cake Archives - Just J.Faye

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

July 18, 2017 by Jenna

A quick and easy recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake. It’s a moist, chocolaty cake that is studded with fresh zucchini – a delicious summertime dessert!

On Sunday I was going to go hike a 14er, but for a variety of reasons and factors I ended up not doing it. This meant that I had an entire free day to myself. No people to see. No things to do. No commitments. It ended up being quite luxurious.

After some strength training at the gym, a walk to the farmer’s market, and a little reading outside on the patio I decided to dig out The Duesterhoeft Café cookbook and whip up something from my family’s collection of recipes.

Since it’s the time of year when my fridge is stocked with zucchini I landed on the chocolate zucchini cake. Also, chocolate cake on a Sunday (or any other day, really) is never a bad idea. Ever.

The cake comes together very quickly. First, cream together the butter, oil, egg, sugar, and vanilla. Next, stir in the zucchini and finally, mix in the dry ingredients. The batter is a little bit looser compared normal cake batter, due to the moisture from all the zucchini.

Pour the batter into a 9×9 baking dish and sprinkle it with chocolate chips and brown sugar. The chocolate chips and brown sugar melt together in the oven and form a sort of caramely, crispy layer on top.

I hope that doesn’t sound gross/weird. I just don’t know how else to explain it!

The cake has a nice, light crumb and the perfect amount of chocolaty flavor.

Cut a generous slice and top it with a dollop of ice cream. Grab a glass of wine and a good book. Then take everything outside to enjoy.

If that’s not a lovely summer evening, I don’t know what is!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

A quick and easy recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake. It's a moist, chocolaty cake that is studded with fresh zucchini - a delicious summertime dessert!

Serves: 16 pieces

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
heaping ¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup chocolate chips
¼ cup brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grate zucchini and set aside in a strainer to drain excess water. You will need one cup.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, add the oil, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat on high for 2-3 minutes.
Mix in the zucchini.
Add in the buttermilk, baking soda, flour, and cinnamon and mix on low until everything is combined.
Pour batter into an ungreased 9x9 cake pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and brown sugar.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.

Notes

Try to drain most of the water from the zucchini. I’ll usually let mine sit in a strainer for a few minutes and then soak up some moisture with a couple paper towels.

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand (do people normally?) replace it with ¼ cup milk (dairy, almond, soy, whatever) mixed with 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice. Stir it up and let it sit for a minute or two before using.

Adding ¼ cup chopped walnuts on top with the chocolate chips and brown sugar would be a delicious idea.

This recipe can be easily doubled and baked in a 9x13 pan.

My mom likes to store it in the fridge, but it's delicious stored at room temperature as well!

My mom’s personal notes on the recipe in the cookbook: “I love zucchini from the garden; raw, sauteed, roasted, baked into breads and muffins, and especially baked into this cake recipe. My mom would make this often in the summer. I like to keep it in the fridge… no reason, I just like it that way. This recipe is in honor of my mother’s good friend Marlys Stockman from Plato.”

More The Duesterhoeft Cafe cookbook recipes: Coconut Coffee Cake, Rhubarb Cake, and Basic Banana Bread.

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Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake

October 25, 2016 by Jenna

This Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake is exactly what you need right now. It’s chocolatey, pumpkiny, but not too rich or dense or PSLy – the perfect afternoon treat!

It’s still in the 70s and 80s here in Denver, which IMO is far too warm for this time of year. I want to wear sweaters and leggings and boots and to bake all the pumpkin things. I’m going to do all that stuff anyways and just try to will the weather to cooler temperatures. I think it’ll work.

I started out by baking this Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake. It’s a light, moist chocolate cake that’s flavored with a little bit of pumpkin and cinnamon. It’s not full on in your face pumpkin spice, but if that’s what you’re looking for feel free to add some ground nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.

I’m kind of in love with it and I think you will be too.

Snack cakes in general are kind of amazing. They are super approachable and quick to whip up. You don’t need to drag out your mixer or worry about frosting a 3-tier layer cake. But the lack of hassle does not mean lack of flavor, so it’s all pretty ideal.

This snack cake in particular is full of chocolate and pumpkin and all sorts of deliciousness. Then it’s topped with a chocolate almond butter drizzle, because we can.

To start, you’ll mix together all your dry ingredients. Then you’ll melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together, whisk in some eggs, and add the sugar, vanilla, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and milk. Then the wet gets mixed into the dry to make a big ole bowl of batter. If it seems too thick feel free to add an additional tablespoon or two of milk. Bake it up for 25 minutes and try your best to let it cool completely.

Once it’s cool you’ll melt together the chocolate almond butter drizzle ingredients and spoon it over the cake.

Finally, pour yourself a big cup of coffee, sit down, and enjoy a piece (or two) of this delicious Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake.

Get after it!

Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

This chocolate pumpkin snack cake is a light, moist chocolate cake flavored with pumpkin and cinnamon and topped with a chocolate almond butter drizzle. It's a perfect afternoon treat!

Serves: 12 pieces

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 ½ cup all purpose flour
⅓ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup milk (dairy, almond, soy, whatever you have on hand)

For the chocolate almond butter drizzle:

2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoon chocolate chips
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon maple syrup

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the cake can easily be lifted out of the pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate on low heat. You can also do this in the microwave.
Let it cool for a minute or two then whisk in the eggs.
Stir in the vanilla, brown sugar, pumpkin, and milk.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. Set aside to cool.
To make the drizzle, combine all of the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30-second increments until everything is melted. Drizzle over the cooled cake. Then eat and enjoy!

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caramel apple snack cake

November 17, 2015 by Jenna

I love caramel, apples, snacks, and cake, so a caramel apple snack cake just makes sense.

The cinnamon/caramel/apple flavor combination is essentially the epitome of fall. The smell of this snack cake baking in the oven will make you want to grab some friends, go on pretty fall walk, and jump in piles of crisp leaves.

Maybe those crisp leaves are now buried under a pile of snow?? A walk is still a good idea.

So go do that as these are cooling. Then when you come in you can enjoy a slice with mugs of steamy coffee and your favorite people.

To make these I took a basic blondie recipe (1 stick butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup flour) and added in some cinnamon, a shredded Zestar apple, and some caramel bits (these things). The moisture from the apple made these light and cakey rather than gooey and dense like blondies typically are.

Which is why I am calling it a snack cake.

Side note: Make sure to squeeze the excess moisture out of the shredded apple!

On a semi-related note, Katie and I had friends visiting this weekend from California (hi Ellie & Oliver!), so we drove towards the mountains for short, yet scenic hike at St. Mary’s Glacier. It was so, so beautiful. We took lots of pictures and stopped for lunch near the glacier. Naturally, I packed pieces of this caramel apple snack cake for dessert.

It was such a fun afternoon. I don’t think the beauty of the mountains will ever stop surprising me. Never, ever.

caramel apple snack bars

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

A snack cake full of all the best fall flavors: cinnamon, apple, and caramel!

Serves: 16 pieces

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 ¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 medium apple, shredded (I used a Zestar)
½ cup caramel bits

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8” baking pan with foil and spray with non-stick spray.
Mix the melted butter, brown sugar, and egg together until everything is combined.
Stir in the flour and cinnamon until incorporated.
Fold in the shredded apple and caramel bits (saving a bit to put on top).
Place batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle on the remaining caramel bits and a little bit of sea salt.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the center is set.
Cool completely in the pan, then cut and serve!

caramel apple snack cake caramel apple snack cake

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Coconut Coffee Cake

March 21, 2015 by Jenna

Happy second day of spring! It’s such a happy feeling. To celebrate, I made you some coconut coffee cake!

The recipe for this coffee cake was inspired from one I spotted in my new favorite cookbook:

Yeah, that’s right, The Duesterhoeft Café: A collection of our favorite treasured recipes. I know what you’re probably thinking, “The Duesterhoeft Cafe, where is that? I must go.” and then, “How can I get my hands on that cookbook???”

To answer the first question, The Duesterhoeft Café is in the heart and soul of my parents, siblings, and all the friends and family that inspired recipes and shared delicious food with us throughout the years.

Just kidding!

It’s a fictional name that my parent’s gave our house when tricking my siblings and me after church one Sunday. They said they were taking us out to eat at “The Duesterhoeft Café”. We thought it was a legit restaurant, but really it just ended up being our house. My sister was not pleased. My parents, the joksters.

To answer the second question, only a limited number of copies were printed, so unfortunately you won’t be able to find it in bookstores. But by following Just J.Faye, you are in luck! I’m going to be cooking and baking all through this cookbook so that I can share the treasured Duesterhoeft recipes with you. Delicious things like my mom’s famous chicken wings, the coveted Swedish rice ring, and my great-grandma’s German potato salad. Yummmm. Drool.

My mom put this wonderful recipe collection together, had it printed and bound, then distributed to family and close friends. Some recipes have deep family roots, some remind me of the early 90’s, and some I have never heard of, but if it comes from The Duesterhoeft Café, you can trust that it’s amazing.

Anywaysssss, back to the coconut coffee cake. As I was scanning through the cookbook I saw the word “coconut” and immediately stopped. It’s spring. It’s time for coconut. I knew I had to make this one first.

