April, 2014 | Just About Baked

Crumb Cake

April 11, 2014
Mir
Cakes, Dessert for Breakfast, Let Them Eat Cake
0 Comments

A few months back, I was Netflix bingeing episodes of Cake Boss when Buddy and his crew had yet another challenge. A woman came to the bakery from somewhere far away just to pick up her pre-ordered crumb cake, and (gasp!) it wasn’t there. In an exciting and conflict-ridden turn of events, Buddy’s sister sold it by accident.

So Buddy, ever the obliging baker, set about making another crumb cake as fast as he could, promising to be done within the hour. And I watched. Fascinated. Enthralled. I’d kind of forgotten, until that episode, how much I love crumb cake.

Strawberry Crumb Bars

Okay, people. I’m posting two recipes this week that involve a crumb topping, and how can I not? Crumb topping is one of the great joys of life. Any baker knows that when crumbs are involved, the ratio of crumbs to cake has to be disproportionate. As in, tons of crumbs. TONS. And just a bit of yummy cake.

Well, these aren’t cake. They’re bars. But really, who cares? It’s all about the crumbs, baby! And this simple recipe has crumbs upon crumbs to the point that they’re spilling out of the pan and straight into your mouth, where they melt as you sigh in ecstasy.

Chocolate Pake

April 7, 2014
Mir
Cakes, Let Them Eat Cake, Pakes and Pookies
10 Comments

Any Drop Dead Diva fans out there? Please? Pretty please?

Because if you’ve seen the show, you know what a pake is. No, that’s not a typo. I’m talking serious pake, kids. As in, a pie-cake hybrid. That’s right! In an episode of the show, a character accidentally invents the pake when two pages of a cookbook get stuck together without her realizing it. The result is rather marvelous. I mean, it’s a cake inside a pie crust. What could be better?

Soft-Baked Peanut Butter Cookies

There are few snacks quite so satisfying as a pile of soft, chewy peanut butter cookies with a glass of milk (or Ovaltine, in my case). Peanut butter cookies can be made so many different ways, and I’ll be showacasing all of those different methods over the coming months. Sometimes I like the cookies a bit crispier or crumblier. It really depends on my day. But this time, I wanted that melt-in-your-mouth softness that comes with making a thick, gorgeous cookie.

This recipe was featured just a few days ago as part of my Reese’s peanut butter egg cookies, and it works great if you want to stuff anything into the middle. But luckily, this baby is versatile. It’s a great cookie on its own, too!

Chocolate Crumb Babka

April 4, 2014
Mir
Bread Basket, Cakes, Dessert for Breakfast, Let Them Eat Cake
2 Comments

It’s Friday, y’all! In my house, the weekend means babka for breakfast. Allow me to explain.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to send a big box of baked goods to us a few times a year. The box was full of her goodies: cookies and cakes, most of them traditional Eastern European specialties. Nestled in the box were always two babkas. For those of you who aren’t familiar, a babka is cake that is actually made from a yeast dough and then swirled with various fillings. The traditional filling is cinnamon sugar, but more modern babkas have chocolate as well

Peanut Butter Egg Cookies

‘Tis the season. No, not spring! It’s unusually cold for this time of year. Nope, even better! Reese’s Eggs are out! Praise the peanut butter and chocolate gods!

Of all their products, these eggs are my favorite. The ratio of peanut butter to chocolate is a bit different than with their ordinary cups. Translation: there is more of that amazing peanut butter filling in a Reese’s egg, and that equals happiness. Extreme, sweet, peanut buttery happiness.

When I was a kid, my mom would buy us these eggs as a treat, and it was always such a holy moment. I’d unrap the egg slowly and eat it, perfect bite by perfect bite, always sorry when it was over. Actually, not much has changed. I still feel that one egg is just not enough to satisfy my Reese’s-fueled lust for peanut butter.