Naked Strawberry Almond Cake with Honey Rose Cream Cheese Frosting

My dad's birthday and Easter fell on the same weekend this year, so it called for a major cake.

This is my major cake. A big tall stack of cake goodness that looks as inviting and gorgeous as it tastes.

You start off with a simple almond cake. It's moist and rich with almond flavor thanks to the generous amount of almond paste (nearly a full pound!) in the batter. It bakes into two layers that you then split and layer with the good stuff.

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Almond Yellow Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting

What is it about yellow cake with chocolate frosting that just makes it so damn perfect?

Growing up, my mom was never much of a baker. There were a few memorable cakes that she made, but for the most part, I knew that if I wanted cake, I would have to bake it myself.

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Chocolate Honey Layer Cake with Salted Honey Flour Buttercream & Raw Cocoa Nibs

My husband Eugene is in a cake club at work. He and a group of other guys in his office pool together money that they then spend on monthly birthday cakes celebrating the guys in the group. The bakery options near his office are kind of limited, so they usually end up buying cakes from a popular financial district bakery called Financier, cleverly named for both the delicious little golden cakes, and their Wall Street clientele.

This month, the birthday boy (David) announced that he was tired of the options at Financier, and so Eugene offered to bring a cake from one of the bakeries in our neighborhood.

While he asked me about the options near us, I noted that if he wanted, I could actually just make them the cake myself. David agreed and sent over a short list of his favorite flavors, including chocolate and honey.

I decided to make a chocolate honey layer cake with honey flour buttercream.

The flour-based frosting is actually one that I'd been wanting to try for a while, and the thing that inspired the recipe. It's kind of an amazing thing as the process is totally different than regular buttercream. Instead, a flour-thickened pudding is made as the base, then cooled and whipped with butter until light and fluffy.

The result is a a super creamy and buttery frosting that's much less sweet than the typical powdered sugar concoctions. Another benefit of the flour buttercream is that it lets you play around with different flavors and infusions.

The original recipe for this honey buttercream came from the Baked cookbook, but, with only 3 tablespoons of honey, I didn't think their recipe had enough honey flavor. I ended up substituting 1/2 cup of the sugar with more honey just to make it super...um...honey-er?

Whatever the word, the results are awesome! If you're a honey-flavored dessert lover, you'll be very much into this frosting.

One other thing I noted is that the flavor actually tastes best at room temperature, so if you refrigerate it, let it warm up on a counter for at least 2-3 hours before serving. It honestly makes a WORLD of a difference.

I also urge you not to skip the finishing touches! The crunchy cocoa nibs work beautifully against the honey flavors of the buttercream and the sprinkle of flaky salt (I love maldon) gives it an added level of flavor reminiscent of salted caramel.

All around, seriously good stuff!

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Loved this recipe? Here are three other birthday cake ideas you might like:

• Vanilla and Brown Sugar Birthday Cupcakes
• Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Espresso Buttercream
• Italian Rainbow Cookie Cake

And let's connect so you can find out the next time I post! Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest, become a fan on Facebook, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates.

Thanks so much for reading!

Chocolate Honey Cake with Salted Honey Buttercream & Raw Cocoa Nibs
Makes 1 10-inch layer cake (12-15 servings)

Cake recipe adapted from Epicurious. Buttercream recipe adapted from Baked Expolorations via O Magazine

Ingredients
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the frosting
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup honey + 1/4 cup honey, divided
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cocoa nibs and flaky sea salt, for garnish

Directions

Make the cake:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and line two 10" round baking pans with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together chocolate chips and coffee. Set aside.

Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.

In the base of an electric mixer beat eggs for 3 minutes until light. Mix in 1/2 cup honey, melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla, followed by the chocolate and coffee mixture.

Add the dry ingredients and gently mix in just until completely combined. Divide the batter into the prepared pans and bake about 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Cool layers in pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto racks to cool completely.

Make the frosting:
In a heavy saucepan, whisk together sugar and flour. Add the honey, milk, and heavy cream, and set over medium heat, stirring until ingredients are smooth and evenly combined. Continue to cook over medium-high heat, stirring continuously until sauce thickens and becomes pudding-like (about 12 minutes). Lower heat to low and continue to stir and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the salt and vanilla. Let cool completely at room temperature (about 1 hour).

Once the flour mixture is cool, place the 1 1/2 cups butter in a stand mixer and beat until light and creamy. With the mixer still running, slowly pour in all the flour mixture and continue to beat until it is fluffy and smooth. Add the remaining honey and beat a bit longer until evenly incorporated.

Frost the cooled cakes with the honey buttercream, then decorate the tops with cocoa nibs and garnish with flaky salt. Serve the cake room temperature or store, covered, in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator at least 2-3 hours before serving so cake has a chance to reach room temperature (it tastes best at room temp!). Cake can be left unrefrigerated for up to about 6 hours.

