Tag: Cakes

Cakes · Desserts · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Love, love, love blueberries! This recipe is taken from Food Network Summer Favorites!

Cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp, plus more for the pan.

3 cups plus 2 tables all purpose flour

2 1/2 teas baking powder

1 1/4 teas salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs, at room temp

1 teas vanilla

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups fresh blueberries (about 1 pint)

For the toppings

1 pint strawberries, halved or quartered

1 to 2 tables sugar

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tables unsalted butter, at room temp

4 to 5 tables milk

To make the cake, preheat oven to 350. Generously butter a nonstick 12 cup bundt pan.

Whisk 3 cups flour, the baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat 2 sticks butter, the granulated sugar and the oil with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low; beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk, beating until incorporated. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk. Beat, scraping down sides as needed, until all is combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat 30 seconds. Finish blending the flour to avoid overmixing.

Toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tables flour in a bowl. Spoon 1/3 of the batter evely into the prepared pan. Sprinkle in half of the blueberries, then top with another 1/3 of the batter. Scatter the remaining blueberries on top and cover with the rest of the batter, smooth the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and tests done by inserting knife in center of cake and it comes out clean. It will bake about an hour to hour and 5 min. Transfer to a rack and let cool 30 minutes in the pan. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, then invert onto the rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the toppings; Toss the strawberries with the granulated sugar in a bowl; let stand 30 minutes.

Just before serving, make the glaze: Whisk the powdered sugar, butter and 4 tables milk in a bowl. If glaze is still to thick, add up to 1 more tables milk. Pour the glaze over the cake. Serve with the strawberries and their juices over cake.2015-07-03 10.01.44

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Brown Sugar Fudge Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Summer is suppose to be all about the fresh fruit, cool ice box pies & ice cream. But in my world, any season is perfect for chocolate. The combination of the brown sugar with the unsweetened cocoa, makes for a moist, delicious flavor that creates a great chocolate cake.

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teas baking soda *see below

3/4 teas salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teas vanilla

3 eggs

3 envelopes (1 oz each envelope) Nestle Chocolate Unsweetened Bake (If you cannot find these, use 3 squares of 1 oz each unsweetened chocolate, melting as per directions on box)

1 cup buttermilk

*If you don’t use your baking soda regularly, test it to be sure it is still good by dropping in about a 1/2 teas in a glass of warm water, if it doesn’t fizz up, replace the baking soda)

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the melted chocolate.

Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9″ round or square pans. Bake 30 to 32 minutes  or until cake tests done. Cool on wire racks. Fill and frost with your favorite frosting.

It is wonderful with browned butter frosting or the chocolate frosting that is on the blog. Just put in chocolate frosting in the search engine.  The browned butter frosting is under the Fresh Apple Cake post, so just put that in the search space.

Cakes · Desserts

Summer Fruit Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Going through a old spiral notebook that I began when I married in 1973, I found this recipe which my neighbor gave me when she moved in a few houses down from me. She was from Lampasas, Tx and was a really good cook. We would sit in the yard watching the kids play and talk about recipes we loved and what our kids would eat. This recipe was handed down to her from her grandmother and her family had been making it ever since. I am not a big fruit cake lover, but this one sounded like something that I would enjoy, with a big scoop of whipping cream or ice cream during the summer. Give it a try. It is so different from a traditional fruit cake. Here’s hoping you like it also.

2 sticks butter, softened

2 cups sugar

6 eggs, at room temp

1 can flaked coconut

1/2 cup milk

1 large box vanilla wafers, crushed in a plastic bag or blender

1 cup of chopped pecans

8 oz candied cherries, or dried apricots, cut up, or 1 cup of golden raisins

In mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add coconut and blend. Add the milk. With a spoon, add the crushed vanilla wafers, 1/3 at a time until all is incorporated.

Add the nuts and fruit (cherries or raisins or apricots). Put in a greased and floured tube pan. Bake in a preheated 250 oven for about 2 hours. Cake can be frozen.

