Glazed Apple-Maple-Bacon Cake

You can find this recipe all over the internet. I don't claim it as mine. However, that picture right there, that is mine. Yeah, I went there. I made a cake with bacon. It was delicious. And yes, it's cake. The world needs cake right now. I'm posting another cake I made for a another friend's birthday. Yes, it's also a bundt cake. You can make this in a square pan, but for large groups I find a bundt is easier for sharing. But that's just me. And now on the the bacon dessert...

Glazed Apple Bacon & Maple Cake
(Serves 8)
The Cake

• 8-10 strips of bacon, fried crispy. You can reserve two pieces to sprinkle on top, if desired).
  
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon maple extract
• 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup peeled, diced apples
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

The Glaze:

• 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• A pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease bundlt pan or 8-inch-square pan.
3. Cook bacon until browned and crisp. Drain to remove excess bacon grease. Set two slices aside for garnish, if desired. Finely chop the remaining bacon.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. In another mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar.
6. Add the eggs and maple extract to the butter and sugar and beat at medium speed until light.
7. Reduce speed to low and add the buttermilk. Beat until well-blended.
8. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in and beat till the contents are fully mixed and consistent in consistency.
9. Stir in the apples, pecans and bacon.
10. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth out the top with a spatula.
11. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted deep into the center comes out clean.
12. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes.
13. Remove from pan and cool completely before icing.
14. In a small bowl, whisk confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon until smooth and clinging to the back of a spoon. Drizzle over the cake.
15. Garnish with bacon bits, if desired.

My Easy Cake Recipes

So here a long while back I found a Pampered Chef recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cake that you can make it quickly and easily.

You started with boxed Spice Cake mix, added pumpkin puree, and 3 eggs. The original recipe says to microwave the cake, but I did that once and I didn't like the texture. It was kind of rubbery, so I just bake the cake. It takes 14 minutes to microwave and 30 minutes to bake. I can deal with the extra 15 minutes.

I also made an icing, but until recently my icing was always too drippy, so I would just microwave a can of frosting until soft enough to stirring up and drizzle over the cake.

There was another recipe where you mix Devil's Food Cake mix with cherry pie filling and 3 eggs. There seemed to be a formula. So, as you can imagine I started experimenting.

So, here's a recipe for an Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake. And I'll post some other combinations too. If you come up with one, feel free to add it into the comments!

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

There is a basic formula I have found for really easy, delicious and unique cake recipes using boxed cake mix, including a Pumpkin Spice Cake. Here is one I made for a pot luck today. Since people were asking for the recipe--here it is. I'll be adding other variation as well, so you can enjoy a whole lotta cake without a whole lotta hassle!

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake
Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 14 oz. can pure pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup chocolate chips

• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

• Preheat oven according to cake box instructions.
• Mix together cake mix, eggs, and pumpkin.
• Stir in chocolate ships
• Pour into greased bundt pan
• Bake according to cake box instructions
• Cool completely drizzle cake with icing.

Note: You can even cheat on the icing. Buy vanilla or cream cheese frosting and microwave for 30 seconds or so. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

Double Dark Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling

Ingredients
For the cake:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder [Note 1]
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

For the Filling [Note 2]:

• 1 16 ounce package frozen raspberries, thawed
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

For the Frosting:

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Garnish:

• chocolate chips (optional) [Note 2]
• fresh raspberries (optional)

Instructions: 
1. Bake the cake.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.  
• Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch round baking pans. [Note 3].
• Stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  
• Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).  
• Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  
• Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.  
• Cool completely.

2. Make the raspberry filling [Note 4]:

• Drain raspberries, reserving liquid. 
• Add enough water to liquid to equal 1 1/4 cups. 
• In large saucepan, combine liquid, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice; mix well. 
• Heat and stir until mixture boils and thickens. 
• Cool completely. Stir thawed raspberries into cooled mixture.

3. Make the frosting [Note 5].

• Melt the butter in a medium bowl.  
• Stir in the cocoa.  
• Alternately add confectioners’ sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.  
• Add small amount additional milk, if needed.  Stir in vanilla.

