Category Archives: Cakes & Pies

May1

…May Flowers

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…May Flowers

Baking is one of the few things (if not the only) where I find myself indecisive. That is to say that I have bookshelf of baking recipes (cakes, bars, cookies…) on my ever-growing ”to do” list. This recipe was no different. Oh yeah, plain and simple aren’t in my repertoire. What starts quick and easy often escalates to something bigger and better. Enough rambling. I made these for my daughter’s 9th birthday party. There was no real theme to this party, so my decision wasn’t eased any.

My final decision for this cupcake was made just a few hours before the party. It was a last-minute epiphany that originated from recipes of Kraft and Betty Crocker magazines. The recipe uses a standard cupcake and frosting, but makes it bigger and better with a few marshmallows and some sprinkles. I was more than pleased with the result.

 

What you need:

  • 24 prepared cupcakes
  • Frosting, any of choice
  • 24 large marshmallows
  • Sprinkles
  • Jelly Beans or other round candy for the center
  • Here’s how to do it:

Frost the cupcakes, I colored mine green to match the tablecloth. Cut the marshmallows into 4 slices. Cut on the width, not the length of the marshmallow. Dip the sticky side of the marshmallow into sprinkles and place on top of the frosting. Arrange on top of frosting and place a jelly bean in the center. I suggest you refrigerate the cupcakes until the frosting has set completely, or the marshmallows may slide (depending on the consistency of the frosting).

You can create a more 3-D look by using 5 cut marshmallows and overlapping them on the cupcake top. That’s what I started doing, but they kept slide down the side and I didn’t have a lot of room to place the candy in the middle, so I dropped to 4 slices on each cupcake.

Apr25

Five Ingredient Dessert (never let em see you sweat)

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Five Ingredient Dessert (never let em see you sweat)

 

Ha, lame title I know. Truth is this dessert is so easy, sweating will have to be reserved for post dessert exercise. This is a Kraft recipe, probably so well known I am just burning my wordpress memory to post it, but hey, it’s that good. The recipe is taken directly from the Kraft site. If you go to the link, you can also watch a video on how to prepare the cake.

Oreo & Fudge Ice Cream Cake

  • 1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
  • 1 tub  (8 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
  • 1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Jello Chocolate Instant Pudding
  • 8  Oreo Cookies, chopped (about 1 cup) see note below
  • 12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

Directions:

Pour fudge topping into medium bowl. Whisk in 1 cup Cool Whip. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. Stir in chopped cookies. 

Arrange 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half the Cool Whip mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sandwiches. Frost top and sides with remaining Cool Whip. Bring up foil sides; double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet. I didn’t do that, it didn’t really work. So I just placed it in the freezer uncovered and covered the remaining cake after dessert.

Freeze at least 4 hours.

Note: I didn’t want to buy a whole package of Oreo’s (as no one here needs them!). So I purchased one snack pack of Mini Oreo’s. It was the perfect amount.

 

Apr13

Black Bottom Cupcakes

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Black Bottom Cupcakes

I really didn’t plan the heart on the cupcake, but it turned out to be my favorite one. These cupcakes are easy to prepare and once baked, require no additional steps, other than eating it of course. This is another cake mix creation that has a long history in internet recipes. Some of the recipes include a cake baked from scratch and many from a basic cake mix. I would love to prepare the from scratch cake, but time did not afford that today.

This “cupcake”, may also be considered a cheesecake, or perhaps it is even muffin-like. No matter what you consider it to be, it is still a rich, luscious dessert that will meet any choco-holics expectations. I recommend a tall glass an ice cold milk in accompaniment. The cupcake itself starts with a basic devil’s cream cake base then a couple dollops of a cream cheese mixture are placed in the center of the batter. The end result are these beautiful decadent mini cakes. Hope you enjoy them!

Black Bottom Cupcakes (AKA Cheesecakes)

  • 1 box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix, or a homemade recipe like this one (at CookieMadness.com)
  • All ingredients as listed on the cake mix
  • 1 block (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (or any size desired)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 (or as directed by the recipe). Place 24 cupcake liners in a regular size muffin/cupcake pan(s).

Prepare cake mix as directed. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. If you fill each one evenly, you should have the perfect amount of batter with none leftover.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and egg and mix until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a small ice cream or cookie scoop (about 1 tsp), drop 1 – 2 rounded teaspoons of cream cheese mixture into the center of the cupcake batter. I ended up with 2 tsp in each cupcake.

Bake according to directions for regular cupcakes. Remove and allow to cool. Serve warm, or refrigerate until ready to serve. Because of the cream cheese, you should store these in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

Apr11

Tropical Angel Food Cake

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Tropical Angel Food Cake

Looking for an easy dessert that won’t make you feel like you just wolfed down a block of chocolate lead? It won’t get much easier than this one. Only two ingredients lead to a satisfying dessert that you won’t walk away from feeling like you need to head to the gym for an hour. Unless of course the preceding dinner warrants it!

