TheKitchenCookie

  We are enjoying the delicious Black Raspberries from the garden and the surrounding woods   ( as do the Robins and the other winged critters, grr!)   With the black raspberry and vanilla flavors often put together and with company coming for a party I thought it would be fun to make a sort of shortcake/coffeecake type of cake to eat with them. I had a couple of French Vanilla cake mixes on hand and decided to beef them up a little to improve the flavor and texture.   This got a thumbs up from everyone here and go very well with the black raspberries.   Although the boys still prefer to eat it it with strawberries. Either way it is a quick and easy route to destination delicious!!   2 French Vanilla Cake Mixes, (reserve 8 oz. dry mix) 1 stick butter, browned and cooled slightly 1½ cups buttermilk 1 vanilla bean, (contents of) 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla 4 whole eggs + 1 yolk   Crumbs: Rese...

    If you enjoy the flavors of lemon and raspberry you're in for a treat. And I promise it won't be a time consuming thing to make!   I started with a white cake mix and added whole eggs, softened butter in place of the oil and buttermilk in place of the water. Divide evenly into two 8 inch (parchment lined and non stick sprayed) cake pans. Bake as directed. Remove from the oven and run a sharp knife around the edge. Invert onto a piece of waxed paper on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.   Cut each cake in half and proceed to fill.   For the Lemon filling I used this Lemon Curd recipe with the addition of  sour cream to tame the tanginess of the lemons. The raspberry filling is Smucker's Simply Fruit (spreadable fruit).   Refrigerate until firm.   The icing is my favorite. Basic Buttercream with the addition of raspberry Smucker's Simply Fruit. I'm not sure how much I added but add enough to make it a p...

Inspired by Pinterest and  this photo from Annie's Eats I decided to try my hand at extreme cake layering. I've been wanting to make it for a looong time but knew I needed a good reason to make a big cake like this! It is really tall and serves a good many people! I took it along to a ladies Christmas supper at church and a lot of us just cut down through as many layers as we wanted and left the rest of the layers of the same piece for the next person. This works well except it cheats someone of the rich but yummy chocolate glaze. :(    The cake itself is yummy, the strawberries add pizazz, and the Ganache is fabulous!   For the cake: 5 large eggs, separated 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 2½cups all purpose flour ½ cup unsweetened cocoa 1¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 cup buttermilk *   Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form; set aside.   Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Ad...

  I was recently asked to bring 3 cakes to a meal that was being served at our church and completely forgot about it until after I was in bed the night before. After some brief panic I decided to keep it simple because it was also a school morning and the cakes all needed to be baked before I left for church at 9:30.    Thankfully I had a back up Butter Pecan cake mix in the cupboard for one of them, and a recipe to go with it from my SIL Laura that turns it into something special. The caramel topping is fabulous! Luckily I also had the Glazed Pecans in the cupboard that were perfect for a garnish. :)    I Butter Pecan Cake Mix ( substitute butter for the oil )    Otherwise mix as directed. Bake in a 10½ X 15½ bar pan for 20-25 minutes. Cool.   Middle Layer: 8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened 1 cup Milk 1 Sm. box French Vanilla Instant Pudding 8 oz. Cool Whip    Mix milk and instant pudding,...

Busy, busy... that's what we've been! Tonight I'm enjoying my quiet house after a few days of having people around. It feels good to relax and listen to myself think. The men and Serena are at a ball game, one I would have enjoyed watching, but I've been buried in strawberries the last few days so I opted to stay home and finish them in hopes that I can do something different tomorrow.  I've been experimenting with different shortcakes and everyone seems to enjoy this one the best of the ones we have sampled. It's good by itself with the streusel topping that I added but with strawberries on top it is scrumptious! And because of the sugar overload I don't usually sweeten the strawberries unless I add a very small amount of Stevia. The original recipe used plain milk but I had some buttermilk that needed to be used which only makes it more moist and irresistible. Preheat oven to 350°. 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened 2 eggs 1¾ cups sugar 2¾ cup...

Happy 9th Birthday Serena!     Yesterday was Serena's 9th birthday! Wow time sure flies!       She wanted a bunny cake and I thought "oh good that will be easy!" Several years ago I had bought a bunny cake with those plastic pieces for the head, feet, and tail so I thought for sure this will be a quickie. Not to be. I looked everywhere for those plastic pieces but they were not there. I suppose this had something to do with the fact that I couldn't be accused of being a hoarder. ha :)   I decided I can figure it out on my own because I didn't feel like heading to the store for plastic bunny pieces. Seemed kind of ridiculous. :)   I had a bigger problem. No eggs in the house that were not hard boiled. Luckily there is a simple but decent chocolate cake you can bake without eggs so that's the one I made.   Preheat oven to 350°. Place parchment or waxed paper (fitted) into the bottom of two 9 inch round pans that are no...

