Key Lime Bundt Cakes

These are just amazing!

4 oz  cream cheese
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup  Greek-style yogurt
2 teaspoons lime zest
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup  all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Glaze
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ teaspoons lime juice
Lime zest


For the bundt cakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 6 cavity mini bundt pan with cake release

In a large bowl, use electric beaters to beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add the yogurt, lime zest, lime juice and vanilla extract, and beat until well combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and baking soda, and salt.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Transfer the batter to the prepared mini bundt pan, filling the cavities approximately three-quarters of the way up.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops are dry and a skewer comes out clean.  Let the bundt cakes cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Allow the cakes to cool completely before glazing.

For the glaze: Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium-sized bowl. Add the lime juice and zest, and whisk until completely combined. If the glaze appears to be too thin, sift in some more sugar.

Spoon the glaze over the top of the cooled bundt cakes.

Store the bundt cakes in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake

Good morning foodie friends!

Yesterday morning while going through Pinterest, I spotted this yummy looking recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction.  It looked like something that I really needed to try.  So I got out of bed at 6:30 am and whipped it up.  Luckily I have a well stocked pantry.

Since I was going up to Miss V's school, I boxed it up and brought it to my favorite office ladies.

I can tell you, it was a HIT!

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup  unsalted butter, cold
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until crumbly.  Set aside.

Cake
2 cups  all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (do yourself a favor and grind your own fresh nuts)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup, use the real stuff
1/4 cup  milk

Glaze
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1-2 Tablespoons Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Generously spray an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

For the cake:  Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together in a large bowl until combined.  In a medium bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, and milk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Do not to overmix the batter, it is a VERY THICK batter.  Spoon/pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread to make an even surface. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly on top and gently press it down into the batter.

Bake the cake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes on clean.

I turned it out onto a wire rack to cool for a bit.  Then drizzled the glaze over the cake.

Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake

I made this for dessert last week for Alpha.  It was SUPER YUMMY!

16 oz can pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 jar caramel ice cream topping

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream and a bit of sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin, sugar and oil. Add eggs and mix well.

Combine the dry ingredients and add to the pumpkin mixture, beating until combined, do not over mix.

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Poke holes in the hot cake. A skewer or wooden spoon works perfectly.

Warm caramel sauce in the microwave for 30 seconds or until it flows freely. Pour over the top of the cake and spread evenly.  Let cool for 40-50 minutes and then place in the refrigerator and allow to cool completely.

Make fresh whipped cream and spread over the top of the cake.

Patriotic Cake

Miss V loves Pinterest and we signed up to bring a dessert for our Church's July 4th picnic she started searching for the perfect thing to make.

She spotted this cake called Red, White and Blue Velvet.

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (she used Americolor Super Red)
2 tablespoons blue food coloring (she used Americolor Navy blue)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 8" cake pans and line them with parchment.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large mixing bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides several times.

Divide the batter in half and gently fold the red food coloring into half, and the blue into the other half. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 30 - 32 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cakes with a toothpick to make sure they baked through. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until light and smooth.

I also made Miss V a batch of marshmallow fondant and colored half super red and the other half navy blue.  She rolled it and cut out stars in different sizes.

Miss V asked if I could frost it for her as she doesn't to do that.  After she decorated the cake with the fondant stars, foil picks that look like fireworks, and two little mini pinwheels, she had me pipe little stars at the bottom of the cake.

Miss V was very happy with the way her cake came out and I think she did a fantastic job!  I am very happy to say that her whole cake was eaten and we didn't have a crumb left over.

Easter Bunny Peep Cake

Whew, it has been a busy few weeks and I just realized that I didn't post Miss V's Easter Bunny Peep Cake.  Word of advice, buy the Bunnies early!  I bought a couple packs of yellow a week or so before Easter and the Saturday before Miss V decided to make this and wanted a couple other colors and well Target, Walmart, and Walgreens had ZERO bunny peeps.  Only the chicks.

2 prepared cake layers (either square or round – 8×8 or 9×9)
1 jar of white frosting (I made butter cream)
1 cup shredded coconut
green food coloring
1 tsp water
jelly beans
3 packages of Peeps® (bunny shape)
And other Easter candy like chocolate eggs or bunnies  I found a cute package of tiny Lindt Bunnies to use.

Lay one prepared cake layer on cake plate.

Frost a thin layer on top of cake and lay the other cake layer on top of it.

Next frost the whole cake on top and sides; set aside.

Place shredded coconut into a ziploc bag, add 5-6 drops of green food coloring and 1 tsp of water. Close bag and shake until all of the coconut is dyed green.

Sprinkle coconut on top of the cake.

Open Peeps® packages and assemble around the sides of the cake. Place jelly beans on top of the cake and decorate with chocolate eggs and bunnies.

Assemble the Minions! (I bet you just read that in Gru's voice)

Assemble the Minions!  (I bet you just read that in Gru's voice)

So Friday I baked the cake portion of Miss V's birthday cake and wrapped it and put in the fridge over night.

I got up bright and early on Saturday with the plan to make the fondant Minions and other needed pieces.  Miss V was so looking forward to me making her favorite Minion...Dave.

The bottom part of the cupcake was a Blue Velvet from a box and the top was French Vanilla.  I put a quick crumb coat with canned frosting.

