spiced sweet potato cake

 

happy labour day! i hope everyone enjoyed the last long weekend of summer 2016. i spent it back in the city, roaming around all my old stompin grounds. window shopping, ice coffees, burritos.. all the good stuff! i think we walked a total of 25 miles in the past two days, so i am POOCHED. i treated myself to the perfect coat for fall that i cannot wait to wear! it is soft & grey & just so beautiful.

now let's get to the reason we are all here..cake!!! i know our love of pumpkin spice everything is now labeled as being a "basic bitch" so i did something a little different. i used sweet potatoes! hah! take that pumpkin. of course i didn't get too crazy.. i used this amazing pumpkin spice emulsion by lorann oils (similar to an extract). it smells & taste like everything fall. the flavour comes through even stronger in the pumpkin spice glaze. so give pumpkin a little break this fall & bust out a sweet potato!

xo

ingredients

for the sweet potato pound cake

for the spiced glaze

directions

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl add the vegetable oil, raw sugar, mashed sweet potatoes, vanilla extract & pumpkin pie spice emulsion & stir.
  • add the eggs one at a time followed by the heavy cream. mix until well blended.
  • sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
  • fill greased bundt pan with batter & bake for 35-40 minutes.
  • let cool while you prepare the glaze.
  • for the glaze, add ingredients into a bowl & stir until smooth. if glaze is too thick, add more cream. if glaze is too runny, add more powdered sugar.
  • pour over cake & serve.

this post was created in partnership with LorAnn Oils. they make the best extracts & emulsions available like pumpkin spice!!!!! find the featured two-fold madagascar vanilla extract here & the pumpkin spice emulsion here. thank you for supporting the brands that keep hey modest marce up & running! xo

spiced apple pie cake

 

happy september!!!! back to work, back to school (so glad i am no longer part of the latter category) calls for a cake. not just any old cake, but an APPLE PIE cake. actually though, it is filled with fresh apple pie filling, sandwiched between three layers of apple spice cake & finished off with cream cheese frosting. as if that wasn't enough, i decided to give it a drizzle in salted caramel because YOLO.

this special cake is not just to celebrate the beginning of a new month (the month that kicks off my FAVOURITE months.. hurry up october), but was also for my older sister's 30th birthday.. i mean 29th birthday! while her favourite cake is chocolate cake, her favourite dessert is apple pie. i figured in her thiry years she has had her share of chocolate cake, so it was time to create something a little more special. when she went away to university, i would send apple pies up with my parents any time they went to visit her. it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try & make a cake that taste just like those old memories. she absolutely loved it & said "this actually taste like pie" so that means it was a huge success! now i need to see what else i can whip up with apples because the apple orchards are starting to open here & i want to go apple picking so badly! what are you most looking forward to this month?! i don't know if it is sweater weather quite yet;)

ingredients

for the apple spice cake

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup grated apples, packed
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

for the apple pie filling

  • 3-4 medium apples, peeled & thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

for the cinnamon cream cheese frosting

  • 1 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 cups icing sugar, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 8 ounces full fat cream cheese
  • salted caramel, optional

directions

for the apple spice cake

  • preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream butter and brown sugar.
  • add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. mix until mixture is pale & fluffy.
  • beat in the grated apples & whole milk.
  • in a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. gradually add to stand mixer at low speed.
  • evenly distribute batter amongst two greased 8-inch round cake pans or three greased 6-inch round cake pans.
  • bake each layer for about 15-20 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
  • let cakes cool completely before flipping & frosting.

for the apple pie filling

  • in a skillet over medium heat add the apples, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cornstarch, cinnamon & nutmeg. toss to coat.
  • cook until the apples are tender & gooey just like apple pie.
  • set aside & let cool before using.

for the frosting

  • add butter, icing sugar, vanilla & cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip until light and fluffy, about 8-10 minutes.
  • turn mixture to medium speed & add the cream cheese one chunk at a time. beat for 30 seconds.
  • when you are ready to frost the cake start with a layer of cake, frosting then filling until you reach the last layer of cake. to ensure the filling stays inside the cake, create a thick border along the edges with the frosting.
  • frost the outside as desired & drizzle with salted caramel!

like what you see? get it here. table runner | cake stand | plate | mug | flatware | chemex

chai tea latte cupcakes

 

this is my first post for fall & i don't think there is any going back. i know we technically still have a few weeks left of summer, but as soon as september nears i bust out all the apples + pumpkins. i thought i was going to ease into the flavours of fall but instead i decided to go all out & create this chai latte cupcake! however, on NOM this week i made a pumpkin + pineapple bundt cake as an "end of summer, beginning of fall" inspired treat. but back to these cupcakes!

they literally taste like a chai tea latte in a cupcake form, which in a way means it is better then an actual latte because cake always wins. the base of the cupcake is infused with stash tea's double spice chai black tea & sweetened with a dark brown sugar. the double spice chai black tea packs SO much flavour, just opening the bag made the whole room smell delicious. for the frosting, i went with a light version of a buttercream to act as the whipped cream on a latte. i did a classic style american vanilla buttercream, but at the end added in a touch of whipping cream to lighten up the texture. i let justin take some of the left over cupcakes to work this week & they were gone before nine (am). what does that tell you? happy baking!

ingredients

for the chai cupcake cake

  • 2 teaspoon stash loose leaf double spice chai black tea
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamon

for the whipped buttercream frosting

  • 1 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3-4 cups icing sugar, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup whipping cream, cold
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for dusting

directions

  • preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • in a saucepan over low heat add the milk & loose leaf tea. let simmer for five minutes to infuse the tea into the milk. do not let the mixture come to a boil. remove from heat & let cool to room temperature. strain out tea.
  • in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream butter and brown sugar.
  • add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. beat until light and fluffy.
  • in a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves & cardamon. gradually add to stand mixer at low speed.
  • once flour is JUST combined into the wet ingredients, add the infused milk & beat until batter is smooth.
  • evenly distribute batter amongst lined cupcake tins.
  • bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops bounce back to touch.
  • while the cupcakes cool, make the frosting.
  • in the bowl of a standmixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter, icing sugar & vanilla. beat until light & fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  • add the whipping cream & beat for an additional minute.
  • fill piping bag with frosting & pipe as desired. sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon & voila!

this post was created in partnership with stash tea! you can find the double spice chai black tea i used here. they make the best flavours of tea to bake with. thank you for supporting the brands that keep hey modest marce running xo

like what you see? get it here. plate | pinch bowl | tumbler | linen | flatware | wood serving board | brass wood spoon