Mocha Walnut Cake

This was a great cake- although very dense. I got the recipe from my Horn of the Moon cookbook. It's made with whole wheat flour and no sugar- only honey. Although, in the end I added some powdered sugar to the icing because it just wasn't sweet enough! The flavors reminded me of the chocolate walnuts we used to get at Greektown as kids- yum!

Pfeffernussen Cookies

I felt the urge to bake cookies yesterday and was saved from once again making my "kitchen sink" chocolate chip cookies (which are heavenly, really! but overplayed)... by the Martha Stewart Cookies book my mom gave me.



These cookies were easy to make and pack a nice surprising spice! No chocolate, but they're pretty good without! Next time I might put just a little more black pepper into them...

Recipe, by special request:
Pfeffer means "pepper" and nuss means "nut" in German

1 1/4c confectioners sugar
2 1/4c all-purpose flour
1/4t freshly ground pepper (or a bit more, I think!)
3/4t ground cinnamon
1/2t ground allspice
1/4t freshly grated nutmeg
1/4t ground cloves
1/4t baking soda
1/2c unsalted butter, room temp
3/4c packed light brown sugar
1/4c unsulfured molasses
1 large egg
1/2t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. In bowl, combine flour through baking soda and set aside. Beat butter, brown sugar and molasses in bowl of electric mixer fitter with paddle- on medium until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. With mixer on low add flour mixture, beat until just combined.

Pinch off tablespoons of dough, roll into 1 1/4" balls and arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake until golden and firm to the touch with slight cracking, about 15 min. Transfer to wire rack to cool slightly, about 10 min. Put confectioners sugar in a small paper bag. Working in batches, place cookies in paper bag and shake until well coated.

Eat! And share with friends.

Parsnip Cake, eh?

So theres a running joke here about parsnips that comes from this Homestar Runner cartoon. Strong Bad's famous line "parsnip soup, eh? we'll make parsnip pie!" has been thrown around this house for the past year.

So when I asked Dave what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, and he replied "oh, I'm not picky" I threatened that I was going to make him Parsnip Cake!

So thats what I did. I borrowed from a couple different carrot cake recipes and made my own recipe:



Parsnip Cake
2c sugar- 1 brown, 1 white
3/4c oil
mix these together. then beat in:
4 eggs
after blended, add:
2t baking soda
2t baking powder
1/2t salt
2t cinnamon
2t vanilla
1/4t nutmeg
mix together. then add:
2c whole wheat pastry flour
once fully mixed, fold in:
3c grated parsnips
1c chopped pecans
bake at 350F for 40-50min until toothpick comes out clean.



For the icing I also blended a couple recipes to create my own:

Orange Scented Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package cream cheese, room temp.
6T butter, room temp.
1 1/2c powdered sugar
1t vanilla
zest from one orange
beat together. add water 1T at a time to desired consistency.



I wasn't sure how well it would turn out -obviously it didn't smell like carrot cake, although it had a nice spicy scent to it. Frosted up beautifully and I presented it with a huge cut parsnip on top, just in case someone wasn't sure. The cake got rave reviews from everyone at the party- and second slices were had by all. Great spicy flavor, heavy cake but not very sweet, which was great! I will definitely make this one again!