Williams Sonoma Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake

Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake

This weekend, I got to see my friend Helen three days in a row! Friday night for the movie Five Year Engagement - it was funny and cute! Saturday night for the awesome Dodger's Game versus the Washington Nationals. The Dodgers came from behind in the 9th and then Matt Kemp's homer in the 10th inning won the game. Hella screams and shouts! Our seats were awesomeness - check these out! And on Sunday Helen hosted a brunch at her house!

I borrowed the book, Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Breakfast and Brunch from the library and made this lovely coffee cake. The cake has a layer of cinnamon-walnut-sugar (hence the name of the cake!)

You know I'm totally into the Bundt cake, but sometimes you need a Tube pan (which is NOT a Bundt) to make cakes with a topping.

This cake is made with cake flour, sour cream and oil. The crumb is pretty soft. Don't you just love Helen's oil cloth tablecloth? She's ready for summer entertaining.

Helen made some delicious potatoes. I had, um, perhaps three servings. Small servings...over and over.

Marie made a great fruit and yogurt parfait. Lots of fresh fruit! Yummmmmmy! Kathryn made fluffy dill eggs and Christine brought mimosas!

Williams Sonoma Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake
For the filling and topping:
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the cake:
2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola or corn oil (I used Wesson's vegetable oil)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Oil a 9 1/2- or 10-inch tube pan with sides at least 3 3/4 inches high. Prep the pan by spraying it with Pam with Flour or oil the bottom of the pan.

Filling and topping: In a bowl, stir together the walnuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cake: In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In an electric mixer with paddle, combine the eggs and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly (very slowly) add the oil and vanilla and beat on low speed. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Mix in the sour cream just until no white streaks remain.

Pour about two-thirds of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top. Set aside 1/4 cup of the walnut-cinnamon mixture to use as a topping. Sprinkle the remaining mixture evenly over the batter. Insert a small knife about halfway into the batter and gently move it through the walnut-cinnamon filling to create a swirled effect. Pour the remaining batter evenly over the filling and smooth the top with the spatula. The batter will not cover the filling completely. Sprinkle evenly with the reserved topping.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. (My cake took about 63 minutes to bake). Transfer to a wire rack and let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around the sides and center tube of the pan to loosen the cake sides. Invert to remove and reinvert so it cools on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).

I didn't make the caramel sauce, nor top it with powdered sugar. Here is the caramel glaze recipe on the Williams Sonoma site.

Recipe:
Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Breakfast and Brunch, by Georgeanne Brennan, Elinor Klivans, Jordan Mackay and Charles Pierce
Find it on Amazon here or in your library via WorldCat

Sinjin, Linnéa, and Katie in the Park

Absolute Adorableness

A couple weeks ago I spent the day in the park with the cutest kids in the world! Librarian friends Gwendolyn (with hubby Nate) and Shannon brought their kids to the Culver West Park. We all used to work at the same place, and it was too long since we last saw each other...see little Sinjin and Katie hanging out over a year ago!

Katie on the see saw with her mommy, Shannon.

Katie enjoys gardening, her dog, and is not particularly excited about putting on clothes every single day.

Cutie Linnéa getting a lift from her daddy, Nate.

"I'm flying" says Linnéa

Gwendolyn getting her kids ready for the slide.

Sinjin is an energetic boy. Sinjin climbed the rock wall. When he got to the top...

...his daddy was on the other side! Look at the blue sky...it was a lovely day in Los Angeles!

I brought some brownies and these kids could be my spokespeople! So cute!

Such a fun day in the park! For more photos of these cuties, see my Flickr set.

Chocolate Mochi Brownie Squares

Chocolate Mochi Brownie Squares

Recently, I transferred to a new position at work. Still working for the same library system, but a new position at our headquarters. I'm tardy in posting photos of my going away party at my former library - they hosted a lovely dessert buffet...it was so sweet. Those are coming soon!

At my new workplace, one of my co-workers is on a gluten-free diet (darn you Celiac). I keep bringing in desserts she can't eat so I wanted to make something gluten-free. I love, love, love all things mochi (my family's history with mochi is well documented in my New Year's Mochi Making posts) so this recipe on my friend's blog JustJenn Recipes was a perfect fit.

Since these brownies are made with rice flour (I only use Koda Farms Mochiko rice flour), they have a distinctive "mochi" chew. They aren't too sweet and are a nice morning or afternoon treat.

I cut all my work treats "petite" size...I usually cut a 8 x8 pan into 16 or 25 pieces.

