Cherry Chocolate Cake

Yep, it’s as good as it sounds, and very easy. First time I made it, I added some milk chocolate chips, but in the future I think I’ll leave them out as they really didn’t add to the overall flavor.

Cherry Chocolate Cake:
1 box chocolate or Devil’s Food cake mix
(water, eggs, oil per instructions)
1 small or 1/2 large bottle maraschino cherries, quartered
2/3 cup (approximately) pecans, broken up

Prepare cake as per package directions. Stir in cherries and nuts, bake as directed on package. Cool, frost with your choice of frosting; I prefer cream cheese.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 brick cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
 
Beat together the softened cream cheese, butter, salt, and vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar until you achieve desired consistency, probably four to five cups. Interesting note: When you first start adding a little powdered sugar, the mixture will actually get thinner until you add quite a bit more powdered sugar. Refrigerate to “set” the frosting.

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Cake

Do you get the idea that this cake might have a little chocolate in it?  It’s actually not as overbearing as you might think.  I was bored one day, and wondered what would happen if I added this and added that and then some of the other to a chocolate cake mix.  Since you start out with a package mix, it’s actually very easy – and the pudding makes it very moist.

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 small or 1/2 large package chocolate pudding mix (instant or cook, doesn’t matter)
1/4 cup gourmet cocoa drink mix (like Stephens)
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 package mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine everything but the chocolate chips in a medium mixing bowl, beat on slow a minute; scrape bowl, beat on high for a few minutes, until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into a spray-greased 9×13 cake pan. Bake 25 – 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out dry.  Cool, frost with …

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
a splash of vanilla extract
a dash of salt
4-5 cups powdered sugar
Blend everything, adding powdered sugar to desired spreading consistency.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cake

Cake Ingredients:
White or yellow box cake mix
4 eggs
1/2  cup flour
1/2 large or 1 small vanilla pudding
1 can lemon pie filling
1 cup water
1 cap-full Lemon extract
6 drops yellow food color

Frosting Ingredients:
1 8 oz brick cream cheese, softened
Powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine all cake ingredients, blend with electric mixer on low for a couple of minutes, stop, scrape bowl , blend again on high for a few minutes more. Pour batter (will be thick) into spray-greased 9X13 cake pan; bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. When cool, frost with … In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese with enough powdered sugar to achieve desired volume and spreading consistency, probably 3 to 4 cups. (Note: I leave the butter and vanilla out of the frosting this time, because I want it to stay real white.)

Carrot Cake

When I first tried this recipe it used all white flour, and not quite enough of it to make a very tall cake. C’mon, doesn’t a carrot cake need to have at least some (if not all) wheat flour in it? So I did some fiddling around with the flour; added some wheat flour and increased the total amount. I like the blend, it’s not too “rough” like it might be with all whole wheat flour, and the added volume makes for a much nicer size cake. Now it doesn’t look like the recipe is too little for the pan. I also tweaked the oil. Besides the eggs, oil was the only liquid in the recipe. Moist, but not your health food store’s carrot cake, so I reduced the amount of oil and added some applesauce to make up for the lost liquid. You can let your imagination run wild here, and puree and use other fruits besides applesauce, like pears or peaches – really. Peaches work well and I like to use them sometimes. It’s just usually easier to open a jar/can of applesauce than go through the added step of liquefying something else. Next, you can add – or not add – any of the “optional” ingredients, depending on your family’s tastes. The cake in these pictures  has all the optional ingredients, but not everyone in my family is a fan of pineapple or coconut, so … guess who ate most of it? Yeah, right out of the pan! 🙂  Lastly, carrot cake just doesn’t seem “done” unless it is frosted with cream cheese frosting. The first time I tried the recipe this is based on, I thought I could get away with not frosting it because it was so dense and moist (and caloric), but such was not the case. I ended up giving in and frosting the remainder after I had tried a piece.

Ingredients, *Directions:
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*Blend well in large mixing bowl.

*Stir together in a separate bowl, then add:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 small or 1/2  large package vanilla pudding
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
*Stir well with a sturdy wooden spoon.

