Congratulations Christie! You’ll be receiving CakeLove in the mail shortly. Thank you to everyone for participating and be sure to stay tuned! There are more giveaways in the works.

If after reading Monday’s post you now desperately want your chance to dive right into the cake baking world of Warren Brown then you’re in luck!  I’m giving away a copy of CakeLove to one Erin Cooks reader.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post (one comment per person please).  A winner will be selected via the nifty random number generator this Friday (May, 23rd) at noon and than I’ll promptly ship the cookbook to your home.  Get your aprons ready!

UPDATE:  Don’t forget!  You have until Noon (EST) on May 23 to enter the contest to win your very own copy of CakeLove.  Simply follow this link and leave a comment.  It couldn’t be easier.

You may be familiar with Warren Brown from reruns of his show Sugar Rush on the Food Network, or perhaps if you’re lucky enough to reside in D.C. you might have had the pleasure of sampling some of his creations and original recipes at one of his highly regarded CakeLove bakeries. For those of us living outside of personal shopping distance you’re in luck as Warren has recently released a gorgeous cookbook dedicated to the art of making some of his most popular CakeLove recipes.

I don’t use the term “art” loosely.  These cake are involved masterpieces.  Don’t be lulled into complacency by the brightly colored layout and upbeat color schemes.  The pages of this book may be designed to imply simplicity and ease but in reality this cookbook is more boot camp than day camp.   Ok…so the boot camp might be run by Vin Diesel’s character in The Disney movie The Pacifier, and not a four star general, but these recipes still mean business and attention to detail is key.

Fortunately, Brown gives you all of the tools to succeed including very detailed recipe instructions, step-by-step images when appropriate, and helpful tips and tricks.  But in the end it’s all up to you.  Thanks to jaw dropping photography and tantalizing recipe options like Stout Pound Cake with Roasted Pecans, Tres Leches Butter Cake, and Hazelnut Spice Sponge Cake your body will no doubt go into pure craving mode, and the ambition to taste one of these fanciful creations will give you all the motivation you’ll need to power through the recipe.

After examining the cookbook I decided to attempt the decidedly Summer appropriate Mojito Pound Cake.  To answer your burning question, yes, it really does taste like a Mojito!  Actually it tastes like a great Mojito, not one of those ghastly drinks you get from a hurried bartender because they think you’re a jerk for ordering one in the middle of a rush, but a carefully made, simple syrup, and mint muddled Mojito that makes you sit back and say, “Ahhhhh…”

In all seriousness though, I can’t believe I made this cake and I definitely couldn’t have done it without this amazingly thorough text.  There’s nothing semi-homemade about these recipes.  They’re all butter, flour, cream, and eggs through and through.   Sure they take a little more time and effort but the quality and taste of a cake made from scratch isn’t even in the same league as your basic boxed Betty Crocker.

Mojito Pound Cake with Rum-Flavored Italian Meringue Buttercream (Based on the recipe originally published in CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch by Warren Brown)

Dry
2 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 whole cloves (ground into a fine powder)
1/3 cup oven dried mint crumbled

Liquid
2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup half-and-half
3 tablespoons dark rum
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon limoncello
1 lime outer rind removed and segmented

Creaming
2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups extra-fine granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lime zest
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks

Note:  The actual recipe, including notes is three pages long.  Below is my condensed version.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Incorporated all of the dry ingredients into a bowl, whisk briefly,  and set aside. Incorporated all of the liquid ingredients into a bowl, whisk briefly,  and set aside.  Measure the butter, sugar, eggs, and yolks into separate bowls and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment) cream together the butter, sugar, and lime zest on the lowest setting for 4 to 5 minutes.

With the mixer still on the lowest speed, add the eggs one at a time followed by the yolks, fully incorporating after each addition.

Add the dry ingredient mixture, alternating with the liquid mixture in 3 to 5 additions each, beginning and ending with the dry mixture.  Move swiftly through this step to avoid overworking the batter.  Don’t wait for the dry or liquid mixtures to be fully incorporated before adding the next.  This step should take a total of about 60 seconds.

Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl (don’t miss the clumps of ingredients hiding on the bottom of the bowl).  Mix on medium speed for 15 to 20 seconds to develop the batters structure.

Prepare the cake pans.  For 9-inch-round cakes, line the bottom of each pan with parchment.  Note:  The recipe says not to spray the pans with cooking spray, but I did.  I wasn’t willing to take any chances on this cake sticking to the pan.  Deposit the batter evenly into the pans and smooth out with an offset spatula, making sure the pans are two-thirds full.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes.  Note:  My cakes took about 35 minutes.

Remove the pans from the oven and cool to room temperature on a wire rack, about 25 to 30 minutes before removing from the pan.  Loosen the cake gently from the pan with a small offset spatula and invert onto a flat surface.  Remove the parchment from the bottom of each cake and wrap the layers tightly in plastic.  You can refrigerate the layers overnight or up to 5 days before frosting.  Note:  I’m very impatient and only left my layers in the fridge for 2 hours.  It seemed to work fine for me!

Rum-Flavored Italian Meringue Buttercream

5 egg whites
1 1/4 cups extra-fine granulated sugar
1/4 cup cold water
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 to 4 tablespoons of dark rum (to taste)

Set out the ingredients and the equipment.