*Depending on your oven, Jo told me that she usually baked hers about 2 1/2 hours, although her directions said 2 hours. When cake tests done, remove from oven and allow to cool before transferring out of pan onto a platter to serve.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Mexican Chocolate Pound Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

This afternoon I thought I would hunt for a new chocolate cake recipe and came across this new one that I had not seen. Since we love the Texas Sheet with the teaspoon of cinnamon in it, this one should be one that will satisfy our chocolate fix tomorrow. I saw it online in “my recipes” and cannot wait to bake it tomorrow. Let me know if you have tried it and what you thought about the flavor.

recipe Photo by: Photo: Jim Franco; Styling: Leslie Siegel

Mexican Chocolate Pound Cake

We replicated the flavor profile of Mexican chocolate using semisweet chocolate and cinnamon. If you prefer to use Mexican chocolate, look for it with the hot drink mixes or on the Hispanic food aisle. This moist pound cake is equally delicious without the sauce.
  • Yield: Makes 16 servings
  • 1 (8-oz.) package semisweet chocolate baking squares, chopped*
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup chocolate syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • Powdered sugar (optional)
  • Mexican Chocolate Sauce
  • Garnish: toasted sliced almonds

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Microwave chocolate baking squares in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 minute and 15 seconds or until chocolate is melted and smooth, stirring at 15-second intervals. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears after each addition. Stir in melted chocolate, chocolate syrup, and vanilla until smooth.

2. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (14-cup) tube pan.

3. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and let cool completely (about 1 hour and 30 minutes). Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Serve with Mexican Chocolate Sauce. Garnish, if desired.

*2 (4.4-oz.) packages Mexican chocolate, chopped, may be substituted. Omit ground cinnamon.

Note: We tested with Nestle Abuelita Marqueta Mexican chocolate.

Cakes · Desserts · Fruit

Apple Sharlotka

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

2015-04-11 13.07.27

Saw this in a cookbook that was being passed out at Costco. Randy loves apple anything, so when I saw this, I knew I would be making this. So easy!

7 Eastern or Red Delicious, Empire or Jonagold, peeled and diced into 1″ cubes.

3 large eggs

1 cup super

1 teas vanilla

1 cup flour

1 teas baking powder

1 teas cinnamon

1/4 teas nutmeg

Powdered sugar for dusting

Ice cream or whipped cream for topping

Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom of a 9″ springform pan with a circle of parchment paper. Butter the pan and paper.

Place diced apples in the prepared pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar, beating well. Add vanilla, then stir in dry ingredients, just until blended.

Pour the batter over the prepared apples, smoothing it over and into the apples. Gently tap the pan on the counter to even ly distribute the batter.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until cake tests done.

Let cool in pan for 20 min. Flip the cake onto a plate, then again onto a serving platter.

When cool, dust with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Cakes · Desserts

Spoonful of Sugar Tea Cakes

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Happy Easter! He is Risen! What a glorious time of year when we celebrate the risen Savior!

Tomorrow, we will consume our weight in sugar, with all the chocolate bunnies, the ham with it’s sugary glaze, baked beans, coconut cakes and handfuls of colorful jelly beans. Sometimes, (and this happens maybe once every 5 years) I even get on sugar overload. Randy loves these teacakes, because they are not real sweet…just like having a little spoonful of sugar to pop in your mouth. They can be decorated to look like any holiday, but are especially pretty on Easter dessert tables, with lightly colored colors of Easter. But perfect for your coffee time in the afternoon and because there is no coconut to add even more calories, you can even have a few more pieces….am I the only one that thinks like that?

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 cups all purpose flour

4 large eggs

2 teas vanilla (or 1 full teaspoon of almond extract, which is what I use as it makes me taste like wedding cake)2015-03-26 08.01.24

1 table baking powder

1/2 teas salt

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Cream Cheese Frosting (if desired) or sprinkle cookies with colored sugar as your topping

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13×9″ baking cake pan. and dust with flour.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In another medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until well combined. Beat in sour cream. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for 35 min or until cake tests done. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 min. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Trim off 1/2″ from all the sides. Level cake using a serrated knife to trim off rounded top. Cut cake into 3×2″ cubes. Spoon cream cheese Frosting on top of each cake piece. Garnish with colored sugar or raspberries.

