Fool Proof Chocolate Bundt Cake with Fudge Frosting

I've had this recipe since we first got married. It came from one of my SIL's and it is one of my three box mix approved recipes. Number one was Spinach Herb Twists. Dos: Simple Lemon Almond Poppy Seed Cake. This recipe is big number three. After this, I only have one more box mix approved recipe to share with you. I know how you LOVE mix recipes. Seriously. So pay attention.

Tops 10 reasons I love this cake, why you will love it and why grown men, women and children have been known to literally beg me to make this:

1. Suuper easy.

2. Super high fat. Not really a reason why I love it, but face it, the reason it tastes so good.

3. Super yummy/moist.

4. No fail recipe.

5. Doesn't matter how many times you make it, peeps always eat it all up.

6. Travels well, sliced or unsliced.

7. Usually have all of the ingredients on hand.

8. Mixed, baked and frosted in about 1 1/2 hours. Most of this time is baking/cooling time.

9. Great all purpose party/gathering cake: farewell, homecoming, shower, funeral.

10. Who doesn't love a BUNDT.

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Fudge Frosting

print recipe

1 cake mix - chocolate (any name brand will work)

1 small box instant pudding, chocolate or vanilla, dry

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup water

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup (or about 1/2 package) chocolate chips, semi sweet

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Generously grease a bundt pan.

Combine cake mix, dry pudding mix and sugar together in bowl. Add rest of ingredients, mix until all ingredients are combined well (with blender), about one minute. Pour into prepared pan, and bake on middle rack of oven for about 50-60 mintues or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on wire rack.

Let cake sit for about 5 minutes, loosen edges with a table knife, and invert onto a platter.

Cool completely, then frost.

Fudge Frosting:

1 cup (or about 1/2 package) semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar

dash salt

milk to thin

Melt chocolate chips in double booiler or microwave safe dish. Add the butter and beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup to begin, then add vanilla and dash of salt. Add remaining powdered sugar, continue to mix until desired spreading consistency. Add milk to thin. Top cake with frosting.

Tips:

-*When baking a cake in a Bundt pan, it took me a LONG time to figure this out: Generously grease the pan- key word generously. I use PAM, a cooking spray. Any type of cooking spray, or brushing the pan with oil will work as well. I don't use solid shortening bc it may leave a white film on the baked goods after they cool.

-This recipe works with any combo of: choc cake/choc pudding, choc cake/vanilla pudding, yellow cake/choc pudding.

-Works with low fat sour cream, but better texture with regular sour cream.

-Can make this in two 9 inch loaf pans. Start checking for doneness at the 45 min mark. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper, grease paper.

-Great w or w/o the frosting.

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Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Zucchini. Here are my questions regarding Zucchini:

Where did that name come from?

Why is it when you plant one, you have enough for a village (or at least your whole cul-de-sac)?

Why is it always priced $1.79 a lb at the grocery, even in the summer, when it seems like zucchini are more plentiful than mosquito's?

I know you have probably read a hundred "Best zucchini recipe ever!!" Most of those are bleehck. My vote goes to this one. This is the best thing I have ever made or eaten using zucchini (with or without the fresh whipped cream topping). Oh, and if you are still wondering if you should give this one a go, it's one of Laurie's recipes, yes, that Laurie.

Special thanks to our neighbors the Farr fam who keep us in zucchini :)

All.

Summer.

Long.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Laurie Cutler

print recipe

Cream:
½ cup butter
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ¾ cup sugar

Add:
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla

Add and then beat for 2 minutes:
2 ½ cups flour
3 T. cocoa
½ t. cloves
½ t. cinnamon
1 t. soda
½ t. salt

Add:
2 cups zucchini, peeled, seeded, and grated
½ cup buttermilk

Fold in:
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Pour into a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 325 for 45 minutes (check with a toothpick).

Best when served slightly warm with whipped cream.

Tips:

-This recipe works fine without peeling and seeding the zucchini. Just grate or blend the zucchini before adding to the cake mixture.

-Semi sweet chips are great in this recipe.

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Smitten Kitchen Best Yellow Layer Cake

I've looked high and low for a perfect yellow cake recipe. Have made this cake twice now, with perfectly delicious results both times. Deb at Smitten Kitchen proclaims this to be the best yellow layer cake, and I agree. You've never checked out Sk? Deb is a wealth of knowledge and a great resource for say, layer cake tips.

My "Go-To" Chocolate frosting is the Hershey's recipe for "Perfectly Chocolate" Choc frosting. It's fool proof, and I always have the ingredients on hand. This is a cake you'll make over and over. Happy July!

Best Yellow Layer Cake
Smitten Kitchen
print recipe

Yield: Two 9-inch round, 2-inch tall cake layers, and, in theory, 22 to 24 cupcakes*, two 8-inch squares or a 9×13 single-layer cake

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 9 inch round pans with circles of parchment paper. Spray the lined pans with cooking spray and lightly flour.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap or drop pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.

Tips:

-*This cake made two perfect 9 inch layers. No overflow. In Deb's notes, she says it should make about 2 dozen cupcakes, but she had not yet tested the amount of cupcakes. A few of her reader reviews said it made closer to 3 - 4 dozen cupcakes.

-Make sure to use 2 inch high cake pans. Purchase a good set of cake pans at a restaurant supply, craft store or my fave (and least expensive option- Ross or TJ Maxx). The pans will not fit inside of each other. They are straight up and down on the sides, therefore making the pans not so easy to store in your cabinet, but resulting in better shaped cakes.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Hershey's Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk (whole is best)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter in a large bowl . Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Yields about 2 cups frosting.

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Brookie's Fresh Strawberry Birthday Cake

Twenty years ago today, Brookie came into our lives. Her name was to be either Brooke or Natalie, but when she came out we took one look at her and knew she was a Brookie. We wondered at that time, back in the spring of 1990, (after only having one child for almost 6 years) if we could ever love anyone as much as we loved our first, Corrine. Would it be fair to have any more children, knowing we would always secretly love Corrine the most???

Silly parents.

Brooke loves good food. Really loves it when we have family parties and Aunt Sheri makes strawberry cake. I love Sheri's strawberry cake too, the only problem is, it never turns out for me. Always falls flat, or overflows, or is (gasp!) unfrostable. It's made with crushed strawberries, a white cake mix, straw jello and oil, sugar, etc. A traditional Southern Strawberry cake.

For a long time, I searched for a fresh strawberry cake that would hold up at our altitude. Tried adding flour, reducing liquid, etc. to the basic recipe Sheri uses, but nothing worked for me. I decided to go with a whole new recipe. I've found if a cake is too moist at our (4300 ft.) elevation, it will fall flat, and although it may taste good, aesthetically, it just won't stack up (pun intended). The search led me to a site called The Baking Pan, where I found this recipe. I modified it, and came up with Brookie's Fresh Strawberry Birthday Cake. Now, if you are looking for a super sweet, light and airy pink/red cake, this is not the cake for you. But if you love a naturally flavored, moist, dense, but not too dense, absolutely delish fresh strawberry cake, inside and out-you've hit the jackpot.

Oh, Happy Birfday Brookie!

love you.

Fresh Strawberry Cake

adapted from Thebakingpan.com

printable recipe

Cake:

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 3/4 cups pureed fresh strawberries

Strawberry Cream frosting

3-4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 to 1/2 cup pureed fresh strawberries (1/4 if you want a stiffer frosting)

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

4 1/2 -5 cups powdered sugar

dash of salt

fresh strawberries for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare 2- 9 inch pans by lining with parchment paper, greasing and flouring pans.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar, Beat in eggs, one at a time until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Mix the buttermilk into the pureed strawberries. Mix in the flour alternately with the strawberry/buttermilk mixture. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix all of the ingredients until thoroughly blended.

Pour the batter evenly into two 9 inch prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Fresh Strawberry Frosting

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Beat together until smooth. Stir in pureed strawberriesand lemon juice. Add 4-5 cups powdered sugar and salt, beat until frosting is smooth and creamy. Add additional powdered sugar until frosting is desired consistency.

Spread frosting between layers of cake. See "Tips" below for help in keeping layers from sliding. Frost top and sides of cake. Garnish top of cake with fresh strawberries and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tips:

exhibit 1: cake stakes, aka wood skewers

Using these will help in a HUGE way to keep your cake from doing the Leaning Tower of Strawberry Cake trick. Because the frosting is soft, you need to stake this cake. Simply take a wood skewer, (I had some leftover from a chocolate fountain extravaganza a while back), measure the height of the cake, clip off the skewers so they don't poke out of the top of the cake. Place cake on platter. Frost bottom layer. Place second layer on top. Insert skewers (4 is enough) through both layers of cake, so it will keep the layers in the same place as when you start frosting. Trust me, this is an important step. If you are using a plain butter cream frosting, without strawberries in the frosting, the cake will be fine without staking.

