Simple Daily Recipes » Cakes

Mini-Cheesecakes That Everyone Can Bake

Jill — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 09:29:45 +0000

You don't have to be an expert baker to create these creamy wonders. Being about the size of regular muffins, these miniature cheesecakes are excellent for a party. My favorite part is that they freeze so well, you don't have to share them if you don't want to.
Oh! And they are sinful to eat frozen, like eating a cheesecake popsicle. I KNOW you want one now!

The idea to build these miniature cheesecakes came from my friend, Kelly of Sass & Veracity. The decadent cheesecake filling recipe comes out of a very trusted book, Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher. If you ever watched Good Eats with Alton Brown, Shirley was the guest food scientist on the show. Let's get down to business.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

This recipe will make A BUNCH of muffin size cheesecakes, about 36 to 45.

CRUST

14 ginger snap cookies
3 tablespoons butter, melted
nonstick cooking spray

FILLING

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups sour cream

TOPPING

fresh strawberry jam
fresh whipped cream

Crush the ginger snap cookies in a plastic bag with a rolling pin or in the food processor with a steel knife. Stir together the cookies and melted butter in a medium mixing bowl. Line the bottom of each muffin cup with foil baking liners. Spritz each liner with nonstick spray and press 1-heaping tablespoon into each cup.

Paper liners work, too, but look oily after baking. If you're making these for a special occasion, then use foil liners.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350ºF

Blend the cream cheese and sugar well in a large mixing bowl with a beater. Be sure to get out all the lumps at this stage. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend well after each addition. Add the vanilla, salt, and lemon juice. Blend well. Blend in the sour cream. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Store extra batter in fridge while cheesecakes bake.

Put the muffin pan on the middle rack and bake for 10 minutes. The cheesecakes may not look done and may have a wiggle in the center. Have faith. Remove pan from oven and allow to set and cool for 5 minutes.

Warm strawberry jam in the microwave until it's loose enough to spread, but not runny. Carefully spread a teaspoonful of jam over each cheesecake.

Lift each cheesecake out of the pan and onto a sheet pan. Put the sheet pan of cheesecakes in the freezer until frozen solid.

Set out 15 minutes before serving, top each miniature cheesecake with fresh whipped cream.

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Sweetheart Cherry Cake from Lucky Leaf®

Jill — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:50:50 +0000

This is a simple cherry cake recipe that takes no time to blend together. Sweetheart Cherry Cake is moist and so hard to stop eating. Bake it, frost it, then invite your favorite people to come help you eat it. It's a real treat that should not be eaten alone.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Cherry Cake:

1 (18.25 oz.) dry butter cake mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 (21 oz.) can Lucky Leaf Premium Cherry Pie Filling

Buttercream Icing:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
4 cups (1 pound) confectioners' sugar, sifted
2-4 tablespoons milk

Preparing the cake:

Heat oven to 325ºF. Lightly butter and coat with flour a 9 x 2 1/2-inch heart shaped cake pan (13 x 9-inch pan directions below).

Mix together on medium speed, dry cake mix, eggs, baking powder, both extracts and 1/2 can of Lucky Leaf Premium Cherry Pie Filling until moistened.

Fold in the remaining 1/2 can of cherry pie filling by hand until blended. Batter should appear thick. Pour batter into pan and level with a spatula.

BAKE for 65 to 75 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove cake from oven, and allow to cool completely in the pan. Invert cake onto a serving platter to decorate.

For icing:
Cream together butter and both extracts. Slowly add sifted confectioner's sugar, beating well. Add 2 tablespoons milk. Mix well. If needed, continue adding milk 1 tablespoon at a time, until icing is smooth and spreadable.

SUBSTITUTIONS:
Substitute a standard 13 x 9-inch pan for the heart shape cake pan. Bake at 325ºF for 40 to 45 minutes. Or substitute two 16 ounce tubs of any flavor prepared icing, for the buttercream icing recipe above.

COOK'S NOTES:
I've learned to chill my buttered baking pans in the refrigerator before adding whatever batter I'm using. It's suppose to insure that the baked item really comes out in one piece. So far, it works for me every time.

Before I started frosting the cake, I slid wax paper under the edges of the cake. The wax paper helped me keep the cake plate clean while I slathered on the buttercream icing. A gentle tug removes the wax paper leaving a pretty finished look to the edges.

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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Jill — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:19:38 +0000

Moist, delicious and purely made with love. It's my husband's favorite birthday cake.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 can sliced pineapple in syrup, drained
1 small jar Maraschino cherries

for the cake

1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Heat butter in 13x9x2 inch pan in the oven until melted. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Start with a pineapple slice in the center of pan and decorate out from there. Cut maraschino cherries in half and place cut side up inside and around pineapple slices. Just have fun with it.

for the cake

Beat all the cake ingredients on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, 1 minute. (Stop stand up mixers before scraping down the bowl.) Beat on medium speed, for 2 minutes. Pour into pan.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately invert pan on heatproof serving plate. Let pan remain a few minutes, before lifting away. Serve warm or cold.

