Tag Archives: cake

Let Them Eat Cake

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As you can see, I stink at decorating 😛

 

But if you let them eat cake, make sure you refrigerate it after frosting it. Why you ask? Oh, just go look at the picture at the bottom of the post and you’ll understand hehe. This is what happens to a butter based frosting when left in a warm kitchen for too long. All I could think of was “omg, I am SO glad I got the photos taken!” My husband has more than once paid me the supreme compliment of calling me the most laid back person he’s ever known but I’m not sure how laid back I’d have been if the only photos I had to show you were the last ones lol. Though I did die laughing when my son called me (my husband and I were out) to tell me the cake had “collapsed”. I figure it still tastes good and I’m sure not out to prove to all of you how perfect I am so I want you to enjoy the laugh too.

So do as I say not as I did in this case. REFRIGERATE THE CAKE!!!! And maybe don’t put quite as much frosting in between the layers as I did. 😀 Just eat it from a spoon because you are going to have extra frosting because I am feeling too lazy to refigure the math to cut down the amounts so that you don’t have too much frosting between your layers. Just give the kids a spoon or offer the neighbor some frosting. They won’t refuse; I promise 😀

Ok; moving on (hehe… I think those words are becoming my trademark. I can’t write them now without giggling. I’m not going to tell you that this is a quick fix cake or something to start when you need a quick dessert. But for a special occasion or just cause you want to treat your family, this is an excellent choice. It’s showy (especially if you are better at decorating than I am which isn’t difficult because I’m horrible at it), rich and moist and tastes great. But it DOES take time. You could use a box mix for the cake I would guess and it would work but I make no promises as to whether it would be as good.  The cake recipe comes from Food Network and the frosting is from me.

Chocolate Fudge cake

With

Chocolate Raspberry Butter Cream Frosting

  • CAKE-
  • 3 cups brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup canola oil
  • 3 eggs (bring to room temp)
  • 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 1/8 cups cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  • 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam, melted (you will be using this after the cake layers have cooled and this is my own addition so feel free to omit if you want)
  • FROSTING-
  • 1/2 cup pureed and strained raspberries (2 pints got me the half cup and some extra raspberries for decorating)
  • 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 cups semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 3 to 5 cups powdered sugar (will vary)
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon raspberry extract (optional; I didn’t think it needed it but wanted to post it for those who might like it)
  1. Cake- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three nine inch cakes pans (I used Bakers Joy instead; the spray that has both oil and flour in it and it worked fine)
  2. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar and oil. On low speed of your mixer, add the eggs. Set aside and mix together your flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
  3. In a measuring cup, mix your vanilla into your milk (yes; this recipe makes a lot of dirty dishes 😛 ) and set aside.
  4. Bring the water to a boil and pour over the cocoa and whisk until it is well blended and smooth.
  5. To the egg mixture, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl off after each addition.
  6. At low speed, add in the cocoa mixture.
  7. Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. When cake layers have cooled, remove from pan and refrigerate the layers while you make the frosting. If you have no room to put in the fridge, just cover and set somewhere cool.
  8. FROSTING-
  9. While cake layers cool, make your frosting. Melt the chocolate with the heavy cream in the microwave until chocolate is melted (about 1 1/2 minutes). Stir until smooth. Set in the fridge to cool down somewhat, about ten minutes. Don’t leave too long or it will harden back up.
  10. Beat the butter, raspberries, raspberry jam and vanilla extract until well blended. Beat in the chocolate mixture.  One cup at a time, beat in the powdered sugar, stopping at four cups.
  11. Refrigerate frosting mixture for one to two hours.
  12. When thoroughly cold, beat mixture at high speed until thick and fluffy. If not thick enough to be spreadable, add more powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
  13. Take melted jam and using a pastry brush, brush generously over two of the cake layers.
  14. Set one cake layer (one of the ones with with jam) on serving plate and frost generously (but…ummm… not too generously like I did lol). Carefully top with the other jammed layer and frost. Top that with the last layer and frost top and sides. The cake can now legally use the name “Mount Cakesuvius”. Decorate as desired.

 

Mount Cakesuvius after it exploded

Just An Old Fashioned Girl At Heart

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Until you surround it with juicy fruits and some pillowy whipped cream it can seem....

Although I’m sure if my kids had their way, they would delete the fashioned part and just say that I am old. But what do they know? What’s the old saying? Youth is wasted on the young. 😛 Let us old farts be young…or something like that. If I think of a way to put that logically, I’ll get back to you. Until then, I guess I’ll just stay old and feeble minded .

