Chocolate Cherry Stack Cake

 I made this for Valentine's Day.  I don't have 6 inch cake pans, so I doubled it and used 10 inch cake pans.  I cooked them a little longer, and it worked great.  For some reason my frosting didn't make stiff peaks, but it still tasted great! 

 

 Chocolate Cherry Stack Cake

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream

 Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 6x2-inch round cake pans or springform pans. Mix 1 teaspoon each flour and cocoa powder; dust pans. Set pans aside.
2. In bowl combine 3/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
3. In large bowl with electric mixer beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Beat in sour cream and flour mixture. Pour batter in pans; spread evenly.
4. Bake 22 to 26 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on rack.
5. Use serrated knife to horizontally cut cakes in half to make 4 layers total. Place bottom layer on plate; spread with 2/3 cup frosting. Repeat with layers. Place top layer on cake. Heap remaining frosting, swirling in peaks. Refrigerate. To serve, top with Chocolate-Dipped Cherries. Serves 8.

Cherry frosting
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 8 ounce carton sour cream
• 1 cup whipping cream (do not use ultra-pasteurized whipping cream)
• 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice

 Directions

1. In a chilled large mixing bowl combine powdered sugar, sour cream, whipping cream, and cherry juice. Beat with the chilled beaters of an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 3 to 5 minutes or until fluffy.

Chocolate Dipped Cherries

Ingredients

• 16 maraschino cherries with stems
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
• 1 teaspoon shortening

Directions

1. Drain cherries; pat dry with paper towels. In small microwave-safe bowl combine semisweet chocolate pieces and shortening. Cook on 50 percent power (medium) 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted, stirring once. Dip cherries in chocolate; place on waxed paper until set. Store, covered, up to 24 hours.

Pumpkin Pie Cake

I made this for the ward Christmas Party. Someone asked for the recipe and I realized I haven't made it since I started this blog. I got the recipe from Connie H* when I worked at Beehive Clothing. I've seen many versions of this recipe, but this is the one I like. I did change a few things though.

1 white cake mix (set aside 1 cup for the topping)
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 egg
1 large (29 oz) can pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
2 beaten eggs
1/3 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. milk
1 c. white sugar

For topping :
reserved 1 cup cake mix
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. cold butter or margarine
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together cake mix and flour. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add egg and mix well. Press into bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large bowl combine pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, eggs, brown sugar, milk and white sugar. Pour over crust in pan.

In a medium bowl mix one cup of reserved cake mix with sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle over pumpkin mixture.

Bake for 45 minutes at 375 F. Cool for at least 2 hours. Top with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream.

Brown Sugar cake

I got this recipe from one of the recipe blogs I follow. It was very simple, easy, and delicious. For more details check out her blog.

Brown Sugar Cake


2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup sour milk (add 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice to the milk)
1 teaspoon baking soda

Cut together (like pie dough) brown sugar, butter, flour and salt. Set aside one cup of the mixture. To the rest of the mixture add egg, milk and soda. Spread in a 10x15 pan. Sprinkle rest of crumbs on top. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Serve with crushed strawberries and whip cream.

The blogger recommended serving it with vanilla ice cream, which would have been wonderful, but we didn't have any, and I had some whipping cream on hand. Too bad I ran out of strawberries after last night. Leftovers will have to be sans strawberries :(

I used a 9x13 pan. It worked, but the middle was a little underdone even after 35 minutes, so I would recommend using the right size pan.

Pumpkin roll

This is very similar to the banana rolls I love to make. Aaron suggested it for FHE treat this week. I got this recipe from my MIL, who I believe got it from her mother.

3 eggs
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. pumpkin
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp.nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. nuts chopped (optional)

Beat eggs on high in blender for 5 minutes. Add sugar gradually. Fold in pumpkin. Add lemon juice. In a medium bowl stir together dry ingredients (except nuts). Then add to pumpkin mixture.
Pour onto greased and floured 15x10 pan. Top with chopped nuts if desired. Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 F oven. Sprinkle a flour sack - or towel (not terry cloth)- with powdered sugar. Loosen with spatula and dump cake onto towel. Roll up like a jelly roll (it's OK if the towel is rolled up inside). Cool for at least 20 minutes and then unroll and frost. Reroll and wrap until ready to cut and serve. Can be frozen.

Frosting:
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
4 tsp. butter
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

ChocolateTruffle Cake

We are having a BBQ with some friends tonight. I was asked to bring the dessert. I finally decided to make this cake. It looks really yummy. I hope it tastes good too! The recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I didn't have any pecans, so I used walnut, and I didn't toast them - it's already too hot for the oven. And I used semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 2/3 cups).

