Pumpkin Cake

Okay, I'm not sure if this is cheating or not, but I'm going to blog about something my sister did.  She made delicious cupcakes and decorated them very beautifully! I helped if that counts as anything. I also had fun photographing them, here are a few pictures.

 Before she made them I brought her to a craft store and we bought a piping bag with a huge cupcake end,  and as you can tell she was very good at using it.... Although it was my idea to add the sprinkles!

Okay, now this technique is 100% my own design, it's called "I'm not very good at icing cupcakes, so here is my lame attempt."

 My sister did all three of these, she used some sort of colored powder you can get at cake decorating stores, and dusted it over them.

My mom came up with this one, isn't it perfect?







Now although I can't give you step by step instructions on how to make these, I can give you an excellent pumpkin cake recipe that you can make, so you can experiment with your own icing ideas.

Pumpkin Cake

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Olive Oil
2 or 4 Eggs (whatever you feel like adding)
2 Cups of Pumpkin Cooked and Mashed
1 tsp. Salt
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp. Cinamon
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Vanilla

Mix in order given. Bake in a 9x13" pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Or bake in muffin pans and lower the time.

Mississippi Mud Cake

I'm not really one for pumpkin pie. Usually people say that's crazy, but really, who makes pie out of large round objects? Well this past thanksgiving mom was going to serve pumpkin pie to us and I asked if I could make dessert (wasn't that nice of me?). She is always happy to let me bake, so I made this delicious  Mississippi Mud Cake.

Mississippi Mud Cake

1 Cup Brown Sugar (I use sucanat)
1 3/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
5 Squares of Bakers Unsweetened Chocolate
1 Cup Strong Black Coffee (lukewarm)
3/4 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 Olive Oil

Topping:

2 Cups Miniature Marshmallows
1 Cup Chopped Nuts
Chocolate Sauce

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients for the cake in a large mixing bowl and beat on high for 2 minutes. Pour batter into a greased 9" springform pan. Bake for about 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Sprinkle with marshmallows and nuts and bake 5 more minutes. remove from oven and cool a bit. drizzle with chocolate sauce and serve. Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Cupcakes

     I know it's been a while, but.... I get tired of saying that, and I'm sure you get tired of reading it too! So never mind that, I'm posting right now and that's all that really matters. So lately I've been busy sewing. I don't really have any finished projects to put up here since the dress I just made looks like a maternity dress, and it's just way to embarrassing to show you. But along with my sewing kick, I have been getting sewing books from the library, one of which is called "Bend the Rules Sewing" by Amy Karol. The name itself describes the way I sew! Here is a little quote from the book that I very much enjoyed, "When you do make a mistake, try to laugh about it, cut yourself some slack, and eat a cupcake." I'm telling you, this book is perfect for me! So, after reading that I just had to make some cupcakes (since I can't seem to sew without making mistakes!)


Here are the cupcakes I made, the recipe is for a cake, but it worked great for making cupcakes.

Sour Milk Chocolate Cake
I know, the name doesn't sound to appealing, but i didn't choose it!

1/2 Cup Cocoa

1/2 Cup Hot Water

1/2 Cup Butter

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Sour Milk

1 Tsp. Baking Soda

2 Tsp Vanilla

2 Cups Flour

Add hot water to cocoa and cool. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, milk, soda, vanilla, cocoa mixture and lastly flour. Bake at 350 degrees. For a cake bake in a 8x12" pan for 35-40 minutes. For cupcakes bake bake for 12-15 minutes or until done.

Here are a few pictures of the my cupcake making just for fun :)

 Batter in the pans.

 Baked!

 Cooling.

Decorated! Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

Hi Everyone! Sorry its been so long. I got locked out of my own blog for some unknown reason, and just finally managed to log in today. But, seeing as that doesn't really matter, here is a beautiful cake that you need to make!

I'm sorry, the pictures aren't very good today, but you at least can sort of get the idea. Here is a side view:

Well sort of a side view I guess. Here's what it looked liked on the inside:

And here is what it looked like on my plate with ice-cream:

Yummm.... Now that your tired out from all the pictures here is the recipe:

Chocolate Cake Recipe

1 Cup Milk
3/4 Cup Cocoa
1 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 Cups Sucanat
1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp. Sea Salt
4 Large Egg Whites at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans (You can also use one 9x13 inch pan if you would like) with olive oil and dust with whole wheat flour.

2. Heat the milk in a medium saucepan until barely simmering. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa until thickened and almost smooth (some clumps will remain). Let stand 2-3 minutes to cool slightly. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla extract.

3. Mix the flour, 1 1/4 cups of the sucanat, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

4. Beat the egg whites in a medium sized mixing bowl with an electric mixer until thick and foamy. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 Cup of sucanat and continue beating until still peaks form when the beaters are lifted.

5. Pour the cocoa mixture over the whole wheat flour (and other dry ingredients). Stir just until blended.

6. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in about a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolatey flour mixture. Gradually fold in remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain.