This cake recipe can be found just about anywhere on the web and then some. I haven’t made it in a while and remembered it when choosing a dessert to go with tonight’s seafood (fresh caught fish mind you) dinner. I served it with some leftover Key Lime Pie… very fitting to welcome the warmer weather. I love spring and I love the hints that the weather gives of the upcoming summer season.

Enough jabbering, here’s the recipe.

Tropical Angel Food Cake

  • 1 Box Angel Food Cake Mix
  • 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a tube pan, Bundt or 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

Combine the cake mix and pineapple and stir until well blended. Pour into prepared pan. Note, to remove the air pockets that will food big craters in your completed cake, use a long skewer or butter knife and “poke” around in the cake before baking.

Bake according to the box directions as to the pan size you are using. When done, the cake will spring back when pressed. Remove from the oven and quickly turn the pan upside down to cool. Once cool remove from the pan. (This can be done by sliding a thin knife or spatula around the edges of the cake). Serve plain, with whipped topping and/or fresh fruit. Store at room temperature tightly covered.

Notes:

*I have always used either a Bundt pan, or an actual Angel Food Cake pan. I suppose if you used a 9 x 13″ you wouldn’t have to remove it, but you should still turn it over too cool.

*I use Duncan Hines… almost always when using a boxed mix

*You can use pineapple packed in any type of syrup, but to keep the “light” in this cake, I suggest not using the can with heavy syrup.

 

 

 

Mar7

Tunnel of Fudge…cake (Fudge Ribbon Cake)

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Tunnel of Fudge…cake (Fudge Ribbon Cake)

 

Today I was on a chocolate baking frenzy. I woke up early, too early. My body has an internal alarm clock that usually goes off around 4 am. So I took advantage of my time this morning and baked two different chocolate desserts. I needed on for our Bible study, and my oldest daughter was scheduled to bring “something sweet” also.

I spent a lot of time trying to decide what kind of cake I would make. Finding that I was completely out of powdered sugar pretty much sealed the deal on this cake. I would definitely make it again. It was easy to prepare and quite impressive! The cake is from the Eagle Brand milk people. The recipe call for sweetened condensed milk, hence, the reason they have it on their site! (duh!)

I was hesitant about how the “swirl” would take place with the described preparation. I was amazed though at how the cream cheese mixture dispersed all the way through the cake batter to the top of the cake (i.e. the bottom of the pan). There was a nice 1/2″ or so “tunnel” on the top of the finished product. Kudos to the Eagle Brand company for good directions!!!

The changes I made to the recipe were: 1) I used a dark fudge cake mix, and 2) The ganache… remember, I didn’t have any powdered sugar, so I had to compromise. I used a recipe from Anna over at Cookie Madness, one of my favorite daily blog visits. Check her blog out!

Fudge Ribbon Cake (via Eagle Brand Milk)

Cake Ingredients

  • 1 (18.25 oz.) box chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients called for on box
  • 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache (from Cookie Madness)

  • 3 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli Bars)
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
  • 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray 10-inch fluted tube pan with flour no-stick cooking spray.

Cake Directions:

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese, butter and cornstarch in medium bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla until smooth. Pour evenly over cake batter. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan. Cool. Drizzle with Chocolate Glaze or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

  

Ganache Directions:

In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. In a heatproof bowl, combine the remaining 3 ounces of chopped chocolate with the corn syrup and butter. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let stand until melted, about 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Let the ganache glaze cool until thick but still pourable, about 5 minutes.

Pour the ganache over the cooled cake.Let the cake stand until the glaze is set, at least 30 minutes, before serving. I set some of the ganache aside and once the first layer cooled, I topped it with some re-headed ganache lending a more decorative look.

**Looking back over this post, I noticed that I made an intial mention of sweets for my daughter… but didn’t mention what it was. I threw together a (lazy) Duncan Hines brownie mix together. It’s nice to have from scratch brownie recipes, but it’s also nice to have a quick fix that tastes great!

Mar4

Chocolate Turtle Cake (Betty Crocker)

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Chocolate Turtle Cake (Betty Crocker)

As a last-minute “birthday cake” I found this recipe on my iPhone while working out. Yes, I iPhone while on the elliptical…  Anyhow, one of my apps is a Betty Crocker recipe search. I was looking for a quick easy recipe to put together. I didn’t have a lot of time, or to be honest desire, so this recipe fit the bill. A plus was I had all the ingredients called for.

The recipe is highly rated on the Betty Crocker site. Some of the reviewers noted that the caramel hardened quite a bit once cooled, but I didn’t have that problem at all. The cake is very moist, but not “mushy”. It is very rich too, I do suggest adding whipped topping or ice cream to mellow out the richness of the cake a little. I served the cake warm with vanilla bean ice cream. It was wonderful.

Photo from the Betty Crocker site

(I still have to photograph the dessert and post it, but I dislike posting recipes without pictures to influence you to make it!)

