Tag Archives: Cakes & Pies

Dec13

Bakerella Pays a Visit!

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Bakerella Pays a Visit!

Ok, maybe not in person, but Bakerella’s Cake Pops book made its first, and definitely not last, appearance in the kitchen. I actually received my book the day it was released but had not had a chance to create anything from it. I’ve made cake pops before, but some of her creations are just amazing.

Well, this past Saturday my daughter and I went looking for Christmas gifts for her friends. You know, even dollar stores will set you back when it comes to presents… then we had this wise idea to prepare sweets for them… namely, cake pops! We were just going to do a “plain old” pop, then I saw how easy the trees would be. Now granted, our last-minute decision didn’t allow me to find all the necessary decor, so we improvised. I still thing they turned out great. My daughter did the majority of the work, I just dipped the pops in the candy coating. We tweaked the shaping slightly too, but without Cake Pops, there wouldn’t have been anything.

They are just slightly tedious, but we completed 48 of them in about 90 minutes. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we did seeing the real thing. Check out the link to her site or pick up one of her books, you won’t be bored, I promise!

Dec12

Flat Broke Chocolate Cake

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Flat Broke Chocolate Cake

Back in September, King Arthur Flour’s baking blog “Baking Banter“, posted this long time favorite recipe… They refer to it as a Cake Pan Cake, but I’ve heard it call Krazy Cake, Emergency Cake, Funny Cake etc… I allude to this being a “Flat Broke” cake because of its origins to the Great Depression, when the price of butter and eggs gave this recipe a boost of popularity.

Call it what you’d like, it’s really good, and really easy… it’s even allergy friendly because it doesn’t contain eggs. I made the recipe “last-minute” in place of a sour cream pound cake that my husband had requested… seeing as I had no sour cream, eggs or softened butter.

If you want a moist, chocolate cake that yields “frosting optional” results, this one’s a keeper…

One Pan Cake ~ A King Arthur Flour Original

  • 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup cold milk (other suggestions on their site)

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Measure all the dry ingredients into an 8″ or 9″ round or square cake pan; if you use an 8″ pan, make sure it’s at least 2″ deep. Blend the ingredients together thoroughly with a fork or whisk and scoop out three holes, or indentations.

Pour the vanilla into the first hole, the vinegar into the second, and the vegetable oil into the third.

Take the cup of cold liquid (water, coffee, milk, etc.) and pour it directly over everything in the pan. Note: If you’ve used espresso powder, adding coffee will make this a mocha cake. Stir all the ingredients together with your fork until they are well blended.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve right from the pan; warm from the oven. Yield: 12 to 16 servings.

I doubled the recipe, making two 8″ rounds, and layering and frosting with a cream cheese frosting. And in preparation, as suggested for “clean release”, I used a mixing bowl and poured the batter into prepared pans.

Dec9

Two Bite Pumpkin Pies

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Two Bite Pumpkin Pies

I’m not sure whether to call these  cookies, pastry, pies, tarts or just plain dessert. Since preparing these for my daughters 4th grade class they have been given all of those titles, and with flying colors. I did give out a few copies of the recipe too.

Note, I had prepared this post Thanksgiving week and just realized that it was still in my unpublished file! I must have been half asleep when I started it. Anyway, here is the original post link and this is how easy it is to prepare these… Original source: Three Baking Sheets to the Wind

Pumpkin Pie Pockets, How I prepared them:

Ingredients:

  •  –       ½ baked Pumpkin Pie (can be crust-less, you only use the filling)
  • –       2 – 3 Pie Crusts (I used Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts)*
  • –       1 egg white, lightly beaten

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the crust and cut 2 – 4” circles with a glass or cookie cutter. Place 1 rounded tablespoon (see note) of pie in the center of the circle and fold over. Use a fork to close edges and a small sharp knife to cut a couple of decorative vent holes. Place them on a coated baking sheet then brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with sugar (if desired).

Bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Tops of pies will brown slightly. Remove and let cool completely, store in refrigerator.

*Each crust will make about 17 – 2 inch pies.

Note: originally I posted to use 1 – 2 teaspoons of filling. A more accurate amount would be a rounded tablespoon. You want to have enough filling to enjoy, but not so much it oozes out when you seal the edges!

 

Nov29

Browned Butter Pecan Pie

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Browned Butter Pecan Pie
Just before baking – isn’t it a beaut?!

I have made several variations of Pecan Pie and decided I would try another. This recipe comes from a well known blogger, Anna at Cookie Madness, who has some great recipes and photos. The pie turned out exactly as expected thus surpassing all other recipes I have used. Here is a link to her recipe. It helped also that I was able to use freshly picked Georgia Pecans that were graciously given to me by a friend.

Note that the top picture is before baking, the below picture is when it was done.

Browned Butter Pecan Pie

Nov3

Pound Cake with KA Cake Flour

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Pound Cake with KA Cake Flour

 

 

My go-to recipe for Sour Cream Pound Cake has always been a sensation. Whether drizzled with fresh strawberries, layered with butter cream or “eau natural” you won’t go wrong preparing this delicacy.

Last week my husband embarked on another decade and we celebrated with this, one of his favorites. To enhance the flavor and texture of the recipe, I used a higher grade butter and flour. Money isn’t an issue when you roll into another year is it?

These two changes rendered what my husband said was the best cake yet; moist with a tight crumb. King Arthur definitely lived up to his name in this cake, well worth the extra dollar :) .

Here’s the recipe again:

Sour Cream Pound Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, room temp (I used Grade A Irish Butter)
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 3 cups all purpose flour (I used KA Unbleached Cake Flour)
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond or lemon extract
  • 8 oz. sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat desired pans with baking spray. (1 Bundt pan, 3 (8″) round pans, 2 (9″) round pans, or loaf pans)

In a separate bowl, combine flour, soda and salt, set aside. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and lemon extract. Add flour mixture and sour cream alternately ending with flour. Spoon batter into pans. Bake loaf and round pans 45 – 60 minutes,  and bundt pan 60 to 75 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. For loafs you may add 3 -5 cups of chopped pecans.

For Frosted Layer Cakes - Note: I doubled for this cake

Buttercream Frosting:

  • ½ cup softened butter (Irish, grade A)
  • ½ cup butter flavor shortening
  • 16 oz. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 -3 Tbls milk

Cream butter, Crisco until smooth, slowly add powdered sugar, add vanilla and milk to desired consistency.

*I frosted the inner layers with strawberry buttercream frosting and a layer of fresh strawberry preserves.

Aug15

Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cake

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Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cake

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:

  • 1 box (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix
  • 1 box (4 serving size) vanilla pudding
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup miniature chocolate chips

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.

 

Jun20

Cinnamon Brunch Cake

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Cinnamon Brunch Cake

Cinnamon Brunch cake

 

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.

May31

Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake

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Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake

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.