This week its my turn to bring treats into work. Aren’t I lucky to choose the week right before Christmas? Not only that, I’m the last one to bring in treats for this year and it seems that with each week, the treats have become more and more elaborate. I was really going to have to pull a rabbit out of my hat if I was going to impress my colleagues.
Luckily, I got another two new recipes from PAM® Baking Spray to try out this week.
The first recipe I tried was a play on the traditional pumpkin pie: Iced Pumpkin Spice Cake. It tastes like pumpkin pie, but because its not, you can eat it for breakfast…or at least that’s what I kept telling myself as I ate it for breakfast.
The second recipe was for a triple-layer Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Whaaat?! Hold the phone; I may have perfected the art of baking foods that taste good, but was I ready to take on the challenge of icing a Triple. Layer. Cake? And making it look good in the process?
In both cases, the outcome of my desserts was completely dependent on whether or not I could remove them from the pan in one piece. The Iced Pumpkin Spice cake is quite dense and moist and in my experience, those are the cakes that are most likely to stick. As for the red velvet cake, if I had any chance of being my own cake boss, all three cakes would have to be able to shimmy out of their pans without so much as a crumb out of place.
Once again, PAM® Baking Spray got the job done. My pumpkin cake came out beautifully…even the one I put in the doughnut-shaped mould as an experiment. Normally, that is one tricky mold. My red velvet cakes? Perfect. And that is with them being the disposable tin foil pans that have all those funky ridges. The finished product tasted awesome and while it may not look quite as “professional” as I would have liked, that has everything to do with my skills as a cake decorator and nothing to do with the power of PAM® Baking Spray.
I am so glad that I was introduced to PAM® Baking Spray. Now that I know how much easier it is to make awesome desserts when they don’t stick to the pan, I am much more inclined to attempt even the fanciest desserts. Who knows? Maybe one of them will become my family’s new favorite tradition.
Contest Alert: Share your favourite holiday traditions in the comment section below and you’ll be entered in our contest to win a $100 gift card to Williams Sonoma, courtesy of PAM® Cooking Spray.
For more information on PAM® products, click PAM® Holiday Fact Sheet.
Iced Pumpkin Spice Cake
Ingredients
PAM® Baking Spray
3 cups (750 mL) all purpose flour
4 tsp (20 mL) pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks/250g) butter, softened
2 cups (500 mL) firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 can (2 cups/450 g) solid-pack pumpkin
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) golden raisins
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp (30 mL) water
1
cup (250 mL) chopped pecans or walnuts
whipped cream, optional
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray 13×9-inch baking pan with PAM® Baking Spray. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Mix together butter and sugar in large bowl on medium-high speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs; mix until blended. Turn mixer to low; add pumpkin. Gradually blend in flour mixture. Stir in raisins by hand.
3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
4. Blend confectioners’ sugar and water; drizzle over cake. Sprinkle nuts evenly over top. Cut into 12 servings. Just before serving, dollop with whipped cream, if desired.
Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
PAM® Baking Spray
3/4 cup (175 mL) vegetable or canola oil
2 cups (500 mL) granulated sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) distilled white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 bottle (30 mL) red food coloring
3 cups (750 mL) all purpose flour
2 tbsp (30 mL) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
1 1/3 cups (325 mL) low fat buttermilk
1 pkg (237 mL) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (500 g) confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp (5 mL)vanilla extract
Chopped pecans, optional
Directions
1. Prepare Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with PAM® Baking Spray; set aside.
2. Combine oil and granulated sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Blend vinegar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Add red food coloring; beat until combined.
3. Combine flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in medium bowl. Add sugar to mixture alternately with buttermilk. Beat on low speed until blended after each addition. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cakes from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
5. Prepare Frosting: Place cream cheese and butter in medium bowl; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla; blend until smooth.
6. Assemble cake by placing one cake layer onto cake plate or cardboard cake round. Spread with some of the frosting. Place second and third cake layers over first with more frosting between layers. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Gar
nish with pecans, if desired.
nish with pecans, if desired.
Remember to enter the contest to win an $100 gift card from Williams Sonoma courtesy of PAM®. Just comment below and tell us your favourite holiday traditions.
Click here for Contest Rules and Regulations
UrbanMoms.ca members are eligible to win so don’t forget to sign-in. Not a member yet?
Click here to join. Contest Closes December 27, 2012.
Our tradition is making truffles from scratch. Even thou the kids are older they still love doing this.
My favourite holiday tradition is getting up early to prepare Christmas dinner, and set the TV to the fireplace channel with seasonal music playing.
My favourite thing is that every Christmas Eve, my family eats lobster. YUM.
I bake a delicious, calorie-rich cheesecake to take over to my mom’s for Christmas every year. Everyone has a decadent slice, and they enjoy every bite.
My fave tradition is celebrating Christmas dinner over, and over and over. We have 3 days in a row of big family dinners filled with fun, food, and family! After that I am all filled up on Christmas until next year!
My favorite tradition is my mom’s homemade rolls, which I have now taken over making and hope to keep passing along.
My favourite holiday tradition is celebrating on Christmas Eve at my mother’s house with my entire family.
My favorite baked treat is Freshly baked Cinnamon Buns with Cream Cheese icing. My kids love when I bake them and they are always gone…. “In a New York Minute.”
Hands down its Tiger butter – 3 ingredients and everyone always begs me to make it. 1 cup melted White chocolate mixed with 1/2 cup peanut butter. Seperate bowl melt 1 cup milk or dark chocolate. Mix the two bowls together and slightly mix and pour onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Once hardened, cut into pieces and enjoy!
My favorite holiday traditions include making special Christmas cookies and sweets with my family, decorating our tree. We go to church and celebrate Christmas day with our extended family.. I love visiting family and spending time with loved ones and making special memories.
Instead of buying a gift for my kids teachers we bake cookies for them. The teachers all love it. Sometimes if my kids remember we find out what their teacher’s favourite cookie is and we make them for that teacher. Luckily this year they all like chocolate chip
My favorite holidayt tradition is our anticipation chains. The kids rip of a link each day starting December 1st. It visually represents how many days are left so well and gets us all excited.
Making yummy fudge with my kids and we give it to the special people in our live as Christmas gifts!
My favourite holiday tradition is baking gingerbread men/ladies with my kids, they love rolling out the dough and cutting out the cookies and decorating them afterwards. Such a fun time!
My favorite Christmas tradition is our “Advent Bucket”. The kids get to open a “gift” everyday (not each, one to share and not all of them are new.). One day it’s a book, another it’s a movie, another it’s a certificate to do something (ex. bake & decorate cookies with Mommy). They love this tradition, and I love getting it ready for them and seeing their excitement everyday. 🙂
My favourite holiday tradition is no doubt, getting Santa’s snack ready with the kids. Christmas eve my kids have always left Santa SUSHI instead of cookies. They figured he would want something savoury after all those cookies!