Separate the egg whites into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment.  Measure 1 cup sugar and the water into a 1-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Gently stir with the candy thermometer to combine.  Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar into a small bowl and set aside.  Cut the butter into tablespoon sized pieces and set aside in a medium bowl.

To make the sugar syrup, place the candy thermometer in the saucepan and heat the mixture over medium-high heat.  Partially cover with a lid to capture the evaporating water-this helps to moisten the sides of the saucepan to prevent sugar crystals from forming.

With the mixer on high speed, begin whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks.  When the peaks are stiff you have a meringue.  Keep the mixer running and pour the 1/4 cup of sugar into the meringue.

Raise the heat under the sugar syrup to bring the syrup to 245 degrees, if it is not there already.  When the syrup is at 245 degrees, remove the thermometer and slowly pour the syrup into the meringue.

After 1 or 2 minutes reduce the mixer speed to medium for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the meringue is cooled.  Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time.  Increase the mixer speed to high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the butter is fully incorporated.   Finally add in the dark rum and spread onto your pound cake.  Decorate as desired.   Note:  I used fresh mint and Turbinado sugar.

Over at io9 they’ve created a post detailing the top 10 Sci-fi Kitchen Gadgets including some of my personal favorites like the Replicator from Star Trek, Rosie the Robot Maid from The Jetsons, and Pee Wee’s breakfast machine in the movie Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Does anyone remember what Mr. T cereal tasted like anymore?

Unclutter asked if cookbooks were becoming a thing of the past, and perhaps even unnecessary due to the sheer volume of recipes that you can now access online. Personally, I will never give up buying and collecting cookbooks. Ever. While I do use a lot of online sites to pick up recipes, I still love and cherish all of my cookbooks. You’d have to seriously force me to get rid of them. Believe me there are plenty more places and things to unclutter in the house besides my cookbook shelf.

Posie Gets Cozy designed a series of adorable kitchen themed embroidery patterns as a tribute to her grandmother. I have a whole bag full of embroidery materials which I have used exactly one time. Someone else will have to tackle this top notch project for me.

Snack or Die made some Cheddar Pacman Crackers that pretty much cracked me up. I bet kids would love these. Well maybe? Do kids these days even know who Pacman is? In case they don’t, you can make them a dozen Tom Nook cupcakes instead.

The Frantic Home Cook made some Roasted Garlic Paste to use in hummus that she claims is almost as delicious as George Clooney. I may have to test that theory. Too bad I can’t also use Mr. Clooney as my personal “control subject.”

And finally, I made Mark Bittman’s Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread yesterday and it was really good.  Oddly enough, I think it tastes just like the B&M Brown Bread that comes in a can.  Talk about a blast from the past…

I picked up Amanda Hesser’s book Cooking for Mr. Latte after the holidays at the Harvard Book Store. I honestly had no idea who she was. In reality I thought that it was a new book since it was marked as a staff pick. Later in the evening Google revealed the truth to me. It seems Hesser writes for The New York Times and that her book actually came out in 2004. Apparently, she’s a fairly famous foodie in her own right, albeit at times a controversial one.

In the end I really enjoyed my selection. The short story format was fast paced and I loved how each chapter ended with an array of delicious recipes to try at home. I found myself dogearing page after page while reading on the T, which is a total sin and completely against my usual book etiquette but I didn’t want to forget to try anything. Those folded tabs have since been replaced by colorful mini post-its so you can all relax now.

It was difficult but I finally chose something simple to test. A cookie recipe with an obscene amount of chocolate — two entire bags to be exact (although Hesser used chocolate bars). When I told my cousin and her fiancé what kind of cookies they were eating the response was, “Wow…could you fit anything else in there!?”

Toast the Pecans	Mix the Batter
Chop, Chop, Chop	Fold
Scoop	Cool

Chocolate Chip, Toasted Pecan, Coconut Cookies (Inspired by Amanda Hesser’s recipe in Cooking for Mr. Latte)
Makes 4 dozen large cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of sea salt
24 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups toasted chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 325°F

In a mixer cream the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until smooth.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer, beating on low until blended.

Pour in the chocolate, pecans, and coconut. Fold them in by hand with a spatula.

Chill the dough for 30 minutes.

Using an ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto a well greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned on the edges and cooked in the center. Cool on a rack.

Twas the day after Christmas and the elves are exhausted but Erin and CK can’t wait to get started! For kitchen gadgets galore were bestowed on their heads and there are more brownies, and pastas, and people to be fed.

Santa was definitely kind to “Erin Cooks” this year (I think it was the cookies). I can’t wait to test out dishes from my cookbooks, try to break my bread making curse with the help of a new bread machine, and whip up some silky smooth soups with the assistance of a handy dandy immersion blender. Now where I’m going to store all of these items remains to be seen. If you come over for dinner I suggest opening any closets very very slowly just in case. I have a feeling that potato ricer packs a mean punch. What was your favorite kitchen gift this holiday season?

From left to right: potato ricer, bread machine, microplane grater, stainless steel slow cooker, Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis, immersion blender, Mac’s Salt & Vinegar Gourmet popcorn, New Pizza by James McNair, The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown, Digital Food Photography by Lou Manna, a pie spatula, and the Williams-Sonoma Beef & Veal Book.