Two Things Delicious (if you're counting daily gifts :)   love how tall it is :)    Always having used my Mom's recipe for Angel Food Cake , which is fabulous by the way, I never really bothered looking around for any other recipes until I happened upon this one from a cookbook about old fashioned baking printed 22 years ago. I know, "old fashioned" and it's half as old as I am but we'll just let those implications go and enjoy the recipe. ha :) I liked it because the powdered sugar seemed to give it a finer texture, more stability, and it was a bit less sticky than the one from my Mom. I did reduce the amount of sugar but that was the only thing I did different from the original recipe. And seriously, you would never have noticed. No sense in piling on the sugar when it's perfectly fine without some of it. I also doubled the recipe and made a very tall angel cake and a flat rolled one. 3 cups egg whites 3 cups sifted p...

Creamy Chewy Peanut Buttery Chocolaty Goodness I asked Anthony a while ago what kind of cake he wants for his birthday. Like usual he said a round chocolate one.   Okaaayy, but that's what it was last year... and the year before that.   Sooo, I used my persuasive powers :) and when I mentioned an ice cream cake he sounded enthused about that so I decided to make this one. You know, play it safe with peanut butter and chocolate. It turned out really yummy and didn't have an over-powering peanut butter flavor, which I liked.      I usually take a birthday lunch or some kind of treat to school on the day of the children's birthdays. Anthony's class usually enjoys the pizza that I make so they usually get a Homemade Pizza party. (For a chewy delicious crust click here ) I served a tossed salad and chips and lemonade as well.   Ice cream always goes well with pizza so this cake came in handy, and the ki...

This cake always comes through in a pinch. It's quick, moist and chocolaty, and pairs perfectly with some ice cream for an easy, sweet tooth satisfying dessert. I had some leftover icings in the fridge from some other goodies I had made and this cake provided the perfect opportunity to use them up. Peanut Butter and Chocolate. Why not?   1 cup butter 1 cup water ¼ cup cocoa powder 2 cups all purpose flour 2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup sour cream   Combine the first three ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside. Combine the dry ingredients with a wire whisk. Add to the cocoa mixture and stir. Then add the sour cream and stir until smooth. Bake in a non stick sprayed 10 x 15 inch pan for 20-25 minutes or until cake is done to your preference. I iced mine with Peanut Butter Butter Cream and Chocolate Fudge Buttercream . These are not the traditional icings that go w...

  Yummy!     This is a dessert that was often served around the Holidays or at weddings when I was growing up Traditionally the cake was cut into squares and served as a trifle layered with Cool Whip, Caramel Sauce, and bananas. I always think you get more Cool Whip than anything else when it's served like that so I decided to change things up a bit and serve it like this. I think I like it better because the filling and cake and the sauce are more evenly distributed.   1 cup dates, diced fine 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup hot water 1 cup brown sugar 1 Tablespoon butter 1 cup all purpose flour 1 egg ½ cup chopped pecans, optional   In a small saucepan combine the dates, hot water, and baking soda and bring to a boil. Boil till the dates are tender. Pour into a mixer bowl and add the rest of the ingredients; mix. Pour into a 9 X 13 baking pan that is lined with parchment paper and the paper lightly g...

The flavor combination of Blackberries and Limes fascinates me for some reason. And the colors are a lovely hue. So I decided to combine them in an Angel Food Cake Roll. It was lovely but could have had a bit more of a blackberry flavor. So I think next time I would add some blackberry extract or replace some of the sugar with an equal amount of dry blackberry jello. The filling was an ever so pale green and the roll stayed moist for quite a while in the refrigerator.   Ingredients: Preheat oven to 300° 1-1/3 + 1Tablespoon cups sifted cake flour, (I use Swan's Down) 2 cups white *sugar, divided Sift the flour before measuring and then sift the sugar and flour together three times.   2 cups egg whites, beat until frothy-   then add: 2-2/3 teaspoons cream of tartar 2 teaspoons clear vanilla 1 teaspoon almond extract 1/3 cup blackberry pulp (blended blackberries pressed through a sieve) Beat until stif...

These bars have a cake-y texture and are best the day after they are made. They are simple and quick .... and delicious. With the Summer months upon us I frequently need something for Son #3 to do and he is only too happy if I ask him to bake something. He loves it in the kitchen and is getting quite good at it. He often asks to make these because of the step that calls for melting the butter and chocolate on the stove. Not sure why but that's his favorite part. ☺ He made these last week sometime and asked me if I have blogged them yet. ☺ So here they are for those of you who need that next chocolate fix. Ingredients: ¾ cup water ½ cup butter 1½ squares unsweetened chocolate 2 cups AP flour 1½ cups brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 2 eggs ½ cup sour cream 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/3 cup sugar 1 egg, beaten 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract Mini Milk Chocolate Chips In a small saucepan combine the water, but...