One Year Blog Anniversary!

LYCHEE GUAVA ROSE CAKE

lychee-guava-rose-cake

It’s been a whole year since Allspice & Ally went live― can you believe it? I sure can’t.

It’s been a year full of recipes with a summer of five different strawberry cakes, broken fridges and Psych-inspired Cinnamon Pie. I discovered mushrooms aren’t so bad (sometimes) and how to make cauliflower taste like junk food. And how to turn lots of junk food into one crazy cake. I rode on a lobster boat, visited Gettysburg, became a level 33 Pokemon Go trainer (yes I still play) and hosted Halloween and Valentine’s Day parties.

From my (in)Famous Curry Cream Cheese Frosted Carrot Cake to this Lychee Guava Rose Cake, thank you for being here!

Now onto the cake

For my first blog anniversary, I wanted to do something special so I decided I would use rose water for the first time. Along with a homemade guava gel and lychee fruit, this is a cake perfectly suited for a special occasion.

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Got Milk(s)?

PLANTAIN TRES LECHES CAKE
 
plantain-tres-leches-cake

Cookies dipped in milk too basic for you? (blasphemy!) Try cake soaked in many milks― a.k.a tres leches cake for those of you who haven’t tried this Latin American favorite. My twist on this well-loved recipe? Plantain Tres Leches Cake.

Sliced plantains, pan-fried in sugar and spices, cover the bottom of a light sponge cake soaked in evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and 2% milk. Topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with a combination of cinnamon and allspice, you’ll be digging into this cake with a spoon.

Some recipes use a butter cake but many prefer a sponge cake. Various online sources claim a butterless sponge is more authentic but whether this is true, I’m not sure. Without butter or oil, the lightened batter is able to better absorb all that liquid without falling apart.

Plantain-Tres-Leches-Cake-Milk-Bath

No milky mess here.

A self-saucing cake, yes. But never a milky mess.

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A Summer of Strawberry Cake (September)

STRAWBERRY & CANDIED FENNEL CAKE

Strawberry-Candied-Fennel-Cake

Welcome to the fifth and final month in my Summer of Strawberry Cake series. The strawberry plant I got in May has long ceased fruit production but my craving for cake has not. I’ve already posted about Maple Balsamic Roasted Strawberry CakeStrawberry Mango Shortcake, Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake and Strawberry & Apricot Almost Japanese Cheesecake so I figured it’s time to go big and bold. Or rather, bigger and bolder.

Hello Strawberry & Candied Fennel Cake.  I’ve been waiting for you 

I may not be enthusiastic about my birthday but I’m pretty great at other people’s, I must say. I conceptualized this cake months ago for my mother’s birthday and have been patiently awaiting September to serve her this crazy confection.

Strawberry-Candied-Fennel-Cake-Cream

And I’m super happy to say it was worth the wait.

As the only person in my family that likes anise and licorice, I figured my mother would enjoy a fennel-flavored birthday cake.  Although I had never cooked with fennel before, I knew it had a similar flavor profile so I didn’t think I would be so taken with this cake.

This sweet, fruity, creamy cake with a touch of warmth from the candied fennel.

Oh fennel, like the popular girl inevitably falling for the bespectacled shy guy in a high school movie, you’ve won me over.
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A Summer of Strawberry Cake (June)

Strawberry Mango Shortcake with Coconut Whipped Cream

Strawberry Mango Shortcake

Welcome to month #2 in my Summer of Strawberry Cake series. Since summer had just begun, last month I shared my recipe for Maple Balsamic Roasted Strawberry Cake but because the weather is heating up, I figured I’d give you a little taste of the tropics for June. Strawberry Mango Shortcake anyone?

Strawberry shortcake is one of my all-time favorite cakes. The crumbly shortcake, the juicy strawberries, the fluffy whipped cream, indescribably good. And I don’t even usually like whipped cream!

Like I mentioned last month, my family only eats strawberry shortcake every few years for my father’s birthday or Father’s Day because he doesn’t like chocolate. Occasionally we’d have fake strawberry shortcake at fundraisers or restaurants— otherwise known strawberries and canned whipped cream on angel food cake or any other kind of vanilla cake.

Strawberries and whipped cream on cake does not a strawberry shortcake make. A proper shortcake is made with a shortened dough resulting in a crumbly, biscuit-like cake. Calling a plain vanilla cake with strawberries a strawberry shortcake is like calling a waffle cone full of ice cream a Belgian waffle à la mode.

But never fear, when I say shortcake, I mean shortcake. And this shortcake happens to be made with puréed mangos for a tropical spin on a classic dessert.

Strawberry Mango Shortcake with Coconut Whipped Cream

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