Pumpkin Nut Cake

A great cake to start off the month of October! Enjoy!

1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. cooked pumpkin
3 c. sifted all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. maple extract
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars thoroughly, then add eggs and pumpkin; mix well. sift together flour, soda, baking powder and salt in separate mixing bowl. Add alternately with milk to sugar mixture. Fold  in flavor and nuts. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan, and bake for 1 hour, or until cake tests done. May be dusted with powdered sugar or served with your choice of glaze. 

Mocha Cupcakes with De Luxe Espresso Frosting

WARNING! This recipe is for serious chocolate and coffe lovers...it is not for the weak of taste!!  Enjoy with caution! =)

Mocha Cupcakes
1 Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 T. Instant coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners, and spray the inside of each liner with a quick busrt of non-stick spray. Prepare cake mix according to directions, adding in instant coffee. Pour into prepared liners and bake for 18-22 minutes.  Cool and top with De Luxe Espresso Frosting.

De Luxe Espresso Frosting
3 c. sifted powdered sugar
3 T. cocoa
1 T. instant coffee
1/4 tsp. salt
2 squares baking chocolate, melted
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/3 c. pasteurized egg whites
1 c. marshmallow creme
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix powdered sugar, cocoa, instant coffee and salt in large bowl. Add softened butter, melted chocolate and egg whites.  Mix until combined and add marshmallow creme and vanilla. Cream ingredients until well blended and instant coffee has completely dissolved. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

You will want to make sure you have a pot of hot, fresh coffee on when ready to serve these!

Apple Butter Nut Cake

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a restful weekend. Mine zoomed by and it seems like I was constantly busy although I'm not sure I have much to show for it except a new cake recipe.  This recipe was sent to me by my cousin, Ron Potter. Ron is actually my Great Aunt Danola's oldest son (you may remember her from my post/recipe entitled Aunt Danola's Baby Ruth Cookies.) (By the way, Ron and his wife have their own candle business in North Carolina called Potterwyx. Their candles are custom made: you pick the fragrance and the jar and they ship them out to you! The quality is excellent and the prices very reasonable. You can check them out here.) 

I actually made this cake Saturday for my grandmother's birthday, and it was a big hit--so big, in fact, that my dad (who seldom likes any cake) ate three entire pieces! So, thank you Ron for sharing this one--it's definitely a keeper!!! 

This cake is very moist, has a delicate flavor and goes great with a cup of coffee! This is also a cake that could easily be served for breakfast, brunch or simply as a dessert. (I can also already see myself experimenting with variations of the recipe accompanied by variations of icings.)

Apple Butter Nut Cake

1 Yellow Butter Cake Mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)
5 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. apple butter
1 apple, chopped finely
1 c. walnuts, chopped
2 T. brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together chopped walnuts, brown sugar and ground cinnamon, and set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix eggs, sour cream apple butter and chopped apple. (Do NOT make cake according to package directions.) Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour 1/3 of cake batter into bundt pan, then sprinkle 1/2 of walnut mixture over batter. Pour another 1/3 of batter on top of this, then add remaining walnut mixture. Top with remaining 1/3 of cake batter.  Place in prepared oven and bake for 45 minutes or until cake tests done.  Allow cake to cool about 15 minutes before turning out onto plate.  Serve plain or with Brown Sugar Glaze.

Brown Sugar Glaze

1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. cream
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and brown sugar together in small saucepan. Add cream, powdered sugar and vanilla, stirring well. Cook for about 5 minutes, being sure that all sugar has dissolved. Drizzle about 1/2 of this onto cake, reserving the remaining half to be served with each piece as it is cut (if desired.)

Enjoy! And as always, let me know what you think of any of my recipes if you try them! Happy baking!

