Snickerdoodle Cake

Snickerdoodle Cake

This cake was ok for me.

Joel-****

Brittany-*** (I thought it was a bit dry, but it could have been the baker's fault.)

Philip-***

Jayden-*****

Natalie-*****

Patrick*****

Snickerdoodle Cake

1 plain white cake mix

1 c. whole milk

8 T. (1 stick) butter, melted

3 lg. eggs

1 t. pure vanilla extract

2 t. ground cinnamon

Place the cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing blow. Blend until well combined. Divide the batter between 2 9" round cake pans which have been greased and floured. Bake the cake at 350 for 27-29 minutes. Set the cakes on a cooling rack and let them cool for 10 minutes, then run a knife along the edge and flip onto a cooling rack allowing the cakes to cool completely.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

8 T. (1 stick) butter at room temperature

3 3/4 c. powdered sugar

3 to 4 T. milk

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1 t. ground cinnamon

Place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend on low until the sugar is well incorporated, then beat until light and fluffy on medium speed. If the frosting is too thick, add the other tablespoon of milk.

Sweet Potato Cake with Coconut Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting

Ok, Joel picked this cake. I really expected him to be wowed by it, but that was not the case.

Joel-***

Brittany-*****

Philip-**

Jayden-*****

Natalie-*****

Patrick-*

I am beginning to think Patrick has something against coconut...LOL

Sweet Potato Cake with Coconut Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting

1 can (16oz) sweet potatoes in heavy syrup

1 plain spice cake mix

3 lg. eggs

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 t. ground cinnamon

Put the sweet potatoes in a bowl with their syrup and mash them. Add the cake mix, eggs, oil, and cinnamon. Blend until well combined and the batter is thickened. Divide the batter between 2 9" round cake pans which have been greased and floured. Bake the cakes at 350 for 28-31 minutes. When baked, set the pans on a cooling rack for 10 minutes then run a knife along the edge and flip out onto the cooling racks. Allow the layers to completely cool before frosting.

Coconut Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese at room temperature

8 T. (1 stick) butter at room temperature

2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1/2 c. frozen unsweetened grated coconut thawed

1/2 c. finely chopped pecans

Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend on low until combined. Add the powdered sugar a bit at a time, blending with the mixer on low until the sugar is well incorporated. Add the vanilla, then mix until the frosting is fluffy. Fold in the coconut and pecans.

Ambrosia Cake

Ambrosia Cake

Joel-***

Me-*** (lots of work and not the best cake)

Philip-*****

Jayden-*****

Natalie-*****

Patrick-*(LOL! I wasn't sure this was ever going to happen)

This cake seemed like alot of work compared to the other two. I was not overwhelmed by the flavor vs. effort. But it was pretty!

Ambrosia Cake

Pineapple and Orange Filling:

1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple in juice, drained

1 c. orange juice

1 c. sugar

Cake:

1 pkg. white cake mix with pudding

1 1/4 c. water

1/3 c. vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 pkg (6 oz: 1 3/4 c) frozen unsweetened grated coconut, thawed

Combine the pineapple, orange juice, and sugar in a medium size saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened, 20-25 minutes. Pour the filling into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the filling so it will be completely cooled before using.

For the cake, combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl. The batter should look well blended and thickened. Fold the coconut into the batter until well mixed. Divide the batter between 3 greased and floured 9" round cake pans. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Place the cakes on a wire rack for 10 minutes then run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake and flip onto wire racks. Allow the layers to cool for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting.

Marshmallow Frosting:

1/2 c. sugar

2 T. water

2 lg. egg whites

1 jar (7oz) marshmallow creme

Place the sugar, water and egg whites in a medium sized heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, beating continously with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form, 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the marshmallow creme. Continue to beat the frosting on high speed until stiff peaks from, 2 minutes more. Use at once to frost your cake.

Place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top of the cake layer with half of the filling, spreading the filling with a rubber spatula up to one inch from the cake edge. Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the filling. Spread the second layer with the remaining filling. Top the two layers with the third layer, right side up. Frost the cake with the marshmallow frosting.

Fresh Orange Cake

Fresh Orange Cake

Joel-*****

Me-*****

Philip-****

Jayden-*****

Natalie-*****

Patrick-*****

This cake was very tasty!! We all enjoyed eating it!! Just sweet enough!!

Let them eat cake!!

This summer I am trying something new. By new, I mean LOTS of cake recipes!! I had my mom's Cake Mix Doctor book. I have made a couple of the cakes, but it was not getting much use on the bookshelf. So for the first step of the Summer of Cakes, I paged through the book and tagged each recipe I thought sounded good. I was thinking I would be able to make 1-2 cakes a week for the summer and have tried them all. Alas, I will be baking cakes for the rest of the year possibly next year too!! LOL I have also devised a rating system and will post the results from each family member because we will all have a different opinion about each cake. The best part of baking all these cakes is seeing what Patrick will be willing to try....hahaha

I have not been grocery shopping for real since getting back from vacation, so I checked the book and my pantry and found a recipe I actually had the ingredients to make. The funny part is, it was a cake Joel was not sure he was going to like at all, and it only has 4 ingredients for the cake!! The glaze was very simple as well!! WINNER!!

Our rating system is as follows:

*****-Mom please, please, please make this cake again!

****-Mom, bake this cake once every few months.

***-Mom, this cake would be okay once a year.

**-Mom, if you never make this cake again, I'm cool with that.

*-Mom, ewwwwww, nasty!! Worse than your creative dinner ideas!!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake- So simple and so delicious!!

Joel-**** (WOW!! I was impressed with this rating!)

Me-****

Philip-****

Jayden-*****(No surprise here!)

Natalie-*****(She was also the apprentice baker on this one)

Patrick-*****(Rated before he even finished his first bite :))

If anyone would like for me to post the recipe along with the reviews, let me know!