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Leena Bakes: Mini Carrot Cupcakes with Pistachio and Cream Cheese Frosting for other people. As in NOT her.

Leena Bakes: Mini Carrot Cupcakes with Pistachio and Cream Cheese Frosting for other people. As in NOT her.
You rock, Carrots. From hard and crunchy to soft, spicy cake, you are so damn versatile. Not like lima beans.

Yeah, I like to torture myself. I’m technically not allowed to bake, especially with sugar, due to my latest diagnosis of gestational diabetes. It was a definite bitch slap to me, as baking has comforted me through three degrees, one cross-country and one cross-world move, and 2/3s of this pregnancy.

But when my husband’s birthday rolled around, I knew I couldn’t not bake him a cake. A birthday without cake is sacrilegious in this household! So I rocked out his favorite recipe in mini cupcake form, carrot cake with pistachios and cream cheese frosting.

If and only if you’d like to see the best damn carrot cake recipe I have ever come across, if you think you can handle the awesomeness, then please. By all means–click on.

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March 28th, 2011
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Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes, Desserts, Leena Bakes, Recipes | 10 Comments »

Leena Bakes: Dark chocolate pear cake with pistachio ice cream

Leena Bakes: Dark chocolate pear cake with pistachio ice cream

A slice of my dark chocolate pear cake with pistachio ice cream (recipes from Smitten Kitchen and Chow.com)

One of the worst things about being pregnant and me is that I can literally cook or bake ANYTHING I am craving at the time. Like cookies. And Chex Mix. And more cookies. It’s dangerous, really.

Mainly because I hate sharing. I blame the baby for this.

My cravings have definitely had a sweet edge to them, so when an old friend came into town, I used it as an excuse to make some delicious cake and ice cream. I have explored the use of this particular flavor combination, dark chocolate, pear and pistachio, in several desserts in the past, like this one and this one. I love the balance of the slightly bitter chocolate, the syrupy sweet pear and the salt from the pistachio, I figured it would be a good in cake form.

For more food porn and the recipes, click on!
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January 31st, 2011
Posted in Cakes, Fruit, Leena Bakes | 3 Comments »

Leena Bakes: Ginger Cupcakes with Cranberry Cream Cheese frosting

Leena Bakes: Ginger Cupcakes with Cranberry Cream Cheese frosting

My ginger cupcake with cranberry cream cheese frosting- winter in a cute little paper cup!

For the first three months of my pregnancy, I almost went crazy with pregnancy nausea, and cooking was the LAST thing on my mind. Once it finally did cross my mind, baked goods were about all that seemed appetizing. Enter my ginger cupcake with cranberry cream cheese frosting.

The recipe and food porn after the click.

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December 20th, 2010
Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes, Desserts, Fruit, Leena Bakes | 1 Comment »

Leena Bakes: Thanksgiving pt.3 Dessert- Cranberry upside down cake

Leena Bakes: Thanksgiving pt.3 Dessert Cranberry upside down cake

One of my new favorite recipes--cranberry upside down cake from Chez Panisse Fruit cookbook!

This has to be my new favorite holiday dessert. It’s a bit sweet and a bit tart  five spice cranberry upside cake, inspired by a recipe in my Chez Panisse Fruits cookbook and from this post on The Joy of Baking. And if you are lucky enough to live in the U.S., you know that cranberries are a native fruit, making it the perfect fruit to focus on for a holiday dessert.

Food porn and the recipe after the jump.

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November 22nd, 2010
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Leena Bakes: A Giant Lamington Cake of Happiness

Leena Bakes: A Giant Lamington Cake of Happiness

Vanilla sponge cake, homemade strawberry jam, dark chocolate ganache glaze, desiccated coconut...how could any of this be wrong together?

Tea time is what I miss most about living in Australia–a guaranteed excuse twice a day to drink something warm and lovely and nosh on a little snack, preferably something sweet. One of the most popular tea time snacks in Australia is the lamington cake, which could be as simple as a vanilla sponge cake rolled into chocolate and coconut, or as fancy as a dark chocolate cake layered affair with champagne mousse and thick shavings of fresh coconut.