1 c. pecans, toasted and coarsely ground
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. butter melted
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 8 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate, cut up
1 c. whipping cream
6 beaten eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. all purpose flour
Whipped cream (optional)

For crust, combine pecans, cracker crumbs, melted butter and the 2 Tbsp sugar. Press onto bottom and about 1 1/2 inches up the side of a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside
In a large saucepan cook and stir chocolate and whipping cream, over low heat till the chocolate melts. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl (I left it in the pan). Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, the 3/4 c sugar and flour; beat 10 minutes, or till thick and lemon colored. Fold one-fourth of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture; fold chocolate mixture into remaining egg mixture. Pour into crust-lined pan.
Bake cake at 325 F for about 45 minutes or till puffed around edge and halfway to center (the center will be slightly soft). Cool in pan for 20 minutes on wire rack. Remove sides of pan. cool for 4 hours. If desires, serve with whipped cream. Cover any leftovers and store in the refrigerator.

Sensational Strawberry Shortcake

I made this for Mother's Day today. I didn't change much. I didn't have real whipping cream, so cool whip had to suffice. I also didn't use more than 1/4 c. sugar on the strawberries. I haven't tried it yet, so I hope it's good. As for the baking, some reviewers suggested it was too dry and to shorten the baking time. I only baked it for 30 minutes, mostly because I had to take it out of the oven so we weren't late to church. I didn't have a sprig of fresh mint, but that would have been great.

Sensational Strawberry Shortcake

• 1 quart strawberries, sliced
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups sweetened whipped cream
• fresh mint

In a bowl, gently stir strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar; chill. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; cut in butter until crumbly. Combine milk and egg yolks; mix well. Add to crumb mixture, stirring just until moistened. Divide and pat into two greased 9-in. round cake pans. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; spread over dough. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 300 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until golden. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. (Layer will be thin.) Cool completely. Place one cake layer on a large serving plate; spread with half of the whipped cream. Spoon half of the strawberries over cream. Repeat layers. Garnish with mint if desired.

Chocolate Cupcakes

I got this recipe from Heather R's blog. She had them for her birthday. They are so good! It was originally a bundt cake recipe. I'll have to try that next time.

1 Devil's Food cake mix
1 small instant chocolate pudding mix
8 oz. (1 cup) of sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix ingredients until lumps are gone with a hand mixer. Add the chocolate chips last. Spoon into 2 greased (use cooking spray) cupcake pans. Cook at 350 for 20 mins. Check them after 15 mins. This makes 24 cupcakes.

5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Aaron got this from of the nurses on NICU

1 coffee mug
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp baking cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbsp milk
3 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp chocolate chips (optional - but highly recommended)
some nuts (optional)
small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips, nuts and vanilla, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to share)

This is also called the most dangerous chocolate cake recipe in the world. Why? Because now we are 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Chocolate Decadence Cake

I made this for Father's Day. It was something I thought Aaron might tackle, so I thought he's enjoy it. I had all of the ingredients - except the whipping cream. We just topped it with frozen whipped topping. It probably has way too many calories, but it was so good. We ate 1/4 of it last night, and no one (except me) could finish their serving. It was so rich and dense. A few suggestions on the preparation. Another reviewer mentioned whipping the egg yolks and the egg whites separately (using 1/8 cup sugar in each). This worked nicely. Also you have to have a 10 inch cake pan. I used my 10 -inch springform pan, and it filled it as it rose (the cake also condenses as it cools). An 8 or 9 - inch pan will be too small to fit all the batter in. It also took a lot longer than 40 minutes. I let mine cook for 1 hour, and it probably could have gone longer. I sprinkled powdered sugar on top because I saw that in one of the pictures and thought it might look nice. Anyway.... it was really good. Aaron took the rest to a meeting tonight. He snagged another piece for tonight, but I don't think I should be eating that all week!

Chocolate Decadence Cake

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups butter, melted
• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 7 eggs
• 2 cups whipped cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10 inch round pan and line bottom with parchment paper.
2. Chop chocolate squares and place in a large bowl with chocolate chips. Add melted butter. Heat water and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a saucepan until boiling, then pour over chocolate. Stir until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whip eggs with remaining 1/4 cup sugar until thick. Fold into chocolate mixture. Pour batter into 10 inch pan.
4. Place 10 inch pan on a cookie sheet in the oven and fill the cookie sheet with water.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool and refrigerate for several hours. Be extremely careful not to burn yourself on the hot water when removing the sheet pan from the oven. (I left the sheet pan of water in the oven until it cooled off)
   
6. Dip the pan in hot water to remove cooled cake. (I have a springform pan where the sides can be removed - so I didn't dip it in hot water). Garnish with whipped cream and serve.