*Mandatory stir-in:
2 cups finely shredded carrots

*Optional stir-ins:
1/2 cup broken up pecans (I don’t like walnuts)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup crushed/drained pineapple

*Stir together until all wet, dry, and stir-ins are well blended. Grease (spray worked fine for me) a 9×13 cake pan. Pour in batter, level out. Bake at 350 degrees 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool, frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 package cream cheese, softened
a few tablespoons (up to 1/4 cup) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
~ 4 cups powdered sugar (more or less, to the spreading consistency you prefer)
*Beat all ingredients together until smooth. If too thick, you can thin out with milk or water, a few drops at a time.

A Good Yellow Cake

Sorry, I couldn’t come up with a jazzy name for this cake, so it is what it is – a “good yellow cake” that is lucky to make it out of the pan. (Are we the only ones who eat cake right out of the pan with a fork?) Since you use a cake mix and ingredients you probably already have, this comes together pretty quickly.

Cake Ingredients:
1 package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup flour
1 small or 1/2 large vanilla pudding (instant or slow cook, doesn’t matter) mix
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups cold water
yellow food coloring (about 3 drops, optional)

Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees – 375 for high altitude. Spray bottom of a 9X13 cake pan with spray grease (try to use one with oil as the first ingredient, not water). Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed for a few minutes. Stop and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, beat another few minutes at high-speed. Pour out into cake pan. Bake for 25 – 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out relatively dry. (This is a moist cake, so the tester may not come out bone dry, but should not look wet or gooey.) Remove from oven, and set aside to cool while you prepare the frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/4 cup milk
2 Cups powdered sugar

Frosting Directions:
Place the brown sugar and butter in a medium size heavy saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring constantly, until well combined, 2 minutes. Carefully pour in the milk, stirring and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the powdered sugar, avoiding the temptation to add more to make it thicker, it will thicken as it cools. Beat with electric mixer on low-speed, to get out any lumps of powdered sugar, 2 to 3 minutes. Immediately pour out over cake while the frosting is still warm, it will set up as it cools.

Chocolate Éclair Cake

Yum-eee! 

This dessert isn’t really a flour, sugar and egg “cake”, but I don’t know what else you’d call it. You make it in a cake pan and eat it with a fork. This one *may* try your patience a little … not because it’s hard to make, it’s very easy to make… but because you have to WAIT until the next day to eat it. (Well, you have to wait until the next day if you want it to turn out right …)

Cake Ingredients:
1 package (16 oz. – or more, I get a big box and use what I need) graham crackers
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 large or 2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip (I like “Lite” – not for the fewer calories, I just like the taste & texture better)

Cake Directions:
Line the bottom of a 9X13 cake pan with a layer of whole (i.e., not crushed) graham crackers.

 Beat cream cheese until fluffy. In separate bowl, combine the pudding mix and milk. Combine the cream cheese and the pudding. Fold in the cool whip.

Pour half of the mixture over the crackers, and level out.

Place another layer of crackers over that half of the filling,

 and cover them with the remaining filling.

Place (yet) another layer of graham crackers on top of the filling.

 So, that makes three layers of grahams; one on bottom, one in between the filling, and one on top of the filling. Top that last layer of crackers with chocolate frosting.

 (I think you could use your favorite chocolate frosting here – I mean, this one ain’t rocket science – but this is the frosting recipe that came with the cake, and works well.

Frosting Ingredients:
2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened chocolate
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
4 Tablespoons honey
6 Tablespoons milk
4 Cups powdered sugar (resist the temptation to make the frosting too thick, or it won’t spread on the floating crackers.)

Frosting Directions:
Melt chocolate slowly in microwave on a lower power setting. (For me, it’s safer to keep zapping and checking chocolate in the microwave than risk using a double boiler and getting a drop of water in it – which will cause it to seize.) Beat in butter, honey, and milk. Stir in powdered sugar. Spread over graham crackers.

 Chill several hours or overnight before serving – it needs this time for the crackers to get soft.

