Lemon Poke Cake

 I made this for my co-workers, and it was received very well. Lots of compliments. It wasn't over-the-top lemon flavour but a nice creamy complement to the vanilla cake and cream cheese frosting. A really nice light summer dessert. I got this recipe from HERE at Melissa's Southern Style Kitchen. 

Ingredients

• 1 15.25 oz box Golden Vanilla cake mix, plus water oil eggs to prepare (i.e. Betty Crocker)
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest
• 1 3.4 oz box instant lemon pudding
• 2 cups milk
• 1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp pure lemon extract
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 3 Tbsp lemon zest divided
• 2 Tbsp grated white chocolate
• Additional whipped cream and lemon slices for garnishing Optional
  
  

Instructions

• Cake: Prepare the cake mix per the package instructions using the amounts of water, oil and eggs called for. Add 1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest. Bake in a greased 13×9 inch cake pan until a toothpick inserted into the center comes back clean.
• Once baked, immediately poke holes all over the cake using the back of a wooden spoon or similar. Be generous.
• Pudding: While cake bakes in a medium size mixing bowl using an electric mixer, whip together the pudding mix and milk until thickened, but still pourable.
• Spread pudding over the cake gently pushing into the holes. Cool to room temperature. (This doesn't take long)
• Frosting: In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon extract.
• Add the heavy cream continuing to beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and fully combined and soft peaks form. Mix in 2 Tbsp lemon zest by hand.
• Frost the top of the cake garnishing with the remaining lemon zest and grated white chocolate. (Use additional whipped cream and lemon slices to decorate as pictured, if desired.)
• Chill for 4 hours or overnight before serving. Store leftovers chilled.

Orange Cardamom Loaf

 My niece had made these and brought one over. It was pretty good so I wanted to find a recipe for it. Not sure if this is the one she used but she did say it was Orange Cardamom. I made this for work and had lots of people say they really enjoyed it.  I had some oranges so this recipe came to mind. It is moist and so full of orange flavor. This recipe came from thegoldlininggirl.com. You can get to the original recipe HERE. 

INGREDIENTS

For Orange Cardamom Loaf Cakes:

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1-1/4 tsp. cardamom

2 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. whole milk

1 c. vegetable oil

3 large eggs

zest of 1 large orange about 2 tbsp.

2 tsp. orange extract (I didn't have this so I didn't add it - I added more zest)

2 tsp. vanilla

For Orange-Honey Glaze:

zest of 1 large orange about 2 tbsp.

juice of 1/2 orange about 1/4 cup

3 tbsp. honey (I did not add this it was sweet enough for me)

3 c. powdered sugar

For Orange Cardamom Loaf Cakes:

In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and cardamom.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, milk, oil, eggs, orange zest, orange extract, and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined.
Divide batter evenly between two well-greased or parchment paper-lined 8x4-inch loaf pans. (The loaves are sticky, so I prefer parchment paper, so they lift right out after cooling.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, or until edges are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool in pans for 15 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.

For Orange-Honey Glaze:

Whisk together glaze ingredients, adding a little water if needed to achieve desired consistency.
Spread cakes with orange-honey glaze. Cut and serve.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

 A co-worker brought some zucchini's to work so I grabbed one and made this recipe and brought it back to work. It is sooo .... not dry. :) It's so chocolatey and a great way to use up that zucchini. I got the recipe from HERE on allrecipes.com but I did my own tweaking so I wasn't using so much oil and added a spice ganache. I also baked it in a bundt cake pan. 
You should try this one...it's seriously so good! YUM

• Ingredients
• 2 cups flour
  2 cups white sugar
  3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  2 tsp baking soda
  1 tsp baking powder
  1/2 tsp salt
  1 tsp ground cinnamon
  4 eggs
  3/4 cup veg oil
  3/4 cup apple sauce
  3 cups grated peeled zucchini 
  3/4 cups semi-sweet choc chips
  3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  
  Ganache
  6 oz of semi-sweet choc chips (if you have a food scale use it otherwise it's about a cup)
  3/4 cup heavy cream (I kicked this up a notch and used full-fat egg nog) 
• Directions
  *Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan or 10 cups bundt cake pan.  
  *In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the eggs, oil, and apple sauce and mix well. Fold in the nuts, zucchini, and chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan. 
  *Bake for 50-60 mins in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before frosting. 
  
