Tag: cake

Blogoversary Funfetti Cake


The past few months have been a whirlwind! Case in point: I actually made this funfetti cake for my son’s first birthday back in November, but I didn’t have a chance to blog about it until now. I’m sure he won’t mind if I share it with you all in honor of my FOUR YEAR BLOGOVERSARY. Yippee!


It almost makes me tear up a little to think about it, but I can’t believe I’ve actually been blogging consistently for four. whole. years. That’s one thousand, four hundred and sixty days of thinking, dreaming and writing about my food memories and adventures in the kitchen.


Four years in, I can honestly say, I have never been so proud of what I’ve accomplished. Just sticking with something, and not getting bored of it is a testament to having found my niche in life. And you guys – my awesome, amazing fans, who have constantly encouraged me with your emails, comments and feedback – you keep me on my toes, always pushing me to dream up something bigger and better!


And I could never have dreamed up what this year would bring! Writing an ebook (and selling hundreds of copies!), a video series with TorahCafe, Joining the Blogher and Culinary Content Network, Features on The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Cosmo and The Daily Meal, friendships with food bloggers, The front page of The Wall Street Journal, a spot on The Meredith Vierra Show, my own magazine column (info coming soon), a social media campaign with a huge brand (info coming soon) and relationships with kosher food brands that I’m honored to represent.


It was such a thrill watching some of my recipes go viral this year. My drunken hasselback salami was by far the hit of the year, with poutine latkes and cauliflower nachos coming in at a close second.


What shocks me more than anything is how much I have been recognized this year. I get stopped in restaurants and groceries in all different communities, by people from all walks of life. It’s weird to be perceived as somewhat of a celebrity, but also so humbling. I love when people come up to me and tell me how much they love following my instagram, or how it’s not Shabbos without my hasselback salami. It truly makes my day. And my week. And my year.


Over the last few months, I’ve been working hard on living a healthier lifestyle by adopting a mostly Paleo diet. I completed (almost) 3 rounds of the Whole30 cleanse and I’m about to embark on my first half-Marathon! I’m walking to support the work of The Friendship Circle, an amazing organization that does so much to help children with special needs. When I started training 2 months ago, I could barely walk a mile, and now I feel strong and ready to tackle a 13-mile walk/run. I would love if you could support my efforts by donating towards my run and the work of The Friendship Circle, here.


In the past year, I’ve also watched my youngest grow from a baby to an infant (who’s 1st birthday cake we are celebrating here) and I learned to deal with difficult food allergies for the first time. I cut the adorable JewFro off my older son at his upshernish, and I watched my two beautiful daughters continue to grow into the young girls they are becoming.


It’s not easy juggling work and family, but one of the realizations I came to this year was that I CAN’T DO IT ALL. I am learning to let go and realize that it’s ok if my house isn’t always picture-perfect, and no-one will starve if I order take-out every once in a while, and most importantly, it’s ok to ask for help.


As I enter into my fifth year of blogging, I’m filled with excitement for the many new opportunities my blog has opened for me. I’m looking forward to continuing my journey of creative expression and Jewish pride with many more healthy, kosher and inspired recipes that will nourish my family, and especially, my fans.

Now, a little bit about this cake! Y’all know I’m not much of a baker, so I love any easy recipe that looks adorable and comes together in no time. That’s where this no-mixer, super-easy yellow cake comes into play. It’s my go-to for quick party cupcakes, an iced sheet cake, or my favorite, a bundt cake, spruced up with sprinkles. Molly Yeh’s sprinkle experiment is what inspired this funfetti version, and it makes the perfect quick party cake for a baby birthday, kids party or apparently, a 4 year blogoversary ;)

Funfetti Birthday Bundt Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup colored sprinkles, plus more for decorating

Icing:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
6 tsp milk or water
splash of vanilla

Method:

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients besides for the sprinkles. Fold in the sprinkles and pour the batter into a well-greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted comes out clean (about 50 minutes – 1 hour). Cool completely and unmold onto a cake platter. Mix the icing ingredients and pour over the cake. Top with more sprinkles.