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Simple Orange Cake

Jill — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:00:14 +0000

This Simple Orange Cake should be called EVIL ORANGE CAKE. I HIGHLY recommend you bake it, eat one slice, then RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN to your neighbor's house and give it to them!

DO NOT KEEP IT OUT ON YOUR COUNTER! YOU'LL EAT IT!
Of course, not all in one bite, nohoho, no. Every time you walk past it, you'll pinch off a bite, or two. And before know it, half the cake is MISSING !!!

This is a dessert for sharing with friends and co-workers. Take it to a pot luck, a wedding shower, baby shower, anywhere two or more are gathered. It's a cinch to put together, it's pretty in color, and when you properly grease your bundt pan, it can be a lovely cake.

And let me just say this to BEN! at What's Cooking? This cake is dedicated to you.

We were just discussing how as food bloggers, we don't like to post about our failed recipes or photograph food that doesn't look just right. Well, here you go. Proof I'm not the best baker. You'll see here in broad daylight why I'm afraid to join the Daring Bakers.

I implore you to look past the photography and consider the cake. It TRULY is worth your time and effort.

HERE WE GO

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 small box of orange gelatin
1 cup orange juice (the kind you drink)
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
2-3 teaspoons orange zest

Orange Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoon orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest

Heat oven to 325F degrees.

Beat cake mix, dry gelatin, orange juice, oil, eggs and zest in a large bowl on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes or so. Pour into a generously greased bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Meanwhile, whisk the powdered sugar, orange juice and zest in a small bow. After you move the cake to the serving plate and while the cake is still warm, prick the cake with a fork. Pour glaze evenly over the cake. Allow the cake to completely cool before serving.

The next day is when it turns EVIL. You must have it out of your house by the next day.

Now for my humbling baking experience. It started out in the right direction?

Orange Glaze awaits.

It's suppose to look like a sunflower... : P

Let's me just cover it with the icing, maybe no one will notice...

C'est la vie!
.

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Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Jill — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:00:26 +0000

One of my husband's favorite cakes is carrot cake. Seeing as we McKeever's like to celebrate for days, I turned his favorite cake into cupcakes. He loved this, because it didn't limit him on how many he could eat.

Charlie says, "A slice of cake visually says this is all you get. However, a cupcake is so small. You can treat yourself to two!" I can't help but agree.

Now comes the part where I tell you how I made these tasty delights. Well for those of you who like to bake from scratch, move along, there's nothing to see here. After studying over a complex recipes with ingredients I would never use again, I bought a box of Betty Crocker's Super Moist Carrot Cake Mix. On the back of the box there was a recipe for Ultimate Carrot Cake. It called for the extra bits like shredded carrot, crushed pineapple, nuts, raisins and coconut. Perfect! I had most of that at home, I just needed cream cheese for the frosting and I was set.

My daughter helped me in the kitchen. She totally grooved on making her daddy's cupcakes. She especially loved sneaking her finger in the icing bowl every chance I turned my back!

So for the cake, just pick up the box. As for the icing, that came from somewhere else.

HERE'S A GOOD CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
16 oz. powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend the soft butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together with a electric mixer. Slowly add in powdered sugar until smooth. Frost cupcakes after they have fully cooled.

Oh yeah, they're good!

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Mini-Cupcakes Recipe

Jill — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:05:25 +0000

Yesterday, I shared a great way to pipe cake batter into a mini-muffin pan. Today is about the traditional yellow cake recipe and creamy frosting I used to make these Kid Friendly Delights.

FOR THE YELLOW CAKE

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Beat all ingredients on low speed, scraping bowl, 30 seconds. Beat on high speed, 3 minutes. Pipe batter into pan. See easy piping technique here.

Bake about 10-12 minutes, until top of cupcake if firm to the touch. Remove from pan and cool on rack. Frost with creamy icing.

CREAMY VANILLA FROSTING

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Mix all ingredients in electric mixer until smooth and spreadable.

This recipe will make 48 mini cupcakes EASY!

For the last two years, I set out a variety of fun food decorations and let the kids dress up their own cupcakes. These mini cupcakes gave my kids a chance to decorate MORE. They would take a frosted cupcake, dip it in sprinkles, and eat it. Then, they'd get another cupcake, sprinkle colored sugar on it, and eat IT. They had a BLAST! Not to mention an extreme sugar rush.

Cupcakes Kids Will Not Waste

Jill — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:01:01 +0000

For the past four years, I've attended my fair share of little kid birthday parties. I've observed and experienced that no matter how delicious the cake tastes or doesn't taste, it's the icing that gets all the attention.

Party after party, I watch kids ONLY eat the frosting off their cupcakes. Leaving behind a half eaten, crumbly lump of sweet bread.

