Cake

Who doesn't love Cake? It just says celebrate.

Here are six yummy cake recipes for whatever you're celebrating, whether it's a birthday, anniversary, or simply making it half-way through the week. Check out the Secret-Ingredient Lemon-Blueberry Pound Cake, the Chocolate Guinness Cake, and all the rest of today's yumminess. Enjoy!

FABULOUS VEGAN FUDGE CAKE WITH BITTERSWEET ICING

This recipe, from the September 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 66, begins, “'I’ve tried vegan cake recipes in the past, but didn’t like the sour taste of the vinegar that is usually used to activate the leavening,' says single mom and café manager Shelly Platten. 'I tinkered with some recipes that didn’t use vinegar to come up with a fudgy, satisfying cake.'” Serves 8.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill organic unbleached white flour

1-2/3 cups Florida Crystals organic cane sugar, divided

1-1/3 cups Chatfield’s cocoa powder, divided

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup Silk vanilla soymilk, divided

1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup canola oil, divided

1 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 9-inch round pan with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, 1 cup sugar, 2/3 cup cocoa, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Whisk together 2/3 cup soymilk, 1/3 cup oil, and 1/2 cup water in separate bowl. Stir soymilk mixture into flour mixture. Spread in prepared pan, and bake 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Unmold onto plate.

Warm remaining 2/3 cup cocoa, 2/3 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup oil in saucepan over medium heat. Pour in remaining 1/3 cup soymilk, and cook 1 minute, or until smooth. Spread icing over warm cake, and sprinkle with hazelnuts.

from the September 2012 issue, p.66

nutritional information

Per Slice:

Calories: 525; Protein: 5 g; Total Fat: 25 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Carbohydrates: 67 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 315 mg; Fiber: 7 g; Sugar: 43 g

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE

This is from Nigella Lawson at The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this recipe, Nigella wrote, "For me, a chocolate cake is the basic unit of celebration. The chocolate Guinness cake here is simple but deeply pleasurable, and has earned its place as a stand-alone treat."

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes; Yield: One 9-inch cake or 12 servings

This yumminess was featured in "AT MY TABLE; A Feast for a Holiday, Or Everyday Exulting", and can be viewed online at the bottom of the article or at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1875-chocolate-guinness-cake.

Note: Take time to read the article; very interesting! (Link above.)

Ingredients

For the Cake

Butter for pan

1 cup Guinness stout

10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups superfine sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the Topping

1-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation

For the cake: heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.

Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

3-INGREDIENT CHOCOLATE CHERRY DUMP CAKE

This yumminess comes from Betty Crocker, and begins, "This simple 3-ingredient dump cake results in an addictive chocolate-cherry combo that is best served warm and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you weren’t a chocolate-cherry fan before, you will be after tasting this cake."

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes; Servings: 12

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 cans (21 oz each) cherry pie filling

1 box Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ devil's food cake mix

3/4 cup butter, melted

Whipped topping or vanilla ice cream, if desired

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Spread pie filling in baking dish.

Top with dry cake mix; gently shake pan to distribute evenly.

Pour melted butter over top, tilting pan to cover as much of top with butter as possible.

Bake 42 to 45 minutes or until mostly dry on top and bubbly around edges. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with whipped topping or ice cream.

Expert Tips

Canned cherry pie filling may contain an occasional pit. It’s helpful to take a closer look when spreading in pan, before topping with cake mix.

Dump cakes are sometimes difficult to determine doneness. It’s normal to see some wet spots, some dry cake mix and a crisp-like texture on top. Be sure fruit mixture is bubbly around edges of pan.

SECRET-INGREDIENT LEMON-BLUEBERRY POUND CAKE

This is from the Pillsbury emailing list. It begins, "We bet you’d never guess the secret ingredient in this lemon-blueberry pound cake! This genius twist on the classic dessert only takes 15 minutes to prep, and it’s all thanks to sugar cookie dough (yes, sugar cookie dough!). With just a few additional ingredients—sour cream, egg, lemon zest and fresh blueberries, to be precise—this one-bowl cake is ready for the oven. And don’t forget the sweet-tart lemon glaze—it takes this delicious treat to the next level."