Chocolate Turtle Cake

A Betty Crocker Recipe -

Ingredients:

  • 1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® devil’s food cake mix
  • 1 1/3 cups water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 bag (14 oz) caramels
  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 bag (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup) *I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate discs
  • Ice cream or Whipped cream, if desired
  • Caramel and chocolate topping, if desired
  • Chopped pecans, if desired

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom of 13×9-inch pan.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low-speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour half of the batter into pan. Bake 22 minutes (25 minutes for dark or nonstick pan). Refrigerate remaining batter.

Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan**, heat caramels and evaporated milk over medium heat, stirring frequently, until caramels are melted. Stir in pecans. Pour caramel mixture over warm cake in pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread with remaining batter. Bake 25 minutes (29 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cool at least 30 minutes. Serve with ice cream, drizzle with topping and sprinkle with pecans. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

**I microwaved the caramel according to the directions on the bag. It resulted in the same product a saucepan would have.

Feb21

Birthday Bling & Buttercream

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Birthday Bling & Buttercream

Today my oldest niece is celebrating her 17th birthday and since I can’t seem to sleep until a decent hour, I figured I could throw a cake together for her birthday. So at 5 this morning the oven went to 350 degrees…

I needed something easy, yet fun. I know I won’t win any prizes with this one… especially considering the icing was thrown together at the last-minute and the cake hauled around town all morning, with a maniac driver I might add. But I had fun, and my niece had fun. Hey, we all had fun.

The cake just a good ‘ole yellow cake mix, but the frosting is homemade. It is a classic buttercream (from Wilton), my go to frosting recipe. I’m not even sure I measure the sugar anymore, I just add until I get to my desired consistency. Though I wouldn’t recommend that. I do recommend the taste test. Add sugar until you reach your best taste – that could be extra sweet, or just minimally sweet. I tend to go to extra sweet!

A little food coloring and some Wilton decor later, I have this. Here’s to hoping my niece has a great day!

Classic Buttercream Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla, clear if possible
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Mix butter and shortening until creamy. Add vanilla, then add sugar about 1 cup at a time. Add milk until desired consistency.

I know, not much on the directions. For the whole story, check out the recipe at the Wilton site.

Jan25

Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling

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Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling

    

Preface: Before you look at the list of ingredients in this cake stop. The cake is really, really easy to prepare. Use whatever frosting you’d like, but try the cake…       

After a weekend of being shut in with sick kids, the stir crazy feeling was overwhelming, so why not bake? I have been actively searching for coconut cake recipes to prepare for a friends upcoming birthday, and I am not brave enough to prepare a “first time” cake to be served publicly… score family.           

       

 We don’t do coconut very often, yet no one, even the kids, will turn it down. The cake recipe is from one source, and the frosting from another with a little tweeking. Note, the cake batter uses powdered sugar. I have never seen this in a cake before, and was leery about it, but it was fantastic.           

 Speaking of frosting. I had a very hard time deciding the best type of frosting. Supposedly the “classic southern” coconut cake uses a whipped/meringue type frosting, verses a buttercream, but I grew up southern and buttercream was on every cake I’ve ever eaten. Anyway, this recipe intrigued me and settled my frosting dilemma.            

 Final thoughts? The cake is a keeper. Big time! The frosting was interesting. The original recipe was good, but not very “sweet” so I added some powdered sugar. I think it helped also to thicken the frosting slightly. I will definitely put the cake in my top favorites list, but will probably do a buttercream frosting next time. I just really want to find the “perfect” combination.            

 Has anyone tried the 7 minute frosting method? What did you think? Was it meringue like?           

  

 Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling            

 Cake Ingredients:     
  •  3 cups (297g) sifted cake flour (sift before measuring) 
  •  2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 pound (450g) powdered sugar
  • 4 egg yolks, well beaten *Beat until well combined, about 1 minute
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract (or coconut)
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 4 egg whites, well beaten

Cake Directions:            

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 – 8″ round cake pans with baking spray.             

Combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Sift these ingredients 3 times. In a mixing bowl, cream butter thoroughly; add sugar gradually. Continue creaming until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and beat well. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk, beating well after each addition. Stir in coconut and vanilla. Fold in egg whites gently until well combined.             

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Makes three 8-inch layers. (mine were perfect at 30 mins)             

Frosting Ingredients:             

  • 1 cup Milk
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp coconut extract
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • Raspberry Preserves (at least 1 cup) *choose a good quality
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut

Frosting Directions:             

In a saucepan, use a whisk to blend 1 cup milk into 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat, and cook and stir two minutes more. Remove from heat. Cover the surface with plastic wrap. Cool to room temperature without stirring.
 
In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and extracts until light and fluffy. Add cooled milk mixture to butter mixture a quarter cup at a time, beating on low-speed after each addition until smooth. **Add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well afterward. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar if necessary to desired thickness.
 
Final Preparation:
 
Slice each 8″ cake in half. Spread a thin layer of preserves between the sliced layers*. Alternate preserves and frosting between the layers then frost the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle coconut on top and sides of the frosted cake. Slice and serve!
 
*Note, on the layers that I placed the preserves, I also added a thin layer of coconut.