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Mother's Day Menu 2010 -Part 4 Mama's Pound Cake with Berries and Lemon Cream

I know you are thinking, really, you want my family to make a pound cake from scratch and serve it to me as part of my Mo Day dinner this Sunday??

Have you heard of Good, Better, Best? Totally applies here.

Good: Buy some fresh berries and ice cream. Wash and cut up the berries, serve over vanilla ice cream. Preferably Haagen Daz.

Better: Buy a package of Costco Pound cakes, sold in the 3 pack for $6. About 8 slices per cake, times three, makes 24 servings. Foolproof. The extra loaves freeze well. Add some fresh whipped cream. Note: Costco's Pound Cakes are remarkably good. I mean, better.

Best: Make this incredibly delish, easy pound cake. Cut up fresh berries, top with lemon cream.

Mama's Pound Cake with Lemon Cream

adapted from Paula Dean

printable recipe

1/2 pound (2 sticks or 1 cup) butter, plus more for pan
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 1/2 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

With a mixer, cream butter and shortening together. Add sugar, a little at a time. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl and add to mixer alternately with milk, starting with the flour and ending with the flour. Mix in vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan or two 9 inch loaf pans and bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely before topping with berries and cream.

For Lemon Cream:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 -6 oz container Yoplait or other good quality lemon yogurt

grated lemon zest, optional

Whip cream until stiff in a large bowl. Add about 1/2 cup powdered sugar, gradually. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Just before serving, fold in the lemon yogurt. Top cake and berries with lemon cream sprinkle with lemon zest, serve.

Tips:

- Many reader reviews called for using 1 1/2 cups butter. I followed this part of the recipe and used 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup Butter Flavored Crisco.

-The original recipe calls for 3 cups sugar, I cut it to 2 1/2 and felt like it was still very sweet.

-The original recipe call for baking 1 1/2 hours. Mine was done in just a little over one hour.

-I like to use Costco's Tri Berry mix frozen with a little sugar sprinkled on top, and slice fresh strawberries into the mixture.

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Williams Sonoma Chocolate Cupcakes with Sour Cream Fudge Frosting

Went to lunch Thurs with Corrine. The food was good, not great. Salad and flat bread pizza. Ho Hum. I thought maybe the desserts would be better. Hmm. Not impressed with dessert either. Why? I think when you pay $5-8 for a dessert, it should knock your socks off! Or at least leave an impression (good one) that makes you want to go back for more. Ordered two desserts. No comment. All I can say is : we gave the place a fair chance. I'll give it another try (bc I really wanted to love it and unless I really dislike a restaurant, I always give it two chances). At least the company was great :)

About a year ago, I started carrying a bar of dark chocolate in my purse, for uh, emergencies. You know. When you need something sweet after a meal, and that little voice tells you "do not order dessert, the main dish wasn't impressive". Thurs-Didn't listen to the voice. Oh well.
Last week I tried these cupcakes, from a Williams Sonoma Baking book. Yummy. Side note: I have tried DOZENS of choc cupcake recipes. This is the one. The keeper. Deep chocolate flavor. Moist. Lick the batter off the spoon kind of yummy. Too bad I didn't have one of these in my purse yesterday...

Chocolate Cupcakes with Sour Cream Fudge Frosting
adapted from Williams Sonoma"BAKING" Best of Kitchen Library

printable recipe

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa*
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cups of a standard muffin pan with paper liners.
Sift the flour into a large bowl, stir in the sugar, baking soda and salt.
In a heavy saucepan over medium high heat combine the milk, butter and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and whisk in the flour mixture, until combined smooth. Whisk in the egg and vanilla until blended.
Spoon equal amounts (a little less than 1/4 cup per cupcake) into lined pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool.
Frosting:

Prepare frosting by combining butter and cream in a small saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until butter is melted. Whisk in chopped chocolate. Continue whisking until smooth. Remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the sour cream, and then the powdered sugar. Let stand until thick enough to spread. If too thick, heat briefly and whisk again.

Tips:
-I used Saco brand recommended by Laurie. It is a blend of natural and Dutch processed cocoa.
-I added two tablespoons of flour (for a total of 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) to adjust for our high altitude.

-The original recipe calls for granulated white sugar, but I like the dark brown sugar instead.

-The recipe only makes 11-12 cupcakes, double this, you'll be glad you did.

