Lemon Cranberry Cake

Comments (2)

I made this cake to use up the sad little cranberries that have been sitting in our fridge since Christmas. I know, it’s pitiful isn’t it?!?!?! But, look at what a beautiful and TASTY cake they turned into! They really livend up with all the lemon and the sugar and became this tangy-sweet-tart-scrumptious bundt cake that reminded every one of the holidays!

Fresh cranberries might be kind of hard to find in stores now, so if you don’t have any lying around, you can always use frozen, thawed cranberries. Or, you could substitute the cranberries with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or even fruit jellies. Happy Baking!

Cranberry Lemon Cake (Food Network Magazine)

• 3 1/4 sticks butter at room temperature (I know, it’s alot and this really is an indulgence cake!)
• 3 c cake flour, sifted
• 12 oz cranberries
• 2 1/2 c sugar
• 6 tbsp. milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c lemon juice, plus 2 tbsp.
• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar

Cube the butter and set it in a bowl at room temperature to soften.

Put the cranberries in a saucepan with 3/4 c sugar and let them cook over medium-high heat for about 15 min., or until they look like this. Let them cool.

Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, milk, and vanilla in a bowl. Set aside.

Tip: When separating the eggs, put the egg whites in a little Tupperware container. Put a piece of tape on the lid and write “2 egg whites” on it so you know what they are, then put them in the freezer. The next time you need egg whites, just pull them out of the freezer, let them defrost and they’re ready to use! This also works for egg yolks, left over pie dough, and left over cookie dough.

Now, dump all the dry ingredients and the lemon zest in a bowl and give them a mix.

You’ll be able to see the little flecks of lemon zest in here….I love that!

Then, dump in the butter and…

…give it a mix until it looks like this.

Add in half of the wet ingredients and mix it all up.

It should look like this. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients in two parts and mix it until…

..it looks like this!

Pour 2/3 of the batter into a butter and floured bundt pan. Then spoon the cranberries on top of the batter. Make sure that the cranberries don’t touch the pan, otherwise they’ll stick! We don’t want that to happen!

Then, pour the rest of the batter on top of the cranberries and smooth it over.

Now, bake it at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes.

Then, poke it with a skewer all over the bottom. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the 1/2 c sugar in the 1/2 c lemon juice (about 4-5 juicy lemons) in a saucepan and cook it until the sugar dissolves in the lemon juice. Pour it over the cake and let it soak in through the holes. Turn it out onto a cake stand and combine the remaining 2 tbsp. of lemon juice with the powdered sugar. Drizzle it over the cake with a fork and enjoy!

---

Chocolate and Buttercream Birthday Cake

Comments (7)

My mom and my sister are lucky enough to share a birthday, and while they get to have the day off, I’m always very busy making their cake. This year, they wanted something springy…in the month of October….even though it still feels like July here….this cake was a tease! It was very delicious, though, and was alot of fun to make. So if you live in North Texas, have a mom and sister with the same birthday, HATE this heat, and are looking for a good birthday cake, make this one! Or if you have nothing in common with any of those things, then still make it to celebrate your cool weather!

Chocolate Cake (Duncan Hines)

• 1 box Duncan Hines cake mix
• whatever else it calls for

Buttercream Frosting (Wilton)

• 1 c vegetable shortening
• 1 c butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 8 c powdered sugar, sifted
• 4 tbsp. milk

For the cake:

Make the cake according to the box directions. Let it cool completely on a wire rack before you start icing it.

For the frosting:

Cream the butter and shortening together. Add vanilla. Gradually add the sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in, it will appear dry. Add milk and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. (If you want to make chocolate buttercream, then just add 1 1/2 oz. of melted unsweetened chocolate and 1/2 tbsp. of milk.) This will make about 6 cups of frosting.

When the cakes are cool, level the them and stack them on top of each other by: Placing one cake on a cake pedestal or plate. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the top and place the second cake on top of it. Ice the sides of the cake and the top and then decorate.

To decorate:

To make the purple icing, I just mixed about a cup of the white icing with Wilton red and blue food coloring. I dipped a toothpick in the food coloring three times with each color and mixed it with the icing to get the shade I wanted. I did the same for the yellow frosting, but just used Wilton Lemon Yellow food coloring instead.

For these little flowers, I used tip#133. For the dots, I used tip#4.

I used tip#12 for the big dots. I bordered the top and bottom edges of the cake with these dots.

And finally, I used tip#3 on both the top and side writing.

---

Chocolate Chip Birthday Cake

Leave a Comment

My brother, Asher, just had a birthday a few days ago, but we celebrated it on Saturday with my grandma and uncle. My Grammy helped me decorate the cake and Asher loved it!

