Baltimore & a Cherry-Chocolate Birthday Cake

Two of my close friends from Iowa (go Hawks!) also live on the East Coast.  Beth lives in Baltimore, and Becky lives in Boston (lots of B’s).  When Sam and I went up to Boston in April we visited Becky and her husband Gary, thanks to them we stopped by the Sam Adams Brewery and checked out some great food in Boston!

This past weekend we had a little reunion in Baltimore to run the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K with Beth.  Coincidentally, last week Becky turned another year older, so I thought this would be a great excuse to make a birthday cake!  Of course, I had to find one that was easy to carry on public transportation (the bad part about not having a car!).

Before I get to the cake, which was delicious, I want to tell you about some of the places we checked out while in Baltimore:

Friday night dinner was at Mother’s Federal Hill Grille.  I’ve been here before, and always enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and great food.  Definitely a place to grab a quick burger or a couple of beers.  From my many visits to Baltimore I’ve noticed that there are always people there, but it’s never too crowded!

If you yelp “brunch” in Baltimore, the top restaurant will be Miss Shirley’s Cafe.  And it’s definitely a place everyone should check out just once.  The menu is very creative, as you will find out in just a second!

This was the Key Lime Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast.  Very decadent and can satisfy someone’s craving for key lime pie, although they are nowhere near Key West!

This was the Soft-Shell “BLT” Benedict: poached eggs, corn-meal encrusted soft shell crab, tomato, lettuce and bacon on sourdough rounds with Old Bay.  I did take a bite of this, and definitely enjoyed it!  The only complaint we had was that it was served on iceberg lettuce- it would be nice if there was something a bit more nutritional.

One of us also ordered Eggs, Bacon & an Onion-Potato Hash.  They have gluten-free bread here, so feel free to make the alteration if needed.

Lastly, I ordered a Lunch Combo (1/2 sandwich, 1/2 salad).  The sandwich (which I can’t wait to replicate) was a Summer Strawberry Grilled Cheese and it had: goat cheese, strawberries and spinach.  It was perfect with the salad- and a great way to enjoy a lovely Saturday with my friends!

Our last stop, which I really want to share, was at The Abbey Burger Bistro.  I wish I had taken pictures of our food- but that will have to be for another time (I definitely want to go back!).  They have a great selection of beers, and a very relaxed atmosphere.  But what makes this place great (in my opinion) is that you can make your own burger!  They have a great checklist, and you can “build it” any way you’d like.  For example, the meat choices are: bison, black angus, kobe beef, chicken, lamb (shenandoah valley), elk, kangaroo, turkey, wild boar and meat of the month!  Definitely not just your regular burger bar.

Alright, now it’s time for the cake.  I really enjoyed this dessert since it wasn’t overly sweet and the fruit I added to it can be anything you’d like.

Cherry-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Adapted from: Orangette

Cake:
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rose water
2 cups all-purpose white flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup 2% milk

Topping (this is optional):
8 oz dark chocolate, roughly chopped
3 tbsp half ‘n half
fruit
powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.  Then add the eggs, vanilla extract and rose water; mix well before adding each new component.

Add in half the flour and mix well.  Then add the baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cocoa powder and milk.  Beat the batter well, then add it the rest of the flour and mix again.

Pour the batter into the springform.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted into the middle and it comes out clean.

Optional: Once the cake has cooled off, then prepare the chocolate topping.

Heat water in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Once it is boiling, place a bowl on top (the bottom of the bowl shouldn’t be touching the water) to create a double-boiler.  Add in the chocolate and let it slowly melt.  Every couple of minutes add in a teaspoon of the half ‘n half.  As the chocolate melts, keep stirring and adding the half ‘n half.  You might not need as much liquid to get it to the consistency you’d like.  Once it’s ready, drizzle over the cake or spread it out (like I did).  Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Since my cake had a bit of a dent in the middle, I added some cherries- but any kind of fruit would be perfect.  Also, if you’d like, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.

Delicious Strawberry Cake

Yes, we had 10+ lbs of strawberries.  What did we do with all of them?  We ate some…for breakfast, for lunch, for snack and for dessert.  Yum!  Making your own whipped cream (using whipping cream) is highly underrated.

Strawberries Part 2: Clearly, you can only eat so many strawberries, so I had to think of other ideas.  Next was a strawberry cake from Smitten Kitchen.  Of course, a lot of times when I bake, it depends on what we have in our cupboards.  So, there were a couple of changes from her recipe, but she’s right- the cake is delicious.  And yes, everyone should make it…and enjoy it!  Details follow the picture.

My friend M*, who has an amazing blog (I want to make sure she doesn’t mind me sharing) suggested a wonderful recipe.  Unfortunately, I can’t eat ricotta, so I was unable to make it.  So yes, I need her to make it so I can drool over the beautiful pictures she takes.  =)

Strawberries Part 3: freezing them!  First we wash them, dry them with a paper towel (or let them air dry).  Next, we take off the green stems.  Most of the strawberries we picked were a little large, so I cut them in halves (but you can keep them whole).  Lastly, they should be arranged on a cookie sheet (keeping space in between).  Cover with Saran Wrap, and stick them into the freezer overnight.  The next day, put them all in a ziplock bag.  Now you have some delicious strawberries to make smoothies!  (we’ll have to add the recipe how we make ours)

Strawberry Part 4: So I had some more strawberries left.  I had looked a recipe on making jam.  Although I was hesitant to try it, I am in the process.  I’ll let you know how it turns out (cross your fingers!).

Strawberry Cake
Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen

6 tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp rose water*
1 lbs strawberries (cleaned, no green stems, quartered)
cooking spray
powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Spray a 10-inch pie dish with cooking spray.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy.  Add egg, milk and rose water and mix until combined.  Add the flour mixture slowly, mixing until it is smooth.

Pour the pie filling into the pie dish.  On top, arrange the strawberries.  They should be very close together, and in one layer.

Bake the cake for 10 minutes in 350°F, then reduce the temperature to 325°F.  At that temperature bake for the next 40 minutes.  Let it cool, and then cut into wedges.  Once cooled, sift powdered sugar on top!

*Smitten Kitchen used vanilla extract, but we had none…so I gave it a try!  And it was delicious.  So I think either will work.  If you think of a third option, definitely let me know.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone has had a great Memorial Day weekend!  Lots of picnics, BBQ’s and sun.  It was a hot one here in DC today.  We went to the Nationals game today (sad, they lost) and got a little red since the sun was definitely beaming down.

Yesterday we spent part of the day with A* and C* picking strawberries.  We drove up to Butler’s Orchard and had some fun eating and picking them.

Between the four of us this is how much we picked (I’d say around 25 lbs?).

Don’t these look delicious?

If anyone has any suggestions on how to eat up our 10.5 lbs worth, we’d love some suggestions!

No recipe for today…hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!