-The "frosting" is really like a ganache ( melted chocolate and cream) but a little powdered sugar, sour cream and butter added. It's a little tricky:

1. One frosting recipe really is enough for a double recipe of the cupcakes.

2. When you mix up the ganache, the cupcakes need to be frosted within a few minutes of the frosting cooling. Otherwise it will be too thick to spread.

3. I think it would work better with only about two tablespoons of butter. It was a little on the oily side for me. When the ganache sets up, it's hard. Not hard like a rock, but more like a coating on the outside of a dipped chocolate.

4. Make sure to whip the frosting well to incorporate all of the butter and the sugar.

5. I did go back and re heat the chocolate after it had hardened, and it melted up fine and spread with an even more pleasing result- this is when I added the extra 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.

6. I used Bittersweet Giradelli chocolate chips, which may have been part of the problem in not achieving a perfect result. Next time I'll use their bittersweet baking bars.

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Miss Daisy's Chocolate Cake

A few weeks ago, after I posted Lemon Almond Poppyseed Cake, I am coming to the realization that people WANT easy, easy, easy. Did you notice I made a new category - Seriously Simple? You would not believe how many people sent emails, called or stopped me at church, the gym, school or grocery store to say how much they loved Lemon Almond Poppyseed cake. Hmmm. REALLY? Because, if Marge had not asked me to post it, I never would have. I mean, I love it, and it's a great cake, but I thought it was one of those recipes everyone has. Guess not.

Kind of like this one. I made this a few weeks ago, for a big family dinner so there would be a- slam dunk kid friendly dessert. At that gathering, we only had two other desserts planned. Being food freaks, we always try to have at least three desserts at every dinner. Sick, I know.

Oh, the recipe. I made this cake and a few days later Brookie and Corrine asked me for the recipe. So, usually I make it in a jelly roll pan ( 12 x17, inside measurement). And it feeds a crowd. But my favorite way is to make it in a 9x13 pan, bc I like my cake to be a bit thicker. I've been making this recipe or a variation of it for at least 25, maybe closer to 30 years, it's always a pleaser. And it's simple. You can mix it all up in one pan, cook and frost it in 40-45 minutes. You don't even have to wait for it to cool to frost it.

This particular version comes from the book Miss Daisy Celebrates Tennessee, which I purchased on a trip with Grant, Brett, Di and Sheri to Nashville in 2002. Love that place. Watched Sara Evans perform in the Grand Ole Opry. Stayed in the Opryland Hotel (where I ate some Almond Joy cake that was about half a foot tall, still dream about it). Met up with some of our fave people in the world, Will and Mary Primos. Went to the CM Hall of Fame. Toured some beautiful plantations. Ate a lot. Shocking, I know. Every meal was sauced, gravied and/or fried. Ate until I was sick.

My kind of vaca.

Miss Daisy's Chocolate Cake

print recipe

1/2 pound butter melted

4 tablespoons cocoa, unsweetened

1 cup water *

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa and whisk until smooth. Add water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and sift the flour into the saucepan with the butter mixture. Add the sugar, soda and salt. Add the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour batter into prepared 9x13 pan. Bake for about 30-35 minutes.

While cake is baking, prepare frosting.

Frosting:

1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, melted

4 tablespoons cocoa

6 tablespoons buttermilk

1 box or about 4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans, optional

After making cake batter, rinse saucepan. Melt butter, cocoa and buttermilk in pan. Bring to boil. Add sugar and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Pour over warm cake. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

*I used 3/4 cup water

Tips:

-This cake has many variations:

1. If you want to cut the amount of fat, without losing flavor, substitute 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil for one of the cubes of butter in the cake batter.

2. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the batter

3. If you don't have buttermilk, sour cream works.

4. Oven temps from 350 to 400 work. Adjust the amount of baking time.

5. Using milk in the frosting instead of buttermilk works. Any type of milk is fine. For the cake, don't sub plain milk for the buttermilk. Use a buttermilk substitute if you don't have any buttermilk.

6. Most recipes for this cake include using chopped nuts and mixing the nuts right into the frosting while mixing. Personally, I don't like this method/presentation. Whenever we see a cake with the nuts mixed right into the frosting, Grant asks me "who ate this before us?"

I think it's more appetizing to sprinkle the chopped nuts on top of the cake. :)

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Simple Lemon Almond Poppyseed Cake

So remember when we had that talk about using boxed mixes? And I told you I only have a few recipes I like, where I use a box and like the result? This is one. Actually, there are 3 total. But I don't ever post them, bc I think to myself - I'm sure everyone has and uses this recipe.

