Devil's Food Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Ever since I started writing this blog, I've discovered a few things about myself.  I like food.  A lot!  We all know that I'm a muffin fan, well, I'm also a cookie fan....a real cookie monster :-)  This recipe is one that I have made before (I first printed it from cookierecipe.com in 2000), but this time I changed it slightly to use ingredients on hand.  Still...turned out great!    Here it is!

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup shortening
1 box of Devil's Food cake mix
2 cups butterscotch chip cookies (original recipe calls for peanut butter chips....I was all out so I used butterscotch chips instead!)

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs.  Add in the vanilla, shortening and 1/2 of the cake mix.  Beat until light and fluffly.  Stir in the remaining cake mix and the butterscotch chips.

Using teaspoons, drop dough onto an unprepared cookie sheet.  Dough should be approximately 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until done.

VERDICT:
Another hit, yes indeed!  Cookies always go over well, and these were no exception.  These are super easy to make (I don't usually use mixes for cookies and such, but these are good!).  I will be making them again!

Strawberry Poke Cake

We celebrated our baby's first birthday on Canada Day.  I decided to go with a red and white theme for the party to tie in with Canada Day, and wanted to serve a red and white dessert - something easy, something a little different, but pretty.  I found this recipe for Strawberry Poke Cake over at Stella B's Kitchen, and it seemed perfect for the event.

Here is the recipe:

1 box white cake mix (plus applicable ingredients for the mix - eggs, water, oil)
1 small box of strawberry jello (3 oz / 85 g)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup ice cold water
Whipping cream
Fresh strawberries, sliced

Bake the cake according to the package directions.  I baked mine in a 9 x 13 glass pan.  Be sure to completely cool the cake before moving to step two.  Using a plastic spoon or a wooden spoon handle, poke holes into the cake about 1/2 inch apart.
Stir the small box of strawberry jello  mix into 1 cup boiling water.  Stir until dissolved. Add a 1/2 cup of ice cold water.

Once the jello is dissolved, slowly spoon or pour the warm liquid jello over cake and holes, covering the cake as evenly as possible. To me, it looked like there wasn't enough jello to go on the cake, but there was.  Just trust the recipe.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

While the cake is chilling, slice your strawberries.  As many as you prefer to top the cake.  Around this time would also be ideal to put your mixing bowl and whipping attachment into the fridge to get them nice and cold for whipping the cream :-)

Just prior to serving, whip you whipping cream.  Serve your cake topped with strawberries and whip cream!  Yum!

Store leftover cake in the refigerator.

VERDICT:
My mother-in-law will confirm that I was super nervous about the cake.  It was so simple to make (it was a cake mix, no fussing around with all sorts of ingredients this time), but I just didn't think the holes in the cake and the jello were going to work out properly.  We decided that serving the cake upside down was certainly the way to go, as it hid all those holes.  And low and behold, when we cut the cake and flipped it over, it looked perfect! It was so pretty...and tasted good too!  I served it up with strawberries and real whipping cream, and it was well-received by the approximately 15 adults who ate it.  Yay!  It wasn't too sweet, which was a nice bonus.  A great summery dessert!  I will be trying it again...and maybe try some new jello flavours with it.

German Apple Cake

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms!  I know, Mother's Day was yesterday, but I'm choosing to celebrate all week long!  Yes, I'm a little cheeky sometimes :-)  In honour of Mother's Day, I asked the two wonderful Mom's that I am so lucky to have in my life to share with me their favourite recipe.  Today I am sharing my Mom's recipe for German Apple Cake, and on Thursday when you come back you will see my Mother-in-Law's recipe for Hint of Thai Sirloin with Mango Pepper Salad. 

Here is my Mom's recipe: 

German Apple Cake (source: my Mom’s recipe binder)

Cake

1 ½ cups flour

¾ cup sugar

½ cup butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

Topping #1

Apples (about 3-4, peeled and sliced)

Topping #2

1 cup butter

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar (white)

Topping #3

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

1 ½ tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

Make the cake batter by mixing the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla.  Add in the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, and baking powder), blend, and pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish (I use glass for this cake).

Place the sliced apples (Topping #1) on top of the batter.  Slice more apples if needed to cover the cake. 

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for Topping #2 (butter, flour and sugar) and spread on top of the apples.  This topping will be very crumbly. 

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for Topping # 3 (sugar and cinnamon).  Sprinkle on top of the crumbly mixture.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  Cool before serving, though this cake is delicious when served warm (and with a heavy cream!)

VERDICT:

I grew up with this cake…so I am a little biased – this is like a comfort food for me, I love this cake!  As a teen, I would sneak pieces for breakfast (healthy, I know!).  It is SO not low-cal…but that’s OK, it’s DESSERT!  My oldest son LOVED it and has already asked me to make it again.  My husband, the non-dessert guy, also enjoyed the cake and he was sneaking pieces of it too for the short time it lasted in our house.  Thanks Mom for sharing!

Nanaimo Bar Ice Cream Cake - Guest Post

Dawn from DJ's Sugar Shack invited me to guest post on her wonderful blog this week!  My first guest post, so very exciting!  This gave me a GREAT reason to just HAVE to bake...and my family agreed...my husband declared that this new recipe might just be his new favourite dessert!  Cool!  Check out my post at DJ's Sugar Shack for this very delicious Nanaimo Bar Ice Cream Cake!

Easter Bunny Carrot Cake and a Feature!

Let's talk about DESSERT!