According to my mom’s notes she just found the recipe in her old recipe box and doesn’t know where she ate it or who she got it from, but that she liked it and wanted to save it. I guess it’s not the best example to start with from our “treasured recipes”, but I guess maybe it’s like a hidden treasure that we re-discovered. Sure. Let’s go with that.

The original recipe calls for boxed cake mix and coconut instant pudding. I could not find coconut instant pudding! Does it not exist?! I want it. Maybe I should have checked different grocery stores? Oh well. I used vanilla instant pudding instead, made a yellow butter cake from scratch rather than using a boxed mix, and made a few other minor tweaks.

The result: super delicious coconut coffee cake. I mean, look at it.

The cake itself is just so soft. It’s based off the one I used for this rhubarb cake, but with canned lite coconut milk and vanilla instant pudding.

In the middle of the cake you will find a ribbon made of cinnamon, sugar, pecans, and coconut. This mixture is on top as well. The pecans and coconut get perfectly toasted while baking in the oven. The cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top gives the cake a sort of thin crispy layer that you break through with your fork before reaching the soft yellow cake below it. Heavenly.

But then to make it perfect, the cake is drizzled with a simple icing made of powdered sugar, vanilla, and coconut milk. It’s… just… I…

So good.

If you aren’t crazy about coconut, I’m sure you’ll still enjoy this cake. The coconut flavor is super subtle. However, if you are crazy about coconut and want more coconut taste add in a little bit of coconut extract (~1/4 teaspoon) and replace the vanilla instant pudding with coconut instant pudding (lucky duck, if you find some).

Know what this coconut coffee cake would be perfect for?! Easter brunch. AKA, the best brunch day of all the days. Mother’s Day being a close second, of course.

Know what else this would be perfect for?! Saturday afternoon cake & coffee with girlfriends. I just can’t be alone with this cake much longer. Seriously, come over later. Thanks.

Annddddd now I’m going to go run 13 miles. Yay, marathon training!

Coconut Coffee Cake

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

50 mins

Inspired by a recipe from my mom's family cookbook, this coffee cake is so delicious. A yellow butter cake made with coconut milk and vanilla instant pudding mix is lined and topped with a cinnamon sugar pecan mixture. Then there is simple icing drizzled on top to make it perfect. This would be ideal for brunch or an afternoon coffee break.

Serves: 9

Ingredients

For the nut mixture:

½ cup sugar
¾ cup chopped pecans
¾ cup flaked unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the cake:

1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup canned lite coconut milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
⅓ cup sugar
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, softened

For the icing:

½ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons canned lite coconut milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 baking dish.
In a small bowl stir together the ingredients for the nut mixture. Set aside.
In another small bowl whisk together the egg, egg yolk, coconut milk, and vanilla.
In the bowl of the electric mixer (or a large bowl) stir together the sugar, flour, pudding mix, baking powder, and salt.
Add the butter and mix on medium for about 90 seconds. The butter should be evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.
Add the wet ingredients and beat until combined, about 30-60 seconds.
Pour half of the batter into the baking disk. Top batter with half of the nut mixture. Top this with the remaining cake batter, then sprinkle the remaining nut mixture on top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out with slight crumbs.
In a small bowl stir together the icing ingredients and drizzle on top of the cake.
Let the cake sit for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

The coconut flavor is quite subtle. To make it stand out more add ¼ teaspoon coconut extract and/or replace the vanilla instant pudding mix with coconut instant pudding mix.

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Orange-Cranberry Pound Cake

December 21, 2014 by Jenna

Orange-cranberry pound cake. In my kitchen. It’s happening.

Or rather, it happened.

Know what also happened? Rain. RAIN! In December. In Minnesota. Just a few short days before Christmas. What.The.Heck. Why is this happening? Where is the snow?

The forecast says 70% of snow for Tuesday. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a Christmas miracle. I hope you do the same.

While I wait and hope, hope, hope for the snow I will be enjoying this orange-cranberry pound cake.

I haven’t used my bundt pan in what seems like forever and ever and ever, so I decided to take a quick break from the cookie baking and whip up a pound cake.

This pound cake recipe comes from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible (which is full of some killer recipes and awesome baking tips) and is dubbed the “perfect pound cake”. Traditionally pound cakes are equal parts butter, sugar, flour, and eggs; however, this recipe has just a little extra butter giving the cake more of that delicious buttery flavor and some nice, tender crumbs. This pound cake is so moist (I don’t care if you hate that word) and has just the right level of sweetness.

To add a little festive twist, I threw in some orange zest and cranberries. The orange flavor is just barely there in the background and the cranberries give little bursts of tart juices in each bite, along with some beautiful color.

