Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Yum - Yum - Yum. This cake was just what the recipe called it - perfect. It was moist and perfectly- chocolatey. I made it as a 2 layer cake and doubled the frosting recipe. I did have some frosting left over, but I can think of worse things. :-) I have made a few different chocolate cake cupcakes since making this recipe, and this is still my favorite chocolate cake to date.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake

From: Hershey's

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

VARIATIONS:ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

Frosting:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Birthday Cake Ice Cream

I am in love with my ice cream maker. I had been seeing a ton of home made ice cream recipes floating around and decided to keep an eye out for a deal on an ice cream maker. I ended up scoring one for $24 at Bed Bath and Beyond - and I'm soooooooo glad I did. I had never really had home made ice cream before and now will never go back to store bought.

I haven't blogged any of the recipes I've made yet because the ice cream always disappears before I have a chance to take pictures. Hopefully I can post more recipes soon. I am trying to stick to the no-cook, no-egg recipes, which limits me a little. I may branch out, but I have an egg allergy, so I won't be tasting any of the egg/custard recipes. I have made several flavors so far, but this one is one of my favorites. It is based on the vanilla ice cream recipe that came with my ice cream maker, but I made several changes - like adding the cake mix. It really tastes like cake batter - which is perfect for someone like me who can't lick the bowl when I make cake! I hope you love it as much as I do!

Birthday Cake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups 2% milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup boxed cake mix (powder only)

Directions:

Sift together sugar and cake mix. Add in cold milk and whisk until sugar dissolves. Stir in heavy cream, and pour mixture into ice cream maker. Mix according to machine's directions.

Fresh Fruit Tart

I am waaaaay behind on my blogging. It's been a crazy few weeks here with lots of weekend camping trips and busy weeks in between.

I actually made this recipe for a Mother's Day BBQ. It came together really easily and looked impressive. A few guests asked where I bought it! If you're looking for an easy, impressive summer dessert, look no further!

Fresh Fruit Tart

From: Paula Deen

Ingredients:

Crust:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and sliced

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

Fresh strawberries, kiwi and blueberries

Glaze:

1 (6-ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Whipped cream, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust: In a food processor, combine the confectioners' sugar, flour, and butter, and process until the mixture forms a ball. With your fingers, press the dough into a 12-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, taking care to push the crust into the indentations in the sides. Pat until the crust is even. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until very lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

For the filling and topping: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth.

Spread over the cooled crust. Cut the strawberries into 1/4-inch slices and arrange around the edge of the crust. For the next circle, use kiwi slices. Add another circle of strawberries, filling in any spaces with blueberries. Cluster the raspberries in the center of the tart.

For the glaze: Combine the limeade, cornstarch, lime juice, and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until clear and thick, about 2 minutes. Let cool. With a pastry brush, glaze the entire tart. You will not use all of the glaze.

Keep the tart in the refrigerator. Remove about 15 minutes before serving. Slice into 8 wedges and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Lemon, Thyme, and Olive Oil Cakes

I saw these on Pioneer Woman's site and knew they would be perfect for Easter Brunch. I decided to try to make them mini and found these super cute liners. Aren't they adorable?

Well I did a trial run and they didn't turn out so great. They suck to the liners pretty badly, so I decided for the brunch I would do like the recipe calls for and just butter/flour the pans. They came out great and were very good. I did end up making them using a mini muffin tin and it made about 3 dozen cakes. They baked for about 17 minutes.

This recipe is different because it uses the blender to mix the ingredients. I had a little trouble with the first step of mixing the sugar and zest together - my blender just would not pull all the sugar to the middle. Otherwise this was a simple recipe with great results.

Lemon, Thyme and Olive Oil Cakes

From: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:

Cakes:

1 Tbsp melted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 eggs
¼ cups olive oil
⅔ cups milk
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp minced fresh thyme

Glaze:
1-½ cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (more as needed)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a muffin pan with melted butter and then dust with a little bit of flour - or spray with cooking spray with flour. Pulse the sugar and lemon zest in a blender until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, then gradually pour in the olive oil and milk, pulsing until emulsified into a thin batter, about 30 seconds. Don’t over blend or the cakes will be too puffy.

Whisk one cup flour, the baking powder, salt and thyme in a small bowl. Add to the blender in 2 batches until just combined. Pour the batter unto the prepared pan and bake until the cakes just start to pull away from the sides of the pan and spring back when lightly touched, about 25 minutes depending on your oven.

In the meantime, make the glaze: whisk the powdered sugar, melted butter and lemon juice until smooth, adding more lemon juice if too thick. Drizzle over the cooled cakes or turn the cakes over and dunk the tops in the glaze. Garnish with a thyme sprig.

