Strawberry Shortcake

This recipe has been in my cards-to-do list for a long time.  It is a Martha Stewart recipe and so scrumptious.  I made shortcake last weekend (in a fit of defying the two feet of snow in my yard) and remembered why I love it so much--the cake is crumbly and biscuit-like, and complemented perfectly by the sweet strawberries and soft cream.

It takes a more time to make individual shortcakes, but I think it's a little more special.

  This photo above I made one big shortcake in my deep-dish pizza stone, which is 10" in diameter.  I baked it for about 30 minutes and it turned out perfectly.

You might also like my heritage shortcake recipe from my husband's maternal grandmother.

Rhubarb Cake

Every single person I have served this to has begged for the recipe.  I had to try it after my friend Marilyn told me that the friends of her kids asked their moms, "I want you to make that rhubarb cake that Tommy's mom makes . . . for my birthday."  This cake is birthday-request-level.  

You probably already have everything you need to make this cake, except maybe RHUBARB . . . but did you know you can buy a rhubarb crown on amazon?  It's pretty cheap, for something that comes back a little bigger and better every year.

Did you know rhubarb is sometimes called "pie plant"?

Toss two cups chopped rhubarb with just enough flour
to coat each piece before you mix it into the batter

The cake is made with shortening, and with the crumble/streusel on top, it's similar to a coffee cake.  But it doesn't dry out like a coffee cake--the bits of rhubarb in the batter ensure a moist crumb.  And, of course, the sweet-tart rhubarb sauce and whipped cream take it over the top.

*One note: I add 3-4 drops of red food coloring to the sauce right before serving.

You're welcome, world.

Best Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting

It's an Easter tradition!  Except this year, I made it the week after Easter, because hashtag-life-happens!  I wouldn't have even made it, but Mollie and Calvin were disappointed aaaaaaaaaaand Allen's parents came to stay for the weekend . . . so a special dessert was just the ticket.

This is a NO FAIL recipe--it's always moist and delicious.  I keep it fully frosted in the fridge (or, let's be honest, in my cake carrier in the garage, because who has room for a cake in their fridge?) and serve it cold--it's just the best spring time dessert.

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

If the number of bowls you dirty is an indication of how yummy a recipe is, then this one takes the (pun intended) cake!  THREE bowls, all your measuring cups and spoons, rubber spatulas, classic Bundt pan, and beaters will fill your sink . . . but the most moist and delectable chocolate cake you've ever had will fill your mouth.

Worth it, people.

For this chocolate cake (which recipe originally comes from America's Test Kitchen, but was introduced to me by my dear friend, mellifluous Melanie) you don't want to use Dutch-processed cocoa.  Natural cocoa is gonna give the cake a fuller chocolate flavor, and won't compromise the cake rise like Dutch-processed cocoa will.   You can dust it with powdered sugar when it's done, but I think it's perfect as is.

The recipe also came with the best Bundt cake advice ever: instead of greasing your Bundt pan with shortening and then dusting with flour (which doesn't really work and makes your cake look ugly and floury), make a cake release cocoa paste and brush it on the inside of your Bundt pan--it's just equal parts cocoa and melted butter.  I have NEVER had a Bundt cake slide out of the pan so perfectly!

This is the classic and original Bundt Pan design--I think it's perfect
for any cake.  You can get them for a great price on Amazon.

I am proud of myself for getting a photo of the cake before we started devouring it.  It is rich and moist and turns out perfectly every time, as most America's Test Kitchen recipes do.  I think these pictures speak for themselves.

Vanilla Bean Cake with Pecan Praline Glaze

I've been baking this amazing and delicious Bundt cake since 2017, when I tore it out of the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens, one of my favorite sources for new recipes.

Buuuuuuut, people.  You can't put "1 3/4 cups butter" on the ingredients list, only to have the instructions tell you to use 1 cup of that butter in the cake and 3/4 cup of that butter in the glaze.  I'm going to mistakenly use ALL one-and-three-fourths cups of butter in the cake, every time.  

So, you're welcome, the Internet, I made this recipe easier to read.

It's delicious and moist, and if you mix up some cake release paint (equal parts melted butter and powdered sugar) and generously brush the inside of your Bundt pan, it comes out like a dream, every time.

One Bowl Apple Cake

This recipe is from one of my all-time favorite women, Kathy H. (via my sister, Bonnie, who raved about this apple cake and then hounded Kath for the recipe).  She was the young women president at some point when I was a teenage girl (the Young Women organization is an awesome auxiliary for girls age 12-18 in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and has always been a friend to me.  We have stayed in touch over the years, and I love to drop in on her when I am visiting family in my home town.  She can make me laugh like no other!  

As of this blog post, she happens to be serving a mission in South Africa with her husband, where she is no doubt spreading her signature brand of humor . . . and we can still keep in touch over the splendors of the world wide web!

