Tiny But Intense Chocolate Cake

 Ingredients:

6 TBS butter (plus more for pan)
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 C light brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 sea salt
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

To Finish:

1/2 C whipping cream
2 tsp granulated sugar

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 6-inch round springform pan with a circle of parchment paper. Generously butter sides of pan and parchment round.

In a small saucepan, melt your butter over medium heat, stirring for even cooking. After the butter melts, it will hiss and spatter a bit as the water cooks off, and then fragrant brown bits will form at the bottom of the saucepan. The whole process will take about 3 minutes. Quickly remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it is melted and smooth. Cool the chocolate mixture to lukewarm, a process that can be sped up by transferring the mixture from the hot saucepan to a small bowl set in a puddle of cold or ice water. If quick-cooling the chocolate like this, be sure to stir it every minute or two for even cooling. 

With an electric mixer, beat egg yolks, brown sugar, and vanilla together until the mixture thickens and takens on a, frankly, kind-of icky pale-yellow-brown color. Slowly beat in the lukewarm chocolate mixture, and a pretty color will return. The mixture will become very thick but loosen significantly once we add the egg-whites. 

Wipe clean, wash, and dry your electric beater(s), and beat egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until firm peaks form. Add a pinch of cinnamon if using. Stir one-third of egg-white mixture into chocolate mixture. Fold the remaining two-thirds in gently, trying to keep the batter as light as possible. Pour into the prepared pan, and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until it is puffed with a lovely dome on top (which you shouldn't get too attached to), and a tester or skewer comes out clean or with just a couple crumbs attached. 

To Serve

Let cool on rack for 10 minutes--it will immediately begin to sink in the middle--then run a knife around the cake to make sure it's not stuck to the pan, and release the springform sides. Let it cool the rest of the way on its base. Once it's cool, flip out onto a plate or second rack, remove parchment round (if it's stuck) from the bottom, and flip cake back onto a small plate. To serve, beat whipping cream with granulated sugar until soft peaks forms. Dust cake with confectioners' sugar and dollop with whipped cream and berries. 

Southwest Georgia Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1 C unsalted butter, softened
3 C sugar
6 large eggs
3 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C heavy cream
3 tsp vanilla **you may use lemon or almond flavoring instead

Generously grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan. Do not preheat the oven. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs in one at at time, beating well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternately add flour mixture and heavy cream to butter-sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in flavoring.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Put into a cold oven and set the temperature to 325. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes without opening the oven door. Bake for an additional 15 minutes if necessary. Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto cake plate. For a real treat, serve yourself a slice while it is still warm.

Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

–½ cup butter, melted
–½ cup packed brown sugar
–1 – 20-ounce can pineapple slices, juice reserved
–1 jar maraschino cherries
–1 box yellow cake mix
–1 – 3.4-ounce box vanilla pudding mix
–3 eggs
–⅓ cup vegetable oil
–⅓ cup milk, plus more as needed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray.
2. Evenly pour the melted butter into the bottom of the bundt pan and top with the brown sugar.
3. Cut the pineapple rings in half and, alternating with the cherries, place into the butter-brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.
4. In a large bowl, combine the cake and pudding mixes together. Add the reserved pineapple juice and milk. Add the eggs and vegetable oil, and mix until fully blended.
5. Pour the batter evenly over the pineapple and cherries.
6.  Bake for 30 minutes, following the cake mix instructions for a bundt pan, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool the cake for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges and inner ring of the pan. Invert onto a serving plate and slice between pineapple rings to serve.

Gingerbread Cake with Caramel Sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

Cake:9 TBS butter, softened
1/2 C sugar
1 C molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C water

Caramel Sauce:
1 C brown sugar
1 TBS corn starch
1 C cold water
1/4 C butter, cubed
1 tsp vanilla






Whipped Cream

For the cake:
Grease a 9" round or square cake pan. (Springform would work as well)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl--add alternating with water.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick comes clean. Put on wire rack.

For the sauce:
Combine brown sugar and cornstarch in saucepan. Add water and bring to a boil for about two minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. Drizzle over warm cake. Add a dollop of whipped cream.

Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 3.4 ounce box instant lemon pudding mix
• 1 cup plain or vanilla greek yogurt (may sub sour cream)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Glaze

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice*
• 3-4 tablespoons milk, or as needed*
• optional: sprinkles

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Heavily grease a bundt pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl whisk together cake mix and pudding mix. Add sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, and warm water and mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Stir in poppy seeds.
3. Pour cake batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 40-50 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool 30-45 minutes before inverting cake onto a cooling rack.
4. For the glaze, mix together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk (start with 3 tablespoons and add more as needed until glaze is pourable). Drizzle glaze over cooled cake. Top with sprinkles if desired. Store covered at room temperature.

Notes

*I also love to use an almond glaze for this cake instead of lemon. Skip the lemon juice and add 1¼ teaspoons almond extract. Add just enough milk for the glaze to be pourable.

Prep time does not involve cooling time for cake.

 

Lemon Cream Cake

Cake

1 Betty Crocker white cake mix
1 1/4 c. water

1/3 c. vegetable oil

3 egg whites

Note: These measurements are based on a Betty Crocker cake mix.  If you chose to use a different brand, the ingredients and measurements might be different.

Lemon Cream Filling

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c. powdered sugar

3 TBS lemon juice

1 c. heavy whipping cream

Vanilla Crumb Topping

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. cold butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Make white cake according to the directions on the box.  Divide batter between two 9'' cake pans. Bake according to box directions.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 15 minutes. Then, invert cakes to cooling rack and cool completely.

Make the lemon cream filling by mixing  cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.  Mix in lemon juice.  Whip the cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until it forms stiff peaks.  Fold cream cheese mixture with whipped cream.  Stir gently by hand until blended.

Make crumb topping by combining flour and powdered sugar in a medium bowl.  Add butter and dribble in the vanilla extract.  Use your hands or a pastry cutter to mix cold butter into flour and sugar.  Break butter into smaller and smaller pieces as you incorporate it into the dry ingredients.  Be sure not to press the mixture together.  You want to end up with a very crumbly consistency with pieces no bigger than a pea.  

When the cake is cool, spread all but 1/2 cup of the lemon cream mixture onto the bottom half of the cake, then carefully place the top half of the cake over the filling.  Spread remaining filling over the top and sides of the cake.  Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of the cake and press it onto the sides all the way around the cake.  Now chill the cake for at least three hours before you serve it.  When you are ready to dig in, slice cake into 12 slices.  Serve each slice topped with powdered sugar tapped through a strainer.  Serves: 12.  Keep refrigerated.
 
Hint: I added a little lemon extract to my filling to give it a little stronger lemon flavor.  I also sprinkled the vanilla crumb topping onto one of my cakes before I baked it, so it would create a nice crispy topping.  After letting the cakes cool completely.  I spread the entire amount of filling onto the bottom cake layer and then refrigerated it for a while, so it would harden slightly and it wouldn't run out the sides when I put the top cake layer on.  It worked beautifully and tasted great.