The only thing that would make this cake more delicious is a drizzle of some glaze, because as I mentioned before, it’s not very sweet. Unfortunately I was fresh out of powdered sugar. I am the worst. So please bake this, stir up some powdered sugar and orange juice, drizzle it all over the pound cake, and tell me how it is. Thank you. You’re the best.

Now I am going to go spend the rest of the evening wrapping presents and eating pound cake and watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate and wishing for snow.

I hope you are all ready for Christmas and are able to spend lots of quality time with friends and family over the next few days!

Orange-Cranberry Pound Cake

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

Perfect moist and tender pound cake with hints of orange and pops of cranberry.

Author: slightly adapted from "The Cake Bible"

Serves: 12 pieces

Ingredients

3 tablespoons milk
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
zest for one orange
1 ½ cups cake flour
¾ cups sugar
¾ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
13 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups fresh cranberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a bundt pan and dust with flour.
In a medium bowl, combine the milk, eggs, vanilla, and orange juice.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low for 30 seconds.
Add the orange zest, butter and half of the egg mixture. Mix on low until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Beat for 1 minute on medium.
Add the remaining egg mixture and beat for 30 seconds.
Stir in the cranberries.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
Let the cake sit in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting on a rack to cool completely. This is the time you would ideally add the glaze.

Notes

If you don't have cake flour and don't want to buy any, use all-purpose flour, but take out 1½ tablespoons of the flour and replace it with 1½ tablespoons corn starch.

PS – Remember when I made these awesome cookies and talked about The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap? Well here are the recipe roundups: part 1 and part 2. Check them out and get baking! So many amazing cookiessss!!!!!

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Rhubarb Cake

June 5, 2014 by Jenna

People. Rhubarb. It’s happening. Get on it. Because with rhubarb comes rhubarb desserts. And you don’t want to miss out on that.

No, no, no, no, no, no you don’t.

When I was home for Mother’s Day I went and harvested a bunch of rhubarb.

Isn’t that a gorgeous bouquet?! All the bright green with vibrant pink stems. Do people ever have rhubarb bouquets for their weddings? If not, they should. Maybe I will.

I washed it and chopped it up and froze it because I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with this tart and precious vegetable yet. Muffins? Pie? Cake?! So many possibilities!

I grew up on long summers of rhubarb desserts. It was like mayo cake’s counterpart. I can recall many-a lunch where we would grill brats and/or burgers, accompany it with fresh fruit, potato chips, and salad, and wash it all down with big glasses of milk.

Then there was dessert. Always, always dessert. If it didn’t happen right after lunch, it happened at about 2:00 – Prime time for my dad’s break from fieldwork and chores.

Afternoon coffee and rhubarb cake. No one ever says no to that.

Sometimes my grandparents would come over to join. Sometimes my dad had other relatives helping him in the field, so they would come in. Sometimes my siblings and I would have friends over. Looking back it seems that we just had an open house all summer long. Everyone was always welcome. Everyone still is.

So, come on over for some coffee and cake!

Cleary I decided to make cake with my rhubarb. The cake starts out as a classic yellow cake. Then we top it with chopped up rhubarb. Then with sugar. Then pour heavy whipping cream all over everything. Because all of these things are good.

(I hope you did this workout…)

The tartness of the rhubarb is balanced by the sweetness of the cake. Perfect harmony. The cream makes it all really moist and delicious. Top it off with a dollop of whipped cream, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and enjoy your summer afternoon with friends and/or family.

Rhubarb Cake

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

55 mins

A moist yellow cake speckled with fresh, tart rhubarb. Perfect for a summer day with friends, family, and coffee.

Serves: 9-12

Ingredients

2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 cup sugar, divided
1 egg
1 egg yolk
½ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla
1 ¼ cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
5 tbsp butter, softened
½ cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 baking dish.
In a small bowl mix the rhubarb with ¼ cup sugar. Set aside.
In another small bowl combine the egg, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla. Set aside.
In a large bowl add the dry ingredients (only use ½ cup sugar) and mix for 30 seconds with an electric mixer.
Add the butter to the dry ingredients. Mix on low until butter is incorporated, then mix on medium high for 90 seconds. This helps develop the cake’s structure.
Add the milk mixture in 3 rounds, mixing 20 seconds after each addition and scraping the sides as needed.
Pour cake batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the rhubarb over the top, then the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Finally pour the cream over the cake.
Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.

I still have a little bit left in my freezer, but I think I need more. There are more rhubarb recipes I want to try. I’ll have to pay another little visit to the parents to gather another bouquet. See you soon mom and dad!

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