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes; Makes 6 servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough

1/4 cup sour cream

1 egg

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

2/3 cup fresh or frozen (do not thaw) blueberries

1 cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 8x4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; lightly flour.

In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Add sour cream, egg and lemon zest. (DO NOT EAT RAW COOKIE DOUGH AFTER COMBINING WITH EGG.) Beat with electric mixer on medium-low speed 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth. Fold in blueberries. Spoon mixture evenly into pan.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Remove cake from pan; place on cooling rack.

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice; continue adding lemon juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired drizzling consistency. Spoon glaze over hot cake. Cool 45 minutes before serving.

Tips from the Pillsbury Kitchens

tip 1

If you are using frozen blueberries instead of fresh, add about 10 minutes to your bake time.

DUMP CAKES

This recipe is from Ree Drummond at the Food Network.

Active Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes; Yield: 24 servings (each cake serves 12); Level: Easy

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

Cherry-Pineapple Dump Cake:

One 21-ounce can cherry pie filling

One 15-ounce can crushed pineapple

1 box white cake mix (18 ounces)

1-1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter

Peach Dump Cake:

1 large can peaches in syrup

1 box white cake mix (18 ounces)

1-1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter

Whipped cream, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the cherry-pineapple dump cake: Dump the cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Stir together. Sprinkle the cake mix over the top of the fruit. Slice the butter into tablespoons and distribute evenly over the surface of the cake mix.

For the peach dump cake: Dump the peaches into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the cake mix over the top of the fruit. Slice the butter into tablespoons and distribute evenly over the surface of the cake mix.

Bake until the tops are brown and bubbly, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream.

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

This is from Genevieve Ko at The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this recipe, Genevieve wrote, "Expansive yet barely an inch tall, this chocolate-on-chocolate special of the Lone Star State starts with a cake that’s even lighter than devil’s food. A hot cocoa icing sheens its surface and soaks into the warm cake a bit, deepening its richness. Variations abound among cooks, but baking the batter in a shallow pan is key to achieving the just-right, fudgy-fluffy balance of icing to cake. While some recipes include pecans in the icing, this version keeps them on top of the cake so they stay crisp. It also calls for enough nuts to generously cover the whole top so there’s crunch in every bite. If you’d like, you can sprinkle the top with a little flaky or coarse salt too."

Time: 45 minutes, plus cooling; Yield: One 13-by-18-inch cake

This was featured in "Even the Sheet Cakes Are Bigger in Texas", and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022422-texas-sheet-cake.

Ingredients

For the Cake

1 cup unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan

2 cups chopped pecans

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/3 packed cupunsweetened natural cocoa powder

1 cup hot coffee or water

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Icing

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1/3 packed cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1/4 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2-1/2 packed cups confectioners’ sugar

Preparation

Make the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a half-sheet pan (13-by-18-by-1-inch). Spread the pecans on a second half-sheet pan and bake until lightly toasted, 7 to 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt, and make a well in the center. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, stirring often. Add the cocoa powder and stir well. Then add the hot coffee and boil for 30 seconds, stirring continuously. Pour the mixture into the well in the dry ingredients, then fold gently just until no traces of flour remain. Set saucepan aside without washing.

Whisk the sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl. Pour into the chocolate mixture and fold gently until incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs, 18 to 20 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack.

Right after the cake comes out of the oven, make the icing: Melt the butter in the reserved saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Add the cocoa and stir until smooth and bubbling, then turn off the heat. Add the milk, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar, and stir until smooth. It’s OK if there are tiny lumps.

Pour the warm frosting over the warm cake and spread evenly. Sprinkle the toasted pecans all over the top and gently press into the icing. Cool completely in the pan on a rack. The cake keeps, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 3 months. If needed, bring to room temperature before serving.

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