I am going to quickly share my meager cake contributions to my brother's wedding reception.
I made a total of six cakes (nothing compared to my mom's 27 cakes). And yes, we ended up with extra cakes after the wedding reception...so we all got to sample many of them. Poor, poor us. :)
I made a Neapolitan cake, banana cake, lemon cake, French vanilla pink swirl cake, strawberry pink swirl cake, and a chocolate chip cake.
I didn't have time to try out any new cakes, so I made some tried and true favorites (many of which I had already blogged). But for your convenience, I am posting them again here.
Also, (and as noted in each recipe) because the wedding day was so crazy, I didn't have time to make glaze for each cake from scratch. So, I bought canned frosting, microwaved it and stirred it until it was a smooth, glaze-like consistency and drizzled about 1/3 of a can on top of each of my cakes. It worked great and still tasted fantastic! And it saved me a ton of time and energy.
Neapolitan Cake
Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon almond extract, optional (vanilla may be used as a substitute)
10 drops red food color
1/4 cup chocolate-flavored syrup
1/2 cup chocolate frosting
Directions:
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour a 12-cup fluted tube cake pan, or spray with baking spray that contains flour.
In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, and egg whites with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour about 1 2/3 cups batter into pan.
Into small bowl, pour 1 1/3 cups batter; stir in almond or vanilla extract and food color. Carefully pour pink batter over white batter in pan. Stir chocolate syrup into remaining batter. Carefully pour chocolate batter over pink batter.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted 1 1/2 inches from side of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack or heatproof serving plate; remove pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
In microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High about 15 seconds or until frosting can be stirred smooth and is thin enough to drizzle. Spread over top of cake, allowing some to drizzle down side. Store loosely covered.
Source: Betty Crocker website, found here.
Notes: My only problem was that my strawberry extract bottle lid, unbeknownst to me, got damaged during our move to our new house and the rest of my strawberry extract evaporated! I, of course, didn't discover this until I was actually making this cake. So, I improvised. I had some strawberry syrup (like the kind you use to make pink milk or drizzle over ice cream). I put about 1/4 cup of that into my cake batter that was supposed to be pink. Since it turned the batter pink, I omitted the food coloring. This batter became slightly more runny than the other batter, so my swirl layers didn't turn out quite as crisp and pretty as they would have if I had followed the recipe exactly. But that was an operator error, not a recipe error. It still tasted fantastic though.
Banana Nut Bread using Yellow Cake Mix
Ingredients:
1 (18.5 oz) box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil or applesauce (your choice--it tastes great both ways)
3-5 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix mashed bananas with eggs, oil or applesauce, cake mix, and nuts. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans or a bundt pan* and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack and cool completely.
You can creat a glaze with water or milk and powdered sugar which can be poured over the cake/bread when it has cooled completely. Do not pour the glaze over a warm cake or it will soak in.
Recipe Note: For a Bundt pan, bake for approzimately 45 minutes.
Source: I had a roommate who made this all the time. I asked her for the recipe and she simply told me that she found it online. I did a Google search and found a number of recipes. Betty Crocker has one on their site. You can find it here.
Ingredients:
1 (18.5 oz) box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil or applesauce (your choice--it tastes great both ways)
3-5 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix mashed bananas with eggs, oil or applesauce, cake mix, and nuts. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans or a bundt pan* and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack and cool completely.
You can creat a glaze with water or milk and powdered sugar which can be poured over the cake/bread when it has cooled completely. Do not pour the glaze over a warm cake or it will soak in.
Recipe Note: For a Bundt pan, bake for approzimately 45 minutes.
Source: I had a roommate who made this all the time. I asked her for the recipe and she simply told me that she found it online. I did a Google search and found a number of recipes. Betty Crocker has one on their site. You can find it here.
Notes: I chose this banana bread recipe from the myriads I found online because this one was the simplest and most straight forward. It is awesome. I usually make it in a bundt pan because it looks so nice with the glaze on it. You can also get creative with the nuts. Don't feel like you can only use pecans or walnuts. This bread is awesome with sliced almonds and chopped macadamia nuts as well. And don't feel like the nuts are necessary at all. I have to skip them now because of my son's tree nut allergy and the cake/bread is still great.
