Bake Me More

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:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup fine chopped almonds (pecans)
• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 box instant vanilla pudding (4 serving size)
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (see note)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp almond extract (I used vanilla)

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.

I was drawn to the original post of this recipe by the its title “Stupid Delicious“. Obviously it must be pretty good to earn that title. I prepared this for a Memorial Day Cookout we attended today – which by the way was a pool party and the beautiful weather of this three-day holiday weekend ended at 3:00… the time the party began. Being a native Floridian however, I know that in 30 minutes, the sun will probably be shining, so we waited… and waited… The sun never came out, but the lightning stopped, so the kids got their swim in.

Anyway, I digress. I hesitate to take new recipes to parties, but after reading this post, I felt strongly it would be good. It was. The oohs and aahs were strikingly exclaimed. Try it, you will not be disappointed.

Don’t be afraid of the larger amount of ingredients, it is actually very easy to prepare, and once it’s in the oven, your work is done. No layers, no frosting, nothing but a beautiful, rich chocolaty cake ready to be devoured.

Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake

From Shauna at Piece of Cake 

• –       2½ cups sugar, divided
• –       ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• –       ¼ cup light corn syrup
• –       2½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
• –       2 2/3 cups flour
• –       2 teaspoons baking powder
• –       ½ teaspoon salt
• –       1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• –       4 large eggs, at room temperature
• –       1 cup milk, at room temperature
• –       1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli)

1.) In a small saucepan, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sugar, the cocoa powder and corn syrup with ½ cup hot water. Bring just to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in ½ teaspoon of vanilla. Set aside.

2.) Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour a 12-cup bundt pan.

 3.) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

4.) In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter with the remaining 2 cups sugar until light in color and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Beat in the remaining 2 tsp vanilla.

 5.) Reduce the mixer speed to low, and beat in a third of the flour mixture just until the flour begins to disappear into the batter. Beat in half the milk. Beat in another third of the flour, then the rest of the milk, and finish with the remaining flour until the batter is smooth. Stop the mixer and gently fold in the chocolate chips.

 6.) Scoop out a third of the batter into a medium bowl, whisk in the chocolate syrup and set aside.

7.)  Pour another third of the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth it with a spatula. Evenly top this layer with the chocolate batter. Finish by pouring the last third of the vanilla batter over the top.

8.) Lightly swirl the batters with a wooden skewer or knife to give a “marble” effect–a continuous figure-8 motion while going around the pan works well.

9.) Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cake springs back lightly when touched, about 60-70 minutes.

10.) Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack. Invert the cooled cake onto a serving platter and dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving if desired. Store any leftovers in a cake dome at room temperature for 4-5 days, maybe more.

*I didn’t have time to wait till the cake was completely cooled and turned it onto a plate while still slightly warm. There was a very minor amount of thin cake layer remaining “here and there” in the pan, so if you can’t wait, it should be ok.

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:

• 2 – 8 oz packages softened cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 brownie mix 9×13 inch size (I baked but didnt use in this cake)
• 1 chocolate cake mix
• Chocolate Frosting Recipe, prepared

Preheat 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.

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 tbl vanilla
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup milk
• 5 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Cream 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.

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.

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.