Mini Pound Cake Serves 2 3 Food

MINI POUND CAKE (SERVES 2-3)

Steps:

• She states to use one petite loaf pan (2-cup capacity, about 5 X 3 X 2 inches) and that is what I used, but feel you could also make 3 or 4 cupcakes in a pan.
• Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour the loaf pan, tapping out the excess flour; then set it aside.
• Put the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl (or plastic bag that you can close and shake the ingredients to mix) and mix them well.
• In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer (or use a Kitchen Aid type of mixer), add egg yolk and vanilla and 1/2 of the buttermilk and the flour mixture. Beat about 45 seconds on medium until the batter is lightened and has slightly increase in volume. Add in remaining buttermilk and beat on medium until well blended, 20 seconds.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (Mine was done at 25 mins in my convection oven).
• Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then remove the cake from the pan. Serve the cake warm or let it cool, upright, on the rack.

MINI POUND CAKE / CUPCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE BITS

Steps:

• NOTE: If you want to bake the cake as cupcakes, bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Grease form.
• Mix cake flour and baking powder in a small bowl. If not using chocolate chips, chop chocolate with a large knife into 1/8 inch pieces (average).
• Cream butter and sugar and salt until well blended. Add egg and vanilla and beat until batter is light in color and increased in volume.
• Add flour and milk and mix until well blended, but don't overbeat. Mix in chocolate chips. Fill form with batter, level top and bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• Remove cake from oven and let cool for 5 minutes in the form before taking it out. Cool completely and serve at once, or better, wrap tightly in foil and serve the next day. Flavors will have blended then.
• With a sieve dust powdered sugar on top of cake before serving. Freezes well.

CHERRY MINI POUND CAKES

Steps:

• With electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla on low speed until blended, then on high speed 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Combine flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add dry ingredients alternately with sweetened condensed milk to creamed mixture, mixing lightly after each addition.
• Fold in cherries.
• Turn batter into greased and floured mini loaf pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
• Let cool in pans: 5 minutes; invert cakes onto rack and let cool completely.
• Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

MINI FRENCH BREAD LOAVES (SERVES 2)

Steps:

• Place the bread flour, salt, and yeast in a food processor, and process for 3 seconds to blend. With the machine running, pour 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons water through the feed tub; process until the dough holds together, about 20 seconds. The dough should be a sticky mass, and it should appear difficult to knead by hand. If the dough is too dry, add more water, a tablespoon at a time, processing for 5 seconds after each addition.
• Lightly grease a medium-size mixing bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise at room temperature until it has nearly doubled in bulk, 2 to 3 hours.
• Punch the dough down and let it rise again until nearly doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
• Sprinkle a cutting board or work surface with a little flour, place the dough on it, and cut the dough into 2 pieces. Shape the pieces into balls, sprinkling them with a little flour if necessary to make them easier to handle. Place the balls of dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle a little flour over each round (to keep the plastic wrap from sticking), and cover them lightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough balls rise until nearly doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. To make a crisp crust, fill a clean spray bottle with water and spritz the inside of the oven with water just before you slide the bread into the oven.
• Bake the bread rounds until golden and crusty, about 10 minutes. Fremove the baking sheet from the oven or, If you like a crustier loaf, leave the bread in the oven with the door closed for 5 minutes after you have turned off the oven.
• Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool. Serve it warm or at room temperature.

MINI ANGEL FOOD CAKES FOR TWO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift flour with 1/3 cup sugar 3 times.
• In a large bowl, beat egg whites and salt with electric mixer until foamy; add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form; fold in vanilla. In two additions, gently fold in flour mixture until just combined. Divide batter between the two pans; place on sheet pan.
• Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until browned and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Invert pans on cooling grid to cool. Loosen cakes from pans with spatuals; remove from pans.