This was a busy, busy weekend for me. I had two events to bake for on Saturday, then I had to contemplate a delicious treat to make for my coworkers tomorrow. Be prepared: yummy photos ahead.
Event #1: Keeneland Tailgating
My goal was to come up with something not easily perishable or melt-able (since it was going to be sitting out in the sun for long periods of time) but easy to share among a large group. I took
this recipe and made it my own:
Cinnamon Butterscotch Cake
Serves... many!
For cake:
6 oz (weight) unsweetened apple sauce
6 oz (approx. 1 cup) whole wheat flour
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz granulated sugar
2.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
3 tbsp light soy milk
For butterscotch glaze:
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup light soy milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8x8 glass baking dish with non-stick spray.
Mix the apple sauce and sugars until combined. Add eggs. When completely mixed, add in cinnamon and baking powder.
Slowly add in flour, alternating with milk. Pour into the baking dish and bake 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center.
Remove from the oven and put on a cooling rack. While cooling, prepare the glaze.
Heat soy milk until boiling (I did this in the microwave). Put butterscotch chips in a glass mixing bowl and pour the boiling milk on top of the chips. Let it sit for 3-4 minutes then vigorously mix until smooth. (If it needs to be melted more, put the bowl in the microwave for 15 second intervals, mixing after each time in the microwave, until everything is melted.)
Let the liquid sit for 5 minutes to thicken a little bit, then pour over the entire cake as evenly as possible.
You can serve immediately, but I recommend letting it sit overnight so the glaze can penetrate the cake and harden a little. When cooled, cut and serve!
Event #2: BBQ
This one had to also be able to sit in a car during the tailgating, since my friend and I were heading straight to a mutual friend's house immediately after the horse race. It had to also be able to be shared, and because my friends have been spoiled by my baked goods lately, it had to be different than anything I've made for them before. I chose to give
this recipe an almond twist.
Almond Butter Filled Cocoa Cookies
Yields approx. 32 cookies
For cookies:
1½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup margarine, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup light soy milk
For filling:
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup natural creamy almond butter
Preheat oven to 350F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Mix flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a small bowl. In a large bowl, cream white and brown sugar with margarine. Combine wet and dry ingredients. It will be a little dryer than your average cookie dough because you'll have to manage the dough in your hands.
In a separate bowl, combine the almond butter and powdered sugar.
With your hands, scoop up about 3 tablespoons of the chocolate batter and form it into a disk. Place about 1 teaspoon of the almond butter mixture in the center of the disk and fold the sides of the disk up, smoothing out the seam. Place on the cookie sheet seam-side down.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes.
Event #3: Spoil My Coworkers
I've sort of been baking my coworkers things that I know they'd like. Now I'm thinking about myself. One of my favorite combinations is mint and chocolate, and I've been wanting to take a stab at cream cheese frosting, so I used
this recipe and
this recipe as inspiration for this funky-looking confection.
Icy Cool Layered Brownies
Brownies:
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup sugar
12 packets Truvia
3/4 cup egg whites
3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp almond extract
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 lb powdered sugar
8 tbsp Earth Balance spread at room temperature
1 package 2/3 Philadelphia cream cheese (8 oz) at room temperature
1 tsp peppermint extract
24 drops blue food coloring
Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
4 tbsp Earth Balance spread
2 tbsp fat free sweetened evaporated milk
1 oz 72% cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Heat oven to 325-350 degrees. Grease 13x9 glass baking dish, or two 8x8 glass baking dishes.
For brownies:
Stir together apple sauce, sugar, and almond extract. Beat in eggs egg whites. Add cocoa, flour, and baking powder; beat until well blended. Pour batter into pan and bake 30-35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides and toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool completely.
For cream cheese frosting:
Beat together butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and pepperment extract. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you have used it all and the frosting is smooth. Pour over cooled brownies and chill.
For the chocolate glaze:
Melt chocolate and butter in double broiler, mix with powdered sugar and add milk one tbsp at a time.
Pour glaze over frosted brownies. It didn't cover all of it for me, so I took a toothpick and swirled it around to give it a fun swirly look.
Currently they are in the fridge getting solid so I can slice them easier. These are the only things I've yet to taste... but based on how each component tastes separately, I'm confident it will all come out okay!
Now, I love caramel. I've only recently (within the past year) begun enjoying chocolate, but no matter how much chocolate there is in the world, I'll always want the ooey gooey creaminess of caramel. Knowing that the caramel is the special part of this cookie, I went along with the recipe and bought the exact caramels in it from CC Confectionary.