Seriously though, I really am an old fashioned girl. It took me forever to join the 20th century and get a cell phone because I thought they were silly. For the longest time, I only had a 20 pound Tracfone. You know the kind. You had to pull up the antennae to get it to work and even then it only worked on alternating Tuesdays in months with J in them. I still haven’t joined the 21st century when it comes to phones. My phone may be smaller now but it doesn’t have any bells or whistles. I can’t use it to go onliine, I can’t play games on it, I can barely make calls on it half the time. But hey, it’s not 20 pounds! I’m getting there!

I’m old fashioned in other ways too. Ways that make my teen boys still at home roll their eyes and give me the “but the other kids get to!” routine way more than is probably good for my eardrums. I limit TV watching, they aren’t allowed to watch anything over PG unless I’ve seen it myself or know from a reputable source that it’s ok. They are only allowed on the computer one hour one day a week and then an hour and a half each weekend day or vacation day. I’m so cruel. It makes me happy. 😀

I’m pretty old fashioned in many ways when it comes to food too. I absolutely love the recipes I find online from fellow bloggers or cooking sites or what have you and am constantly needing a bib to sop up the drool over so many of the desserts posted. But when it comes to cake, I’ve never been a big cake eater. My vice has always been more along the lines of ice cream. So unless I am craving gooey frosting like I was the other day with the Caramel Cupcakes I made and posted here, I prefer a simpler cake. One that always works for me is pound cake. You can do so much with it. It’s good warm, it’s good cold. It tastes great plain and it can be fancied up and made oh so fattening by adding creamy sauces and sugared fruits. You can change the flavoring in it and get an entirely different cake from the same recipe. Bottom line, pound cake is, in my opinion, the best all around cake when you want a cake but don’t want either a whole lot of trouble making it or something over the top rich and goopy. The one I am posting here has been my go to pound cake for about 15 years now. It has a fine tender crumb and a nice crispy crust; the quintessential pound cake assets. With the lemon flavor I post here, it is a mild sweet NOT tart lemon flavor. If you want more flavor just make a glaze of lemon juice and powdered sugar. So get to cooking!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. 🙂 This is also excellent with the almond extract variation. In some ways, I almost prefer that one; depends on my mood. 🙂

SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE

  • 2 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 teaspoons lemon extract or 1 tablespoon Almond extract if you prefer an almond flavored cake (yes, you read that right. Four. If you’re not wanting lemon, just omit it and the zest and juice.)
  • 6 eggs
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • zest of one lemon
  • juice of half a lemon (again, omit the zest and juice if you’re not wanting lemon)
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. Or spray with cooking spray that has both oil and flour.
  2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice and other extracts, if using.
  4. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a small bowl.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating it with the sour cream. Beat well after each addition.
  6. Bake at 350 for 55 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. A few teenie tiny baby crumbs are ok, but no loose batter and if’s it’s dripping, you may want to make sure you turned the oven on. 😀
  7. Let cool in the pan for ten minutes then invert onto a serving plate. Serve cold, serve warm, bury your face in the plate, smear it on your toes… whatever works. I won’t judge. 😀

...pretty unassuming can't it? But don't be fooled.

Munchkins

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Is there anyone alive who hasn’t watched The Wizard of Oz at some point in their life? When I was a kid, it came on TV every year. So did Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory but we’re not talking about chocolate today. Though thinking of it is there a BAD time to talk about chocolate? Sorry. I got sidetracked. Imagine that. I loved that movie when I was a kid; still do actually. But I have to confess. The Lollipop Kids freaked me the hell out. I loved the Munchkins. I wanted one of my own. Hey, I was young! I wasn’t thinking they were people, I just thought they would look great lined up with my stuffed animals. But The Lollipop Kids? Really; they scared the poop out of me. I’m not sure why really. But they struck me then and now as something out of a kids nightmare.

What is it with small things that brings out the oohs and ahhhs in all of us though? Munchkins to line up with your stuffed animals, human babies (did I mention that I have six kids? I swear, I didn’t KNOW that they wouldn’t always be cute and tiny! No one told me about teenagers!), kittens (I want a kitty!!), puppies, even little foods. Something about small stuff turns most people, especially women (though my husband gives most women a run for their money when it comes to turning into goo over babies) into piles of genetic goo.

I have heard before that babies are small and cute to make us think twice about leaving them out for the wolves to get when they keep us up nights and I can’t disagree 😛 I figure the last time I got a full nights sleep was about 1985. If my husband had his way, I would continue remembering sleep fondly until I was too old to remember how to put a diaper on. We have ten between us and every time we go to the store, if he disappears, all I have to do is listen for the sound of cooing and I know it’s him, getting teary eyed and loving on somebodies baby. Personally, I think it’s cute but don’t tell him I said so.

