#maple cake

On Wednesday, my parents were married for 31 years. Wednesday and Thursday were very tough days for our family, and we certainly weren’t in the mood to celebrate. Now that all is good again,  that life is beautiful and sweet again, we can chill the Champagne and have a generous slice of this moist and suave Pecan Maple Cake and enjoy the moment. Honestly, if Carpe Diem was a cake, I think it’d be this one! Happy Saturday to you all, wherever you are, I hope you’re making the most of your happy times!

Ingredients (serves 8 to 12):

1 cup pecan halves

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4.5 ounces unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoon light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup

1/2 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

Maple Candied Pecans

Preheat oven to 320°. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan, and line it thouroughly with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a small pan, over medium-high heat, lightly toast pecans until just fragrant, a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all-purpuse flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Give a good stir to mix; set aside.

In a larger bowl, combine softened butter, dark brown sugar and light brown sugar. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer until light, fluffy and perfectly creamed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of the flour mixture, to prevent egg mixture from splitting.

Roughly chop pecans.

Then, using a rubber spatula, alternately fold in flour mixture, buttermilk and Maple Syrup into the egg mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture until just blended. Quickly fold in chopped pecans.

Spoon batter into prepared cake pan, leveling with rubber spatula.

Place in the middle of the warm oven, and bake, at 320°, 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, and let cake cool in its pan, 5 minutes, before turning onto a wire rack to let cool completely.

In a medium bowl, beat heavy whipping cream on high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks just form. Add softened cream cheese, Maple Syrup and Vanilla Extract. Continue beating on high speed until well-blended and fluffy. 

Carefully and evenly halve cooled Maple cake. Place bottom half onto serving plate and top with 1/3 of the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. Gently spread it outwards, into an even layer. Place cake top half on top, pressing very gently. Frost the whole cake with remaining Maple Cream Cheese Frosting, and garnish with Maple Candied Pecans.

Place Pecan Maple Cake in the refrigerator until serving time. 

It’s not every day that you celebrate your 30th birthday when Canada celebrate its 150th, so it’s a great occasion to indulge in this superbly moist and decadently Maple-y Canadian Maple Fudge and Red Berries Cake!!! So whether or not you’re in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg or Schitt’s Creek, have a slice or two, listen to Tegan and Sara and Martha and Rufus and Shania and Celine, and have a very Happy Canada Day 150!!!

Ingredients (serves 16):

For the cake

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

 1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup dark (grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons dark (grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup

1 1/2 tablespoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

For the icing

1 cup unsaltted butter, softened

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cups (grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup

1 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

4 cups Powdered Sugar

1/4 cup (grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup

3 tablespoons Raspberry Jam, lightly whisked to loosen

a dozen fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced

The day before, preheat oven to 350°. Butter 3 8″ round cake pans generously, and line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Give a stir; set aside.

In another medim bowl, stir Canadian Maple Syrup into buttermilk; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter with dark brown sugar with an electric mixer on high speed, until pale, light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Finally, beat in Maple Syrup, Vanilla Extract and grated ginger. Alternately add flour mixture and Maple buttermilk mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture, until well-blended. 

Divide batter between 3 prepared pans, and level with a rubber spatula. Place in the warm oven, and bake, at 350°, for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes ot clean. 

Remove from oven and let cool in pans, 10 minutes, before turning out on cooling racks, to cool completely. Peel off parchment paper carefully, and wrap each cake in cling film individually.

The next day, beat softened butter with an electric mixer on high speed until light, pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually beat in dark brown sugar and salt. When sugar is completely incorporated, scrape sides of the bowl and gradually beat in Maple Syrup and Vanilla Extract. Finally, beat in  Powdered Sugar, scraping sides of the bowl as needed, until smooth and perfectly blended.

