Peanut Butter Filled Yellow Cake w/ Chocolate Frosting

This cake is for all of you out there who don't have much time to make something, or if you don't have many ingredients. I don't typically use canned icing, but like i said this is an easy-made cake. I had a few icing decorations from my cake decorating class so I put them on top. I made up some variations of this cake, namely the mini chocolate chips, peanut butter filling, and addition of extracts. I didn't try it, but my mom LOVED it. I must say that it does look pretty awesome. :)

Cake: 

Prepare a yellow cake mix by following the directions on the box. Add 1 tsp. of vanilla extract and 1 1/2 tsp. butter extract. Add 1 cup mini chocolate chips. Pour into two floured and greased 8-inch cake pans; cook for 40 min or until toothpick comes out clean.

Filling: 

1 1/2 powdered sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 stick of butter, softened

1 tbsp. of milk

Add all ingredients in mixing bowl and beat using an electric mixer.

Frosting:

Using a can of regular chocolate icing, add 1 tsp. almond extract.

Mississippi Mud Cake

Hi everyone! I apologize for not posting in such a long time, things are just a bit hectic right now with school and trying to find a job. On to more important matters though: Mississippi Mud Cake.

I found this recipe off http://cookiebakerlynn.blogspot.com What I love about this cake is that it's supposed to be messy, so it's basically error-proof! The bottom is a thin chocolate layer of moist/gooey cake with toasted pecans (I added a few additions and special touches to her original recipe by the way). The next layer is melted marshmallows, topped with homemade chocolate frosting that kind of melts on top of the marshmallows. Oh...my...goodness...my first thought was, why am I just NOW making this? Living in the South, you would think that I would've heard of this cake, but oh no. 

I'm not recommending all of you to make this cake, I'm TELLING you to b/c it's just that good. How many people have ever had chocolate cake with a layer of melted marshmallow with chocolate buttercream frosting melted on top? It's also really simple to make too. I hope you all enjoy this recipe and I'm expecting some comments below telling me how wonderful your cake turned out. :)

CAKE:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Dash of salt
1/4 cup plus 1-1/2 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
10 oz. marshmallows (I used large, but I think mini might work better)

 Chocolate Frosting:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp warm milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz. powdered sugar, sifted

1- Preheat oven to 325 deg. F. Grease a glass 9 x 13 - inch pan. (If using a metal pan, increase the oven temp to 350 deg. F)

2-Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa; add to creamed mixture. Stir in vanilla, almond extract, mini chocolate chips, and pecans.

3-Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until top is barely soft to the touch.

4- While cake is baking, prepare the frosting. Cream butter then add the cocoa, mixing well. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, adding warm milk as necessary, until spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla.

5- Remove cake from oven and cover top with marshmallows. Return to oven for 2 minutes or until marshmallows are soft. Spread marshmallows over cake and immediately cover with Chocolate Frosting. 

6- Let the frosting harden before cutting the cake into squares.

Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake

This cake is very  light and can be used with chocolate wafers (which are really hard to find...try Fresh Market), but I used Oreo cookies that I separated. It's easy to make and tastes like an ice cream chocolate chip cake minus the thick ice cream texture. 

Ingredients:

4 cups heavy cream

3 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vanilla

1 & 1/2 packages Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies (or Oreos)

Directions:

Combine the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip until soft peaks form. Do not overmix. Place a cookie in the center of a plate that is at least 9 inches in diameter. Arrange 6 cookies around the center one, formng a circle. Spread about 3/4 cup of the cream mixture onto the cookies. Repeat layers, ending with the whipped cream. Garnish if desired with chocolate shavings, nuts, cocoa, etc. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours. 

Mandarin Orange Cake

So it has been over a month since I've last posted anything on the website; I'm afraid I've become quite lazy with taking pictures of my recent discoveries. Because of this, the few recipes I'm going to put up don't have pictures that I've taken.  Instead I'm just going to steal the pictures from the original website just to get things started up again...I promise to take my own pictures next time. 

This cake recipe was given to me by my dear friend Ashley who raved about how wonderful this cake was. I myself haven't made it or tried it, but my mom did and she said it was easy and absolutely incredible. The oranges in the cake batter apparently make the cake very moist and light. 

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package of yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice

1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and mandarin oranges with juice. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 min. Allow to cool. 

To make topping: In a large bowl, beat together whipped topping, pineapple with juice, and dry pudding mix until blended. Spread on cake. 

Pink Lady Cake

I got this recipe from smittenkitchen. Here's the link to the original recipe with much better pictures than I can provide: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/10/pink-lady-cake/print/

The cake is gigantic! It filled up my entire KitchenAid bowl.  I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese icing, but those who were seemed to like it...it's definitely a lot of cake, but very pretty. :)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

4 1/2 cups cake flour

3 cups sugar

5 1/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 

1 1/2 cups pureed frozen strawberries

8 egg whites

2/3 cup milk

1 to 2 drops red food dye

For the cream cheese frosting:

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese. softened (You can use low-fat too)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch or 8-inch round baking pans. Line with parchment paper and butter the paper. 

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl.  With the electric mixer (I'd use a KitchenAid, not a handheld electric mixer) on low speed, blend for 30 seconds.  Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients.  Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 min.; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point. 

In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk, and red food dye to blend.  Add the whites to the batter in 2 or 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition.  Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

Bake the cakes for 30-35 min. or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10-15 min.  Invert and turn out onto wire racks and peel off the paper liners.  Let stand until completely cooled before assembling the cake, at least one hour.

For the frosting:

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy.  Mix in the vanilla, then gradually  stir in the confectioners' sugar.  Store in the refrigerator after use. 

Chocaroon Cake

This is a chocolate bundt cake with coconut creme filling. I drizzled a Dove Chocolate fudge sauce on mine, but you can sprinkle confectioner's sugar or melt chocolate chips and spread as an icing over the cake. Just in case you were curious, a slice of cake is about 373 calories. 

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

1 pinch salt

1/3 cup white sugar

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 & 3/4 cups flaked coconut

1 (18.35 ounce) package chocolate cake mix

1 (3.9 ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 & 1/4 cups water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Beat egg white with salt until foamy. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until mixture forms stiff shiny peaks. Blend in flour and coconut. Combine cake mix, instant pudding mix, eggs, yolks, water, and oil in a large boil. Blend, then beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 min. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Spoon in coconut mixture and top with the remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 min. Remove to wire rack and cool thoroughly.