Blueberry Yogurt Cake

I made this cake for my hubby for his birthday this year and realized after I had scanned through some photos that I had not bothered to post the recipe here on my blog. It was so versatile and so yummy that I needed to make sure that other people knew of this fabulous dessert. I found the recipe online and after looking over the recipe I also realized that it can be changed up to whatever flavor of yogurt fits your taste.
Blueberry Yogurt Cake

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
1 container (6 oz) blueberry yogurt (with fruit)
1 container Betty Crocker® Whipped vanilla frosting
1 pint of fresh blueberries
1 jar of all-fruit blueberry jam

Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Generously grease and lightly flour bottoms and sides of two 8-inch or 9-inch round pans, or spray with baking spray with flour.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, egg whites and yogurt with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds; beat on medium speed 2 minutes (batter will be lumpy). Pour into pans.

Bake 8-inch rounds 27 to 32 minutes, 9-inch rounds 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pans to loosen cakes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Stir jam to loosen and spread 1/2 cup jam over 1 cake layer to within 1/4 inch of edge. Layer some blueberries over jam. Top with second layer. Frost side and top of cake with frosting. Make frosting dollops in a circle in center of cake. Arrange more blueberries on top and place some around the perimeter of the cake. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

My favorite Frosting:
1 large tub of Cool Whip
1 small pkg. of White Chocolate instant-pudding mix

Pour pudding mix into Cool Whip and fold until thoroughly combined. Let the frosting sit for about 20 minutes to thicken. Spread on cake.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Since it's zucchini season, I decided that this would be the perfect time to pull out our favorite chocolate recipe that hides this yummy veggie and makes this cake very moist. My friend Rick loves this recipe and couldn't seem to quit with just one piece when I recently brought it to a potluck. He has no problems with veggies being mixed into his favorite desserts. He only wished he had a glass of milk to go with it. LOL! So for those of you who might have an abundance of zucchini in your gardens this season, this would be the perfect recipe to help use some of them up. Go ahead...give it a try...you won't regret it!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teas. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teas. baking soda
1 teas. salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 egg
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13" baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and vanilla until well blended. Add the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Fold in zucchini, egg and water. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before adding frosting. Slice and serve.

Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake

I discovered this recipe just recently on one of my favorite websites ever. It's a homemade from scratch chocolate sheet cake that is too die for. The recipe does call for almost a full pound of butter (no subs) so if you can get over that, you'll enjoy every bite of the cake. I brought this cake to a potluck picnic we attended this past weekend and let's just say there was very little of it leftover. If mine had been the only dessert, I'm sure there would have only been crumbs left behind. The recipe was pretty easy, but done in steps...so hang in there! It's worth it in the end.

Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake

Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
(set aside)

In a saucepan, melt:
2 sticks butter and add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat.

Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a glass measuring cup:
1/2 cup buttermilk.
Add: 2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:
Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely.
Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan.
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.

Add 6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar, stir together. Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you just made the best chocolate sheet cake. EVER.

Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a friend last month for her birthday. The cupcake recipe itself was too die for! I love making cake batters from scratch now. It's really hard to go back to a box mix once you find some really yummy recipes that turn out really good from home. If you have some good recipes on hand, then you can always make a cake batter whenever you need one. Lemon just happens to be one of my most favorite cake flavors and when I came across this recipe, I had to try it. Especially when I saw that it had buttermilk as one of its ingredients.

The flowers on top of these cupcakes are made from melting candy chocolates. The were so easy and of course, my mind flooded with tons more ideas for future chocolate creations. I saw the idea online on one of favorite baking blogs. Here's the link for the instructions: http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/05/wow-your-mom-on-mothers-day.html You should scroll through her blog and see all the cute stuff she creates. Clicking on the blog title will bring you back to the most current post and scroll from there.

Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teas. salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk (Note: Buttermilk is better with the lemon extract or use whole milk with 1 teas. vanilla extract for a plain white cake.)
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teas. lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners or grease two 9" cake pans.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl with a whisk attachment at medium speed, cream butter and sugar together until soft and creamy. Add in 1/2 of milk and egg mixture. Mix until combined. Slowly add in 1/3 of flour mixture and alternate with milk mixture and flour mixture until the batter is thoroughly combined and homongenous. Finally, give the batter another 2 minutes of mixing to make sure all lumps have been removed. Divide the batter into the cupcake liners or cake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes for cupcakes and 30-35 minutes for 9" cake pans. Bake until a light golden color and test with a toothpick to make sure the insides are completely baked. Transfer to a cooling rack. Make sure that cakes are cooled before frosting.

Lemon Buttercream frosting

3/4 cup softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl until smooth.

Banana Cake

Monkeys will be jealous when they see you eating this cake (if you happen to be eating it in front of monkeys that is). I found this recipe through another site and after seeing it's reviews, I decided to try it. I was surprised by the recipe at first. For two reasons, one because the amounts were a little off to me. I noticed there was no egg and that the amount of flour would not be enough to keep the cake from being runny. I also notice that lemon juice was in the recipe and after seeing how the cake came out, I believe it was to help the bananas from turning brown when baked. I've never had a light colored banana bread before. And I believe that helped with it's color. Also, when making this, I wondered how the cake's density would turn out. If it would be more of a light cake or more of a dense banana bread. Let's just say it's BOTH! A pleasant perfect medium. So with my additions and adjustments, I came up with this recipe.

Banana Cake
1/2 cup shortening, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teas. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teas. baking soda
1/2 teas. baking powder
1/2 teas. salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teas. lemon juice
1 container of vanilla flavored frosting
Optional: 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F) and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Add egg. Stir in milk and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in mashed banana, lemon juice and walnuts (if desired). Spread evenly into prepared baking pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before frosting and cutting. Enjoy!