Guess not.

I ran into my friend Marge the other day (don't you love that name?) at the paint store. Yes, I was buying paint. Not a happy place for me. Let's just say sewing is not my only challenge. Anyway, she asked me if I had a good Lemon Poppy seed recipe, and asked if I would post it ASAP. Super simple, hence the name. Really moist, seriously almost fail proof. The original recipe came with some yawner icing, but adding fresh lemon juice and lots of zest makes this special.

Marge, this one's for you.

Lemon Almond Poppy seed Cake with Fresh lemon Icing
print recipe

Cake ingredients:

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons almond extract

1 cup water

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1 package lemon cake mix (I like Duncan Hines)

1 small (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding

Icing ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

Juice from 1-2 lemons (about 1/4 cup juice)

zest from lemons

dash salt

2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Cake:

Mix all wet cake ingredients together with mixer until blended . Add dry ingredients, including poppy seeds, mix until all ingredients are blended well, about 3 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, before inverting onto serving platter.

Prepare icing, and frost cake when completely cooled. Serve with fresh strawberries.

Icing:

Melt butter, add to powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest, and salt in bowl. Whisk or beat until smooth. Thin with a little milk, water or lemon juice if too thick.

Tips:

-I use 1-2 lemons depending on the amount of juice extracted and the size of the lemon. You will need about 1/4 cup lemon juice to make the icing spreadable. If using one lemon, only take the zest from one lemon as well. If you want to thin the icing a bit, you may use a little milk.

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Grant's 50th German Chocolate Cake

So, you know how I love cake? All cakes. I've made lots and lots of cakes over the years. For some reason, I haven't ever baked a German Choc cake. I'm not in love with the usually overly sweet pecan and coconut filling. Don't love a cake without frosting either. Lots of times German Choc cake is served without any frosting, just filling. A cake without frosting... not for me.

For Grant's 50th, yes 50th! birthday, I wanted to make him a special cake. My friend Laurie made him a cheesecake (his #1 favorite), a Key Lime cheesecake, which I will have to share with you soon... anyway, I decided to make one of his other fave cakes: German Chocolate. I started out with a recipe that looked good, but the layers turned out SO FLAT. Seriously, I would have had to make a double recipe for it to look presentable. So I tried another recipe. Bingo! Winner! Added a creamy chocolate frosting - and WOW. Yummy. Definitely a keeper.

Just like Grant.

Grant's 50th German Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup water
4 (1 ounce) squares German sweet chocolate
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease, flour and line 2 - 9 inch round pans with parchment paper or wax paper rounds. Sift the flour, add baking soda and salt to flour. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat water and 4 ounces chocolate until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 4 eggs, one at a time. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture, alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Do not over mix.

Pour into 2- 9 inch pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto wire rack. Wrap in Saran or other plastic wrap and place in freezer until frozen and ready to fill and frost cake.


Coconut Pecan Filling

4 egg yolks
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 pkg. (7 oz.) flake coconut, I used sweetened (about 2-2/3 cups)
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

Beat egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large saucepan with wire whisk until well blended. Add sugar and butter; cook on medium heat 12-15 minutes or until thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Add coconut and pecans; mix well. Cool to room temperature before frosting cake.


Chocolate Frosting

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/4 to 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter. Stir in cocoa and salt. Add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 1 1/2 cups frosting.

Assembly:

Take cake layers out of freezer.

Place one layer on serving plate.

Top with half of filling.

Lay other layer on top.

Frost sides of cakes with chocolate frosting.

Spread rest of filling on top of cake.

Shred some chocolate on top of cake.

Tips:

Or in this case, my mini degree in German Chocolate Cake baking:

-Original cake recipe found on All Recipes.com, calls for baking in 3 pans. It baked up perfectly in two 9 inch round pans.

-I adjusted this recipe which called for: the eggs and whites to be separated, beating the egg whites until frothy, and folding into the batter. Because I wanted to bake a cake with only two layers and frost the sides, I felt it would be too airy if I whipped the whites, so I added the eggs without separating.

-The recipe also called for cake flour. A lot of comments on various sites talked about German Chocolate Cake being too hard to handle (when frosting, filling, etc) so, I decided to use regular flour instead of cake flour. The result was perfect. Still a super tender and moist cake (because of the buttermilk), but not falling apart as I moved it from pan to cooling rack, then freezer.
-The cake is very tender, meaning it is susceptible to falling apart if not handled carefully. Freezing the cake made it much easier to fill and frost.

