Pupper Cake

 

INGREDIENTS

Cake

1 cup a.p. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup applesauce*

1/4 cup peanut butter*

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup pumpkin

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

"Frosting"

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt*

1/4 cup peanut butter*

2 Tbsp honey

DIRECTIONS

Cake

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Prepare two 4x2 inch cake tins with cooking spray, set aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside.

In a second bowl, whisk together coconut oil, applesauce, peanut butter, honey, pumpkin, egg and vanilla until thoroughly combined.

Pour wet ingredients over flour mixture, and gently stir with a rubber spatula until incorporated.

Pour batter evenly between the two prepared cake tins, and level the top of the batter.

Bake cakes on a baking sheet for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Remove from oven, and let cool in tins on cooling racks for 5 minutes before removing to finish cooling.

Icing

Whisk together greek yogurt, peanut butter, and honey until smooth. Keep cool in refrigerator until needed.

Assembly

When the cakes have completely cooled, level-off the tops with a serrated knife.

Place bottom layer cut side up, top with 1/3 cup frosting. Place top layer cut side down, and frost with remaining frosting.

Serve to your favorite pupper friends!

*Unsweetened is the ONLY way to go! Please do not give your canine friends ingredients with excess sugar, sugar substitutes like xylitol and other sugar alcohols. They are just not good ingredients to give to your doggos.

This is Puppa-Roni on her first birthday… she was in Pupper HEAVEN with this cake.

Gingerbread Sheet Cake

Recipe Adapted from Serious Eats
INGREDIENTS
1 cup light brown sugar
3 ounces unsulfured molasses
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, fresh grated
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/8 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
3 large eggs, straight from the fridge
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to about 100°F
5 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
2 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour
8 ounces buttermilk

DIRECTIONS
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F. Line an anodized aluminum half sheet cake pan with parchment, then grease lightly with pan spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, five-spice powder, black pepper, and eggs. Mix on low until moistened, then increase to high and whip until foamy and thick, about 8 minutes.

Reduce speed to low and drizzle in melted butter, then add all-purpose and whole wheat flours, followed by buttermilk. Once combined, shut off mixer and fold batter once or twice from the bottom up with a flexible spatula, then scrape into prepared pan.

Bake until cake is puffed and firm (though crust will retain a light impression when pressed with a fingertip), about 20 minutes. Cool in pan until firm, top with cream cheese frosting.

I love all things gingerbread. Gingerbread cookies- soft, snappy, I'll take them all, the gingerbread churro at Disneyland, Gingerbread Spice Life Cereal… so I knew I wanted to find a gingerbread cake that will make my heart the happiest. BUT in all the recipes I tried, it just wasn't quite spicy enough. Yeah, gingerbread needs to be spicy! To balance the of the sweetness of the holidays. So, I used the cake recipe that I enjoyed the texture of the most (the addition of whole wheat flour gives it such great texture) and used my favorite gingerbread spices.

Peach-Raspberry Dump Cake

INGREDIENTS
2 cans peach pie filling
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Spray 13x9 pan with non-stick cook spray.

Spread peach pie filling evenly across the bottom of pan.
Evenly distribute fresh raspberries over peaches.
Sprinkle dry cake mix over raspberries and peaches.
Pour melted butter all over dry cake mix.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. It will still be a little bit ooey gooey. Let sit for a couple minutes to cool and set up a bit.

Scoop out, and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Margarita Cake

In honor of Cinco de Cuatro, and my love for all things lime, I give unto you, Margarita Cake!

adapted from Betty Crocker

INGREDIENTS
CRUST:

1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter -- melted

Zest of 1 lime

CAKE:
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
3/4 cups bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix

1 Tablespoon tequila

3 Tablespoons lime juice

1/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Zest of 2 limes
3 egg whites

TOPPING:
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping -- thawed

Zest of 1 lime

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only and lightly flour 13x9-inch pan, or spray bottom with baking spray with flour. In medium bowl, mix crust ingredients. Sprinkle evenly on bottom of pan; press gently.

In large bowl, beat cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over crust.

Bake 34 to 39 minutes or until light golden brown and top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Frost with whipped topping; sprinkle with additional lime peel. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

The original recipe did not call for quite so much lime zest, lime juice or tequila… but I am a Mormon that likes to live on the wild side, and I still had half a bottle of Jose Cuervo from the time I made these, and I would feel like such a fraud if I called this a Margarita Cake and didn't use tequila. Fun fact: the batter for this cake, was amazing. I literally stuck my head in the bowl to lick it! The pretzel crust was REALLY hard to eat with plastic spoons, so do some dishes and use real utensils. Also, I would probably add more tequila and less water.

Pineapple Angel Food Cake with Maraschino Cherry-Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS
cake:

1 box angel food cake mix
1 20-oz can crushed pineapple

frosting:

2 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS

cake:

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Combine angel food cake mix with can of crushed pineapple by hand. Chuck into a 13x9 inch pan and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove from oven, and cool on rack until it comes to room temperature.

frosting:

Mix the cream cheese with the maraschino cherry juice, until the cream cheese isn't in giant chunks. Add confectioner's sugar until it your desire consistency.

Frost cake, then enjoy!

I am obsessed with maraschino cherries. It's kind of ridiculous just how much I love them. So my mother purchased a 9 lb 6 oz container of them for me. Annnnd I have downed half of them, mostly by myself. SOOOOO when I made some pineapple angel food cake, and realized I didn't have any coconut or canned frosting, I decided to be a big girl and make my own frosting- and that I was going to jazz it up with maraschino cherry juice! I am SO glad that I did!

Pumpkin Spice Sheet Cake with Penuche Frosting

adapted from i heart nap time
INGREDIENTS
Pumpkin Sheet Cake:
4 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 16 oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups flour sifted
2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Penuche Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS
pumpkin bars:
Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan, set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix eggs, oil, and sugars until sugar is wet. Add pumpkin, and stir until smooth.
Add flour mixture to pumpkin, and stir until just combined.
Spread mixture into prepared jelly roll pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Remove from oven, and cool on cooling rack while preparing frosting.

frosting:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.
Stir in heavy cream. Return to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat.
Transfer mixture to the bowl of a KitchenAid, and allow to cool to lukewarm.
Using the wire whisk attachment, add confectioners' sugar until frosting has reached your desired consistency.
For a thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar; to thin it out, you can always add a bit of milk.
Frost cake while frosting is still a little warm, it will start to set up as it sits.

This sheet cake remind me of my Cedar Family. We started a tradition of eating pumpkin anything for breakfast during the Sunday Morning Session of October General Conference, and this sheet cake is perfectly pumpkin-y, and I think would make a wonderful start to any day.
The penuche frosting reminds me of my favorite baker from the Cedar Family, Kim. She always made cake for our Cedar Family Functions, and one of the first cakes she brought had a penuche frosting. Which is really just a fancy way of saying brown sugar "caramel" frosting.