#2,672: Lemon-Zucchini Cake

My friend Heather claims she doesn't like zucchini, but sent me the link to this recipe as a suggestion to try.  I had a HUGE zucchini on my counter from our back neighbor, and all of the ingredients except the lemon zest (so I just omitted) so I figured I'd make it for her and her family.  Thankfully, I was smart enough to save a little bit of the batter and cooked some in a ramekin so I could try it too, but not give her a cake with a piece missing.  HA!  The original recipe said this is a denser cake and it was definitely correct.  Like this is HEAVY.  I think cooking it with olive oil gave it a slightly different taste (have you ever tried olive oil cake?!  It's different), so next time I'd probably try making this with vegetable oil or coconut oil instead, but it was still pretty good.  Different...but good.  It certainly wasn't healthy with all that sugar...and the glaze didn't add to the healthiness factor either.  LOL.  Ask and you shall receive...or in my case, use it as an excuse to avoid doing homework and play in the kitchen instead!  

1¼ cup granulated sugar

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 eggs, room temperature

⅓ cup vanilla almond milk

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

2 cups cake flour 

1¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp kosher salt

1½ cup shredded zucchini, drained and squeezed dry

2 tbsp lemon zest (I omitted because I didn't have any lemons on hand)

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar and olive oil. Whisk to combine.  Add eggs and almond milk and whisk together.  Add lemon juice and vanilla extract and stir to combine.  Add flour mixture and stir just until incorporated.  Fold in zucchini and lemon zest.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. The top of the cake should look dry.

Place the loaf on a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes. Use the parchment paper to carefully lift the cake from the pan and remove. Let cool completely on rack.

In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth.  Drizzle the glaze over the cake.

#2,726: Leftover Cake Truffles

A few days ago we celebrated my husband's grandma's 92nd birthday!  I hope I look as good as she does at 92!  Grandma H is the sweetest lady, and we love being able to spend time with her.  After the party, my inlaws sent us home with the leftover cake (half chocolate and half white cake).  Although we LOVE cake, I knew realistically I'd probably end up eating most of it myself (lord knows the kids don't need any more sugar.  HA!).  I debated about freezing it but was afraid it would ruin the buttercream frosting.  I debated about tossing it, but that caused too much guilt, so I decided to search for a recipe that I could use leftover cake in.  Enter leftover cake truffles!  I did a bunch of searching on pinterest and Google and just decided to wing this one.  SO.... here's this super simple way of using your leftover cake.  And don't toss that frosting...I found a way to reuse/repurpose that too!  :)   

First, you need to cut (or scrape) the frosting off your cake.  If you put your cake in the fridge for a while, you can literally just cut it off in large pieces.  

In a food processor (you could use a fork or your hands, but the food processor was WAY easier and less messy!), add your leftover (unfrosted) cake pieces.  Here's the tricky part, once the cake is all crumbly, add a little bit of frosting (like start with enough frosting that you would have cut off the top of one PIECE of cake (maybe about 2-3 tablespoons)).  Keep adding a tiny bit more until the cake literally forms into a ball. 

Using a cookie scoop (or your hands and just eyeball it), roll the cake mixture into ping pong (or a little smaller) size balls.  Place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and freezer for about 2 hours.  (I just left mine in overnight until I ran out and got melting chocolate). 

Since my cake was half chocolate and half white cake (which pretty much turned out being just chocolate in the end!!), I used white chocolate for the coating, but you could use any flavor/kind that you want.  Plus I knew I wanted to decorate these for the 4th of July so white just made sense.  Dip your frozen cake balls into melted chocolate (this is my go-to brand when I need to melt chocolate because there is no mess at the end and I know I can't screw it up!), and then top with desired sprinkles/colored sugar/etc.  Thankfully I put an APB call out to my mother-in-law who dropped off red, white, and blue colored sugar and sprinkles for me to use!  I didn't think red and green cake balls would be as good of an option this time of year.  