-No need to wait for the cake to completely cool before wrapping in plastic wrap and placing in freezer. Just let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes before turning out of pan. You may skip the step instructing you to turn cake onto wire rack. Just wrap and freeze immediately.

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Streusel Coffee Cake

My mother's one and only cookbook growing up was the BH&G red checked cookbook. That book had a special spot above the stove in our kitchen cupboard for years. I think this recipe was one of the first (besides lasagna) I attempted as a young girl. Here's the great thing about this recipe. If I was a betting woman- ( I mean real Vegas betting, which I'm not, which is really surprising, because my dad loved gambling, and my mom loves, I mean LOVES slot machines, which btw, I loved one time, on one day back in 1989, when I put a dollar coin into a slot machine on a cruise ship and won $100. I took my winnings and walked away, bought an outfit. Grant couldn't believe it. He said - "Seriously, you are just going to walk away?" Well, yes, I won something, isn't that what you are suppose to do?? ) oh- anyway, odds are :) you have everything in your kitchen right now to make this yummy coffee cake. The term for this is a "no shop recipe". Did you know that? I didn't. It simply means you already have everything in your kitchen/pantry to make this. It's simple, easy on the budget and yummy. Perfect to take to a neighbor or friend who could use a treat. Still love it to this day.

I bet you and your family will love this too. Happy Monday!

Streusel Coffee Cake

adapted from BH&G Cookbook

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil (vegetable)

Streusel topping ingredients:

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

if not using nuts, add 1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the first 4 cake ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the wet ingredients. Mix just until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour into a greased 8 or 9 inch cake pan (round or square).

Place brown sugar, flour and cinnamon for streusel into a small bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients. Add chopped nuts, or more flour if omitting nuts. Crumble topping over batter .

Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

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Amy's Bakery Yellow Cake with Pink Buttercream Frosting & Giveaway WINNER!

Thanks for all of the fun comments about your favorite food memory of summer '09. The winner of a million dollars and the "Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread" cookbook is ... comment #19 (chosen by the random counter) Michelle, who said:

"First I want to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. I have tried so many of your recipes and love every one! My favorite summer food memory was sitting at Fisherman's Wharf eating the most incredible clam chowder with three of my favorite boys Mark, Dan and Sam."

Congratulations Michelle! I hope you love Amy's cookbook. For all of the non winners out there, you can still try Amy's recipes, many are found online, or to order a copy of her beautiful book online go to: Amy's Bread .

When we were in NY, we ordered a slice of this yummy cake at lunch. The cakes looked so delicious, it was hard to make a choice. Since we were already toting around a to-go sack from the Little Pie Company (with some of their oh-so-delish sour cream apple walnut streusel pie and a brownie and a Red Velvet cupcake) we decided on some ginger snap cookies and a slice of this yummy "Simply Delicious Yellow Cake with Sweet Pink Buttercream Frosting". We were not disappointed. The frosting is sweet, and goes perfectly with the not too sweet cake. Amy's book recommends using a scale to measure ingredients by weight, instead of volume. I decided to give it a try. Purchased a small inexpensive digital scale, and set out to re-create our NY experience, here in B-town. Goodness. The results were mmmmm. Wouldn't this be the perfect cake for a little (or big) girl's birthday party? So beautiful. Oh and the million dollars? Just wanted to see if you are still paying attention. Happy Friday!

Simply Delicious Yellow Cake with Buttercream Frosting
adapted from Amy's Bakery
adapted to mountain elevation on 10-1-09 see measurements in ( )

print recipe

Unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted 3 cups or 14.81 oz (3 cups +2 tablespoons)
Baking powder 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon or .71 oz (2 teaspoons)
Kosher salt 3/4 teaspoon 3/4 teaspoon
Milk 1 1/4 cups + 3 tablespoons or 12 oz (1 cup)
Vanilla extract 2 teaspoons
Unsalted butter, slightly softened 1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons or 11.29 oz.
Sugar 2 3/4 cups + 2 teaspoons or 19.75 oz
Eggs 5 large or 9.17 oz
Sweet Pink Buttercream Frosting