4. Assemble the cake.

• Level off both cakes using a serrated knife. 
• Place bottom cake on a cardboard cake circle.  
• Pipe a ring of the chocolate frosting around the outside edge of the cake.  Fill the area inside the ring of frosting with a thick layer of the raspberry filling.  
• Place the second cake layer on top. Frost the sides of the cake layers with chocolate frosting.  Pipe a decorative border of the chocolate frosting on top of the cake.  Fill the area inside this border with a thick layer of the raspberry filling.  Garnish with chocolate chips, fresh raspberries, and/or additional frosting if desired.

Notes:

1. You can substitute cocoa powder if you prefer.
2. In the picture, I shaved a Dove Chocolate bar with vegetable peeler.
3. I like three layers so I use three pans. Be sure to start checking after 20 minutes as the thinner layers bake faster.
4. If you add another layer, there is more than enough filling.
5. I make an extra half-batch. You'll need a little extra for the extra layer and there is never enough frosting.

Blackberry-Peach Cobbler

It’s that time of year. The sweet summer fruits are at their peak. Here’s a quick and easy cobbler recipe. I used fresh peaches and blackberries because that was what was at the fruit stand, but you can easily substitute 4-5 cups of whatever fruit you have on hand. This recipe also works well with frozen fruit. 

Blackberry-Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

• ¼ c. melted butter
• 3 cups fresh sliced peaches (without skins)1
• 1-2 cups fresh blackberries
• ¼ tsp. ginger
• ½ tsp. nutmeg (divided)
• 1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (divided)
• 1 cup sugar (divided)
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk 
• ½ tsp. vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pour 2 Tbsp. of melted butter into a 2 quart baking dish (I use a 9 inch square baking dish). Coat the bottom and sides.
3. Combine fruit and  1 Tbsp. of the flour in a large bowl, then add ¼ cup of the sugar, ¼ tsp. of the nutmeg and the ¼ tsp. of ginger. Pour mixture into baking dish.
4. In a large bowl, combine remaining flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Then, whisk in remaining butter, milk, and vanilla.
5. Pour batter over fruit.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until golden brown.
7. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

Honey Soaked Lemon Cake

Happy Summer Solstice! Here is one of my favorite cakes, and it's sweet and sunny and the perfect way to celebrate longest day of the year! I'm definitely going to be making at least one of these this weekend with some of the local honey from the farm where I get my CSA--can't get much more local than that!

Honey Soaked Lemon Cake
Cream together:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup honey

Add and mix well:

• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 2 ts baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup milk

** topping

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup lemon juice

Powdered Sugar for decoration (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Cream butter, sugar, eggs and honey -- mix well, then add dry ingredients.
• Pour into a greased and floured 6 C tube pan.
• Bake 350 for 35-50 minutes.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
• Remove onto a cooling rack with wax paper underneath.
• Pierce the warm cake with a fork in several places.
• Warm 1/4 cup honey and the 1/2 cup lemon juice and spoon over the cake.
• Cool completely and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

OMGarlic Scapes!!!!!

So in my CSA share last week, I got 10 garlic scapes. If they hadn't been labelled, I wouldn't have even known what those green swirly things were. I didn't feel bad though, I split my share with my friend, she went to culinary school. A few days after we got our share and she asked me what I did with mine.

Luckily, I had already hit the Internet and discovered that garlic scapes are the green tops of the garlic plant. They're similar to green onions or chives; however, they they have a lovely mild, sweet taste of garlic.

I LOVE garlic and always have it around. What self-respecting Italian-American lives in a house where there is no garlic in the kitchen? Exactly. So, I was super-excited and have been enjoying them all week! I put them in an omelet. I whipped them into some cream cheese to schmear on a bagel. I made brushetta. I sauteed them with some zucchini. I tossed them in a salad. I put them in a chicken marinade. I made salad dressing.

I had my garlic and it was lovely. Because the taste was so mild, I used garlic in ways I normally wouldn't. Sometimes, my beloved garlic gets a little overpowering, especially when you don't cook it. I would never have mixed crushed garlic into cream cheese for my morning bagel. I would be unkissable for a day!!! The brushetta was my favorite--it just made it taste so fresh--and I don't usually get to enjoy the flavor of garlic in a salad, so that was very enjoyable. So I learned about another new vegetable and maybe now you have too!

I hope they put some more in my basket next week.