Rather than making a glaze, in the interest of time, I used canned white frosting (about 1/3 of a can) and microwaved it. I stirred it and heated it until it was smooth and of a glaze consistency. Then I drizzled it on my cake.
However, if you make a glaze, start with about 2 cups of powdered sugar and about 3 tablespoons of milk. Add more milk, a tablespoon at a time, if needed. Adjust milk and powdered sugar to reach desired consistency.
However, if you make a glaze, start with about 2 cups of powdered sugar and about 3 tablespoons of milk. Add more milk, a tablespoon at a time, if needed. Adjust milk and powdered sugar to reach desired consistency.
Originally posted on our blog here.
Lemon Yogurt Cake/Bread
Ingredients:
3 c. flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
3/4 c. canola oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. lemon yogurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
Optional: 1 tbsp grated lemon peel
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Sift all dry ingredients and set aside.
Lightly beat eggs in a large bowl.
Add sugar and oil, cream well.
Mix in exact amount of yogurt.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Pour into two well-greased loaf pans (or one bundt pan).
Glaze for Lemon Bread
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice (lemon juice can also be used)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond flavoring, optional
1/2 tsp butter flavoring
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together. Pour over semi-cooled lemon bread.
Source: This recipe came from my good friend, April Farmer. It is a recipe that they use at the bed and breakfast that she works at. She shared it as part of a dinner she brought to me after I had my second son. It was so good we had to restrain ourselves from eating the whole loaf that very night!
Notes: It seems that I very rarely have orange juice on hand, so the glaze I make is a little different. I use 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and 1 tsp vanilla flavoring (since my son is allergic to tree nuts). It is a little more tart than the other glaze is, but I like tart! I think it works well. After seeing how pretty the lime zest looks on the glaze for the lime bread, I would definitely add lemon zest to this glaze as well.
Ingredients:
3 c. flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
3/4 c. canola oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. lemon yogurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
Optional: 1 tbsp grated lemon peel
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Sift all dry ingredients and set aside.
Lightly beat eggs in a large bowl.
Add sugar and oil, cream well.
Mix in exact amount of yogurt.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Pour into two well-greased loaf pans (or one bundt pan).
Glaze for Lemon Bread
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice (lemon juice can also be used)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond flavoring, optional
1/2 tsp butter flavoring
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together. Pour over semi-cooled lemon bread.
Source: This recipe came from my good friend, April Farmer. It is a recipe that they use at the bed and breakfast that she works at. She shared it as part of a dinner she brought to me after I had my second son. It was so good we had to restrain ourselves from eating the whole loaf that very night!
Notes: It seems that I very rarely have orange juice on hand, so the glaze I make is a little different. I use 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and 1 tsp vanilla flavoring (since my son is allergic to tree nuts). It is a little more tart than the other glaze is, but I like tart! I think it works well. After seeing how pretty the lime zest looks on the glaze for the lime bread, I would definitely add lemon zest to this glaze as well.
I usually make this in loaf pans, but it is such a great, dense, cake-like bread that I thought it would work perfectly cooked in a bundt pan (as the recipe states as a possibility). Rather than doing the lemon bread glaze, I used a container of white frosting (I only used about 1/3 of the container), microwaved it until it was a smooth glaze-like consistency and drizzled that over the top of the cake.
I made this a few weeks later as a lemon-lime cake for a wedding rehearsal dinner for my step-brother. I used lemon yogurt, lime juice in place of the lemon juice, and added lemon and lime zest to the batter. I also sprinkled lemon and lime zest on top of the glaze drizzled on top of the cake. It turned out great. You can even add lemon and lime juice to your glaze to add an extra lemon-lime citrus kick.
I have yet to try the following idea, but I want to experiment with other yogurt flavors as well because this recipe is so versatile. You could successfully do so many flavor combinations!
Rather than making a glaze, in the interest of time, I used canned white frosting (about 1/3 of a can) and microwaved it. I stirred it and heated it until it was smooth and of a glaze consistency. Then I drizzled it on my cake.