What were some of your favorite recipes on Busy In Brooklyn this year? Share them with me in the comments below!

Peanut Butter Bars

Ah, chometzfest! That day or two after Passover when we stuff our faces with all the delicious foods we’ve missed for 8 days.

Yes – just 8 days! What is it about Pesach that leaves us craving chometz (leaven food that’s prohibited during Passover) so much? It’s just over a week and we can barely hold out for our pizza. Is it just a case of wanting what you can’t have?

I can still remember the lines around the block of the pizza store a mere hour or two after Pesach ends. Who’s not guilty of standing on those endless lines for a fresh hot slice of cheesy heaven?

Now that I have my own kids, I’m not about to waste my time waiting for pizza. Instead, we break out a couple of boxes of fun sugary cereal for a Cereal Chometz Party. My kids can’t get enough, and the pizza can wait for another day.

The next morning, I whip out some fresh, hot pancakes or cake, to enjoy the crumby deliciousness with a cup of hot coffee.  Now, that is what I miss over Passover. And peanut butter, of course!

Read on for some more chometz recipes in the Kosher Connection Linkup below!

Peanut Butter Bars

1 cup Flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
peanut butter crumb topping (recipe follows)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Peanut Butter Crumb Topping

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8″x8″ baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar, and egg and stir until creamy. Add the milk and vanilla and stir until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour the batter into the greased baking dish and set aside.

Add all the topping ingredients to the bowl you used to mix the dry ingredients. Mix until crumbly.

Spread the crumbs over the cake batter and top with chocolate chips. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until slightly puffy and very lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Yield: approximately 16 squares.

Other peanut butter recipes:

peanut butter mousse
peanut butter fudge ice cream pie
peanut chicken curry
peanut butter corn flake crunch ice cream

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Gingerbread Cupcakes with
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve probably already drooled over these gorgeous gingerbread cupcakes. I made them during the fast of Tisha B’av, so I wasn’t about to photograph them, but I did talk about them, a LOT. The next day, I had just 3 cupcakes left, so I decided to do what any foodie/blogger would – share! It was hard not to gobble down the last of them before getting a good shot, they’re just THAT good.

Besides being incredibly moist, these gingerbread cupcakes are chock-full of warm autumn spices. I didn’t think my kids would go for the flavors of ginger and nutmeg, but I was SO wrong – they could not get enough. Not only that, my little cream-cheese-haters were licking the frosting off their fingers! I think I’m going to start whipping up sweet cream cheese concoctions and call them “frosting sandwiches.” It will make lunch a whole lot easier for me!

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from The Collegiate Baker

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup molasses
1 cup hot water

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a bowl and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, mix the  oil, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs and mix to incorporate. Add the molasses and stir to combine. Add half of the dry ingredients and half of the hot water to the wet mixture and mix until incorporated. Repeat with the second half of the dry ingredients and hot water.

Fill cupcake pans about 2/3 full and bake for approximately 18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. container whipped cream cheese
4 tbsp softened butter
1 cup confectionars sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

Add the cream cheese and butter to a bowl and mix with a spoon to combine. Add the brown sugar cinnamon and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add the confectioners sugar 1/3 of a cup at a time, stirring until thickened.

1 year ago: chicken lollipops 
2 years ago: cherry yogurt popsicles 

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Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but when it comes to throwing a party, I’m usually a last minute kind of person. And you know why? Because when I first think about all the food I have to make, all the people I have to invite, and all the cleaning up I’ll have to do, I just figure it’s not worth all the work. But then I start to feel guilty. And slowly but surely that Jewish guilt just ebbs its way in and at the last minute I scramble for menu ideas, put together a guest list and a couple of hours later we’re all having a good time.

