Recipes Discovered

Key Lime Coconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting Recipe

Having returned from another trip to Key West, I was inspired to make these Key Lime cupcakes. It may have had something to do with the fact that the recipe is based on amazing coconut cupcakes made by Ina Garten or maybe a little to do with the white chocolate frosting, but really, it was the bag of key limes I brought back with me. Key limes look like miniature limes, about the side of a quarter. They have a slightly sweeter taste than a regular lime and also produce more juice (although it still takes quite a bit of time to squeeze a quarter cup of juice). It’s definitely worth the time to make these cupcakes though, because they are delicious. The texture is perfect, the flavor is intense, and the white chocolate frosting is the perfect sweet topping. There is sour cream in the frosting, which sounds a little strange, but it really balances out the sweetness, so don’t omit it. All in all, it’s a winning combination.

Get the recipe for Key Lime Coconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting Recipe here

German’s Sweet Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting

When Seth’s aunt gave me this recipe a couple weeks ago, I couldn’t wait to try it. It three of my favorite things – chocolate, coconut, and pecans – into one outstanding cake. I’ve had German Chocolate cake before, but I don’t recall ever having it made from scratch. Unlike most other German Chocolate cake recipes, this one calls for separating the eggs and folding in the beaten egg whites. The batter really isn’t that heavy though, so I’m not sure it’s a necessary step, but I may have to try another recipe that just incorporates the whole egg to compare. The frosting was the difficult part. It took well over 12 minutes for the frosting to thicken (I waited until it came to a boil). It also took quite awhile to cool down. I would probably make the frosting before I make the cake next time and let it cool while the cakes cool. Getting the frosting on the sides of the cake was quite a challenge as well, but it is possible. How does it taste though? Unfortunately, I have no idea. Seth took the cake to work with him, but hopefully he will remember to bring me a slice home!

Update: The cake was excellent! The frosting is very rich, but the cake wasn’t overly sweet so it balances really well. The cake was also very moist, unlike some German chocolate cakes. I’m still not sure about separating the eggs, but if that makes a difference, this cake is definitely worth the extra effort.

Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe

Seth grew up in a very tiny town with a huge Irish heritage. This past weekend, they had their 5th Annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. It was a little late, but even Bill Clinton showed up, so it was a pretty big event. Of course, there is always a ton of food, and I made a variety of desserts. Only one of them was actually a real Irish desserts, but they were all appropriate for the occasion. I made traditional Irish soda bread, with raisins and caraway seeds. It’s a really unique flavor, which both Seth and I enjoyed. The bread can be a little on the dry side, especially if it sets for more than a day, but add a little butter and it was excellent. >> Read more

Coconut Cake with 7-Minute Frosting Recipe

This cake recipe has been haunting me for months. I’ve had the recipe laying, always asking myself will it be worth the effort. I ask this because the cake requires freshly made coconut milk and coconut cream, which requires cracking open a couple of coconuts. The recipe comes from Alton Brown, so it also requires precise measurements, which I’ve always been a bit sloppy with. I was inspired this week though, so being up for the challenge (along with my new digital scale), I bought two coconuts and finally tackled the coconut cake.

I could only find white coconuts at the grocery store when I was there. I have searched the Internet quite a bit, and I’m still not quite sure what the difference is. I know coconuts start off being green and then turn brown when they ripen, but I don’t know where the white fits in. I had Seth hammer a screwdriver through two of the coconut ‘eyes’, drained the water out, and put the coconut in the oven like the recipe suggests. After 15 minutes, the coconut hadn’t cracked at all, so I had Seth beat it with a meat mallet until the coconut cracked in half. I was quite surprised to find a very thin, gel-like layer of coconut inside instead of the thick, white coconut meat. I lived in Hawaii for quite awhile and had never seen a coconut like this one. >> Read more

Caramel Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe 

I came across this recipe for Caramel Cake some time ago, and have always wanted to try it. The problem was, I didn’t have a candy thermometer, and to make the caramel center, I needed one. Lucky for me, I got one for Christmas, so this cake my it high on my list to make.

The cake itself is a standard yellow cake, baked in two 9-inch cake pans. Once cooled, I started the caramel part of the cream cheese frosting by melting brown sugar and butter in a sauce pan. Once it came to a boil, I whisked in heavy cream and then set it aside while I made the cake’s caramel center. This is where the cake became interesting. Similar to the caramel for the frosting, I melted brown sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a saucepan and stirred it until the sugar dissolved, about 5 minutes or so. The recipe then states to allow the mixture to boil until it reaches 238 degrees without stirring, which I did. At that point, I transferred the mixture to a mixing bowl and immediately mixed it with a hand mixer for 3 minutes, until it thickened, and then spread it over one of the cake layers. At least I tried. The caramel hardened very quickly and once it was refrigerated for 15 minutes (to cool it), it became very dry. I was unimpressed at that point, so I carefully pulled the caramel off the cake (it came off it one piece), and tried to make the caramel again. This time, I only boiled it until it reached 230 degrees, which is the soft ball stage (238 is hard ball stage). Once it reached 230 degrees, I transferred it to a mixing bowl and beat it for 2 1/2 minutes and then spread it over the cake. The caramel once again became hard, although not nearly as dry as the first time. It’s not really hard caramel either – more like a really dry/hard cake frosting. I figured there wasn’t any point in trying again, so I continued with the recipe by finishing the cream cheese frosting. I mixed butter and cream cheese until it was smooth and then added the cooled caramel mixture that I first made. Once that was mixed in, I added powdered sugar until it was creamy. I spread a thin layer over the caramel layer to keep the top of the cake in place, and then finished icing the rest of the cake. To make it look a little fancier (and since I had a large hunk of dried caramel), I sprinkled some caramel crumbs over the top of the cake.

Since Seth is taking this cake it work tomorrow, I haven’t actually tasted it, but I am pretty unimpressed with the caramel layer. The icing on the other hand is outstanding. If the cake itself turns out to be good, I might just make a double batch of the icing and use that in the center of the cake and skip the caramel layer all together. I’ll have to wait to see what Seth’s co-workers think.

Caramel Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe