Do you eat dessert at home? Most people I know don't, saving what they consider an extravagance for special occasions and when they dine out. But I recently discovered that having a simple cake on hand is a really nice way to introduce a little sweet at the end of a meal without going overboard. My secrets is to bake a single layer cake and to not frost it. What? No frosting? I know, I know, but stay with me here!
Desserts are indeed an extravagance for many of us, especially in the cleanse-mania month of January when people seek to shed a few of their holiday pounds. But I'm also a big fan of not going overboard with deprivation and feel that everyday meals should be just as celebrated as special occasions. So my middle-way solution is to bake a single layer cake and dust it with powdered sugar.
For me and my small household, a 9" cake lasts an entire week. After dinner or even occasionally after lunch, I cut a simple wedge of cake and serve it on a pretty plate. Suddenly a humdrum mid-week meal becomes a little more special. It always makes me smile. Also, having a little cake in the house means you can have someone over for afternoon tea, which is a practice I highly recommend.
Some cakes are made for this, like polenta cakes or the delicious Breton cake I had when visiting Anne Zimmerman (pictured above.) But you can also just use your favorite layer cake recipe, either cutting the recipe in half or making two layers and freezing one (wrap it in plastic and again in foil to protect the layer from freezer burn.)
Keep your cake fresh by wrapping it in plastic wrap or keeping it in a cake tin or tupperware. If it starts to dry out, try serving it with a little jam spread over the top. Or melt the jam in a saucepan and pour it over.
Don't get me wrong: frosting is very, very nice and I would not want to live in a world without it. But a frosted cake as an everyday thing is a little over the top, in my book. With a small wedge of unfrosted cake, we can still indulge. This is definitely a solution to the having your cake and eating it too problem!
These cake recipes from The Kitchn's archives would make great single layer cakes. Just cut the recipe in half and bake in a 8 or 9" pan. Or again, make two layers but freeze one for later. And skip the frosting!
• Carrot Sheet Cake
• Dark Chocolate Cake
• Yogurt Cake
• Blueberry Banana Cake
• Forelle Pear Cake
Related: Quick Tip: Freeze Pre-Baked Cakes
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i usually make a simple single-layer cake for dessert when i have dinner parties. i have found that after 3-5 courses of food, no one really wants to commit to a big dessert and i'm stuck with the leftovers! a nice spice cake with a little bourbon sauce, or polenta cake with marmalade usually does the trick.
At home, I make chocolate cake (halved the recipe for 9" pan) from the back of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder container. It's still the best chocolate cake to me. It never lasts more than 2 days with the two of us in the house.
All for it. My daughter was amazed at her "tall" birthday cake last month--2 layers! But I can never pass up cream cheese frosting on a carrot cake.
This is a great idea and I should do it more often. But one line did make me smile, "For me and my small household, a 9" cake lasts an entire week." I have household of 3 and a 9" inch cake lasts about 18 hours at my house. With two teenagers who view unfrosted cake as breakfast food, I can only count on a slice when it's first cut at supper. After that it's just a plate with crumbs.
I'm with jmalbert. It's just me and my boyfriend at home, but oh boy do we go through desserts. I've learned not to bake unless I have company coming over, lest the two of us polish off an entire batch of cookies/cake/bars/whatever in two or three days.
I too am with the last two posters--the two of us *easily* finish off a small cake within a weekend. And that's using some restraint. : ) That's why I generally only bake on--and try to limit our dessert-eating to--the weekends, and often freeze half as soon as I make it.
I also never make frosting for homemade desserts. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE frosting when I have cake out, but I feel like if I *really* knew what went into it by making it at home, I'd have a harder time enjoying desserts with as great gusto as I currently do. : ) Plus, really good, fresh, homemade cakes are good enough on their own.
I'm with you on this. There are many times that call for layers and frosting but for everyday, I love "finger cakes" that you can practically eat with your hands. I love a simple almond sponge cake or chiffon cake. French yogurt cake with some lemon zest is nice too.
Just last night at my mom's house we had a single layer unfrosted white cake with fresh strawberries. It was delicious.
Skip the frosting and top with some whole milk or a little light cream. It's heavenly.
Of course, if we have desserts around the house, the boy and I will just gobble them up. I can usually restrain myself to having just a small piece, but it's more difficult for him. Although I did make a big pan of bread pudding with orange rye bread, mandarin oranges, and chocolate chips and that seems to still be around after several days. Must be because it's not too sweet.
