Cakes
Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
It was Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend and I decided to make fruity dessert rather than a traditional pumpkin pie. I found a good recipe for a Cranberry Upside-Down Cake on the Martha Stewart website.
The cake tasted great but did not look as good as I wanted it to. I made it in a 9in spring form pan eventhough the recipe called for baking it in an 8in baking pan. It would have been nice if there was more cake to fruit ratio but the flavors together worked really well and I would probably make this cake again.
I decided to add some slivered almonds to the top of the cake with the cranberry mixture. The flavor and texture of the almonds was good but the almonds kind of stuck to the bottom of the cake pan and didn't give the cake a very appealing look. I also did not have any allspice so I substituted nutmeg instead. The nutmeg flavor was a bit overwhelming and I should have used less but overall the cake tasted good. I posted the link to the recipe above for you to try as well, enjoy!
Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
This recipe is great for a Thanksgiving dinner or a Halloween treat! I used my pumpkin bread recipe for the cupcake base and baked them at 350F for about 20min (or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean). I made mini cupcakes but you could also make regular sized ones and just bake them for a bit longer. I used a basic cream cheese frosting on top and then decorated them with edible pumpkin candies. The cupcakes themselves are very moist, I kept them in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting and they tasted great. Happy Thanksgiving and Enjoy!
Pink Cream Soda Cake
I had some friends over for a big salmon dinner last week and I couldn't decide on what to make for dessert. My friend Evan doesn't like chocolate and my friend Lindsay can be picky when it comes to dessert. After searching the web, I found lots of cake recipes using soda pop. My favorite type of pop is root beer but I didn't think Lindsay would like that so I decided to go with pink cream soda because 1) cream soda is awesome and 2) I thought it would be cool to have a pink cake to go with the pink salmon dinner. The cake turned out really well, I served it plain with ice cream and it tasted like a cream soda float. The cake itself was moist and didn't have an overpowering cream soda flavor and came out a light pink color.
Pink Cream Soda Cake
1 Box white cake mix
4 Large eggs
10 Oz. of pink cream soda
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
(you can add a few drops of red food coloring to it if you want the cake to come out more pink but it will still go a light pink color without it)
1) Follow the cake mix box instructions (I used a bundt cake pan but you can use anything just follow the baking times and temperature on the box)
2) Follow the cake mix box directions (mine said to mix all the ingredients together on low speed for 30sec. then continue blending on medium speed for 2min)
3) Pour cake into prepared pan and bake according to cake mix box instructions (I baked mine at 325F (because I used a dark non-stick pan) for about 30min or until my toothpick inserted in the middle came out clean)
4) Let cake sit at room temperature and serve plain, with ice cream, or make some icing to go on top and enjoy!
Strawberries and Cream Cake
Summer is here and so are all the local berries. Inspired by this recipe, I decided to make this Strawberries and Cream cake for a family dinner last week. I served very very large slices for everyone and they all enjoyed it. The white cake itself is moist and pairs well with the strawberries and cream fillings. I used both a chocolate cream cheese frosting and a whipped cream frosting. I used the Yellow Cake recipe from my 'Better Homes and Garden Cook Book' and made a basic cream cheese frosting recipe by adding cocoa powder to it.
I made two 9in round cakes and let them cool completely. I iced the top of one of the cakes with the cream cheese frosting then even placed the sliced strawberries all over the top, then I evenly spread on a layer of whipped cream. Then I placed the second cake on top of the other and repeated the same process. I also did the same to the sides of the cake as well. Feel free to use your favorite white or yellow cake recipe (or even the box cake mix would work well too) and your favorite type of creamy frostings and berries (I like the combination of whipped cream, chocolate, and strawberries). Have fun creating your own berries and cream cake and enjoy!
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Happy Easter! This week I thought I would make something for the Easter Bunny because he is always filling us with lots of chocolate and treats during this time of the year. I've never made a carrot cake before so I thought I would give it a try especially since I like to eat anything that has cream cheese frosting on it. I got the original recipe from the AllRecipes website called 'Carrot Cake III' but I changed a few things around to my liking and the results were fabulous. The cake was so moist and complimented well with the awesome maple cream cheese frosting. This might be in my top five for favorite cakes, it was so good! Hope you enjoy the recipe and Happy Easter!
Chocolate Birthday Cake
It was my mom's birthday this week and I let here choose the type of cake she wanted for her birthday. As I've mentioned before in my previous posts my mom is a big chocoholic, so it wasn't very surprising when she asked for a chocolate cake for her birthday. I have a few good chocolate cake recipes that I have made before but I never like to make the same thing twice so I decided to try out some new recipes for this birthday cake.
Spice Cupcakes with Maple Galze
It was my Grandma's birthday this week and my mom asked me to bake her some cute cupcakes rather than make a cake. So I decided to make a classic white cupcake with a twist. This cupcake is like an apple fritter doughnut mixed with a pancake breakfast (if you can imagine that...lol). This cupcake is moist and has a mouthfull of flavors while the glaze is not overly sweet with just the right amount of maple flavor. I think the cupcakes would taste really good with tiny pieces of chopped apples mixed into them but I didn't have enough time to do that, sorry Grandma!
Australian Wedding and Cupcakes
As I mentioned in my earlier post, me and my boyfriend are all the way around the world in Australia. We came here to visit our good friends Kat and Dwayne get married! We stayed with them for a week and a half before the wedding and I got to help make the cupcakes for the wedding. The wedding was so beautiful, very sunny and very colorful.
A Ladybug Themed Birthday Party using Applesauce Cake
As I have mentioned before, my boss asked me to make a cake for his daughter's 1 year birthday party. He also asked if the cake could be apple flavored, have low/no sugar, have no egg whites, and be ladybug themed. He was having two seperate parties (one with just family and another with just friends) and asked if I could make cupcakes for one party and a cake (plus a little smash cake) for the other party.
Chocolate Spice Cake
If your celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend like I am, then this is great recipe for a Thanksgiving dessert. It satisfies both peoples craving for chocolate and peoples craving for pumpkin pie this season. This cake is moist and fluffy with great chocolate and spice flavor combinations with just a hint of butterscotch taste. This is a version of a manipulated cake box recipe that my mom used to make using golden cake mix and vanilla pudding mix. I decided to use spice cake mix and chocolate pudding mix to keep things festive this weekend. This recipe is easy and fast, it doesn't even need an icing or frosting if you don't want to, just sprinkle it with icing sugar and enjoy! This cake is also very versitile you can easily substitue different types of cake mix or subs