Tag Archives: easy

Quick & Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Veronica

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These aren’t your typical pumpkin muffins disguised as cupcakes with a swirl of frosting. Using a cake mix not only makes these a cinch to throw together, but gives the desired light texture of a cupcake.

Libby’s Quick & Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes
from www.verybestbaking.com

1 (18.25 oz) spice cake mix
1 can (15 oz) Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 container (16 oz) prepared cream cheese or vanilla frosting (I made my own with this recipe)

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Paper-line or grease 24 muffin cups.

BLEND cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, oil and water in large mixer bowl until moistened. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

BAKE for 18 to 23 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (mine were done in 17 minutes). Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Spread cupcakes with frosting. Decorate with assorted sprinkles, if desired.

YUMMY!!!

I used pumpkin spice icecream topping to drizzle over the top of those in the photo before the recipe. It’s a seasonal item and if you can’t find it, you could use caramel topping and mix in some pumpkin butter & spices.

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Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged cream cheese frosting, cupcakes, easy, pumpkin, quick. Bookmark the permalink.

Easy Banana Cupcakes

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Veronica

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
The black walnuts are optional, but I really think they add a wonderful depth of flavor to the cakes.

Cake
1 yellow cake mix
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large)
1 T sour cream
1/3 c oil
3 eggs
¾ c water
1 c black walnuts (optional)

Frosting
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter, softened
2 lbs powdered sugar
Pinch salt
1 t vanilla
Milk, as necessary

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with liners.

Put all the cake ingredients, except for the black walnuts, in a mixing bowl and beat on low until moistened, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the black walnuts and fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Cool on wire rack in the pans for 10 minutes, then take out of the pans and cool completely on rack.

For frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy. Beat in everything but the milk until well blended and fluffy. If it is too thick, you can add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until you get your desired consistency. Frost the cooled cupcakes.

Banana Cupcakes, with and without nuts.

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Easy Coconut Layer Cake

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Veronica

This year I told Dennis and everyone else that the only thing I wanted for my birthday was a cake made by him. He took on the challenge enthusiastically. Keeping his skill level in mind (the first and last cake he baked was ten years ago), I came up with this cake for him to prepare which uses a box mix and Cool Whip for the frosting. Watch the video to see what we all thought of it!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

If the video doesn’t play for you, you can click here to watch it on Myspace.

Easy Coconut Layer Cake
This cake has a filling that soaks in while it chills in the refrigerator for three days, making it super moist!
Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

Cake
1 white cake mix
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup vegetable
¼ cup water
4 egg whites

Filling
¾ cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup coconut milk
½ cup shredded, sweetened coconut

Frosting
16 oz Cool Whip
1-2 cups toasted coconut (sweetened, shredded)

Beat cake ingredients on low for two minutes, scraping sides of bowl. Pour into two 8 inch round cake pans that have been greased and floured and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sit pans on wire racks for ten minutes, then invert and allow to cool completely, about an hour.

Prepare filling while cake cools. Stir together sugar, sour cream, milk, and coconut in a bowl until well blended.

Cut each cake layer in half to make four layers total. Place one layer on a cake plate and spread ¼ of the filling (about ½ cup) over it. Repeat with additional layers, putting the last ¼ of the filling on the very top. (At this point, Dennis poked straws, cut to the height of the cake, through the layers to keep them from shifting). The filling will leak out between the layers so once you’ve got them all stacked and the filling in place, spread the extra that leaked out all around the edges of the layers so that the filling will keep the sides moist and soak in there as well.

Place in a cake box or container and refrigerate for 24 hours to let the filling soak in somewhat.. Frost with Cool whip on day two and on day three, sprinkle with the toasted coconut just prior to serving.

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Easy Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Veronica

It started with Red’s white bread and now I can’t stop. Once I realized just how easy making bread with my own hands can be, I haven’t been able to keep them out of the dough! I haven’t had to buy bread at the store for a month now and I really don’t ever want to again. This loaf is my latest bread victory.

Easy Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread
Adapted from http://www.thecookingphotographer.com

Ingredients
1 cup oats (I used old-fashioned rolled oats)
3 cups flour, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons rapid acting/instant dry yeast
1 1/3 cups warm buttermilk
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oats, 2 cups of the flour, salt and yeast.

Measure the wet ingredients over the dry and stir until well incorporated. Slowly stir in the remaining flour until the dough is too thick to stir, then commence kneading in the flour. You can turn it out of the bowl, but I always leave it in the bowl and knead it that way so as not to dirty another surface. Knead for five minutes.

Shape the dough into a loaf, place in a greased bread pan, and spray the top with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for one hour.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees. After the dough has doubled in size, remove the plastic wrap and bake for 30 minutes until browned.

After baking, remove the bread from the pan onto a cooling rack. Brush the top with melted butter and cool completely.

Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cake

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Veronica

I had today off and finally had the time to make a cake for the December babies in my family–Dennis, Danielle and Lacey. Yes, I’m horrible. Yes, I’m the worst wife and sister on the planet. Yes, I only made one cake for all three birthdays. And I didn’t even bother decorating it. But there were NO complaints, let me tell you. I do not have the vocabulary to express just how awesome the flavor of the buttercream is. If you like cherry cordials, you’ll love this cake.

I know not many will appreciate this blog since it’s New Year’s Day and you most likely wrote “LOSE WEIGHT” at the top of your resolutions (again), but save the recipe for Valentine’s Day–by then you’ll have lost enough weight to afford a slice and your sweetheart will be clamoring for cake since you banned it from the house for the last two months.

Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cake

1 Devil’s Food Cake, prepared according to package directions
1 recipe Cherry Chocolate Buttercream (recipe follows)
Marashino/Candied/Fresh cherries
Sliced almonds (optional)
Dark chocolate chips (optional)

Frost the cake with the buttercream and embellish with the cherries, almonds and chocolate chips or whatever else you want to use.

Cherry Chocolate Buttercream

3 sticks butter, room temperature, soft
4 ½ cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cherry extract
¼ cup + 2 tbsp. milk
1 1/3 cups cocoa powder
1 ½ oz. melted semisweet chocolate

Beat butter; Add sugar and mix until moistened. Add salt, extract, milk, and chocolates. Beat until fluffy and desired consistency, several minutes. Makes enough to fill and frost two 8 or 9 inch layers, plus more for decorating.

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Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Veronica

I’ve made a lot of fudge this year and I’ve finally come up with a basic fudge recipe that I really like. It is non-temperamental, doesn’t require that you heat it to a certain temperature, doesn’t get grainy, and is rich and dense and gooey. You can use it as a base and add different things like nuts, liqueur, or candy. Here’s the basic recipe and notes on how to turn it into the dark chocolate peppermint fudge (my picture shows just the regular fudge with the peppermint but I later tried using dark chocolate, which I think tastes better with the peppermint).

Veronica’s Basic Fudge

1 (12-oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Fill a medium saucepan about 2 inches deep with water. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, dump everything but the vanilla and nuts in a metal bowl and set it on top of the saucepan so that it’s suspended over the hot water. Stir the contents intermittently while it heats, until everything is melted and thoroughly combined. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and nuts (if you are using). Pour into a buttered 8×8″ pan and refrigerate at least overnight before cutting. Makes about 2 lbs. Lasts forever (I’ve kept some up to two months without it getting dry or going bad) tightly covered at room temperature.

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fudge: substitute dark chocolate chips (I use Hershey’s Special Dark) and sprinkle Andes peppermint baking chips on top once the fudge is poured in the dish and smoothed. You don’t have to wait for it to cool first. You could also use crushed peppermints if you don’t mind crunchy fudge.