A mother of six who lives on a hobby farm? A lover of young adult fiction who loves to bake delicious things?  We are kindred spirits!  You'll be wishing you knew Kathy when you take a bite of this sweet, moist, delectable (and easy) cake!

My wonderful neighbor, Gloria, called me up
yesterday and asked if we would like all of
her apples.  YES, WE WOULD!  When the kids
got home from school, we pulled the wagon to
her house and picked every last one!

Brig was more excited about using the stepladder than picking

Gloria said that she's never seen this tree bear more than six apples,
and they never turned red before!  I think it's because this is the longest
we've gone between frost dates since I've lived here.  We picked up
all the windfalls for our chickens and rabbits, and then plucked all
the tree apples for apple cake and to press into APPLE CIDER!
I love harvest time!  Apples really are the food of the gods.

So yummy and moist--the top and bottom get slightly crusty
and taste kind of like a Nilla Wafer cookie.  Ummmmm . . .
I think I'll go make another one right now . . .

Sour Cream Doughnuts

***This recipe is for use in a doughnut maker (the kind that works like a waffle-iron).  They are not deep fried and cannot be cooked successfully that way.***

I got my husband, Allen, a Babycakes mini-doughnut maker for Father's Day in 2011.  It's the gift that keeps on giving!  My kids love these doughnuts because I always let them decorate their own, and I love them because they're not nearly as unhealthy as real doughnuts, and about ten times easier to make (they're basically cupcakes in the shape of douhgnuts).

The doughnut-maker came with a recipe book and the little fork-gadget that helps you remove them neatly from the pan.  I love getting it out especially when my kids have friends over, or when nephews and nieces come to visit.  It's party food, but not the kind that keeps you on your feet in the kitchen all day.

Slide the fork in to lift the doughnut out

You can barely see the little holes
after you remove the fork

You can buy doughnut mixes for this kind of appliance, but I have found some great recipes that work well and are even tastier.  My first recipe is my favorite: Sour Cream Doughnuts.  The thing I like about them the most is that you can easily add fruit (or mini chocolate chips) to the batter.  I added huckleberries for my daughter's fourth birthday party--it was the grown-up dessert and we all ate them without any frosting.  Delicious.

It's easy to get the batter in if you pipe it with a plastic bag . . . 

 . . . or you can just use your smallest measuring cup
and pour it into each hole

I usually give each kid their own plate and knife, then let them go to town with frosting and sprinkles.  My favorite combo is a sour cream doughnut with chocolate frosting and peppermint sprinkles.

This was our first time using the Babycakes
with cousins in 2011!

My son Brig, sprinkle-shaking

Just think of how much was on the doughnuts . . .

Baby Cal loves plain sour cream baby doughnuts!

You can always dust with powdered sugar
if you don't feel like making frosting

Best Yellow Butter Cake & Fancy Chocolate Frosting

This is my very favorite cake.  Though I love chocolate cake a great deal, I think that baking a beautiful, moist butter cake with rich chocolate frosting is prettier, tastier, and just maybe a little more sophisticated.  It's what I want every year on my birthday.

I originally got both the cake and frosting recipes from Martha Stewart, but have adapted the directions (Read: most Americans do not have such frivolous things on hand as parchment paper), and cut the frosting recipe by a third.  Since there is still plenty of frosting for FOUR layers, I shudder to think of the frosting-to-cake ratio before this reduction.

But Martha gave me a great formula for frosting four layers.  Maybe it was obvious to everyone else how to cut each cake in half and then stack and frost them in the most aesthetic way, without your frosting getting gummed up with crumbs and one side of the cake being much higher than the other (I speak from experience).  You layer the cake in this order: one of the cake tops on the bottom (top up), frosting, then a cake bottom, (bottom side up), frosting, the other cake bottom (bottom side up again), frosting, and finally the second top (top side up) goes on top before you frost the whole thing.  It turned out beautifully.

Cake for breakfast the next day?  Maybe I did.  So?

Other cake tips:
1- Take the time to bring your butter and eggs to room temperature, which will allow you to get more air into your batter and frosting.  Set both out on the counter the night before.
2- The cake flour really does make a difference (it's more finely milled and can hold larger amounts of fat and starch without collapsing).  You can make a cake flour substitute with 3/4 cup flour plus two tablespoons of cornstarch.  That said, the cake you see in these photos was made with only all-purpose flour.  It was still delicious.
3- Always let the cake cool in the pans on a rack!  It will release so much easier if you don't try to rush it while it's still warm.
4- Try not to eat all of it yourself.  But if you do, don't be ashamed.  Sometimes you just need cake.

My daughter Mollie loves anything that involves using the pastry
brush.  She did a very thorough job, and I love it that she wants
to wear her Lowe's "Build and Grow" apron when she cooks.

Just before entering the oven . . .

Parchment paper? No thanks.

The finished product on my favorite tablecloth

It's hard to make this only on special occasions.
I want it every week.

Satisfied customers!