#2,050: Blueberry Breakfast Cake

https://amandascookin.com/blueberry-breakfast-cake/

My kids LOVED this blueberry breakfast cake, although I did think it was a tiny bit dry (they didn't seem to mind).  Since I was giving it to them for breakfast I did not add the powder sugar glaze, although that might have helped with the dryness.  They didn't seem to care or notice though.  This was a great way for us to use up the abundant blueberries we have in our freezer from this past summer.  This batter is SUPER thick, so make sure everything is combined before you start adding in your blueberries or they will get really smashed.  

2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, softened (NOT melted)

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

For the topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons cold butter or margarine

For the drizzle: (optional)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons of milk (more or less to get to a drizzling consistency)

Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray or grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and baking powder. Cut butter into small pieces. Add egg, milk, butter and lemon peel; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. You may need to finish mixing with your hands to get all the flour incorporated. the batter will be very thick.

Fold in the blueberries. Because the batter is so thick, this may take a few minutes. Spread into a greased 9-in. square baking pan.

For topping, combine sugar, flour, walnuts and cinnamon in a mini food processor or bowl. Add butter and process, or cut in if doing by hand, until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until cake tests done.

For drizzle, combine the powdered sugar and milk. If too thick, add a few drops of additional milk at a time until it reaches drizzling consistency. Drizzles over the top of the cake and allow to sit until sugar solidifies.

#2,043: Snickerdoodle Bars

Ok, obviously this picture above does not look like a "bar."  It isn't!  The rest of the batter I made in a 9x13 pan, so it WAS a bar, but I wanted to try this before giving it to my friend.  So I saved a little bit of the batter and made a mini one in a small ramekin (this actually looks bigger in the picture than it was in person).  Although I thought this was a little dry, I really enjoyed it.  BUT it needs to be made in an 8x8 pan if you want it to have 2 layers and a cinnamon sugar middle like the recipe says.  I only had enough batter to fill the 9x13 pan and then sprinkle/mix in the cinnamon sugar on top.  It was still quite good that way though.  Since I did think it was a tad dry, the powder sugar glaze is definitely needed!  Next time I'd at least double the cinnamon sugar filling to make it stronger. 

2 1/3 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon Filling

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla 

Heat oven to 350° F. Spray or grease bottom only of a 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on high speed until creamy. Beat in sugars. Gradually beat in eggs and vanilla into sugar mixture until combined. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients until combined.

Spoon half the batter into pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over batter.

Dollop teaspoon size amounts of remaining batter evenly over cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In a small bowl, stir glaze ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over bars. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.

#2,039: Blueberry Zucchini Bars

A co-worker recently brought in this recipe for us to try and share.  Unfortunately I had already eaten breakfast that day, so I never tried it.  But I DO happen have zucchini AND blueberries in my freezer waiting to be used up.  I greatly cut back on the amount of sugar in this recipe so that they could eat this for breakfast, and it also was supposed to be made in a loaf pan, but I decided to make this in a 9x13 pan instead.

This isn't super sweet (since I cut back on the sugar), but my kids loved this for breakfast!!  If you were serving this as a dessert, I'd definitely use the recommended amount of sugar.  

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c sugar (I only used 1 cup)
2 c zucchini, shredded
3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 c blueberries (I used frozen, thawed)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.  In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.  Fold in zucchini.  Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Gently fold in blueberries.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cook before cutting into squares. 

#2,031: Easy Banana Cake

I have a lot of random types of flour in my pantry: whole wheat, self-rising, all-purpose, and bread flour.  I also, (as usual), have a bunch of over-ripe bananas I need to find a use for.  So I did a quick Google search for banana cake using self-rising flour and came across this recipe which uses one POT (instead of one bowl) to prepare it.  I was also out of butter (thanks to a double batch of cheesy potatoes I made), so I had to substitute coconut oil in this recipe as well.  

This cake was so easy to make and is super moist.  I let my kids have a piece of it tonight before bed and they devoured it.  They already have their plates set out tomorrow for breakfast.  Personally, I will cut down on the amount of sugar next time since it's a bit much for breakfast, but for a once in a while treat, I'm ok with it.  I will definitely make this recipe again! 

125 g butter (I used coconut oil)

3/4 cup caster sugar (I used granulated sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

2 bananas mashed ripe

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1/4 cup milk
Mini chocolate chips (optional)

Melt the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a medium-sized saucepan. Remove from heat.

