Sunday Nite Dinner » cream cheese

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

Chuck — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:41:25 +0000

A few months ago, Hungry Bear favorited this cinnamon-apple cake on foodgawker and she finally made it for our Lunar New Year celebration this year. It's not Chinese or Vietnamese in any way, but Hungry Bear didn't want to make anything too elaborate and we had two apples to use up. So that's how a cinnamon-apple cake got served at a New Year's party with Chinese hot pot.

I was working that day when Hungry Bear was baking the cake and I wasn't paying much attention. She told me that it was a Cooking Light recipe, but she was making it full-fat because she hates margarine and fat-free cream cheese. I honestly wasn't very excited about the cake. I don't get too excited unless there's chocolate involved.

I don't think anyone at dinner knew how damn good this cake was going to be. Then everyone wanted seconds. It's a light, moist cake with the perfect amount of sweetness from the cinnamon-sugar topping. Hungry Bear thinks it tastes like coffee cake and she'd happily eat it for breakfast.

Our friend, Deb, made it for a family gathering the next day. And I asked Hungry Bear to bake it again a few days later so we could document it for SND. It's probably my favorite non-chocolate dessert at the moment!

Cinnamon-Apple Cake Recipe

SND Note: The original Cooking Light recipe calls for Rome apples, but we used Fujis. If you want to make the light version, substitute margarine for the butter and use fat-free cream cheese. If using an 8-inch springform pan, bake it five minutes longer.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped peeled Fuji apples (about 2 large)
Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine two tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apples in a bowl. Stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle top with remaining cinnamon mixture.
Bake for 65-70 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack. Cut using a serrated knife.

Makes 8-10 servings

[Adapted from Cooking Light]

Tags: apple, cake, cinnamon, cream cheese, easy

Light Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chuck — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:55:32 +0000

Carrot cake again? I know, I know, how much carrot cake can someone eat? Well, I've eaten entirely too much of it in the last two weeks. After Hungry Bear made her fantastic carrot cake, I wanted to make a light version while her normal, full-fat version was still fresh on our minds.

The light carrot cake recipe was adapted from Cook's Illustrated (CI). I used all the CI fat reducing steps...

Reduced the amount of oil from 1 1/2 cups to 1/2 cup
Reduced the number of eggs from 4 to 3
Used Philadelphia Neufchatel reduced-fat cream cheese
Lowered the sugar quantity in the frosting

Then, I kept the majority of the normal cake's other ingredients to keep the flavors similar, which means pineapples and coconut flakes were included.

Cook's Illustrated's light cream cheese frosting recipe uses 12 oz of reduced fat cream cheese and no butter. I didn't like the idea of buying two 8 oz boxes of low fat cream cheese and not use 4 oz. So, I modified the recipe to use 8 oz of cheese and added a little butter.

The light carrot cake was pretty good. We thought the cake tasted similar to the full-fat version, but Hungry Bear's cake had a superior, more tender texture. The light cake was a little too moist and dense, which was a surprise given only half a cup of oil was used. It was probably due to the moisture of the carrots (3 cups) and pineapples. I actually preferred the light cream cheese frosting over the full-fat version because it was less sweet and rich.

Here's a breakdown of calories and fat per serving for the two cakes...

Carrot Cake	Calories	Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)
Normal	564	33	7	80
Light	406	17	5	61

As you can see, the light carrot cake is not a low fat dessert, but with half the fat of the normal recipe, it still tastes great. If someone were to serve me this cake, I wouldn't know it was a light version. If you love carrot cake, eat it regularly, and want a lighter recipe, definitely give this one a try. When I'm craving carrot cake again (it will be awhile), I'll stick with Hungry Bear's carrot cake.

Light Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

SND Note: The batter is quite thick before the carrots and pineapples are added, so don't worry. The next time I make this recipe, I would reduce the carrots by 1/2 to 3/4 cup to get a lighter crumb when using pineapples. 3 cups of carrots with pineapples has too much moisture. To reduce calories and fat further, skip the pineapple and coconut flakes (37 calories and 2 g of fat per serving).