$25,000 Orange Kiss-Me Cake

No frosting--just sugar, cinnamon and walnuts

Hi, everyone! I've been busy with family things for the last couple days, and I tried out a new cake recipe for Mom's birthday yesterday, which I thought was so good, I would pass it along to you all! This cake was the $25,000 first prize-winning entry in the 1950 2nd Annual $100,000 Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest.  (Do they even still have those??)  I figured it had to be good, and it is...and I think if you try it, you will be pleasantly surprised, even if you're not big on "fruit" cakes.  The orange flavor is mild and refreshing, and the cake itself is extremely light, especially in comparison to, say, a carrot cake which is also very moist but tends to be on the heavy side. This cake is so moist and perfectly sweet already, you don't even frost it; instead, you drizzle fresh orange juice over the hot cake and sprinkle a sugar, cinnamon and nut mixture over the top.  Perfection!

$25,000 Orange Kiss-Me Cake

1 large orange
1 c. seedless raisins
3/4 c. walnuts
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. milk
2 eggs
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Zest and juice the orange. (Reserve juice.) Grind together zest, pulp, raisins and 1/2 c. of walnuts. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, soda, salt and sugar. To this mixture add shortening and 3/4 c. milk. Beat for 2 minutes.  Add remaining 1/4 c. milk and eggs, one at time, beating for 2 more minutes. Fold in ground zest, pulp, raisins and nuts. Pour into prepared 13 x 9 x 2" pan, and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until sides begin to pull away from pan and toothpick inserted in middle of cake comes out clean.  Remove from oven, and drizzle reserved orange juice over top of cake.  Chop remaining 1/4 c. walnuts and sprinkle onto cake, then mix together powdered sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over top as well. Cut and serve.

Very moist, light and refreshing: perfect for Spring or Summer!

Whipped Cream Cupcakes with (Pink!) White Mountain Frosting

For some reason, I have really gotten into making cupcakes lately.  I guess it's because they are like individually-wrapped bites of heaven.  For fat, this recipe uses whipping (or heavy) cream instead of butter or shortening which lends to its very moist, rich eating quality.  If you prefer 9" x13" or 8" or 9" pans, please feel free to use them instead! (Just make sure you adjust your baking time!)  Since it is Valentine's Day, I took the liberty to tint the batter pink with about 5 drops of red food coloring and arranged the cupcakes (ever-so-cheesily) in the shape of a heart on my large cutting board.  By the way, if you're wondering why the frosting is "Pink" White Mountain Frosting, it's because I also added a couple drops of red food coloring to tint it in honor of St. Valentine.  So, that being said...make these, and feel the love! Here's the recipe:

Whipping Cream Cupcakes

1 1/2 c. whipping cream
3 large eggs
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Line muffin/cupcake tins with 24 paper liners, and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Whip cream in large mixing bowl until stiff. (This will take a good 5 minutes.) Next, fold in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, sugar, powder and salt.  Fold the flour mixture in gently with a whisk. Add the vanilla and blend. Fill cupcake liners until 2/3 full.  Place in preheated oven and bake for about 18-24 minutes.  Cakes are done when knife/toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Cool and frost.

(Pink!) White Mountain Frosting

2/3 c. granulated sugar
2 2/3 T. water
1/3 light corn syrup
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, water and syrup in medium saucepan and bring to a boil over low-medium heat.  Boil gently, without stirring, until syrup spins a 6-8" thread (242 degrees). Caution: Place lid on saucepan for first 3-4 minutes; this will help prevent sugar crystals from forming on the sides of the pan. (If this happens, your frosting will be grainy and yucky, and you will have to start over--ugh!) While the syrup is cooking, beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form.  When the syrup has reached the thread stage, remove from heat, and pour very slowly into egg whites, beating constantly.  Add vanilla, and continue to beat until frosting holds its shape.  If desired, add two heaping tablespoons of marshmallow creme to frosting and beat until blended for extra marshmallow-y flavor.  Leave white for traditional White Mountain Frosting; Add two drops of red food coloring to achieve a delicate pink color, or add coloring of your choice.

For some reason, you hardly ever see this kind of frosting anymore (maybe with the exception of Grandma's kitchen...).  Since it has no fat, it is actually one of the "healthiest" frostings you could eat.  But don't be fooled: it is still rich, sweet and sure to satisfy. Its lustrous sheen, as well as its soft and luscious texture provide a very high eating quality.  You will be sure to impress with this one!