  Put choc chips in a small heatproof bowl like a cereal bowl. 
  Put cream or eggnog in a microwave save glass and heat up carefully in the microwave. It took me about 70 secs to heat up. Watch carefully because it will boil over quickly if it gets too hot and all microwaves are different. You could do 20 min intervals then stir in between each time. 
  Once the cream is hot but not boiling pour over chocolate chips, don't stir, and put a saucer over top and let sit for 30 secs. 
  Using a whisk take the saucer off after 30 secs and whisk chocolate and cream together until combined and smooth. Set in fridge for about 10 mins to cool and thicken slightly. Pour over the cake once the cake is cool. 
• You can garnish with chocolate chips or chopped walnuts if desired. 
• 
  

Blueberry Buckle

 I doubled this recipe and made it to take to work for a morning staff meeting and people really liked it. It's so yummy with a hint of lemon with the blueberries and then that crumble on top...oh yeah! It's something yummy to have as part of a brunch or on it's own. A nice change up from the ordinary. This recipe comes from Spend With Pennies. You can find the original recipe HERE.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup white sugar
• ▢¼ cup butter
• ▢1 egg
• ▢2 teaspoons lemon zest
• ▢1 ½ cups flour
• ▢2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢½ teaspoon salt
• ▢½ cup milk
• ▢1 tablespoon flour
• ▢1 ½ cups fresh blueberries

• ¼ cup butter + 1 tablespoon
• ▢¼ cup brown sugar
• ▢¼ cup white sugar
• ▢⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 pan.
• In a large bowl, cream sugar, butter, egg & lemon zest until fluffy.
• In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to sugar mixture, alternating with milk mixing just until combined.
• Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold into batter and spread in prepared pan.
• Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter and bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Blueberry Lemon Loaf with Lemon glaze

 I love everything lemon and when it is teamed with blueberries that is a win win in my books. I had some blueberries that were starting to go bad so I looked at Pinterest and this recipe came up. It is from Juliasalbum.com and you can find the original recipe HERE

It is so full of lemon and blueberry flavor and is so moist (yes I said the word) but seriously, it is! 

This one you really need to try. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

Blueberry Lemon Loaf

• 1/3 cup butter melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest grated (heaping - love lemon)
• 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen (heaping)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Lemon Glaze

• Lemon juice from one lemon (I get about 2 or more tbsps using my lemon juicer)
• I also had lemon zest left over so I added that to the glaze. 
• one tbsp of soft butter 
• Enough powdered sugar to make a nice consistency. Around 1/2 cup. I like it thicker. 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 
2. Butter a loaf pan, line the bottom and two sides of the pan with the parchment paper.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, 1 cup sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into egg mixture alternately with milk.
5. In the same bowl where you combined flour, add blueberries and toss them in 2 tablespoons of flour. This will help prevent blueberries from sinking.

6. Fold in lemon zest, and blueberries into the batter. Do it carefully and fast. Pour the lemon bread batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake in preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for a few minutes then take out to cool longer on a wire rack. 

Lemon glaze:

1. Combine freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest and some of the powdered sugar in a small bowl using a whisk to combine. Add softened butter and whisk to get lumps out. Add more powdered sugar if needed for the desired consistency. 

2. When the Loaf is cool add the glaze on top to cover. 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (for a crowd)

I have another post on here for individual pineapple upside-down cakes but this one is one big cake. I have a co-worker that loves this cake so I make this for her birthday. It really is yummy! So you can either make individual ones or if you are going to a pot luck or having a family gathering this is a great one to make. I'm sure you could also cut the recipe in half if you wanted as well. 

This recipe comes from hungerthirstplay.com You can find the recipe HERE
I love the caramelized brown sugar this cake creates. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Soft, light vanilla yellow cake soaked with caramelized brown sugar, butter, pineapple slices, and cherries.