For the first time in a few years, we did not host our son's birthday party over the Easter long weekend.  So, I had a little extra time to make a different sort of cake (not the birthday sort...yet!), and with our son nearly 5, he is caught right up in all the Easter excitement.  I saw this picture at The Southern Lady Cooks, which inspired me to try my own Easter Bunny cake for dessert.  And I figured, since it is Easter, we need carrot cake!  I was going to try out my Mom's carrot cake recipe for the project, but then I found that the full baking instructions weren't written on the copy of the recipe that I have, and since she and my Dad are off rv'ing I can't just call her and ask her all the details. So I found a different carrot cake recipe to try.  I based my cake on one found in Company's Coming - Desserts and combined it with my Mom's recipe.  Here is how I made my carrot cake:

1 cup sugar

1 cup oil

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 1/2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and cooking oil.  Add in eggs, one at a time, beating.  Add in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Slowly add to the wet ingredients, stirring to mix.

Stir in the carrots and raisins.  Pour into greased cake pans (two 8x8s, two 9x9s or one 9x13 pan).

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and frost.

I baked the cake late at night, so I left the cakes to cool overnight and made my frosting in the morning.  I frosted the cake with the same Cream Cheese Icing recipe that I used earlier in the week to frost the yummy Carrot Pineapple Raisin Bran Muffins that I made for my son's preschool, except that I doubled the recipe to ensure that I had enough icing :-)

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups icing sugar

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla.  Beat well.  Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. 

Now, onto putting the cake together!

Assembling the Cake:

You'll see that I made the cake to look a little more "bunny" like.  I made the cakes using two 8" rounds, and cut both of the cakes in half.  I took three of the halves to make the back end of the bunny - I put some icing between each layer and stuck them together. The remaining half I cut in half again and made the bunny's head (again, icing between the layers and stuck them together.  I generously frosted the cake with the cream cheese icing, and used decorating gel for the eyes, whiskers, nose and mouth (in black and pink).  I sprinkled unsweetened coconut on top of the icing for a more fur-like effect (I used as much as I thought was necessary - probably 1/3-1/2 cup).  I used some of my crafting paper to make the ears (in pink and white).  It was a cute little bunny, not bad for someone who isn't very good at decorating cakes!!

VERDICT:

The cake was well-received by everyone!  Everyone thought it was pretty cute and said it was tasty.  My icing only eating 4 year old ate some of the cake, which rarely happens!  He even asked me to make him a bunny cake for his birthday party next weekend.  That's a good sign.  My husband, who "does not like cake" said that it was really good, which was also evident by how clean his cake plate was after dessert!  My maternal Grandparents, who joined us for dinner, both said "whoa, those are big pieces" when I was slicing the cake, but both of their plates were clean afterwards too!  I thought it was delicious, a nice, moist, heavy but not heavy cake (does that make sense?!), very tasty indeed.  The cream cheese icing was perfect - not overly sweet, and the unsweetened coconut on top was great too!  This one could become a new Easter tradition, you never know!

I am so excited to share with you that another of my recipes has been featured!  Thank you My Favorite Finds for featuring my Baked Not Fried Fries - these have been a popular post!  If you haven't checked out the recipe yet, you should.  They were so good!

Would love for you to "Like" me on Facebook! 

Featured!

What a pleasant surprise to visit a fellow foodie's blog and see the Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake featured!  It continues to be a hit in blogland! 

Have you given the recipe a try yet?  We had it again last weekend, but with blackberries this time...and again, it was YUM!

This week it has been featured by Miz Helen's Country Cottage at her Full Plate Thursday!  Thanks Miz Helen!
           

Have you joined me on Facebook yet?  Would love for you to do so!

I've Been Featured, Again!

OH MY GOODNESS!  A third feature on the Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake!  This is amazing!  Thank you Inside BruCrew Life for featuring the breakfast cake as one of her "Fab 5" for this week!  I do hope your kids love it as much as my son does!





Be sure to check out her blog, as well as the other blogs who have featured the cake.  They all do great work!  Here's a picture of of the Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake...just to tempt you again!

I've Been Featured!

What an exciting morning for me!  It looks like the Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake is a popular recipe - with good reason, it is VERY yummy!  I just found out that my breakfast cake was featured on another link party/blog! 

My oldest son was sitting with me when I read the news, and his response was "That's my favourite recipe in the whole world!".  Cool!  Thanks so much to Things that make you say "Mmmmm"!  Please check out Karen's blog here:



Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

Yes, you read it right...cake for breakfast!  I've mentioned before that we are a house that eats a LOT of pancakes, french toast and waffles, and I am still trying to shake up our mornings by adding a few new breakfast recipes into the mix.  This weekend I decided to go with a Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast cake.  I saw it on Pinterest and it looked good enough to try!  I adapted the recipe from Alexandra's Kitchen.  Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Zest of one large lemon

7/8 cup + 1/2 tablespoon sugar*

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups + 1/8 cup flour**

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups fresh blueberries, washed

1/2 cup buttermilk

*Extra 1/2 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

**Extra 1/8 cup is for tossing with blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of sugar.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. 

In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.

In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with 1/8 cup of flour.  Fold the blueberries into the batter.

Grease a 9 inch square baking pan.  Spread the batter into the pan, batter will be thick.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of sugar on top of the batter.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until done.  Allow cake to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.  Serve warm.

VERDICT:

This was a wonderful change to our usual.  Our 4 year old told me that it is his favourite, even more than ribs (and the kid LOVES ribs) - so that is saying a lot!  He ate more than half the pan!  (sure hope he doesn't get a tummy ache later).  DH and I both enjoyed the cake too, especially since it is served warm.  It's a keeper! And I bet raspberries or blackberries would be tasty in this too.  Oh YUM...I can't wait for berry season!