Frosting:

1 8 oz cream cheese softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup whole milk (add gradually, you might not need it all)

Mix all ingredients and mix until well blended.

Be sure to share the Good News of Christ and His love for us with someone…invite them to church! Have a glorious Easter

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Mississippi Mud Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

To continue our month of Chocolate Desserts, this cake has always been one of my favorites.
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs, beaten
1 teas vanilla
1/8 teas salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 (10.5 oz) bag miniature marshmallows
Chocolate Frosting:
1 ( 16 oz) package powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter (4 tables), softened
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Cake:
whisk together the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in flour and chopped pecans. Pour batter into a greased and floured 15×10″ jelly-roll pan.
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 20 min, or until cake tests done. Remove from oven and sprinkle the marshmallows over the top of the cake. Return to oven and bake about 3-4 min. Drizzle the Chocolate Frosting over the warm cake, over the melted marshmallows. Top with more chopped pecans if desired.

Frosting:
Beat all ingredients at medium speed with mixer until smooth.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Mocha Brownie Cake

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate! What a great month to try all new chocolate desserts Finding the Southern Living Chocolate Dessert cookbook, well,what better place to look for all new recipes. 2015-02-06 11.27.02

1 (21 oz) box chewy fudge brownie mix (Duncan Hines is recommended)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tables instant coffee granules
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Garnish: chocolate shavings
Coat 2 ( 8″) round cake pans with cooking spray. Line pans with wax paper and coat with the cooking spray.
Combine brownie mix and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in pecans (Hum…I might be tempted to add about 1/2 cup chocolate chips). Spread batter evenly into prepared pans; bake for almost 23-25 min or until they test done.
Remove from oven and place on wire racks to cool completely.
Combine whipping cream and coffee granules. Beat at medium speed with mixer until starting to hold shape. Gradually add the powdered sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream mixture on top of one brownie layer that you have placed on a serving platter. Top with remaining brownie layer and spread the rest of the whipped cream mixture over the top and sides of the brownie cakes. Store in fridge and garnish as desired.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts · Super Bowl Recipes

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

SUPER BOWL DESSERT!!! Perfect for the dessert table Sunday. I was needing one more recipe other than the pecan pie bars and oatmeal cookies and Chocolate Cream Cheese Brownies and here it is. Love love love the flavor of peanut butter and chocolate.

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup cocoa

3 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

2 teas vanilla

Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup milk (add gradually as it might not require the whole 1/2 cup)

1 teas vanilla

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13×9″ baking pan. In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.

In a small saucepan, combine water, butter, peanut butter and cocoa; bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream and vanilla until blended. Add to flour mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer to prepared baking pan. Bake 25-30 min or until cake tests done.

Prepare frosting while cake is baking. In a large bowl, beat the powdered sugar,  butter,  peanut butter, milk and vanilla until smooth. Remove cake from oven when done and place on wire rack. Immediately spread with frosting; sprinkle peanuts over top if desired. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Hazelnut Chocolate Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

I guess you can tell that I’m in my cake mode. I get in cookie mode, pie modes and now cake. I have one piece left of the Tuxedo cake and am saving it for tonight to eat during The Good Wife. But this cake, (once again, thank you Paula Deen) well…I will be making it Tues so I can watch Adventures of Laura and have cake.

1 1/4 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 tables vanilla

5 large eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 teas baking soda

1 teas baking powder

1/4 salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup sour cream

Chocolate-Hazelnut Frosting

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1 1/2 cups chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutella)

1/2 cup sour cream

5 cups powdered sugar

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 3 (9″) cake pans with Pam. Coat with flour if you are not using the Pam with flour.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugars and vanilla with mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and next 4 ingredients. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until all is combined. Stir in sour cream. Spoon batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for 15 to 20 min, or until cake tests done. Let cool in pans for 10 min and remove from pans onto wire racks.

Spread frosting between layers and on sides and top of cake when completely cool. Garnish with chopped hazelnuts if desired.

Frosting:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer at medium until creamy. Beat in Nutella and sour cream until combined. REduce speed to low and gradually add powdered sugar, beating until well combined and no lumps remain.