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.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

An OUTSTANDING recipe for peanut butter and chocolate to come together in a dense, cakey delight.

Naturally, as with most dense breads, these brownies are WAY BETTER the next day.  Unfortunately, there weren't many leftover to enjoy.  So, if you're planning to make these ahead of time, HIDE THEM!!!

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 2 tablespoon milk
• 2 eggs

• 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/3 cup peanut butter chips
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

Heat oven to 350ºF. Line a square 8X8 inch brownie pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Be sure to leave enough paper overlapping on the sides to be able to lift out cooled brownies.

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave on 70% power for 1 minute. Stir until practically smooth.  If it's very lumpy, go another 20 seconds at 70% power.  A few lumps won't hurt anything.

Beat sugars, butter, milk and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.

Divide batter in half, a little over a cup each half.  Stir in peanut butter and peanut butter chips into one half.  Stir in melted chocolate chips into the remaining half.

Use a 2 inch scooper to scoop chocolate batter into pan in a checkerboard pattern.  Scoop peanut butter batter between the mounds of chocolate batter.

Swirl through batters with a knife or spreader for marbled design. Don't worry about the top of the batter being uneven, it will level off when the brownies bake.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely.  Cut them as big or small as you like.

FOR THE VISUAL LEARNERS

Don't forget a glass of milk or a cup of hot tea to wash these down.
Mmm MMM! They are good!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

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!
.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

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!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

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.

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.

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
• 3/4 cup healthy egg substitute

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.

Check for Free Local grocery store coupons and save money on this recipe!

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!

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