Light Carrot Cake Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1 cup packed light brown sugar (7 ounces)
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 pound carrots (about 6 medium), peeled and grated (3 cups)
8 ounces canned crushed pineapple, drained (optional)
3 1/2 ounces coconut flakes (optional)

Light Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

8 ounces Philadelphia Neufchatel (1/3 less fat) cream cheese, softened but still cool
3 tablespoons butter, softened but still cool
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces confectioners' sugar

Directions

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13 by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil. Line bottom of pan with parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.
Shred carrots using a box grater; set aside. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in large bowl and using hand-held mixer), beat eggs, granulated and brown sugars on medium-high until they turn thick and creamy, 1 to 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the oil until thoroughly combined and emulsified, 30 to 60 seconds.
On low speed, add half the flour mixture over the batter and gently mix in. Repeat once more with the remaining flour mixture and continue to mix the batter gently until most of the lumps are gone (do not overmix). By hand stir in the carrots, pineapple and coconut until well combined. Pour into cake pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the parchment paper. Flip the cake right-side up, and cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours, before frosting.
Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment ( or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until fluffy, about 1 minute. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes one 13 by 9-inch cake and 16 servings

[Adapted from The Best Light Recipe by Cook's Illustrated]

Tags: cake, carrot, cinnamon, coconut, cream cheese, frosting, light, lower fat, nutmeg pineapple

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chuck — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 05:06:29 +0000

I love carrot cake. Of all the non-chocolate cakes, it's probably my favorite one. When Hungry Bear gave me the choice between carrot cake and chocolate turtle cake, I still chose the carrot cake. I wanted to keep it uncomplicated this past Sunday night, and what's better than a simple carrot cake with cream cheese frosting?

Hungry Bear used a recipe from an old roommate, Roz. You know, the kind of recipe that's written on an index card and handed down. The cake contains pineapples and coconut flakes, which we both enjoy in our carrot cake. Hungry Bear mentioned Cook's Illustrated (CI) pooh poohed the use of canned crushed pineapples, toasted coconut and wheat germ in The New Best Recipes. In fact, they were "unanimously voted out", but CI approved raisins and nuts as options... um, no thanks. I love Cook's Illustrated, but sometimes their decisions seem completely arbitrary. With all due respect to CI, Hungry Bear and I unanimously voted pineapples and coconut flakes back in!

The carrot cake was fantastic. It was relatively light, tender and moist, but not soggy. And then there's the cream cheese frosting. I think it speaks for itself. I knew the cake was good when our friend, Jane, had two servings of dessert, which she never does. Or it just could be, she's eating for two now, congrats Jane and Mark! We like to believe the cake was really good.

Since the carrot cake is fresh on our minds and palates, I'm going to make a light carrot cake based on a Cook's Illustrated recipe this weekend. We'll see how it compares to the full fat version. And yes, crushed pineapples and coconut flakes will be included!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

SND Note: The parchment paper in step 1 is optional. It will make it easier to remove from the pan and the presentation may be a bit nicer. If you're fine with icing the cake in the pan just skip the parchment and greasing. The frosting is on the sweet side, so reduce the amount of confectioners' sugar to taste. When the cake is frosted only on top, we use only half the frosting. The recipe calls for 8 ounces of crushed pineapple, but Hungry Bear used 12 ounces, which she thinks is a better amount.

Carrot Cake Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
4 large eggs
2 cups carrots (4-5 medium carrots), peeled
8 ounces crushed pineapple, lightly drained
3 1/2 ounces coconut flakes

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, softened but still cool
1 teaspoon vanilla
16 ounces confectioners' sugar

Directions

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13 by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil. Line bottom of pan with parchment and oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.
Shred carrots using small holes of box grater; set aside. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in large bowl and using hand-held mixer), beat eggs, granulated and brown sugars on medium-high until thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds. Reduce speed to low; with mixer running, add oil in slow, steady stream. Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 to 60 seconds longer.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients until just combined. By hand stir in the carrots, pineapple and coconut until well combined. Pour into cake pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. On a wire rack, cool cake to room temperature in pan, about 1-2 hours.
Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment ( or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute.
Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, peel off parchment, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes one 13 by 9-inch cake

[Directions adapted from Cook's Illustrated]

Tags: cake, carrot, cinnamon, coconut, cream cheese, frosting, nutmeg, pineapple

San Francisco Cupcake Tasting Tour

Chuck — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 05:30:39 +0000

After last month's NYC cupcake tour that put us in a cupcake coma, we decided to replicate the fun and go on a cupcake tasting tour in San Francisco. The cupcake scene in San Francisco is still in its infancy compared to NYC. There aren't many pure cupcakeries in the Bay Area, but the number of shops is slowly growing. After a little research, the cupcake shops on the tour were...

