Chocolate Friendship Cake with Fudge Icing

This is my new favorite cake.  I mean, I have to stop myself from eating the whole thing by myself.  I ate it for lunch.  Guilty.  But it provided an incredible chocolate fix. Something about the icing and cake combo... drooling just thinking about it. 

It starts with a friendship bread starter, which is super easy.  I started with 1/4 cup each, flour, milk and sugar.  Every 5 days, add another 1/4 cup of each.  (I often forget... not a science... no biggie if you forget).  I did this for 20 days...I  know that seems like an eternity, but it will go fast.  Or you can go here:   friendshipbreadkitchen for a shorter version.  After you make your first recipe, add a 1/2 cup of each (milk, sugar, flour)every 5 days.  Then on every 10th day you can make the bread, cake, pancakes, cinnamon buns or whatever strikes your fancy.  This is a link for a trillion other recipes. friendshipbreadkitchen.  You will use anywhere from a cup to two cups and have leftover to keep it going to make more yummy recipes.  I made waffles with it that were amazing!

Okay, so make the starter, make this cake, with a gallon of milk on standby, and eat the whole thing.  Because you know you want to. 

CHOCOLATE FRIENDSHIP CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE FUDGE ICING

INGREDIENTS:

• scant 2 cups Amish Friendship Bread Starter 
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 eggs
•  1 cup oil (or 1/2 cup coconut oil plus 1/2 cup drained applesauce)
•  1 cup sugar 
•  1 large box of chocolate instant pudding
•  2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
•  1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/2 teaspoon salt
•  1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use mix of oat, unbleached and whole wheat)
•  1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
•  1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, softened

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).  Combine the dry ingredients except chocolate chips in a large bowl and blend well.

Add oil (I use coconut oil and drained applesauce) and sugar to the remaining batter in the bowl. Add eggs and extract, and mix well.

Incorporate dry ingredients into the wet ingredients mixing until no more dry ingredients can be seen.   Mix in chocolate chips.  Grease two large loaf pans or bundt pan.

Dust the greased pans with a mixture of sugar and cocoa powder.  Pour the batter evenly into loaf or cake pans.

Bake for 55-70 or until the cake loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE ICING

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 cups confectioners sugar (or more)
• 1/2 cup milk (can start with 1/3 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
In a small saucepan over low heat, or microwave, melt together the cocoa powder and butter. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl blend 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk in the butter/cocoa mixture. Whisk in last cup of powdered sugar.  It will be thinner than cake icing, but should not be runny per say.  Add more sugar until consistency you like, and tastes good.  Spread over cooled cake or loaves. 

 

When preparing for my chef's challenge, we were given a list of three secret ingredients: plums, collard greens or sweet onions.  Sweet onions won ( thank God!), but I wanted to prepare (just in case) by making a plum dessert.  I looked at Ina's plum cake from food network, and though it looked incredible, it was a bit too fussy for what I could do for the cook off.  I looked at Dorie' Greenspan's, and did make it as well.  However, after tasting this cake, the other variety seemed dry, and almost tasteless in comparison.  

First of all, this smelled DIVINE, when baking and after.  Better that any candle I assure you.  Next, it tasted great.  It was almost a pound cake texture.  This cake was gone in a flash.  

Now the original recipe called for unpeeled plums, and to me the skin took away from this cake.  So, I will leave it out when I make this again (and I will!).  Next, I used big, dark, purple sweet plums that were soft and ripe.  Make it.  It was still a bit runny in the middle, but we even enjoyed that!  Whipped cream and ice cream are a must here and warm is best!  

I can't believe I only got one picture, but alas!  I did.  Sorry.

LATE SUMMER PLUM CAKE

adapted from: food 52

 INGREDIENTS:

Serves 8

• 1 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 medium-size fresh lemon verbena leaves or 1/2-1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (I used zest)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
• 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
• 6 large sweet plums, peeled, pitted and quarted
  
• Lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream or crème fraîche, for serving  and vanilla ice cream(optional)

DIRECTIONS: 

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third. Butter a spring form pan or 9" cake pan. If using cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the parchment. Dust the pan with flour, tapping out the excess.  