So Asher asked for a chocolate chip birthday cake with chocolate frosting, and it was the easiest thing in the world to make! We use this cake recipe so often for when we have company just because it’s so easy to make, and the kids and adults love it! Plus, when you use store-bought chocolate frosting and make your own white icing, you can have the cake made and decorated before you can say “happy birthday’!

Chocolate Chip Birthday Cake

• 1 box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/4 c oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 c water
• 1 c chocolate chips
• 1 can chocolate frosting

Buttercream Frosting: (Wilton)

• 1/4 c vegetable shortening
• 1/4 c butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 c powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp. milk

For the cake:

Coat the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish with the oil. Dump everything else in and mix it with a fork until all the ingredients are moistened. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

For the icing:

Cream the butter and shortening together. Add vanilla. Gradually add the sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in, it will appear dry. Add milk and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. (If you want to make chocolate buttercream, then just add 1 1/2 oz. of melted unsweetened chocolate and 1/2 tbsp. of milk.)

To decorate:

Apply a thin layer of chocolate frosting to the top of the cake.

For the border, I used tip#21 and made this rope pattern by piping an S on its side, then, starting from the middle of the first sideways S, piped another one, and so on.

For the letters, I used tip#3.

I know this is a fuzzy picture, but for the stars I used tip#16. Just apply a little bit of pressure to the icing bag, then stop and remove the tip from the cake to create these stars.

It was a fun night. ‘Nuf said!

---

The Best Coffee Cake. Ever.

Comments (2)

I’m not kidding when I say that this is The Best Coffee Cake. Ever. Ever. EVER! Not even Tasty Cakes coffee cakes come close to this!

What makes it The Best Coffee Cake. Ever. you may ask? Well, I think that it’s the combination of the fluffy, moist cake, the crunchy pecans, and the chewy topping. It just makes so much darn sense when you think about it! There’s also something about this cake that’s incredibly comforting. It should’ve been there with me during all of my sad moments….when Finn broke up with Rachel…when Finn took Quinn to prom….when Jesse came back…..and kissed Rachel…………………………funny how all my sad moments revolve around Glee, huh! Well anyway, if you’re a Gleek or not, you still NEED to make this coffee cake! It’ll change your life.

The Best Coffee cake. Ever. (The Pioneer Woman)

Cake:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 2 c scant sugar (this just means a little less than a full cup)
• 3 c flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 c whole milk
• 3 egg whites, beaten until stiff

Topping:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 3/4 c flour
• 1 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 c pecans, chopped

Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.

Alternate between pouring the milk…..

….and the flour mixture with the mixer on low speed. Otherwise, you’ll end up with milk and flour all over you!

Don’t over beat the mixture! Just mix it until it looks like this.

Then, use your handy-dandy immersion blender (or a hand-held mixer) to whisk the egg whites until they’re stiff.

Fold the egg whites into the batter. This will really help with the fluffiness of the cake.

Combine all the topping ingredients together and pour the batter into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Top with the topping and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Delicious!<center><a href=”http://sweet-as-sugar-

---

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Crumb Cake

Comments (2)

Imagine a little bakery in a small town, with an old grandmother that makes all the goodies by hand…………..well that’s what I picture when I take a bite of this cake! There’s just something so comforting about sweet blueberries and a crunchy crumb topping, don’t you agree?

As I always say, you can change this recipe up however you like! Peaches, blackberries, or apples would be great in this cake….you could also replace the lemon zest with orange zest and maybe sprinkle in a few mini chocolate chips. This cake recipe is so versatile that as soon as you get the recipe down, you’ll be throwing everything but the kitchen sink in!

Blueberry Crumb Cake (Ina Garten)

Cake:

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2/3 c sour cream
• 1 1/4 c flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c fresh blueberries

Streusel:

• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/3 c packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1 1/3 c flour

Lemon Glaze:

• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 c powdered sugar

This is a 9 inch spring-form pan. It’s usually used for making cheesecakes, but if you have one, use it now. It just makes it easier to get the cake and the topping out after the baking process. Butter and flour it.

Start by creaming together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is light. Make sure that the butter is at room temperature, it really contributes to the lightness of this cake.

Then, reduce the speed to low and add the eggs in one at time. Make sure that they are room temperature, also, otherwise you’ll have dense cake. Then, add the vanilla, sour cream, and lemon zest and mix on low until combined.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add into the batter on low speed until it is just combined.

Fold in the blueberries with a rubber spatula, being careful not to over mix the batter.

Now make the crumble by combining the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Pour the melted butter over the top and stir in the flour.

Pour the batter into the spring-form pan and smooth it over with your spatula.

Then, crumble the topping on top with your hands.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Meanwhile, make the lemon glaze. Whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar.

BTW, I used my mini whisk that I got for Christmas last year! LOVE that tool!:)

When the cake is done, take it out of the pan and let it cool on a rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and drizzle with the lemon glaze.

---