Category: Cakes + Cupcakes

Cinnamon Bundt Cake

cinnamonbundtThe importance of properly greasing and flouring your Bundt pan cannot be overstated. When you do, you get a lovely cake that pops right out. When you don’t, you get…well, the disaster below. See that fault line of sorts on the right side? It’s a chunk of cake that stuck to the pan and I had to scrape out and then stick back together. Good times.

I usually flour my Bundt pan with Wondra flour, an awesome product of powder-like consistency that serves many purposes, from thickening gravies to properly coating Bundt pans. But I went with regular flour this time, and I paid the price. I referred to this cake earlier as the bride of Frankenstein and really, I think she should be offended. Regardless of appearance, it’s absolutely delicious. When I make it again (there will be a next time, for sure) not only will I properly grease and flour my pan, but I’ll likely mix in some orange zest as well.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract

For the icing

  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
  • 4-5 teaspoons water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and butter extract. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients to completely combine.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in tin for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract, butter extract, and 2 teaspoons water; add enough additional water to make a thick but pourable icing. Pour over cake and allow to drip down the sides. Allow icing to set before serving.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days; this cake stays moist for a very long time.

Lessons in proper greasing and flouring can be learned from the following:

brideofrankenstein

Lemon Vanilla Cupcakes

lemonvanillacupcakesIt’s August, the height of summer. And with August comes Leo season, the zodiac sign of my birth. Technically Leo season begins in July, but that’s okay. My friend and colleague Melissa and I always mark the beginning of August by saying “it’s Leo season” and agreeing that everything should go right for us during our birth month. That has never happened, but there’s a first time for everything, so we’ll see how this Leo season goes.

Anyway…lemon is a great summer flavor and felt like a good choice for Leo season. These cupcakes are a combination of lemon and vanilla, which I’d never made before – and while they’re delicious, I think I like lemon and almond better. Next time!

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
  • Zest of 2 medium lemons

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • Zest of 1 small lemon*
  • 2-3 drops yellow food coloring

*If you’re worried about lemon zest being weird in your frosting – which sometimes, it can be given its texture – then just add another 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract to taste. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 17 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Stir into the flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract, lemon extract, and lemon zest and beat to combine completely. Add yellow food coloring if desired. Fit a large piping bag with a large star tip (I use the Wilton M1) and pipe swirls of frosting onto cupcakes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Beach Cupcakes

beach cupcakesBeach-themed baking continues, since once again, almost everyone I know is taking, has taken, or is currently on a beach vacation. I feel like these treats need something else design-wise but I can’t figure out what. A mermaid tail? Shells? An oyster made of miniature vanilla wafers with a sugar pearl inside? Or perhaps my favorite, a teddy graham laying out wearing a bikini? Maybe next time.

Flavor-wise they’re a caramel almond creation; almond cupcakes with caramel frosting, convenient for the color of the sand.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • About 1/3 cup caramel sauce*
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

*I used Smucker’s Caramel Ice Cream topping to save time but you can also make your own caramel sauce. Homemade caramel sauce is absolutely delicious.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 17 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir into the flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add caramel sauce, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat to combine completely. Using an offset spatula spread frosting on half of the top of each cupcake; tint the remaining frosting blue and fit a piping bag with a medium star tip; pipe “waves” onto each cupcake.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or refrigerate if it’s really warm out, which it is in Pittsburgh today – 83 degrees right now.

Shark Cupcakes

sharkcupcakesIt’s Shark Week. Apparently this annual effort to educate people about sharks – breaking down misconceptions established by movies like Jaws (terrifying, I tell you) – has been a Discovery Channel staple since 1988. Happy 36th anniversary, Shark Week. To celebrate, I baked these shark-themed cupcakes, a basic chocolate cupcake with some vanilla almond buttercream and a sugar cookie fin.

Despite being completely terrified by Great Whites thanks less to Jaws and more to their generally creepy appearance, I actually really like sharks, especially the small ones in aquariums. They always look serene, just kind of gliding around in the tanks. Here’s to you, serene sharks. Maybe someday I’ll be less terrified by your enormous, razor-mouthed cousins.

Ingredients

For the fin cookies

  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • Blue food coloring

Preparation

Start by making your fin cookie dough, as it can chill while you bake your cupcakes and make your frosting.

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla and almond extracts and about half the flour mixture, beating until combined; beat in remaining flour. Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic; chill for 30-45 minutes.

Make your cupcakes:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes 14-15 cupcakes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill cupcake wells about half full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

While cupcakes are cooling, bake your fin cookies. Roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into circles using a large, 4-inch round cutter. Cut each circle into fourths, then using a fluted cutter, slice off a small portion of the dough to create your fin shape. Place on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10-11 minutes, until edges are just golden. Remove from oven and cool completely before adding to your cupcakes.

