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Posts Tagged ‘Cake’

White Out Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on October 13, 2012| 4 Comments »

I am a huge chocoholic, but sometimes a simple white cake is a wonderful thing.  I spotted this not long after I started my Pinterest addiction, but hadn’t taken the time to make it until recently.  The photo of this cake is what first caught my eye.  The delicate white frosting with the creamy custard center were just too good to pass up thanks to Life’s Simple Measures.

Well, mine turned out really good except for that gorgeous custardy layer.  No matter how long I cooked and stirred and stirred and cooked, that stuff would not thicken.  Ugh, how frustrating!  All was not lost though…I just used some of the frosting to fill the cake and it was really tasty.

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For The Cake:

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

1-1/2 c. sugar

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cups milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 egg whites

For The Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter, very soft

8 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cups milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 9” round cake pans.  Cream butter with an electric mixer on medium until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat until fluffy which will take about 3 minutes.

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Combine the milk and vanilla extract.  Add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture in 3 parts alternating with the milk/vanilla mixture.

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In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on high until soft peaks form.  Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter, stirring slowly until no white streaks show.

Divide the batter evenly in the cake pans.  Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pans for about 10 minutes and then turn out to cool completely.

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For the frosting: combine the butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.  Beat until smooth and creamy.  Gradually add the remaining powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until the frosting is thick enough to spread easily.

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Frost the cake, slice and enjoy!

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Turtle Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , , on June 16, 2012| 18 Comments »

Anyone who reads this blog with any regularity knows that I LOVE chocolate and I think caramel is pretty tasty, too.  My MIL subscribes to a magazine called “Midwest Living”, which is a lot like Southern Living just about the Midwest.  This awesome looking cake was featured in one of these books and I knew I had to make it as soon as possible. 

I think I have found my new favorite cake recipe because this is one of the best things that I have ever put in my mouth.  I am not a coffee fan.  Love the smell, hate the taste, so I have never been brave enough to try a chocolate cake recipe with brewed coffee as an ingredient.  Coffee is included in this cake and now I know why so many recipes to include it.  There wasn’t a strong coffee flavor, and the cake was so moist from it.  This would make an awesome birthday cake or even a groom’s cake.  It is that good!

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (see note)

2/3 cup cooking oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder + a little extra for dusting the pans

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Chocolate Frosting (see recipe)

1 1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted

3/4 cup purchased caramel ice cream topping

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare three 9” cake pans by spraying with non-stick spray and dusting with extra cocoa powder.  Then line them with wax paper circle.  In a small bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk and cooking oil.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, beating with an electric mixer until combined. Gradually beat in hot coffee. Pour batter into prepared pans; spread evenly. Layers will appear thin.

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Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pans then turn the cake layers out of the pans to cool completely.

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Chocolate Frosting

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

6 tablespoons butter

12 ounce package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate pieces

1 – 2 teaspoons freshly brewed hot coffee

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and milk. Add butter. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add semisweet chocolate pieces. Using a wire whisk, mix until smooth. If frosting is too thick or grainy, stir in coffee.

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Now here comes the fun part…

Place 1 cake layer, top-side down, onto a serving plate. Using an icing spatula or wide knife, frost the top of this layer with one-third of the frosting, pushing it out slightly from edges to make ripple or petal effect. Arrange one-third of the pecans on top and drizzle with 1/4 cup of the ice cream topping. Top with the second layer, top-side down. Repeat with frosting, pecans and caramel topping. Top with the third layer, right side up. Repeat with remaining frosting, pecans and caramel topping.  Chill for 1 to 2 hours before serving.

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Just look at all that decadence.  Mmmmm…wish I had a piece right now.

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Marble Cake With Oreo Buttercream Frosting

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on January 21, 2012| 5 Comments »

Yet again, I found this recipe on Pinterest, but the original poster was a blog called The Novice Chef.  This link will take you to her version of this cake.  I don’t make a lot of layer cakes apart from my Italian Cream cake, and after I tasted this one, I think I know why.  This was good, especially the frosting, but the cake seemed a little dry to me.  I think sheet cakes and Bundt cakes stay more moist, but it may be that I was too spoiled after eating that Coca-Cola cake a couple of weeks ago.  Oh, man, was that cake good!

