French Almond Cake

Brace yourself.

This. is. so freaking good.  

I made this and brought half to work and left half at home for the Boyfriend. At work they gobbled them up, in between bites I was hearing 'so good' 'open.. bakery...' 'recipe!' 

When I got home, of the 9 or so pieces I left behind, there were 2 left.  The Boyfriend- 'I would've ate them all but I figured you might want some.'  

And so I gobbled them up.

I'm really proud of this recipe.  I love French Almond Cake.  It's just perfectly sophisticated and it's not really a cake in that I can eat it for breakfast. If any survived the night anyways. 

I'm proud because this is the first recipe that I experimented with so completely that I had to do several tests- making small batches and baking the muffin tins one at a time to see what worked best.  It took me all day, and it turned out better than I would have imagined.

The cake is fluffy, almost a angel food cake texture.  It's light and airy with a warm almond flavor. The absolute perfect cake to serve with brunch, with coffee or tea, or as a sophisticated dessert to your dinner.  In fact, add some strawberries and cream and it would work well as strawberry shortcake. 

I'm proud also because this recipe is gluten-free.  That's right.  A gluten free cake that got gobbled up so quickly by gluten lovers and gluten haters alike. Can you believe it?

I've talked a little about gluten on my blog, though not too much.  Those people who have tried gluten free baked goods know that sometimes they can be dense and heavy, though these days people are having increasing success as we understand the chemistry behind baking without gluten. And there's an increasing number of gluten-free flour mixes available in supermarkets, which I have used and I do suggest using.  They work really well.

Gluten is what makes dough 'dough-y'.  When a pizza maker tosses a pizza in the air and it stretches all over the place- that is due to the elastic bonds formed by gluten.  That's why gluten free breads can be hard and crumbly- gluten free flours can't quite achieve the same 'stretch.'

In baking, gluten is what makes the dough rise. Adding protein can help- I used whipped egg whites, and it worked wonderfully.

I particularly love this recipe since it can be made for a gluten-eating crowd and no one will notice it's gluten free. In fact, they'll probably compliment you, ask for the recipe, and then their eyes will bug out when they realize :)

If you are making this because you do have a gluten allergy or are making it for someone with an allergy, beware of cross-contamination.  Put away anything that contains flour.  Don't make yourself a sandwich in the middle of the recipe, or make this recipe at the same time as you are making another cake.  Put away all flour-containing items- flour (duh), bread, crackers, cookies, etc. 

Make sure you are using the clean-est mixing bowls and spatulas.  Make sure you clean your counter thoroughly   Using a mixer?  Make sure you clean the entire mixer, as flour particles may be stuck to the top of your mixer.  This recipe does not call for a sifter, but never use a sifter you have used with regular flour for a gluten free recipe.  It's virtually impossible to remove the flour completely.  Do not store your gluten-free cake where it can touch gluten containing items.  Make sure it's in it's own separate container.

I may be sounding a little dramatic here.. just be aware, use clean items, and everything will be fine. 

And without further ado: 

French Almond Cake

1 cup Almond Flour
1/2 cup White Rice Flour
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
8 egg whites, at room temp
10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
1/4 cup turbino sugar, muscovato sugar, or sugar in the raw 
sliced almonds (optional decoration)

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a 9' by 9' baking pan, a 9' round baking pan, or a cheesecake pan.

In a large bowl, mix the two flours, sugar and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, add the egg whites. Use a mixer or beat by hand until egg whites are foamy.  Add in the butter, almond extract and vanilla extract quickly.  Using a rubber spatula, gradually pour the eggs into the flour mixture, ever so gently folding it in to combine.  Do not use a spoon and do not stir.  Just gently keep folding with the spatula until the egg is mixed is, and it looks like a light fluffy dough.  

Pour into your prepared baking sheet.  If decorating with almonds as I did, you'll have to kind of plan where you'll be cutting slices, and decorate the top or each one.  After placing almonds on cake, sprinkle the whole thing with turbino sugar- it'll give it a nice color and a just a bit of sweet crunch on the top.