I was craving a similar dessert for an impromptu dinner party, and I just so happened to have a stash of coconut and homemade jam, so lamginton it was! And instead of painstakingly making each individual tea cake, I decided to make a giant cake version and just cut slices for people. Motivated AND lazy, people—I’m the best of both worlds.

More food porn and the recipe after the jump.

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September 20th, 2010
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Posted in Australia, Cakes, Desserts, Leena Bakes | 2 Comments »

Leena Bakes: Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes with Pickled Cherries for Fathers Day

Leena Bakes: Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes with Pickled Cherries for Fathers Day
My mini pineapple upside down cake with pickled cherries for Dad.

Growing up, pineapple upside down cake was my mother’s specialty. Friends asked for it for their birthdays, it appeared at special family occasions, and showed up to at least one yearly bbq, if not more. Suffice it say the pineapple upside down cake was a staple fixture in my childhood.

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June 14th, 2010
Posted in Cakes, Leena Bakes | 4 Comments »

Leena Bakes: Carrot Cake stuffed with ice cream

Leena Bakes: Carrot Cake stuffed with ice cream

My ice cream-stuffed carrot cake: a big pile of happiness for my favorite guy.

So it certainly isn’t the PRETTIEST ice cream cake on the shelf, but I’d bet you half of my cat and a Georgia keychain that this is the BEST damn tasting ice cream on the face of the planet (suck it, Dairy Queen).  My husband (an all-around kick-ass person) had a birthday a few weeks back, and he loves carrot cake.

Not only do I have a killer carrot cake recipe (seriously, one of the best I’ve ever tried), but I decided to fill it with a layer of cream cheese ice cream, a layer of cranberry sorbet, and topped it all off with a pistachio cream cheese buttercream frosting. Yeah. Did I mention this was just for the two of us? And I can’t throw the extra away because it feels like somehow I FAILED. And I’m one competitive bitch.

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April 5th, 2010
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Adam Bakes, Leena Eats: Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake

Adam Bakes, Leena Eats: Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake

Hazelnut brown butter cake, made by Adam.

Hey guys. Leena Eats is going under another makeover, which we hope to have live by March 1st. In the mean time, you get to enjoy several guest posts while Leena works hard at her new website. And lucky for you, Leena has some interesting friends to keep you busy, including a husband, the owner of a creative ad agency, and a scholar who just happens to love food enough to travel for it.

And can I just say how appropriate is it that Adam’s guest post about making my birthday cake is appearing on his birthday, when I will be making his birthday cake?! Enjoy. This was truly a delicious cake!
~LTG!
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Hi everyone. My name is Adam, the amazing partner of one LeenaEats. If you’re a regular reader here you likely already know how awesome I am… which is lots. Lots awesome.

If you’re new, then welcome! Please take a moment to let it soak in.

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February 22nd, 2010
Posted in Cakes, Family, Leena Bakes, Leena Lives Life | Comments Off

Leena Bakes: A Bitchin’ Blueberry Buttermilk Cake (From Gourmet Mag)

Leena Bakes: A Bitchin Blueberry Buttermilk Cake (From Gourmet Mag)
Blueberry buttermilk cake in cupcake form.

Recently my friends Dan and Claire (both guest hosts of my food podcast, Chicken n Waffles) moved into (sort of) my neighborhood and I wanted to help. But my car was being used by my husband, then I got sick, then I threw my back out. The only thing I was sort of capable of doing was baking, so that limited my housewarming gift options. Lucky for me, these bitches can eat, so when the new copy of Gourmet mag arrived at my doorstep, I was stoked. I came across a pretty easy cake recipe for a raspberry buttermilk cake and just so happen to have a pint of buttermilk sitting in my fridge, so problem solved. No more wasting the buttermilk, and I would still get to help welcome Dan and Claire home. Yeah. Ever see someone with a thrown-out back bake a cake? Allow me to paint a picture for you: flour EVERYWHERE (even on the toaster, which I wasn’t even using). Every time I accidentally dropped something on the floor, it stayed there (and when the thing you’ve dropped is batter, get ready for some real excitement). If I couldn’t reach a utensil or bowl stored in our bottom cabinets with my bbq tongs, I couldn’t use it. And hours later, I found egg shells in my cat’s litter box. Go figure. Read the rest of this entry »

June 1st, 2009
Posted in Cakes, Leena Bakes | 8 Comments »

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