I do this quite often as well. One of my favourite single layer cakes to make was on posted here last year - the vegan sticky orange cake. Have made it to rave reviews with all different kinds of oranges and usually just top it with an icing sugar/orange juice glaze. http://www.thekitchn.com/vegan-recipe-damp-orange-cake-136406
I don't make a regular habit of it, but this is the kind of thing that simple, delicious yoghurt cake - maybe drizzled with a bit of berry coulis - was made for.
i like to bake 2 layers and wrap and freeze one for later!
i have a great carrot cake recipe that tastes amazing without any frosting at all. But i think its just acquired because I don't eat a lot of sugar. I made a double layer one for the holidays and put a can of cream cheese frosting between the layers on top and got complaints from my family that it didn't have nearly enough frosting!
Oooh, thanks for reposting the vegan orange cake, CoachMilloy! It looks delicious, and I love having good food for friends with special dietary needs.
@adamwa, what a good idea! I love the thought of keeping a nice, not-too-sweet cake around for a little nibble, but unfortunately some of us gain weight faster than others. I don't have the metabolism for those extra calories, so I try to satisfy my sweet tooth with a piece of fruit or a square of chocolate.
Can you share the recipe for Breton cake?
Linda S: The Breton recipe linked in the Anne Zimmerman post, but to save you a few clicks, I'll also link it here .
OH I am on board with this idea! I've always heard unfrosted cakes called "snacking cakes", which I always thought sounded so delightful, don't you think?? This Breton cake looks/sounds lovely, thank you!
We like unfrosted or simple glazed cakes at home. At work I make those monstrous fondant things, but at home we keep it simple. A couple of favorites are :
this glazed lemon poppy seed cake
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Glazed-Lemon-Poppy-Seed-Cake-238394
and every recipe we've tried from this book
http://www.amazon.com/Cake-Keeper-Cakes-Good---Last-Crumb/dp/1600851207/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326940523&sr=8-1
She has chapters on round, 8" square, loaf, and bund cakes, all with no frosting, but some with a glaze.
Ahem. Gourmet's Lemon Olive Oil Cake. The one Faith brought to TheKitchn with her wedding plans. MAKE that.
OK, so I went to find the link and apparently it was before all that.
http://www.thekitchn.com/lemon-olive-oil-cake-43229
What no frosting! In England we call it icing.
and i prefer glaze icing, not the calorific aorta hardening cream cheese stuff that ruins many a cake, really! why do you eat that stuff! yuk.
Yes, with a quick recipe like chocolate snacking cake, a simple and tasty dessert is pretty fast.
If you need ideas for a guilt-free dessert... I make icecream out of no fat greek yoghurt, skim milk and pureed fruit, with a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar, a little salt and vanilla essence. It's basically zero fat, low sugar, low carb, and actually good for you. But it's still dessert!
Wacky cake fills this niche for me. As a kid we had it at least once a week for dessert, and I still love making it.
I think I'd rather have frosting with no cake that vice versa! Ha!
*than
I have always thought of loaf breads as cakes. Most are sweet and have fruit or nuts in them. I was brought up with a lovely orange apricot loaf that my mother always made. She cut the loaf and stored most of it in the freezer. Her recipe made three loaves so it was always there. For drop in company, it was great to have it on hand. She also made a sour cream spice loaf that layered the spice/sugar mix so it looked so pretty. I think it had a bit of coconut in it too. She called it sliver cake because she could slice the loaf so thinly. It was her way of stretching things. As you also pointed out, there was no icing involved and even no need for icing sugar. Just a smear of good butter and it was heaven for dessert.
One of my favourites is an old fashioned cake with a ground orange and raisins in it. You finish it off when it comes out of the oven by pouring a bit of OJ over top and sprinkling it with cinnamon and sugar. Nice for either coffee or dessert, or even a late brunch.
YES. So pleased to see this post. Deb of Smitten Kitchen distinguishes these "everyday" cakes from "celebration" cakes, and I quite agree with her view on the matter. Good cakes -- simple, unembelished, sometimes rustic -- are magnificent.
Although my partner and I used to be able to finish a cake off in a weekend, we have grown into some restraint and now a homemade cake or other everyday dessert will last a week or more.
I often use whole grain flours for some or all of the flour content. Chocolate and other very strong flavors work best for this -- I find that cakes with citrus or buttermilk or other light flavors don't taste nearly as indulgent with the whole grain flours, but coffee, chocolate, molasses, heavy spices, and nuts pair well. The whole grains give a little more weight and bite to the cake, and count for something nutritionally.
Well.. cupcakes without frosting is as good as this idea. At times, one 9" pan and one cup cake pan (ofcourse, baking time is less for cupcake) using the same batter.
If you just bake it in a loaf shape you don't even need to explain the total lack of frosting, I take my carrot cake recipe, sub out pistachio for walnuts (to further differentiate between cake and loaf cake) and no even notices the total lack of frosting, plus it's a great excuse to have a something with an afternoon tea or coffee on the balcony. It's fie minutes of my day, but somehow makes everything more enjoyable.