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside. Stack the lemon verbena leaves (if using), roll up tightly lengthwise, and cut them crosswise into fine ribbons. You will want 2 to 3 packed teaspoons.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer), beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light, about 5 minutes. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla, and reserved lemon verbena (or lemon zest) until well combined. On low speed, add the flour mixture just until combined. (The batter will be thick.)
Spread half of the batter evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and top with 12 of the plum halves, cut side down. Dollop and spread the remaining batter over the plums. Arrange the remaining 12 plum halves, cut side up, over the top. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar over the plums.
Bake until the cake is golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted near the center tests clean (assuming you haven’t hit a plum), 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan front to back a little past halfway through baking. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
Run a thin knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cake sides. Remove sides of spring form pan or invert a flat plate over the pan. Using oven mitts if needed, grasp the plate and pan tightly together on both sides and invert the plate and pan to release the cake onto the plate. Lift off the pan and peel off the parchment. Invert the cake again onto a serving plate.
Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream, if desired.

TWD: BWJ French Berry Cake

I couldn't call mine strawberry as the recipe is written, because I did raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. 

So, at first glance, I thought this recipe was going to be a piece of cake (no pun intended).  A closer look revealed a little more fuss than the average cake.  I read the directions like 10 times because I did not want to screw it up.  I rolled up my sleeves and dove on in.  First dilemma, what pan to use.  There were complaints in the blog reel about the cake not being thick enough to get 3 layers.  Because I am a do-be do-right, I wanted those 3 layers, but was scared not to use the 8" pan the recipe said to use.  I threw caution to the wind and I opted for a 7 inch pan, rather than an 8 inch (bigger is not always better ;-) with a removable bottom.  SCORE!  I got a 2 1/4" cake rather than and 1 1/2".

My cake came out great, even with my normal little mistakes here and there (like dumping 2/3 of the flour in instead of 1/3).  I did one and a half batches of the cream topping, which was barely enough, but really the perfect amount, because there was none left over for me to dunk my head in.

There was some leftover berry juice from making the cake and we put it up on some vanilla ice cream.  OH-MY!  It reminded me of the "himbeer-bomchen"  we used to get at the ice cream shop, in Germany.  A raspberry topped ice cream sundae.  Amazing.  Better than the cake really.

But, we really loved this cake.  I felt like I was eating something out of a fancy bakery because it was pretty and it tasted great!  Would love to make this one again.  If you want to make it, you can get the recipe from our hosts websites.  Thanks to Sophia and Allison for hosting!

Chocolate Cherry Cake with Fudge Icing

I love chocolate covered cherries.  Call me cheap, white trash, whatever you want to, but I like the cheap chocolate covered cherries.  You know, the ones that are a buck or two, Queen Anne style, where the chocolate is very poor quality and the cherries are in corn syrup.  Yeah, they are gross, but I love 'em.  This cake is like a chocolate covered cherry, but without the fillers.  Then it is topped with a fudge like icing that I could eat by the spoonful.  Oh wait, I did eat it by the spoonful.  And it was gooood!
This recipe is all over the net.  Southern food, all recipes, and a gazillion other places.  But I made a few slight alterations, which I think improve it. This cake is really best eaten the day it is made, or if it makes it to the next day, then that day.  By day 3, just scrape off the icing and eat it and dump the cake. 

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 boxed devil's food cake mix, or dark chocolate 
• 21 oz. can cherry pie filling
• 2 eggs-beaten
• 1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
• 3 TBSP mayonnaise

DIRECTIONS: 

Heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.  In a large bowl, combine cake mix, cherry pie filling, mayo, extract, and 2 eggs by hand; stir until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it tests done. Cool. 



CHOCOLATE FUDGE ICING

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 6 oz. (1 cupish) chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
 In a small saucepan, combine sugar, butter or margarine, and milk. Boil, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add vanilla.  Remove from heat, and stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Immediately pour over partially cooled cake.

Hot Chocolate Cake With Marshmallow Frosting

This was one of my favorite cakes when I was growing up. I have even requested it for my birthday numerous times. I have been having a hankering for it the last week or so, and my parents were here so I figured, why not? This cake is really best the night it is made, so it was the right time. My kids all asked for seconds of the cake and this was one of the few instances that I allowed it. This cake is tender and crumbly, because you serve it right out of the oven. Then you top it with a cloud of gorgeous marshmallow frosting. The fluffy white icing is a 7 minute variety with 2 differences. One being it has more sugar which (ready for the big reveal?) makes it sweeter, and in my opinion better. I am not looking for a meringue here. I want sweet eats! The other difference is it has more cream of tartar, which helps stabilize the egg whites and adds a distinct flavor that I love. The same flavor snickerdoodles leave you with. Not all the sugar dissolves, which leave a bit of grit which might be off putting to some, but I again, love. If that bugs you, gently heat the egg whites, sugar and water over a double boiler until sugar is dissolved. Then beat the snot out of it. Up to you.

