’t follow any sort of diet, but it’s nice to make something on the lighter side every once in a while. Five Ingredient Fudgsicles Spend five minutes making a batch of Fudgsicles this weekend! I hope you love them as much as I do.

Five Ingredient Fudgsicles
makes about 6 fudgsicles

1 15-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil (preferably refined), melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

Combine all ingredients in a high-powered blender. Blend until no lumps remain, scraping down sides as necessary. Divide mixture among ice pop molds. Do not add sticks.

Freeze one hour. Insert sticks. Freeze at least 5 more hours before enjoying.

To release from ice pop molds, place mold in a glass of warm tap water for 30-45 seconds. Fudgsicles should release easily. If they don’t, place them back in the warm water for 15 seconds before making another attempt.
Five Ingredient Fudgsicles

e2 bakes brooklyn

sweets & sass from a baking brooklynite.

Orange Cardamom Cake

Cream Biscuits

Pineapple Sweet Rolls

Five Ingredient Fudgsicles