INGREDIENTS

 4 1/2 cups (570g) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups (453g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3 1/2 cups (700g) granulated sugar

4 large eggs

4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240g) sour cream

2 cups (480ml) whole milk

TOPPING

2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter

2 cups (400g) brown sugar

2 cans sliced pineapple, drained

1 jar maraschino cherries, without stems

INSTRUCTIONS

-Preheat oven to 350°F.

-Prepare the pan: melt 2 sticks of unsalted butter and pour it into a 12 x 18 x 3 pan.  

Spread evenly over the pan.  Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter.  

Evenly distribute the sliced pineapple (5 rows of 4) in the pan with a cherry in the middle of each ring.  Set aside.

-Prepare the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.

-In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.  

Scrape down the bowl if needed and add the sugar.  Beat on medium-high until incorporated, about 1 minute.

-With the mixer on low and eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla and sour cream.  Scrape down the bowl if needed and increase speed to medium, mix for 1 minute.

-Working in two batches with the mixer on low, add 1/2 the flour mixture followed by half the milk.  Mix until incorporated and repeat with remaining ingredients.  Scrape down the bowl if needed, increase speed to medium and mix until ingredients are smooth and incorporated (about 1 minute.)

-Pour over prepared pan, spread evenly with a spatula – some of the butter may pool up around the sides, if this happens spread more cake batter in that area but don’t worry too much the edged of the cake should be buttery and gooey.  Bake on the middle rack in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.  The ‘top’ of the cake will brown slightly during baking and edges may crisp just a touch from the butter and brown sugar, but it is all part of the deliciousness!

-Let cool 20 to 30 minutes before serving.  To serve, turn cake over onto a large cutting board or serving platter. I turned mine onto a cookie sheet.  If the cake is turned over before the butter and brown sugar cool and thicken, it will leak all over if using the cutting board so be careful. 

Caramel Apple Poke Cake

I made this cake for work...got some good reviews and I pretty much loved it so here it is on my blog. You can find the original recipe HERE from Beyond Frosting. The picture is from there as well. 

This cake is even better the next day. Oh so yummy!!

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 box white cake mix

1/2 cup brown sugar

3.4 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp Caramel

2 tsp cinnamon

For the streusel:

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tbsp flour

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter

For the toppings: 

1 jar caramel sauce (I found a squeeze bottle you can warm up in the microwave)

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp cinnamon 

3/4 cup icing sugar

1 can apple pie filling

Toffee bits and caramel drizzle 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350

Prepare cake by combining cake mix with brown sugar, milk, vegetable oil, eggs, sour cream, caramel, and cinnamon. Stir just until combine. Pour half the cake mix in the bottom of a  9x13 pan and spread evenly. 

Prepare the streusel by combing all dry ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl: brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Add butter and microwave for 30-60 secs until butter is melted. Stir melted butter into dry ingredients. Sprinkle half the streusel mixture over the bottom of the pan and gently swirl with a knife. Pour remaining cake batter on top and sprinkle with remaining streusel. 

Bake cake for 24-28 or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven. While the cake is still warm, take the end of a wooden spoon or another round object and poke holes all over the top of the cake. 

Pour caramel sauce over the cake. Let the cake cool. Add apple pie filling over the cake and spread evenly. 

Add whipping cream to a chilled metal bowl add maple syrup, cinnamon, and icing sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Spread over cooled cake. 

Top with toffee bits and caramel drizzle. 

Strawberries and Cream Cake

I made this cake for another monthly birthday cake at work. I asked one of the co-workers who was having a birthday what kind of cake she wanted and she said anything but chocolate. Fair enough! I knew the other co-worker who was also having a birthday loved strawberries so the decision was made - it will be a strawberry cake. 

On my hunt for what I wanted to do, I came across two recipes that I sort of took from to create what I made. It turned out pretty good and I had lots of comments on how yummy it was. One said it was even better the next day - so I guess there's an idea to make it the day before -if you have a cool place to put it as the frosting is cream based. 

