Sunflower Cake

While I was done visiting my parents earlier this month, my mom showed me a pictures of this cake. Once I saw that it had peeps, I knew two things. First, my husband would love it (and he did), second, that it would make a great Easter cake. It's cute and fun and super easy to  make. If you can open a boxed cake mix and bake it, then frost it, you can make this cake. Easy is my favorite word when it comes to cooking, especially if it's something for a special occasion and this cake fits the bill!

One Year Ago: Oven Baked Chicken Fingers

What You Need:

a boxed cake mix (any flavor)
the ingredients to make said boxed cake
white frosting (I used a vanilla flavored one)
3 packages of yellow Peeps
1 c chocolate chips

What To Do:

Follow the directions on the back of the box for making your cake and bake it using two 9 inch round cake pans. Allow to cool completely. Frost your cake with the white frosting, make sure to add some in the middle too. Once it's frosted, start placing your peeps around the cake in a circle, making sure that their tails face out to make the petals of the sunflower. Fill the center with the chocolate chips and that's it. You have a cute cake already for Easter!

Classic: Ice Box Cake

I remember by very first job was working as an office girl for a campground and canoe rental place that my uncle owned. I was all of 14 and so excited to be working and making money for things that my parents wouldn’t buy. Even then I loved to cook and I remember my uncle asking me if I knew how to make an ice box cake. Of course, I had never heard of this before so I asked my mom. Basically, it’s an old fashion favorite made with whipped cream and very thin, very crisp, chocolate cookies. Those cookies are pretty hard to find anymore. They’re usually on the top shelf, hidden in between other cookies that have lost their way.  You can find them, you just have to look really really well. They come in a rectangular yellow box, that is wrapped in plastic. Honestly, I’m not sure who even makes them. Guess I should have paid attention when I found them. You know you have the right box when you flip it over and there is a recipe on the back for “Old Fashion Ice Box Cake.”

What You Need:

1 package very thin chocolate cookies
1 tub cool whip
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
Hot Fudge for garnish you like

What To Do:

Mix the vanilla into the cool whip if using. I don’t ever use it, but it helps give a bit more flavor to the cake. Then all you do is place a dollop of cool whip onto each cookie and sort of sandwich them all together. They stand up on their edge to form a “cake” shape. Then cover the entire thing with the remaining cool whip and place into the fridge for at least 4 hours. The cookies become soft to form a cake like texture. Cut into diagonal slices and serve!

Cake Batter Blondies

If you’ve on the wonderfully addicted site Pinterest lately, you’re sure to have see these delectable cake batter blondies. There have been a number of people making them lately and for good reason, they are heavenly! The night after I saw these golden beauties I needed to make them. I started raiding my pantry, hoping to still have a yellow cake mix in there. Thankfully, I was in luck. I had one box of yellow mix left. Then I came to a problem. I didn’t have any sprinkles! So mine aren’t as colorful as the ones you’ve seen around, but mine have coconut and delicious dark chocolate chips in them.  They are a quick treat and would be perfect to make for bake sales too.

What You Need:

1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 c veg oil
1 egg
1/2 c milk
1/2 c coconut
1/2 c dark chocolate chips


What To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cake mix, oil, egg and milk in a bowl, whisking until combined. Then stir in the coconut and chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 11x7 baking dish and cook for about 25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Apple Cider Cake

I got this idea from a friend of mine. She was trying to figure out what kind of cake to bake for a friends birthday. She showed me a couple options and one of them was an apple cider cake. I thought it sounded good but was more for the fall, thinking I wouldn't be able to find apple cider in the dead of winter. While grocery shopping two weeks ago, I decided to check out the case that my grocery store keeps their cider in, surprised to actually see they still had it! So I picked up a bottle, returned home and made this moist cake using a bunt pan, apple cider and apple sauce. This cake has very little fat in it and doesn't raise very much at all.

