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Amongst many other baking expeditions (that I have failed to post on) over the last week, this one turned out to be an amazing change from pumpkin. I have seen quite a few of these type recipes in the blog world and I can see why. It’s easy and pretty much fool-proof. A cake mix [...]
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We had two things to celebrate today! I will admit my excitement for one of these was fueled mainly by my teenage daughter, as I really don’t feel the hype surrounding “The Royal Wedding” (post to come). The other, however, is the 10th birthday of my youngest. I really can’t believe how quickly the time has [...]
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This post will be short and sweet – and the pictures? Well, I had to take them in a hurry under poor lighting with seven people standing in the middle of that poor lighting waiting for me to serve it. A few years ago, I did the meatloaf cupcakes which was fun. This year as [...]
Have a spare cake mix just screaming to be used? I did. As I’ve said before, I have no shame in using a cake mix. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy “from scratch” baking too. So the other morning I had some spare time before I woke the house up and threw these together. The recipe is extremely easy and yields a tasty breakfast option. You can mix and match for flavors too, but I went with the kids favorite, chocolate chip. Here is the base recipe…
Cake Mix Muffins (Chocolate Chip)
Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350. Line 2 muffin pans with paper cups or use baking spray.
Combine all ingredients except for chocolate chips. Stir until moist then fold in chocolate chips. The batter will be lumpy, don’t over-stir. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake 23 – 29 minutes. Note I filled the cups nearly full and it yielded 18 muffins. As you can see they don’t rise a lot, so I don’t think you can overfill them.
I hope you enjoy this shortcut recipe. The original recipe came from the book “101 Things To Do With A Cake Mix” by Stephanie Ashcraft and it was for a double chocolate chip muffin using a fudge cake mix and chocolate instant pudding.
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I have a few brand name websites that I frequent, such as: Kraft, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Nestle, Hershey’s and Land O’Lakes… Well today I had a little free time and decided to run through my “Recipe Sources” favorites list. When I clicked onto Kraft’s site, right there on the front page was one of my pictures – [...]
Surprisingly enough, photo’s taken with my iPhone while driving down the road!
Last minute cake, literally…
Earlier in the week I volunteered to prepare a cake to sell in a fundraiser. I thought about many options for a “go to cake” and just couldn’t settle on one. I needed something sturdy, climate safe and eye-appealing. This cake kept coming up, but it wasn’t until about 6:00 this morning, (2 hours before it was due) that I finalized the selection. Of course this required a store run… At any rate, long story short this cake is easy to prepare, and delivers a simple, yet beautiful cake. It is moist and rich, but not overly sweet. I chose to just dust it with powdered sugar versus a glaze.
I would suggest serving this cake with a cold glass of milk, or for a more delicate occasion, a nice cup of tea would do well. I rank this “cake mix” cake in my top 5, maybe even top 3… Try it!
Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake (adapted from a McCormick recipe)
What you need:
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with baking spray.
Beat all ingredients except chocolate chips in a large bowl on low to moisten, then on medium for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips and pour into pan.
Bake in the center of the over for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert cake onto wire rack. Cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or glaze (powdered sugar and milk mixture).
*Note: Using miniature chocolate chips ensures that the chips are evenly dispersed throughout the cake. You can also dust the chips with a little cake batter before adding to the batter.
This cake originates from a cake mix that is doctored to produce a wonderful breakfast dessert. The recipe comes from Duncan Hines Cake Mix Magic Cookbook that a friend loaned me. I prepared the cake this morning because I was bored… actually I woke early and decided to bake. Plus I thought it would be a nice Father’s day treat. The cake is dense, yet moist. I didn’t have almonds so I used recently picked Georgia Pecans.
Incidentally, I am excited to use my new cupcake plate. I actually painted it myself during a recent visit to a local pottery store with my youngest. I love the way it turned out!
Cinnamon Brunch Cake
Duncan Hines Cake Mix Magic, page 82
Ingredients:
Directions:
Pre heat the oven to 350. Spray a 10 inch Bundt pan with baking spray.
Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, set aside. Sprinkle nuts evenly in the bottom of the Bundt pan. Combine the remaining ingredients and beat for two minutes.
Spread half of the batter in the pan and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over batter. Pour remaining batter into pan.
Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool about 15 minutes and remove from pan.
Glaze cake if desired. To prepare glaze, combine 1 cup of confectioner sugar with 1 – 2 tablespoons of milk. Stir until desired pouring consistency.
Note: To reduce some of the oil, I suggest using 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 cup of oil, and 1/2 cup of water. Or any combination of this reaching 1 1/2 cups of liquid. The applesauce renders a moister crumb.
Today I came across a wonderful cake that incorporates a little bit of this and that. While surfing for a cake to prepare for a birthday party I found this recipe at Picky Palate. I love Jenny’s site and her recipes. I had nearly all of the ingredients so after a quick trek to the store, I was off to bake. The differences that I made were not using the brownie layer (more on that in a minute) and adding a layer of cherry pie filling under the cheesecake layer. For the frosting I prepared a chocolate buttercream frosting from Recipezaar. With over 300 positive reviews I knew I could count on this recipe. I doubled it for this cake.
Now as for the brownie layer in the cake, I had to omit it due to the massive size of the cake. I’m sure that it would make a wonderful addition, but next time I will bake the brownie layer in two pans, so I can easily only use a layer of 1/2 the height. So I am going to make brownie pops tomorrow with the brownie batch.
So, now for the how to:
Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake, Cake Adapted from Double Chocolate Cheesecake Layered Cake @ Picky PalettePreheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cream cheese and sugar into a stand or electric mixer bowl. Beat until softened. Beat in the eggs until smooth. Pour into a wax paper lined and greased 9 inch springformpan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until middle is set and not jiggly. Remove and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight or for 2-3 hours. Carefully remove sides and transfer to wax paper. **I placed the cheesecake in the freezer for about 30 minutes before removing from pan.
Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and divide evenly into a wax paper lined and greased 9 inch cake pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center. Let cool completely then carefully turn over onto wax paper; set aside.
Prepare cake mix according to package directions and pour into 2 wax paper lined 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center. Let cool completely then carefully turn over onto wax paper; set aside.
Kittencal’s Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Doubled from the original recipeCream the butter in stand mixer. Add the cocoa and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar and milk alternately ending with the sugar. depending on the consistency you are looking for, you may not need 2/3 cup of milk, so don’t dump it all at once.
Putting it all together: (without the brownie layer)
Trim domed part of both cakes. Place one layer of cake, trimmed side down on serving plate and frost. Place a thin layer of the pie filling on top of frosting then top with cheesecake layer. Add another layer of pie filling then a layer of frosting. Place other cake layer cut size down, on top of the cake and finish frosting completely. Refrigerate to set the cake. Keep leftovers refrigerated.
