German Apple-Quince-Almond Cake {Apfel-Quitte-Marzipan-Kuchen}

November 20, 2016 By Korena in the Kitchen 4 Comments

I’ve been eagerly anticipating Luisa Weiss‘ new book, Classic German Baking, ever since she first started sharing her adventures in recipe development about a year ago. I have yet to get my hands on the actual book, but since its release, several recipes have popped up online, including one for a completely gorgeous apple-marzipan cake, which is described as “epic“. In the fall, I’m a sucker for anything apple, and almonds are quickly becoming my favourite flavour for almost everything, so this cake was immediately added to my weekend baking list.

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Torta Hrapocusa (Dalmatian Dol Cake)

October 13, 2016 By Korena in the Kitchen 1 Comment

I got all proactive and made September’s Daring Kitchen challenge recipe – an almond and walnut cake called “hrapocusa” – at the beginning of the month, and then of course didn’t get my act together to post about it on time. Like, at ALL. Sigh. ANYWAY. Back in September, Jason of Daily Candor challenged us to make this regional specialty of the tiny town of Dol on the Dalmatian island of Brac. The torta hrapocusa is a two-layer cake primarily composed of nuts, with a bottom layer of orange and cherry liqueur-scented almond sponge cake and a sugared walnut topping that is meant to resemble the rocky shores of the island. This is certainly a unique cake and one that I never would have come across without the Daring Kitchen!

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Martha Stewart’s Carrot Cake

July 28, 2016 By Korena in the Kitchen 10 Comments

When it comes to carrot cake, there are a few non-negotiables: there must be carrots, nuts, spices, and cream cheese frosting. From here, carrot cake fans seem to be divided into two camps: those who prefer their cake “without stuff”, ie: no additions to the list above, and those who like their cake “with stuff”: raisins, pineapple, coconut, dates, etc. I discovered this divide when doing carrot cake research (it’s totally a thing) after a friend asked me to make her a carrot wedding cake. I already knew of a fantastic carrot cake “with stuff” (courtesy of the rebar cookbook), so I needed one “without stuff” to compare. It just so happened that Nate needed a birthday cake, and carrot cake is his favourite. Recipe testing win!

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Twinkie Bundt

June 30, 2016 By Korena in the Kitchen 3 Comments

Never having eaten a Twinkie, and – perhaps more importantly – never having wanted to eat a Twinkie, I wasn’t all that tempted to make the Twinkie Bundt Cake when it started making the rounds on food blogs… until my cousin Cecilia posted Smitten Kitchen’s version on my Facebook wall, along with three little words: “I dare you!” It was a long weekend, I had no plans, and well, she dared me – so Operation Twinkie Bundt was born.

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Homemade Wedding Cake, Part I: Vanilla Butter Cake Recipe

May 6, 2016 By Korena in the Kitchen 43 Comments

If you’ve been reading for a while, you may remember when this happened:

Well, in September, this happened:

We had a completely fantastic day with close friends and family, a gorgeous setting, and delicious food – including a homemade wedding cake by yours truly.

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White Chocolate Grapefruit Poppy Seed Cake

February 14, 2016 By Korena in the Kitchen 5 Comments

This is not technically a Valentine’s Day post – February 14th just so happens to be the day I’m pressing “post” on something I’ve been working on veeeeeeeery slowly for the past 2 week. The only thing vaguely Valentine’s-y about it is that the inside is a little bit pink, but the point of today’s post is this: If you’re looking for a cake to put underneath your white chocolate peony, look no further. Without the peony, this cake looks plain on the outside but it is actually anything but – starting with the fact that it is flavoured with grapefruit. Lemon, orange and lime usually get all the citrus attention in baking, but replacing the lemon in lemon poppy seed cake with grapefruit and pairing it with white chocolate mousse frosting is pretty brilliant.

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Perfect Plum Cake

September 18, 2015 By Korena in the Kitchen 1 Comment

Sorry for the complete lack of posts this month – I have a pretty good excuse, I promise (more on that to come!). To make up for it though, I bring you cake. And not just any cake: a gorgeously pink-tinged cake full of plums, which are fast becoming my favourite fruit for baking.

I’ve always had a soft spot for cooked plums – I love how they sweeten as they slump into themselves and turn that gorgeous jewel-toned garnet colour – and especially plums in cakes. Earlier this summer I came across a recipe for a plum cake with – get this – plum caramel, and I started pulling out ingredients the second I finished reading those two words. Plum caramel is a genius combination of cooked sugar mixed with pureed plums instead of heavy cream, and it is every bit as delicious as it sounds. I highly recommend you make some, immediately.

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Melissa Clark’s Devil’s Food Cake with Black Pepper Buttercream

February 14, 2015 By Korena in the Kitchen 10 Comments

Melissa Clark's Devil's Food Cake with Black Pepper Buttercream | Korena in the Kitchen I’ve been trying to write this post about this Devil’s Food Cake with Black Pepper Buttercream for three days now but seem to be experiencing writer’s block, so in an attempt to get something down on the page so that I can share it with you in time for Valentine’s Day (because nothing is more appropriate than chocolate cake on Valentine’s Day), I give you the following Reasons You Should Make This Cake:

1) It has not one but two kinds of frosting: Swiss meringue buttercream filling laced with vanilla and cracked black pepper (yes, pepper), and the most divine whipped chocolate fudge frosting on the outside. Black pepper might sound like an odd thing to pair with classic chocolate and vanilla, but it’s not odd – it’s very, very good.

Melissa Clark's Devil's Food Cake with Black Pepper Buttercream | Korena in the Kitchen

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Daring Bakers: Sachertorte

October 27, 2014 By Korena in the Kitchen 16 Comments

The October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Korena of Korena in the Kitchen. She took us to Austria and introduced us to the wonders of the Sachertorte. This month I was thrilled to be hosting a Daring Bakers’ Challenge for the second time. My favorite challenges are the ones where I get to bake a cake and/or pretend to be a pastry chef, so for this month’s challenge I chose a recipe for a classic European-style chocolate cake: the Austrian Sachertorte.

Sachertorte | Korena in the Kitchen …

Daring Bakers: Chocolate & Vanilla Checkerboard Cake

July 27, 2014 By Korena in the Kitchen 24 Comments

For the July Daring Baker’s Challenge, Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to bake a cake. But not just any cake; she asked us to add in a special surprise for our eyes as well as our taste buds!

It was my birthday at the beginning of July (thirty one! how the hell did that happen?!) so, as per my favorite birthday tradition, I made myself a cake. Coincidentally, the Daring Bakers challenge this month was to make a cake with a surprise on the inside, so I made this cake, which looks like nothing special at first…

Chocolate & Vanilla Checkerboard Cake | Korena in the Kitchen …