If you wanted to be fancy you cold torch or broil the top of the icing, but quite honestly, that is just too long for me to wait to eat the cake. Both of these recipes were from my grandmother, Elizabeth- "Bessie Mae", who loved to bake, and loved to eat baked goods, like no one else.

HOT CHOCOLATE CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening or butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 pan.  Cream together sugar, shortening (or butter), vanilla and eggs.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Put 1 tsp of vinegar into a cup of milk.  Add flour and milk to mixture.  Mix boiling water and cocoa powder to make a paste.  Add paste to creamed mixture and mix until well combined.  Pour into prepared pan and cook for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

 


MARSHMALLOW FROSTING (7 Minute Frosting)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Working with a mixer, mix egg whites until frothy and doubled in size.  Stream in 1/2 the sugar, while mixing, then the boiling water.  (This will heat the egg whites and kill bacteria... I think).  While continuing to beat, add the cream of tartar and stream in the remaining sugar.  Mix until stiff peak forms and it is white, glossy and fluffy.  Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.    I make this while the cake is in the oven and serve it immediately over each piece of hot cake.  Store remaining frosting in the refrigerator.  

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

 

 My husband was going to a men's breakfast at church on Sat..  So, I did what any insane wife would do.  I got up at 6:30 on a Saturday, my day off. . . and made something for him to take.  Not just any ordinary something, but an incredibly scrumptious breakfast cake.  Lucky for me, there was a bit left for me to try.  With 10 men, 56 scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits, sausage, thick slab bacon, pancakes, muffins and fruit-- there was 3 pieces left out of the 16 pieces I sent with him.  Yeah, it's good.

I was afraid it was going to be dry, because the batter was so thick and it didn't look all that moist.  But it was perfect.  You can call this a breakfast cake, a coffee cake, a dessert, but no matter what you want to call it, it remains mmm, mmm, good! 

 

BUTTERMILK BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST CAKE

recipe from: alexandracooks.com

Serves 6-8

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
•  2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
•  1 cup sugar
•  1 egg, room temperature
•  1 tsp. vanilla
•  2 cups flour
•  2 tsp. baking powder
•  1 tsp. kosher salt
•  2 cups fresh blueberries
•  1/2 cup buttermilk

Topping:

• 2 TBSP butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• scant 1/4 cup flour

DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9" square pan or spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Cream butter with lemon zest and cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with a 1/4 cup of flour, then in another small bowl, whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.  Batter will be thick.  Spread batter into pan. Mix streusel topping ingredients, until small like peas.  Sprinkle streusel over batter.  Put in oven on middle rack and bake for 32-40 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Early in my marriage, I made a carrot cake that was the best carrot cake I had ever had.  I got it from one of my cookbooks, but unfortunately for me, I have a million of them and don't know which cookbook it was from.  Wishing I had a brilliant mind, or at least brilliant memory at times like this.  

So, rather than driving myself into the cuckoo's nest by looking through my cookbooks, I went to the trusty internet.  After looking, I settled on this cake.  Made a few changes per people's comments and went to work.  I got it whipped up and put it into my 8" pans and into the oven it went.  That's when it happened.  Disaster struck.  Overflowing abundance of cake, spilling, burning, smoke alarms, and a very stinky house later, my cakes came out of the oven.   They remained unscathed, but I can not say the same thing for my oven or house.   Stinking cake!  

So do not attempt 8 inch cake pans, please.  Unless of course, you want to be as successful as I am to stink up your house before guests come over.  Then, by all means, use an 8 inch pan.

This cake was very moist and dense, but very tasty.   I will not say it is the perfect carrot cake, but it was surely very good.  The icing was delicious.  This was the cake rising from the ashes, and against all odds (or my mad baking skills, emphasis on "mad"), it was delish and gone in 2 days.

CARROT CAKE

inspired by:  http://allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs
• 1- 4 oz. cup drained applesauce
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
•  3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans or raisins

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan or two 9 inch cake pans.  In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, sugars and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix into sugar mixture.  Stir in carrots and then the pecans or raisins. Pour into prepared pan(s).  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

INGREDIENTS:

• 1- 8oz. pkg light cream cheese, room temp
• 1 stick butter- room temp
• 4-5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp milk

DIRECTIONS:


Beat the butter and cream cheese for 2-3 minutes.  Add half the sugar, the vanilla and mix, slowly, increasing speed as you mix.  Add remaining sugar and milk and beat until creamy, making sure to scrape the bowl to make sure it is all mixed well.  Add more sugar if needed to stiffen up.