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (325 for mountain elevation). Grease the cake pans. Line the bottoms with rounds of baking parchment then dust them lightly with flour. Shake out the excess. Or use Baker’s Joy baking spray that contains both oil and flour, so you don’t have to flour the pan. With Baker’s Joy, put the parchment liner in after you spray the pan.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk them gently for even distribution. In a separate bowl combine the milk and vanilla.
Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs gradually, mixing well after each addition, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl often.
Lower the mixing speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture to the butter in 3 parts, alternating with 2 parts of the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix just until it is evenly incorporated. This is a thick, fluffy batter, resembling whipped cream. There should not be any lumps or dry pockets of flour remaining. If the batter has a curdled appearance it has not been mixed enough. Increase the speed to medium and mix for another minute or until it is thick and fluffy.
Divide the batter equally between the 2 or 3 prepared cake pans. Weighing the batter into the pans is the most accurate way to do this. This ensures that both layers are uniform in size, and finish baking at the same time. You’ll have approximately 930 g/32.8 oz. of batter per pan. The pans should be about ⅔ full. Smooth the batter so it fills the pans evenly. Place the pans on the center rack in the preheated oven. Bake them for about 35 to 40 minutes (40-45 min), or until the cake is almost ready to pull away from the side of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Rotate the layers carefully from front to back after 20 minutes, for even baking if pans are unable to bake side by side.
Cool the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack that has been sprayed with cooking spray and lift off the pans. To prevent cracking, carefully right each layer so the top side is up and the parchment-lined bottom is down. This is where I use the wrap and freeze method. Wrap all layers in saran wrap and freeze immediately. When cakes are completely frozen, remove from refrigerator, and frost. Cool them on the rack completely. Before frosting, be sure to remove the parchment from the bottom of each layer. While the layers are cooling, prepare the frosting. To assemble the cake:
Place one layer, top side down, on a flat serving plate. Cut several 4-inch-wide strips of parchment or waxed paper to slide under the edge of the layer, to keep the plate clean. Using a thin metal spatula, spread the top of this cake round with a ½-inch thick layer of frosting, leaving a ¼-inch unfrosted border around the edge. Place the second layer top side up on the first, aligning the layers evenly. Spread a generous layer of frosting around the sides of the cake, rotating the plate as you work so you’re not reaching around the cake to frost the other side. Try not to let any loose crumbs get caught in the frosting. Let the frosting extend about ¼ inch above the top of the cake.
Starting in the center of the cake, cover the top with a generous layer of frosting, taking it all the way to the edge and merging it with the frosting on the sides. Try to use a forward-moving, circular motion, not a back-and forth motion to avoid lifting the top skin of the cake. Rotate the plate as necessary. Use the spatula or a spoon to make decorative swirls. Slide the pieces of paper out from under the edge of the cake and discard them. Store the cake at room temperature.

Pink Buttercream Frosting

Confectioner’s sugar 7½ cups or 29.80 oz
Unsalted butter, slightly softened 1⅓ cups or 10.56 oz
*Poured (not rolled) fondant generous ⅓ cup or 4.87 oz
Milk, whole ¼ cup or 2.19 oz
Vanilla extract 1 tablespoon + ¼ teaspoon or .46 oz
Kosher salt ⅛ teaspoon
Red food coloring 1 to 2 drops
In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat 21 oz. or 5½ cups of the confectioner’s sugar, the butter, fondant (if using), milk, vanilla, and salt in the bowl until they are smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes; start out at low speed and increase the speed to medium when the powdery sugar has been moistened. Gradually add the remaining sugar 1 cup at a time until the frosting is of good spreading consistency, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl often. You may not need to use all of the sugar. The frosting should be stiff enough to hold its shape but not so stiff that you’ll be unable to spread it easily on the cake. Add 1 or 2 small drops of red food coloring and continue beating the frosting on medium-low speed until you have a uniform pale pink color. This frosting is heavy but it should still have a fluffy quality.
The frosting can be used immediately or stored in an airtight container at room temperature, but it should be used within 3 days.

Tips:

-I measured and weighed everything, just to compare the difference. I know serious bakers weigh their ingredients, and swear by it. It was amazing to me to see the difference in the true volume vs weight. Sometimes a whole 1/2 cup difference!
-The recipe yielded more than the 32.8 oz of batter per pan. I believe it was around 40 oz per pan. One pan overflowed just a bit. Not enough to set off the smoke alarm, but just a tad. Next time, I will cut some of the liquid (milk) and baking powder. We are at about 4,300 ft. (elevation) so, normally I adjust cake recipes that are created in other parts of the country. I really wanted to try this recipe just as it was printed. When I experiment to suit mountain elevation, I will add the adjustments to the original recipe with an update. Updated 10-09 see changes for mt. elevation in red ( ). Still sank a little, one more try and we should have this perfect for high altitude!
-*I did not use the poured fondant. Simply made the frosting without the fondant addition.

