anniversary cake for breakfast?

i felt kinda bad this morning when i realized that of the eleventy-two things i had to do this weekend, i got eleventy-one of them done but i forgot the most important one: make an anniversary cake for pbe. d'oh! then i realized that i actually did, it was just a breakfast coffee cake. yay!

on sundays, i have taken to baking breakfast items that my bunky and i can eat all week long. recently, i have been working on variations of the sour cream streusel coffee cake by nic from bakingsheet. my most recent incarnation was an apple almond sour cream streusel coffee cake. i used nic's basic recipe, except for the following twists: i subbed in 1/3 cup of almond meal for 1/3 cup of the flour; i subbed 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract for 1/4 teaspoon of the vanilla; i added a layer of chopped apples between the cake batter and the streusel topping; and i used almonds in the streusel mixture for the top. the apples increased the cooking time to almost 70 minutes (i baked this in a ceramic dish, so it takes longer anyway). if i had any dried cranberries in the house, i would have added them to the topping and maybe in the batter of the cake itself. cranberries, apples and almonds...yummy combo.

so anyway, happy anniversary to us! amazing that we've stuck with it for a year. for those of you not keeping score, there are three of us: mooncrazy and doodles are sisters and i (maltese parakeet, aka little bird) am mooncrazy's daughter and, hence, doodles' niece. it all started when doodles emailed me some links for food blogs and said she'd sure love to do something like that. i think i had it set up on blogger about five minutes later. the name came from mooncrazy, who had been saving it for a while to use on something good (her punk band never got off the ground). i have really enjoyed myself this past year. it's been a really great way to spend quality time with my geographically dispersed mother and aunt. it's a good excuse to cook more and be adventurous in the kitchen, which i really enjoy. i'm also thrilled to have had the opportunity to get back into photography. but most of all, i have enjoyed getting to know some cool food bloggers all over the country and around the world, with special shout outs to kitchen wench, c for cooking, soul fusion kitchen, copperpots and la vida dulce. so thanks to everyone for reading (and commenting) and keeping it fun for us. we'll try to keep it interesting for you!

A Moon cake

The gently orb in the sky has nothing to do with the cake, it's just I wanted you to know it was from me to celebrate our First Bloggy Anniversary.

This recipe is courtesy of my doctor. Not that he's a cook, he's nagged me once again to get off my duff and shed a pound or ten which makes me head for Cooking Light.

I used the fat-free cream cheese in this recipe but would never put it on a bagel. To me, it had an odd texture. I also used butter, hey it was only 1/2 cup.

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened. (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups peeled and chopped Rome apples (about 2 large)
Cooking spray

Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed 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 sugar mixture with apples and stir apples into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform (I used a 9-inch) pan coated with cooking spray. Top with remaining sugar mixture.

Bake 350 for one hour and fifteen minutes or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove and cool the cake on a rack. Cut using a serrated knife. Serves 12

This was served to friends Friday evening with rave reviews even though I served it with Fat Free No Sugar Added Vanilla Ice Cream. The ice cream wasn't that bad though I detected a slight after taste. I'm not a fan of fake-sugar-anything so folks used to diet sodas might not notice. At least it doesn't have High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Congratulations to all three of us for sticking to this blog like mac and cheese does to the dish.

Note: Would you like to print a recipe? Click the following link to download a PDF. Easy to print pdf of recipe

doodles tooth boo boo get's in way of celebration

The most senior (in age) member of the PBE blog has had a slight set back. It involves a tooth and a dentist, all properly explained here, if you care to read about it.

However this is the cake I was intending to make and for no other reason than when I got my March issue of Cooking Light and I laid eyes on this cake I let out a huge sigh. Perfect I thought!!! I don't make cakes often, in fact seldom, very seldom.

So here I present my Happy Celebration cake to US, Tres Mujares, the three PBE Chicks or as we are more commonly know as Moon, lil bird and doodles.

Italian Cream Cake:

Cooking spray
2 teaspoons cake flour
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 cups cake flour (about 8 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted (yes toasted because it deepens the flavor)
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large egg whites

Frosting:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup (5 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (when I saw this I immediately thought I would use mascarpone cheese instead, I'll let you know)
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cake, coat bottoms of 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pans). Line bottoms of pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray, and dust with 2 teaspoons flour; set aside.
Place 1/3 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour, baking soda, and salt; stir well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in pecans, coconut extract, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Fold egg whites into batter; pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack. Loosen cake layers from sides of pans; remove from pans. Remove and discard wax paper. Cool completely.
To prepare frosting, place 1 tablespoon butter and cream cheese in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until smooth (do not overbeat). Add 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat well.
Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with one-third of frosting. Top with other cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 322(25% from fat); FAT 8.8g (sat 4.6g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 4.7g; CHOLESTEROL 45mg; CALCIUM 33mg; SODIUM 221mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 56.6g


Think I'll make this cake for an equally big celebration, we are leaving the state of Florida and headed West. Good reason to bake a cake huh? stay tuna'd...


Note: Would you like to print the recipe? Click the following link to download a PDF. Easy to print pdf of recipe

So make us a cake, already

The PBE women are celebrating our one year anniversary. We thought it would be fun to have a virtual cake to go with our virtual anniversary and since it would be totally self-serving to ask you kind readers so we are making our own.

The year has just scooted by. Our very first post was from lil bird and it was a restaurant review. We've posted a number of Week-end Dog Blogging on Sweetnick's site, some original recipes and reviews and remember when lil bird made Kimchi? Doodle's Unusual Paring has become a standard summer lunch and re-reading my own self-imposed challenge, Please, let them eat cake made me laugh just to remember. Too many cakes!

We've come a long way since last year, have hooked up with some interesting food bloggers and had a hell of a good time playing with our food.

Watch for our three cakes coming soon.