This is a great gluten-free recipe...and enjoyed by all! It's super easy to make...no electric mixer needed. I hope you make a pan full of yum soon!

P.S. Thanks for all the comments about my last post mourning the loss of Picnik. Picnik certainly had many fans!!! I used PicMonkey to add the text to the first photo. It is easy to use and the fonts are stylin' - I jumped for joy seeing Lobster Two! They say collages are coming soon! Some Picnik folks went to PicMonkey and you can see it. It is web based, but you need to pull your photos in from your computer, and can edit one photo at a time.  I hope they are able to add direct integration with Flickr at some point and make the whole process online, but it a great start!

Recipe:
Find the recipe on my friend's justJENN Recipes blog for Chocolate Mochi Brownies

My changes and notes:
- 1 cup mochiko (Koda Farms brand) was 4 7/8 ounces by weight
- I used 1/2 cup Nestle semi-sweet morsels for the melting
- I mixed 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter then put the pan into the oven. After 15 minutes of baking, I sprinkled the remaining 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips on top. I think this helped prevent the chips from falling to the bottom of the pan.
- I used an 8 x 8 pan and baked it for 52 minutes.

I will miss you Picnik

Dude, I'm so sad. Picnik is closing tomorrow, April 19th.

For those who didn't use this great editing program, Picnik was awesome. It had free services, or a really inexpensive Pro account that easily allowed you to edit photos, make collages, add text and do fun stuff. It worked seamlessly with Flickr and was so easy to use. So freaking easy.

If you were a user of Picnik, what are you going to do? (Besides cry like me?! :)  The Aviary program that's in Flickr now SUCKS. You don't get to choose any fonts? What?! I haven't used Google+ because, well, it's Google+ and I'm mad at them for killing Picnik. I hear you can make the edits like in Picnik, but not the collages...and it isn't tied to Flickr (since that's a Yahoo product) so you can't save them back to Flickr.

At least PicMonkey has a font collection and they say "Collages are coming soon"... I'll be trying them out as soon as I'm over my mourning period for Picnik. Let me know if you found something similar to Picnik.

By the way, I have Photoshop Elements and Lightbox, but I found Picnik so easy to use and the web-based aspect was so handy when working in a coffeeshop. Perhaps I'll head to these programs... Sigh.

Oh Picnik...I'll miss you so! Thanks for many good years! :)

- mary the food librarian

National Library Week Giveaway Winners!

Winners

Thanks for entering my giveaways for National Library Week! I loved hearing how much you use your library! Whoo hoo!

I used Random.org and picked the winners.

Flour Bakery Cookbook - #86 Karen

Biscuit Cutters - #20 Barbara (she's a librarian too! how cool!)

Baked Explorations Cookbook - #113 Lisa

I'll be contacting you to arrange shipping of your prize! Happy Baking everyone! - mary

Lemon Loaf Cake - Tuesdays with Dorie (BwJ)

Lemon Loaf Cake

Tuesdays with Dorie - Baking with Julia edition

This week, the Tuesdays with Dorie group tackled a lovely Lemon Loaf Cake. I just love all things lemon. Made with cake flour, this loaf has a nice, delicate crumb.

Some bakers made a glaze to top the cake...that sounds like a good idea. Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie members!

And my lovely platter? It's made by Gary Holt pottery in Berkeley, California. You know when you walk into a place and can see everything fit perfectly in your house? That's Gary's studio to me. He's holding a summer sale soon...if you are in Northern California, please visit his lovely studio. Nothing gets more local than buying it from an artist in his studio!

Recipe:
The Tuesdays with Dorie group encourages you to support cookbook authors like Dorie Greenspan and purchase the book. You won't be disappointed! You can also check WorldCat to see if your local library has the book.


Lemon Loaf Cake
Recipe on this week's host's blog: Truc of Treats and Michelle of The Beauty of Life

Tyler Florence "My Big, Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies"

Tyler Florence's

My Big, Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm typing this up on Sunday night. It was a really beautiful day in Los Angeles. I hope you had really nice weather too!

Um, I have about 2 minutes to get this done...because it's a crazy good TV night! So, what's on your DVR? I'm watching:
The Killing on AMC  - So good. They better tell me who killed Rosie Larsen this season.
Mad Men - Don. Draper. Joan. Peggy. Awesome.
Good Wife - Still love Julianna from ER days. And Chris Noth...sweet.
The Closer - The last season of this show. I've seen every. single. episode. It's light and easy to watch re-runs. I've written lots of blog posts while watching! :)
White Collar - On hiatus now, but it's a great show. Matt Bomer? Oh my goodness, I can watch the show on mute.
Modern Family - I think this is on everyone's DVR.
60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning, and Frontline - Getting my news fill.