Note: Both cake and frosting can be made in advance and refrigerated. Let frosting come back to room temperature before assembling cake.

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Vanilla & Brown Sugar Mayonnaise Cupcakes

I have a confession to make. I'm NOT the best person when it comes to remembering birthdays. I can tell you the month and often even the week, but exact dates are forever escaping my memory.

Even my own husband has heard me ask him on multiple occasions, "Your birthday is the 5th, right? Or is it the 4th?"

Seriously...SO terrible!

If you're anything like me, I can tell you that the quickest way to get out of any trouble caused by a forgotten date is to keep a foolproof cake recipe in your back pocket.

Something that is as delicious to eat, as it is beautiful to look at, and ridiculously easy to make.

The object of the game is simple ingredients + major nostalgic flavor.

When the folks at McCormick asked me to share a favorite birthday treat recipe with you to celebrate their 125th birthday, I knew it was time to write about this cake.

Meet my Vanilla & Brown Sugar Mayo Cupcakes!

(AKA the cake to get you out of any kind of dessert-related emergencies, and back into the good graces of the people you love the most.)

This year, in honor of their 125th birthday, McCormick released a brand new pure vanilla extract called Extra Rich Pure Vanilla Extract. This new version is 25% stronger than regular vanilla extract, with an awesome balance between sweet caramel and bourbon-rummy flavors. 

I've always been the kind of girl who sloshes in a little extra vanilla when baking since I love it so much, so I feel like this extract was basically made for me, and I really love how incredible it is in my mayonnaise cake.

If you've never tried (or even heard!) of mayonnaise cakes, they are an old-fashioned kind of cake that dates back to World War II, when things like eggs and butter were rationed.

The mayonnaise--which is made from eggs and oil--would take the place of the missing eggs and butter, producing a cake that is light, fluffy and incredibly moist.

And don't worry--there is absolutely NO mayonnaise flavor in the cake itself--just rich, fragrant vanilla, reminiscent of all my favorite birthday cakes as a little girl.

They're also one-bowl cakes, which means you simply whisk together the dry ingredients, then pour in the wet ones, and mix it all together. A quick stint in the oven, and it won't be long before you and your family are enjoying sweet, classic vanilla cupcakes.

As part of their year-long birthday celebration, McCormick is inviting everyone to visit their site, Flavoroftogether.com to share their favorite flavor stories and memories, and discover new recipes and videos. Hop on over to share about your favorite birthday cake; for each story that is shared, McCormick will be donating $1, up to $1.25 million to the United Way to help feed those in need.

This post is sponsored by McCormick. Thank you for supporting companies like McCormick who make it possible for me to keep creating great content and recipes for you.

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Love Always Order Dessert? Let's connect! Follow me on Twitter or Pinterest, become a fan on Facebook, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates. And if you ever need any entertaining or cooking advice, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Thanks for reading!     

Vanilla & Brown Sugar Mayonnaise Cupcakes
Mayo takes the place of eggs and oil in this easy one-bowl recipe, producing a cake that is light, moist, and rich with real vanilla flavor.

Yields 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup cold whole milk (you can also substitute a non-dairy milk or even water)
1 cup cold mayonnaise (not light or fat-free)
1 tablespoon McCormick Extra Rich Pure Vanilla Extract

For the frosting
8oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons McCormick Extra Rich Pure Vanilla Extract
3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.

Whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the whole milk, mayonnaise, and vanilla, and beat well with an electric mixer until smooth (about 1 minute). Divide evenly into prepared cupcake tins (about 3/4 of the way full each) and bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and slightly golden.

Remove cupcakes from pan, and let cool completely on a rack before frosting.

For the frosting
Beat together the softened cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the sifted confectioner's sugar, and beat until smooth.

Frost and decorate cupcakes as desired.

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Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Espresso Buttercream

Eugene turned 31 last Wednesday, and I decided to make him a birthday cake. I actually make him a birthday cake every year, but this year it was especially important as I wasn't really able to do much else.

I'd gotten back from Vermont on Sunday night nursing the beginnings of a bad cold. I was achey and feverish and way too stuffy to do much of anything but lay around in bed watching On Demand episodes of Elementary (I'm obsessed).

Going out to celebrate was off the table, and I didn't even have enough energy to walk 5 blocks to the drugstore to get him a birthday card.

(It didn't help that it was, like, 2 degrees outside.)

So I definitely had to make a cake.

A trip to the grocery store was out of the question, so I looked around the cabinets to see what I had to work with.

Flour. Sugar. Cocoa Powder. Eggs. Coffee.

I could totally work with this.

For the cake portion, I chose one of my favorite Ina Garten recipes: Beatty's chocolate cake.

