Chocolate Eclair Cake

Don't judge by the picture, this cake was extremely hard to get a decent picture of. However the taste of this cake was so good everyone (well except for my mom) was swiping a taste while waiting for dessert. Even my 6 year old twins and my 8 year old were coming for little sneak bites of this cake. This recipe calls for making your own pudding which I feel really makes this cake taste far better than any other version I have had of this cake. And the dish is pretty simple to make so even a beginner can make an amazing cake without resorting to a boxed dessert. The pudding was creamy and ever so tasty (hint: you can make this as a stand alone pudding too). Don't be scared off by the instructions it's all very simple to do.

Chocolate Eclair Cake
Cooks Country June/July 2011

1 1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
5 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons water
1 1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
2 3/4 cups heavy cream, chilled
14 ounces graham crackers (I used about one and one quarter boxes)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
5 tablespoons light corn syrup

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large saucepan. Whisk milk into sugar mixture until smooth and bring to a boil, scraping bottom with rubber spatula, over medium high heat. Immediately reduce heat to medium low and cook, continuing to scrape bottom, until thickened and large bubbles appear on surface, 4 to 6 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer pudding to large bowl and place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding. Refrigerate until cool, about 2 hours.
Stir water and gelatin together in bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave until mixture is bubbling around the edges and gelatin dissolves, 15 to 30 seconds. Using stand mixture fitted with whisk, whip 2 cups cream on medium low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add gelatin mixture and whip until soft peaks, about 1 minute.

Whisk one third whipped cream whipped cream into chilled pudding, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream, 1 scoop at a time, until combined. Cover bottom of 13 by 9 inch baking dish with layer of graham crackers, breaking crackers as necessary to line the bottom of the pan. Top with half of pudding whipped cream mixture and another layer of graham crackers. Repeat with remaining pudding-whipped cream mixture and remaining graham crackers.
Microwave chocolate chips, remaining 3/4 cup cream, and corn syrup in a bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Cool glaze to room temperature, about 10 minutes.  Cover graham crackers with glaze and refrigerate cake for 6 to 24 hours. Serve.

Heath Bar Cake

Mel from Mel's Kitchen Cafe posted this Monday.  I called my husband on his way home from the gym to stop and buy the Heath bars so I could make this cake that night.  It sounded that good to me.  And it did taste as good as it looked on Mel's blog.  Oh it was one of the best tasting cakes I've ever made or eaten.  My favorite parts were the edges of the cake but honestly all parts of this cake were great.  I used six candy bars since I love Heath bars.  Also I had a little bit of caramel sauce leftover from banana splits the night before so I threw some of that on top before baking.  Overall it was a great cake and one that I'm drooling just thinking about it again.

Also don't forget to enter into the contest I am having here.


Heath Bar Cake
Mel at Mel's Kitchen Cafe


1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-6 (1.4 ounces each) chocolate covered toffee bars (like Heath), chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and center a rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, flour and butter. Crumble these ingredients together with a pastry blender, whisk or two forks until the mixture is crumbly and coarse. Remove 1/2 cup of the crumbs to a small bowl and set aside. To the large bowl with the remaining crumbs, add the buttermilk, egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it to the edges. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the reserved crumbs and chopped Heath bars. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center is no longer gooey but a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. The cake may fall slightly in the center leaving the edges raised. No fear! It will still be delicious.

Pumpkin Roll

This was so easy to make and the taste was superb. My three boys were licking their plates after eating this cause they wanted more. I was really worried about making a cake roll since I have never made one before but I only had a few minor problems with transferring the cake before rolling. Overall this was so easy to make and again I have to say cakes from scratch just plain taste better than cakes from a mix.

Pumpkin Roll
Cooks Country October/November 2009

1 cup cake flour, sifted
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
cream cheese frosting, recipe will be posted below the cake recipe
confectioner's sugar
spiced nuts for garnish, optional

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 18-by 13 inch rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Whisk flour, spice, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer on medium high speed, beat eggs and sugar until pale yellow and thick, 6 to 10 minutes. Add pumpkin and mix on low until incorporated. Fold in flour mixture until combined. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until cake is firm and springs back when touched, about 15 minutes. Before cooling, run knife around edge of cake to loosen, and turn out onto clean sheet of parchment paper that has been dusted with confectioner's sugar. Gently peel off parchment attached to cake and discard. Roll cake and fresh parchment into log and cool completely, about 1 hour.

To assemble:
Gently unroll cake and spread with frosting, leaving one inch border at edges. Re-roll cake snugly, leaving parchment behind. Wrap cake firmly in plastic wrap and chill completely, at least one hour or up to 2 days. Remove plastic, dust with confectioner's sugar and garnish with spiced nuts.