While fin cookies are cooling, make your frosting. Beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine. Tint frosting blue; I used both a light blue and dark blue color to swirl together to make my waves. Fit a large piping bag with a large closed star tip (I use the Wilton 1M) and pipe frosting back and forth in a zigzag on each cupcake, then top with a fin cookie. I’m waiting to put all my fins on until just before I serve these, so the cookies don’t get soggy, which can happen because of the buttercream. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Creamsicle Pound Cake

creamsiclepoundcakeThe Good Humor Creamsicle is one of the best ice cream desserts around, an awesome combination of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet. Now that summer is here (well, technically not until a few weeks from now, but it’s June so let’s go with it), I wanted to bake something inspired by this classic summer treat. Enter the creamsicle pound cake.

Full disclosure: I baked two versions, one with a different recipe and one with the recipe below. The recipe below turned out better – it’s yet another riff on my poppy seed cake, this time with orange zest and fiori di sicilia, a very potent citrus/vanilla extract (of which a little goes a very, very long way) in the batter. If you don’t have fiori di sicilia, you can use 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract instead; the flavor won’t match exactly, but it’ll be close enough.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon fiori di sicilia
  • zest of 1 medium orange 

For the icing

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di sicilia
  • 3-4 tablespoons orange juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt tin.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large, 4-cup glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, fiori di sicilia, and orange zest. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients to completely combine.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in tin for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract, fiori di sicilia, and 2 tablespoons orange juice; add enough additional juice to make a thick but pourable icing. Pour over cake and allow to drip down the sides. Allow icing to set before serving.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days; this cake stays moist for a very long time.

White Almond Cake

almondcakeWhite almond cake is a classic, but many of the recipes I found online were the three-layer variety. As a person who doesn’t have three round cake tins (why exactly, I don’t know), I wanted a simple two-layer option and found this recipe at Sally’s Baking Addiction. It’s a basic white cake, but I made it into an almond version for my mom’s (early, because my brother and nephew were in town) birthday celebration this past weekend.

I added strawberry buttercream between my two layers, but wish I’d gone with a much thicker layer of it – it tasted delicious, but there just wasn’t enough. The cake itself is delicious and really tender, so I’ll absolutely make it again. It seems like a great base cake for other flavor ideas, so stay tuned.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 2 1/2 cups cake flour, spooned and leveled
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 5 egg whites, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon almond extract
  • 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

For the strawberry buttercream

  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 to 1 and 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • About 2 tablespoons fresh strawberry puree, to taste*

For the almond buttercream and decoration

  • 1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 tablespoons almond extract
  • 2/3 cup flaked almonds, toasted and cooled

*The more puree you add, the thinner your buttercream will become, so add sparingly along with additional powdered sugar to make a soft, but sturdy buttercream. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round baking tins with baking spray, line with parchment circles, and spray the parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter for 1-2 minutes. Add sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes, until fluffy; scrape down the bowl a few times. Add egg whites and beat on high to combine, then beat in sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. With the mixer running on low, slowly add dry mixture until just incorporated, then add milk. Don’t over-mix; once you’ve added the milk, turn off your mixer and finish incorporating everything by hand.

Divide batter evenly between the cake tins; bake for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely in the baking tins.

Once cakes are cool, make the buttercreams. For the strawberry, beat butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, then add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add strawberry puree and beat to completely combine; set aside until you’re ready to assemble the cake.

To make the almond buttercream, beat butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, then add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine completely.

To assemble, place one cake layer on your serving plate; pipe a circle of almond buttercream at the edge of the cake and fill with strawberry buttercream; this will keep the strawberry from leaking out when you cover the cake in the almond buttercream. Top with the second cake layer, then frost the top and sides with the remaining almond buttercream. Press toasted flaked almonds up the sides of the cake.

almondcakesideA view from the side, with toasted flaked almonds on display. 

Kentucky Butter Cake

kentuckybuttercakeDid this cake originate in Kentucky? I assume so, but really have no idea. The internet was little help – just a ton of recipes for this delicious treat. It’s basically pound cake, drenched in butter rum syrup. You can’t go wrong when drenching things in butter rum syrup.

A word about the drenching, though: I never seem to do it properly. I always poke holes in the cake with a skewer, yet my syrup doesn’t distribute as evenly as I’d like. Regardless, this cake is delicious. There are lots of recipes out there, but mine came from Ask Chef Dennis; I, like Chef Dennis, used dark rum in my syrup, but you can use light rum or rum extract if you don’t have the dark kind. I also doubled the amount of vanilla extract in this recipe, because I do that for most vanilla quantities – I feel like you can never have enough.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
  • 5  eggs, at room temperature
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled*
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

*Spoon your flour into the measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. Alternatively, bake by weight, not by volume; three cups of flour is 360 grams. 

