bake-A-Long #13 - Peanut Butter Ingot (cupcakes)

I love peanut butter, so I was excited about these guys, which consist of ground toasted almonds, powdered sugar, browned clarified butter, flour, egg whites, and peanut butter. These were supposed to be baked in a special pan, but I used a cupcake pan as a substitute.

The almonds were toasted, butter was browned.

The batter came together simply.

The verdict: I was slightly disappointed in the flavor. I felt the flavor was a little flat, like it was missing something. Salt maybe? The texture was nice. They were heavy little cakes but moist and not too dense. If I made these again I think I would try putting some salt in the batter and maybe filling them with something. Any suggestions?

Bake-A-Long #12 - Orange Sour Cream Cake

So, I didn't exactly follow the directions this week. First, I omitted the poppy seeds and second, I used orange zest/juice instead of lemon (that's what I had in my fridge).

It turned out great.

The pictures are lacking this week. As you can see, the cake stuck slightly, but I don't think anyone cares what the cake looks like when it is as tender and moist as this one was.

I was afraid that substituting the the lemon juice in the syrup for an orange syrup might make it too sweet. But the sweetness level turned out fine.

This will go on the bake again list and I do intend to follow the directions next time and give the lemon and poppy seeds a try.