Bake about 30 minutes, until edges are just beginning to turn a golden color and cake is set. Cool on wire rack.  

Do not attempt to cut until cool.  Use a sharp knife (I used a paring knife).  Enjoy!!

Double Mint Chocoholic Cookies

Cookies, cookies, cookies.

This is my first year without family and friends nearby for the holidays.

I don't have any cookie exchanges.

I won't be bringing cookies to work.

You think that'll stop me from baking way too many cookies?!  Heck no it won't.  

The Boyfriend says these taste like thin mints, and he's right.  A thin mint taste with a moist cookie interior.  

Yum.

I baked these as cookies and in a bar form, and I'll be honest, I prefer the cookies.  The cookies turned out absolutely perfect, and while the bars were so good in taste, they are not fun to try to cut into squares.  It just kind of crumbles.  I managed to get a few nice cuts, but mostly we just ate 'brownie crumble.'

To make the cookies more festive I rolled them in red sprinkles. 

Double Mint Chocoholic Cookies

Modified from Cathy Lowe's recipe

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp mint extract

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 10 oz package dark chocolate and mint morsels

5 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

Red sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, both sugars, vanilla, mint extract, and cocoa.  Add the flour mixture gradually and once combined, add the mint and chocolate chips.  

Roll the dough into 1 inch (or larger if you prefer) balls.  If you are using the red sprinkles, pour a bunch of sprinkles in a bowl and roll each ball of dough in the sprinkles. Place cookie balls on greased baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes and let cool on a wire rack.

Cranberry Swirl Muffins

This isn't a recipe you make just because you have leftover cranberry sauce.  

I mean, if you have some leftover, sure, make this recipe, it's freakin delish.

What I'm trying to say is this:  this recipe is so good that you may find yourself making cranberry sauce just to make this recipe. 

These are the perfect little rays of sunshine to the gloomy beginnings of winter.  They're perfect for breakfast or as a coffee-break snack.  They're just a bit tart from the cranberry, and just a bit sweet.  

A word of warning: This recipe is made based on the use of cranberry sauce, not just whole cranberries.  If you just add cranberries (or blueberries, or other fruit you may want to sub), these muffins will be a bit dry.  The added moisture from the cranberry sauce being swirled into the batter is what keeps these so moist.  

In fact, when experimenting, I made these muffins two ways: 

One- The Cranberry Stuffed Muffin.  I placed just a bit of cranberry sauce in the middle of the batter and covered it up for a cranberry surprise.  

Two- The Cranberry Swirl Muffin.  I placed a little bit more of cranberry sauce in the middle of the muffin, covered it, and used a toothpick to gently swirl it together.

The results?  The cranberry stuffed muffin was a bit dry, but the cranberry swirl was perfectly moist.  

So without further ado:

Cranberry Swirl Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

4 oz (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 tbsp orange zest

1 tbsp orange juice

1/2 cup cranberry sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a separate large bowl, whisk the egg.  Whisk in the sugar, and when combined, add the milk, vanilla extract, orange juice, and zest.  Add the butter (it should be melted completely but NOT hot or it will cook the egg!)

3.  Add the flour mixture gradually to the egg mixture, a bit at a time.  Stir only to combine the dry ingredients to the wet, do not overmix. 

4. Pour into paper-lined muffin pan (I made mini muffins).  Bake mini muffins for 10-12 minutes, and regular muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out dry.  Cool on wire rack. 

Pumpkin Pie In-A-Flash

Not everyone has time to be baking for hours! 

This pumpkin pie recipe is fast, easy, and delicious.  

To be perfectly honest, I had leftover empanada dough I used as the crust, but I've written the recipe using store-bought crust.  

I used sweetened condensed milk, but have heard of people replacing that with eggnog.  Sounds pretty interesting, I might have to try that! If you do, let me know how that works out. 

