Category Archives: PATTI CAKES

FLOURLESS ORANGE CHOCOLATE CAKE (GÂTEAU AU CHOCOLAT)

As promised, this is another one of my favorite gluten free recipes. I make this cake every time I want an easy and absolutely decadent dessert. And I have yet to make it without someone (usually one of the guys) following me around like a puppy begging for more. They’ll usually even clean the bottom of the pan and the cake plate for me just to be able to scrape off the last few morsels. (I love it when someone else does the cleanup.) So if you want an easy and gluten free dessert, give this little darling a try. You will not be disappointed.

Speaking of disappointed, I know there are those of you out there that begin or end each day by reading my blog. (Don’t be ashamed, we all have our guilty little secrets.) So it is with mixed feelings that I tell you that this is the time of year I begin enjoying outdoor adventures and travel time with Mr. C. (Mixed feelings because I love to travel and spend quality time with Mr. C. and family, and I love to write on a daily basis. Sometimes they are just mutually exclusive.)

In other words, during late spring, summer and early fall, I won’t be writing up sparkling introductions and fantastic recipes for your edification as frequently as I have been these past 4 months. But don’t panic! Sit down, take a deep breath and get yourself under control! (And by-the-way, the old paper bag trick to stop simple hyperventilation actually does work!) Instead of almost daily, I will be posting entries when time and WiFi permit. (Sometimes we take our trailer way off grid. And when we go to Italy this fall, you can bet your best bottle of Chianti that I won’t be thinking about the blog at all!)

But come late fall and winter, when you too are back from vacations and have more time to read and digest (literally and figuratively) more recipes, we will once again begin our daily double routine. Me behind the computer, you in front!

But for now, I wish each and every one of you a happy late spring and a fantastic summer. And special thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I love writing it and hope it brings you cooking inspiration and every once in awhile a little chuckle to brighten your day. Now, where did I leave the keys to the trailer?

  • 1 lb. semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 c. butter
  • ¼ c. + 2 tsp. Cointreau or other orange flavored liqueur
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 7 lg. eggs, room temperature
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1 pint whipping cream
  • ¼ c. powdered sugar
  • zest of 1 orange

Combine chocolate chips and butter in a heavy saucepan and heat until chocolate melted. Remove from heat and add the ¼ cup Cointreau and vanilla. Set aside and cool to lukewarm. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar together for about 6 minutes or until mixture is thick and pale yellow. Ribbons should form when beaters are lifted. Slowly pour the melted chocolate mixture into the beaten eggs and pour into a buttered 9-inch spring-form pan that has been fitted with an aluminum foil leakage guard bottom. (I usually cut a circle of aluminum foil about an inch in circumference larger than my pan. Then I place the pan on the foil and fold the foil up the sides to prevent batter leakage. As further protection from run away melted butter escaping to the floor of my oven, I place the whole thing on a rimmed baking sheet.) Place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes (don’t use convection if at all possible) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool for 5 minutes. Gently press down edges of cake with your fingers. Cool completely in pan. Then, run knife down edges to loosen cake. Remove sides of pan and set cake, bottom of pan and all, on cake plate. When ready to serve, whip cream to stiff peaks. Whip in powdered sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons of Cointreau. Dollop whipped cream on each thin slice serving and sprinkle with a tad bit of orange zest.

 

APPLE CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

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This is probably the best and easiest apple cake recipe imaginable. I received the basic bones of this recipe from my dear friend Linda’s mother Rhoda. Rhoda told me the cake was OK served the same day but was absolutely sensational after it had been frozen. I sometimes bake wedding cakes for relatives and friends and always freeze them until the day they are to be served. But until Rhoda told me about freezing this particular cake, I hadn’t really thought about why some cakes are actually moister after having been frozen.  Since vegetables and fruit are built of cells containing cytoplasm (the clear liquid that fills the cells), when frozen, water expansion causes the cell membranes to rupture. This creates a distinctly different texture. In essence, plant cells lose any remaining crispness that may have remained after having been exposed to heat during the baking process. (I’m no chemist, so this is a very rudimentary, and hopefully accurate explanation.) Bottom line: I would never dream of serving any cake containing fruit or veggie matter without first letting it spend a bit of quality time in my freezer. Same goes for quick breads such as Banana or Zucchini. The difference is simply that remarkable.

Please note: There are two recipes for cream cheese frosting below

Cake:

  • 4 c. grated apples
  • 1 c. granulated sugar
  • 1 c. packed brown sugar
  • ½ c. vegetable oil
  • 1 c. chopped nuts
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 c. flour
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 tsp. soda
  • 1 tsp. salt

Combine apples, sugars, oil, nuts, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk together the flour cinnamon, soda, and salt. Add to apple mixture. Pour into a greased and floured 9 X 13-inch pan. (A glass pan is best.) Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven (for glass) or 350 degree oven (for metal) for 40-45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into middle of cake comes out clean. Cool completely, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and freeze for at least 2 days. Defrost and spread with frosting. *Decorate with chopped nuts. Serve at room temperature.

*I always decorate a cake with nuts if there are nuts in the cake itself. You never know when someone might be allergic. So if there are nuts on top, no one has to wonder. Many people don’t like to cause a fuss, and having nuts so in evidence, nothing has to be said to the hostess except no thank you!

Regular Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • ½ c. butter, room temperature
  • 8-oz. cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 lb. powdered sugar
  • ½ c. chopped nuts, decoration

Cream butter and cream cheese together until well blended. Add vanilla and enough powdered sugar to make a firm but not too stiff consistency. Beat until smooth and easy to spread.

