I was sitting here Thursday night thinking about making a coffee cake for Hubby's office.  I always make the same ol' coffee cake. Don't get me wrong, it is good and all, but just a standard coffee cake.  I wanted something with a swirl, so I started searching the internet when I ran across this one.  Now, I have been a fan of the Smitten Kitchen for a while now, so when I saw this recipe on her website, I knew it would be good.  I've adapted it just a bit, as I did not have rhubarb in the house. I couldn't decide on which fruit to put in this cake, blueberry or raspberry, so I just made one of each.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8x8 pan.

For the filling:
12 ounces frozen blueberries, or raspberries, or any type of fruit you would like.  Fresh fruit would most likely taste better, but I only had banana’s on hand, and that did not sound very good to me.
1/8 cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
½ tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients and set aside.

For the crumbs:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp salt
1 ¾ cup flour
10 TBL melted butter

Combine all ingredients and set aside.

For the cake:
1/3 cup + 2 TBL  sour cream
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
6 TBL softened butter cut into small pieces

In small bowl combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla.

Using your mixer, combine flour sugar, baking soda, baking powder & salt.  Add butter, and about 1/4th of the sour cream mixture, mix on medium speed until flour is moistened.  Add remaining sour cream, increase mixer speed a little, mix until well combined. 

Pour ½ the batter into your prepared pan.  Add fruit mixture, dollop remaining batter over fruit mixture, it does not have to be even.  Top evenly with crumb topping.  (You may need to break apart crumb topping with your fingers)

Bake for 50-55 minutes.

This cake brings back very fond memories for me.  I always think of my friend Tricia N. & our dinner club in Kansas each time I make it.   Several years ago when we lived at Ft. Leavenworth, 5 of my friends got together and created a dinner club.  Each person had a night, mine was Monday.  Every Monday I would cook dinner for my family plus 4 other families, I would deliver dinner to the other 4 families each Monday night, then I was done cooking for the week.  Every other night, Tuesday - Friday, dinner was delivered to my door by 5:30PM.  This lasted for a year & boy was it fantastic...the only problem is our little group started trying to out do each other, our meals were DELICIOUS, but our bellies started growing.  Finally we had to set another rule....no more desserts!!!

1 ¼ cup sugar, divided ¾ & ½ cups
1 cup flour
7 TBL cocoa, divided 4 TBL & 3 TBL
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 ¼ cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Combine ¾ cup sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and 3 TBL cocoa.  Mix well.  Blend in milk, melted butter, & vanilla until smooth.

Pour into 8x8 (9x9 will work too, just reduce cooking time by 5 minutes) pan.

In a small bowl combine ½ cup sugar, brown sugar & 4 TBL cocoa, sprinkle evenly on top of batter.  Pour hot water on top of sugar mixture, (DO NOT COMBINE) bake for 40 minutes or until almost set.

To serve, scoop out & turn upside down on plate.  The bottom of the dessert will be think and gooey, like hot fudge.

Serve with vanilla ice cream!  I make my own, but Kathie, feel free to buy Bluebell's homemade vanilla.  ;)  I'll make some for you when you visit in July!

I got this recipe from my friend Teri many moons ago.  I am almost ashamed to put this on here as it is not *homemade*.  However the taste makes up for what this cake lacks in being homemade, plus it is so easy even my sister Kathie could make it.

1 box devils food cake mix, with pudding in the mix
1 small box instant fudge chocolate pudding
2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup kahlua
1 package milk chocolate chips
4 eggs
¾ cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat  a bundt cake pan with cooking spray.
Mix all ingredients together.
Bake for 45-50 minutes.

The second cake was MUCH better as you can see from the picture above.  Check out the inside, super moist and scrumdibleeumpsious!!.  If you love, or even just like carrot cake...try this one, you will not be disappointed!! 

If you have a food processor, pull it out now so you can use it to grate your carrots and apple.  OK, let's go!

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon 

Combine and set aside.

1 ½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 ¾ cups grated carrot
½ cup peeled and grated apple
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix last 7 ingredients together, add dry ingredients until well combined.

Most of the time I use 3 round (8 inch) cake pans, greased with flour dusting.  Bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.

Let cake cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick butter (I used salted) – room temperature
8 oz cream cheese – room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

Mix together until smooth and creamy.

Or maybe I should have called this blog "over confident".  I tend to think I am a pretty good cook.  I think anyone can be a good cook.  I mean all you have to do is read a recipe, follow the directions and "bam" there is your food. For me anytime I do this, things come out just as the recipe described them. 

I have been making this carrot cake for years.  I acquired the recipe from a friend at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, Celia Baxter - I have no idea what ever happened to this sweet woman.  Anyway, I had been looking and looking, and I mean years of looking for that 'perfect' carrot cake recipe.  I went to Celia's house one night for BUNCO, and carrot cake was on the menu for dessert.  My hopes were not high, as most carrot cakes were dry, and not at all what I was looking for.  To my surprise, this carrot cake was PERFECT!  It was like a little dance going on in my mouth, creamy meet moist, and sweet, with a little crunch.  WOO-HOO!! I was hooked. Celia was kind enough to give the recipe to me (after I threatened her dog…  JK!) From that day on every time I make this cake it gets RAVE reviews and almost everyone always asks for the recipe.    Well, today is Hubby's promotion party at our house, so I thought I would make this cake again, take a picture before I put our name on it, so I could share it with you here.   I waited until this morning to make the cake....I guess because I am so (over) confident in my cooking abilities....  For the first time in the history of making this cake, something bad happened, something very bad......