Then I laid out my work space, mise en place!

A little Minion inspiration

 Notice, I even bought Banana flavoring so the little fondant Minions would take like Banana!

The I sifted cups and cups of powdered sugar and pulled out the Crisco and marshmallows.  I went to reach for my dough hook and it wasn't where it always is.  Hmm I thought, so I start looking around the different places that it has been put away in.  No luck, by this time I am getting a little frantic and my husband joined the search.  We seriously looked everywhere for two hours.  At this point I am in total freak out mode and my husband asked if I could just run to the store and pick one up.  I got a little teary and snappy and said no.  My Kitchenaid is old and I don't know the official size bowl.  I looked online and found out that my model was discontinued YEARS ago and customer service is not open on the weekends.  By now I am crying.  I am about to let down my sweet Miss V.

I explained that I couldn't make the fondant and I just didn't know what to do. We chatted for a few minutes and she said it was ok and I could just make cupcakes with blue and white frosting and she could put the Banana Runts on them.  So that is what we did.  My heart just ached because she was looking forward to this giant cupcake for months!

I made a special one for her.  I made little stars and the runts had three bananas stuck together.

After the Glow Golf party we all went to the food court at the mall for pizza and cupcakes.  I apologized to the moms.  The kids would definitely have BLUE teeth after this.  Of course the boys heard that and did the best they could to get their teeth blue.  That definitely made me smile.

As for the Minion Cupcake this was the inspiration piece.

It was on Pinterest, with no link and I even tried finding it on Google with no luck.

Well Monday morning I placed a call to the Kitchenaid Customer Service department.  I spoke with a sweet lady named Judy. Who informed me that my model was discontinued but will find the part I needed.  After a minute she gave me the part  number and said that if I want other accessories that I could use them if they started with a certain code number and my mixer is the 5 qt version.  Woo Hoo!  So she said I could look at local stores and if not, to call back and they will ship one.

Thank you Judy!!!

I am going to look at Bed Bath and Beyond this weekend.

As much as I am upset, Miss V was happy just spending time with her friends and eating cupcakes and getting blue teeth.  She said that maybe we could make the giant cupcake another time, just for fun.

Key Lime Cake

I love love love Key Lime pie and when I spotted this cake on Pinterest I knew I had to make it.  The original recipe can be found at Your Homebased Mom. I made it yesterday morning.

For the cake
2 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2/3 C oil
2/3 cup key lime juice
3/4 cup sour cream

For the frosting
1 C butter, softened
2 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
2 – 16 oz boxes confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C key lime juice


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 8-inch cake pans.
Mix together flour, sugar, powder, soda and salt into mixer.
Add eggs, oil and lime juice. Beat until smooth.
Add sour cream and beat until smooth.
Pour in prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool and frost.

Make the frosting:
Mix together butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Add in confectioner's sugar
Add in vanilla.
Add in 1/4 cup of key lime juice.

I made a big woops!  I didn't let the cakes cool long enough in the pan and when I went to flip them out onto a cooling rack it was to close to the edge and when I tried to slide it back a little the cake cracked in half.

So when it was time to assemble, I did not slice the two cakes in half to make four layers.  I also had a bit of a problem with the frosting.  It is very fluffy and the layers didn't really stick to each other so the top slid a bit.  Since I only had two layers I did have extra frosting and used a large star tip to pipe on decorations around the bottom of the cake.

Mine wasn't so pretty, but the taste DEFINITELY made up for it.  This is such a wonderful and refreshing cake.  I would definitely make this again.

Coconut Chocolate Bundt Cake

I made this Friday morning for our Alpha Class.  You can find the original recipe at Just a Pinch.

1 devils food or chocolate cake mix
1 pkg (4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding mix
1 1/3 cup water
4 eggs
1/3 c  coconut oil
1 1/3 cup shredded coconut
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Glaze
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract

Shredded, toasted coconut for the top

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, water, eggs, & oil in large bowl until blended. Beat on medium speed 4 minutes. Stir in coconut & chocolate chips. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray, or grease & flour (or dust with cocoa), and pour batter into pan. Bake approximately 1 hour (mine was done at 50 minutes). Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, and then remove from pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

To make glaze, combine sweetened condensed milk & chocolate chips in a small saucepan. Over medium low heat, stir constantly until chocolate chips melt and mixture is smooth. Do not allow it to bubble. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool for just a bit before glazing cake.

You can sprinkle the cake with the toasted coconut.

This cake was FANTASTIC!

Getting organized

Sometimes I just blow a gasket because stuff is put away in the wrong places in the kitchen.  This happened recently and I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I started with my cookie cutters and tools.  This in a long shelf in the laundry room that I decluttered too.

 

Then my former sprinkle cabinet got cleaned out and organized.

 For an upcoming cake I bought the large bottles of Super Black and Royal Blue.  The colors that I seem to be going through a lot of, I think it will be better just to buy the larger sizes.

 Lots of different extracts.

Then the armoire in the dining room. It used to hold miscellaneous stuff.  Well I decluttered it and put my cake pans, cake boards, boxes and the contents of the sprinkle cabinet.

 Cookie guns and sprinkles sorted by season.

 Candles, and candy supplies

 This makes me very happy!  No more lost tart pan bottoms and cupcake pans every where.