26 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in Baking, Brownies & Bars, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Tags
Baked, Baking, Brownies & Bars, Cakes & Pies, Chocolate, Dessert, Easy, From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Amongst many other baking expeditions (that I have failed to post on) over the last week, this one turned out …
29 Friday Apr 2011
Posted in Brownies & Bars, Cookies, Dessert, From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Tags
Baked, Baking, Birthdays, Cookies, Dessert, Easy, From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
This gallery contains 3 photos.
We had two things to celebrate today! I will admit my excitement for one of these was fueled mainly by …
01 Friday Apr 2011
Posted in Baking, Entree', From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Tags
This gallery contains 2 photos.
This post will be short and sweet – and the pictures? Well, I had to take them in a hurry …
25 Friday Feb 2011
Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Tags
Baked, Baking, Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Chocolate, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Postaweek2011, Recipes
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.
18 Friday Feb 2011
Posted in Baking, Brownies & Bars, Dessert, From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Tags
Baked, Brownies & Bars, Dessert, Easy, From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
This gallery contains 2 photos.
I have a few brand name websites that I frequent, such as: Kraft, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Nestle, Hershey’s and Land O’Lakes… Well …
13 Monday Dec 2010
Posted in Baking, Cakes & Pies, Candy, Dessert, Recipes
Tags
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!
15 Sunday Aug 2010
Posted in Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Recipes
Tags
Bundt, Cakes & Pies, Chocolate, Dessert, Easy, From a Mix, Recipes
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.
20 Sunday Jun 2010
Posted in Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes
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.
13 Tuesday Apr 2010
Posted in Cakes & Pies, From a Mix, Recipes
Tags
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)
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.
11 Sunday Apr 2010
Posted in Cakes & Pies, From a Mix, Recipes
Tags
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
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.