Parker House Rolls

Lazy dinner day.

I'm embarrassed to tell you last night I served soup out of a box.  

In all fairness.. it was organic, and expensive for soup in a box.

The Boyfriend didn't like it.  

But I didn't make it! :)

Anyway, to make up for this soup, I figured I'd make some homemade rolls and a nice salad.  

I used Bobby Flay's recipe for Parker House Rolls, and once I got halfway through I realized I didn't have any all-purpose flour. 

Argh. 

What I did have was whole wheat flour and quinoa flour.  Maybe this is a sign.  Healthier rolls!!

So I subbed ALL the flour in Bobby Flay's recipe.  I used 5 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup quinoa flour. 

The rolls came out nice and buttery.

I won't lie to you- they were a little dense.  But only a little.  

The rolls were good when warmed a little in the microwave. But I wouldn't make them the same way again. 

Why am I bothering with this posting then, you ask?

Because despite being a bit dense, this is an excellent and easy recipe for rolls.  The reason for the denseness is because of the flours I used.  I'm not going to post the recipe, because I don't want you to do what I did.  

Try Bobby Flay's recipe.  If you want to make it healthier, sub HALF of the flour with whole wheat flour, but no more than that.  I did add 1 tsp of garlic powder to the dough for garlicky rolls. I do recommend!

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Cookies AND Banana Maple Creme Muffins

Have a box of apple cake mix lying around and in the mood for chocolate cookies?  Cursing yourself for not buying some chocolate cookie mix for a quick chocolaty cookie snack?  

Or perhaps you have a ripe banana you'd rather bake in a sweet treat than eat it on it's own?

You're in luck. I brought these to an open house last night for Partylite candles, who also has a food line by Two Sister's Gourmet.  I've made this mix before as apple cake, and it's good, but I wanted to show how versatile the mix is.  So I made gooey chocolate cookies- they're soft, rich, and gooey, and so chocolaty!

And the banana muffins were moist, the maple creme adding a little sweetness, and the apple cake mix adding some cinnamon and spices. 

They were a hit. 

On a side note- I told The Boyfriend I made cookies, and he's like 'You gotta stop makin' cookies all the time babe.' (We try not to eat so many sweets). Told him don't worry, they're just for the open house.  

Later that night, with cookies leftover, I text him if he wants me to bring some home, and he says 'HELLS YEAH I DO.'   Guess he liked them.

They were at hit at the party too, and recipes were requested.  So here they are!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies

Experiment: Protein Cookies.

The boyfriend is on a real big  'get strong' kick.  

He's already big and strong, but he wants to be even bigger. And stronger.

He says to me, 'I want to make protein cookies. Here's a recipe I found.'

I say, 'Cool, we'll make protein cookies.  We'll make several, experiment a little.'

And so I was in the kitchen cooking and experimenting.  He was napping.  

LOL, okay, okay... he did help.  He's a great dishwasher and a great taste tester too!

These are the first cookies we made.

Since I was pretty timid and unsure about what was going to happen when baking with protein powder, I followed this recipe EXACTLY.  These cookies have ground flaxseed meal, oats, and chocolate protein powder, among other things.

They taste like stale bread with a faint hint of chocolate.  Hmph. 

Moving on, I loosely followed a recipe using pureed chickpeas as a base for the cookie.  

You won't find a pic, they went in the trash immediately.

And then..........

Drumroll pleeeeaseee....

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies! 

They are pretty much your standard peanut butter cookie, but with the added health benefits of added protein powder, quinoa flour, and less sugar! And they're delish! 

They seem to taste less peanut-buttery than a regular PB cookie, and just a bit denser due to the oats and protein powder, but they're so good!

The best part?  While I can normally eat about 10 cookies in one sitting, these are so filling that I can only eat 2 or 3, and they satisfy my cookie craving/ sweet tooth with so much less sugar. 

The boyfriend did a loose nutritional analysis of this recipe.  I was so stinkin' excited when he was adding up numbers, just knowing there wouldn't be much sugar and there would be TONS of protein.  

