It felt like a chocolate kind of day! Here are my chocolate pound cakes made with sour cream.
1 stick of butter, softened
1 heaping cup of sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
heaping 1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/4 cup milk
The batter made 15 cupcakes that I baked for 30 minutes @ 325 degrees
I really think that using the cake flour lightened it up, which I liked. They came out very fluffy and not as dense as a traditional pound cake. I frosted them with my usual whipped topping only I added more sugar then usual. I wanted the icing super sweet today for some reason.
3 tbsp softened butter
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
3 1/2 cups powders sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Charlotte couldn't wait to try one! She was running around the house yelling "Azul, Azul!" She always says her colors in Spanish. She was covered in icing when she was done and butter and shortening are a bitch to clean! Watching her enjoy it is so worth it though!
Normally I don't care much for lemon flavored food. That goes for both sweet and savory. I had a pound cake recipe though and I also has some fresh lemon and grapefruit so i thought I'd try it out and see how it was. John and I both agreed that it's not our favorite but for those who liked lemon, it was a hit. John always brings my cupcakes into work for the guys. It's pretty great having some extra taste testers! I think for me though the cream was my favorite part of these. Here's what I did:
for the cakes:
1/2 cup butter softened
3 eggs
heaping 1/2 cup of ricotta
1 1/2 cups of AP flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tsp lemon juice
Beat butter until all creamy then add in sugar, vanilla, then the eggs. beat until fluffy then add in ricotta and the rest of your dry ingredients. Add the lemon juice last. Beat until all is combined then pour into cupcake tins. This should make 18 cakes. Bake @ 325 for 32 minutes
For the citrus cream I beat 1 1/2 cups whipping cream and 3/4 cups powdered sugar and then added in 1 tsp lemon juice and 2 tsp grapefruit juice. I also use non flavored gelatin to stabilize my whipped cream so that it doesn't run. (dissolve 1 pkg into 3 tbsp cold water. put over low heat in a pot until dissolved, cool slightly before beating into cream). I topped the cakes with the whipped cream and then zested the grapefruit for some added zing! Even though this was a pound cake, the citrus made it light and refreshing!