Devil's Food Cake Cockaigne

This is the cake Aaron made for my birthday on Sunday. It is from the Joy of Cooking.
The directions are a bit confusing so hopefully I can write this so you can follow. I'll do the ingredients first (even though that's not how it is in the book). And yes, sugar and buttermilk are listed twice, on purpose.
As for the buttermilk -we just used milk with lemon juice to sour it (1 cup milk to 1 tsp lemon juice). And cake flour can be made by adding 1/4 c. cornstarch to 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (to make 2 cups)

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened nonalkalized (whatever that means) cocoa
1/2 c. buttermilk or yogurt
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. buttermilk or yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs


Have all ingredients at room temperature. Grease and flour 0ne 9-inch tube pan or 2 9x2 inch round cake pans. Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk together 1 c. sugar, cocoa, 1/2 buttermilk. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl combine 1/2 buttermilk and vanilla.

In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add 1 c sugar, on high speed, until lightened in color and texture. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in cocoa mixture. Add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk mixture in 2 parts ( i.e add 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the buttermilk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk and then remaining 1/3 flour). Beat on low speed or stir with a rubber spatula until smooth and scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. Scrape the batter into the pan(s) and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes in round pans, 45-55 minutes for the tube pan.
***important. Know your oven. Go the full 55 minutes in a tube pan unless you think it's done. We checked ours at 45 minutes and it fell :( But it still tasted good!***
Let cool in the pan(s) on a rack for 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan(s). Invert the cake. Let cool right side up on the rack.

Aaron glazed it with a Chocolate Ganache, also from the Joy of Cooking. It would have been really rich if we'd had heavy whipping cream. But even using skim milk, it was great! And I don't think he used this much chocolate, probably 1/2 of the recipe.

3/4 c heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Bring cream to a boil in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and add chocolate, Stir until most of the chocolate is melted. Cover and let rest of 10 minutes. Stir or whisk very gently until completely smooth. Stir in 1 Tbsp liqueur (optional) - we used vanilla. For a pourable glaze, let stand at room temperature stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 85 to 95 degrees. F. For frosting, let stand until spreadable. It can be soften again slowly if necessary.

Angel Food Cake

I made my first Angel Food Cake from scratch last night. It was Aaron's request, since I was looking for something to make in my new tube pan. The recipe comes from the Better Homes and Garden Cook book. It takes a bit of prep, but it's so good!

1 1/2 cups eggs whites (10-12 large eggs)
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup granulated sugar

In am extra-large mixing bowl (they aren't kidding) allow egg white to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile sift powdered sugar and flour together 3 times.
Add cream of tartar and vanilla to egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed till soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar about 2 tablespoons at a time.
Sift about one-fourth of the dry-mixture over beaten egg whites, fold in gently. Repeat, folding in remaining dry mixture by fourths. Pour in ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Gently cut through batter to remove any large air pockets.
Bake on the lowest rack in a 350 F oven for 40 -45 minutes or till top springs back when touched. immediately invert cake and let cool completely (about 2 hours). Loosen sides of cake pan, remove cake.

A few notes: I thought I had messed it up when I got it to stiff peaks with out the sugar, but it turned out fine. I only had one bad air pocket on the bottom (the top when you turn it over). Not bad for my first time.

Banana Roll

This was served at our wedding reception. I have used it numerous times since then. My MIL got the recipe from a friend. She gave it to others and was consequently told it was a secret recipe and it was not to be shared. Oops. So here's the "secret" recipe.
Just mix it up in the blender.

3 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. mashed banana
1 tsp. banana flavoring (I just substitute vanilla)
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c flour

Beat together eggs and sugar for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Grease and flour a Jelly roll pan (or a 10x15 cookie sheet with a low side). Pour onto pan (make sure it's very even) and bake at 375 F for15 minutes (don't over bake!)
Sprinkle a flour sack - or towel (not terry cloth)- with powdered sugar. Loosen with spatula and dump cake onto towel. and roll up in a jelly roll (it's OK if the towel is rolled up inside). Cool for at least 20 minutes and then unroll and frost. Reroll and wrap until ready to cut and serve. Can be frozen.

Frosting:
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
4 tsp. butter
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat well and add 1/2 c. nuts if desired.

Oatmeal Cake

This is Aaron's favorite cake and requests it for his birthday every year.
1 1/2 c water
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c quick oats
1 cube butter
2 eggs
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. white sugar
1 1/2 c. flour

Topping
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c butter, melted
1/4 c. evaporated milk
1 c. coconut
1/2 c. chopped nuts (we used pecans, walnuts works well also)

For cake; Boil water and salt, add in oatmeal and margarine and mix well, cool. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased 9x13 cake pan. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.
For topping mix melted margarine with all ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Spread over hot cake and broil in oven until it's bubbly. Remove cake from oven and cool slightly. Serve cake warm with vanilla ice cream!

Carrot cake

This is the recipe for the cake I am made for the chili cook-off tonight. It didn't win, but it was yummy. I had fun decorating it.
Sam's Famous Carrot Cake
SUBMITTED BY: Brian D'Amico

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
1 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x12 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple and raisins.
Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
Pour into prepared 8x12 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. Check with toothpick.
Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.