Brown Sugar Apple Cake

Wishing L'shanah tovah and a Happy New Year to all those who are celebrating Rosh Hashanah!  I made these Brown Sugar Apple Cakes so we may have a sweet new year.  The cake was really good, and the brown sugar gives great depth in flavors.  I love this cake for dessert or breakfast too.  The streusel topping is optional and I only did about half the amount, but feel free to completely cover the cake if you want.  I got several honey crisp apples are the local farmers market near my office, which I used in the Brown Sugar Apple Cakes.  Apples to me are a sign of fall and also Pumpkin Spice Lattes (PSL) are back!  (Yup, I am definitely going to get a PSL tomorrow.)  I can't believe it is already September!  The weather is already getting cooler this week, but my favorite season is fall and I am loving it.  Enjoy! 

Note:  Sorry this cake is not dairy free, so it won't be kosher.

Brown Sugar Apple Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients for Cake

2 egg

1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon allspice
2 large apples, cored and sliced

Optional:  Ingredients for Streusel Topping

1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 2 round 8” or 9” cake pans.

In a stand mixer, beat eggs and brown sugar.  

Add in flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add in milk, melted butter, cinnamon, vanilla and allspice.

Continue to mix into a batter.

Pour batter into prepared pans.  Arrange apples on top of the batter.

Optional:  In a small bowl, combine sugars, butter and cinnamon.  Sprinkle streusel topping over apples.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Allow to cool before cutting.

Makes 2 cakes.  Store covered at room temperature or in the fridge.

Garlicky Old Bay Shrimp

This garlicky old bay shrimp is awesome!  It is a play on shrimp scampi but with old bay seasoning.  If you are from Maryland, you always have old bay seasoning!  I served this garlicky old bay shrimp with a lemon pappardelle pasta from Trader Joe's and it was perfection.  If you don't have this pasta, a linguine or fettucine pasta would be great too.  I just loved the garlicky old bay sauce tossed with the pasta.  Not only is this dish delicious but it is quick and easy, perfect for a weeknight meal.  Enjoy!

Garlicky Old Bay Shrimp

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

12 ounces frozen raw shrimp, thawed (about 31 to 40 large shrimps)

4 cloves garlic, finely diced

2 to 3 teaspoons old bay seasoning

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add in olive oil and butter.  Add in garlic once butter melts.  

Next, add in shrimp.  Season with old bay, salt and pepper.  

Cook shrimp until just pink, about 3 to 4 minutes.  

Toss with lemon juice and parsley.  

Serve shrimp with your favorite pasta.  

Easy Double Chocolate Cupcakes

It was my coworker's 50th birthday and my team went all out for it!  I made him these easy double chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate cream cheese frosting.  I doctored up a chocolate cake mix to save time and made the frosting.  I also used neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese to be a little more healthy - but feel free to use regular cream cheese.  Overall, these cupcakes were a huge hit with my coworkers and friends.  The chocolate cupcakes were light and moist and the frosting was chocolatey without being overly sweet.  Enjoy! 

Easy Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients for Cake

1 package chocolate cake mix (I used devils’ food.)

1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ cup coffee

Ingredients for Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

½ cup cocoa powder

Directions for Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 2 muffins tins with paper cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, yogurt, oil, vanilla and coffee together.   Whisk in cake mix and pudding mix until combined.

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Distribute batter evenly into lined muffin tins.

Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Allow cupcakes to cool for about 5 minutes in muffin tins and place on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Directions for Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter.  Slowly add in powdered sugar.  Mix in cocoa powder.

I used a frosting bag with a piping tip to frost the cupcakes. 

Store frosted cupcakes in refrigerator if not serving immediately. 

Serves 24 cupcakes.

Traditional Flan

My coworker made this flan and it was so good.  Of course I asked for the recipe and I finally made it for my mom's birthday.  The flan was rich, creamy and delicious.  This flan has only 5 ingredients too, how simple is that?  The only thing you should definitely be careful to do is to not burn the sugar.  Also, the water bath is very important so that your flan doesn't burn while baking.  Other than that, you should be fine.  My family enjoyed this flan, even my uncle who is on a diet couldn't resist!  By the way, we took my mom to Penang in Bethesda, MD for dinner per my cousin's suggestion and I can't wait to go back there.  They serve Malaysian, Chinese and Indian dishes, and everything we got was amazing.  If you follow me on instagram you would have seen all the dishes we picked.  Enjoy!

Traditional Flan

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

5 eggs

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

12 ounce can evaporated milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Fill a larger baking dish with water about halfway, such as a 13x9 rectangular dish, this will create a water bath.  Allow to preheat in the oven to warm the water.

In a saucepan, over medium-low heat, melt sugar until it turns into a golden liquid, like caramel.

Pour melted sugar into a 9” or 8” square (or round) glass baking dish.  Try to evenly coat the bottom and sides. 

In a large bowl, beat eggs.  Beat in condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla.

Pour egg mixture into baking dish.   

Place the smaller baking dish into the larger baking dish/water bath.

Cover with foil and bake for 60 minutes.  

Allow to cool completely.  Serve by carefully inverting onto a serving plate.

Serves 8 to 10.  

Chinese Strawberry Cake

I made this Chinese Strawberry Cake for my dad's birthday last month.  Chinese desserts are not overly sweet and the typical Chinese style cakes are fruit filled.   This strawberry cake was perfect for my dad.  It was a hit with my entire family.  I love how light and airy the cake was and the whipped cream isn't as heavy as typical frosting.  This is a great summertime cake too!  I'll admit that this was a more time consuming cake to make but its worth it.  I will definitely be making this cake again.  Enjoy!

 

Chinese Strawberry Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients for Cake

1 cup cake flour

6 eggs, separated

2/3 cup sugar, divided

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Ingredients for Whipped Cream

3 cups heavy whipping cream

½ cup sugar

4 cups strawberries, sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.

In a large bowl, beat the 6 egg yolks with 1/3 cup sugar, salt and vanilla until mixture is pale yellow in color.

Add water and vegetable oil to the egg yolk mixture.  Continue to beat together.

Next, sift the cake flour and baking powder into the egg yolk mixture.  Stir until combined.

In a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, whisk together the egg whites, cream of tartar and 1/3 cup sugar.   Beat until egg whites are stiff peaks.

Slowly, fold in half of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter.  Fold in remaining egg whites and do not over mix.

Pour batter evenly into 2 ungreased 8” or 9” round cake pans.  

Bake for 40 minutes.  

Allow cakes to cool by inverting onto a cooling rack.  This allows the cake to cool upside down and will prevent the cake from collapsing.

While cake is baking, you can make the whipped cream.

In a stand mixer with whisk attachment or in a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Slowly add in sugar.  This could take about 10 minutes.  

After cakes are cooled, spread whipped cream on one cake.  Place sliced strawberries in a single layer on top of the whipped cream. 

Place second cake layer on top of strawberries.  Use the remaining whipped cream to frost the top and sides.  Decorate with any leftover strawberries.

Store in refrigerator.

Serves 8 to 10.