TWD - Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt cake & Coconut Tea Cake

Can you believe it's April already? I can't. Seems like last week was Christmas. Now, it's the 5th of April. Easter is over. Spring is in full bloom. And I baked not one, but two weeks worth of recipes for TWD!

I wasn't able to bake last week's Coconut Tea Cake, the recipe that Carmen of Carmen Cooks picked for her turn as hostess. You need to drop by her blog and see the gorgeous pictures of her cake. I just didn't get to it before the deadline to post it for TWD last week.  This week, Erin, of When in doubt...leave it at 350, picked the Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt cake. On Wednesday of last week I had one of those "good news, bad news" days. The bad news was that the two houses I was supposed to clean both canceled their cleanings. One woman was short on money and the other had a daughter home sick. So, I had the day off. The good news was since I was off I would have the time to bake not just one, but both of the TWD recipes. The coconut one for me and the Mocha-Walnut one for the hubby. I had everything I needed to bake both on hand and after gathering it all together, I got to work.

I am pretty sure I had baked the Mocha cake before. I had Dorie's book long before I became a member of the group and had baked a lot of different recipes from it. (The almond biscotti is one of my early favorites!) I had a posted note on the page for it and vaguely recall baking it. I couldn't recall what we thought of it though.

I decided to bake the Coconut Tea cake first.  I had read a lot of posts that talked about mild coconut flavor, so I upped mine by adding about 1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract. I also added the dark rum Dorie mentions. (optional, but so good is what she said) I used untoasted coconut in the batter, and toasted coconut sprinkled over the top of a glaze I made using milk, coconut extract and powdered sugar.  After burning a batch of coconut in the oven last time I had to toast coconut I decided to play it safe and "toast" it in a frying pan, on top of the stove, under my watchful gaze. Turned out perfect. (Hahaha, as I am typing this I am looking over the recipe and just realized I used a paddle attachment rather than a whisk attachment to mix up the batter. Guess it didn't hurt the cake any.)

This cake came together easily and turned out fabulous. Moist, chewy, rich, definitely a recipe I will make over and over again. It reminded me of a buttery pound cake, only coconut flavored. :) Thanks Carmen for a delicious pick. I loved it.

This week's recipe, the Mocha-Walnut Marbled bundt cake was also a winner here at my house. I whipped it up as the coconut cake was baking. It was pretty simple to put together. I had coffee already brewed and keep espresso powder on hand all the time. It's great for kicking up the flavor of chocolate. I actually use Via, the new instant that Starbucks sells. I didn't toast the walnuts before grinding them. I used a large ice cream scoop and scooped the batter into the pan, alternating the white batter with the chocolate batter. Once it was all in the pan I dragged a knife through the different batters to marble it.

I read several blogs of bakers who made this last week and all mentioned really watching the baking time, or even cutting it shorter by a few minutes. I set the timer for 10 minutes sooner than Dorie suggests and it was perfectly baked when I checked it. I cooled it, made a chocolate glaze using dutch processed cocoa, coffee, powdered sugar and a touch of vanilla. Once I drizzled it over the cake I then sprinkled a few chopped walnuts on top.

Delicious! Moist with just a hint of nutty flavor. I think I would toss some chopped walnuts into the batter next time. I like nuts in my baked goods. And, I might even kick up the espresso a bit, give it a tad more coffee flavor. It was almost lost in the chocolate. But, still, a delicious cake. Thanks Erin. You picked a winner. :) Be sure to drop by her blog for the recipe. And, of course, stop by TWD and check out what all the other bakers who baked this week thought.

Tuesdays with Dorie - Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes

Mmmm, cake! And, not just cake, chocolate cake. And, not just chocolate cake, chocolate cake with walnuts! And, not just chocolate cake with walnuts. Chocolate cake with walnuts, mini sized! Sweet, tiny, chocolate, individual cakes full of chocolate-y flavor and walnuts! Mmmmm, cake!

This week's TWD was Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes and it was Kristin, of I'm Right About Everything, who picked this winner. Be sure to stop by her blog for the recipe (if you don't already own a copy of Dorie's book). As soon as I saw her choice I was excited!  I love chocolate cake, love nuts, of all kinds, and had a new cake pan I couldn't wait to use. It makes 6 cute heart shaped cakes and when I saw this recipe I knew I would use this pan for it.