Place one of the maple cakes, upside down onto serving plates, and brush lightly with Maple Syrup. Spread about 1/3 cup of the Maple buttercream evenly onto it, and then 1 1/2 tablespoon Raspberry Jam, leaving about an inch on the edges. Place second cake upside down on top, press slightly, and repeat with Maple Syrup, 1/3 cup Maple buttercream, remaining 1 1/2 tablespoon Raspberry Jam. Finally, place third cake on top, press lightly, and brush with remaining Maple Syrup. Ice cake with remaining Maple buttercream, leveling and smoothing with a palette knife. Decorate cake with strawberry slices, arranging them in the shape of a Maple Leaf. Chill cake in the refrigerator, at least 30 minutes before serving. 

Serve Canadian Maple Fudge and Red Berries Cake with chilled Champagne. Happy Canada Day!!!

On Old School Week, the bakers in the Great Canadian Baking Show tent had to bake a coffee cake for their Siganature Challenge. I love a good coffee cake, with a cup of tea or coffee in the arvo. I particularly love this Maple Nut Cake, because Maple Syrup (Pefferlaw Creek Farms’) gives it this distinctive, both delicate and suave flavour, and sweetens the cake without it being too sweet. 

Ingredients (serves 8 to 12):

1/3 cup hazelnuts

1/3 cup walnuts

1/3 cup Blanched Almonds

2 ¼ cup plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup demerara sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

1 cup buttermilk

½ cup pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup (like Ontario’s Pefferlaw Creek Farms’ Maple Syrup)

3 heaped tablespoons cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 tablespoon pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup (like Ontario’s Pefferlaw Creek Farms’ Maple Syrup)

1 teaspoon Homemade Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Butter a large loaf pan, and line with baking paper. Set aside.

In a small pan, over medium-high heat, lightly toast hazelnuts, walnuts and Blanched Almonds until just browned and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine plain flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda  Give a good stir to mix; set aside.

In a larger bowl, combine softened butter and demerara sugar. Cream butter and brown sugar with a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of the flour mixture, to prevent egg mixture from splitting.

Roughly chop toasted hazelnuts, walnuts and Blanched Almonds.

Then, using a rubber spatula, alternately fold in flour mixture, buttermilk and Maple Syrup into the egg mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture until just blended. With the last of the flour mixture, fold in chopped nuts.

Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan, levelling with rubber spatula.

Place in the middle of the warm oven, and bake, at 160°C/320°F, 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, and let cake cool in its pan, 5 minutes, before turning onto a wire rack to let cool completely.

In a small bowl, whisk cream cheese, Maple Syrup and Vanilla Extract together, until well-blended and fluffy.

Ice the Maple Nut Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing.

So, after the Women’s March (and a post-march visit to my father’s apartment since his birthday was on the 25th and the march was the 20th, a subway trip back to Brooklyn, and some grocery shopping), I made my Saturday night dessert.

In my rice cooker. ‘Cause surprise surprise, still no gas! Actually, as I’m writing this, there’s still no goddamn gas.

(I swear, oven, I swear I’ll never yell at you again. I’ll never carp about your lack of a window. I’ll never say, “gee, I wish you had a clock.”)

This is a miniature maple syrup and walnut cake that, as I said before, I made in my rice cooker. And y’know what? I think I’m gonna keep it as a rice cooker recipe, because it came out extremely moist and fluffy and just plain delicious! It’s frosted with maple buttercream and a maple syrup heart with some walnuts sprinkled on top.

My inspirations were the infamous Wild Oats Bakery maple cake- infamous because they never freakin’ have it- which my Mom loves, and maple walnut ice cream, which my maternal grandmother apparently loved and which I love also. (Moreover, I found out later that one of my cousins on my Mom’s side used to get cravings for it when she was pregnant with my cousin Samantha. Guess the maple love runs in the family, haha.) And so it turned out that this cake was super appropriate to make on the day of the Women’s March!

Maple Syrup & Pecan Cake

Follow my blog with Bloglovin The 20th of each month on Baking in Pyjamas is reserved for cake, but not any kind of cake, it’s The Cake Slice Bakers day. If you’re not familiar with it then let me fill you in. We are a group of cake loving ladies who throughout a year bake cakes from cake themed books. November marks the start of a new baking year and this year we are baking from World Class…