TEXAS SHEET CAKE

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

THE BEST CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE. EVER. (from The Pioneer Woman)


*This cake turned out exactly like pictured in various blogs. The icing is fantastic. This cake is a cross between, cake, brownie, and fudge. I got raves on the icing which was delish. I didn't like the cake portion. My family and I are partial to the Hershey's chocolate cake. This recipe was bland and dry... Next time this icing recipe with the Hershey cake recipe = amazing.

The original recipe is found below.

CAKE:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
2 sticks butter
1 cup boiling water
½ cup buttermilk (Or use this tip to make a buttermilk substitute: Place 1/2 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Add enough regular milk to bring the liquid up to the 1/2 cup line. Let stand for 5 minutes, then use in the recipe.)
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
FROSTING:

1 3/4 sticks butter
4 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
6 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 cup) powdered sugar (about 3 to 3 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, optional (Jane did not use nuts in her frosting and it was great…so if you don’t like nuts, leave them out!)
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

Melt butter in a saucepan and add cocoa. Stir together. Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into 13 x 18″ sheet cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (if using a 10 x 15″ jelly roll pan, you may need to bake 22 to 23 minutes). NOTE: I greased my pan, but the Pioneer Woman’s recipe doesn’t say to do that, so I guess that’s optional.

While cake is baking, make the icing. If using nuts, chop them finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the nuts, stir together, and pour over warm cake. (NOTE: if you follow these directions, you’ll notice your frosting is still a little lumpy. To make her frosting really nice and smooth, Jane simply cooked the frosting several minutes longer over low heat, stirring until the mixture was smooth; she also omitted the nuts. You could also leave the nuts out of the frosting mixture and sprinkle them on top of the icing instead). If you made your cake in a 13 x 18″ pan, pour on all the frosting–you may need to spread it a little so it covers the entire cake; if your cake is in a 10 x 15″ pan, just pour enough frosting on to cover the surface of the cake without going over the edges of the pan. You’ll probably have about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of frosting left over.

You can let the frosting cool and set before cutting into squares if you want, or cut into squares while it’s still warm and dig in! The frosting will start setting in about a half hour, but it needs between 1 and 2 hours to set more firmly; at 2 hours, it should be nice and firm.

LEMON BLUEBERRY CAKE

LEMON BLUEBERRY CAKE

For Cake:
1 yellow cake mix
1/2 cup frozen blue berries (thawed)

Follow the directions on cake mix and pour in pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top and push down into cake. Bake as directed.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
Directions

In the top of a double boiler, beat eggs and sugar. Stir in lemon juice, butter and lemon peel. Cook over simmering water for 15 minutes or until thickened.





Lemon Frosting

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions

Beat cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, lemon rind, and vanilla together until smooth and fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar in 2 additions. Beat until creamy. Add more icing sugar or juice as needed for easy spreading. Makes about 3 2/3 cups.
Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 236 | Total Fat: 8.3g | Cholesterol: 25mg





*I found the gorgeous lemon blueberry cake at Sweetapolia. I didn't follow their directions mainly because I didn't have everything on hand that it called for. I took a shortcut with the yellow cake mix. haha
The lemon curd was quite different than a lemon meringue pie filling. I think next time I'd prefer using a pie filling recipe.

DAFFODIL CAKE

If you know me well enough you would know that I have a fondness for daffodils. Growing up my front yard would be covered with the bright yellow flowers. It was the first sign of spring people would say, since daffodils bloom in late March. Before school in the morning I'd put on my jacket and run out in the yard picking the biggest and prettiest to take to my teachers or my grandma. Now that I'm grown up everytime I see one reminds me of being little and how happy giving a bright yellow flower to someone would make me feel :)
You can imagine my surprise when I came across a daffodil cake recipe. No not a cake just decorated in daffodils but an actual cake by that name. I was searching for a lemon frosting recipe and there it was, daffodil cake, a half lemon and angel food cake.
I love angel food cake it's one of my favorites. I've never made one from scratch, partly because it takes 12 eggs! I always have this feeling in the back of my mind that if I screw up I just wasted an entire carton of eggs and half a months breakfast (well really more like 6 days cause I eat two, but still!
It makes me want to make this. Possibly for my birthday... if I wait that long.



picture from vintage victuals blog find her here: VINTAGE VICTUALS

KING CAKE RING

I can only aspire to make one this pretty and delish. When I first saw it I thought is that REALLY sugar cookies wrapped around it! AWESOME! The jelly strips were so good. The bread was moist and this version wasn't as sweet as the usual mardi gras King Cake you find.