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Cake

No need for an introduction, the title says it all. I chose this name because of the chocolate cake mix, the chocolate pudding and the chocolate chips.

Ingredients:
1 package devil’s food or chocolate cake mix
1 small package instant chocolate pudding
2 cups sour cream
1 cup oil
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt/fluted pan. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. Beat on low then medium speed until well blended, scraping bowl to assure all ingredients are well blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon (will be too thick to pour) batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven 50 – 60 minutes, until cake just starts to pull away from sides. (May be hard to test by poking with a toothpick, since you will probably hit a chocolate chip, and it will not come out dry.) Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto serving platter to cool completely. You could serve each piece dusted with powdered sugar or glaze the whole thing with chocolate glaze (ganache), or cream cheese frosting. My wife wanted cream cheese, so ….

Christmas Bunt Cake

I’ve been making this cake every year at Christmas time for years; it’s become a tradition. The original recipe called for pecans, which would be good too, but I kind of like the simplicity of just the candied fruit against the nearly white cake. It’s very dense like a pound cake, so be sure to test for doneness, and not just go by a timer.

Ingredients:
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups flour, divided
1-1/2 cups red and green candied cherries or pineapple, cut up
GLAZE:
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 to 4 Tablespoons milk
Pinch salt
Additional candied cherries or pineapple

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups flour and baking powder; gradually beat into batter. Combine cut up cherries or pinapple and remaining flour; fold into batter. Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch fluted tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 – 75 minutes, or until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert. Combine powdered sugar, milk and salt; drizzle over cake. Garnish with cherries or pineapple.

Note:  Original recipe called for vanilla in the glaze, but I want it as white as I can. If you have clear vanilla, feel free to add 1/2 teaspoon to the glaze.

 

Pumpkin Snack Cake

The original recipe I found calls this a “bar”, but it’s too tall and not dense enough to be a bar, so let’s call it a “height challenged cake.” Pumpkin is very dense, and requires careful checking, else it will be undercooked. Pumpkin and whole wheat are good for you, so tell yourself this is health food, and enjoy.

Cake ingredients:
1 1/3 Cup all purpose flour
1 Cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 Cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup oil
1/2 Cup apple juice (or water)
1 (16 – oz.) can (2 cups) pumpkin
2 eggs

Frosting ingredients:
1 brick cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar

Cake Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9 X 13 cake pan. In large bowl, beat all cake ingredients at low speed until well blended. Spread in prepared pan. Bake at 350 for 25 – 30* minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost.

*Note: if after 30 minutes the toothpick still comes out with sticky batter stuck to it, I’d reduce the heat of the oven to 325, and keep checking every 2 minutes. If you get impatient and take it out before the toothpick comes out dry, your cake will be undercooked.

Frosting Directions:
Beat together the softened cream cheese, butter, salt, and vanilla extract. Start adding powdered sugar until you achieve a thick consistency, probably 3 to four cups. Interesting note: When you first start adding a little powdered sugar, the mixture will actually get thinner until you add quite a bit more powdered sugar. Refrigerate to “set” the frosting.

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Some foods and recipes are seasonal. Because of traditions and growing seasons, we tend to make certain recipes at certain times of the year, like recipes that call for apples and pumpkins in the fall after they’ve been harvested. This is a recipe for a “pumpkin pie cake”, and is pretty much a straightforward combination of pumpkin pie and cake – and it works really well. You make it in a cake pan, and it is quite dense and heavy. It needs to have plenty of time to cool, so plan on making it the day or at least morning before serving it.

Ingredients
2/3 cups baking mix (such as Bisquick)
6 eggs
2 Cups canned evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
1 large (29 oz.) can solid pack pumpkin
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
(or, substitute 2 1/2 – 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice for the above spices)
Yellow cake mix
1 cube butter, melted

Directions
Mix everything EXCEPT the cake mix and butter in a large mixing bowl, pour into a greased 9X13 cake pan. In a separate bowl, combine the cake mix and the melted butter, mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over the pumpkin mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Chill well. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.