I can usually put together a party menu in a jiffy but when it comes to baked goods, I’m all too guilty of passing up Duncan Hines as my own. I’m never one for store-bought mixes, and all those other one-bowl cake concoctions are not up my alley. But Duncan Hines brownies are the exception. And we all know I’m not the only one! How many more of you out there have thrown in a batch of Duncan Hines brownies at the last second and then took the credit when your guests couldn’t get enough. They’re just THAT good.

Well let me tell you something, dear readers. They can be even better! Adding some cinnamon and nibby dark chocolate gives the brownies a serious Mexican hot chocolate taste that is so decadent and dreamy. Adding the extra ingredients won’t even make you feel guilty about passing them off as your own!

So, if you’re last minute with your New Year’s Eve party (as I am in posting this recipe!), then give these brownies a try. And if you don’t want to say you made them, just say they’re BIB’S recipe!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies

1 package Duncan Hines chewy fudge brownies
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup canola oil
1 generous tsp cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 bar Scharffen Berger Nibby Dark Chocolate
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. In a bowl, mix brownie mix, eggs, water, oil, cinnamon and cayenne (optional, for a spicy kick). Break chocolate bar into chunks and stir into batter. Pour into pan and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Bake for approximately 22-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean (check in a few spots because you might be dipping the toothpick into a piece of melted chocolate).

NOTE: If you can’t find Scharffen Berger’s nibby bar, substitute with 2 tbsp cocoa nibs and 1/4 cup chocolate chips.

VARIATION: If you don’t wish to use packaged brownie mix, simply make your favorite brownie recipe and add cinnamon, chocolate and pecans.


1 year ago: fire roasted tomato rice stoup
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Easy Strawberry Shortcake

Having two daughters born in the spring and summer, this time of year just feels like birthday season to me. Well that, and the fact that my kids seem to be coming home with birthday bags every other day. I’ve mentioned before how I’m not the biggest baker, and most definitely not a cake decorator either. Birthday cakes, however, are the exception. I feel like it’s that one momentous day when I get to make something special for the ones that I love. So depending on the day, week, or how hectic life is at the time, I decide on how much of a patchke that cake will be :)

Recently, we celebrated my daughters third birthday. She absolutely adores strawberries, so the kind of cake was a no-brainer. I wasn’t even planning on blogging about it, until my sister-in-law called me for the recipe. I decided if it was good enough to want to make again, I might as well share it with you guys :)

This cake recipe has become a favorite of mine because it uses oil as opposed to margarine, and it is super quick and easy. It’s a one bowl recipe that does not require a mixer. The batter works well in cupcakes, a sheet cake, or a round birthday cake. The orange juice adds a nice, mellow citrus flavor as well.

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

3  cups flour
2 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
1  16oz container whip topping
1 container strawberries

Method:

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients besides for whip and strawberries. Pour into 2 greased 9″ round pans. Bake at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted comes out clean (about 50 minutes – 1 hour).

For whip topping, thaw the topping in the refrigerator overnight. It is best to whip topping when it is cold (some people actually put the bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes before whipping as well). Pour topping into a large mixing bowl. Beat on low until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds. Increase to medium and beat until beaters have a trail, about 30 seconds. Increase to high and move beaters around the sides of the bowl, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides as you go. Stop beating when the whip has doubled in volume and forms stiff peaks.

For the strawberries, remove the leaves and slice lengthwise.

To prepare the cake, make sure it has cooled completely. Place one of the cakes on your cake stand, and check to make sure it is leveled. If needed, trim with a bread knife until you have a perfectly flat surface. Spread whip topping over cake. Top with strawberries (use the ends for this part and save the pretty pieces for the top of the cake). Add second cake, and check to make sure it is leveled. Trim if needed. With an icing spatula, spread whip around the top and sides of the cake. Decorate the top of the cake with strawberries.

Some of my more memorable birthday cakes!

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