Never fear, I already have another one in the oven, and I still have 7 hours until the party!

A couple of weeks ago I was making cookies, not an unusual thing around here.  It happened to be a Monday, and our piano teacher was here, as she is every Monday.  You must understand something; when I make cookies, which is often as you guys know, I like to give some of them away, especially to someone worthy; someone that teach my children something, someone that has had a hard day or week, someone that just had a baby, or surgery, or to someone that is just kind.  The kids piano teacher, Mrs. F, was here, so on her way out the door I handed her a plate of cookies.  She was so appreciative and thanked me several times. 

Something else you must understand; when you give a Korean something, you should always expect something in return.  I forgot about this "Korean rule" while handing the Mrs. F the cookies.  Well, the following Monday when Mrs. F returned to our home to give the kids their piano lessons, she came with gift in hand.  Three beautiful Korean pears.

Now, I wish I had put something beside these pears before I took this picture so you could see just how big they are.  The Korean pear is HUGE in comparison to the pears we eat at home.  At least 2x's the size. The texture and taste is very different as well.  I would compare the Korean Pear with an apple with a few differences.  The Korean pear is not quite as hard as the apple, a little softer, a little juicer and a little less sweet.   I'm not good at describing the taste of food - sorry.  Just know, the Korean pear is very good, but don't bite into it expecting that "pear" taste you know so well.  I wouldn't even call it a pear if that were not its name - well, maybe a little.

So, we ate one, I sent one to Hubby's office and the third I thought I would try to bake with. 

As it turns out this cake was DELICIOUS!!!  It was so nice and moist, you could eat it without the frosting, it is that good!  Next time I think I am going to make it without the frosting.  Don't get me wrong, the frosting is good, but it is also nice to save a few calories when you can.  I got the recipe from here, a website I have been reading for a while.  I have no connection to this person, other than she loves to cook and she appears to do it much better than I do.  The original recipe is here, it is an Apple Spice Cake, so if you can't find a Korean Pear, I would make it with the apples, it will be worth your time.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat  flour  (see, it is already off to a good start)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk (I didn’t have butter milk on hand, so I made my own with 1 ½  TBL vinegar  & filled the rest of the 2/3 cup up with milk)
I large Korean pear, pealed, and diced (very fine)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray an 8 inch square baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt.) Set aside.

Beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute, then gradually add the brown sugar and continue beating on medium-high speed until well blended and light, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time. Beat well after adding each egg, and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions. Mix just until blended. By hand, add the diced apple and chopped walnut just until incorporated.  

Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 30 minutes (it took my cake about 40 minutes), until the top is light golden brown and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack, then turn out onto a serving platter before you frost it.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting


6 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 TBL butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 TBL pure maple syrup
1 cup powdered sugar


In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the vanilla, maple syrup, spices and salt. Reduce the speed to low and add the confectioner’s sugar. Beat until well blended. Increase the speed to high, and beat until light and creamy, about 2 minutes

I have been having all sorts of internet problems prohibiting me from making post.  Hubby thinks they are all cleared up now, so you should be hearing from me more often.

I made this cake for Hubby’s birthday.  He LOVES Peach Pie and German Chocolate Cake, I couldn’t find good peaches, so I opted to make the GCC for him.  I am not a huge fan of the GCC, so I ask him what he thought of this cake; he said it was “OK”.  Da@$ it, what?, JUST OK AUGHHH!!!  He said the frosting was great, but the cake part was just “OK”.  I don’t like making thing that are just “OK”, so if you have a great GCC recipe out there, please pass it on to me.  Personally, I thought this cake was pretty good,  you know, for being German Chocolate.

Just “OK” German Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup water
4 oz German Chocolate, cut up
1 TBL cocoa powder
2 ½ cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk, room temp
4 large egg whites, stiffly beaten

 Preheat oven to 350.  Spray three 9 inch round cake pans.  

Bring water to a boil, add chocolate to water and stir till melts.  Stir in cocoa powder. Set aside and let cool.

Sift together flour baking soda and salt, set aside.

Mix butter and sugar till light and fluffy.  Beat in yolks, vanilla and chocolate mixture.  When mixed VERY well, using the lowest speed of the mixer, add flower mixture alternately with buttermilk.  When flour is completely absorbed, fold in the beaten egg whites.

Divide batter among the 3 pans and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until you can put a wooden toothpick in the center of the cake and it comes out clean.  (It took right at 30 minutes in my oven).  Cool on rack for 10 minutes, and then carefully flip from pans.  These cakes are VERY DELICATE, and fall apart easily, so take extra caution.

 

Good Coconut Pecan Frosting

 1 ½ sticks melted butter
12 oz can evaporated milk
1 ½ cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 ½ tsp vanilla
2 cups coconut
1 ½ cup chopped pecans

 Whisk butter, evaporated milk, sugar and egg yolks together in a large saucepan.  Turn heat to medium and cook mixture, whisking often, until it thickens.  This should take about 10 minutes.  When thickened and bubbly, remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.  It should look thick, but still be a little runny, it will thicken more as it cools, and it will thicken even more as it chills.   Let it cool at room temperature, then stir in vanilla, pecans and coconut.  Put in fridge and cool for about 30 more minutes.  Frost cake.


And there you have it, and OK German Chocolate Cake with good frosting.