For the syrup

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan.

In a large glass measuring cup, combine buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract; beat to combine.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar; beat on low to combine for just a few seconds. Add butter and half the buttermilk mixture and beat to combine for just one minute; scrape the bowl a few times. With the mixer running on low, add remaining buttermilk mixture, then increase speed to medium and beat for three minutes. Batter will be light in color.

Pour into the Bundt pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes while you make the syrup.

To make the syrup, combine butter, sugar, water, and rum in a medium saucepan. Bring to a very gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about two to three minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Using a skewer, poke holes in the cake, about 3/4 of the way down. Reserve 1/3 cup syrup and pour the remainder over the cake; if it pools on the cake, poke a few more holes. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack or serving plate; place parchment or a rimmed baking sheet underneath if you’re using a wire rack. Pour remaining syrup over the cake and brush it with a pastry brush to distribute. Let cool completely; store in an airtight container. Makes about 16 slices.

Vanilla Caramel Cupcakes

vanillacaramelcupcakesLast week’s chocolate caramel cupcakes were delicious, so a vanilla version seemed like a good idea too. Naturally, it was. The cupcake recipe is one I’ve used before, modified from the original marble cupcake recipe I found at Sally’s Baking Addiction to omit the chocolate batter and just go with vanilla.

I wasn’t sure what to top them with; I thought about Kraft caramel squares, but that seemed too vanilla. Then I considered Rolos for the chocolate element, but then mini Heath bars came to mind and that seemed like the best idea. Toffee is actually a cousin of caramel, cooked longer so it’s a hard, brittle treat, so it sort of made sense to me for these cupcakes. In any case, the end result is very tasty.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

For the frosting and decoration

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • About 1/3 cup caramel sauce*
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 18 Heath bar miniatures  (I found mine at Target)

*I used Smucker’s Salted Caramel Ice Cream topping to save time but you can also make your own caramel sauce. Homemade caramel sauce is absolutely delicious.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 18 cupcakes. Fun fact: if you place the cupcake liners in the wells on the outside of each tin, your cupcakes can rise higher. Science, man.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Stir into the flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add caramel sauce and vanilla and beat to combine completely. Fit a large piping bag with a large closed star tip (I use the Wilton 1M) and pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake. Top with a mini Heath bar; store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

chocolatecaramelcupcakesThis weekend I’m off to State College to see one of my oldest (meaning I have known her for 21 years, not that she herself is old) and dearest friends, Carrie. We met back in 2003 at the National Building Museum in DC and bonded over being from Pennsylvania; she is an Erie native now living in Happy Valley, despite not being a football fan. These treats are for her and her family; she too is a baker, as are her boys.

Rain is expected in State College this weekend, so our plans are TBD. But one thing I’d like to do is visit the Penn State Creamery, as I’ve never had their ice cream before. I’ve never made my own ice cream either, but you never know when that might enter the repertoire.  For now, I’ll stick to my oven.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water

For the frosting and decoration

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • About 1/3 cup caramel sauce*
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 14 Dove Milk Chocolate Promises candies

*I used Smucker’s Salted Caramel Ice Cream topping to save time but you can also make your own caramel sauce. Homemade caramel sauce is absolutely delicious. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes 14 cupcakes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill cupcake wells about half full. Bake for 15-19 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add caramel sauce and vanilla and beat to combine completely. Fit a large piping bag with a large closed star tip (I use the Wilton 1M) and pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake. Top with a Dove chocolate; store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

chocolatechiploafcakeSometimes simple treats are the best. This chocolate chip loaf cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction is very simple, and also absolutely delicious. I think it could be for breakfast or a snack, whatever you prefer.

I don’t bake a ton of loaf cakes, but they’re really easy and I feel like I’m going to adapt this recipe to incorporate a few different flavors moving forward; I would love to include some orange zest for a chocolate orange flavor, so we’ll see how that turns out next time. I can also see removing the chocolate chips and turning this into a lemon cake, or even just a vanilla version. Time will tell.

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  • 1 cup miniature chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 9 x 5 loaf tin or spray with baking spray. Technical note: my loaf tin is 9.25 x 5.25, so I cut down on my baking time by just a bit.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about two minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add eggs, beating for one minute. Add sour cream and vanilla and beat to combine; the mix will look curdled, but that’s okay. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed, adding milk with the mixer running, until just combined. Finish mixing with a spatula to make sure there are no pockets of flour remaining, then fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into loaf tin and bake for 50-70 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. My cake was done around the 55 minute mark. Remove from oven and cool in the tin for about 15 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely before serving.