Cuisine: Cake

Venetian Carrot Cake

This Venetian Carrot Cake is thought to originate with Venetian Jews in the original ghetto. Established in 1516, the Venetian Ghetto was the first enforced Jewish ghetto in Europe. The word "ghetto" itself comes from the Venetian word for the area, which previously housed metal foundries. Jews were forced to reside within the designated area, separated from the rest of Venice by canals and only accessible through two bridges with restricted opening hours.

This cake is quite different from the American version. It's denser, uses olive oil instead of butter (making it potentially kosher for meals with meat), and lacks the cream cheese frosting. Oh, it also has the added bonus of being gluten-free.

My favorite Nigella-ism in the instructions — “I use my freestanding mixer, but it wouldn't be much of a faff by hand”. Faffing is one of my favorite British terms, which basically means - To spend time doing unimportant things instead of focusing on the main task.

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Limoncello Cake

Limoncello Cake is flavored with limoncello, which is an Italian lemon liqueur. I'm not much of a baker, so I prefer to make bundt cakes rather than layer cakes. This recipe starts with a box of yellow cake mix. I basically copied the Harvey Wallbanger Cake, but used lemon as the flavor profile. I have to say, it's spectacularly lemony and delicious. The cake is garnished with powdered sugar and fresh lemon slices.

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Orange Kiss-Me Cake

The Grand Prize-Winning Recipe from the 2nd Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1950 was “Orange Kiss-Me Cake.” Mrs. Peter Wuebel (Lily) of Redwood City, California came up with a classic winning recipe and won $25,000 for her idea. That is a hell of a lot of money in 1950! I wasn't actually born yet, my parents were about 12 years old... The reason I made this cake was because we had a spontaneous dinner party for about 10 people (at someone else's house) and we happen to have an enormous orange tree that produces a ridiculous amount of the juiciest oranges. The recipe is very bizarre, in that you grind up an orange with walnuts and raisins and make a sort of paste to stir into the cake batter. I made this cake with a raised eyebrow and it turned out to be the hit of the party. Who knew such a blast from the past vintage recipe could cause so many rave reviews?

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Mojito Cake

This Mojito cake is one of my absolute favorite cakes. It's refreshingly light and captures the essence of the classic Cuban cocktail. It combines an angel food cake base with crushed pineapple, lime juice, and rum. The topping features a creamy blend of softened cream cheese, frozen limeade concentrate, powdered sugar, rum extract, and cool whip (yes, cool whip!). It's then adorned with coconut, lime zest, and fresh mint.

I recently catered a Cuban themed dinner party, which is one of my favorite menus and this was the cake I served, which got rave reviews.

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Tortuga Rum Cake

I made this Tortuga Rum Cake. It has a combination of almond and all-purpose flours, which makes the cake moist. You pour rum syrup over the cake while it's warm so the syrup soaks into the cake. Rum cakes are very popular in the Caribbean and were made available by the Tortuga Rum Company, Ltd, which was the first rum maker in the Cayman Islands in 1984. They then used their rum to make the famous Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cake in 1987. You can order them online, but it's easy to make your own.

By Leslie Blythe

Almond Ricotta Cake

This Almond Ricotta Cake is a traditional Italian dessert that originated in Sicily. It's soft, light, delicate, and absolutely divine. The almond flour makes it gluten-free and perfect for breakfast, brunch or dessert!

By Leslie Blythe

Simple Summer Peach Cake

I made this Simple Summer Peach Cake for my friend's birthday. There's nothing quite like fresh summer peaches. This cake only takes 15 minutes to prepare. You could serve it with some whipped cream or ice cream, but it's delicious on its own.

By Leslie Blythe

Bittersweet Chocolate Pound Cake

My friend Chris gave me an 11 pound slab of Callebaut Belgium dark chocolate. I decided to make this Bittersweet Chocolate Pound Cake for a friend. It's drizzled with a silky chocolate ganache. I also made a mini cake in a small ramekin so that I could taste it! Now to try to figure out what else to make...

By Leslie Blythe

Harvey Wallbanger Cake

Harvey Wallbanger Cake. The Harvey Wallbanger is a mixed drink made with vodka, Galliano (a sweet, herbal Italian liqueur), and orange juice. According to folklore, a bartender named Donato "Duke" Antone invented the Harvey Wallbanger in 1952. It's said he named it after a Manhattan Beach surfer and bar regular named Tom Harvey, who is a complete mystery. The cocktail became popular in the early 1970s. I have no idea who decided to make a cake from the cocktail, but it's a rather good idea. I did not have Galliano, so I used Cuarenta y Tres or  Licor 43, which worked well.

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Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake

My friend Chris made Elvis Presley's Favorite Pound Cake. It was really the best pound cake I have ever had. It has such a great texture and the vanilla really shines. According to legend, Elvis could polish off the entire cake in one sitting. This somehow doesn't surprise me! There seems to be many versions of this cake, but Chris's is the bomb!

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