Add mashed bananas and stir through until just blended.  Add 1/2 cup of the flour and mix, until just combined.  Add milk and egg and mix in well. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup of flour.  I also added some mini chocolate chips which melted because of the warmth of the mixture.  I then spread this is a lightly greased 9x13 pan and topped with more mini chocolate chips.  

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

#2,005: Zucchini Cake

A friend gave us a HUGE zucchini a few weeks ago, so I grated it and threw some of it in my freezer so we could enjoy the zucchini in baked goods for several weeks.  I like to try and find muffins or breads to make for my kids for breakfast every few weeks or so.  I came across this easy recipe for zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting, but I didn't want my kids eating frosting for breakfast, so I just omitted it.  This recipe was a HUGE hit with my crew and one that I will definitely make again for them.  Actually maybe I should go pull another bag of zucchini out of the freezer!  

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup chopped nuts (optional) (I added a few dark chocolate chips instead)

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla; add to dry ingredients with zucchini and nuts. Stir till well combined, then pour in greased 9×13″ pan (I made it in an 8x8 pan instead). Bake at 350° for about 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

(I skipped this step) Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting. 

#1,870: Cinnamon Roll Sheet Cake

I keep waiting to make this recipe with my kids because
1.  I think it will be the perfect recipe to make for them for breakfast 
2.  It will give my kids an easy recipe for them to try and make with minimal help from me
3.  AND it gives me another reason to use my new half-sheet pans!  (If you do not have one of these you really need to get one.  It is perfect for our family to make things like chicken patties, smaller amounts of tater tots, roasted veggies, etc.  I love that it is a smaller size than my gigantic cookie sheets. 

OK, I should have gone with my intuition on this and NOT used the half sheet pan.  I don't know if mine is smaller than it should be, but when filled, this went pretty close to the top of the pan.  I knew if I put this in the oven as is, I would have a huge bubbled over mess.  So I decided to dump this into a 9x13 pan instead at the last minute.  The cinnamon-sugar mixture got pretty much combined into the cake mix in this process, but I figure it shouldn't change the flavor (just the presentation) of the cake that much.

My family LOVED this.  It is also so incredibly moist.  Next time I'll probably add even more cinnamon to make it more pronounced in the flavor of the cake.  I also will make it in a 9x13 glass pan again and forgo the sheet pan altogether.  

White cake mix

ingredients to complete cake mix: eggs, oil and water

1/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

For the icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line half sheet pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Make cake mix according to package directions and spread evenly into sheet pan.

Mix melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together and drizzle across cake batter. Using a butter knife, swirl butter mixture through cake batter.

Bake about 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean after being inserted into the cake.

While cake bakes, stir powdered sugar, vanilla and just enough milk to create icing the consistency of white glue.

Remove from oven and cool 5-10 minutes before drizzling with icing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

#1,859: Olive Oil Lemon Cornmeal Cake

Since returning home from New Years, I'm (apparently) on a grocery store strike and trying to see just how long I wait out the inevitable trip.  I'm getting creative (and desperate) in trying to get in servings of fruits and veggies to my kids.  I *MAY* have raided the school lunch drawer and given them a fruit cup....and I *MAY* have told them that the canned cranberry sauce I found in the WAY back of the pantry also counted as a fruit.  (By the way, I did break down today and finally went...pretty much because there was literally nothing left in the form of fruit that I could get by with).  Today I found a 3/4 empty container of cornmeal and I almost tossed it.  Then I figured it wasn't doing any harm back there and to just leave it.  

Wouldn't you know today of all days (after I got back from said grocery store), a magazine from that same establishment shows up and in it is a recipe for this Olive Oil Cornmeal Cake.  I swear it was an omen!  In addition to the cornmeal I wanted to use up, our eggs are pushing it's expiration date, AND I had a lemon leftover from my brussel sprout recipe too.  There were too many coincidences here so as soon as dinner was over I decided I better whip up this cake!  

So I popped that baby in the oven and went and did something really dumb.....I worked on lesson plans (blech!) and I lost track of time.  By the time the timer went off for this cake, it was over done by at least 5 minutes (hence the very dark top and bottom AND it may be hard to see, but the edges were so dark, I had to cut out the middle of the cake to serve to the kids).