Turns out there's not really 'TONS' of protein.  The recipe is good and healthier, but I'll be modifying it to cut down the fat and add MORE PROTEIN, such as substituting the butter with 1/4 cup oil to cut down on fat, skipping the mini chocolate chips, and adding more protein powder. 

1 cookie:  115 calories, 7.25 grams of fat, 7 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

Gluten-free mama?

No problem.  Whip her up these sugar cookies quick.  You can't even tell they're gluten-free!  

They are light sugar cookies that melt in your mouth.

I don't usually use boxed cake mixes, but these are really great for a quick gluten free treat, and you don't have to buy 16 gluten free flours to make it!

I wish I had a fun cookie cutter, or bright sprinkles to use.

But I didn't.

The beauty of these cookies is you need so few ingredients.  I'll be keeping a box of this mix in my house for a quick gluten-free dessert anytime.

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker

1 box gluten-free Betty Crocker yellow cake mix 

    (found with other cake mixes, NOT in gluten-free aisle)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  
3. Add the egg and water, mixing just until incorporated.
4. Gradually beat in the boxed flour mix.
5. Roll dough into small balls and place on ungreased baking sheet 2 inches apart (give them room, they will expand!)
6. Gently flatten the dough balls a bit with the bottom of a glass.
7. Bake 9-11 minutes. or until just beginning to turn a golden color.  Underbake, don't overbake!
8. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes. These cookies are delicate due to being gluten-free.
9. Carefully remove to a wire rack, and cool completely. 

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Ohh how I love fruit bars!  I look at it as a guilt-free way of eating pie.

You know that moment when you're pretty full, and Auntie Mae is presenting dessert- a pie oozing with blueberries and happiness, topped with a dollop of whipped cream sweetness, the sun shining in the background, birds singing songs of smiles and pie.. and you think 'oh I really shouldn't..'

But it would be a whole thing if you didn't take a slice. Auntie Mae shoves a plate at you, her fingers calloused from making the pie crust by hand, her face sunburnt from picking the blueberries just this morning, and you just have to eat it (and who are you kidding, you know you want it)

.. and it's a whole event with the plate of the pie and the fork and the sitting-down-so-you-can-eat-the-pie and the pass-the-napkins because I drooled blueberry pie on my new white pants..

Hellooo fruit bars... aka the same ingredients as pie- bars.  Just pick up a bar and keep it moving.  It's not even dessert really.  There's no fork needed.  Heck, you don't even need a plate!   Perfect for picnics and BBQ's.

These blueberry bars get gobbled up quick.  If you think you made enough, make more. Trust me.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes
Makes 24 good sized bars

1 1/2 cups white suger
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cpld unsalted butter (2 sticks) cut into pieces
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups fresh blueberries
3 tsp cornstarch
Zest and juice of one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup of the sugar, 3 cups flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add the lemon zest. Blend in the egg and butter with a fork or pastry cutter (I used a food processor) The dough will be crumbly.  
3. Pour half of the dough into the prepared pan. Pat down to make the crust for the bars.
4. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries.  Sprinkle the blueberry mixture over the crust, and crumble remaining dough over top of the blueberry layer.
5. Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes, or until top is just slightly brown.
6. Cool in pan on a wire rack.  Let cool completely before attempting to cut (the bars will fall apart if you try to cut when still warm).
7. Store in airtight container in fridge.

Double Orange Goat Cheese Cupcakes!

A little tart, a little tang...

I've been nuts for cupcakes lately.  Looking through my pantry, I didn't see many good cupcake ingredients.

I did see oranges in the fridge that will never get eaten.
I saw goat cheese leftover from failed appetizers this past weekend.
And of course my favorite ingredient that must go in everything I create lately (including the failed goat cheese appetizer- Jasmine Blossom Honey!

Hmmm.

It all worked out!

These little mini cupcakes are delish!

