Pumpkin Jelly Roll

Ok so I think my family is getting sick of pumpkin desserts at this point.  Not so good for me since we haven't even made it to Thanksgiving yet!  How can they be sick of it?!  Pumpkin is sooo good!  I've never made a pumpkin roll before or any roll cake before so decided to give it a try. I was surprised that it turned out really well and I didn't even have difficulty with cracking as many people do.  This is a really basic recipe directly from Libby's Pumpkin website.   

Pumpkin Jelly Roll

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Filling:  
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional for decoration) 
 
Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.  Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

Filling:

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Pumpkin Cookies

I realized this week that I've gone a bit crazy and have about 8 cans of pureed pumpkin in my pantry.  So I decided I needed to find some new pumpkin desserts to make because after Christmas I usually don't make anything with pumpkin again until October of the next year.  I found this recipe at Better Homes & Gardens.  These were so good.  My daughter got to make the frosting and frost the cookies which is the best part for her.  These are very cake like cookies and I prefered mine cold but so yummy!

It seems with my baby girl in school 4 days a week that on the weekends I'm always looking for something fun to do with her.  So I set aside a few recipes for her to help me with and try to find other activities in town for us to do.  This weekend they had a petting zoo here on the base we live on.  The kids really really enjoyed it.  My son (16 months old) really just wanted to chase everything and grab it and poke it so I had to hold on to him.  He only got to pet rabbits while I held his hand and helped him otherwise he tried to hit them.   My daughter on the other hand got to do a pony ride, hold some bunnies and even had a mouse climb up her arm, which of course being a girl she screamed and slung it.   
 Another great week gone and another great week to look forward to.  I really need to start finalizing a Thanksgiving menu and soon!
 

Pumpkin Cookies

1 cups butter, softened

1 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 extra large egg
1 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 can (7 1/2 oz.) pumpkin puree
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Brown Sugar Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Add egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.

Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

In a small saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar until melted and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on cookies. If desired, sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Makes about 30 cookies.

Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ Maple Frosting

Yum!   I found this recipe at House Beautiful.  This is Ina Garten's Pumpkin cupcake recipe.  These were super moist and absolutely delicious.  Believe it or not my 4 year old said she wanted pumpkin cupcakes for her birthday party at school.  Though she is used to eating things like this I didn't think the other kids at school would like them as much as a simple boxed cupcake and frosting mix so I made a batch of these for her and a batch of boxed for her classmates.  My little girl with her sophisticated little palette, made me so proud.  I'm not sure why it has taken me 3 weeks to get this recipe posted but it has.  I will be making these again.  They really were fantastic. 

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting


1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Maple Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10 paper liners.  Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.  Divide the batter among the prepared tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.  Spread the cupcakes with the frosting.

Maple Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Natural Maple Flavor
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

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Happy Birthday Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

My baby girl just turned 4!  I can't believe it!  She is growing up so fast and as wonderful as it is to see her growing and exploring the world and making friends, it is bittersweet as she isn't my itty bitty tiny baby anymore.  She is a bit spoiled I must say.  We brought cupcakes and party stuff to her school for a party, the next day we went to Disneyland Tokyo, and the following day we invited her best friend over and did cake and presents.  

She wanted a pony cake and requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  That's my girl, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.  I made the cake up and thought it was too plain so decided to make some pink and purple splatters to give it more color.  Not the best idea, especially last minute.  My splatters melted because it was too hot and humid here and they were a bit runny but in my head it seemed like such a cute idea.  But the cake tasted amazing and she loved it.  That's all that matters.  This frosting is probably the best chocolate frosting I've ever made and I think this cake recipe will be my new "go to".  It was unbelievably rich and that's what I like.  I did double the recipe when I made it because I needed 4 cakes for the cake I was making but this recipe below makes two standard 9-inch cakes.   

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. sugar

3/4 c. cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Birthday Girl!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by rubbing with butter, sprinkling with flour and tapping out extra. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon then set aside. In small bowl combine eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat well with hand mixer. Slowly add boiling water and mix. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and fold and stir until smooth. Pour batter into pans, dividing evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove cake from pans and cool on racks.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Peyton in front of Goofy's house.

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
3-4 tablespoons milk

Makes about 3 c. frosting 

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

This is a Wilton frosting recipe and I believe an Ina Garten chocolate cake recipe but I had it written down from a while ago so can't be positive. 

My Cinderella

Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownie Bars

 

So like these brownies weren't the most amazing, fudgy, rich, decadent things ever, Anne Thornton had to make them even more off the charts by adding a peanut butter buttercream and a chocolate ganache topping!  This peanut butter buttercream is probably one of the most amazing things on Earth!  I could eat it all day and night for the rest of my life.  I honestly had trouble spreading it over the brownies because I just wanted to eat it with a spoon.  I want to just add it to or in or on everything now.  This was probably one of the richest desserts I've ever made.  Granted, I should have used a bigger pan so my bars weren't so thick but I didn't and they were pretty huge and quite heavy.  I also didn't use the peanuts that were called for in the recipe as my household isn't big on nuts in anything so I opted to not use them.  Anne Thornton has done it again with another absolutely amazing recipe that you just must try!  These brownies are amazing but the buttercream is to die for!

 

Fudge Brownies

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, plus more, softened, for pan

1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 eggs, at room temperature

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

My daughter desperately waiting for the "go ahead".

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter in a saucepan on medium-low heat.  Once melted add in the cocoa, sugar and salt and stir until the sugar has dissolved completely.  It should start to look a bit like the start of fudge.  Turn off heat and allow to cool a bit.  Add in vanilla and eggs and whisk until combined.  Pour flour into the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined.  Add in the chocolate chips. Grease a pan, 9x13 or to make it easier to get the brownies out line with parchment paper or aluminum foil and then grease that.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until edges are done, the center will still look a bit underdone.  If you want to cook it more that is fine, I like mine still a bit gooey.  Then cool completely.  I prefer to refrigerate mine until completely set.  Slice and serve.  YUM! 

 

Peanut Butter Buttercream Layer:

1 cup creamy peanut butter (don't use old-fashioned or natural)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

While the brownies are cooling make the buttercream.  For the buttercream: Mix your peanut butter and butter together in a stand mixer until they are totally blended. Turn your mixer down and slowly add your powdered sugar and fine sea salt. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Turn your mixer back to medium, add your milk and vanilla and keep mixing until it's fully blended.  Dollop the peanut butter buttercream in heaping spoonfuls on top of the cooled brownies. Evenly spread it with the back of a butter knife the over the surface. 

 

Ganache:

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
7 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the ganache:  Melt the chocolate chips and butter together in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Allow the ganache to cool down slightly for 10 minutes or so, then pour it evenly over the peanut butter buttercream layer. Smooth the ganache out with the back of a butter knife, making sure to cover the buttercream completely. Chill the brownies in the refrigerator until the toppings are set, 1 1/2 hours or so. 

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

I'm not sure if I love cupcakes or frosting more.  I think maybe the cream cheese frosting but you can't just eat that by itself, you gotta make the cake too, right?  Anyways,  I went to a birthday party over the weekend and there were red velvet cupcakes there.  My daughter loves cupcakes, what kid doesn't.  As soon as we got home she started asking when we could make cupcakes.  So the next day I went out and grabbed a few ingredients and we got to work.  She had so much fun filling the pastry bag with frosting and frosting her own cupcakes.  It was hard to convince her of why she could only eat one cupcake.  You would think a little 4 year old girl couldn't eat more than one in a day but I tell you what, I bet she could eat an entire dozen if I let her!  She was so impressed with her frosting abilities that when I started taking pictures for my blog she asked if she could take pictures of her cupcakes and put them on my blog too.  How can I deny such a request?  So below is not only a picture of the two cupcakes she frosted, but she also took the picture herself just for my blog.   

 Red Velvet Cupcakes

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

3 eggs

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons red food coloring

1 1/4 teaspoons white vinegar

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 cup water

Cream Cheese Frosting * recipe below

The cupcakes my daughter frosted herself.

Preheat oven 350 degrees F.  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a bowl and set aside.  In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix oil, sugar, and buttermilk until combined. Add eggs, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and water and mix well. Add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time and mix on low, scraping down sides occasionally, and mix until just combined. Be sure not to over mix, or the batter will come out tough. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners, scoop the batter into the liners and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.   

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 sticks melted butter

6 c. powdered sugar

8 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt butter and add to a mixer with paddle attachment with room temperature cream cheese and mix to combine.  Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar.  If too thick add a splash of milk, if too thin add more powdered sugar.  Mix until well combined and lump free.  

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Chocolate Birthday Cake

Today is my little boy's 1st birthday!  We did celebrate it 2 days early though because of my husband's work schedule but I just can't believe Nathan is 1 already.  I baked a cake for him and a separate one for us.  Gotta have the "smash cake" for the first birthday. I have a couple of chocolate cake and chocolate frosting recipes I've used before but wanted to try a new recipe this time.  The cake and frosting were both really good just lighter than what I normally make.  That isn't a bad thing I suppose I just have an insatiable sweet tooth and always find the sweeter the better.  The frosting was creamy and silky but again I like my sweeter chocolate buttercream made with powdered sugar.  This was one of those recipes that I liked but have others I like better.   Also this recipe makes a TON of cake.  It is an Ina Garten recipe and is used for a three tier cake.  I did two small cake pans and two 8 inch cake pans and it easily made all four of those and I had more than enough frosting for it all too.  I'm not the best with cake decorating (and by not the best I mean I'm quite terrible at it) but tried to make it pretty enough to be smashed to pieces!    

 Chocolate Birthday Cake: 

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs, at room temperature
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/4 cup brewed coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter two 8 inch cake pans and two 3 inch cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter and flour the pans. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on high speed until light, approximately 5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Combine the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. On low speed, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture alternately in thirds, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix the batter only until blended. Divide the batter between the three pans and smooth the tops with a spatula. Bake on the middle rack of the oven approximately 25-30 minutes for the small pans and 30-35 minutes for the 8 inch pans or until a toothpick comes out clean . Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes each on a cooling rack, carefully remove from the pans and allow to finish cooling.  Once cool frost the top and sides of that layer with buttercream. Spread any remaining buttercream over the cake evenly. 

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1 pound bittersweet chocolate
12 ounces semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup egg whites (4-5 large eggs), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

 
Chop the chocolates and place them in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan simmering water. Stir until melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature. Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Place the bowl of egg whites over the pan of simmering water and heat the egg whites until they are warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Return the bowl to the electric mixer and whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, or until the meringues cool and holds a stiff peak. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl, add the melted chocolate, vanilla and mix for 1 minute or until the chocolate is completely blended in. If the buttercream seems very soft, allow it to cool, and beat it again.

Red, White & Blue Cake

 I'm a bit late with this but since I was unable to make anything patriotic for Memorial Day or the Fourth of July because of moving to Japan and not having my stuff and all I felt like I had something to make up for.  This is my Red, White & Blue cake.  My husband thought it was a bit clownish but I felt it had just the right amount of patriotism added to it!  I found a recipe that was similar to this one but it was boxed cake and melted whipped frosting from a can and I don't like either.  So I decided I'd make the cake and frosting from scratch.  Granted the frosting didn't really look the way the original picture I was shooting for in thin drizzly lines but that's because I decided to make a buttercream frosting instead of a whipped frosting.  My daughter loved helping me with all the colors in the cake and frosting, especially since I very rarely use dye in my food.  I'm not big on dye but I made an exception. 

I think I over did it on the frosting just a tad though because it was hard to taste the cake over the insanely sweet layers of red, white and blue buttercream, but I'll never complain about something being too sweet.  Here in Japan the desserts simply aren't sweet.  Every time I eat one I feel like they must have forgotten to add the sugar.  But, hey that is part of what I love about being an American, I can use as much sugar as I want!  

Classic White Cake:

1 c. room temp. milk
6 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. all-purpose unbleached flour (or cake flour)
1 3/4 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. (6 oz), softened
Red & Blue food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease a bundt pan with vegetable shortening and flour the pan. Combine milk, eggs whites and extracts in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in an electric mixer and mix at slow speed with a paddle attachment. Add butter. Continue beating at slow speed until mixture looks like wet sand Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Do not overmix.  Divide batter evenly in three separate bowls.  Leave one white, add red dye to the other and blue dye to the third.  I actually needed the entire bottle of red and blue but mine were mini-sized bottles.  Bake 45-55 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.  

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting: 


1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. room temp. butter
2-3 tbsp. half and half
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Red & Blue food coloring


Add all ingredients into a mixer with whisk attachment and beat on low speed until combined.  Then turn to medium low and beat until fluffy and desired consistency.  Separate into three bowls, add red & blue to two bowls until desired color.  I spooned mine into a zip lock baggie and cut the corner to get a stream of frosting for easier application to the cake.

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Pumpkin Donut Holes

Every time we go to the store my daughter eyeballs the donuts case.  But instead of always asking for one now she sees them and always says, "Oh, mom when we get home can you make donuts".  This is a quick easy cake donuts recipe that we make frequently.  I really like using the pumpkin, the flavor is just amazing!  Because this is a cake donut recipe there is no rising required, you can whip up an entire batch in about 30 minutes. 

Pumpkin Donut Holes

Vegetable oil, for frying

3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/4 c. sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp.salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 egg yolk

1/3 c. buttermilk

3/4 c. canned pumpkin puree

3 tbsp. melted salted butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oil in a large Dutch oven to 375 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.Whisk eggs, yolk, buttermilk, pumpkin puree, melted butter and vanilla extract together in another large bowl until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and thoroughly mix together using a wooden spoon. The dough will be very very sticky. Dust your countertop and hands with flour. Using your hands pat out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Use a (roughly) 3/4-inch cutter and cut the holes and roll into balls. Gather scraps and re-roll. Continue cutting out donut holes. Fry donuts, in hot oil, until golden brown and crisp, approximately 3 minutes per side. Drain on wire rack over sheet tray to cool. Once cool, dust with cinnamon sugar, if desired, or dip into the Glaze.