Now, I'm just as much a kid as the next kid. I recognize there should be a proper ratio of icing to cake in EVERY bite. And with regular size cupcakes, we always end up with more cake than icing. This year, I needed a low-mess, one bite wonder that was too small to leave behind. Therefore, for Max's 8th birthday, I baked mini-cupcakes.

These mini-cupcakes were absolutely perfect!

I started from scratch with a traditional yellow cake recipe. I considered buying a cake mix. But honestly, I had all the ingredients on hand. In the time it would have taken me to load the kids in the car, drive to the grocery store, herd my kids through the store, and head back home - my homemade cake batter would be in the oven already. Same goes for the creamy homemade icing.

The real sweet treat I wanted to share with you is HOW I prepared the cupcakes for baking. After mixing up a LARGE bowl of batter, I was suddenly struck with the task of dividing it up to make all these tiny cupcakes. Spoon it in? Too drippy. Ice cream scoop it? Again, too drippy. I wanted clean and efficient.

AH HA - PIPE IT!

I used a 1 qt. zip lock freezer bag as my piping bag. I cut one corner to fit a piping tip, which had a 1/4 inch opening. Even though I used a nonstick pan, I still sprayed it with nonstick cooking spray. It makes a difference.

I found my frothing pitcher had the right depth and top to hold my piping bag.

I made sure the top of the bag would not slip into pitcher, then pushed out the air to open up the bag.

I poured about half the batter in the freezer bag. Before I pulled the bag out, I secured the zip lock top, while pushing out the extra air. I was ready to pipe out the batter.

Turn the piping tip up, to stop batter from pouring out.

Pictures really help tell the story.

Tomorrow, I'll write out the recipes for the cake batter and creamy icing. That's enough for today. As for the fate of these mini-cupcakes, not one was wasted or left behind. Only the decorative sprinkles and remnants of wrapping paper were left as evidence of a great birthday bash.

Ms. Lucy’s Dessert

Jill — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:00:43 +0000

This is the easiest, most delicious, most --press the crumbs with your fork-- moist cake, you will ever eat!

The first time I ate this cake was at a lady's luncheon. My sweet friend, Ms. Lucy baked it and said it was a quick, standard dessert she relied on for gatherings. When she told me her recipe, I couldn't believe it was so simple. "That's it, two things?", I said. "I can do that!"

There's not a name for the recipe that I am aware of, nor do I know how long it's been around. Tell ya the truth, I don't really care. It's delicious, and ever time I serve it, my friends and family love me for baking it. That's all that really matters, right?

Now, Ms. Lucy instructed me to prepare the yellow cake mix as directed on the box, then add the coconut pecan frosting, and blend well. Bake in a bundt pan for time suggested on the box. That idea works great, I've done this many times. Today though, I decided to change it up just a tad. I substituted the vegetable oil for applesauce, then substituted the shell eggs with a healthier real egg product. As you can see from the photos, it turned out beautifully

HERE'S MS. LUCY'S YELLOW CAKE DESSERT

1 Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix
1 container Betty Crocker Coconut Pecan Frosting
1 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup applesauce or oil
3 eggs

Simply follow the directions for preparing and baking the cake from the box. It's that easy.

Do not add an icing to this cake. It's rich enough already. I dust the top with powdered sugar: to look pretty and hide any flaws made by a sticky bundt pan.

SERVING OTHERS

Cupcakes are a great way to share one dessert with several folks. You can serve your single neighbors who don't need a whole cake. It's, also, a great treat for those watching their waist, but love to indulge on your cooking. Use foil wrappers to bake the cupcakes. It makes for easier clean up and you don't need a muffin pan, only your best cookie sheet.

Quick Italian Cream Cake

Jill — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:21:59 +0000

Growing up, my Memaw ALWAYS made a German chocolate cake for my birthday. It has ALWAYS been what I love to eat.

UNTIL, my Aunt Debbie made an Italian Cream cake for me the day after I gave birth to my first child.

I remember the pang of guilt that shot through me, when I considered that "this could be my new favorite birthday cake."

Ok, move over just a tad, German chocolate cake. Italian Cream cake is NOW my number 1a favorite dessert to eat. This is Aunt Debbie's recipe. I have never made it myself, but I've happily eaten it for the last eight years.

HERE'S WHAT AUNT DEB DOES

1 white cake mix with pudding
3 large eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 (3 1/2 oz.) pkg shredded coconut
2/3 cup toasted chopped pecans
3T. rum (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven 350F degrees. Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in coconut & pecans. Pour batter into 3 greased & floured 9” round cake pans.

Bake 15-17 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire rack. Sprinkle evenly with rum, if desired: let stand for 10 minutes. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides.

Chill for 2 hours before slicing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8oz) pkg.cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (16oz) pkg. powdered sugar
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Makes 4 cups.

I hope you enjoy this delicious cake as much as I do. I actually crave it from time to time. I'm not sure that's entirely a good thing but it is THAT wonderful! It's a beautiful cake to take to luncheons, pot lucks, where ever two or more are gathered. EAT UP!