So one of my kids took one bite and said this was awful; one kid said it was good, but she didn't love it; and one kid asked if he could eat the rest for his breakfast!  Can these 3 never get on the same page?!  

Me personally, I liked this, but didn't love it.  Would I eat it, of course (I don't turn down most foods though), but would I make this again, no.  It just was "eh."  I did like the lemon flavor, and do think the orange might have been better (sorry no oranges in this house today), but it was still kind of dry (yes I know I over cooked it), and although I liked the nutty texture of the cornmeal, but this is not a sweet cake, and I still didn't think it was anything extraordinary.

If you try it, let me know what you think! 

1/2 c olive oil, plus more for greasing

2 large eggs
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c orange juice (I used fresh squeezed lemon juice)
1 1/4 c flour
grated zest of 1 orange (I used lemon)
1/2 c cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 c white sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease an 8 or 9 inch round pan with olive oil; line the bottom with a round of wax paper and rub it with oil.  In a bowl, whisk 1/2 c oil, eggs, sugar, orange juice, and zest until smooth.

Add flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt; whisk to combine (batter will be thick).  Scrape batter into prepared pan; sprinkle top evenly with sugar. 

Bake 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  

Cool cake 30 minutes in pan, before transferring to a plate.  Store any leftovers in an air-tight container. 

#1,749: Zucchini Bars

These zucchini bars are a huge hit with my family and I wish I would have made them sooner (I pinned them FOUR years ago!).  Don't let the frosting/glaze discourage you from making this spiced zucchini bread, because it said to use softened butter with the powdered sugar, and my gut told me I should melt it first but I didn't.  I definitely should have, as there are tiny little crumbles of butter in this recipe.  Doesn't affect the taste at all, but it does make it look weird.  I also added some mini chocolate chips to make this even better...although a little less healthy!  :) 

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup butter or margarine, softened

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup shredded zucchini, drained

½ cup chopped nuts (I omitted and added mini chocolate chips instead)

Spice Frosting

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened (MELT this!)

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3 to 4 teaspoons milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 9- or 8-inch square pan. In large bowl, mix brown sugar, butter, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon cloves. Stir in zucchini and nuts. Spread in pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In medium bowl, mix all frosting ingredients until smooth and spreadable. Spread frosting over bars. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.

#1,688: Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This recipe has been posted on one of my pinterest boards forever!  I made this for the kids to eat for breakfast, and they all loved it.  I had to cut them off at seconds.  Then I went upstairs to take a nap and when I came down Brian asked what I put in it to make it so addicting.  :)  Brian and the kids totally devoured this yumminess.  I'd say I would definitely make this again!

2 cups flour (I used 1 c whole wheat, and 1 c all purpose)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup Sour Cream

1 cup chopped Pecans (I omitted)

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350°F.

Stir flour, baking powder and baking soda until blended. Beat granulated sugar, butter and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture alternately with sour cream.

Combine nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon; spoon half into greased and floured 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan; top with half the cake batter. Repeat layers.

Bake 45 to 50 min. or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 10 min. Loosen cake from sides of pan with knife. Invert cake onto wire rack; gently remove pan. Cool cake completely.

#1,679: Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake

A day off from school = a day to bake something for my family!  :)  THREE years ago I pinned this recipe to one of my pinterest boards, and if you've been following my posts the last few months you've noticed that I'm trying to get older recipes off my boards!  No sense in pinning a recipe to try and then letting a ton of time go by before trying it.  So since I had a few extra minutes this morning before we leave for my aunt's house for Thanksgiving, I figured I'd whip up these pumpkin crumb coffee cakes, and hopefully also take some with me to share with my family. 

I didn't want to make one large cake, so I made this recipe into 2 smaller loaf pans, and then 12 large muffins (I used my square pampered chef muffin tins).  I wasn't so sure my kids would like this, but they devoured them!  I had to cut them off after 2!  These are a tad dense and a bit dry in my opinion, but that obviously didn't stop me from eating a mini one.  :)  Yep, I'd eat these again!

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 15-oz. can pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

Make topping: In a bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add butter and combine with fingertips until mixture is crumbly. Refrigerate while making batter.