Oatmeal Cake with Brown Sugar Oatmeal Icing

When I was young, I had high cholesterol, so I went on a bran and oatmeal diet.  I still can't bring myself to cook with bran.  Oatmeal has always had its place though, in desserts.  Then recently, after a day feasting on pizza, grilled cheese and waffles (not in that order necessarily) I had blood work and my cholesterol was slightly elevated again.
I am hoping that ingesting copious amount of this cake will lower it, because I ate several slices.  Oatmeal for breakfast?  Certainly.  And for dessert too!  Somehow, it makes desserts healthy, I am sure.
This cake has been in my family for a long time and I am not sure where my mom got the recipe, but it has always been a family favorite. Super moist and dense and go ahead and mash your face in it.
It is like an oatmeal cookie in cake form.  Except it has a delicious brown sugar warm icing that is like candy over the top.  You could use the any leftover icing as a mask and attempt to lick it off your face.  I am sure my kids would just love to watch that trick.  Of course, I am not serious...  because the icing will barely make it on the cake, and the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan will surely be devoured, before it can make it to your face as a mask. 

OATMEAL CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

Don't you just love how the pan is crooked in the picture?  I have mad skills, I know.

• 1 1/2 cup oats
• 2 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening (or butter)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins (Opt.)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.   Pour boiling water over oats and let cool. In a med. sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt baking soda and cinnamon.  Cream together the sugars and shortening.  Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated.  Add the oats and blend.  Add the flour mixture and mix until flour disappears.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.  Cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
 Can add chocolate chips to cake for variation.

BROWN SUGAR OATMEAL ICING

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 4 TBSP evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:
In a saucepan, melt butter and evaporated milk.  Add brown sugar and bring mixture to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute.  Add coconut, oatmeal and pecans.  Mix and carefully pour over and spread on the cooled cake.
As a variation you can broil the cake to caramelize the top.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

With strawberries being so inexpensive right now, I have been buying them every time I go to the store.  Sometimes, my kids will eat them for a snack, sometimes I will eat a whole container by myself,  and sometimes they rot in the fridge because I am saving them for something.  You know you've done it.  Let fruit rot in the fridge because you are saving it for something.  No one knows what that something is, but we all do it. 
No more rotting berries! Seize the day!  Take out the berries and dip them in chocolate, or eat the whole container over the sink.  Or best yet, make cupcakes!!

These cupcakes are delish. I love the soft pink of the icing and the bits of strawberry in them.  The cupcakes were moist with bits of berry in them as well.  For some insane reason, the cupcake itself tasted like banana to me, and upon bringing them to church to share, someone asked me if they were banana.  But they didn't smell like banana, and my husband and kids thought I was nuts for mentioning a banana flavor.  Very strange, but no matter which way you bite it, they tasted fabulous. 


STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES
adapted from apronofgrace.com
yield: 24 cupcakes plus a small cake


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 egg whites
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups strawberry puree
• 3 cups cake flour (I used 1 1/2 cups regular)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• heavy pinch salt
• 1 cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.    Line cupcake tins with liners, or grease/flour pans. Beat butter and sugar for 3 minutes.  Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating in between.  Add vanilla and strawberry puree and beat another few minutes (you can add 1 tsp. red food coloring here if you want).  Whisk together dry ingredients and add in 3 increments, alternatively with buttermilk to the butter mixture, mixing well in between each addition.  In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into batter.  Fill cupcakes to 3/4 full.  Bake cupcakes for 22-24 minutes (until toothpick comes clean) and cake for 30-34 minutes. 
Cool  completely before frosting.


FRESH STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 stick softened butter
• 3 oz. softened cream cheese
• 4 TBSP strawberry puree
• 1/2-1 TBSP milk or cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 5-6 cups confectioners sugar (more if needed)

DIRECTIONS:
Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Add 1/2 the sugar and 1/2 the strawberry puree and extracts.  Beat well.  Add remaining sugar, puree, and milk and beat until fluffy, adding more sugar if too soft, and puree or milk by the tsp if too stiff. Frost and eat!

Rocky Road Cake

This is one of those throw together cakes.  It took about 5 minutes to get it made.  The frosting takes longer than the cake to make.  My kids all licked off the icing, then devoured the cake.   I brought this to a church potluck and I was very tempted to eat just cake for lunch, but I thought it might look funny if I sat down with 3 pieces of cake and no other food.

