Chocolate Cherry Twizzler Cakes

I made these mini layer cakes for a Twizzler loving friend's birthday party last week. What made these cakes 'Twizzler' (aside from just the mini one stuck on top), was the cherry extract I used to flavor the frosting in order to replicate the candy taste. The cake was very moist and fudgy which was delicious (as it's of the liquid fat variety), but I can't see using this recipe for a fully frosted cake as messy wet crumbs were avalanching off it!

I always like steering away from my usual rustic dessert taste and aesthetic for birthdays, which makes sense coming from me since the birthday treat I demand every year is boxed Funfetti complete with Rainbow Chip frosting. I believe that birthday desserts should be over the top indulgent- something you could only handle once a year, as you'd need the rest of the year to get over how happy (sick) it made you. As I've mentioned before, I am a huge proponent of using seasonal and local produce and ingredients in my baking, but every so often I like to break away and throw out all of my self imposed rules and consent to a little artificial fun.

Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup hot espresso or coffee

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and parchment a 10"x10" square cake pan. Whisk together all dry ingredients and place in stand mixer. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add milk, oil, and vanilla, mix for three minutes. Remove bowl from stand mixer and fold in by hand the espresso and boiling water. Pour into prepared pan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean. Cool in pan until firm enough to turn out.

Adapted from: All Recipes

'Cherry' Frosting
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons cherry extract

Directions
Cream butter and beat in powdered sugar. Add milk and extract and mix until smooth. Add more or less milk for desired consistency.

Assembly
Cut cooled cake horizontally in half. Spread half the frosting on bottom layer and sandwich with top layer. Trim all sides evenly and cut the cake 4x4. Fit pastry bag with large rosette piping tip and fill with remaining frosting. Pipe large rosettes on each mini layer cake. Top with mini cherry Twizzlers and red sanding sugar.

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Walnut Spice Cakes with Molasses Cream Frosting

I made these cakes as the dessert for a steak night potluck get together. I wanted something that was substantial enough to stand up to a strong dinner, but not too overwhelmingly indulgent. This cake is warm, spicy, and nutty and not too dense. It's delicious on its own, but with the addition of the frosting, it really stands out as something special.

Walnut Spice Cake
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted (reserve extra for garnish)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Parchment and grease a 13x9 pan. In stand mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add in honey and molasses and mix until well combined. Beat in vanilla, freshly grated ginger, and then eggs one at a time until homogenous. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ground ginger, black pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Alternate adding dries with milk beginning and ending with dries, in three additions. Fold in walnuts and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 mins, or until skewer comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan and then turn out onto cooling rack.

Molasses Cream Frosting
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon molasses

Directions
In bowl, sift powdered sugar. In saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in heavy cream and molasses until emulsified. Pour hot mixture over sugar and stir until smooth.

Assembly
With cake still hot and working quickly, spread frosting over cake until smooth. Wait at least three hours until cake has cooled completely and then trim off all edges. Cut cake in 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 squares. Top each piece with walnuts.

Adapted from: Always With Butter

Fauxreos

These Oreo impersonators were my Valentine's treats this year. The recipe was as close as you can get to the original, and therefore very yummy and addictive!

Fauxreos

Cookies
Ingredients
3 ounces unsalted butter, room temp.
3 3/4 ounces sugar
1 1/2 ounces brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 plus 1/8 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
4 ounces flour, sifted
3 ounces cocoa powder, sifted

Directions
In stand mixer, paddle butter, sugars, salt, baking powder, and baking soda until combined. Add vanilla and egg yolks one at a time until fully incorporated. Turn off mixer and add in flour and cocoa powder and mix until uniform. Dough will be very thick, so it's best to remove after a minuted and kneed with hands. Flatten dough into disc and chill (will hold for 1 week) to make rolling out easier. Once ready, preheat oven to 350F. Sprinkle table with cocoa powder and roll out to 1/4" thickness and cut as many 2" circles out as dough will yield. Re-roll scraps and cut out again. Place rounds on ungreased and very flat cookie sheet. These cookies do no spread, so they can be pretty close together. Bake for 12 minutes or until tops are not soft. Cool on sheet.

Filling
Ingredients
2 ounces shortening
5 ounces powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions
Combine all ingredients in stand mixer and beat on medium speed until super creamy and light (about 5 mins), scraping down often. Fill pastry bag and pipe onto one cookie and sandwich with another. Chill in refrigerator to set. Will keep for two weeks in fridge.

Adapted from: Brave Tart

Mini Chocolate Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies

I made these three-bite chocolate whoopie pies with a salted caramel frosting filling for a Super Bowl gathering yesterday at our place. The cakes were dense and very chocolatey, so I made sure to pipe a generous amount of the deliciously sweet, salty, and creamy filling in between. Since they're mini, I think the ratio made them look like little burgers, which is cute, but next time I probably won't pile the batter as high on the sheet tray so that the cakes turn out a little flatter once baked.

Mini Chocolate Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies

Cakes
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk buttermilk and vanilla together. In stand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar together until fluffy, and then add egg and mix until uniform. Alternately add dry and wet ingredients to mixer, beginning and ending with dry. Mix until just combined. Spoon or pipe circles 2 inches from each other on parchment covered sheet trays. Bake for 13 minutes, or until cakes spring bake when pressed. Remove from tray with spatula and move to cooling rack. The cakes can be frozen for later use.

Adapted from: epicurious


Filling
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp fleur de sel
1/4 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Directions
Make a caramel in a saucepan with the sugar, corn syrup, and water, cooking until a light golden color and immediately remove from heat. At the same time, have cream and salt heated in separate saucepan. Add the cream to caramel and whisk to combine. Wait a few minutes and then whisk in the sour cream. Allow the caramel to cool. In stand mixer, cream butter. Add cooled caramel and powdered sugar all at once and beat until smooth and creamy. Pipe onto one side of cake and sandwich with another cake.

Adapted from: Cate's World Kitchen