I got good reviews from my family and friends for this, but I don’t think I will be making it again. It was ingredient heavy and time consuming, so the results just weren’t worth the time spent for me. Win some, lose some.

For the cake:
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

For the frosting:
4 oz. egg whites (3-4 large egg whites or about 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 lb. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 sleeve Oreos, run through the food processor until finely chopped

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For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare two 9” cake pans with Baker’s Joy and wax paper.  Sift the 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. I like to do this onto a paper plate so it is easier to handle. In a cup with a pour spout, mix the milk with the vanilla.

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In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter at medium speed until light and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl. Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with the milk mixture and scraping down the bowl.

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Mix 2 cups of the batter with the melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate. Scrape the remaining batter into the pans. Dollop the chocolate batter over the batter in the pans and swirl with a knife.

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Bake in the lower third of the oven for about 35 minutes, until springy. Let cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and invert onto a rack. Peel off the paper, turn the cakes upright and cool completely.

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For the icing:
Lightly whisk egg whites and sugar together over simmering water in a double boiler until egg-white mixture is hot to touch or a candy thermometer reads 140°F (60°C).

Pour hot whites into a room-temperature bowl and whip at medium high, with a wire whip, until double in volume and stiff peeks have formed. When the mixer stops, the meringue should not move around in the bowl. Meanwhile cut up butter into 2-inch pieces. (The butter should be slightly moist on the outside but cold inside.)

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On your mixer, remove the whip and attach the paddle. Add half the butter into the bowl immediately and pulsate the mixer several times until the meringue has covered the butter completely. To pulsate the mixer, turn it on and off in a jerky motion. This forces the butter on the top to the bottom of the bowl. Add the balance of the butter and pulsate mixer several times. Slowly increase the mixer’s speed, starting with the lowest speed and increase the speed every 10 seconds until you reach a medium high speed.

Continue beating until the mixture begins to look light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl. Reduce speed to LOW. Add vanilla and Oreo crumbs, continue to beat on LOW speed for 45 seconds. Then beat on MEDIUM-HIGH speed for an additional 45 to 60 seconds.

Place one layer on the cake plate and cover with the buttercream. Place the 2nd layer on top and frost the cake with the remaining buttercream.

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Snickerdoodle Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on January 7, 2012| 10 Comments »

Do you wish that your kitchen could have that perfect cinnamon fragrance floating in the air?  You do?  Then make this cake right now!  I found this on Pinterest and this link to the blog Giving Up On Perfect will take you to the original recipe.  This writer may be giving up on perfect, but this cake is close to perfection to me.  The only teeny tiny thing I changed was that I made it as a sheet cake in two pans so I could take it to two different dinners.  Other than that, I left well enough alone because this cake doesn’t need any tweaking at all!

1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup milk + 3 tbsp. milk, divided
1/4 cup butter, melted + 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup applesauce
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon + 1 tsp. cinnamon
4 oz. cream cheese
3 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

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Preheat oven to 350. Prepare two 8” square baking pans. Mix the cake mix, 1 cup milk, melted 1/4 cup butter, applesauce, eggs, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon together and pour into the pans. Bake for 25 minutes (or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean). Let cool.

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After the cake is cool, beat the cream cheese with 1/2 cup room temperature butter until smooth.  Add the milk, powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.  Beat until smooth again.  Pour the frosting on the cake and spread to cover.  Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour to let the frosting set. 

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Please join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage where I linked up this recipe for Full Plate Thursday.

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Coca Cola Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on December 3, 2011| 14 Comments »

Way back in July, my in-laws treated me to dinner at Cracker Barrel for my birthday.  The food was so yummy and the highlight was dessert-Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake.  Oh-my-goodness!  It was just a rich and decadent as it sounds.  One day at work, I was talking about this cake and one of my co-workers said that she had made it before.  Silly me had not thought about searching for a copy recipe but I did and found one on MayFlaum.com. This is so good and so decadent and so rich!  I could go on and on, but I won’t.  I will just show you the recipe so you can go quickly and make one for yourself and your family.