Make cake: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, applesauce, pumpkin, vanilla and both sugars until well mixed. Whisk in eggs. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until just combined; do not overmix. Pour batter into cake pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle with reserved topping.

Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack at least 20 minutes.

#1,556 and #1,557: Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

This is actually two recipes in one (one for the zucchini cake and one for the frosting).  My kids have been asking me to make zucchini bread for weeks now and I've had to put off making this recipe for one reason or another.  But tonight, I had some extra time and figured I'd throw these in the oven to make for them for breakfast tomorrow. I also made these in smaller pans (instead of the recommended 9x13 pan) so that I could give away some of this so we don't eat it all.  This was a huge hit in our house. We loved it...although I thought it was a little dry. Next time I'm going to add one more egg. 

For the zucchini cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup...who needs 2 cups of sugar?!!?)
1/2 cup dark baking cocoa (I just used regular baking cocoa)
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup reduced-fat plain yogurt (I used a 3 oz container of Greek yogurt)
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini

Frosting Ingredients:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 13x9-in. baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk the first seven ingredients. In another bowl, whisk eggs, yogurt, oil and vanilla until blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Stir in zucchini.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

To make the chocolate frosting:

Melt chocolate and butter in a metal bowl over barely simmering water. Stir until smooth.

Place evaporated milk, sugar and vanilla in a blender; cover and process 1 minute to dissolve sugar. Add warm chocolate mixture; cover and process just until mixture thickens to desired consistency, about 30 seconds. 

#1,482: Strawberry Cream Cheese Icebox Cake

First of all, this is not the finished photo and I cannot believe I'm actually posting a picture poor of a picture.  I took this photo "just in case" I forgot to take a finished product one...and I DID.  UGH!  This is supposed to be topped with cool whip and some crushed graham crackers.  It looks way better cut into too.  I don't know if I'll be making this again soon, so feel free to send me a picture of this if you make it!!  :) 

Back to the recipe though, this got great reviews at the family gathering I took it too.  I think this would be really good with other berries as well so if you aren't a fan of strawberries, I'd try something else in its place.  I think next time I'm going to try blueberries only because it'll be faster to add them since you don't have to cut them.  Raspberries would probably be really good too. 

This made a lot of cream filling/mixture and I actually didn't even use it all.  I probably threw away about 1/4 of it because I thought it was too much.  Still delicious though.  I made this later in the evening and served it about noon the next day.  I stopped at the point of the photo (everything minus the final layer of cool whip) and wrapped in saran wrap and stuck in the fridge until it was time to leave for the party.  Then I used a clean paper towel to soak up all of the liquid/water/juice that accumulated on the top from the strawberries.  About 2 hours before the party I topped it with the cool whip, added the crushed graham crackers and put it back in the fridge until time to serve.  It was really, really good!

2 pounds strawberries, sliced
2 sleeves graham crackers
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 packages (3.4 oz) instant cheesecake flavored pudding (I used french vanilla)
3 cups milk
12 oz carton Cool Whip, thawed and divided.

Click here to see the original recipe and for the rest of the instructions/directions.

#1,475: Triple Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

Holy heck did I love this cake!  It was SO moist and the flavor was seriously fantastic! LOVE, love, loved it!  The recipe reviews noted that it could get ridiculously wet and goopy from the milk mixture being poured over it, so I only used about 1/3 to 1/2 of the mixture.  When I ate this the bottom was nice and wet but it wasn't saturated throughout the whole cake.  I actually liked that and preferred it that way.  

Since I used way more Cool Whip than called for, I just added more cocoa powder to the cool whip and a little bit at at time until it was the right amount of chocolate-y to my liking.  :) DELICIOUSNESS!!

1 pkg.  (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix (I couldn't find the 2-layer size, so I just got the biggest box I could find)
Additional ingredients needed for the cake mix

8 oz Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk

12 oz. evaporated milk

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping (I used an entire 8 oz container)

Prepare cake batter and bake in 13x9-inch pan as directed on package. Cool cake in pan 10 min., then pierce cake with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.