Spiced and Spiked Cream Cheese Frosting: 

  • ½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
  • pinch salt
  • 2 T. brown sugar
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 1½ T. liqueur – Calvados (apple flavored brandy) or regular brandy
  • 1 lb. powdered sugar, more or less

Beat the butter, cream cheese, salt, and brown sugar together until creamy. Mix in the cinnamon, vanilla, and Calvados. Add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.

 

 

 

 

 

SOUR CREAM POPPY SEED CAKE

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I love cake! Now I know you are thinking to yourself – “I knew there was something strange about that woman”! But before you cast me aside like an old Teflon pan, please hear me out. (Perhaps I should have started with I love good cake.) I have found that there is a huge problem in America today. (You’re shocked, I know!) Many Americans have forgotten how truly delicious cake can be. (I blame this on corporate America. Too many truly retched products calling themselves “cake” served at office birthday parties. Makes me itch just thinking about it.) So I have decided to make it my mission to return cake to its rightful place as one of the best desserts to serve an afternoon guest or to end a meal. And this recipe should go a long way towards helping me attain my goal. Sour Cream Poppy Seed Cake is quick and easy to prepare (seven ingredients, all of which are refrigerator or pantry staples), has an incredibly moist and tender texture, and the flavor is beyond delicious. So if you are one of those disillusioned souls who have lost their love for a truly good cake, please give this recipe a try. And next time you are handed a piece of store bought birthday cake at work (usually white, with raspberry filling, and thick white Crisco icing), graciously decline. If pressure is applied, take a piece, thank the person, turn around and walk out of the room. Remember, garbage cans were invented for this very reason!

  • ½ c. (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 1 c. sour cream (light is fine)
  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • ½ c. cream sherry (I like Paul Masson Golden Cream Sherry)
  • 1/3 c. poppy seeds
  • 1 (18 1/2-oz.) pkg. vanilla or yellow cake mix (without pudding)
  • 1 (3 ¾-oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding

Combine melted butter (slightly warm is fine), sour cream, eggs, cream sherry, and poppy seeds in the bowl of your mixer. Blend well. Add dry cake mix and vanilla pudding mix. Beat for a full 5 minutes on medium speed. Pour into a greased* and floured Bundt pan.  Place in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for approximately 50 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the cake comes out clean. (Watch closely the last few minutes. You don’t want to over bake this cake.) Turn cake out onto a cake plate or cooling rack immediately. Excellent served slightly warm or at room temperature.

*In my opinion, Crisco works better than butter for greasing cake pans.

Additional baking tips: If at all possible, avoid using baking pans that are of a dark color.  What happens with darker pans is that they conduct heat too well; the exterior of whatever you are baking (cake, cupcakes, cookies, etc.) often gets brown before the inside is fully cooked. If a dark finish pan is all you own, try lowering the oven temperature about 25 degrees and possibly increase the baking time. Dark cookie sheets? Try placing the cookies on parchment paper. Clear glass baking pans also conduct heat very well. So most of the time, if you are baking in clear glass, I also recommend that you reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees.  For perfect cookies, aluminum pans are my number one choice.

 

 

 

 

COCONUT LIME BUNDT CAKE

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As is so often the case, I could envision a dish, in this case a coconut lime cake, but I didn’t want to take the time or trouble to invent one (I’m basically lazy you see). So being the little plagiarist that I am (thank you Tom Lehrer for teaching me this valuable life skill), I started with Lady Bird Johnson’s Lemon Bundt Cake recipe and made it my own! (Please note: If you are young or just never had the exceedingly good luck to stumble upon this incredible man/professor/musician, you can learn more about Tom Lehrer on the internet. And if you really want to know more about plagiarism, click on the “tom lehrer plagiarize youtube”. You won’t be sorry.) Let’s see, where was I? Oh yes – cake. Anyway, I tried a couple other versions before stumbling on this “piece de resistance”. The other two tries had the flavor I was after, but not the right consistency. When I saw this recipe I just knew it was going to be the right one for me. And if I do say so myself, and I do, the final product is absolutely wonderful. The addition of the toasted coconut and the substitution of lime for the lemon was nothing less than genius. (Have I mentioned my fears of being too modest?) And as for the drizzle, well, all I can say is that it is just the “frosting on the cake”! I know – boooooo!

A little history lesson: Lady Bird Johnson was a genius in her own right. Notably well educated for her time, she proved a capable manager and a shrewd investor. After marrying LBJ in 1934, when he was a political hopeful in Austin, Texas, she used a modest inheritance to bankroll his congressional campaign, and then ran his office while he was serving in the navy. Next, she bought a radio station and then a TV station, which would soon make them millionaires. As First Lady, she broke new ground by interacting directly with Congress, employing her own press secretary, and making a solo electioneering tour.

  • 1 c. butter, room temperature
  • 1 2/3 c. sugar
    10 egg yolks, room temperature, lightly beaten
    3 1/4 c. flour
    4 tsp. baking powder
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1 c. milk
    1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract, divided
    3 tsp. lime zest, divided (about 3 limes)
    7 tsp. lime juice, divided
  • 1 c. toasted coconut, divided
  • 1 c. powdered sugar
    3 T. heavy cream   

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the beaten egg yolks until incorporated. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until incorporated. Add 1 teaspoon of the vanilla, 2 teaspoons of the lime zest, 6 tablespoons of the lime juice, and ½ cup of the toasted coconut; beat for about 2 minutes. Spoon the batter into a lightly buttered and floured Bundt pan. Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 1 hour, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate and let cool completely before drizzling cake with frosting and sprinkling with remaining toasted coconut. Meanwhile whisk together the powdered sugar, cream, remaining ½ teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon lime zest, and 1 teaspoon lime juice. Add more powdered sugar or cream if you prefer your frosting/drizzle thicker or thinner. Sprinkle with remaining toasted coconut. Allow frosting to harden before serving.