Glaze:

3 c.  powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. milk

In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, maple extract and milk; stir well. Add additional milk, if needed, to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over donuts.

Chocolate Cupcake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Who doesn't love cupcakes!?  My daughter decided that we couldn't have just regular cream cheese frosting that we needed colors so we had to do greens, blues, and pinks for her with sprinkles of course.  This is a great chocolate cake recipe too.  Super moist and delicious and I love the combination of chocolate and cream cheese.  This is a recipe that I've used quite a few times and this particular time my husband and daughter made these together for me for Mother's Day it has just taken me a while to upload the pictures and post it.  These turned out really good.  He doesn't bake and usually doesn't follow directions very well so the fact that they turned out with him reading and following my directions was awesome!  

Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting  

2 ½ c. flour

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ sticks room temperature butter

2 c. sugar

3 ½ oz. dark chocolate

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 ½ c. cold water

Melt chocolate over double broiler then set aside to cool.  Beat butter and sugar together until creamy.  Add in eggs one at a time, then vanilla and cooled melted chocolate.  Slowly add dry ingredients and water rotating between the two starting and ending with dry ingredients.  Place wax paper on the bottom of your round cake pans and cut in a circle to fit bottom, spray sides with a non-stick spray such as Pam.  Pour cake evenly into pans.  Bang on counter a couple times to allow air to escape and to settle cake.  Bake 350° 35-45 minutes or until knife is inserted and pulls out clean.  If doing cupcakes bake for about 18-23 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  Let cool completely before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:


2 sticks melted butter
6 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Melt butter and add to a mixer with paddle attachment with room temperature cream cheese and mix to combine.  Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar.  If too thick add a splash of milk, if too thin add more powdered sugar.  Mix until well combined and lump free.  

Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Frosting

This week was mine and my husband's 8th wedding anniversary.  So of course I wanted to make a dessert we didn't have every day but nothing overly fancy.  I did a simple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  They were both absolutely delicious, but when is chocolate cake not!  The chocolate frosting is a really good frosting but I'm looking for something better.  I don't know what but figure when I find it I'll know.  This is my standard go-to frosting recipe.  I've asked a friend for a few of her go-to chocolate frosting recipes and hope to start playing with them and trying them out in the near future so I can find one that is truly magnificent.  Granted making a bunch of frosting sounds like I'll be eating way too much frosting and I'm pretty sure that isn't what I need so I think I'm going to have to spread this out over time to make sure I don't end up turning into a cake myself! 

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. sugar

3/4 c. cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temp.
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. fresh brewed coffee

Frosting:

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
2/3 c. cocoa
3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans.  Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

For the frosting melt the butter. Stir in cocoa, powdered sugar and vanilla. Ad in the milk beating to spreading consistency.Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Makes about 2 cups of frosting.

Carrot Pineapple Cake

I was just in the mood to have something sweet today and haven't made a cake in a while so my daughter and I made this one.  She cringed seeing carrots being put into a cake but after it was made, frosted and cooled she devoured a piece then got up and went to the other end of the table and took my husband's cake from him to eat it too.  So I'd say it was a success.  Also you can use canned or fresh pineapple for this recipe, whatever you have on hand.


Carrot Pineapple Cake


2 c. sugar

1 1/3 c. vegetable oil

3 extra-large eggs, (room temp.)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. chopped pecans

1 pound grated carrots

1/2 c. diced pineapple


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter to 9-inch cake pans or line with parchment paper for easy removal.  Cream the sugar, oil and eggs in mixer with paddle attachment until yellow and smooth.  Add in vanilla.  In a separate bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and whisk to make sure you have no lumps.  Pour into mixer and stop once just combined.  Don't over mix.  Add in your nuts and give a stir.  Divide equally into both cake pans.  Bake approximately 30-40 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  I bake mine about 20 minutes and then check it.  If it is getting to dark you can cover it with foil while it finishes baking so it doesn't burn.  


Cream Cheese Frosting


2 sticks melted butter
6 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Add cream cheese and melted butter to mixer bowl with paddle attachment.  Mix until just barely combined.  Add in powdered sugar and vanilla and turn on low for about a minute then turn to medium for another few minutes until creamy and smooth.  If it is too thick you can always add a bit of milk to thin it out.  


Once cake comes out let cool completely before frosting.  Then top with additional nuts if you'd like.  I like to serve this cake cold.