Melt 7 oz. chocolate as directed on package. Blend milks and sour cream in blender until smooth. Add melted chocolate; blend well. Pour over cake, re-piercing cake if necessary until milk mixture is absorbed. Refrigerate 1 hour. 

Meanwhile, make curls from remaining 1 oz. chocolate.

STIR cocoa powder into COOL WHIP; spread onto cake. Top with chocolate curls. Keep refrigerated.

#1,471 and #1,472: Chocolate Cherry Cake and Chocolate Glaze

This chocolate cherry cake recipe has been sitting on one of my pinterest boards for over two years now.  So when I needed to make a dessert for the cake walk at our church, I figured it would be time to make it and try it.  Although I enjoyed this recipe and the cake was definitely nice and moist, it wasn't the greatest thing I've ever eaten.  You have to really love cherry pie filling too (which I generally do).  Would I make this particular recipe again, probably not.

Once my cupcakes were done though, I knew it needed a chocolate frosting/glaze of some sort, so I decided to use this recipe to make it.  I LOVED the glaze!  It was a little thick for my liking, so I used A LOT (probably about a cup or so) of the heavy whipping cream until it thinned out to the consistency I wanted it to be.  I would definitely make the glaze/frosting again!

Chocolate Cherry Cake
1 chocolate cake mix

2 eggs

1 C. water

1 can cherry pie filling

Mix cake mix, eggs, water and pie filling together and bake according to the directions on the cake box.

Chocolate Glaze

3 oz Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 tbsp whipping cream
1 tbsp butter

Microwave Baker’s Chocolate, whipping cream and butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 to 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended.

#1,455: Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This recipe is so good, I've already make it twice!  My kids loved it and it has been so easy to whip together and take to a friend's house or serve to company.  The recipe says to make this in a bundt pan, but I think it's just as easy to make it in a 9x13 pan instead.  You probably have most, if not all of the ingredients already on hand too.  The only thing I ever have to double check for is the sour cream! 

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking Powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup Sour Cream

1 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans (I omitted)

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350°F.

Stir flour, baking powder and baking soda until blended. Beat granulated sugar, butter and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture alternately with sour cream.

Combine nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon; spoon half into greased and floured 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan; top with half the cake batter. Repeat layers.

Bake 45 to 50 min. or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 10 min. Loosen cake from sides of pan with knife. Invert cake onto wire rack; gently remove pan. Cool cake completely.

HOW TO BAKE IN 13X9-INCH PAN:  Prepare as directed, using a 13x9-inch pan and reducing the baking time to 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. No need to remove cake from pan before cutting into pieces to serve.

#1,370 and #1,371: Dr. Pepper Cake with Dr. Pepper Frosting

The picture that I originally found on pinterest was extremely misleading!  It showed a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  That is NOT what you will get if you make the recipe as directed.  That was fine with me for the cake, but after baking my cake in too small of a pan, it started to cave in.  I knew that I needed to try and find a chocolate frosting to help hide my "hole" in the middle.  But then I ran out of powdered sugar!  (This recipe was doomed from the start apparently).  So I had to add some cream cheese to help try and thicken it up.  It helped a little, but it was still not super thick.  That's ok.  I was making this recipe for bookclub, and I didn't care that it was a little misshapen.  (Sorry girls, but I know you don't care either).  

So below are two recipes I used:  One for the Dr. Pepper Cake and one for the Dr. Pepper Frosting.  To be honest, I need to stop baking altogether because I totally give in to the snacks I'm making and go off my food plan!  Oh well, that's part of life I guess.  BUT that doesn't mean that I need to keep baking/making unhealthy foods for myself/friends/family. 
This was good, and a little dense, but that was probably because I put WAY too much batter in this small pan.  Next time I make this I'm going to try a devil's food chocolate cake mix instead.  

Dr. Pepper Cake:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 10 oz. can of Dr. Pepper
3/4 cups walnuts (chopped)

Turn oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a bundt pan. Mix all ingredients together and pour into bundt pan. Bake for one hour.  Cool completely.

Dr. Pepper Frosting:

1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. Dr. Pepper
3 tbsp. cocoa
1 (16 oz.) box confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Heat butter, cocoa and Dr. Pepper and blend well. Stir in powdered sugar. Mix thoroughly and ice cake.