Cake Balls - Guest Posting

Hey friends! I'm guest posting over at Sloanbook today. Sharing a delicious recipe for Cake Balls. I decided to make funfetti cake balls, (funfetti cake mix, rainbow chip frosting). But the great thing about cake balls is you can make them in any flavor you'd like.

So check out my recipe for cake balls over here, and while you're at it check out Ashley's adorable blog, where she writes about life in Colorado with her handsome husband and adorable pup Katinka.

Ps. They are a little time consuming, but the steps are all easy, and the result is delicious. You won't regret it!

Chocolate Swirled Cheesecake

Did you know that July 30th was National Cheesecake Day?! I had no idea until I saw something that a friend had posted on FB. Well on Friday I only had to work 4 hours, and because I hadn't been able to cook/bake very much during the week I was craving making something. So before work I started making a cheesecake. Now, my only other experience making a cheesecake was one of those brownie cheesecakes, and it was pretty good, but this was MUCH better. Anyway, I started making this before work, mixing everything together, but by the time I was ready to bake it I realized I didn't have the full hour required to bake it. So, I covered it and stuck it in the fridge. Then when I got home from work I brought it out of the fridge so it would be room temperature when baking it, and then we decided to go to a movie, so I stuck it back in the fridge. Anyway, this cheesecake FINALLY got baked on Saturday, which was in fact July 30th. And I finally ate a piece of it on National Cheesecake Day. So, I felt pretty festive and supportive of the holiday and all.

And well, this cheesecake was WELL worth the wait. It turned out to be absolutely delicious. Especially when topped with fresh strawberries. Yum. I will definitely be keeping this as the base recipe for any cheesecake I ever make again (unless you can prove me wrong by providing me with better homemade cheesecake)

3 1/2 (8 oz) packages cheesecake
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 eggs

1 cup sour cream
1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips

15 graham crackers (the whole bar is one cracker)

1 stick/1/2 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9 inch spring-form pan with cooking spray.
3. Melt butter in the microwave until liquid.
4. Mix graham crackers in food processor until crumb like.
5. In a medium sized bowl slowly add butter to graham cracker crumbs while stirring.
6. Press buttery crumbs into the bottom of the spring-form pan and create an even layer.
7. With kitchen aid, or hand mixer on low, combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
8. Mix in eggs one at a time.
9. Add sour cream, vanilla, flour and lemon juice and mix until smooth.
10. Pour filling into the spring-form pan on top of prepared crust.
11. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time stirring in between until smooth.
12. Pour chocolate on top of cheesecake in stripes and dollops.
13. Take a knife and run it through the chocolate from each direction to swirl it over the top of the cheesecake.
14. Bake in oven for 1 hour.
15. Turn oven off, open door and leave cheesecake in for 1 hour.
16. Remove cheesecake from oven and run a knife along the edge of the entire pan.
17. Cover cheesecake and put it in the fridge for 6 hours before eating.

18. Enjoy cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries and chocolate syrup.

Yum!

What is your favorite kind of cheesecake?

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

4 pieces Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate (we used half of a ghiradelli bar) 
½ cup Butter (1 stick)
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 Whole Eggs
2 Egg Yolks
6 TBS Flour

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spray 4 4oz ramekins with Pam and place on cookie sheet.
3. Put butter and chocolate in a large microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute, until butter is melted.
4. Whisk together until chocolate is also completely melted
5. Stir in powdered sugar, until well blended.
6. Stir in eggs and egg yolks
7. Stir in flour
8. Divide evenly between ramekins
9. Bake for 13 minutes, until sides are visibly firm, centers are soft.
10. Let stand for 1 minute.
11. Invert by placing a plate upside-down on top of one ramekin and flipping over. Shake a little until cake comes out.
12. Enjoy with a side of ice cream or topped with whipped cream.

 

These turned out really yummy. However, next time I make them I will either add more chocolate, more sugar, or try it with milk chocolate. They tasted pretty delicious and the inside was perfectly melty, but they weren't super sweet, and the chocolate flavor wasn't super strong. So I think a couple more pieces of chocolate, or maybe a mixture of semi-sweet and milk chocolate would do the trick to sweeten it. I'll have to experiment with it and hope it doesn't mess up the consistency.

Orange bundt cake

Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 orange
1 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
3 eggs


Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 orange
2 TBS butter, melted
1 TBS plain yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Zest one orange.
3. Cut orange in half and juice.
4. Mix one cup yogurt, orange juice and orange zest.
5. Pour cake mix in bowl.
6. Mix cake mix with eggs, vegetable oil, and water.
7. Mix cake mix and yogurt mixture.
8. Grease bundt cake pan.
9. Pour mixture in cake pan.
10. Cook for 35-40 minutes.
11. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes.
12. Take out of pan and let cool completely on wire rack.
13. Zest second orange.
14. Juice one half of second orange.
15. Mix powdered sugar, orange juice, melted butter and yogurt.
16. Add more powdered sugar or orange juice until it reaches the right consistency.
17. Poke holes in top of cake with fork.
18. Pour glaze over cake, making sure most of the extra pools in the middle.

Like I said before, I crave sweets! I was going to make this as a lemon cake, but since I had a couple of oranges at home, I decided that would be easier than going to the store to buy lemons.


Nate got jokingly mad at me yesterday because this was so good that he ate so much of it. I have to say, it was REALLY good. I kept picking pieces of it off throughout the night, it was so good, I just couldn't stop myself from eating it. We only have about 1/3 of the cake left maybe less, because we ate so much. Nate kept saying "because its fruity, it feels like it should be healthy." I don't think its healthy, but it can't be THAT bad for you either.


Anyway, I'll definitely be making this again sometime. Maybe not for a while, because Nate will get mad at me. I promised him I wouldn't make another dessert for a week, though we still have some of this left, and oreo cookie balls in the fridge and freezer.

coconut cake

It was Nate's birthday on Saturday, so Sunday evening we had a few friends over. He told me he wanted a coconut cake, and I was searching online for the best cake recipes I found one from epicurious that looked good. I got all the ingredients for the cake on Saturday, but then come Sunday afternoon I re-read the recipe and it said the cake took 3 hours to make. I didn't want to spend that much time making the cake (because I wanted to nap) so instead I used a yellow cake mix, with a couple small add-is. And I stuck with the frosting that the recipe called for.  I did however use shredded coconut instead of real coconuts, and instead of three layers, my cake was only two.

The cake turned out a little drier than I would have liked, but it was still good, and it was probably my own fault because I wasn't watching it/timing it closely. The frosting was a little runny, and I wasn't sure how to fix that, (also there was way too much) but it still tasted good, and even looked pretty too.

Here is a link to the recipe with Epicurious, if you want to make the actual thing. Otherwise, here is my recipe.

Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 stick of butter
water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract

Syrup
1 cup coconut
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar

Frosting/Filling
3 large egg whites
2 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 TBS light corn syrup
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag shredded coconut

cake
1. Preheat according to 375 (according to box)
2. Butter cake pan or spray with cooking spray.
3. Line bottoms of cake pans with parchment paper (I used waxed paper and cut it in circles) and spray paper.
4. Mix together cake mix, eggs, water and butter, according to directions on box.
5. Add in extracts, and mix together.
6. Pour cake mix evenly in pans.
7. Rap pans against the counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.
8. Bake cakes for 30-35 minutes, on upper rack (again, according to box)
9. Cool cakes in pans on racks 5 minutes.
10. Tun a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto racks.
11. Discard parchment and cool completely, about 1 hour ( I cooled in the fridge for about 30 minutes)

syrup
1. Simmer together coconut, water and sugar
2. Stir together until sugar has dissolved.
3. Blend for a few seconds (I did this just to make the coconut pieces a little smaller)
4. Set aside filling mix.
frosting/filling
1. Beat together egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Set bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat mixture at high speed until it holds stiff, glossy peaks, 5 to 3 minutes.
4. Remove bowl from heat and add vanilla.
5. Beat until frosting is cooled and very thick, 6 to 10 minutes. (like I said, mine never got super thick)
6.Transfer about 2 cups of frosting to another bowl and stir in 2 cups of coconut.
assembling cake
1. Put one layer of cake on a cake stand or large plate.
2. Brush top with one half of reserved coconut syrup.
3. Spread with half of filling (You could use all of it here, I put some on top too)
4. Put second layer or cake on top.
5. Brush top with remaining coconut syrup and spread with rest of filling.
6. Cover cake with frosting.
7. Put remaining shredded coconut on the entire cake, gently pressing to help it adhere.**

** I browned the coconut in the oven, stirring regularly to keep it from burning. This gave the cake a beautiful color, and made the coconut even more delicious.

Do you like peanut butter? Peanut butter Cupcakes

A few weeks ago our choir director made these cupcakes for the choir. She bribes us to come with treats - and they are really good treats!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Use a butter recipe cake mix. Follow the recipe on the cake mix but use only half the butter and the other half peanut butter. After all the mixing, stir in gently mini chocolate chips (around half a package). Put in cupcake tins and bake as on the recipe on the box.

Frosting: Cream 1 stick butter and 1 cup peanut butter. Then alternate powdered sugar and milk - a total of 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp milk. Put it in a ziplock bag, cut off one corner and swirl in on the cupcake to frost. Or you can go the lazy man way and have it not quite so pretty but just frost with a knife.

I like peanut butter!