The frosting is not too sweet, it's light and fluffy. 

The goat cheese center complements the orange honey cupcake- this is not an overly sweet cupcake. Good for breakfast?  Why the heck not?!

Double Orange Goat Cheese Cupcakes

Recipe modified from Half Baked- the Cake Blog

You will need:

Cake:
1/2 cup butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Goat Cheese Topping:
6 ounces goat cheese, room temp
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Frosting recipe follows.

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 2, 24 muffin pans with cupcake liners
2. In a medium bowl, mix together all dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a small bowl mix together the wet ingredients- buttermilk, honey, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla.  Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until combined.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Gradually alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
7. Using a tablespoon fill the cupcake liners a little over halfway full, not quite 2/3 full.
8. Now make the goat cheese topping.
9. In a mixing bowl, mix the goat cheese and sugar until well combined.  Mix in the egg.
10. Using a teaspoon (or the same tablespoon, but I found a teaspoon easier to use) top the already filled muffin liners with a dollop of the goat cheese topping. Use the tsp to press the dollop down into the batter a bit, but not so much that it reaches the bottom.
11. Bake both sheets 8-10 minutes, switching the position of the two baking sheets halfway through.
12. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 5 minutes, and then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
13. Once completely cooled, frost with the frosting.

Frosting:

8 ounces goat cheese, room temp

1/4 cup butter, room temp

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup whipping cream

2 tsp orange extract (or if you don't have, substitute 1 tbsp orange zext and 2 tsp orange juice)

1. Cream goat cheese and butter in large mixing bowl.
2. Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing to combine.
3. Add whipping cream and orange extract.  Whip on high speed for several minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.

I must admit my measurements on the frosting are approximate- I added and tasted, until I got the consistency and taste I was looking for.  

Yes, there is a large amount of whipping cream in this frosting, (who doesn't love whipped cream?!)  I was looking for a really light, airy frosting, as a typical buttercream frosting sounded too heavy for these little bites of bliss. 

Enjoy!

A couple other favorite recipes:

Red Chili Honey Butter Shrimp

Mango-Chorizo Stuffed Pork Chops

Cardamom Scented Carrot Cheesecake

I first became aware of celiac disease when I met my step-dad.  At first, it was hard to comprehend.  No flour??!!  No bread? Pasta? Cake? Pizza???!!  etc, etc....  WHAT DO YOU EAT?!!?

That was before the surge in public awareness of gluten free eating.  Now it's pretty mainstream- with people choosing to go gluten-free for it's health benefits.  When I look at my step-dad's diet, it's completely apparent to me that gluten-free diets ARE more healthy.  To make up for the calories missing from bread and other 'glutinated' items, he eats extra veggies, and more often eats quinoa and brown rice.  

Since becoming more aware of gluten-free eating, I have gone completely gluten free in the past, and currently attempt to make healthier, gluten-free choices when possible (fairly speaking though- I DO eat   my share of gluten).  I enjoy the challenge of trying to make recipes gluten-free.

I am not, by any means, saying the following recipe for Carrot Cheesecake is healthy...  :)  But is IS gluten-free.  And DELICIOUSSSSS.

Cardamom Scented Carrot Cheesecake

This cake is time consuming (plan a whole day to prepare), but worth it.  I brought it to Easter dinner and got RAVE reviews.  Make it a day ahead- it's better the second day.

Crust:

2, 7.25 packages of Pamela's Pecan Shortbread Cookies

5 tbsp butter

Cheesecake:

4, 8 ounce bars cream cheese

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp plain greek yogurt

4 eggs

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cardamom

Carrotcake:

2 cups gluten-free flour mix- I used Betty Crocker Gluten-Free baking mix

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temp

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

3 cups peeled and grated carrots

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardomom

1 tsp salt

1 cup walnuts

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream Cheese Icing:

6 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 ounces unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla

You will need a 9 inch springform pan, 9 inch round cake pan, and parchment paper.

Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

2. Melt butter.  Add shortbread cookies to a food processor, and process until crumbs.  Slowly drizzle in the butter while still processing, allowing it to gradually wet all the crumbs. The crumbs should stick together a little when you press a handful into a ball.  If they don't add another tbsp of butter- but adding too much butter will make the crust very heavy, so be careful.

3. Dumb the cookie/butter mixture into the springform pan.  Press it down with the palms of your hand until it forms a solid, flat layer of crust.  When you think it's been pressed down well, press it down some more.  Do not press the crust up on the sides of the pan, keep it flat- as a base for the cake.

4. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.  LET COOL before adding cake batters, but leave oven on at 350.

Cheesecake:
1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth and light.  Blend in cream, and then add eggs one at a time, mixing just to combine the eggs with the cream cheese mixture.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients  Set aside, and make the carrotcake.

Carrotcake:
1. Lightly grease the cake pan, and place a circle of parchment paper down, leaving a little parchment hanging over for easy removal of the cake.

2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and eggs. Add vegetable oil and vanilla, mixing until smooth.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour mix, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar and egg mixture, stirring gently to combine.  Once combined, fold in the carrots and walnuts.

To assemble:
In the spring form pan:
1. On top of the cooled crust, add 1/2 of the cheesecake batter.

2. Add 1/2 of the carrotcake batter on top by small spoonfuls.  If it is poured on top in the center, you won't be able to spread it without combining it with the cheesecake layer.  By adding it with small spoonfuls, you can get the cake pretty mush covered, using a rubber scraper (or butter knife) to drag the spoonfuls together, making one solid layer.

3. Add the rest of the cheesecake batter, spreading evenly.

4. Bake in preheated oven for one hour.  After the hour, turn off oven, but leave cake inside for two hours.  Take out and cool completely on wire racks.

In the 9 inch cake pan:
1. Add the remaining carrotcake batter to the cake pan.  Bake in oven (with carrotcake) removing after 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Halfway through cooking time, switch the positions of the two cakes, so they cook evenly.

2. Let cool completely.

Once cool, use the parchment paper to remove the carrotcake from the pan.  Very carefully, place this layer ON TOP of the Cheesecake.  Try to keep the carrotcake from crumbling when doing this, but f it does you can hide it with the cream cheese frosting.

You now have a cake with 4 layers- cheesecake, carrotcake, cheesecake, carrotcake.

The frosting:
1. Cream the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla.  Gradually add the powdered sugar.  Mix until frosting is light and fluffy.  Apply to cake with a rubber scraper, spatula,  or spoon into a piping bag to decorate.

Store in fridge overnight.

Zucchini Muffins with Apricot Cream Cheese

My overabundance of zucchini led me to another zucchini recipe:

Zucchini Muffins with Apricot Cream Cheese

2 zucchinis, grated
2 cups flour
1/4 cup yogurt
1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg
6 tbsp butter, melted
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

Preheat oven to 375.

Grease muffin pans.  (I made 6 regular sized muffins and 24 mini muffins)

Squeeze out all water from zucchini.  I used paper towels, squeezing excess water from handfuls of zucchini.  Lightly salt, and set in colander to drain further.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking power, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, yogurt, butter, lemon juice, and sugar until incorporated.

Fold the wet yogurt mixture into the flour mixture until just barely combined.  Add the zucchini, apricots and raisins.  Fold gently until ingredients are incorporated, but do not overmix.

Pour batter into prepared pans until 3/4 full.

Bake 8 minutes, checking on mini muffins. Bake until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

        Apricot Cream Cheese

8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/3 cup apricot jam
1tsp Cointreau liquor (or any orange liquor)
2 tbsp confectioners sugar


Mix all ingredients.  Set aside to let flavors mingle.  After zucchini muffins are cooled completely, spread cream cheese on top, and decorate if desired.

A few other fave summertime recipes:

Zucchini Spaghetti with Spring Vegetables

Grilled Shrimp and Smashed Avocado