Oatmeal, Cranberry, White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was looking for recipes to use up a giant bag of Craisins I bought and found this one in my recipe box. I have no idea where it came from (if you recognize it, please let me know so I can give credit). I do know that these cookies are moist, chewy and delicious. I love the pairing of white chocolate chips with cranberries, and the oats add great texture.

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In your stand mixer or with a handheld mixer, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Slowly add to butter mixture. Add cranberries and chocolate chips and stir until well combined.

Roll dough into balls slightly larger than a golf ball and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake about 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I found this recipe a while back and it has been one of our family favorites. I get requests for it pretty often. I have done a few variations including using cinnamon chips instead of ground cinamon.

These cookies are thick, chewy and delicious.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
From: Baking Blonde

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups Quaker® Oats
1 cup raisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Soak raisins in a bowl of warm water with a dash of vanilla. Let sit while you mix other ingredients. Strain before using.

In large bowl or mixer, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins, stir until well distributed.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack.

Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

For our little one's second 2nd birthday party - he had two parties, one for family and one for friends (we have a small house) - I wanted to make simple but delicious cupcakes. I saw these on Leslie's blog and thought they sounded perfect. They came together really easily. The cake part was good. Not super, duper knock you down delicious, but good. The frosting however... the frosting was amazing. I could have eaten the whole bowl with a spoon.

I thought I would include a blooper picture in this one. It is hard to photograph sweets when there's a toddler in the room.

Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

From: Leslie Sarna

Cake:
2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup milk, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs, room temperature

Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions:
Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Fill the cupcake pans with cupcake liners or grease cake pans (2 9x2 inch round or whatever shape you feel like) with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper or waxed paper. Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, or kitchen aid mixer bowl. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes and mix them into the flour mixture on low speed. The mix should be lumpy. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Mix on medium for another minute. Add the eggs one at a time and mixing in between each addition. Pour the batter into the cupcake pan or the two pans equally. Bake 15-20 minutes for cupcakes and about 30-35 minutes for the cakes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting:
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

Carrot Cake

So our house has two birthdays back-to-back. Last week was my husband's birthday. He requested a carrot cake for his party. I had never made one before - and actually don't like them much - so again, I had to ask around on the cooking forums for the 'best' recipe. I kept finding the same one - from Cooks Illustrated. I figured I couldn't go wrong with it so I tried it out.




There were are few minor mishaps with the cake. I sliced my finger open on the grater when I tried to clean up. I was not feeling well, so my husband tried to help out by making the cream cheese frosting - well I walked in just in time to stop him from adding 2 1/2 cups of flour to the bowl (he was reading the cake recipe). Then last, but not least, I do not have a cake carrier so he offered to 'fashion a carrying device.' I said yes -please do! Well he made a wonderful creation of bowl, plate and a lot of tape. It even had a handle. The handle however could not stand up to the weight of the cake. It broke as we were walking in the door to the party and the cake landed on its side and rolled over. This is the finished product after re-frosting it. Sad, but delicious.


If you are looking for a basic carrot cake recipe this one was perfect. Dense, moist and the icing was just right. I will definitely make it again!

I made a few changes/adjustments to the original recipe.
-The recipe as I found it was for cupcakes, but I used two 8 inch square pans and baked them for 40 minutes.
-I did not have enough oil, so I only used a little over 1 cup of oil instead of 1 1/2 cups and it turned out just fine.
-I doubled the frosting recipe and had a little left over.
-I left out the cloves because I don't like cloves.

Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
From: Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients:
Cake:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp table salt
1 lb. medium carrots (6 to 7 carrots), peeled
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil , safflower oil, or canola oil

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened but still cool
5 Tbsp unsalted butter softened, but still cool
1 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

Directions:

Cake:

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your pan(s) with nonstick baking spray with flour.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.

In food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); set aside.

In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in large bowl and using hand-held mixer), beat granulated and brown sugars and eggs on medium-high until thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds.

Reduce speed to medium; with mixer running, add oil in slow, steady stream, being careful to pour oil against inside of bowl (if oil begins to splatter, reduce speed to low until oil is incorporated, then resume adding oil). Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 seconds to 1 minute longer.

Turn off mixer and stir in carrots and dry ingredients by hand until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.

Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.

Frosting:

Mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment (or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute.

Birthday Cake

I made a separate cake for the adults at our son's birthday party last week. I searched around for a simple, delicious cake recipe and kept coming back to Dorie's Perfect Party Cake. Dorie Greenspan is well known for her amazing baking.



My next feat, was to find a frosting that would compliment the cake, and not include raw eggs since I'm allergic to them. I found a blog where she made Dorie's cake with a raspberry buttercream and was sold.




I don't have a great picture of it because it was gone so fast, but let me tell you it was delicious. I am still not a great decorator, so it wasn't much to look at, but the taste made up for it. The only change I made to the recipe below is I was out of lemon extract, so I added an extra tsp of lemon zest.


Dorie's Perfect Party Cake
From: Apple a Day


Ingredients:
Cake:
2¼ c. (9 oz.) cake flour
1 TBSP baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1¼ c. whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1½ c. (10½ oz.) sugar
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 TBSP or 4 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ tsp. pure lemon extract


Buttercream:
20 TBSP (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ c. confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 tsp. salt
1 TBSP raspberry liquor or 1 1/2 tsp. raspberry extract
2 TBSP heavy cream gel food coloring, if desired

Filling:
Raspberry preserves

Directions:
Cake:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.

Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

Buttercream:
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.

Add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until the mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds.

Scrape bowl, add liquor or extract, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about ten seconds. If using gel food color, add at this time.

Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about four minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

Assembly:
Place strips of wax paper on a cake stand forming a square the size of the round cake. Place bottom cake on way papers. With a serrated knife, shave off top layer of cake so that it is flat. Spread about 2/3 of a cup of preserves on top. Place second layer of cake on top of the preserves. Frost with room temperature butter cream. Remove wax paper before serving.

Strawberry Margarita Pie

We were invited to a friend's house for game night and a Mexican fiesta. I had this recipe bookmarked for summer, but decided a frozen pie would be just as good in the middle of a snow storm.

The recipe was easy to follow, and didn't take all that long. However... I used just about every piece of kitchen equipment I have. Food processor, mixer, zester, juicer, springform pan, bowls, measuring cups and spoons, etc. The mess was huge. But the dessert was amazing.

Strawberry Margarita Pie

From: Loves to Eat's Weblog

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

6 tbsp. tequila

1/4 cup triple sec

3 tbsp. fresh lime juice

Zest of one lime

2 cups heavy cream

Garnish:

Fresh strawberries and lime slices or wedges

Directions:

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the parchment, as well as the sides of the springform. In a medium bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add the melted butter and toss with a fork until well combined. Transfer the mixture to the springform pan and evenly cover the sides and bottom of the pan with crumbs (use the bottom of a ramekin to even the bottom crust). Bake in the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the filling, combine the strawberries, sugar, condensed milk, tequila, triple sec, lime juice and lime zest in the bowl of a food processor. Process until completely smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Transfer to a large bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Add one third of the whipped cream to the puree and gently fold in with a rubber spatula. Stir in the remaining cream.

Pour the filling into the crust, cover, and freeze until firm at least overnight. To remove the springform sides, wrap a towel soaked in hot water around the outside of the pan for 10-15 seconds. Carefully remove the sides of the pan. Before serving, garnish with fresh strawberries and lime slices as desired. To serve, slice with a hot, dry sharp knife, wiping the blade between slices.

Rainbow Cake

This post is going to have more pictures than most, because this cake was so pretty right from the start. I cheated on this one and used box mix and canned icing. It was for my son's 2nd birthday so I figured half would be on the floor anyway, so no use going all out. I saved that for the cake for the adult guests.

The cake was not difficult at all and the results were great. It's perfect for a kid's party.

You start by making a white cake mix. Like I said, I used a box - just followed the directions as printed. Then I used a 1 cup measuring cup and divided the batter into 5 disposable bowls. There was a little bit leftover but I just tossed it because it wasn't quite enough for another color. Using food coloring, dye each bowl to your desired color. I used the regular food coloring and it took 1/3 to 1/2 of each bottle to get them this bright.

Next, I took a 6 inch round cake pan and poured in about half of the blue, half the green, etc. This is where I think I went wrong. There was waaaaaaay too much batter in the pan and they took nearly 50 minutes each to bake. (I only had one pan)

Once the cake was cool, I transferred it to a cooling rack and started the second layer. This time I put red on bottom, then orange, etc.

The next day - after storing in plastic wrap in the fridge - I shaved off the top of the bottom layer, added a layer of icing and placed the second layer on top. I didn't shave that layer off because I liked the rounded top look. And again, as a result of putting too much batter in the pan, they puffed up super tall, and if I would have leveled it off I would have lost a lot of cake.

I am not a cake decorator. So I did the best I could with canned frosting, my mom, and an aerosol can of decorator icing.

I couldn't wait to cut into it to see if it had turned out. And.........it did. It was perfect!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I saw these cupcakes on foodgawker and thought they would be perfect for Valentine's Day. As usual, I kept a few and sent the rest to my husband's office. This was my first time making red velvet and cream cheese frosting.

I was pretty pleased with the result. I wanted to frost them prettier, but the frosting was just too soft and wouldn't hold it's shape. The cake and frosting were both delicious.

I did have a little trouble with the frosting. The cream chees was lumping up a little bit. I was told if you beat the cream cheese with the sugar and then add in the butter, that helps. I will try that next time.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

From: Rue le Sel

Ingredients:

Cake:

3 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

4 tablespoons red food coloring

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ½ cups buttermilk

1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Frosting:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put cupcake liners into two cupcake pans. The recipe says it makes 24, but I got 30 large cakes.

In a small bowl, sift the cake flour. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each.

In yet another small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but be careful not to overdo it. Stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda in a separate bowl, and add to the batter, mixing well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and make sure everything is mixed well. Divide the batter among the cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool, first in the pans, then on a wire rack.

Frosting:

Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract, then add powdered sugar and beat until it is all incorporated.

Maple Bacon Shortbread Cookies

I know, I know - bacon cookies??? Using bacon in cookies and desserts sounded like a strange trend to me, but there are so many people blogging and raving about it, that I decided I had to try it.

I sent a few recipes to my husband and some friends asking what they thought. Everyone pretty much said the same thing. It sounds gross, but intriguing. After looking at several chocolate chip bacon cookies and bacon cupcakes, I decided on this recipe. I wasn't sure if I (or the people I'm cooking for) was ready for the chocolate/bacon combo. I thought a savory shortbread cookie might just be fantastic.

The cookies took a while to come together since you have to bake the bacon first and let it cool, then make the dough and chill it. I ended up letting the dough chill overnight, making it a 2 day process.

They turned out REALLY good. I could have just eaten the uncooked dough, but they were even better baked. They were a little too flour-y for me so next time I will probably cut back the flour a little bit. Over all they were great though. Definitely worth a shot!

Without further ado!

Maple Shortbread Cookies with Candied Bacon

From: Stumpymunchies

Candied Bacon:

Ingredients:

10 slices of thick cut maple bacon

brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the bacon strips down and top with brown sugar. Bake for 10 minutes.

Transfer bacon to clean sheet of parchment paper and throw away the used one. Flip bacon over and top the second side with brown sugar. Bake for another 10 minutes.

Let bacon cool on cooling rack. Once bacon has cooled, dice it into small pieces. At this point you can bake it again for another 4-6 minutes for extra crispy bacon.

Cookies:

Ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter - softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer. Add maple syrup and vanilla. Add flour one cup at a time. Add diced bacon. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Turn out onto waxed paper. Roll into logs and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Cut into slices 1/4in thick. Bake on parchment lined baking sheet for 11+ min. (15 in my oven) until lightly golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack

Chocolate Sheet Cake

I needed to bring a dessert to my parents this weekend - and by 'needed to' I mean I said I was going to bring a dessert, even though we didn't need one - and I wanted to make something new with ingredients I had on hand. I picked up my Pioneer Woman Cookbook and decided to give her chocolate sheet cake a try.

It came together really easily and was delicious. I made it without nuts because I didn't have any, but the husband said it would have been better with nuts. So I might try that next time.

This cake will feed an army.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

from: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:

Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
¼ teaspoons salt
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
2 sticks butter
1 cup water
½ cups buttermilk
2 whole beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:

½ cups finely chopped pecans (optional)
1-¾ stick butter
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Directions:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter then add cocoa and stir together. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add to chocolate mixture. Allow to boil for 30 seconds then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup or bowl, beat the eggs and add buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

Frosting:
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. In a saucepan, melt butter then add cocoa and stir together and turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

I finally found a good recipe for un-iced sugar cookies. I was never a huge fan of sugar cookies – especially the iced ones. The catering we had at work always included these amazing, soft sugar cookies. I haven’t stopped thinking about them.

So I’ve been testing recipes and sending them to work with my husband. His co-workers have liked them all, but I still wasn’t satisfied. Until I came across this recipe for Soft Sugar Cookies.
They turned out so good. The only change I made to her original recipe is that I chilled the dough for an hour and between batches because the first batch (of unchilled dough) came out flat and crispy.

Sugar Cookies
From Delish

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

14 Tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Directions:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Spread 1/2 cup of the sugar in a shallow dish for coating and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

Beat the butter and remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl & beaters as needed.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Give the dough a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure dough is combined.