Here are two little notes before that though: 1. I left out the pecans and powdered sugar in the ingredients photo.  I didn’t read far enough into the recipe before I took the picture.  Oops!  2. I made this in two 8” baking pans instead of one 9×13” pan because I was sharing with C’s parents.

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 sticks unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided

1 1/2 cup Coca-cola, divided

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 13×9” baking dish.  Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 sticks of butter with 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup Coca-cola and 1/2 cup buttermilk.  Cook until it boils.

Add the boiled mixture to the flour mixture and combine.  Then add eggs and vanilla extract.  Pour the batter into the baking pan and cook for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

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During the last 10 minutes of baking, prepare the glaze.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining 1 stick of butter with 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1/2 cup Coca-cola.  Let this come to a boil and then remove from heat.  Beat in the 4 cups of powdered sugar and stir in the chopped pecans.  Pour the warm glaze over the hot cake.  Let the cake cool for a little while and then DIG IN!!!

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Join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday!

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Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on November 19, 2011| 14 Comments »

A little while ago, I paid a visit to Jackson’s Orchard and purchased a peck of Jonathan apples so I had to find new apple recipes to try.  This recipe was published in Southern Living a few months ago and I knew it would be a perfect test for fresh apples.  This cake turned out great!  The apples and cream cheese swirl kept the cake moist for days and the caramel topping was so good.

In fact, this is one of those cakes that is better a day or two after it is baked.  It just gets moister and more flavorful.  Do you have a fall potluck or party to go to?  Take this and everyone will be in apple heaven!

Note: I am not including quite as many photos as usual since this recipe is quite long already.  All of the methods used are pretty basic.

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Apple Cake Batter:

1 cup finely chopped pecans, lightly toasted

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples (The original recipe called for Galas, but I used Jonathans.)

For the Praline Frosting:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar

Prepare the Filling:

Beat the cream cheese, butter, and granulated sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth.  Add the egg, flour and vanilla.  Beat just until blended.

Prepare the Batter:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 14-cup Bundt pan with non-stick spray and cover with flour. (Or do like I do and use Baker’s Joy.)  Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and allspice.  Then add the eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla; stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Stir in the apples and pecans.

Spoon 2/3 of the apple batter into the prepared pan.  Spoon the cream cheese filling over the batter, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge of the pan.  Swirl the filling through the apple batter using a knife.  Spoon the remaining batter over the filling.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center come out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out on a cooling rack and let the cake cool down completely.

Prepare the Frosting:

Bring the brown sugar, butter, and milk to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.  Boil for 1 minute while still whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Gradually whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently for 3-5 minutes or until the frosting begins to cool and thickens slightly.  Pour immediately over the cooled cake.

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Join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday to see some yummy treats!

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Southern Plate’s Yellow Cake with Peanut Butter Icing

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on September 10, 2011| 9 Comments »

This recipe was a tease for a few weeks on the Menu Plan Monday posts because I just couldn’t seem to get it made. Well, I finally did and it was very good!  The cake part is just a plain yellow cake made from a mix which is good, but the boiled icing made it great!  The cooked frosting sets up until it is almost fudge like in consistency, so work fast after you take it off the heat.

The story behind this recipe in the Southern Plate cookbook is so cute.  I won’t pass it on here since it is not my family story to share, but go get this book and read it!  It is really sweet!

1 box yellow cake mix

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

7 Tbsp. milk

2 Tbsp. shortening

2 Tbsp. butter

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

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Prepare the cake mix according to package directions, baking it in a 9×13” baking dish. (Note: I used 2 square 8” dishes because I was taking this to 2 different places.)

While the cake is cooling, combine the sugar, milk, shortening, butter, and salt in a medium heavy saucepan.  Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.  Once it reaches a rolling boil, stop stirring and let boil for 1-2 minutes, or until it reaches the soft-ball stage.

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Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the vanilla and peanut butter.  Beat until smooth and quickly spread over the cake.