To burn off as many calories as possible between our cupcake eating, I made the event a walking tour and chose the shops and route accordingly. The plan was to start at the Ferry Building with Miette and work our way across the city to the Marina with a lunch stop in North Beach.

We met Jane at 9:30 am at the Ferry Building for breakfast. The thought of starting the day with a cupcake wasn't appetizing, so we needed to get something in our stomachs. Hungry Bear and I chose a tasty egg, bacon and cheese breakfast sandwich from the Golden Gate Meat Company, while Jane minimized her carb intake by getting sausage on a stick.

With breakfast out of the way, it was time to start sampling cupcakes. Jane's friends, Isaac and Liz, met us at 10:00 am at Miette Cakes. Hungry Bear handed out the scorecards for ratings/tasting notes and the cupcake tasting commenced. Similar to our NYC tour, the plan was to use the chocolate chocolate cupcake as the benchmark at each shop.

Miette Patisserie

Much to our surprise, there wasn't a double chocolate cupcake available. The closest one was chocolate with coffee buttercream frosting. In total, we sampled four cupcakes at Miette. The highlight of the four was the Old-Fashioned — a chocolate cupcake with Italian meringue topped with a candy coated peanut.

Everyone enjoyed this cupcake and thought it had a great chocolate flavor. Jane and Liz declared it the best overall cupcake on the tour. They both rated it highest in terms of appearance, cake/frosting texture and flavor. The other Miette cupcakes were good, but no comparison to the Old-Fashioned.

Citizen Cupcake

The next stop was the highly anticipated Citizen Cupcake, the sibling of Elizabeth Falkner's Citizen Cake, at the top of the Virgin Megastore in Union Square. From the moment we stepped into the cafe, it was a big disappointment. It should be renamed Citizen Cafe, because the emphasis is on being a cafe and bar, not a cupcake shop.

To make things worse, the cupcakes were sub par. Once again, there was no double chocolate cupcake. The buttercream frosting on the cupcakes we tasted were entirely too sweet. And the cake was dry and too crumbly.

During our visit, we learned that the cupcakes are made at Citizen Cake and sent to this location. I would recommend just going to Citizen Cake, where you can also select from other pastries and desserts. With the name Citizen Cupcake, I was expecting a place that celebrated the cupcake, but sadly there was no cupcake love.

Lunch Break

After two cupcake stops, we walked towards North Beach and grabbed a savory snack. Hungry Bear, Jane and I shared some Vietnamese banh bao — steamed buns filled with pork, vermicelli, hard-boiled egg and Chinese sausage — from Little Paris. Liz and Isaac grabbed sandwiches at Molinari Deli. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed our lunch in Washington Square Park.

That Takes the Cake

After lunch, we strolled over to That Takes the Cake in Cow Hollow. The shop has only been open for three weeks. It's a tiny store with a nice layout and it was all about the cupcakes! The only downside is the lack of inside seating. However, it was a nice day, so we took advantage of their two tables outside, where our friend, Brennan, was gracious enough to finally join us.

That Takes the Cake currently has thirteen flavors and serves eight flavors daily. Unfortunately, they do not offer the Double Trouble — chocolate buttermilk cake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting — on Saturdays. We did get the following...

Gentlemen Prefer Reds - traditional southern red velvet cake topped with cream cheese frosting.
Funky Monkey - moist banana cake with chocolate and pecan pieces topped with cream cheese frosting.
Seasonal - strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting.
Bunny Bites - moist carrot cake with pecans and pineapple topped with cream cheese frosting.
Sleepless in SF - chocolate buttermilk cake topped with coffee buttercream.