Back to the cookies... I chopped a block of dark chocolate for these cookies. They were a soft chocolate chip cookies - I prefer that to a crunchy cookie.


Yummy!

Tyler Florence
My Big, Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe on the Food Network

National Library Week 2012 - Flour Cookbook Giveaway

It's National Library Week 2012! I'm putting the Librarian in the Food Librarian blog this week!

I'm having a few giveaways this week. Today, I'm giving away a really pretty book - The Flour Bakery Cookbook. (See my other giveaways for Baked Cookbook and Biscuit Cutters - all end Monday, April 16th!)

Win a copy of Flour Bakery Cookbook

This cookbook is wonderful. I'm made a number of recipes. The yellow cake is so awesome. The Lemon Ginger scones? OMG. So good. And don't forget the Apple Snacking Cake, Chocolate cookies and Brownies! The text is very detailed and easy to understand. If you don't win the giveaway, you should definitely add this to your bookshelf!! See if your library by looking it up in WorldCat (a world-wide catalog of libraries - way cool).


I've visited Joanne Chang's Boston bakery last year and it was delicious! You can make many of these yummy delights at home with the cookbook!

Yellow Cake from the Flour Bakery cookbook

To enter today's giveaway, simply leave a comment below (one entry per person) and I'll pick the winner from a hat (aka Random). Deadline: Monday, April 16, 2012 at midnight PDT. If your comment isn't linked to a blog where I can find you, please leave your email. Shipping to U.S. addresses only. Cake not included, but recipe is inside so you should totally make this cake! Disclosure: I'm paying for the book and shipping.

Good luck and have fun at your library! More info about National Library Week is at ALA!
   - mary the food librarian

Strawberry Jello Dessert with Pretzel Crust

Strawberry Jello Dessert with Pretzel Crust

What better way to celebrate summer, National Library week and one of the most awesome fruits, the strawberry?! It's the Strawberry Jell-O Dessert. Some people even call it a "Strawberry Jell-O Salad".

Sweet.
Salty.
Creamy.
Jell-O. (Yes, I think this is a food and a texture).

This a homey dessert to enjoy during strawberry season...or after! I saw several recipes using frozen strawberries but I think fresh strawberries would be best.



Next time, I would crust the pretzels a bit more so the crust will be tighter. I've seen some recipes that have you process the pretzels in a food processor.


You can find a zillion variations of this recipe... Baked, Kraft Foods, ... and lots of Church cookbooks.

Don't forget to visit your local library's book sale for a chance to pick up "vintage" cookbooks. It is a lot of fun to read about food culture in the past. When butter was expensive, you'll see lots of shortening recipes (nobody knew about the dangers of partially hydrogenated oils at the time!) Or you may see the introduction of "ethnic" foods into the American diet...like when they need to put a header note explaining the "taco"! Book Sales usually raise funds for the Friends of the Library group which in turn helps fund programs, programs and other needs of the library.

Happy Library Week! I'm celebrating with a few giveaways: Baked Cookbook (new, not vintage ;) and some cute Biscuit Cutters.  - mary the food librarian

Recipe:
Strawberry Jello Dessert with Pretzel Crust

Crust:
3 cups pretzels, crushed with a rolling pin
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar

Mix together and press into greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Allow to cool completely.

Filling:
1 - 8 ounce container Cool Whip
1 - 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar

Cream the cream cheese and sugar together in a mixer. Add in the Cool Whip until combined. Spread over cooled pretzel crust. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before topping with Jell-O.

Topping:
1 large box (6 ounce) strawberry Jell-O
2 cups boiling water
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced

Mix together the boiling water and Jell-O. If using frozen strawberries, add strawberries and allow mixture to set slightly before pouring over the filling - it shouldn't take very long. If using fresh strawberries, place the strawberries in the Jell-O and allow to sit in the refrigerator to set up before pouring over the filling.

Refrigerate the dessert a few hours until completely set before serving.

National Library Week 2012 - Biscuit Cutter Giveaway

Yippppee! It's National Library Week 2012!

I hope you celebrate your local library all year long, but this week shines a light on libraries and library staff! I'm having a few giveaways this week to celebrate. Tell me about your library and staff - do you go for books, downloadable eBooks, programs, story time or just a place to study and use the computers? Do you have a special memory of your librarian? Thanks for visiting the library and making our job interesting!