BUCKEYE CAKE

http://bunsinmyoven.com/page/8/


Ingredients

For the Peanut Butter Cheesecake:
2 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%, but 2% or whole milk would be great too)
For the chocolate cake:
1 box chocolate cake mix, prepared according to package directions (homemade works too, if you're feeling adventurous) and baked in 2 9 inch round cake pans
For the Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
For the chocolate peanut butter glaze
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions

For the Peanut Butter Cheesecake:
Bake the cheesecake one day in advance so that it has plenty of time to chill in the fridge before layering with the chocolate cake!
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and flour until light and smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the milk.
Grease a 9-inch round springform pan VERY WELL. There is no crust on this cheesecake, so it is imperative that you really grease the pan so that the cheesecake will release from it easily.
Pour batter into the greased pan.
Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees.
Reduce heat to 260 and bake for 50 minutes or until just the center is slightly jiggly.
Cool on the counter for 2 hours. Transfer to a refrigerator to chill overnight.
For the chocolate cake:
Prepare the cake mix according to the package or use a recipe for homemade cake.
Bake in 2 9-inch round, well greased cake pans. Cool completely.
For the peanut butter frosting:
Cream together the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add half of the powdered sugar and mix well. Beat in half of the cream. Add the remaining powdered sugar and continue mixing until combined. Beat in the remaining cream.
For the chocolate peanut butter glaze:
In a double boiler or a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. When melted remove from heat and whisk in the cream until it is a smooth, creamy consistency.
To assemble:
Place one layer of chocolate cake on your cake stand and top with 1/4 of the chocolate peanut butter glaze. Spread to the edges.
Very carefully remove the sides of your springform pan and place the entire cheesecake upside down on the chocolate cake layer. The bottom of the springform pan should now be on top of the cheesecake. Carefully slide a knife in between the cheesecake and pan bottom to loosen. If you greased your pan well this should be fairly simple and the pan bottom will easily lift off.
Pour another 1/4 of the chocolate glaze over the cheesecake and spread to the edges.
Top this with the second layer of chocolate cake.
Place the whole cake in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to harden up a bit.
Cover the top and sides of the cake with the peanut butter frosting. Smooth it out as best you can.
Microwave the chocolate glaze for about 5-10 seconds to soften it back up. Whisk well and then pour over the top center of the cake. Use an offset spatula to spread the glaze to the edges, letting it drip down in some areas.
Store in the refrigerator.

WHIPPED ICING

http://bunsinmyoven.com/page/8/

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
24 tablespoons (3 sticks) butter, cut into 24 pieces, softened
Instructions

Combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the milk and pour through a fine mesh strainer set over a medium sized pot. Cook the strained mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it boils and becomes thick. This should take between 5 and 10 minutes and should thicken to the point that it becomes difficult to stir, like a very stiff gravy.
Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Place the bowl in the fridge to cool it down faster if you are in a hurry, but be sure that the mixture is at room temperature (not too warm or too cool!) before adding the butter.
Beat the mixture on medium speed and add the vanilla extract. Beat in the butter one piece at a time until all 24 pieces are fully incorporated, about 3 minutes. Increase the speed of the mixer to medium high and beat the frosting for 5 minutes.
Place the frosting in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to thicken a bit before frosting your cake.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE


INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup karo light syrup
9 slices pineapple in juice (from 14-oz can), drained
9 maraschino cherries without stems, if desired
1 1/3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in microwave and add karo syrup and brown sugar. After greasing 9in or bundt pan lay pineapple slices and cherries pouring the sugar sauce mixture over the fruit.
2
In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.
3
Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

*I made this as my dad's birthday cake. I had originally planned on using a white cake mix I already had but discovered I had used half of it to make a peach crumble and had to hurry and find a recipe that included the cake. I usually am not a fan of scratch cakes because they just don't taste very good and are dry. This was more of a dense cake but it paired well with the heavyness of the sugar syrup and pineapple.

BIRTHDAY CAKES

Jonesie's bday was last month and he chose an Edwards Key Lime pie which is his favorite but we also wanted him to have a cake. I decided to just make it when I made George's cake for his bday which was today. Then he wouldn't feel left out.
Jonesie loves watching Monster Jam which is the monster truck show on speed. His favorite is the batman monster truck so we thought he'd love a monster jam cake. The night before I spent hours making royal icing squiggles to put on his and George's cakes. I only have one tip insert for the piping bags so I had to do one color icing at a time and it was time consuming mixing colors one at a time and trying to come up in advance what I needed made in each color. I pretty much always wing it and do a bunch of random things. For a non professional cake maker (i mean NON) haha I think they turned out okay. I have no artistic ability to draw anything and awful handwriting so making all these things was daunting.