Hope you enjoy!

 Picture from Chelsea's Messy Apron. 

Ingredients for Cake

1 box of white cake mix

3 eggs

3/4 cup oil

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 cup + 2 Tbsp fresh or frozen but thawed strawberries pureed (keep the 2 Tbsp for the frosting)

1-3oz box strawberry jello (reserve 1 tsp for frosting)

Warm up the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and pour in a prepared 9x13 pan by spraying with a non-stick spray or coating with butter. 

Cook for 30-35 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. 

Frosting

1 1/2 cups of cream

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 cup icing sugar, divided

1 -8oz package of cream cheese, softened to room temp

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp strawberry puree

1 tsp strawberry jello

fresh strawberries

In a bowl beat the whipped cream, lemon, and 1/2 cup icing sugar in a bowl until peaks form. You can transfer the whipped cream to another bowl if using a stand mixer or in another bowl add the softened cream cheese and beat until nice and smooth. Add icing sugar, vanilla, strawberry jello, and strawberry puree and mix until well blended. 

Fold in half the whipped cream and blend well then fold in the last half of whipped cream and blend well again. 

Frost the cake

cut up fresh strawberries and put on top of the cake. 

Enjoy!

Blackberry Lemon Cake Roll

I made this cake for one of the monthly birthday cakes I do at work. It was so light and yummy and enjoyed by all. I will definitely make this one again and again. You could also do raspberries or strawberries. This recipe comes from Natasha's Kitchen and you can get the original recipe HERE.

Pictures also from Natasha's Kitchen. I love her recipes. 

INGREDIENTS:

Sponge Cake

5 large eggs -room temp

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

For the Lemon Syrup

1/4 cup warm water

1 Tbsp sugar

4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon-about 1 large lemon (don't use concentrate, it's gross)

For the Blackberry Frosting

8oz cream cheese softened

8 Tbsp (113 g) which is approx 1/2 cup, unsalted butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

6 oz blackberries chopped (reserving 6 whole berries to garnish)

Optional Garnish

3/4 heavy whipped cream chilled

1 Tbsp powdered sugar

2 lemon slices cut into triangles

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom of an 18x13 baking sheet (this is a large cookie sheet) with parchment paper (do not grease).

2. Add 5 eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment and beat on high speed 1 min, or until foamy, Gradually add sugar and beat on high 7 mins (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - so don't skimp on the time). it will be thick, fluffy and tripled in volume. 

3. Whisk together flour and baking powder and sift into egg batter one third at a time, folding to incorporate between each addition and scraping from the bottom to catch hidden flour pockets. Stop mixing when you no longer see streaks of flour. 

4. Transfer to lined baking sheet and bake right away at 350 for 13-15 min (mine took about 16 mins) or until top is golden. Remove from oven and right away run a thin-edged spatula or knife around edges of your cake to loosen from the pan. While cake is hot, invert cake face down onto a clean linen towel that has been dusted with icing sugar. Remove parchment paper, dust with powdered sugar on top and then roll up into the towel. Let the cake cool to room temp (30min-1hr) in a draft-free room. 

5. Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for lemon syrup (water, sugar, lemon juice) stir to dissolve sugar and set aside. 

6. In a large mixing bowl, combine 8 oz softened cream cheese, 8 Tbsp softened butter and 1 cup powdered sugar. Beat together starting on low speed to incorporate sugar, then turn the mixer up to high speed for 2-3 mins or until whipped, white and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add coarsely chopped blackberries and stir into the cream with mixer on low or by hand, just until incorporated. 

7. Carefully unroll cake and loosen from the towel. Brush the top evenly with your lemon syrup (you might not need all of it but use a good portion). Put dollops of blackberry frosting over the surface and spread evenly. Roll the cake tightly in the same direction you rolled it before. Slice off the crusty ends if desired and dust generously with powdered sugar. 

8. Whip the whipped cream and sugar and transfer into a piping bag with a star tip. Make 6 flowers over the top and garnish with blackberries and lemon triangles. 

Enjoy!