My Holiday Berry Cake with the KitchenAid Suite of Cordless Hand-Held Appliances

[Sponsored] With a smaller kitchen and limited electrical outlets cooking can become an uncomfortable task. Alessandra is quite the blossoming baker and, though I’ll admit I don’t have much talent in that department, I love to accompany her even if just for some quality time. Not to mention I learn a thing or two in the process. The truth however is that even just the two of us in our small kitchen used to be a juggling act, but The Kitchenaid suite of cordless hand-held appliances has given us the freedom and space to make cooking together enjoyable again. 

Can a battery operated appliance deliver the power you need in the kitchen? 

I asked myself the same question and after using them for the last 3 months the answer is unequivocally yes! The suite of cordless hand-held appliances delivers optimal performance and runtime with rechargeable lithium ion batteries. How do they charge? It’s simple, the battery indicator light signals when it’s time to charge the battery with the convenient charger included, which works on all products across the suite and can charge from empty to full in 2 hours or less. Don’t have two hours? With a quick charge of 10 minutes stir up a cake batter recipe. It’s that convenient.

So, now let’s get into the rich, semi-sweet berry cake that Alessandra and I made with our Kitchenaid suite of cordless hand-held appliances, all credit to Matthew (my husband) for the recipe. He’s been making this for us every holiday season since the kids were babies. 

Ingredients:

Cake

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 ½ cups butter

2 eggs

2-3 cups frozen mixed berries

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla essence

Berry sauce

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups blueberries

Cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, star anise to taste 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉

2. Soften butter. I often forget to allow my butter enough time to soften appropriately, as a bit of a cheat I use the Kitchenaid 5 Cup Cordless Food Chopper to speed up the process and whip my slightly softened butter. (It can handle quite a load, it’s powerful enough to chop up to 40 onions on a full charge, and comes with a 5 cup BPA-free work bowl and 2 speed settings to mix, chop, puree and whip a variety of dishes.)

3. Once your butter is sufficiently soft (which can be done by leaving it out for a few hours) use the Kitchenaid 7 Speed Cordless Hand Mixer to mix the sugar, flour, eggs, baking soda, butter, salt and vanilla essence. (The 7 Speeds allow the hand mixer to stir, mix, and whip all of your favorite recipes, from slow stir for chunky ingredients, to medium for creaming butter & sugar, and high speed to whip egg whites and heavy creams. The SOFT START™ feature brings the beaters up to the selected speed gradually to help prevent ingredients from splattering. It’s also designed to stand all on its own, lifting the beaters up and out of the bowl and workspace)

4. Remove 1 cup of batter and set aside. Place the remaining batter in your  baking dish creating a thicker layer along the perimeter of the cake (up to the rim of your baking dish and about 1-2 inches wide) and a thinner layer in the center (about 1 inch thick, this is where your berries will go). Layer the berries into the center of the cake. Place the batter you set aside on top of the berries very loosely. This is not meant to cover all the berries. 

5. Place in the oven for 45 minutes uncovered. Then cover and cook for another 10 minutes.

6. With the cake in the oven let’s start on the sauce. Combine water and sugar into a pot on medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved add frozen blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise and allspice to taste. Cover and simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes. 

7. Remove half the liquid and blueberries and transfer to a bowl for blending (be sure to leave some whole blueberries behind for the final sauce). Using the  Kitchenaid Cordless Variable Speed Hand Blender blend the mixture. Combine both sauce mixtures to create the final sauce. ( The Cordless variable speed hand blender has a removable 8″ blending arm, making it easy to store, and a 4-point Stainless Steel blade design which efficiently blends ingredients for smoothies, milk shakes, soups, hummus and so much more. The variable speed trigger switch gives you greater flexibility and control over the recipe while the safety switch protects against accidental trigger movement.)

8. Cut a slice of your cake, drizzle with sauce and serve warm.

9. ENJOY!

These appliances have made my time in the kitchen much more convenient with no more transferring from stove to blender for pureed soups, no more finding space to accommodate appliances contingent on electrical outlets, and no juggling of cords. As you prepare for a busy holiday season, there’s no better time to #GiftYourself a product from the new KitchenAid cordless suite and elevate your entire cooking and baking experience.