This cake is incredibly moist and lick your plate good.  And I love this icing.  It is so light and has the texture or whipped cream almost.  There was a version of this frosting that my grandmother made and it needed to be cooked.  It was great. . .  except there would be tiny lumps of flour in it, that kinda made me gag.  This custard frosting is silky smooth and all can be done in the kitchen aid; no cooking required!
This recipe came from someone in my family, but is probably all over the internet.  You could top it with a fudge icing and marshmallows and nuts mashed into the icing... or top yourself with that.  But personally, I love it with the custard icing! A great cake!

ROCKY ROAD CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

The shiny spots are where the marshmallows melted: little pockets of sweetness.

• 1 box devil's food cake mix
• 1- 3 oz. pkg. chocolate pudding
• 1 cup mayonaise
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1/2-3/4 cup choc. chips (I did 3/4)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
• 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour a bundt pan, or use baking spray.  Blend the cake mix, mayo, pudding, eggs and water until mixed through.  Add the nuts, chocolate chips and marshmallows and gently stir in until incorporated.  Bake @ 350 for 45-55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. 

NOTE: The marshmallows do melt into the cake, and create little pockets of sweetness.





CUSTARD FROSTING

Here is the link for the icing:
custard frosting

Upside Down Apple Cake

I saw this cake on pinterest.  Yes, I am addicted and have a problem.  

So, I had to make it, of course!!  So glad I did!  I had a hankering to bake the other day. . .  been kinda slacking on this blogging thing.  So, I went through my mammoth book of recipes printed from the computer and found this little beauty.  So, a few apples, some caramel and dumping stuff in a bowl later, I got my cake and ate it too!  It is such a pretty little cake, and it tastes delicious.  Lick the caramel sauce off your plate good.  And an easy recipe that looks fancy.  Who doesn't love that?

UPSIDE DOWN APPLE CAKE

recipe slightly adapted from: kingarthurflour.com

Topping:

• 2 medium apples
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup

CAKE:

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used a drained applesauce in the 3/4 cup and filled the rest with oil)
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional (I wished I had omited, perhaps put on top?)

DIRECTIONS:

For boiled cider:  Boil  1 cup cider for 15-20 minutes, until reduced by 2/3rds. (That's more than half ;-)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" round cake pan at least 2" deep. Line the bottom with parchment, and grease the parchment.  Slice the top, including the stem, off one of the apples and set it aside before peeling and slicing the rest of the apples into 1/4" thick wedges.  Place the apple top, stem side down, in the middle of the pan, and overlap the rest of the apple wedges in a ring around it.

Prepare the topping by heating the butter, sugar, boiled cider, cinnamon, and corn syrup together over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  Pour 1/2 cup of the syrup mixture into the prepared pan, and set the rest aside.  To make the cake: Beat the oil, brown sugar, boiled cider, eggs, spices, and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed.  Mix the flour with the baking soda, and stir it into the batter.  Add the chopped apple and nuts, and mix until just blended.  Drop scoops of the batter atop the apples in the pan, gently spreading to cover.

Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean.   Remove the cake from the oven, and run a thin spatula around the edge to loosen.   Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving plate, bottom side up. Scrape out any sauce that remains in the pan, and spread it over the cake.  Let it cool for a few minutes.  Reheat the reserved topping. If butter starts to separate as you reheat, add water by the teaspoon and stir until the butter rejoins the rest of the sauce.  Pour the sauce over the cake. Serve cake warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Cherry Almond Cake

This cake is a sure hit.  It is absolutely delicious!  My mom got the recipe from a long time friend and gave me the recipe.  She and I both have always gotten rave reviews!  The almond flavor mixed with the fruit filling is so good.  I have had it for breakfast with coffee too.
A few notes on it.  It does not do well in a stone pan.  It doesn't cook evenly or something.  It really needs a metal pan to be evenly cooked.  Also, don't overbake, because the outside pieces get dry.  I did it in my pampered chef baker the first time I made it and undercooked it a little and I had brought it to a potluck.  I was mortified that it wasn't cooked through and cake-like all the way through.  I got tons of compliments and people telling me they loved my "cobbler."  So, no worries if it is a little soft when you cut into it.  Also, it keeps great for several days!

