Watergate Cake with Cover Up Frosting

I had no idea while eating this cake as a child of the '70s, that it was popular because of the Watergate scandal was taking
place. I just thought it was good:)

1 (18 1/4 ounce) box plain white cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) box instant pistachio pudding mix
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup ginger ale
3 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 13 x 9-inch pan with vegetable oil spray.

Mix cake mix, pudding mix, oil, ginger ale and eggs into a large
mixing bowl. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top
with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven. Bake the cake
until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 35 to 40
minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to
cool completely, 30 minutes more.

Cover-Up Frosting
1 (3.4 ounce) box instant pistachio pudding mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Whisk pudding mix and milk together in a large mixing bowl. It should
thicken up but not set, from 2 to 3 minutes. Gently fold in whipped
topping. Spread the top with frosting. Sprinkle toasted nuts
over the top, if desired. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Mini Root Beer Float Cupcakes

I want to buy a bunch of shot glasses just to make this recipe. So cute!

1 pkg. Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake Mix
1 Tbsp. Root Beer Extract (in the spice aisle w/ the other extracts)
1 can Root Beer (you can use diet to cut the sugar)
Creme Roulee wafer cookies
Vanilla Icing (storebought or your favorite recipe)
Red Mini Gumballs (or M & M's or other red candy)
Clean votive candle holders or shot glasses

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 Tbsp. root beer extract in 2 C. measuring cup (you'll have extract left over for another batch!:)). Fill cup with Root Beer until it reaches 1 1/2 C. (you'll have just a taste of root beer left in your can). Add to cake mix and stir well.

Place shot glasses/votive holders on a baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Fill 1/2 full with cake batter and bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes until done. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Cut creme roulee wafers in half.

Put vanilla icing in canvas bag w/ star tip (or you can just put it in a ziploc baggie and snip off one end). Pipe a dollop of icing onto each cupcake, top with a gumball and half of a wafer cookie. Serve or refrigerate until needed.

Makes 32

"King Cake"

I've always been interested in king cakes but never tried one or understood the tradition.

The "king cake" takes its name from the biblical three kings. Catholic tradition states that their journey to Bethlehem took twelve days (the Twelve Days of Christmas), and that they arrived to honor the Christ Child on Epiphany. The season for king cake extends from the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Twelfth Night and Epiphany Day), through to Mardi Gras day.

The cake has a small trinket (often a small plastic baby, sometimes said to represent Baby Jesus) inside, and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations (such as buying the cake for the next celebration

1 roll frozen bread dough, thawed
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Confectioner’s Icing
1-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp clear butter or vanilla flavoring

On floured surface, roll out your dough to a rectangle of about 10 x 18 inches. It doesn’t have to be exact, close enough works!
In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and extract and mix until creamy and well blended. Spread over dough to within an inch of each side. Roll up longways (to make a long log) and brush the final edge with water before pressing it into the log to seal.

Take log and form into a circle, pressing the ends into each other and brushing with water if needed to seal together. Spray top lightly with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Set in warm place to rise for 45 minute to an hour.
Remove plastic wrap and bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool.
Mix confectioner’s glaze and drizzle over top of cake with a spoon. Immediately sprinkle colored sprinkles over glaze if desired. Allow to sit until glaze hardens.

Traditional King Cake colors are:
Purple - to symbolize Justice
Green - to symbolize Faith
Gold - to symbolize Power

Mandarin Orange Cake

I can't believe I've never posted this recipe, it's one of my all times favorites! I had it at my favorite Tearoom years ago and immediately tried to recreate it.

For the cake:
1 box (18.25 Oz. Box) Yellow Cake Mix
1 can (14 Oz. Can) Mandarin Oranges, Juice Reserved
eggs
oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Follow the cakes mix instruction for eggs,oil and water. I substitute the juice from the oranges for the water. Combine cake mix, eggs, oil and juice from the mandarin oranges, add water if maderain juice is not enough. Beat until incorporated. Add drained oranges and beat again until pieces are broken up and small. Pour batter into greased cake pan, 9 x 13 inch baking pan or cupcake pan. Bake according to box instructions. Remove from oven and cool completely

For the topping:
1 package (4 Oz. Box) Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
1 can (20 Oz. Can) Crushed Pineapple, drained
8 ounces Cool Whip
Extra Mandarin Orange Slices, For Garnish

Once cake is cool, mix pineapples, vanilla pudding and cool whip together. Spread on cooled cake and refrigerate several hours-if you can. Enjoy :)

Marshmallow Frosting

Oh how I love cupcakes:) I wanted to and make my own fancy "hostess cupcake" knock-offs and searched for a cream filling. This recipes DOES NOT disappoint. I could eat it by the bucket full! The marshmallow cream is like a secret ingredient- you don't know where the extra flavor is coming from and don't care. Enjoy!

4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
One 16-ounce tub marshmallow cream

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
Beat in one-fourth of the sugar until fluffy, then repeat with the remaining sugar.
Beat in the vanilla, then stir in the marshmallow cream until well blended.


K lovin' him some cupcakes.

Caramel-Glazed Apple Spice Cake

My better half had this at his office Christmas party this week and thought it was yum-o!