I had no problem with making the cake part of this recipe. My pan that makes 6 cakes? Well, there was only enough batter to fill 4 of the 6 openings. I guess the heart shapes were a bit larger than a typical mini bundt pan. I just filled the two empty containers with water and baked away. Seems like they baked for about 25 minutes. The first time I checked to see if they were done, there was still batter on the knife. Another 5 minutes in the oven took care of that.

It wasn't until my glaze seized up in the pan, after adding the corn syrup, that I remembered all the comments I had read (and said "Oh, I will have to remember that"...Hah!) about problems with the glaze. I solved my issue by heating up some heavy whipping cream and stirring that into the glaze until I could pour it over my cooled mini heart cakes. I sprinkled a few toasted walnuts over the top of each cake before the glaze hardened.

The verdict? Delicious! I could detect the nutty flavor from the walnuts, and, the ribbon of nuts and cocoa in the center was a nice surprise (even though I knew it was there). The cake was delicious, full of chocolate flavor, rich, moist, everything I was hoping it would be. The milk chocolate was a nice change of pace from all the dark and bittersweet chocolate desserts I seem to have been making. And, the glaze, once I got it right, was just sweet enough.  A little early for Valentine's Day, but I "heart" this recipe! :)

Drop by TWD and see what everyone else thought of this one. Next week...more chocolate! :)

Sweet Melissa Sunday - Lemon Walnut Sour Cream Pound Cake

This weeks recipe, chosen by Raeann of Basically, Baby Boots, is Lemon Walnut Sour Cream Pound Cake. I had this one marked as a possible choice for my pick in March, but wasn't at all unhappy to make it ahead of time. :) While the hubby isn't a big fan of lemon, I love it in all kinds of baked goods...muffins, breads, pies, cookies. It always lends such a crisp, fresh flavor to everything. I don't normally bake anything lemon flavored because he won't eat it, but since it was for the group... :}

I have a pretty yellow bundt cake pan that is usually too small for most bundt cake recipes. I decided to bake this pound cake in it instead of using a loaf pan.

In no time I had the batter mixed up and in the oven baking. It's pretty basic; flour, butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice, along with a few other simple ingredients.

I baked mine in the bundt pan for the full hour and 15 minutes. It smelled wonderful as it was baking, and I couldn't wait to try it.

I skipped the glaze listed in the recipe and instead made a simple powdered sugar and lemon juice glaze that I drizzled over the top after the pound cake cooled.

I found this cake to be fabulous! Moist, with a nice crust on the outside. The lemon flavor was strong, but not too strong, and delicious. The walnuts added just the right amount of texture to the crumb of the cake. I would definitely make this one again. I noticed one of the SMS bakers used orange and pecans. That also sounds delicious and I may have to try that combination in the future. If you would like to see what the rest of the gang thought, head over to SMS and check it out! 

Chocolate with Francois - Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Month two of Chocolate with Francois and this month's recipe is Flourless Chocolate cookies. You can find the recipe on page 56 of "Chocolate Epiphany" by Francois Payard. It was chosen by Karen of Karen's Cookies, Cakes and more. If you  would like the recipe,but don't have the book, be sure to drop by Karen's blog and check it out. This was a great choice and I want to thank Karen for picking it. With all the other baking I have been doing for the holidays, this was a nice, quick, simple recipe to pull together with fabulous results.

These were easy to put together and even easier to eat! Six basic ingredients that most bakers will already have in their cupboards... cocoa, confectioners sugar, salt, walnuts, egg whites and vanilla. The Dutch-processed cocoa powder give the cookies an intense chocolate flavor. The walnuts added a nice nuttiness to each bite. Francois warns about mixing the dough too much once you add the eggs whites and I guess I must have done just that, though I only beat the dough for the three minutes instructed in the recipe.  My cookies did not spread out like the ones pictured in the book and I have to guess it's because the dough was thicker than it should have been.  My cookies were puffy and rounded on top, not flat and thin. Still delicious, but they didn't look like the ones in the book. Of course, I am the only one who knew what they looked like in the book. The people I shared the cookies with had no idea what they were supposed to look like. They only knew how yummy the cookies tasted.

The cookies bake up shiny and cracked all over. Biting into one is like biting into a brownie with walnuts. I really liked these cookies!  A lot! Chewy, chocolate-y, nutty, delicious! If you need a quick cookie sure to please the chocolate lover in your family, these are for you.

Drop by Chocolate with Francois to see what the other bakers thought of these wonderful cookies. Next month...Pine Nut Turron Cake. I must say, it looks like a decadent cake. I have already purchased the pine nuts and all the different chocolates used in the recipe. You will have to come back next month to see how it turns out.