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Amy's Bakery Plum Upside Down Cake & Giveaway!

Just before the summer ended (yes, it's over) I went on a girl's trip with my daughters to NYC. It was the first time for both of them, the second for me. It was sooososo fun.

We stayed out late, and got up early. We had an agenda. It was: see all there was to see, eat all there was to eat, shop, shop, shop, show, show, collapse.

By Saturday night, when we met Corrine's friend Natalie for dinner, we were worn out! We took a list of restaurants to visit, and hit a few of them, ended up grazing most of the days, and finding all types of wonderful bakeries and treats on our outings. One of our favorite places was Amy's Bread. They have three locations: one in Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea Market and Greenwich Village. We tried several treats and also had a yummy lunch at the Greenwich location. Everything was delish. They sell a cookbook that is beautifully written, with wonderful pictures and stories about their beginning, creations, and customers who frequent their stores. I loved the book so much, I bought TWO - because, I thought, if anyone would love this book, it would be A Bountiful Kitchen reader.

I am so happy to have this collection of recipes! Can you tell I'm on a sugar high? I've been baking this morning. I'll post another "Amy's" recipe with the name of the winner, who will be selected by the random counter. Leave a post with your favorite memory (food related- of course) from summer 2009. All entries must be left by midnight Thursday, September 10th. Winner will be announced on Friday.

My favorite summer 2009 food memory has to be when I was sitting in a diner with Corrine and Brookie at about 11:30 PM after seeing a show, none of us were very hungry, but we decided to order a pizza. The waiter said "We're all out". "WHAT???" I said. "You are kidding. How can you be out of pizza?" Brooke told me to calm down. Note: Brooke just spent the whole summer working in Yellowstone, working front desk at a hotel then waiting tables, listening to cranky tourists from 7 AM till 11 PM almost every day. Ok, fine. I didn't need pizza. So, we picked another menu item. Well, actually we ordered the mac and cheese with proscuitto, the triple layer Devil's food cake with cream, and an egg cream soda. 'Cause we weren't hungry. Yeah. And we all had a good laugh.

With all of the recipes to choose from in the new cookbook, why plum cake? We have a plum tree. I don't know if it was the excessive amount of RAIN we had this spring and summer, or the cooler weather? But, the plums are HUGE. And the crop was enormous.

I had to get out the loppers (is that what they are really called, or did Grant make that up?) and cut branches, loaded with plums and drop them right into the garbage can. I think I still picked about 3 bushels. And there are still branches loaded with plums. Call me if you need any to make this cake.

Oh - the cake. It is yummy. I love the cornmeal in the cake. It's much lighter than I anticipated. More like a cake, than a coffee cake. It is melt in your mouth good when it's warm. And it's beautiful too. I just had to get up and take another bite. Tart, sweet, buttery, carmely (know it's not a word). You should put Amy's on your list of places you must eat in NYC.

Plum Upside Down Cake

Topping ingredients:

3/4 cups light brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

Melt together in a small sauce pan. Boil for 2 minutes, don't over cook or mixture will get grainy. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and set aside.

Cake ingredients:

6 to 8 small black or red plums, whole

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

3 tablespoons cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2/3 cup milk, whole (I used 1/3 skim, 1/3 cream)

Sugar for egg whites, 2 tablespoons

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash all plums, and cut in half. Pit and slice each half into 4 wedges ( I sliced into about 8, because my plums were big). Arrange the fruit, cut side down on top of the topping. Set the pan aside.

In a medium bowl, add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together.

Ina small bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter for cake for 1 minute, or until light. Add the sugar and continue beating for about 1 minute. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix 1 minute more. Add half of the flour mixture to the batter and mix briefly. Then add half the milk and mix again. Repeat until all ingredients are incorporated. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy about 1-2 minutes. Increase speed and beat until soft peaks form. Add the 2 tablespoons sugar a little at a time and beat until stiff, but not dry. Fold about 1/4 of the whites into the cake mixture to lighten it. Gently fold in the remainder just until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly over the topping. Place pan in center of oven and bake for 30-33 minutes. Or until blade of knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let the cake cool on wire rack for about 5-10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen. Invert onto rectangular plate.

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