Tag Archives: Dessert

Pound Cake with KA Cake Flour

03 Wednesday Nov 2010

Posted by in Baking, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, Recipes

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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.

Back and full of Spice!

05 Sunday Sep 2010

Posted by in Baking, Cookies, Dessert, Recipes

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I have been anxious to get back to baking, however spare time has been sparse. This week though I got a new camera, and decided no matter what, that I would set aside some time this weekend to bake and take (photos that is). With literally millions of options on the WWFB (world-wide food blogs) I came across this recipe on one of my favorites, Get Off Your Butt & Bake. This is an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, but it is put together in a way I haven’t seen before. That is you boil the raisins and the flour is added with the butter and sugar prior to adding the soda and salt… The aroma of the spices in there was tantalizing and made the house small like Christmas… which by the way is coming sooner than you would believe.

But I digress. I did change-up a few small items, but otherwise stuck to the original recipe. My husband and youngest daughter were my taste testers. After the first bite, my husband had this like “pregnant pause”, which alarmed me. Then he stated, “Those are good, really good!” My daughter said the same and didn’t even complain about the raisins (which she swears she hates).

So here is the recipe and some practice photos taken with the new Rebel T2i (which so far is amazing).

Mom’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Slightly adapted from Get Off Your Butt & Bake

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 3/4 cup softened butter, cubed*
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 eggs*
  • 2 cups original oats
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips (or nuts)
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp each: cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom
  • Sea salt to top if desired

Begin by combing the raisins and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer on low for 15 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely. Once cool, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the raisin mixture with the butter, sugar, eggs, oatmeal,  flour and chocolate chips (or nuts) and salt. Mix well with a wooden spoon and/or your hands. Add the remaining ingredients until well blended and drop by tablespoons onto parchment or non stick pan, sprinkle some sea salt on cookie tops if desired. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Let the cookies rest on baking sheet just long enough to not fall apart 1 – 2 minutes.

*Note: in halving the recipe I had to use 1 1/2 eggs. I used my kitchen scale, but you could just open one egg, beat it lightly, and use half of it.

My changes in the cookies were:

  1. I halved the recipe and mixed it with my hands, not a mixer
  2. I used 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening because I ran out of butter!
  3. I used chocolate chips instead of nuts
  4. I didn’t have allspice, so I used cardamom

Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cake

15 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by in Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Recipes

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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.

 

Cinnamon Brunch Cake

20 Sunday Jun 2010

Posted by in Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

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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.

Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake

31 Monday May 2010

Posted by in Cakes & Pies, Dessert, Recipes

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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.

 

…May Flowers

01 Saturday May 2010

Posted by in Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Recipes

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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.

Five Ingredient Dessert (never let em see you sweat)

25 Sunday Apr 2010

Posted by in Cakes & Pies, Dessert, Recipes

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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.

 

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

25 Sunday Apr 2010

Posted by in Chicken, Entree', Recipes

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I am always leery about serving a “new food” when company comes, but after all of the reviews, I knew I would be safe with this one. I adapted my recipe just slightly from the original recipe at Annie’s Eats (who got it from Elly Says Opa!) using the Bon Appetite recipe for the same dish. Note that my recipe is doubled.

I said all that to say this is an awesome recipe. Easy and easily adapted to your taste. Dessert too was new to us (see next post). It also was really, really good. I had the company fooled into thinking I slaved over this one, but later revealed the truth. Try it, you’ll like it, I promise. My kids kept moaning about how good dessert was.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Adapted from this and this

  • 2 lbs ground chicken
  • 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
  • 2 tbsp pasta sauce
  • 8 french bread rolls (or hamburger buns)
  • Zesty Italian salad dressing
  • Additional pasta sauce
  • Mozzarella Cheese, sliced (6 – 8) or shredded
  • Saute’d mushrooms (optional)

Prep:

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, bread crumbs, Parmesan, seasonings and 2 tbsp pasta sauce. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Form into 8 patties (though mine made 9). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Pre-heat broiler. Broil the burgers for 4 – 6 minutes then flip and broil 4 – 6 mor minutes until cooked through (160 degrees). Remove and top each burger with pasta sauce and cheese. Return to broiler until cheese is melted.

For the buns, brush Italian dressing and toast under broiler until golden. Place burger on bun and serve with additional cheese, sauce and mushrooms if desired.

Notes about the recipe:

  1. I was concerned about not having the “breading” that goes along with traditional chicken parmesan, however the bread crumbs mixed in with the chicken forms a breading-like texture when broiled. The bread crumbs were already seasoned too, so that added to the wonderful flavor
  2. I used a jarred Pasta sauce – Classico Traditional Sweet Basil and Tomato
  3. I used bakery fresh french bread rolls that were the same size as the traditional hamburger bun
  4. From the Bon Appetit recipe was the idea to add some sauce into the chicken mixture. It was good because there were chunks of tomato intermingled in the burgers.
  5. The salad dressing brushed on the buns was epic. Ok, exagerrating slightly, but rather than butter slathered all over the buns, they toasted up nicely and had an Italian flare. I used Kraft Light Zesty Italian

Peanut Butter Banana Pudding

27 Saturday Mar 2010

Posted by in Dessert, Recipes

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Yes, you read that correctly, peanut butter, bananas and pudding. I had already planned to make banana pudding for dinner and just happened to come across this recipe and decided to “tweak” tonight’s dessert.

This was a very simple recipe and turned out to be a quite delicious combination. If you like peanut butter and banana’s, I highly recommend trying this recipe. My kids, had seconds and would have gone for thirds if I let them.

To check out the original recipe, head over to Peanut Butter Boy.com.

Peanut Butter Banana Pudding

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz sour cream*
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (Jif)
  • 2 cups skim milk
  • 8 oz whipped topping, thawed for 30 minutes
  • 2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
  • 3 bananas, in 1/4″ thick slices
  • 1/2 box (16oz) Nilla Wafers

Instructions:

In a large bowl whisk together the sour cream and peanut butter. Then whisk in the whipped topping and milk until no clumps remain. Stir in the instant pudding until well incorporated and mixture begins to thicken.

In a large glass serving dish or trifle bowl, form a layer of Nilla Wafers, flat side facing up. Cover with a thin layer of pudding, followed by a layer of banana slices. Add another thin layer of pudding and repeat, wafers, pudding, bananas… Garnish with extra wafers on the side if desired.  Top with a few vanilla wafers and any other garnish. Peanut Butter Boy suggested chocolate shavings and/or fresh berries. I used some honey roasted peanuts.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

*The original recipe calls for non fat greek yogurt (or sour cream) but I had to toss my greek yogurt as it was slightly past its expiration date, and I didn’t want to chance making anyone sick!

Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling

25 Monday Jan 2010

Posted by in Baking, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, Recipes

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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 2 – 9″ 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 two 9-inch layers, or three 8-inch layers. (The original recipe link states to make it in 8″ pans, I used 9″ pans and sliced the layers in half.)

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 layer 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.