JenniferDyer.net

Tag Archive for recipe

31 May 2012

Bundt cake crumbles…

by Jennifer Dyer

Snickerdoodle bundt cake

You ever have those times when you realize you need a quick dessert … NOW?

Today was one of those moments. Normally, I can pull off a bundt cake in my sleep. I’ve mastered the art of tossing ingredients into a bundt pan and having it turn out wonderful.

Mostly.

So, the other day I had some cinnamon sugar mixture left over from a batch of Snickerdoodles. What to do? I decided to see if I could make a Snickerdoodle cake. Although I can’t eat most of what I bake, I was told this one turned out delish! (That is the recipe I will share with you, BTW). It was beautiful. The top had a crisp layer of cinnamon sugar topping and the inside was moist. It smelled divine.

So, this morning I realized I wanted to give a token of thanks to the office at Rachel’s school for all the times they have helped us. They work so hard to accommodate Rachel’s specific needs, even letting us in a different door sometimes when there are too many people in the office. They have gone a long way to make school great for my little one with autism.

As I’m short on funds, I thought: I’ll bake a cake. I can get that done between both girls’ award ceremonies.

So, I thought the Snickerdoodle bundt cake was a great idea. It would have been, except I used too much cinnamon sugar, and the cake stuck to the pan. Not to be beaten (ha. ha…) by a cake, I took the top half to the school anyway and served the bottom half to the kids after school. If speed of consumption is any judge, the cake tasted fabulous. (The little sharks had it eaten almost before I set it down.)

So, all that being said, here is what I did the first time. Sorry I didn’t take a pic of that one!

Mix together:

1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs (beat them with a fork before adding to cake mix)
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup flavored beverage. I have used rum or orange juice with this one. You could also use just one total cup of water.)
1 teaspoon cinnamon added with the cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding

Grease bundt pan. {Here is where I went wrong. I just used a plain cooking spray. Either use the spray with flour in it or coat the pan with butter and shake flour over the butter until the entire cooking surface is covered.}

Mix together:

1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 teaspoons (or up to 1 Tablespoon) cinnamon, depending on how strong you want the flavor.

Sprinkle the bottom of the greased bundt pan with half of the sugar mixture. Swirl the other half of the sugar mixture into the cake batter with a knife or thin spoon just before you add it to the cake pan. You could also add half the batter into the pan then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the batter before adding the rest of the batter.

Bake 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes. Cake is done with toothpick or skewer comes out clean.

Let me know how it turns out for you!

Jennifer | No comments | Tags: cinnamon bundt cake, easy cake mix variations, recipe

15 Oct 2010

Recipes

Spooky Halloween Graveyard Cake.

by Jennifer Dyer

Spooky Graveyard Halloween Cake

With Halloween around the corner, I thought I would pass along this Halloween Graveyard Cake cake idea that is popular with young and old alike.

I’m no Ace of Cakes, but that means if I can do it, you can too.

For the cake: I used a 15×11 sheet cake pan. A 9×13 would work, but you won’t have as much room. You can put two 9×13 cakes together to make the scene bigger. Just make sure your cake board is large enough. (Cake boards are available at specialty cake stores, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Wal Mart in the Wilton isle.) You can also use a cookie sheet.

Frost the cake (I’ve used white and chocolate frosting. BTW, I always use chocolate frosting instead of brown food coloring.) I’ve included the recipes I use in this post.

Graveyard Cake

On the white cake, I used buttercream frosting tinted green and piped on vines. I put the names in the shaky vine handwriting. (It is hard to read because some of it is in Russian.) I wish the picture did the cake more justice. It didn’t look quite as busy in person as it does in the photo.

For the ghosts:

Dip Nutter Butter cookies into white chocolate.
Lay on wax paper to dry.
Once dry, use black piping gel (I used Betty Crocker brand) to pipe on eyes and mouths.
Stick the ghosts into the cake about 1/4 of their length into the cake so they stay up and that helps to keep the ghost shape.

For tombstones:

I used Keebler Deluxe Grahams (Chocolate covered graham cracker cookies.)
With white buttercream frosting or gel, pipe words onto the tombstone.
I used a spider candy mold and melted milk chocolate to make the spiders that I placed around the chocolate cake.
For the red tombstones, you can use the larger sized ice cube trays. (I had a rectangle candy mold for small bars.) Just fill about an 1/8 inch thick with red melted chocolate (candy melts are available at cake stores or craft stores such as Michael’s and Hobby Lobby). When hardened, dump out of tray and put on cake.

For grave sites, I used crushed oreos to make it look as though the graves had been opened recently.

Deluxe Grahams lined the bottom like a fence. I decided against using them as tombstones this time because my friend’s son wanted the ghosts to be coming out of the graves. (I wish I had put faces on those ghosts!)

Jenn’s favorite chocolate buttercream frosting:

I based this off of the recipe on the back of the Hershey’s cocoa box, but I use my own set of directions.

1 stick of butter (softened, but not melted)
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cups cocoa (Hershey’s is my fav)
1/3 cup evaporated milk or cream. (I prefer the evap. milk)
1 to 2 tsp. vanilla (Mexican vanilla is my fav, but it is NOT gluten free.)

Using the flat mixer paddle, beat softened butter and half of cocoa & powdered sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Add the rest of the dry ingredients. If too stiff, add a little more milk. Too wet? Add some more powdered sugar.

You’ll need a double batch for an 11×15 sheet cake.

Variation: