Share your favorite recipe ~ CAKES & CUPCAKES

[Lucinda]

If you have a favorite cake recipe, ways to tweak cake mixes or store bought cakes, an idea for a something cakey, cake baking tips, or anything else CUPCAKES & CAKES related, and you'd like to share, please post it here!



A LITTLE INSPIRATION:
I haven't tried these recipes but I'm linking where available since I stole the photos!


http://www.frenchkisspastries.com">French Kiss Pastries Website



http://www.edining.ca/viewrecipe.asp?ID=1345">Recipe

This one is a little busy for me, but I like the idea:





http://bronmarshall.com/?m=200603">Lemon Cheesecake Recipe - Bottom of Page

[Lucinda]

1. Emergency! Strawberry Stuffed Angel Food Cake

This is the GOTTA HAVE IT IN A HURRY version, which is handy to make if you need something unexpectedly. The presentation can be very elegant or very rustic, depending on how much you fuss with decorating it. This isn't fancy stuff here, just tasty and fassssst. :)

Ingredients:
- Packaged Angel food Cake
- Fresh or Frozen strawberries** - I would use fresh berries, sliced and sweetened to taste if in season, frozen also work well.
- Cool Whip - Yes, I said Cool Whip :) ESPECIALLY if you think there will be leftovers - but you could also use homemade whipping cream, it just doesn't store well. Enough to "frost" your cake. One large tub does an average sized cake.

Directions:

1- If using cool-whip - place out to thaw before beginning to assemble the cake.

2 - Thaw, or slice, and sweeten berries to taste. Set aside. We want both the berries and the "juice" that develops. Reserve a few whole berries for decoration.


When ready for the cake:
3 - Slice off a 1/2 to 1 inch thick layer off the top of the angel food cake. Keep intact and set aside.

4 - Make a tunnel in the base by removing some of the cake. Make it deep enough to hold the quantity of berries you have prepped (apx 1 1/2 - 2 inches deep) BUT make sure you leave a firm wall and bottom. Don't get too close to the edge.

5 - If using fresh whipped cream, make it now. :)

6 - Assembly:
- Using a slotted spoon, spoon the berries into the tunnel you've made, leaving most of the juice for later.
- Place the "lid" on
- "Frost" with the cool whip or whipped cream. I blop some on the top and work my way down, getting everything covered and then go back to pretty it up. I like to take the back of a spoon and tap around the surface pulling it up into little peaks all over the place, but there are a zillion ways to swirl it around until its yummy looking.
- Drizzel the strawberry juice on the top and let run over the edges a bit.
- Decorate with reserved berries

Stores well in the fridge and doesn't suffer if you make it ahead, but it's best served soon, especially with fresh whipped cream.




** I didn't estimate the amount of berries because it depends on the size of your angel food cake. A few extra sweetened berries wont go to waste though will they? ;) So i'd err on the "too many" side.

You could also do this with other fruits, pudding, chocolate mousse, etc.

[Richard Steele]

2. My awesomely good world-famous Chocolate Cake is actually just a tweaked Hershey's recipe:

The recipe printed on the back of every "Hershey's Cocoa" container:

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
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

LINK to instructions:
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=184

For a while there, I was replacing the vanilla extract
with the scrapings from hand-picked & sundried vanilla beans
that were delivered to me by some friends who regularly
vacationed in Fiji...but that didn't really make as much difference
as you might think.

Take that recipe, add 1 Tsp of good strong dried ginger,
and 1/2 Tsp each of:
Nutmeg
allspice
cinnamon

Most important of all: replace the "1 cup boiling water"
with 1 cup of the strongest black coffee you can possibly brew.
Espresso, if you've got it.

It's just about the best chocolate cake around, Itellyawhut!

[Lucinda]

3. I love the tweaking you did!

Coffee always makes chocolate more chocolaty. And I can't wait to try it with the spices! :hi:

[Lucinda]

4. Cupcake links - Flavor combo ideas and recipe collections

http://www.cupcakeroyale.com/thecupcakes.html
http://cupcakeblog.com/?page_id=83
http://www.marthastewart.com/cupcake-recipes
http://www.kickasscupcakes.com/Flavors.php
http://www.wilton.com/cupcakes/
http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/flavors.html
http://www.socupcake.com/cupcakes.php
http://cupcakecraving.com/cupcakes.htm
http://www.thecupcakespotinc.com/menu.html
https://www.cupcakeology.com/content.php?content_id=2
http://cupcakestation.com/flavors.html
http://citiescupcake.com/menu.html

Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/vegancupcakes/
http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?q=cupcakes

Foodgawker:
http://foodgawker.com/?s=cupcakes

[Arkansas Granny]

5. This is an old family favorite that I found when I was a teenager and is probably

the first cake I ever made. I think it turns out best when mixed by hand, just get the ingredients mixed until they are smooth. A great cake if you need one in a hurry. It's so moist that the icing is optional. Don't try to make a layer cake with this. This makes a very moist, rather dense cake that just doesn't work very well for layers.

Salad Dressing Cake with Cocoa

2 Cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
4 Tablespoons Cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 cup salad dressing
1 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients, add salad dressing, water and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into greased and floured 9 by 13 inch pan. Bake for 35 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Brown Sugar Frosting:

1 1/2 c. brown sugar
6 tbsp. cream

Boil 1 minute, remove and add 1 teaspoon vanilla and enough powdered sugar to thicken to spreading consistency.

[troubleinwinter]

8. What sort of salad dressing?

[Arkansas Granny]

9. Miracle Whip or the equivalent. Don't use mayonaisse.

[troubleinwinter]

11. OHHH!!!

I thought it meant Italian dressing or something!!!

I guess Miracle Whip is something like eggs, oil, vinegar & sugar, so it makes sense!

Thanks!

[Arkansas Granny]

12. LOL! That would have made a very interesting cake!

[lisa58]

14. I thought the same thing - thanks for asking

[Lucinda]

22. Bet this is really moist! Yum.

:hi:

[kestrel91316]

50. I've heard of mayonnaise cake but not salad dressing cake.....

[hippywife]

6. Fannie Farmer Fresh Banana Cake

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=236&topic_id=44258&mesg_id=44258

I don't have cake flour so I used AP flour mixed with about 3/4 c. of whole wheat pastry flour. I also added nutmeg (2 t. to a double recipe, I think it was) to this and used my homemade yogurt in place of the sour cream. The nutmeg really is an essential addition, I think. Be warned tho, if you double this recipe it makes a 9x13 and a 9x9! I just send the extra to work with the DH.


1/4 Pound Butter
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Bananas -- mashed (about 3)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Cake flour
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and lightly flour a 9-inch square
cake pan. Cream the butter, slowly add the sugar, and beat until
light. Add the bananas, eggs, and vanilla and beat well. Mix the
flour, baking soda, and salt, add to the first mixture, and blend.
Slowly add the sour cream and beat until well blended. Spread in the
pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out
clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack.

On edit: I was given an icing recipe that goes with this but the last thing this lovely moist cake needs is icing! It just needed the nutmeg in a bad way. :9

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I make a cake very similar to this for my DIL. It's one of her favorites.

I top mine with a broiled icing that we really enjoy.

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix all ingredients and spread on cake while it is still quite warm and put under broiler until lightly browned. Watch it closely as it burns easily.

[Lucinda]

23. Ohhhh. That sounds yummy!

Another new one to try. :hi:

[Lucinda]

21. This sounds very good!

Yet another reason for me to buy fresh nutmeg. :)

[troubleinwinter]

7. I do NOT like to bake.

Except Pâte à Choux and Ain5 bread!

So all I've got is a trick:

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

I make a boxed Devil's Food chocolate cake, two round layers. Cut each layer in half horizontally. Spread each layer with raspberry jam & stack. Frost with chocolate frosting.

The jam makes the cake VERY moist, and is much less cloying/rich than frosting between layers. And it looks elegant and special when sliced.

I haven't bought a chocolate cake mix in 15 years without buying a jar of raspberry jam with it!

[Lucinda]

20. That's a great tip!

Quick and easy. :hi:

[lisa58]

13. Lemon Mint Cake

I found this recipe in a land o lakes magazine and you can apply it to any cake mix.

You just replace the oil called for in a cake mix (this one is lemon) with melted butter and bake according to the directions on the box.

the filling and frosting make the cake:

2 cups of heavy cream
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon of mint flavoring
1 box of lemon pudding

make the pudding according to directions
whip the cream with sugar and mint until stiff peaks form
"gently" stir in half a cup of the pudding
frost the layers with a layer of pudding and a layer of whipped cream
frost the entire cake with the whipped cream

The most refreshing cake I've ever had - perfect for spring and summer
I'm going to make it for Easter.

[troubleinwinter]

15. You had me at "replace the oil... with melted butter"

[lisa58]

16. I know - I still wonder why never thought of it myself

[Lucinda]

19. A lemon cake DOES sound refreshing.

And tasty. Lemon is one of my favorite flavors and I never think of it for cakes. :)

[pleah]

17. Lazy Daisy Chocolate Cake

An oldie but, goody.

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup light-brown sugar
3 tablespoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (opt.)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
________________

6 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup water
________________

Sift the first 8 ingredients together into an 8x8x2-inch baking pan. Make 3 holes in the flour mixture:
pour oil in one, vinegar in the second and vanilla in the third. Pour water over all. Stir with a fork
until all ingredients are blended ( do not remove from pan). Bake in a preheated oven 350F. for 30 to 45 min.

It comes out moist, just like a box cake, every time. The key is to not over bake it. We don't even put icing on it anymore.

[Lucinda]

18. Sounds good! I love the spices used.

Thanks for adding this! :hi:

[Arkansas Granny]

32. I haven't made this one in years. We used to call it "Crazy Cake".

I've lost my recipe for this, but I seem to remember that it had a really quick cooked icing that went with it that used brown sugar, flour and water, IIRC, and maybe some butter and vanilla. It seems like you just dumped everything into a pan, brought it to a boil and then cooled it before spreading it on the cake. It didn't use any powdered sugar and had a consistency similar to a pudding.

[pleah]

40. Here is the icing recipe.

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
6 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons undiluted evaporated milk
1/3 cup chopped nuts

Soften butter or margarine and blend with rest of ingredients.
Spread over hot cake. Place under broiler to brown.

Easy as cake!

;-)

I have even done a white version of this cake with old fashioned mace icing. We loved it, but be careful using mace spice, it is very strong.

I forgot to list the amount of cocoa in the cake recipe: it is 3 tablespoons! I use a 1/4 cup, add to
the sifting process. Good grief, my eyesight is going.:crazy:

[kestrel91316]

51. Why is it called CHOCOLATE cake? There's no cocoa or chocolate in it....

[pleah]

53. See reply #40

[Kind of Blue]

24. Delicious Southern Style Strawberry Cake

:hi: Tweaked box of white cake mix. Recipe found at http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/archives/95

[Lucinda]

25. Looks good! I'm craving strawberries like crazy now!

:)

[Lucinda]

26. Cupcake wraps

I hadn't seen these before.

[lisa58]

27. They are beautiful - where do you get them?

[Lucinda]

29. There are several companies online. Here is the yahoo link

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=crmas&p=cupcake+wrappers

I'm just pasting the yahoo main search link because there are several companies that sell them with different styles and price points.

[lisa58]

31. Thanks - these would have been great for my daughter's birthday.

[Lucinda]

34. I can see lots of possibilities. Birthday parties would be perfect.

:)

[Lucinda]

37. Homemade version

From paper doilies:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1232780


Blank template
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo-1236568.html

[lisa58]

38. now that's a great idea - I will probably use that myself

[Lucinda]

39. Yup. And the blank template one can be tweaked with stickers, crafters scissors etc

LOTS of possibilities. :)

[april]

28. yes where can u get the wraps??

[Lucinda]

30. Link

I'm just pasting the yahoo main search link because there are several companies that sell them with different styles and price points.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=crmas&p=cupcake+wrappers

[Lucinda]

36. Homemade version

From paper doilies:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1232780


Blank template
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo-1236568.html

[yellowdogintexas]

41. ohh do want. Making dessert for a 'tea' for the resident girls at our YWCA

this spring. These are awesome

[Lucinda]

42. They would be perfect for it!

:)

[yellowdogintexas]

43. yep. These young women have aged out of foster care and many spend the

second half of their senior year living in the Y. Some of my friends got the idea to do a graduation tea, and I am assigned the cakes. Those things are so neat.

