Basic Buttercream Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tablespoons whipping cream

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, with a hand or stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter on low speed. Mix until well blended. Increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

2. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for desired spreading/piping consistency.

3. Decorate cupcakes as desired.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-ish box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter, melted
Instructions

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat together the pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, and spices until well combined.
Pour into the prepared baking dish.
Sprinkle the top with yellow cake mix. I prefer a half of a box, but use more if you want it to be very cakey.
Sprinkle with the chopped pecans.
Pour the melted butter evenly over the top of the cake.
Bake for 60-70 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the custard is set.
Serve warm or cold. Store in the refrigerator.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
¾ cup cake flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. milk, at room temperature
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 1 large lemon

Additional fresh blueberries, for garnish

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the ¾ cup all-purpose flour, the cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the milk. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.

In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Using a spatula gently fold the berries into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. (I used a large, unlabeled star tip to frost these cupcakes.) Garnish with fresh blueberries.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

Fall is around the corner. These look and sound so delicious! I think I will be making some for the family this weekend :)

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Home Beautiful

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 extra large eggs, at room temperature)
2 cups canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1/2 cup light agave nectar
1 cup brown sugar, not packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup natural applesauce

Optional chopped Heath bars to top frosting 2 1.4 ounce bars

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, agave nectar, brown sugar, applesauce and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.

3. Divide the batter among the prepared tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

4. Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and sprinkle with the chopped toffee bits (Or wouldn't toasted pecans be good!)



Maple Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon  Maple Flavoring
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Maple Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Maple Flavoring
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar


In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

M's 4th Birthday Cake

M wanted an Alabama Cake for her birthday. She asked her daddy to help make one for her.

This is a big deal since he is an Ohio State fan. BUT how could he say no? She has him wrapped around his finger, trust me! He would do anything for his girl!

Scot did the Alabama "A" freehand. Pretty good huh!?

Turtle Chewy

My friend Deana made this yummy dessert for lunch one Sunday. It was to die for! As soon as E tasted it, she knew this was what she wanted for her birthday. (She doesn't like to have traditional birthday cakes!) So this is what we made for her 11th birthday this year!

1 pkg. German Chocolate cake mix

1 -1/2 c. chocolate chips (1 bag)

1 bag caramels (melt in top of double boiler)

1 c. chopped nuts (choose either pecans, peanuts or walnuts)

1/3 c. evaporated milk

3/4 c. melted butter

1/3 c. evaporated milk

Combine caramels and 1/3 c. evaporated milk in saucepan and melt. Set aside.

Mix by hand:

Cake mix, butter, 1/3 c. evaporated mil, and walnuts. Batter will be very thick.

Bake 350 for 6 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over crust, drizzle caramel over mixture. Spread remaining batter over it (use hands if necessary).

Return to oven for 18-20 min. Cool and refrigerate 30 min. to set caramel then cut.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Tunnel Cake

For Father's Day, I made this "death by chocolate" dessert.  Everyone LOVED it!

1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tb milk
1 (18.25-ounce) pkg chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup cold coffee
1/4 cup oil
3 large eggs
2/3 cup nuts (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350°, grease and flour pan.

Melt 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips in double boiler over simmering water.

With electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, milk, and melted chocolate. Beat until smooth. Set aside.

Combine cake mix, coffee, oil, and eggs, and beat with electric mixer for 4 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts (optional)

Mound cream cheese mixture onto of cake mixture around tube, but do not spread to touch sides of pan.

Bake until top springs back when pressed lightly in center.  Cool upright in pan one hour before inverting.

Baking Time ~ 55 to 65 Min.


To make glaze:

Heat 1/2 cup cream in small saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips until melted and smooth.

Drizzle warm glaze over cooled cake.

Store, covered, in refrigerator.

Makes 12 servings.


Recipe Courtesy of Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Horse Cake

S wanted a horse cake for her 8th birthday! It turned out pretty cool huh!

Can you believe that Scot decorated it all by himself? He is getting pretty good :)

Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
8 oz Cool Whip
1 cup peanut butter
1 box confectioners' sugar

Mix all ingredients together and spread on cake.

Carmel Cheesecake

2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 cup Peanuts, chopped, divided
1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup Sour Cream
4 eggs
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping


HEAT oven to 350ºF.
LINE 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides.

Mix crumbs, 1/2 cup nuts, 1/4 cup sugar and butter; press onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 min.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese, remaining sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended.

Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each just until blended.

Pour over crust.

BAKE 35 min. or until center is almost set; cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Top with remaining nuts and caramel topping.

Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before cutting to serve.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

This is one of the yummy dishes I will bringing to Thanksgiving this year!


2 (15 oz) cans of pumpkin
2 cans evaporated milk
4 eggs
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar

1 yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix together pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, and spices. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan.
Sprinkle with cake mix. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top.

Bake 350 for 1 hour and 20 minutes

4 layer Pumpkin Cake

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F.

BEAT cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp. spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.

Cool in pans 10 min.

Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.

BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spice; mix well. Gently stir in COOL WHIP.

Cut each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife; stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers. (Do not frost top layer.)

Drizzle with caramel topping just before serving; top with nuts.

Refrigerate leftovers.

Pumpkin Pound Cake

I received this recipe in my inbox today from myrecipes. We love pumpkin recipes in the fall (muffins, cakes, bread, etc), but I have never tried pumpkin pound cake.

I have not tried it yet, but it looks so good! I will make it soon and let you know if it taste as good as it looks!

Cake:

Cooking spray
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour (about 13 1/2 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk

Glaze:

1/3 cup fat-free buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare the cake, lightly coat a 10-inch tube pan with cooking spray; dust with 1 tablespoon flour. Spread pumpkin over 2 layers of paper towels; cover with 2 additional layers of paper towels. Let stand about 10 minutes. Scrape drained pumpkin into a bowl.

Place 3/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Lightly spoon 3 cups flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and 3/4 cup buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare glaze, combine 1/3 cup buttermilk and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Drizzle cake with glaze.

Moon Pie Cake

This year, S wanted a tiered birthday cake..."just like a wedding cake" she said.

She wanted it to be a chocolate cake with brown and pink frosting. So I decided to do a cake called Moonpie Cake. It is incredibly rich and so good!



Moonpie Cake

1 Devil's Food or any other Chocolate Cake Mix

Bake cake according to directions on the box. Cool completely.


In bowl mix together:

1 (8oz) box of cream cheese
1 cup powder sugar
1 small (8oz) tub cool whip

Put thick layer of filling between your cake layers.

For the icing, pour 1 (12 oz.) bag milk chocolate chips and 2 TBS of water in bowl. Melt in microwave.

Pour over cake while chocolate is hot.

Cinnamon Bun Coffee Cake

I found this recipe on Your Homebased Mom. She said she got it from another blog. Isn't that the great thing about blogs?

Cinnamon Bun Coffee Cake

1 yellow cake mix
3/4 cup Crisco oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 (8 oz) sour cream.

Cinnamon Swirl: 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 cup chopped pecans.

To make the batter blend the cake mix, oil, brown sugar, eggs, and sour cream together with an electric mixer. In a separate bowl make the cinnamon swirl by mixing the brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped pecans. Divide cinnamon swirl. Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 cake pan. Pour half of the cake mix into the baking pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon and nut mixture over the batter. Pour the rest of the cake batter into the pan. Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon nut mixture over the batter. Run a knife through the cake mix to swirl the cinnamon--be careful not to touch the bottom of the pan with the knife. Bake for 45 minutes.

Icing: 1 cup powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon softened butter. Blend well and drizzle over the cake while still warm.

Michelle's Pound Cake

My cousin, Michelle, always brings such yummy desserts to our family functions. On Easter, she brought a fantastic pound cake. She graciously shared her recipe with me.

8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 sticks butter, softened
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Blend together the butter and cream cheese. Add sugar; mix well. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each.

Add flour slowly; mixing well. Add vanilla and salt; mix until well blended. Pour into desired pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until knife comes out clean.

Joe's Pound Cake

A man in our church makes this delicious pound cake. Often times, he brings it still warm from the oven...mmmm. Oh so good!

3 sticks butter
1 (8 oz) cream cheese
3 c sugar
3 c sifted plain flour
6 eggs

Cream butter. Add cream cheese. Slowly add sugar and beat until light.

Add eggs one at a time; beating each one well.

Stir in flour.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Baseball Cake

This was B's 3rd Birthday cake.

I used a regular round cake pan filled more than normal so it would create a dome effect. For the stitching, I just snipped pieces of the red pull apart licorice. I colored shredded coconut green for the grass.

If you want to do cupcakes instead, just frost them white and add smaller pieces of licorice for the stitching on each cupcake.

Football Cake

My son is a BIG Ohio State fan just like his daddy. So for B's 5 year old birthday, it was only fitting that he would have a football party complete with an Ohio State football field cake.

Scot decorated the field - I think he did a pretty awesome job!