[cwcdesign]

Saturday was our big bake sale so I made 2 cranberry almond coffee cakes in the Nordic Ware wreath pan. They came out perfectly! I also made one gluten-free Caribbean rum cake and one regular Caribbean rum cake. I had grand plans to bake more, but time got away from me. I started a new job with the same company last week and was finishing up at best th other jobs. And, as co-chair of the Bake Sale I had to be there for set up day and day of. It was fun n and successful but I’m glad it’s over for now.

As for the cakes, I spoke with King Arthur abut the GF cake and it should reach a temp between 200 & 210, preferably 210. Since our kitchens at work use vegalene, I bought a can from KAF - it was cheaper than Amazon and it has no silicone to leave a sticky residue - it didnt. I dusted all the pans with alm9nd flour - the rum cake called for it and it replaced the chopped almonds in the coffee cake. I reheated the rum cakes slightly before turning them out and they turned out easily. All sold except for the regular rum cake - we had so many to sell we had quite a few left over. Since I have another friend who wanted one for her family, I bough5 it back at half price and stuck it in my freezer for her. Less expensive than another bottle of rum!

[cwcdesign]

Both are something that I love to do and to me it acts like a meditation and stress reliever. I love knowing that we have healthy and interesting food to eat. I didn’t really start baking until 8 years ago. Of course I would bake brownies and cakes, but that’s when I became more passionate about it. I just finished my first year as co-chair of my garden club’s bake sale and it’s great to see how our community responds. And, like italiancook, I love sharing with co-workers and friends

[cwcdesign]

Italiancook, Rascals & Cassina, in the KAF ingredients weight chart, which I’ve found to be quite accurate, they say a cup of vegetable oil weighs 7 oz compared to the weight of a cup of butter. I don’t know if this has to do with the lack of water or if it’s just because oil is heavier

[cwcdesign]

On Sunday, I tested the Caribbean rum cake from KAF, taking half to one job. It was a hit!

On Wednesday, I tried a recipe for a pumpkin latte cake for my other job. It had a swirl of an espresso cream cheese “filling” and I made my own pumpkin spice since I didn’t want to have a lot on hand. I added extra spice because the color was too light and I’m glad I did. It was a good cake, but I won’t make it again- the recipe had too many moving parts

[cwcdesign]

Rascals, I have the KAF one bookmarked. Except for flour - theirs is the weight I use unless it’s specified differently in a recipe - I have found it to be very accurate. If they don’t have I google for the specific weight I’m looking for

[cwcdesign]

Basically you just add a little vodka at a time and then wait while the vanilla you have infuses the new vodka. I started out with no pods when Cindy gave it to me 3 years ago. I slowly added used pods. I have about 4 - I would have more if I weren’t such a cheap skate. You just add another when you feel like it. When I have a chance, I’ll post Cindy’s instructions

[cwcdesign]

When I went to rinse the wreath pan for measuring the water, I discovered a recipe for a rum wreath cake inside. Looking at the quantities, I think the recipe I have for my cranberry almond coffee cake will fit nicely. I'm wondering if Cass will concur.
The ingredients for the wreath rum cake
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
½ cup dark rum
2 ¼ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whipping cream

For the cranberry almond coffee cake
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 ½ cups sour cream

Note that the coffee cake is baked in a 10 inch tube pan - you layer ½ the batter, then a can of cranberry sauce and then the rest of the batter. I have made this recipe many times and it is always a hit. The one difference I might make with baking it in the wreath pan is instead of chopped almonds, I may coat the pan with almond flour.

Both cakes get syrup and glaze

Thanks for your help!!!!!

[cwcdesign]

On Monday night I made a gluten-free ginger pear cake as a test for our bake sale. One of my friends has a later in life gluten intolerance. So we took a small slice and she took the rest to a group cooking for the sale. I used KAF measure for measure flour. I liked this recipe partly because I didn't have to pull out the stand mixer.
The recipe said to bake it for an hour and I baked it for 45 minutes and tested it - the tester came out clean.

As for taste, we thought it needed some ground ginger - it has ripe pear and crystalized ginger - but the texture was a little gooey. I think I should have baked for the full hour - that may be a difference between baking with regular flour and gluten free flour. I am going to make a loaf or 2 with my changes for the sale.

And, I will not be attempting it in the wreath pan, but I have another recipe I've made many times that I'm going to post for Cass to adjust for that pan, after I measure the water in it.

[cwcdesign]

We had leftovers and Harris Teeter freshly made pizza Sunday through Tuesday. Yesterday I tried a recipe for turkey and stuffing meatballs from one of my favorite sites. She used dried cornbread stuffing - I went with the PF Herb Stuffing since that says Thanksgiving in our house. We liked them but all agreed that there wasn't enough stuffing in them for our taste; an easy fix.

I thought the leftovers tasted better last night even reheated in the microwave. Still think it needs more stuffing mix and probably s&p. Although I wouldn’t make it often, it’s a nice recipe to have on hand for a change. I can post the link if anyone’s interested.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by cwcdesign.

[cwcdesign]

Thank you all. Not quite sure why I couldn’t figure that out - I’ll chalk it up to exhaustion. Since I lan to bake a sample ofthecake I wntto use in a loaf pan first, I can measure the batter before I put it in the loaf pan.

[cwcdesign]

Yesterday, I baked a big batch of KAF fudge brownies to take to a party this afternoon and to work at the Lighthouse tomorrow - we are decorating the tree for our open house this coming Saturday.

[cwcdesign]

Let's see - on Thursday I made meatloaf and roasted asparagus and Nate made mashed potatoes. On Friday, I made sheet pan fajitas and yesterday, I tried a recipe for spinach lasagna roll-ups (same recipe on allrecipes and taste of home) to see if it would work for frozen casseroles for our bake sale. We taste tested the cheese/spinach filling and decided to use a teaspoon of kosher salt, ½ teaspoon Penzey's ground pepper and ½ teaspoon nutmeg - the recipe only called for a quarter of each and it was bland. We also added a couple of tablespoons more of parmesan. For our personal taste, we probably would have amped it up more, but we wanted it to have nice flavor, but not overpowering. The good news is that the 3 of us were pleasantly surprised by the recipe.

Tonight and tomorrow, I think we have more than enough leftovers!

[cwcdesign]

On Tuesday, I baked a batch of black & white brownies from KAF to split between the boys and a presentation of packaging for our Christmas Bake Sale. I have the recipe permanently doubled. What I like about it is that although it uses white chocolate, you cannot tell that it is white chocolate and this time I used Penzey's ground nutmeg instead of grating fresh - it really amped up the flavor and it tasted more like the holidays.

BakerAunt, I almost bought Sift at the store the other day - I should see if they still have it.

[cwcdesign]

Thanks, swirth!

I have the ingredients on hand to try this recipe for Pumpkin Latte coffee cake
When I can find the time. I’m also going to make my own pumpkin spice blend - it’s not too hard ?

Pumpkin Latte Coffee Cake

[cwcdesign]

Rascals, my heartfelt prayers go out to you. I join the others in appreciation as I always enjoy reading your comments. Please continue to read and comment when possible.

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