[Lucinda]

45. That's a very cool thing to be a part of!

And something they'll always remember. :)

[yellowdogintexas]

46. we are honored to be able to do this. This is my Sunday School Class, but

My UMW Circle has been doing Christmas for them for about 7 years.

We do a big pot luck Christmas Dinner, make each girl an individual Christmas stocking with her name on it and cram it full of goodies (big stockings), and play Chinese Christmas.. each of us brings at least 2 gifts so all the girls, and the staff and our members play the game. It is so much fun and the girls really do appreciate this.

The YW is across the street from one of our parking lots. Our church as a whole also pays for daycare for 60 children from the various homeless shelters so the parents can leave the children in a safe place while they look for work and a place to live.

So our church has a long history of working with this YWCA.

BONUS: it is a beautifully restored historic building with 2 ballrooms and a small suite of party rooms and is one of the most popular places in town for weddings, wedding receptions and other big parties.

http://www.ywca.org/site/pp.asp?c=bfIIIVMKG&b=36460

[Lucinda]

48. What a great facility! I love the fact that the building is being put to such great use.

Sounds like your church is doing excellent work in your community. That's really wonderful!

[troubleinwinter]

44. Did you see

Lucinda's post #36? Those are darling, simply made of paper doilies! The price is right!

[hippywife]

33. I got all excited about that lemon cheesecake

but the recipe only contains 9 oz. of cream cheese with 9 oz. of cottage cheese. That ain't gonna fly at all!

Now this is a lemon cheesecake recipe (except I would add more lemon juice than it calls for if I were to make it and I just might.)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-Cheesecake-with-Gingersnap-Crust-231748

[Lucinda]

35. I'd love a good lemon anything right now. ESPECIALLY cheesecake.

I'm thinking I might make some shortbread with a tart lemon glaze instead. I have what I need for that on hand. I'm saving your link recipe. Looks goood!

[yellowdogintexas]

47. A couple of really nice frostings

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

the ingredients are chocolate chips and sour cream
vanilla and salt

For every 6 oz of chips, have 1 cup of sour cream

Melt the chips and stir the sour cream and melted chips together, then add the vanilla and just a pinch of salt.

It will be very soft, but it sets up nicely in the frig. Very chocolatey and has a little twang from the sour cream . I usually chill it just a little if I am going to frost a layer cake but if I am doing a big rectangular cake to take somewhere, I just pour it on, spread it out and pop the cake in the refrigerator.


Easy Pudding Frosting

1 small package French Vanilla Instant pudding mix
use half the amount of milk the pudding recipe calls for.

beat well with portable hand mixer then stir in a medium container of Cool Whip. The extra thick pudding stabilizes the Cool Whip and allows it to stiffen enough to stay on a cake.

variations: use chocolate fudge pudding, coconut cream pudding, or pistachio pudding (remember Watergate cake? )

If I do cupcakes for that party, I think I will use this icing. It is light, tasty, not greasy at all and can be piped.

[Lucinda]

49. Great additions!

I'm really curious about trying the Chocolate Sour Cream. I like chocolate that has a little extra punch and isn't just sweet. This one might be perfect for me!

[troubleinwinter]

52. Chocolate Sour Cream sounds incredibly wonderful. So easy. Thanks!!!

[Highway61]

54. Super Moist Chocolate Cake

My opinion, the best chocolate cake recipe ever...it's that good.

2 C Sugar
2 C Flour
2 Cup brewed coffe (cooled)
1 Cup Cocoa
1 C Mayonaise
2 Teaspoons baking soda
2 Eggs

Preheat to 350 degrees and grease 13 x 9 baking pan or springform pan (what I use)

beat all ingrediants and scrape bowl with rubber spatula frequently. Pour into pan and bake 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
let cool in pan 10 mins then remove side. When cool... frost with cream cheese frosting.