Sometimes you need that extra somethin’ in your baking. Usually, I reach for Bourbon (god bless you, Kentucky), but lately I’ve been reaching for Amaretto. You may remember this lovely almond-infused liqueur from this california almond fudge pie or this incredible amaretto almond bunt cake.
After a much needed break, I’ve returned with a Southern favorite: Coca Cola Bundt Cake. Okay, I know what your thinking… Coca Cola Bundt Cake is not really a thing, but I’m making it a thing for this month’s #Bundtbakers. The theme, as you may have guessed, is retro desserts. When pondering old-school desserts the…
You and your chocoholic loved one will devour this Dark Chocolate Heart Cake on Valentine’s Day. I can’t believe Valentine’s Day is almost here. It feels like I was just baking a Nutella Glazed S’more Bundt Cake and complaining about how it felt like Fall would never come. Ironically, here it is the middle of…
I am feelin’ this mocha biscuit cake, y’all. And I gotta tell ya: I have a soft spot for desserts that come together easily…and this dessert falls into that category.
What’s up, people? Are you ready for another round of the fabulousness that is Bundtbakers? I mean, I can’t hear you through my laptop so I’m assuming you all responded with a resounding “Yes!” This month’s theme is Strange but good flavor combinations. I found some weird ones out there, particularly this avocado pound cake…
Listen up, everybody! The rumors are true. I’m throwing a surprise party and everyone’s invited. For whom, you ask? This grande soiree is for Margaret Fox.
I mean…I don’t know her personally, but what the hell? If she’s responsible for one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever made, then she deserves a vat of bourbon and a chocolate cake. One that she doesn’t have to bake herself, of course.
I spotted the recipe for Margaret Fox’s Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake on Food52. Immediately, I knew that it was something I had to make and probably very soon. One of the great things about this recipe is its simplicity. If you’re a baker, you probably have everything you need on hand. There will be no trips to the market because your boyfriend finished the eggs this morn. And don’t worry if your milk has gone south; you won’t need it, this go ’round. You’re good. Sit back and relax. You’ve got this.
You can file this recipe under quick. Well, not as quick as Usain Bolt, but quick nonetheless. Quick as in: your batter has come together, you’ve placed it in the pan and it’s all set to go, but your oven hasn’t preheated yet. What? Yeah, this recipe is no joke. Just think of all the things you can do with that extra time. You could wash all the dirty dishes before you even open your oven door. Now, I’m not telling you to do that, I’m just saying it’s a possibility.
Full disclosure: if you’re looking for a super-chocolatey cake, I’d give this one a pass. However, it’s super moist, pairs well with a straightforward icing and will be ready in 45 minutes-start to finish. I went with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar which made the preparation even quicker. As a result, I had just enough time to wrap Margaret Fox’s gift. I hope she likes Chia Pets.
Recipe Slightly adapted from Food52
After being away from the studio for a few weeks due to illness, it was good to be back in the saddle. Unfortunately, I share a studio with a couple of fashion photographers and I’m the Felix Unger of our crew. Needless to say, the studio was in rough shape. Models are some of the messiest people on earth, so this ended up being more of a studio decontamination than photo shoot.
Gameplan
This was going to be pretty simple. I wanted to replicate window light with a bit of on-axis fill. The large simulated window would hopefully reduce the specularity created by the shiny surface of the easy vegan chocolate cake.
Lighting
I setup a light panel made up of 400 leelux as my main light 45 degrees behind the cake and used a silver umbrella for on-axis fill. I also added a white bounce card opposite the main light. I dialed in the exposure with my trusty Sekonic L-758dr and everything went according to plan.
Wrap-up
The real challenge wasn’t the lighting but the styling. A round dark cake without frosting isn’t the most photogenic object, so I decided to do something graphic and focus on the shape from above. To finish off the shoot, Mondo cut the cake and we did the traditional commercial shot with a slice on a plate. Overall, it was a pretty easy shoot with a clean studio as the payoff.
Set Shot
Tech Notes
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm 2.8
Strobes: White Lightning x1600
Tripod: Manfrotto
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 48mm
Shutter: 125
Aperture: f/11
Guten Tag, my friends!
Welcome to All Things Thursday! I hope your week is treating you well. Mine could be better as the dman is suffering from some kinda ‘terminator’ virus-that just won’t quit. Most of my time is spent trying to stay hydrated and deflecting his germs.
Yes, it has toilet seats in the dining area. Yes, it serves Golden Poop. Yes, it’s bathroom-themed restaurant. How long before this place takes a dump? Sorry guys, I couldn’t help it. (Eater)
While bouncing around Stumbleupon this week I saw the most amazing dancer. I’m serious! When I watched it my jaw dropped…for realsies. Please take a look at this video and see if you feel the same. (Stumbleupon)
So many pumpkin recipes to choose from…where do I begin? In my humble opinion you can never go wrong with dip. Make it a spicy dip and that’s even better. But a spicy pumpkin dip? You’ve got me. Bonus, I have two pumpkin hummus options: Savory and Roasted Garlic and Rosemary. I just love October. (Spoon Fork Bacon and Pinch of Yum, respectively)
It’s so hard to pass up french fries; but what if there was decent alternative? I’m not sure if there is but I’d like to give these Carrot Fries a try. If they’re crispy, they’ll be my new favorite thing. (JChong Studio)
Must get doughnut pan so I can bake these: Vegan Chocolate Pistachio Donuts. (The Sweet Life)
Check out this recipe for Sirarcha Sesame Ginger Popcorn. Spicy popcorn? Yes, please. I’m thinking about making a sweet version. (Bake Your Day)
Usually, I’m not a scone person but I’ll make an exception for these: Starbucks Clone Pumpkin Scones. (Iowa Girl Eats)
I’m pretty excited as my friend and I are going to see a stage production of Wait Until Dark at the Geffen Playhouse tonight. Tune in next week for my extremely unofficial review.
Until we meet again, my friends.
P.S. Can you tell I’m obsessed with Bella Looma Scarves? I’ve been yearning for some chilly weather. Don’t be elusive, Fall…sit down and stay a while.
Probably one of the most private things in the world is an egg until it is broken.
M. F. K. Fisher
(photo credit: David Mayerhofer)
Happy All Things Thursday, y’all!
I’m excited! Why? Well, it’s October…the weather finally cooled off enough so I can rock my Sons of Anarchy hoodie. My favorite weather? Any weather where I can don a sweatshirt…preferably one that promotes the likes of Jax Teller.
You’ll all be happy to know that R. Kelly has a new album coming out. This masterpiece is entitled “Black Panties”. I have three words for you Mr. Kelly…just stop it!
Beautiful pics of baked doughnuts have been floating around the internet for ages, but somehow I’ve been immune. As of yet, I don’t own a doughnut pan, but now I have to get one. Pumpkin + Maple + Cinnamon = get in my belly. (Top With Cinnamon)
Creamy Parmesan Polenta. I’ll write that again. Creamy Parmesan Polenta. C’mon! Guess what I’ll be eating during my next free afternoon? (Daydream Kitchen)
I don’t cook shrimp enough(read: never). When I do get the urge, I’ll head straight for Almond Butter Soba Noodles with Garlic Shrimp. (Spoon Fork Bacon)
How much do I love peanut butter? Infinity? No, that won’t do. Infinity times infinity? Yeah, that sounds about right. So, I was excited to see this rating of Reese’s candies. I agree with their #1 choice, but in my book, Nutrageous will always rate higher than Reese’s Pieces. Sorry, E.T.. (Huffington Post)
Everyone should have a one-bowl recipe for chocolate cake. Minimal mess and mocha buttercream? Feels like this recipe was created especially for me. (Hummingbird High)
Right about now, it’s time for some hot and sour soup. The dman’s gotta cold and I’m not trying to get sick.
I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.
Michael J Fox
(photo credit: David Mayerhofer)
Good Evening!
It’s All Things Thursday…Thursday night, actually.
Yeah, I’m a little on the late-freight this week. It happens. Let’s dive right in, shall we?
So…recently, Sinead O’Connor wrote an open letter to Miley Cyrus where she admonished the young lady(?) about the dangers of making a name for herself through shock value. Really, Sinead? Aren’t you one who ripped up a picture of the pope on SNL? Because I’m pretty sure that was you.
Apparently, there’s a new baking tool out there called the Nibble Pan. It has a tiny side cup that cooks a sample of your cake. It would seem that the tiny part would cook faster, but I could be wrong. Kinda waiting for the first review from Amazon to see what the people think.
My love of peanut butter knows no bounds. Best believe I need the Peanut Butter Comfort cookbook. It contains virtually ever kind of peanut butter recipe out there! Hint: my birthday is in August.
October is here…which means Fall…which means bring on the pumpkin. Could someone make Joy the Baker’s Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts for me? Extra maple glaze, please! I would be ever so grateful.
That’s all for tonight, friends. Parks and Recreation is calling my name.
A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
Barbara Johnson
(photo credit: David Mayerhofer)
Sprinkles are adorable.
I’m not gonna lie. They’re cute as hell, but they’re totally not my thing.
You see, I’m a drop cookie fan. They’re easy, unfussy and if we’re talking about baking, those are two words I can get behind. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t like to decorate. I try and keep it simple, but I thought maybe, just maybe…I’d get a bit crazy with this one. And when I write ‘crazy’ I mean sprinkles galore! My goal was to make sugar cookies: simple, sweet and delectable. I kicked it up a bit with the sprinkles. As you can see from the first pic those things got away from me.
I read somewhere that bakers use honey or corn syrup to get the sprinkles to adhere to the cookie. I chose honey. That’s where it all went wrong. Honey is fantastic in my tea but most certainly not for decorating purposes. It was a nightmare. One I would never subject myself to again. In the future, I will use a simple icing made of powdered sugar and water. I’ve worked with that before and it’s a bit more manageable.
The upside of my minor dilemma is this is the best sugar cookie I’ve ever tasted. It comes together easily and keeps its shape, if rolled and chilled. It has the perfect amount of sweetness and is lovely with a cup of tea. Honestly, I prefer them unadorned…naked, if you will. It’s fun to dress things up but sometimes plain is just as adorable.
by David
I now have a lot more respect for Jackson Pollock. This was supposed to be a quick shoot, but minutes turned into hours when we introduced chaos into the mix.
Gameplan
Mondo and I had high hopes for this shoot. With the bright colors and cool design, we thought these sugar cookies would look amazing on a pink or yellow surface.
Reality
Unfortunately, these looked awful on pink and yellow. In fact, the variety of colors clashed with everything. With my technicolor dreams quickly fading, I decided to move on to a neutral white acrylic.
Everything went well with the first setup, but the second shot with the sprinkles was a mess. As Mondo was setting up, I told her to leave the half empty cup on the table and took a quick test shot. The shot looked great, but I wanted a better composition and asked her to rearrange the sprinkles. This is when things took a turn for the worse.
No matter what Mondo did, the rearrangement never looked as good as the test shot. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, but trying to get a bunch of chaotic sprinkles into an organized design is friendship ending nightmare. After an hour or so of Mondo giving me the stinkeye, we finally got the shot with our friendship intact.
Lighting
This one was pretty simple. For the main light, I used a large light panel placed 45 degrees behind the sugar cookies to create texture and shape. The shadows were filled in with a white bounce card. To create a bit more specularity, I also added light from a silver umbrella for on-axis fill. Here is a lighting diagram with all the details:
Tech Notes
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm 2.8
Strobes: White Lightning x1600
Tripod: Manfrotto
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 48mm
Shutter: 125
Aperture: f/13
Recipe slightly adapted from CakeWalk