What You Need:

1 box yellow cake mix (not a pudding one or a butter recipe)
1 c apple cider
3 eggs
1/3 c apple sauce
2 tbs veg oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the glaze:
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs apple cider

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degree and grease a bunt pan well.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix with the apple cider, eggs, applesauce, oil and cinnamon until moist and well combined. Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack to finish cooling. Once the cake is cooled, mix together the cider, powdered sugar and cinnamon. It will take a minute to get all the powdered sugar combined but don't add anymore liquid, just keep stirring. It will look brown because of the cinnamon but it gives the cake a shinny appearance. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and it's ready to go.

Ina's Coconut Cake

I love coconut. It's so yummy!! I was watching Barefoot Contessa, it's one of my fav's, and she made this incredible coconut cake! I'm going to let the picture speak for it self in this one and just copy and paste her recipe. I did make a few changes that I will note: I used 6 large eggs instead of extra large eggs for the cake and in the frosting. I omitted the almond extract from both the cake and the frosting and I added a vanilla bean so it had all those little dark specks in the frosting. Super yummy!!

Ina Garten's Coconut Cake:

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup milk
• 4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, then line them parchment paper. Grease them again and dustlightly with flour.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled; don't be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of coconut with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and smooth the top with a knife. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract on low speed. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip!).

To assemble, place 1 layer on a flat serving plate, top side down, and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top, top side up, and frost the top and sides. To decorate the cake, sprinkle the top with coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides. Serve at room temperature.

Snicker-doodle Cake

While I really can't stand the show "Semi homemade with Sandra Lee", she has a good idea. While I don't agree with some of the prepackaged things she uses because of all the preservatives, I'm the first person to go to my cupboard and grab a boxed cake mix. I always keep a few on hand because they make a quick dessert. Keep a few boxes of yellow as well as a few boxes of white cake mix gives you the basic starter for numerous cakes with some great flavor. If you don't know what a Snicker-doodle is, consider me disappointed. Snicker-doodles are these crispy cinnamon sugar coated cookies. They also happen to be my husband second favorite cookie in the world, second only to the soft chewiness of a peanut butter cookie. This snicker-doodle cake has all the wonderful cinnamon flavor of it's cookie counterpart but only takes about half the time and energy to make!

What You Need:

1 box white cake mix
1 cup milk
1 stick butter, melted
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp cinnamon
1 container of vanilla frosting

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degree and grease two 9 inch round cake pans. In a large bowl whisk together the cake mix and 2 tsp cinnamon. Using a hand mixer, blend the cake mix with the milk, melted butter and eggs. Divide between the two pans and bake for 25-30 minutes on the center wrack of your oven.

When it's done, remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to finish cooling.
Meanwhile, combine the vanilla frosting with the remaining teaspoon of cinnamon. Once the cake is cooled, place the layers together and cover with the frosting. If you don't want to mix the cinnamon into the frosting you can sprinkle some on top of the cake and in between the layers.

Lemon Cake with Lavender Cream

It is hard to find the right words that describe this cake. It's light and tender, tart and sweet, but that doesn't even compare to the real taste of this cake. Lemon is such a crisp, fresh, clean flavor and I love it in lots of things but lemon in desserts just takes the cake! Then there is Lavender. Lavender to me, is more of a smell. One that is floral and very fragrant. Lavender buds are steeped in a mixture of heavy cream and honey and then whipped up light and fluffy to top off the cake. When you take a bite I swear you are smelling with your tongue. Neither flavor over powers the other which makes this the perfect dessert.

*** It is important to note that you do not get lavender blossoms from the craft section of your local walarmt because they contain fragrance oils which are not edible. You can find the blossoms in the herb/spice section of most health food stores, or on the internet.

