Mix It Up Friday - November

from Kris B.

It's Mix It Up Food Friday, the Friday each month where we share our experiences with a few of the King Arthur Flour mixes.

Though I am a fan of almost anything chocolate, to me, desserts with spices seem more like Thanksgiving.  They complement the obligatory Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, I decided to try King Arthur's Iced Chai Latte Cake ($9.95 from King Arthur Flour).  I knew that my chai spice loving family would be glad to help me eat the cake over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

This cake mixes up easily and, according to the instructions on the box, can be baked in either a bundt pan or a 9x13 cake pan.  Wanting a "pretty" cake, I opted for the bundt pan.  The instructions did not specify a particular size of bundt pan so I used the one I always use, the only one I have.  As I poured the batter into the pan, it didn't look like enough, but I continued on, figuring that the cake must rise a lot.  The suggested cook time is 45-55 minutes.  Knowing that my oven usually requires a little more than  the minimum cooking times suggested for most items, I set the timer for 50 minutes.  When I took the cake from the oven, it was a beautiful golden brown, a short beautiful golden brown.  It did not rise to fill my pan all the way.  Maybe half way???

I let the cake cool and then made the included vanilla icing.  After mixing the required ingredients, the icing seemed very stiff.  There was no way that it was going to pour and drizzle nicely over the sides of the cake.  The instructions say to let the icing rest for 10 minutes before topping the cake.  I did that hoping that something magic would happen and it would morph into the right consistency.  The magic didn't happen.  The icing was still too stiff to pour, so I added about a tsp. more milk.  It was still fairly thick, but I hoped it would run down the sides.  When all was said and done, the cake looked OK.

I was a little disappointed when we actually tasted the Iced Chai Latte Cake.  For a recipe that uses three eggs and 12 TBS of butter, it was dry and not nearly as rich as I expected.  It wasn't bad, just not what I expected.  If you are wondering, it did get eaten.  This cake was best with a nice hot cup of coffee.

I am willing to concede some user error here.  The fact that my pan apparently was too big, which affected the cooking process and time, probably accounts for the cake being a bit dry.  In my defense, however, the box did not specify any particular bundt pan size.  I am going to buy a smaller pan and try this mix again.  The flavor is delicious and the cake is one that would make a perfect addition to brunch, lunch, or dinner.

I am thankful to have plenty in my life to nourish my body and my soul.  As we make our way through this holiday season, let us remember that there are many people who are cold, hungry, and feel unloved.  Our response to our thankfulness should be service to those that  have little or nothing for which to be thankful.  Do something kind for someone less fortunate than you - feed them, smile at them, have a conversation with them, hug them, pray for them, let them know you care.

May joy surround you and those you love!


from Tracey G.

The mix of choice for me to try this week, was the Everyone's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix from the King Arthur Flour Essential Goodness line of mixes. Where I live, it's rare to find their products other than a few basics and their signature flours, the last trip to my in-law's this past month though, allowed me to find this mix (and a couple more for future testing!) at Target! (my closest Target is 2 hours away, so I only get there when visiting downstate!) And they had a really good selection of the Essential Goodness mixes to boot. I was so happy! Usually I just order straight from the King Arthur Flour website, so this was a nice little bonus to find them "in-person".

This mix was sinfully easy to put together. I mean it - I had cookie dough ready to go in mere minutes. The only required ingredients were: one stick of butter and one egg. That's it. Before I knew it, I had my cookies scooped, on the cookie sheet and in the oven. I don't think it could get any easier, lol.

Ok, so now that they were so easy, how were they going to taste? I must admit, they could seriously pass for homemade. Easily. There are some "variations" on the package for customizing your cookie texture. If you want chewy, add brown sugar. Do you prefer crunchy? That can be arranged too - add regular granulated sugar. The last variation offered was for a more cakey-texture, to achieve that you add some milk. I went with the crunchy version, although, I'm one who prefers chewy, the rest of my household likes a crunchy cookie, so, I obliged them this go around, lol. And they were perfect. The texture was perfect, everyone was happy - even I, the chewy-cookie lover, thoroughly enjoyed them! Yes!! The ONLY complaint I heard, was that there just weren't enough, lol! I'll take that kind of complaint any day! There's even ideas for using the mix on their Everyone's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix product detail page - always fun to have more ideas for a product I think.

So, if you need to make some cookies quick or in a no-fuss way, I highly recommend the Essential Goodness Everyone's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix by King Arthur Flour!! You can't go wrong, well, unless you burn them or drop them or something like that, LOL.

Happy EASY baking!!