Cream Cheese frosting:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
8 ounces cream cheese , cut into 4 pieces, softened
3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch salt

With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Beat in vanilla and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Strawberry Poke Cake

I'm still working my way through about 10 flats of strawberries and have become quite bored with making jam and syrup so I used some to make yet another cake. My kids think they have hit the jack pot this week since I don't serve dessert all that often. This cake reminded me of cakes from church gatherings in my youth but without the sogginess I remember. It was a little complicated to make and it required several steps. Everyone loved the cake though and its one I'll make again. The recipe is from The Cooks Country Cookbook. The recipe called for frozen strawberries but I used fresh.

For the Cake:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for preparing pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for preparing pan
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large egg whites
1 3/4 cups sugar

For the Syrup and Topping:
4 cups frozen strawberries
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons strawberry-flavored gelatin
2 cups heavy cream

For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Whisk milk, vanilla, and egg whites in large measuring cup.

With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as necessary. Add flour mixture and milk mixture alternately, in two batches, beating after each addition until combined, about 30 seconds each time. Using rubber spatula, give batter final stir. Scrape into prepared pan.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan, at least 1 hour. Once cool, cake can be wrapped in plastic and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

For the syrup and topping: Heat 3 cups strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, juice, and water in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cover and cook until liquid is deep red and strawberries are softened, about 10 minutes. Strain liquid into bowl, reserving solids, then whisk gelatin into liquid. Let cool to room temperature, at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, poke about 50 holes in top of cooled cake. Don't poke to the bottom of the pan though or the jello mixture will sink and pool around the bottom. Slowly pour cooled liquid evenly over top of cake. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until gelatin is set, at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.

Pulse reserved strained strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and remaining strawberries in food processor until mixture resembles strawberry jam. Spread strawberry mixture evenly over cake. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream with remaining sugar to soft peaks. Spread cream over strawberries.

Strawberry Cake

Seriously this was the best tasting cake I've ever tasted. The picture does no justice to the taste of the cake. It was so good I am still thinking about this cake. Sadly though the cake looked awful as I had all kinds of problems with the layers and sticking to the baking pans due to the kids helping me. This cake really was not hard to make and I promise you it tastes better than any boxed cake mix you've ever tried. I used three different recipes in making this cake. Also instead of using frozen strawberries I used fresh in the cake.

Strawberry Cake from Scratch
from allrecipes.com

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 (3 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 eggs (room temperature)
• 2 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup strawberry puree made from frozen sweetened strawberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and dry strawberry gelatin until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the batter alternately with the milk. Blend in vanilla and strawberry puree. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a small knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in their pans over a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, before tapping out to cool completely

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
from allrecipes.com

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1. In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

Strawberry Filling for between the layers
from recipezaar

• 2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped hulled strawberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a heavy small sauce pan, stirring constantly and crushing berries slightly with back of spoon.
2. Boil 2 minutes to thicken, stirring constantly (mixture will be slightly chunky)
3. Pour into bowl and cool completely.
   

Delightful Banana Cake

Everyone really liked the cake. My favorite part was the drizzle on the cake but even the actual cke had some really good flavor. I left the nuts out of the cake as I don't like nuts in cakes and such. This recipe was a little more work then I prefer but I'd say it was worth the extra work. According to the nutrition facts with this recipe it has only 10 grams of fat, 5 of which are saturated. I found the recipe in Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking November 2008 issue.

2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened, divided
1 1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 to 3 medium)
1/3 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or chopped pecans

Drizzle:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons fat free milk

Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, beat 1/4 cup butter and 1 cup sugar until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks; mix well. In a small mixing bowl, beat the bananas, sour cream, applesauce, and vanilla until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; add to the butter mixture alternately with banana mixture. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly; stir in water.

Beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, on high until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Fold into batter. Fold in walnuts.

Coat a 10 in fluted tube pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour; add a third of the cake batter. Drizzle with half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat layers; top with remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

For drizzle, in a small heavy saucepan, melt butter until lightly browned. Remove from the heat; stir in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle over cake.

Butternut Squash Cake

Sorry the picture isn't great however I can't get another picture because all the cake is gone. I had my doubts if the kids would eat it but they ate one piece and kept coming back for more. This cake smelled delicious cooking and was simple and easy to make. Overall it was a winner in this house. I also think making a cream cheese frosting would be a great way to serve this cake. I found the recipe in the Land O Lakes harvest baking magazine.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup peeled shredded butternut squash

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1 egg

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons ginger puree or finely grated fresh gingerroot (or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger)

1 teaspoon vanilla

powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of 8 inch square baking pan, set aside. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Combine squash, brown sugar, butter, egg, ginger, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture. Beat until well mixed.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 23 to 27 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.