I used these biscuit cutters to make some Crystallized Ginger Scones. You can win a set!

Giveaway: Stainless-Steel Reversible Biscuit Cutters

Set of 6 Contains 2"-, 2½"-, 3"-, 3½"-, 4"-; and 4½"-diameter cutters

To enter today's giveaway, simply leave a comment below (one entry per person) and I'll pick the winner from a hat (aka Random). Deadline: Monday, April 16, 2012 at midnight PDT. If your comment isn't linked to a blog where I can find you, please leave your email. Shipping to U.S. addresses only. Disclosure: I'm paying for the cutters and shipping.

Good luck and have fun at your library! More info about National Library Week is at ALA!
   - mary the food librarian

P.S. And don't forget to enter to win a copy of Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented!

Crystallized Ginger Scones - Williams Sonoma

Crystallized Ginger Scones

There are very few flavors I love more than ginger. In fact, I can't think of any right now.

Ground ginger. Crystallized ginger. Fresh ginger in savories and sweets. Ginger tea.

Ah, ginger rocks.

Here are some ginger scones from a Williams-Sonoma's recipe that is an adaptation from the Zuni Cafe in San Francisco.

Whoo hoo! It's National Library Week. I love this quote from Eleanor Crumblehulme. You can get a t-shirt of it too! (Designed by Daniel Solis). I hope you are visiting your local library and checking it out (oh yes, we librarians are full of puns). I love all your sweet comments about the importance of libraries in your life and community!

Next time, I could have made these a bit thicker, but they were tasty. I also brushed on some cream and sanding sugar. Sanding sugar is happiness in little crystals. Put it on everything. Except maybe steak.

This is supposed to make 8 scones, but I cut them with these cute biscuit cutters (smooth side) and got a bunch. And guess what? You can win a set of these cutters for National Library Week!! Enter until April 16, 2012!

Recipe:
Williams-Sonoma Crystallized Ginger Scones

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup heavy cream

The Williams-Sonoma recipe uses a scone pan and food processor. I made mine by hand and cut them with biscuit cutters.

1. Preheat an oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter or your fingers, combine until it resembles pea-size crumbs.
4. Add crystallized ginger and stir to mix.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cream until blended and add to the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir to form large, moist clumps of dough.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press with your hands until the dough comes together. Roll out the dough, 3/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on parchment lined pan.
7. Bake until the scones are golden, about 25 minutes.
8. Place scones on wire rack and let cool. Enjoy!

Caine's Arcade Film - Why the Interwebs Rocks

Caine's Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

In case you haven't seen this film today, you need to take 10 minutes and watch it. If it doesn't make you happy, you have a stone cold heart.

It's totally amazing that this film was posted last night and has gone totally crazy viral. The best part? 9-year old Caine's scholarship fund is almost $50,000! And he's a Los Angeles kid! Whoo hoo. (Of course, I hope he eventually goes to UCLA's School of Engineering :)

In a nutshell, this adorable, smart, inventive, sweet 9-year old made himself a cardboard arcade in his dad's auto parts shop in East Los Angeles/Boyle Heights. Filmmaker Nirvan Mullick happened by, was his first customer and decided to make a film...and set up a flashmob of Angelenos to play at his arcade. Watch this film to see how it all turned out!

When I saw earlier today, Caine's scholarship fund's goal was $25,000 and I donated a few dollars to get it closer to that goal. I just checked...and it is nearly $50,000! Awesome. That's a lot of fun passes.

Caine's Arcade website - Donate to his college fund!

Chocolate Chip & Peanut Butter Streusel Cake

Chocolate Chip & Peanut Butter Streusel Cake

Whoo hoo! It's National Library Week! (Don't forget to enter my giveaway!) Let's celebrate with this really simple chocolate chip & peanut butter streusel cake.

This recipe is way simple. Make the topping and reserve a cup for the topping. Mix basic ingredients together and bake. I subbed mini semisweet chocolate chips instead of regular size ones. I find them more delicate in a cake and you can use a little less of them.

The recipe is from Bon Appetit and says it makes 12 servings. What?! Servings for giants? I cut mine into small pieces and placed them into cupcake liners. Makes it easy to distribute at the library!

