I was recently watching a documentary on the history of the Coca-Cola company and it got me thinking about whether I could use Coke in baking. I’ve used sodas, like root beer, before in barbecue sauces, but would the flavor of the soda come through in a cake or other baked good? I didn’t have to wonder for long because it turns out that there are lots of recipes that use Coca-Cola right on the company’s website, including a recipe for a Cola Cake (pdf).
The cake uses Coke in both the cake and the glaze that covers it, and it was almost exactly what I had in mind for a recipe that used coke, since it used quite a bit of soda. It’s a chocolate sheet cake topped with a Coke-infused glaze and lots of crunchy pecans. Now, I said “almost exactly” because I made some changes to this recipe right off the bat. I reduced the amount of butter called for slightly, used less cocoa powder to make sure the Coke flavor came out and added a bit of salt to contrast the sugars in the cake. The result was really delicious, so I am confident in saying that Coke works out well as an addition to some baked goods!
I like that this cake is baked and served in the same dish because it’s easy and unfussy to do so. This is especially true because the glaze is poured on while the cake is hot, so you don’t need any frosting for it. The cake is very, very moist and very soft. It has a nice chocolate flavor to it and you can just get a hint of the spicy flavor of the Coke through it. This is helped along by a butter and Coca-Cola glaze that is poured over the cake just as it comes out of the oven. Pecans are used in the topping to add crunch to the cake, and they’re slightly candied by the butter-Coke mixture before they make it on to the cake. One great finishing touch is to make sure to use toasted, salted pecans for the topping. That extra salt really makes for the perfect contrast and just might make this cake as popular as the soda featured in it!
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The sweetest gift you can give your loved one is the pleasure of your company, perhaps over a big carafe of coffee, a glass of fresh orange juice and a big breakfast that you enjoy together while reading the paper on a quiet morning. Or a plate of homemade baked goods, since the time that you’ll put into them makes them worth a lot more than a box of even the most expensive chocolates. And, naturally, what could go better with some homemade baked goods than a copy of The Baking Bites Cookbook? It makes a great Valentine’s Day gift for the baker in your life – and I’m not going to tell if you crack open the cookbook yourself to make a batch of Jelly Donut Muffins to go with that Valentine’s Day Coffee. If you have kids, get them to help out with the gift preparation (i.e. baking the treats) too and you’ll get even more Valentine’s Day brownie points, and you’ll definitely have one sweet day.
The book is available directly from me via PayPal (free US shipping included and a discount if you buy two copies!) and can also be found on Amazon.com.
As much as I love my cupcake carrier, there is one thing about it that I don’t like. It is very large and it takes up a lot of storage space when I’m not using it. This is true of all of my cake carriers, too, but because the cupcake carrier has more than one rack inside for stacking cupcakes, it’s not easy to stack other, smaller, storage containers inside of it. There is no need to try and stack smaller containers inside this Collapsible Cupcake & Cake Carrier, however, because the whole carrier folds down to a very compact size when it is not in use. It takes up about half as much storage space as a more traditional cupcake carrier, so it can fit on the shelf alongside your other containers, pans and baking accessories. The silicone sides of the carrier are sturdy and will not accendentially collapse on their own, but must be pushed firmly into place to fold. The racks inside the carrier will hold up to 24 cupcakes securely.
It is easy to talk about your favorite Girl Scout Cookies. Mine are Samoas. This shouldn’t be much a surprise because the two most popular Girl Scout cookies are Samoas and Thin Mints, and they have been for years. These are the cookies that, even if you’re making them at home, you still wait eagerly for in the late winter when Girl Scouts start selling them. But other cookies come and go, dropped from the production lineup for lack of popularity.
So, while I know what the most popular cookies are, I have to ask what are the least popular Girl Scout Cookies? As much as I’d like to think that they’re all pretty good, I’ve had some over the years that were pretty bad – the kind of cookies where the box never really gets finished because you’ll reach for another snack long before taking a cookie from the already open box. For me, I would have to say that I’ll pass on anything reduced fat or reduced sugar. This is primarily because if I’m waiting a whole year to pick up a box of cookies, I’m not going to worry about a few extra calories, but also because these cookies don’t even approach the flavor of the classic cookies in the lineup! Over the years many cookies have come and gone – some better than others. What were your least favorite Girl Scout Cookies?
If you want to reference some of the cookies from years past to refresh your memories, take a look at these comments were people relive some of their favorites, too.
Weddings are undeniably special occasions and you’ll see some of the most beautiful and most elaborate cakes ever baked on display at wedding receptions. You’ll also see some of the most over-the-top cakes, for better and for worse. One of my favorite instances of this is a life sized wedding cake made to look exactly like the bride herself. It was certainly memorable, down to the matching dress, bouquet and hairstyle of the bride. This wedding cake wedding dress, a designer creation by Lukka Sigurdardottir that is unlikely to be appearing at any real ceremonies in the near future, was built along a similar vein. Instead of making the bride out of cake to wear the cake dress, this gigantic dress-shaped wedding cake has a real woman at the center – “wearing” the dress! Naturally, she can’t move too well in the outfit, but she is in a good position to snack on the rainbow-colored, multi layer cake while she waits to be rolled – since walking is pretty much out of the question – down the aisle.