When asking George what he wanted for his birthday he would always say he wanted a dress. hahaha We didn't want him to be disappointed on his bday and since it was just us I told my mom I'd just make him a dress cake. She told me to make it as "goddy" as possible cause he'd love it. And he did. haha :P

Yellow cake w/cream cheese icing and royal icing sugar thingies haha
FYI: cream cheese icing is not the most stable icing but I got to where I really hate buttercream icing and would rather it taste better than look perfect. But be forewarned after sitting out long enough to decorate and such the icing melted and the stuff started sliding/falling over.



gotta love the broken bird and plate of chips in the background




I was going to have the batman monster truck crushing the hot wheels but the truck was so big it would have smooshed half the cake and would have got icing all over it so I just set it on the side.

HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

HERSHEY'S 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 "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING (recipe follows)
Directions

1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2 Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.


"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.


*This is one of my mom's favorite cakes that I have made. I however still love Betty Crockers Chocolate Fudge Cake (from a box). I know I know but sometimes you just can't beat store bought mixes. I have never made the chocolate frosting that is listed. I copied and pasted this from the Hershey's website and thought I better go a head and remember their chocolate icing recipe as well. Nothing beats the Rachel Ray chocolate icing I made previously.
The most recent icing I put on this cake was Seven Minute or Marshmallow icing. Together this tastes like a Hostess Ding Dong. The seven minute icing tastes just like the filling to the popular cakes.

RACHAEL RAY VALENTINES COCOA CAKE W/ ICING

RACHAEL RAY VALENTINES COCOA CAKE W/ICING

Ingredients
For the cake:
1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup lukewarm water, divided
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 large eggs at room temperature, beaten


For the frosting:
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups light brown sugar
1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 24 muffin tins.

For the cake, whisk cocoa and 1/2 cup lukewarm water in a small bowl. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup water with the buttermilk in another small bowl. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and add cinnamon, cloves and cayenne. Stir to combine.


Using electric mixer, beat both sugars and butter in a large bowl until pale yellow and fluffy (mixture will appear granular), about 5 minutes. With mixer running, gradually add beaten eggs; beat until smooth and fluffy, about 15 seconds. Add cocoa mixture; beat to blend. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternating in 3 additions, beating to blend after each addition. Divide batter among the muffin tins. Bake for10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the frosting, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar, cocoa, espresso powder and salt. Gradually stir in cream. Stir until mixture is very hot and just begins to simmer at the edges. Reduce heat to low; stir 1 minute to let flavors blend. Transfer to medium bowl; stir in vanilla (frosting will resemble chocolate sauce) Chill until just thickened, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours, or in a bowl set in an ice bath.


To frost the cakes, bring frosting to room temperature. Run a knife around cake sides and invert mini cakes out of the muffin tins. Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting on the first layer of cake and repeat for the remaining 2 layers of cake.


*I watched the Valentines Rachael Ray show and she made these little mini chocolate layer cakes with this frosting. She said she isn't a baker but this is one thing she will make. If you don't make the cake you have to make the icing. She was absolutely right, "you will want to eat it off your arm it's so good!" After pouring the icing into a bowl to cool I stood over the pan and scrapped every last drop out and ate it. I was thinking that strawberries would be so good freshly dipped into it.





*I used a store bought chocolate fudge cake and added 2 tbs of instant coffee and the chocolate flavor intensified and got so deep. While making the icing I was afraid it was going to be gritty with all the sugar but once you add the heavy cream it thins out and melts together beautifully. Definitely a winner. Can't wait for the cake to bake and cool.

**I just made this icing for the second time and I kept thinking this just isn't right. I followed the recipe to a t and kept tasting it thinking wow this has a super dark chocolate flavor that just isn't as appealing as last time. I kept going over what I did different and finally remembered. The first time I made the icing I didn't have any light brown sugar and only had like cup dark brown sugar. I put in 1/3 cup regular sugar along with the dark sugar. That was the difference. The combo of the sugar last time made the icing twice as sweet as just using the light brown sugar. I definitely recommended using a combo of white sugar and brown sugar tasting along the way for your desired sweetness.


Ammended Recipe For the frosting:
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white/regular sugar
1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

BANANA CAKE W/CREAM CHEESE ICING

BANANA CAKE W/CREAM CHEESE ICING



INGREDIENTS:

1 white cake mix
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions:
Follow cake mix directions on box and prepare as usual. Add in mashed bananas and stir. Bake as directed.

Allow to cool and frost with cream cheese icing. Simple right? haha

ICING:

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

METHOD:
1 With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2 Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.
3 Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag to decorate your cake or cupcake.

*I also sometimes add a tablespoon of crisco if you want a creamier icing.
My mom actually made the cake and I just iced it. We needed to use up some over ripe bananas and instead of the usual banana bread recipe we tried cake. It made the cake so moist and was a different from just a plain ol' white cake. I think a peanut butter cream cheese icing would also be good on this, a la the elvis. haha