Happy National Library Week! I hope you celebrate by visiting your library and checking out a book. Check out my National Library Week giveaway! :)

Chocolate Chip & Peanut Butter Streusel Cake
Recipe:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (315 grams)
2 cups (packed) light brown sugar (400 grams)
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used regular (not natural) peanut butter)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs, room temp
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I added this because I just love cinnamon! :)
1 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (original recipe called for 12 ounces (2 cups) of semisweet chips...but I like the mini chips in cakes)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Prep a 13 x 9 pan. I line it with parchment paper and spray with Pam with Flour.
3. Mix together the flour, sugar, peanut butter and butter together in a mixer with paddle attachments on low speed until crumbly. Scoop out 1 cup of the streusel and set aside.
4. Add eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, and baking soda to remaining streusel in large bowl. Beat at low speed until evenly moist. Increase speed to medium and beat until well blended, scraping bowl occasionally, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
5. Sprinkle with reserved 1 cup streusel and remaining 1/2 cup chips.
6. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean. Depending on your oven, bake for about 35 minutes. Mine took longer than the recipe - about 44 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack.

From Bon Appetit May 2001: Link to the original recipe here.

National Library Week 2012 - Baked Explorations Giveaway

Whoo hoo! It's National Library Week 2012!

I hope you celebrate your local library all year long, but this week shines a light on libraries! I'm going to having a few giveaways this week to celebrate.

Win a copy of Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented!

Here is the post about making this delicious Sunday Night Cake!

To enter today's giveaway, simply leave a comment below (one entry per person) and I'll pick the winner from a hat (aka Random). Deadline: Monday, April 16, 2012 at midnight PDT. If your comment isn't linked to a blog where I can find you, please leave your email. Shipping to U.S. addresses only. Cake not included, but recipe is inside so you should totally make this cake! Disclosure: I'm paying for the book and shipping.

Good luck and have fun at your library! More info about National Library Week is at ALA!
   - mary the food librarian

Sunday Night Cake - Baked Explorations

Sunday Night Cake

It's Friday. I need to bring dessert to a dinner party...so I pull open the Baked Explorations cookbook by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

Sunday Night Cake sounds delicious. A lightly spiced cake with a chocolate pudding-like frosting. And so what if it's Friday night? I'm a rebel like that.

This is a simple cake made with cake flour, sour cream and butter. The recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, but I added 3/4 teaspoon. See, I am a rebel in the kitchen. :)

The pudding frosting is so easy! It's my new favorite frosting. Sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and unsweetened chocolate are melted with some boiling water and heated until thickened. I only had half the needed unsweetened chocolate so I added dark 72% chocolate and reduced the sugar a bit. After the pudding is thickened, you beat it with a paddle mixture until it gets to room temp, then toss in some butter. Easy peasy!

I'm totally an anti-frosting person. However, because this frosting is lighter than a regular buttercream, I was pretty much all over it. I can't wait to try it on top of a cupcake!

Win a copy of the book as part of my celebration of National Library Week! I hope you enjoy the recipes from this book. Find a copy in your local library on WorldCat!

Recipe:
Sunday Night Cake 

1 3/4 cups cake flour (I used 7 1/2 ounces cake flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I used 3/4 teaspoon)
1 1/4 stick or 10 tablespoons or 5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream

Frosting
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (I only had 1 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate in the house so I used that and 1 1/2 oz dark chocolate 72%. I reduced the sugar to 140 grams)
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prep a 9" square baking pan. I line mine with parchment paper and spray it with Pam Flour.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl. Add eggs one at a time and mix until blended. Scrape down the bowl again.
4. Add the flour in three batches, alternating with scoops of the sour cream. The last addition should be flour. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix a few more times to incorporate but don't overmix.
5. Pour batter into pan and bake 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool at least 20 minutes on a wire rack. Invert and let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting instructions:
1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and cocoa powder. Add the chopped chocolate. Pour 1 cup boiling water into the pan, wait 30 seconds, then whisk until mixture is combined and the chocolate is melted.
2. Turn the heat to medium-high and whisk continuously for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken. (Once pudding begins to thicken, it will come together very quickly.)
3. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high until the steam escapes and the mixture is room temperature. Add the butter and mix for an additional 2-3 minutes, until the frosting is light and pudding like. If you prefer a fluffier, more spreadable frosting, continue to mix for a few minutes longer.
4. Frost the top of the cake, allowing a little of the frosting to drip down the edges. (I frosted the edges too). Chill for 5 minutes to set the frosting. Serve immediately.
5. The cake can be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring it back to room temperature before serving.

Baked Explorations 
WorldCat or Amazon