The playful cupcake names are quite amusing. Isaac was thoroughly impressed with their cake/frosting combinations and relished each cupcake. We all agreed they did a good job with the flavor profiles and with the cake/frosting textures. I really liked the chunks of chocolate and pecans in the Funky Monkey and the pecans and pineapples bits in the Bunny Bites. The chunks added nice textures to the normal cupcake crumb.

Kara's Cupcakes

Next we took a short walk to Kara's Cupcakes in the Marina. The shop is very chic and sleek compared to the other stores. It was also the busiest cupcakery that we visited all day. Kara's finally had the chocolate chocolate cupcake we were hoping to taste. The cupcakes we had were...

Chocolate Velvet - chocolate cupcake with a velvety bittersweet chocolate buttercream.
Fleur De Sel - chocolate cupcake with caramel filling, ganache frosting and fleur de sel.
Coconut - vanilla cupcake with a coconut cream cheese frosting.
Kara's Karrot - moist carrot cupcake with a silky soft cream cheese frosting.

Hungry Bear and I were extremely happy to get our double chocolate fix and the Fleur De Sel cupcake blew us away. The ganache was rich with a strong chocolate taste. The caramel filling was an added bonus and didn't overpower the chocolate goodness. Finally, the salty crunch of the fleur de sel was a nice contrast to the sweet caramel. The other cupcakes also had moist textures and good flavors, but it was hard to compete with the Fleur De Sel cupcake.

Chestnut Bakery

The final stop on the tour, the Chestnut Bakery, was only a block away. At this point, we were on the cupcake edge and were ready to finish the tour. The cupcakes at Chestnut Bakery were a little odd. The cake had a super airy, spongy texture. The frosting also had a strange consistency. We barely touched the cupcakes and left unimpressed by them.

Ratings

After reviewing our tasting notes, and with much contemplation, I present the shop rankings from our 2007 San Francisco Cupcake Tasting Tour.

Cupcake Tour Rankings (1 = Best, 5 = Least Liked)

Cupcake Shop	Isaac	Liz	Jane	Hungry Bear	Chuck
Miette Cakes	3	1	1	3	3
Citizen Cupcake	5	5	5	4	5
That Takes the Cake	1	2 (tie)	2	2	2
Kara's Cupcakes	2	2 (tie)	3	1	1
Chestnut Bakery	4	4	4	5	4

Similar to NYC, there wasn't a consensus winner. However, the clear losers on the tour were Citizen Cupcake and Chestnut Bakery, as they were rated in the bottom two by everyone. The cupcakes at both shops had major flaws and were quite disappointing. Neither shop is in the same league as the other three cupcakeries on the tour.

It is interesting to note that Liz and Jane rated Miette the best due to the Old-Fashioned cupcake. And Hungry Bear and I rated Kara's the highest in large part due to the Fleur De Sel cupcake. These two cupcakes were the highest regarded cupcakes by the group. Both cupcakes were unique and memorable.

I was completely torn between Kara's Cupcakes and That Takes the Cake, but ultimately my chocolate bias won out and I gave the nod to Kara's because of the Fleur De Sel. With that said, I think That Takes the Cake has the most original cupcakes in terms of flavor combinations and cake textures. I will have to go back another day and try the Double Trouble chocolate cupcake and see if it will change my ranking.

Summary

It was an epic day of cupcake tasting. We learned from our NYC experience and made our cupcake tour an all day activity (10:00 am to 4:30 pm). With the slower pace and planned savory lunch stop, it was a relaxing day of cupcake eating and exploration of the northeastern part of San Francisco.

We enjoyed many delicious cupcakes during our tour. After five shops and twenty-one shared cupcakes, we all said, "No mas!" As we were leaving the last shop, we were feeling a little lethargic, but grateful that we didn't completely over-indulge... no cupcake coma after this tour!

In the end, we had a very fun day hanging out with old and new friends. And we found three cupcake shops — Miette Cakes, That Takes the Cake and Kara's Cupcakes — that could easily satisfy a cupcake craving. More importantly, we discovered three places that understood and celebrated the beauty of the cupcake. We definitely felt the cupcake love at these shops!

Tour Participants: Brennan, Liz, Isaac, Jane, Hungry Bear, Chuck

Tags: chocolate, cream cheese, cupcakery, cupcakes, frosting, ganache, ratings, red velvet, San Francisco, tour