What you need:
For Cake:
2 tbs unsalted butter, melted, for brushing pan
5 large eggs, separated
3/4 c sugar, divided
3/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbs grated  lemon zest, plus 3 tbs juice
1 c cake flour (not self rising)
1/2 tsp salt
For Filling:
1/2 c plus 1 tbs sugar
3 tbs flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated Meyer lemon zest plus 3/4 c juice (again can use regular lemon)
1 large egg yolk
1 tbs unsalted butter
For Lavender Cream:
1 1/2 c heavy cream
3 tbs mild honey
1/2 tbs dried lavendar blossoms
Garnish:
confectioners sugar

What to do:
Make cake:
Preheat oven to 325 f

Invert bottom of a springform pan and lock on side. Brush pan with melted butter, then chill 2 mins to set. Line bottom of pan with a round of parchment paper, then brush pan and parchment with another layer of melted butter and chill 2 mins more. Dust with flour, knocking out excess.
Beat together yolks and 1/2 c sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and thick, about 3 mins. At med speed, beat in oil and lemon zest and juice until just combined. Sift in flour and mix at low speed until just combined.

Beat whites with salt in another large bowl with cleaned beaters at med-high speed until foamy, then add remaining 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating and continue to beat until whites just hold soft peaks. Gently fold one third of whites into yolk mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but throughly. Transfer batter to springform pan, smoothing top, and gently rap against counter once or twice to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden brown (top with crack slightly) and a wooden toothpick comes out clean. 40 to 50 mins. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 mins, then remove side of pan and cool cake to room temp. About 1 hour, sides will cave in a little.

Make Filling while cake cools:
Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a small heavy sauce pan, then add lemon juice in a slow stream, whisking until combined. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, whisking, until thickened, about 3 mins. Remove from heat.
Whisk yolk in small bowl, then add about one fourth of lemon-juice mixture whisking virgiously (tempering the yolk) Whisk into remaining lemon juice mixture and gently boil, whisking 1 min. Remove from heat and stir in butter and zest. Transfer filling to a bowl and cover surface with buttered parchment paper. Chill until cool, at least 30 mins.

Lavender Cream:
Bring cream, honey and lavender blozzoms just to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and let steep, covered, 30 mins. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids and chill lavender cream, covered until cold.

Assemble Cake:

Invert cake and discard parchment. Cut cake horizontally into 3 even layers with a long serrated knife. Transfer 1 layer, cut side up to a cake plate. Lightly whisk filling to loosen, then spread half of filling evenly over cake layer on plate leaving 1/2 in border around edge. Place a second cake layer over filling in same manner. Top with remaining filling in same manner. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down, pressing gently so that filling is spread to edge of cake.
Just before serving beat lavender cream with a whisk until it is thickened and barely holds soft peaks. Dust cake with confectioners sugar and serve with lavender cream.

H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!

Divine Chocolate Pound Cake

I found this recipe on the inside of a Nordic Ware bunt pan that was on sale after Christmas. My brother in law, Eran, was visiting for a couple days so I decided to make this for dessert one night. I have to warn you that it is in no way, shape or from low calorie so if you made a resolution to watch your diet this year then you may want to leave the page now. One look at this cake and I know you will want to make it!

Ingredietns:

3 cups of sugar (yes that does say cups)
1 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk or half and half
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups of flour
1 cup cocoa powder (dark cocoa powder works good too)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt


Preheat your oven to 325. Grease and flour your pan. The flouring of a pan is especially important if you use a fancy bunt pan with lots of grooves. It helps the cake to release much better without tearing. To do this, first grease your pan with cooking spray, lard, shortening, whatever you use. Then take 2 tbs of flour and sprinkle it around the pan. Take the pan in your hands and rotate it in all directions, tapping the outside as you go to move excess flour. Once the whole pan is coated, turn it upside down and tap it again to remove any flour that is left.
In a large mixing bowl, mix sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then add in the milk and vanilla; mixing well.
Mix in the remaining ingredients, making sure that it all gets incorporated.
Spoon into prepared pan, only filling about 3/4 full.
Bake for 90 to 95 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire wrack to finish cooking.
Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar if you desire and serve with ice cream.

H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!