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Southern Plate’s Fruit Cocktail Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on June 18, 2011| 8 Comments »

This recipe is June’s edition of the Southern Plate-Picture Perfect Cooking project and I have to admit that I had my doubts about this one.  I used to love fruit cocktail when I was a kid, but had not eaten it in years.  When I read this recipe I was intrigued, but I wasn’t sure how putting these ingredients together could come out as a delicious cake.  Well, it does! 

You don’t really know there is fruit cocktail in the cake because all of the fruit just seems to bake into the batter and makes this so moist.  Oh, then there is the business of the sauce that goes on top.  Oh. My. Goodness.  The sauce is amazing!  I may try to make the sauce with brown sugar instead of white sugar and see if it comes out like a praline sauce.  Yum!  Try this and you will not be disappointed!

There was one little change I made.  I do not like flaked coconut and the sauce recipe calls for it.  I just left it out and the sauce was still delicious.  Below is the original recipe, but the photos included will not show the coconut.

For The Cake:

2 cups self-rising flour

one 15oz can fruit cocktail

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 13×9” baking dish.  With an electric mixer, combine all of the cake ingredients and beat at low speed for about 2 minutes.  Pour into the pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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For the sauce:

1 stick unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

While the cake is in the oven, make the sauce.  Combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar.  Boil for 1 to 2 minutes until everything is completely incorporated. 

Using a toothpick, poke many small holes in the top of the hot cake and pour the sauce over.  Let it set for about an hour and enjoy!

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I am linking this recipe to Lady Behind The Curtain’s Cast Party Wednesday!

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Southern Plate’s Banana Crumb Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on April 16, 2011| 2 Comments »

Below is the next installment of the Picture Perfect Cooking-Southern Plate Project for your enjoyment.  I really hope you try this little snack cake because it was so easy and oh-so-good! The weekend that I made it I had another dessert planned, but I realized that I had forgotten to get one crucial ingredient so I had to change horses midstream, so to speak.  It’s really hard to make a lemon cake without lemons!  Oops!

I went searching for a substitute for which I had all of the ingredients and found this little gem.  We love bananas and the flavor of this is awesome!  It makes a great dessert, but also makes a darn good breakfast with some orange juice or coffee on the side.

For the cake:

3 bananas, peeled

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

1 cup milk

1 cup chopped nuts, optional (I used pecans.)

2 cups self-rising flour

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the crumb topping:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour (any kind)

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8×8” baking pans.  Place the bananas in the bowl of a mixer and add the sugar.  Mix until the bananas are liquefied.

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Add the butter and mix until creamed together.  Add the remaining cake ingredients and blend well.

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In a separate bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients and blend together until crumbly.  I used my hands to do this, but you can also use a long-tined fork.

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Pour one quarter of the batter into each pan and top with one quarter of the crumb mixture.  Repeat this step with remaining batter and crumbs.  Bake for 45 minutes to one hour until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve from the pan. 

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Southern Plate’s Butterfinger Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on February 26, 2011| 8 Comments »

If you recall, a few weeks ago on a Thoughtful Thursday post, I said I was starting a Southern Plate-Picture Perfect Cooking Project a la the Julia/Julie Project.  Well, here is my first official entry!

This is Southern semi-homemade at its finest, combining a yummy chocolate cake with a rich milky caramel sauce topped with crushed candy bars and whipped topping.  What’s not to like about all of that?  If all of Southern Plate’s recipes turn out this good, this project is going to be fun!

The only little, teeny-tiny change I made was to the cake mix.  The original recipe called for a devil’s food cake mix and all I had was a milk chocolate so I just used that instead.  You can use either one you like.

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 jar caramel ice cream topping

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed

6 fun-size Butterfinger candy bars

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Prepare the cake according to package directions in a 13×9” baking dish.  A few minutes before the cake is done, combine the caramel ice cream topping and sweetened condensed milk.

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As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in it with a big fork.  Go crazy and put as many holes are you want.  Pour the sauce over the cake and allow it to set at room temperature for about 45 minutes.  Notice how all of that good sauce soaks right in.

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Chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight like I did.  Crush the candy bars with a rolling pin.  Sprinkle about 2/3 of the crumbs over the cake and top with the whipped topping.  Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the topping and enjoy!

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