7. Pour batter into prepared pans (or pan)

8. Bake for 25-30 minutes (this depends on the pan or pans you are using), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

9. Cool completely and then decorate!


For the cake I made I used this recipe using the two pans. When they were done (cooled and out of the pan) I made my own icing, using whipping cream, vanilla pudding mix, and strawberry jell-o mix. The icing was my own concoction so I don't really have a recipe for it, but it's something along these lines.

Pour a about 1 litre of whipping cream in a medium sized bowl, Whip until it gets quite foamy, but still rather runny. Add a bit of vanilla pudding mix and whip just until mixed in. It should be pretty thick. Add a bit of strawberry jell-o mix and finish whipping until rather firm and spreadable. I added the Jell-o mix until it had a nice color and a nice flavor.

I'm sorry if the recipe isn't very clear, I really should have written it down while I was making it, but in all truth, I wasn't sure if it was even going to work out.

Now, I finished up the cake by icing the top of the bottom cake, adding sliced strawberries, then staking the other cake on top. I then iced the whole cake and had fun putting strawberries on. For the strawberry in the middle I dipped it in chocolate, for the chocolate drizzled strawberries I piped melted chocolate on them. As for the flowers on the sides, I piped them onto waxed paper, froze them for about half an hour and then carefully peeled them off and put them wherever I wanted. I have never piped chocolate before, this was just kind of an experiment, but all I did was melt chocolate, but it in a plastic bag, cut off the corned, and then piped. Now the plastic bag ripped a few times, do I would recommend using a piping bag if you have one. I just don't think the plastic stands up to the heat very well. Here is a website that tells you more in depth on how to pipe chocolate if your interested. And here my friends is the chocolate I piped:

This cake may look intimidating, but trust me, it's easier than it looks and it's a whole heap of fun!

Birthday Time!

Why hello! You probably thought I had abandoned you.Well I'm sorry. I've been very busy lately.  This past week I had a very bad case of strep throat, it was awful. Anyways, on March 20th, one of my younger brothers turned 5! He requested pizza and a Lightning McQueen cake. Since we try to eat as clean and healthy as possible, I made some homemade pizza. Here it is:

Pizza Dough Mix

6 Cups Flour (whole wheat of course!)
4 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 Tsp. Salt
3/4 Cup Butter

Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter.

You can refrigerate the mix in a jar for up to 10 days, or freeze it. I always make several batches and freeze it, that's just what I find is easiest.

To Use:
For each pizza mix 2 Cups of the pizza mix and 3/4 Cup milk. Turn onto a floured surface, knead, and roll out into a 12" circle. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, remove and top with anything and everything you like then bake again until cheese is melted. Note: Being as I am a lazy cook, I just mix the milk and pizza mix in the bowl, oil my pan, turn the dough onto my pan, and with oil on my hands spread it out.


Now if anyone is interested in making a Lightning McQueen Cake, this is what the one I made looked like.

Here is a better picture of the bridge Lightning McQueen is on.

Here is the recipe for the cake that I used:

Chocolate Chip Date Cake

1 Cup Dates, chopped
1 Tsp. Soda
1 Cup Hot Water
3/4 Cup Sugar (Sucanut if you have)
1 Cup Butter
2 Eggs
1 3/4 Cup Flour (Again, whole wheat!)
1 1/2 Tsp. Cocoa
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Cup Chocolate Chips ( I like dark ones)
1 Cup Chopped Nuts ( I left these out)

Pour hot water over dates; sprinkle soda over hot water; cover and let cool. Cream butter, sugar and eggs; add dates, mix thoroughly. Sift together flour, cocoa, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla, chocolate chips, and nuts. Pour into a greased pan, or pans and bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

For my cake I iced it with whipping cream, sweetened with agave nectar. To color the coconut you simply place some coconut in a bag with a few drops of food coloring and shake. It doesn't take much color, so be careful. Well, have a good rest of the day, and enjoy your new recipes!

The purple icing is what makes this poppy seed cake so perfect! My 2 younger brothers were begging me to make cake, while my older brother had been asking for poppy seed muffins for a while, so I  compromised!

Poppy Seed Cake

1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Poppy Seeds
3/4 Cup Butter softened
1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
3 Eggs, separated
3 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour (home ground if you have it)
1/2 Tsp Almond Extract

Combine milk and poppy seeds. Cream butter, gradually add sugar, and beat until fluffy. Add egg yolks, and beat until light. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk and poppy seed mixture into the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture.Add flavoring. In separate bowl beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry; fold in.Pour into a 9x13 inch pan and  bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Icing

5 Tbsp Flour (I used whole wheat, but it made it a funny color, however after adding the berries you can't tell)
1 Cup Milk
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Sugar (I used brown sugar, but like the flour, it made the icing more brown, so use what you like)
1 Cup Butter

Whisk flour and milk together in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the mixture is thick, then add the vanilla and remove from heat and cool COMPLETELY. Put the sugar and butter into a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the cooled flour/milk mixture and whip on medium/high until it resembles whipped cream (about 45 seconds of whipping). To make it purple I pureed about 1/2 a cup of  mixed berries and mixed it with the icing. 

ENJOY!