Originally posted on our blog here.
French Vanilla Pink Swirl Cake
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 box French Vanilla cake mix
Water, vegetable oil, and egg whites called for on cake mix box
1 teaspoon red food color, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
White Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk or water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, if desired
1 teaspoon red food color, divided
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees (325 for dark or nonstick pan). Generously grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan. Make cake batter as directed on box, adding almond extract (if desired). Divide the batter into thirds. Pour the first third of batter into pan (white batter). Pour the other two portions of batter into two small bowls. In the first small bowl, stir in enough food color to achieve your desired shade of deep pink. In the second small bowl, stir in enough food color to achieve your desired shade of light pink. Carefully pour dark pink batter over white batter in pan. Carefully pour remaining light pink batter over the dark pink batter.
Bake and cool cake as directed on box.
In small bowl, mix icing ingredients. If necessary, stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until smooth and spreadable. Divide into thirds. Using food color, dye icing to desired shades so that you have one third white icing, one third dark pink icing, and one third light pink icing. Spread over cake (starting with dark pink layer first, followed by the light pink layer, and finally, the white layer). Sprinkle crushed or whole candy on top, if desired. Store loosely covered.
Makes 12 servingsNutrition information: 240 calories, 8 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, 41 g carbohydrate, 0 g fiber, 2 g protein.
Notes: As mentioned above, this recipe is so versatile, you could make it to suit any holiday. Shades of green (or just green and white) for St. Patrick's Day. Pastels for Easter. You name it! Adapt it to suit your needs, whims, or desires!
Rather than making a glaze, in the interest of time, I used canned white frosting (about 1/3 of a can) and microwaved it. I stirred it and heated it until it was smooth and of a glaze consistency. Then I drizzled it on my cake.
The Strawberry Pink Swirl Cake that I made is exactly the same as the one above. Except that I didn't have a white layer of cake at all. I did light pink, medium pink, and dark pink. And since I made this the same day as the Neapolitan cake and discovered that I was out of strawberry extract, I used my strawberry syrup for this cake as well. In this case, it worked better than the Neapolitan cake and the layers turned out quite pretty.
The Strawberry Pink Swirl Cake that I made is exactly the same as the one above. Except that I didn't have a white layer of cake at all. I did light pink, medium pink, and dark pink. And since I made this the same day as the Neapolitan cake and discovered that I was out of strawberry extract, I used my strawberry syrup for this cake as well. In this case, it worked better than the Neapolitan cake and the layers turned out quite pretty.
Stacy's Chocolate Chip Cake
Ingredients:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
Flour for dusting the pan
1 bar (4 ounces) German chocolate
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil, such as canola, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower
4 large eggs
1 package (6 ounces; 1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly mist a 10-inch tube pan (or three 8-inch loaf pans) with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.
Break the German chocolate bar into four pieces. Grate the bar using a food processor or a hand grater until the bar is finely grated. (If you are using a food processor, insert the steel blade and drop the chocolate pieces into the processor one at a time.) Set the grated chocolate aside.
Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine, fold in the grated chocolate, and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter should look well blended, and the chocolate chips should be evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan (or divide it equally among the loaf pans), smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.
Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 58-60 minutes for a tube pan (50-52 minutes for loaf pans). Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes for a tube pan (5 minutes for loaf pans). Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack, then invert it again onto another rack so that it is right side up. Allow the cake to cool completely, 30 minutes more, then serve. (Cool loaves out of the pans, on their sides.)
Source: The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook, ISBN: 0-7611-1790-3.
Notes: This is one of my old favorites. When I went grocery shopping for the ingredients, I did it from memory and apparently my memory wasn't so good (how good is your memory when you are shopping with two toddler boys?). I forgot to get the German chocolate bar. So, I just skipped that ingredient. The cake still tasted delicious and looked beautiful.
Your cakes are always showpieces! And you're a machine to get all of these recipes in here. We will be glad if we ever have to do another wedding because I would so do Bundt cakes again!
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