CHERRY ALMOND CAKE
recipe from: Theresa Jackson

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 can cherry pie filling (I buy the extra cherry variety)

For glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 TBSP milk
• 1 tsp almond extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a metal 9x13 pan.  Mix butter, sugar, vanilla, almond extract and eggs for 3 minutes.  Whisk together flour and baking powder.  Add to butter mixture and mix until incorporated.  Pour 2/3 of cake batter into the prepared pan.  Spoon cherry pie filling over the batter evenly.  Spoon remaining batter over the cherry pie filling.  Bake for 40-45 minutes (I do 45).  Let cool for at least 30 minutes before drizzling with glaze.  For the glaze, add enough milk so it drizzles off the spoon but not so much it is watery.  You want it a bit thick.  Drizzle over cake.

Apple Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

This is a very good cake.  Even my 4 year old, who seems to have an aversion to cooked apples, chowed this down several times.  The cake is very tasty, but I made 2 changes, as I think it needed them.  One, chunk apples instead of slice, to help it spread easier (this is an after the fact thing, it was a bear to spread).  It may not look as pretty, so if you are looking for "purtty", slice your apples thin.  The other thing was to add a bit of apple pie spice.  I do have an apple cake that I like better and I will post it in the next month.  

The browned butter frosting was awesome!  The butter gets a very nutty flavor and makes the butter flavor more pronounced.  It is a more grainy icing, but so rich and one I will make again!

FRESH APPLE CAKE

adapted from Southern Living

Total: 2 Hours

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cups chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp apple pie spice 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 4 large, 5 small), peeled and cut into 1/4 inch chunks

DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
Stir together butter and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl until blended.
Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in apples and 1 cup pecans. (Batter will be very thick, similar to a cookie dough.) Spread batter into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.

Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 45 minutes). Spread your choice of frosting over top of cake.  Can garnish icing with pecans, if desired.

 

 

 BROWNED BUTTER FROSTING

adapted from: myrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk plus more
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes or until butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove pan from heat immediately, and pour butter into a small bowl. Cover and chill 1 hour or until butter is cool and begins to solidify.
 Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beginning and ending with powdered sugar. Beat mixture at low speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Polish Black Cake

This a FABULOUS chocolate cake.  Super moist and just wonderful.  Would recommend a less sweet icing than traditional buttercream, as it is very rich.  This frosting would be best.
http://delectabledelightswithrebecca.blogspot.com/2011/04/coconut-cake.html 
This is one of the best chocolate cakes I have made and will be my new go to.  Held up great with decorating as well!

POLISH BLACK CAKE
recipe from my mom, Ann

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 10 TBSP canola or veg. oil
• 2 cups hot water
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray pan with baking spray, or grease and flour pan.  Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.  Put a tad of the hot water in a large bowl with the beaten eggs and mix.  Add a bit more and mix.  (this is called "tempering the eggs")  Add the rest of the hot water, the vanilla, oil and sugar.  Mix with electric mixer.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix with electric mixer more.   Bake 30-45 minutes in 9x13 and 20-25 minutes in round. Cupcakes for 17-20 minutes or unil toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with PB Brown Sugar Buttercream

This cupcake is from Joy of Baking and is an delicious cupcake.  Perfect texture and just very tasty.  I completely screwed up the original recipe for the icing by adding too much peanut butter, so I had to fix it, so I can not tell you how the icing is.  While mine is still a bit too peanut buttery, it is very good.  I am sure the original recipe is excellent.  Sorry.
The combo of peanut butter frosting with this cupcake is very good though.  I could easily eat it with chocolate icing or no icing at all which is strange for me because I am an icing kind of girl.  But this is just an excellent cupcake.  Original recipe came from:
http://tidymom.net/2011/banana-buster-brown-cupcakes/

BANANA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES 

by Joy of Baking

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 scant cup all-purpose flour
• 3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (little more than 1/3 cup)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 1 medium sized banana)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola or corn oil
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350° and line muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.  Using a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set asideIn another large bowl, whisk remaining ingredients until combined: egg, banana, water, milk, oil, vanilla.Combine wet and dry ingredients and stir until combined.Scoop batter into cupcake liners 3/4 full.Bake for 20 minuets or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.Remove from oven. Cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Brown Sugar Buttercream

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Instructions

In a heat proof bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar and salt. Place over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Cook, whisking continuously until sugar is dissolved and warm to the touch.  Pour mixture into bowl of electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 15 minutes.  Raise speed to high, and mix until stiff peaks form (this took about 7 minutes).  Reduce speed to medium-low and add peanut butter a little at a time, then butter, 1 tablespoon as a time until fully mixed.  Pipe onto cupcakes.