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups chopped pecans or walnuts
3 large or 5 small Granny Smith apples, peeled & cut into ¼ inch pieces

Caramel Glaze Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup heavy cream

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Butter and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan
In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat both sugars and oil in a mixing bowl until very well blended.
Add eggs and beat well
Add vanilla and beat until fully incorporated into mixture
Add flour mixture gradually into egg mixture, mixing until just blended
Stir in nuts and apples. It will seem like there are more apples than cake mix, but that’s okay.
Bake for 50 – 75 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
Let cool in pan while preparing glaze
Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in both sugars and salt.
Cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes
Add cream and boil for 2 minutes
Poke holes in cake with a skewer. Pour over glaze.
Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Coconut Tres Leches Cake

Seriously delicious!

1 yellow cake mix

Milk Syrup:
1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut, not canned coconut milk
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnishes:
2 medium-size ripe bananas
Sweetened cream (see instructions below)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted (spread on a rimmed baking sheet and bake it at 350 degrees until golden brown, 7 minutes, or toast it in a skillet over medium-low heat on the stove top)

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake yellow cake mix according to instructions, cool completely, 1 hour. I didn't do this- I poured the milk syrup on the warm cake- it was fine.

Meanwhile, make the milk syrup: in a blender, combine the cream of coconut, evaporated milk, cream, and vanilla and process until smooth.

Pierce the cooled cake all over the top with a fork The more pokes, the more the syrup will soak into the cake. Using a large spoon or ladle, spoon some of the milk syrup over the cake. Let the syrup soak into the cake, then continue spooning the syrup on top until all of it has been used up. When you have finished, not all of the syrup will be completely absorbed and might be pooling on the top but that’s ok because it will absorb as it refrigerates. Cover the cake loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until all of the syrup is absorbed, 2 hours. Serve with sliced bananas, sweetened cream and toasted coconut, if desired.

Sweetened Cream:
Pour 1 cup heavy whipping cream into a large (preferably chilled) glass bowl and beat it on high speed until thickened 1 ½ minutes. Stop the machine and add ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar and ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Makes 2 cups.

Chocolate Creme Cakes

Soooo good, not too rich and worth the extra steps!

1 chocolate cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) instant chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
4 eggs

Creme Filling
3 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, oil water, and eggs; mix well. Pour into greased and floured 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until done. Cool 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. In a sauce pan combine flour and milk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes, or until thickened. Cool. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla; beat in milk mixture until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Split cake into 2 horizontal layers. Spread filling over bottom layer; cover with cop cake layer. Refrigerate or freeze until set. cut into serving size pieces. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake

Or maybe I should say "over-the-top" chocolate cake. I made this recipe as a cake once-it was too rich. Now I make it as cupcakes. Last night for Valentine's Day, I made it with a yellow cake leaving out the coffee and substituting vanilla pudding/chips for chocolate. Either way it's rich and super good. Enjoy! Ps The frosting is really good as white icing without the coco powder.

1 box Butter Recipe Chocolate Cake mix
1 3 ounce instant chocolate pudding mix
16 ounces sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brewed coffee
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix chocolate cake mix, pudding mix, and sour cream. Add in eggs one at a time. Then add the oil and coffee. Once it’s all blended, add in the chocolate chips.

You can pour all the batter into one bundt pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour or use two 9-inch round pans and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.


Chocolate Frosting

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar- I used 3 cups

Mix butter and cocoa together. Add milk and vanilla. Gradually add in powdered sugar until you achieve desired consistency. It should be thick, but spreadable.

Eggnog Bundt Cake

I made this this morning and couldn't wait for it to cool or be glazed. It is D.E. Licious! I made it in one big bunt- you could use mini bunt pans too-go here for more unique recipes. Her post 1/3/10 looks to-die-for!

1 - yellow cake mix (any brand)
4 - tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 -cups Eggnog
2 - large eggs
1/4 - 1/2 Cup milk
1 - tsp rum extract
1/8 - tsp ground nutmeg


Glaze Ingredients:
2 - cups Powdered Sugar
2 - tablespoons melted butter
3 - tablespoons eggnog
1 - tsp vanilla
dash of nutmeg

In a large bowl, add the cake mix, old fashioned eggnog, eggs, rum extract, nutmeg and melted butter. Mix together on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan, mini loaf or mini bundt pans or just a regular large loaf pan. (I use the Crisco baking spray with flour) Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes (large bundt pan) or 20-25 for mini pans. Brush on half of the eggnog glaze . Cool for 20 minutes before removing form the bundt pan. Then remove cake from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack. Drizzle on remaining eggnog glaze. Let cake completely cool and glaze is dry.

It reminder me on one of my favorite scenes in"My Big Fat Greek Wedding"

Lemon Jello-O Cake

lemon cake mix
1 cup hot water
1 3.4 ounce package lemon jello
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
dash of salt

Mix 1 cup hot water with 1 package lemon jell-o, set aside. Mix cake mix, eggs, oil and salt. Add lemon jell-o mixture. Pour into 9x13 inch pan. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

While cake is still hot, poke all over with a fork. Pour icing over hot cake and let cool. Eat and enjoy! This cake would be great in a bunt pan with other flavors of cake and matching jell-o.