Tartine Pumpkin Tea Cake

Hi everyone. I’m comin’ right at you with the most fall item of them all. Pumpkin spice everything. I’m usually not excited by pumpkin breads anymore but this one? Oh boy, this one. It has a plush, moist crumb and an insane amount of cinnamon goodness that makes all of my fall dreams come true. I want to curl up on a slice of this cake and take a sweet little nap. I urge you to not forget the pepitas and sprinkling of sugar on the top of this cake. It’s crunchy, roasted, sweetness really puts this cake (slash bread???) in the front runners of the best pumpkin baked good I’ve had.

I usually go more towards apples and apple cider items in the fall, and avoid the pumpkin spice craze, but when I saw this recipe I knew it was time to give the pumpkin world a moment of my time. This recipe hails from the famous Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, CA. You can find their cookbook here. It really is a staple in any baker’s kitchen.

Happy Fall, everyone.

Tartine Pumpkin Tea Cake

• 1 2/3 (225 g) cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 (7 mL) baking powder

• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda

• 1 tbsp + 2 tsp (25 mL) ground cinnamon

• 2 tsp (10 mL) nutmeg, freshly grated

• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cloves

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp (255 g) pumpkin purée

• 1 cup (250 mL) vegetable oil

• 1 1/3 cup (270 g) granulated sugar

• 3/4 tsp (4 mL) sea salt

• 3 large eggs

• 2 tbsp sugar for topping

• 3 tbsp pepitas for topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan, and line with parchment paper so ends are sticking out over the pan. This will make it easier to remove once baked.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium sized bowl.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin purée, oil, sugar and salt together until well blended.

4. Add eggs one at a time. Mixing completely after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl.

5. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared 9x5 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the sugar and pepitas on top.

7. Bake for about an hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit for 20 minutes before removing. Use the sides of the parchment paper to pull the cake out of the pan.

Texas Sheet Cake

View fullsize

Well, howdy folks! It has been a hot minute, and I truly apologize for that. I'll give you a quick update as to why it has taken me an era to post again. Since my last post, I have accepted a full-time job at a wonderful company called Applied Measurement Professionals. It has been busy, but incredibly rewarding. I have also signed up to run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon with my stepmother this January 10th (yes, I'm nuts). I'm also raising money for The Leukemia Lymphoma Society to go along with it. If you'd like to help me reach my goal, click HERE. Shameless plugin. You know you love me! In all seriousness, any little bit helps. Let's eliminate blood cancers!

All that being said, I know why you're really here. That cake. More like, THE cake. This cake goes by many names. I call it Texas Sheet Cake, others call it Funeral Cake. No matter what you call it, one thing is for certain; it is delicious.

This cake is one of my father's many claims to fame. He has perfected it from the fudgey icing, down to sifting the dry ingredients three times for the silkiest texture. This cake is simple, but fantastically delicious, and I urge you to try it. I mean, it's chocolate on chocolate with pecans. How can you resist? Just give into the temptation.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

print recipe

Texas Sheet Cake

by October-19-2014

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ICING
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsley chopped
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375º F, and grease and flour a jelly-roll sheet pan. 2. Sift together the sugar, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Repeat the sifting process three times. May seem overkill, but trust me, it makes the cake so incredibly silky. 3. in a medium saucepan combine the water, vegetable oil, butter, and cocoa. Bring it to a boil and stir constantly. 4. Once completely combined, pour the hot mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir until just smooth. 5. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Then incorporate this mixture into the batter. 6. Pour batter into the sheet pan evenly. Bake for about 20 minutes. 7. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter. Once melted, take off heat, and stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Place the mixture back on the double boiler. Add the powdered sugar, and heat the icing for 10 minutes. Finally, remove from heat, and continue stirring until spreadable. Don't fret if you feel like your icing isn't coming together. Give it time. 8. Spread the icing over the entire cake, and before the icing sets, sprinkle the pecans over the entire cake.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 15 mins Yield: 20 servings

Chocolate Tuxedo Cake

View fullsize

"Let them eat cake" is an adage I wholeheartedly support and abide by. You should too. Especially if it involves this glorious, glorious cake. This cake is the cake of dreams. I've been told by several people that this cake was actually the best cake they've ever had, and for good reason.

Now, that could be because of the ridiculously moist layers of cake, or because it's covered in light, sweet whipped cream. However, I'm putting my money on the ganache. If you've followed my blog for a hot minute you'd know that I have a weird addiction to things covered in ganache. I could be addicted to worse things, right? Ganache is such a wonderful thing, and this cake has it lusciously dripping down the sides of it. Almost as if it's reaching out to you asking you to devour it.

This cake came from my mother's arsenal of cakes and other baked goods. I unfortunately don't know where the original recipe came from, but I've adjusted it a bit along the way. Mostly editing the ganache to fit my ganache standards.

View fullsize

View fullsize

print recipe

Chocolate Tuxedo Cake

by Mary Edwards June-7-2014

Ingredients

• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 cups water
• 4 large eggs
• WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING
• 4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1-1/4 cups powdered sugar
• GANACHE
• 10 oz (2 cups) bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare three 9" round cake pans by greasing and lightly dusting with flour. Then line each pan with parchment paper. 2. In a bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together to combine, and set aside. In another small bowl combine the buttermilk and vanilla together. 3. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, oil, and water. Heat until completely melted, stirring occasionally. Once melted, combine the butter mixture with the sugar mixture stirring until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, and stir to combine completely. Finally, add the buttermilk mixture and stir until well combined. 4. Bake the cakes for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean. Remove cakes from the oven and set on wire rack to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing them from the pan. Remove from pan and let them cool completely before frosting. 5. For the frosting, in a large mixing bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until until soft peaks form. Slowly add the powdered sugar, and continue beating until the whipped cream forms stiff peaks. 6. To frost the cake, place one layer on a cake dish, and with an off set spatula spread whipped cream over first layer. Repeat with next layers. Cover sides with whipped cream, and make as smooth as possible. Chill the cake for an hour to stabilize the whipped cream. 7. For the ganache, place the chocolate pieces in a bowl and set aside. Heat the heavy whipping cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat until the cream is hot and beginning to steam. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and let the cream sit over the chocolate for about a minute, then begin stirring. Stir until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Let sit for about 5 minutes before pouring it over the cake. Let the ganache drip down the sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least another hour before serving.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour 30 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 2 hour 15 mins Yield: 3 9" round cakes