Like I said though, even cute foods seem to bring out the awwws in most of us. I think that’s one reason cupcakes have been all the rage for the last couple of years. I know it’s not just that small and not too much to eat thing because if you eat the equivalent of half a 9 inch layer cake in cupcakes, it kills the not much to eat part. Or maybe that was just me. Never mind.

When I finished making today’s recipe, I called my husband and two teen boys into the kitchen as I cooed over the cute little cakes. They weren’t impressed with the size and looked at me as if they were thinking about calling the man with the little white coats. They just wanted to eat them. EAT THEM?!  But…but…but… they’re CUTE! I pointed and emphasized the cuteness. Zachie, my 14 year old just said “Uh huh. Can I have one now?” Heathen.

So go make these adorable little cakes. Just promise me that you”ll coo over them and call everybody into the kitchen to see them before you eat them. You might not want to line them up with your stuffed animals though. Damn, I want a munchkin.

LIMEADE POUND CAKE

These are exceptionally moist, very simple to make cakes. They are tender and have enough of a lime flavor and tartness to them that I didn’t even add my normal ton of Lime zest to them. You don’t even really need the glaze but I can’t think of any logical reason not to use it anyway 😀

  1. 1 box lemon cake mix
  2. 1 cup sour cream
  3. 1 12 ounce container frozen limeade, thawed and divided
  4. 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (use the rest on a bagel. Yes, one bagel. I like cream cheese. Make me happy.)
  5. 3 large eggs
  6. 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or use cooking spray) a 12 cup Bundt cake pan. Or, as I did, use mini cake pans and muffin tins. I got 8 mini cakes and six cupcakes from this.
  • Place the cake mix,  half the limeade, sour cream, cream cheese and eggs in a large bowl. Beat for one minute on low speed, then scrape the bowl. Continue beating on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan or whatever pan you’re using.
  • Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Turn onto a wire rack and let cool thoroughly.
  • Mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar with limeade, a little at a time, until you get a glaze of spooning consistency. Spoon over the cake(s)
  • Eat four of them and then tell yourself that the calories don’t count because they are tiny. And cute. Awwwww….. look at them!!!

What Do You Mean It’s “Too Rich”?!

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My husband Russell is notoriously difficult to make desserts for. He is one of those abnormal ought to be forced to eat liver just because people who will eat three bites of a dessert and then say he is done, saying something is “too rich” or “too sweet”. What the heck does that mean?! There is no such thing. Ok, so maybe I have been known to say something is too sweet but never ever have I uttered such blasphemy as to say something is too rich.

Mind you, this is also a man who can polish off half a bag of tortilla chips and a can of dip and then be back in the cabinet half an hour later saying he is hungry, but that’s a story for another time when I’m not absurdly jealous of his ability to not weigh 300 pounds doing that.

Point of all this is that I wanted to make a dessert that all categories of dessert eaters could enjoy. Something for the weird people who say they don’t really like sweets and something for those of us who are smart enough to know that there is no such thing as too rich. So I came up with this bundt cake. Boring you say? Not this one. This one is rich and oh so moist with the flavor of a warm Mounds bar (well, if you eat it warm. Otherwise, it would be a cold Mounds bar. Just sayin’) with a nice crispy crust and to appease the beast in us sweets lovers, a creamy glaze also filled with a subtle coconut flavor and aroma. It’s also extremely easy.

HOMEMADE MOUNDS BAR CAKE

  1. 1 18 ounce box chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
  2. 1 3.4 ounce box instant chocolate pudding mix
  3. 1 15 ounce can cream of coconut (NOT coconut milk. Cream of coconut is usually found in the section where they keep drink mixers)
  4. 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  5. 3 large eggs
  6. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • For the glaze
  1. 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  2. 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
  3. heavy cream or milk
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Mix all the cake ingredients together in  a large bowl. Beat on low until blended then turn the beater to medium high and beat for 2 minutes.
  • Pour batter into a well greased and floured Bundt pan (I use the non stick spray  that has both oil and flour in it. You can find it right with the non spray oil under the name of Bakers Joy or Pillsbury Baking Spray With Flour).
  • Cook in a 350 degree oven for between 40 to 60 minutes. If unsure of it’s done, stick a toothpick (I use bamboo grilling skewers. hey, it works! 😛 ) down in it. It should come out almost clean or with barely a crumb on it.
  • Turn out onto a rack or plate and let cool completely.
  • Put your powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add a little bit of milk or cream and the coconut extract. Stir. Add more cream…a little bit at a time… until you have a nice drizzling consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Serve with some sort of decadent ice cream so that the non sweet eaters can’t finish it all and you have to eat it for them.

If I'm really lucky, my husband will have one bite of ice cream and then hand the rest of the cake and ice cream over to me. 😀