It's a moist and rich dark chocolate cake recipe that's enhanced with the addition of a full cup of black coffee. Whenever I make it, I like to pump it up with a bit of espresso powder.

I also add a bit more vanilla, cut down on the sugar, and use large eggs. (Because, seriously, Ina--what's with the extra-large egg obsession?!?)

For the frosting, I made a simple Espresso Buttercream, using salted butter, sugar, vanilla and instant espresso to play up those coffee flavors. (Eugene is a fan of coffee-flavored things.)

The cake actually only took me about an hour and a half to make and frost (thank goodness since I kind of put it off all day!), so I was able to bake it, hide it in the fridge and clean the kitchen all before Eugene got home.

We each ate a big slice for dessert that night, and then I sent the rest of it to work with him in the morning.

(I do kind of wish I'd kept another slice...)

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Love Always Order Dessert? Let's connect! Follow me on Twitter or Pinterest, become a fan on Facebook, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates. And if you ever need any entertaining or cooking advice, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Thanks for reading!   

Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Espresso Buttercream
Makes one 9" round cake. Cake adapted from Ina Garten's recipe for Beatty's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup olive oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 cup black coffee, cooled

For the Frosting:
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (I like salted in this one, but unsalted works, too!)
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line two 9" round baking pans with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat together the buttermilk, olive oil, eggs, vanilla, espresso powder, and coffee.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir gently, just until batter is smooth with no dry parts.

Divide evenly into two pans, and bake 35-40 minutes, or until a tester inserted in cake comes out clean.

While the cake bakes, make the frosting:
Whisk the extract and espresso together and set aside.

Whip the butter with an electric mixer for five minutes, until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and slowly beat in the sifted powdered sugar. Add the espresso mixture and continue to beat.

Frost the cake
Place one layer of the cake down and top with half the frosting, spreading so that it just reaches the edges. Top with the second layer, and frost with the rest of the frosting, leaving the sides and edges unfrosted. Garnish the center with cacao nibs.

Serve immediately or cover with a cake cover and chill up to 8 hours before serving.

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Walnut Layer Cake with Orange Spice Cream Cheese Frosting

The day before Thanksgiving, my dad started texting me.

"In addition to Hudson, are you bringing something tomorrow? Perhaps a delicious dessert?"

I didn't reply right away, and so another text soon followed.

"Hey! How about this Peach and Plum Cake? That looks good!"

It was evident that he was going through my blog looking for ideas...

"That's a summer cake, but don't worry," I replied. "I'll bring something delicious!"

But the truth was I had no plan and so I ended up standing around in my kitchen for a bit trying to figure out what to make.

I recently received a gift of a large bag filled with raw walnuts (out of their shells, thankfully), and had been wanting to use them in some kind of dessert.

Specifically, a fancy and festive layer cake.

I didn't want whole or even crushed nuts in the cake, but instead was picturing coarsely ground nuts that could be folded evenly throughout the batter. And I wanted to use cake flour to make sure it was tender and light. I wasn't going for some hearty stodgy teacake. I wanted something airy and lovely.

I gave it a shot and was thrilled with the results. The cake itself was so delicious--nutty and fragrant. It was almost impossible to resist eating it (although fortunately I got to snack on the part I cut off to level it).

If you make this, remember that the trick is to not grind the nuts too much. You don't want a fine nut meal--you're really looking for something a little bigger--like course bread crumbs. It makes ALL the difference.

I frosted the cake with a cream cheese frosting (my favorite) flavored with spices and a dash of orange extract, although I think a dark chocolate frosting would also work really well here.

Perfect holiday decadence. Enjoy!

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Love Always Order Dessert? Let's connect! Follow me on Twitter or Pinterest, become a fan on Facebook, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates. And if you ever need any entertaining or cooking advice, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Thanks for reading!  

Walnut Layer Cake with Orange Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
Yields one 8" layer cake

Ingredients

For the cake
2 1/2 cups raw walnuts
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup milk

For the frosting
12 oz cream cheese, softened
12 oz butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure orange extract
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cups confectioner's sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line two 8" round cake pans. Place walnuts in a food processor, and pulse until they resemble course breadcrumbs. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the extracts.

Reduce speed to low, and add the flour and milk, mixing just until completely combined. Gently mix in the coarsely ground walnuts, and divide batter evenly into the two prepared pans.

Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Beat in the extract, and spices, then the two cups of sugar.

Once the cake is completely cool, use a knife to level off one of the cakes by cutting off the rounded part on top (yay for snacks!). Then use this as the first layer of your cake, top with a generous dollop of frosting and spread to about an inch before the edges.

Add the second layer on top (rounded part up), and press down slightly. Finish frosting the cake.

Serve immediately, or chill until serving (can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance). I like to remove it from the refrigerator about 2 hours before serving as it tastes better when it's not super cold.

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