Chill dough for 1 hour

Line large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using wet palms, roll 2 tablespoons of dough at a time into balls, then roll in sugar to coat. Place balls on parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. Flatten cookies with the buttered bottom of a drinking glass, then sprinkle with more sugar.

Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and just beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 10-12 minutes, (13 minutes in my oven). Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes.

Source: Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, 2006.

Gooey Butter Cookies

St. Louis is the birthplace of a fantastic dessert/coffee cake called Gooey Butter Cake. If you have never had one, you need to look up a recipe and make it stat. One day I will steal my sister’s recipe and blog about it, but until then you’ll have to settle for gooey butter cookies. These are simple to make and really delicious.

Gooey Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 box Butter Recipe Yellow Cake Mix
1 stick butter – softened
1 8oz block cream cheese – softened
1 large egg
powdered sugar for coating

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl – I use my hands, which can be real messy. Let dough chill for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough into balls – about 2 tbsps each. Roll the ball in powdered sugar and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 16 minutes. Remove from oven and slide parchment paper with cookies still on it onto a cooling rack.

Easy Turtles

This recipe has been floating around the cooking message board I read. It looked simple and delicious, so I gave it a shot. Mine did not turn out as pretty as others, but they were very tasty.

Easy Pretzel Turtles

Ingredients:
Waffle style Pretzels
1 bag Dove Candies with Caramel
Pecan Halves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Place a dove candy on each pretzel. Bake for 3-4 minutes or just until chocolate gets soft. Remove from oven. Place a pecan half on top of each chocolate. Let cool before serving.

Orange Coffee Cake

I saw Paula Deen make this on TV a while back and book marked it to try. It really was delicious - and pretty too! I am copying her recipe exactly, because I didn't make any changes.

Orange Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar, pecans, and zest; set aside.

Separate the biscuits. Place about 3/4 teaspoon cream cheese in the center of each biscuit. Fold each biscuit in half over the cheese, pressing the edges to seal. Dip the biscuits in melted butter, then dredge in the granulated sugar mixture.

Place the biscuits, curved-side down, in a single layer in the hollows of a lightly greased 12-cup bundt pan, spacing them evenly (do not stack). Place any remaining biscuits around the tube, filling any gaps.

Drizzle any remaining butter over the biscuits, and sprinkle with any remaining sugar mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Immediately invert the cake onto a serving platter. Combine the confectioners' sugar and orange juice, stirring well; drizzle the glaze over the warm cake. Serve warm.

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

One word. YUM. I wanted to make a special dessert for our Christmas with my husband's family. I searched blog after blog until I found this recipe for a brownie cheesecake. It did not disappoint. The brownies were amazing, the cheesecake was just right - not too sweet, and the ganache on top covered the cracks!

There are a lot of steps to make this, but don't let that intimidate you. It really comes together pretty fast. I did find that I needed more crushed cookies than the recipe called for. Also, be sure that your cream cheese is at room temperature, you don't want it lumpy. I have copied her recipe exactly because I did not make any changes. Enjoy!!

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the brownies:
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
¾ cup butter
1 ¾ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
1 cup flour

For the crust:
1 ½ cups finely ground chocolate cookies
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt

For the cheesecake:
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar

For the ganache:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup plus 1 tbsp. heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter, cut into two pieces

Directions:

To make the brownies, preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9×13” baking pan with foil, leaving the ends of the foil overhanging the sides of the pan. Grease the foil and set aside.

Microwave chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl on high for 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until the butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add salt and flour; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with fudgy crumbs (do not overbake). Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles. Cool brownies, then cut into ¾ – 1” squares for use in the cheesecake. Set aside 2 cups for the recipe, and will have many extra brownies left over.

To prepare the crust, combine all crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Press onto the bottom and one inch up the side of a 9-inch springform pan. Fill right away or chill for up to 2 hours.

For the cheesecake, preheat the oven to 350°. Beat the cream cheese in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating on low speed, scraping down the bowl between additions. Add vanilla and sugar and beat until well combined.

Fold in brownie cubes very gently and pour mixture into cookie crumb crust. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken. Allow to cool completely.

To make the ganache, put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil, the pour half of the cream over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds. Working with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate and cream together in small circles, starting at the center of the bowl and working your way out in increasingly larger concentric circles. Pour in the remainder of the cream and blend it into the chocolate, using the same circular motions. When the ganache is smooth and shiny, stir in the butter piece by piece. Don’t stir the ganache any more than you must to blend the ingredients – the less you work it, the darker, smoother and shinier it will be. Let sit until it thickens to desired consistency. Then pour on top of cooled cheesecake and spread evenly. Chill to set.

Source: brownies, crust and cheesecake adapted from Smitten Kitchen, ganache from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan