Tag: Cream Cheese Frosting

Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Fruit · Uncategorized

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

We have a winner folks. These cupcakes are truly decadent, light, flavorful, beautiful, sunshine in your mouth wonderful!  Everyone who has had one, (and so far that is about 50, (two different times of baking them and taking them to different places) has told me that this is their new favorite flavor of cupcake, or cake, that I have made. The first time i made it, was in a cake with cream cheese frosting for the filling and then wrapped it in whipped cream. As that is, to me, the best way to enjoy anything, (wrapped in whipping cream) these cupcakes just are so light and fluffy, that you could eat 5 of them in one sitting. I wish I could say it is because we have great will power to not do that, but the truth of the matter is, that we are in “stay at home” mode due to the CV. I don’t want to run out of eggs, or flour, which I am being told is very hard to find right now. So thankful I had bought a 10 lb bag  of flour last time I went to the store and 36 eggs. Because I make a shake pretty much every morning for breakfast with frozen blueberries I usually always have frozen blueberries in the freezer so when I began to think yesterday what I would bake, these came to mind, as the sun finally came shining through the kitchen window after about eleven days. So in honor of the beautiful sunshine, lemon blueberries were the baked good of the day.

1 Duncan Hines or Pillsbury lemon cake mix

1 small box of lemon instant pudding mix (yesterday I only had french vanilla pudding mix so used that.)

4 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water mixed with 1/2 cup lemon juice=1 cup liquid

1 cup frozen blueberries or pint of fresh blueberries, sprinkled with a little flour to keep them from sticking together in batter. (sprinkle about 1/8 cup or 2-3 tablespoons over the blueberries and stir flour to just coat them)

Mix all ingredients, except for blueberries for 2 minutes.  Stir in the blueberries just until they are mixed in well.  Do not stir much. Using large cookie scoop, fill cupcake liners and bake until the tops of cupcakes still have a little shine. Cupcakes continue to bake because of the hot cupcake pan, so you need to always take them out when there is still a little shine on the top and they are soft to the touch. This keeps you from making a dry cupcake.

Remove from pan and continue until all the batter is used. . This recipe makes 28 cupcakes if you use the large cookie scoop.  Cool and Frost.

Frosting

3  1/2 cups of powdered sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

4 oz cream cheese, softened

Whipping cream to thin or milk if you prefer. Takes only about 1/3 cup , (but add this gradually by tablespoons so it doesn’t get to think) to get frosting to spreading consistency.  Add by tablespoon if you need a little more.

Mix all together and continue to mix until frosting is very light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes ( or cake if you have made this into a 9×13 cake). Store in refrigerator, covered.

 

Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Uncategorized

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!! What a great way to say I Love You by dropping off some wonderful homemade cupcakes to friends or family.

A dear friend had requested either red velvet or carrot cake cupcakes when she found out that I was baking her something. Because I had a whole bag of carrots in the fridge, I thought to myself, “self, should you make a kale-carrot smoothie or carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting?” and guess what won out?  Because I had not made a homemade carrot cake in a long time, I began to go through some old cookbooks and decided to try this recipe which was in an old cookbook I have had since the 70’s. They were passed down to me by my aunt Gladys. The actual print date of the cookbook is 1961. I (I know you are never suppose to begin a sentence with “I” but because it is Valentines, please be kind to forgive me) have to tell you that besides the recipe that I have made before with a can of crushed pineapple in the carrot cake, this one is the best one I have found. It is super moist and light and the flavor is wonderful. Of course, all the cream cheese frosting certainly didn’t hurt the flavor either. So grab a bag of carrots from the grocery store and get the food processor out. These are just delicious and will be a perfect ending to our night at home tonight. Yes, that’s right, Mr. Cupid and I will be at home tonight. We have a dinner planned of Olive Tapenade, Bruchetta with Garlic Bread, Salami and cheese wraps. We plan to celebrate tomorrow night but because my Valentine is now working, I have the feeling he will be so thankful to stay home tonight and then celebrate tomorrow night. Besides, I have to find out what happens in the next episode of A Place to Call Home …..

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, well beaten

1 teas vanilla

2 cups flour

2 teas cinnamon

1 heaping teas pumpkin pie spice

2 teas baking soda

2 teas baking powder

1 cup crushed pecans or walnuts (I didn’t put them in the cake, but sprinkled them over the frosting this time

3 cups grated carrots

 

Directions

Mix oil and sugar; beat well. Add beaten eggs. Sift all dry ingredients 2 -3 times. If you add the nuts to the batter, add them to the flour mixture. Mix dry ingredients with the sugar mixture. Add carrots 1 cup at a time and mix in well after each addition. Either bake as cupcakes or layer cakes or one 9×13″ cake. Bake until cake feels firm to the touch but still looks shiny on top. Cool and Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting*

*Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teas vanilla

Mix all ingredients together until no lumps remain in mixture. I added a little pineapple juice to the frosting and blended it in to give it extra flavor. Sprinkled the crushed pecans over the top.

 

Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Uncategorized

Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

I have made this cake twice in one week. The first time I made it was for a friends birthday and used some of the batter to make about 6 cupcakes so Randy and I could have some. Having a new neighbor next to us, 3 of the cupcakes went to her and so I got one and Randy had two. Well, I can tell you that just having one simply was enough to leave me with a craving for more carrot cake. This recipe was handed to me back in 2002 when, at a company picnic, Randy was talked into being in a dunking booth and all the employees bought tickets trying to dunk him. If you know Randy, you will know that the Penny loafer-Polo shirt wearing, brief case carrying man was not in “hog heaven” that day. But I walked away with this great recipe of a cake that one of the ladies from the office brought to the all day picnic.
Today there were 8 ladies at the house for a salad luncheon and since I had not yet satisfied the carrot cake craving, I decided to make it again. All I can tell you is that it always gets rave reviews and as several of the ladies and a couple of the husbands who were taken a piece said, “this is the best carrot cake” It is simple and wonderful.

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
2 teas cinnamon (I added an extra one to make 3 teas total)
3 eggs, well beaten
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups sugar
2 teas vanilla
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups grated carrots
1 (3 1/2 oz) can flaked coconut
1 cup finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/3 cup orange juice

Combine flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk,sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Stir in flour mixture, pineapple, carrots, coconut and nuts.
Pour into well greased and floured 3 (9″) pans.
Bake at 350 for about 23-28 minutes or until cake tests done. If you use one 9×13 pan, remove enough batter to make about 4 cupcakes and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until cake tests done. Cupcakes will only need about 15 minutes to bake.

When cake is done, remove from oven and using a pastry brush, brush each layer with the orange juice allowing it to spread over each layer. Let cool for about 10 min and remove layers onto sheets of waxed paper or cooling rack.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (1 lb) box of powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 oz) softened cream cheese
1-2 tables orange juice concentrate (I bought orange juice concentrate and allowed to thaw so that it gave the frosting a stronger “orange” taste.

Combine the powdered sugar, butter and cream cheese and mix until well blended. Add the orange juice concentrate to make frosting a spreading consistency.

Divide the frosting between the 3 layers, saving enough to frost the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle more very finely chopped pecans or walnuts over top of cake.