I'm hosting our local book club on September 8th, and I want to make a stunning cake for 10 people. I've read through lemon cake recipes, lime cake recipes, coconut cake recipes...can't make up my mind!
Help, please. Do you have a favorite delicious and stunning cake that you make when you need a drop-dead gorgeous dessert? Thanks in advance...
“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.” ~ Dave Barry Brenda
I just saved a recipe from Palma's blog that sounds perfect! It's a caramel cake that Palma said was her new all-time favorite, and it looked beautiful too! I don't have the link right now, but of course it's easy to find Palma's blog, or maybe she'll add her own commnets to this thread!
Brenda, I'm with the others, check Palma's blog, I'm sure you'll find inspiration. Another idea, next weekend we're having a bbq and I think I'm going to make the Lemon Zucchini cake in Dolce Italiano.
A friend of mine, a person who does not consider herself a great baker, made the following cake for Mah Jongg group a few months ago. It was pastisserie perfection and equally delicious. The recipe is from Paula Deen's magazine (March/April 2006) and, you will see, uses a boxed cake mix. That short-cut usually gets a look of disapproval from the Southern cooks I know but everyone in the group oohed, aahed and requested a copy of the recipe.
Irish Cream Cake
1 c. water 2 T. instant coffee 1 18.25 ounce box white cake mix with pudding 1/3 c. vegetable oil 3 large eggs, lightly beaten Irish Cream Frosting (recipe follows) 12 ounces slivered almonds, toasted and cooled
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 9-inch cake pans.
In a small bowl, combine water and coffee; stir until coffee has dissolved.
In a large mixing bowl, beat cake mix, coffee mixture, eggs and oil at medium speed for 2 min. or until combined. Pour batter into cake pans.
Bake for 20-22 min. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 min. Remove from pans and let cool.
Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Gently press toasted almonds over all of cake.
Irish Cream Frosting: 1/4 c. Bailey's Irish Cream liquor 1 1/2 T. instant coffee 1 c. butter, softened 4 c. confectioner's sugar
Combine Bailey's and coffee in a small bowl, stirring to combine.
In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add coffee mixture, beating well. Gradually add confectioner's sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
My Mah Jongg friend served the cake on a square cake stand and garnished with strawberries and mint. Lovely.
"I am a Southerner. I like the feel of these words. I could no more be otherwise than I could shed my outer skin or change the color of my eyes." Willie Morris
Posts: 1457 | Location: on the Alabama River | Registered: 22 July 2002
Hello friend! I don't often post on this thread, but I do want to share a to die for recipe for a coconut cake which is on the menu at Cedar Creek Inn . My mom has made this numerous times and always receives . I made it recently for my friend's birthday and it was a huge hit.
Cedar Creek Inn Coconut Cake:
Ingredients 1 (18 ounce) box yellow cake mix 4 eggs 3/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix 1-1/3 cups water 1/2 cup oil 1 cup chopped walnuts 2 cups shredded coconut, fresh or packaged, lightly toasted (divided)
Frosting 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons milk 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar 1-1/2 cups shredded coconut, fresh or packaged, lightly toasted
Directions For the cake: Combine cake mix, eggs, pudding mix, water and oil in a bowl. With wire whip attachment, mix at medium speed for 4 minutes. Fold in walnuts and 1-1/2 cups (lightly toasted) coconut by hand. Divide mixture evenly into three (9-inch) buttered and floured cake pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Cool completely.
For the frosting: Place cream cheese, vanilla extract and milk in bowl and combine in mixer, using paddle attachment. Gradually add powdered sugar while mixing. Continue to mix until smooth. Fold in 1-1/2 cups toasted coconut by hand. Spread frosting evenly onto tops only of 3 cake layers. Stack cakes and sprinkle top with remaining 1/2 cup toasted coconut.
Serve warm.
(I used my new Cuisinart hand mixer. I had no luck finding shredded coconut so I used flaked).
I think you couldn't go wrong with any of these! My coconut cake is easy and delish. I also have a recipe for a red velvet cake that will make you think you're in Savannah. Cheesecake is always a favorite too... Try this limoncello cheesecake. Palma's caramel cake looks amazing... I may have to wait till the Palma Dessert GTG for that!
Originally posted by Bags packed: ....uses a boxed cake mix. That short-cut usually gets a look of disapproval from the Southern cooks I know but everyone in the group oohed, aahed and requested a copy of the recipe.
If you're going to use a boxed mix, I DEFINITELY recommend Duncan Hines! I used them for years and never had a complaint!
How about Palma's oeey gooey cake?? She says it's wonderful and easy. I am making it this week.
Ida
Gooey Butter Cakes Recipe from: The Lady & Sons Just Desserts by Paula H. Deen
Cake
1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Filling
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.
Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.
Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares. Just remember that these wonderful little cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way-even for piggies like me!
Pumpkin Gooey: This variation has to be at the top of my list, especially around Thanksgiving. For the cake part, I sometimes use a spice cake mix. I have even used a chocolate cake mix, but I think my favorite is the basic yellow cake mix. Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-ounce can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Cut into squares and top each square with a pecan half. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. I promise you'll never want pumpkin pie again!
Pineapple Gooey: Add a 20-ounce can of drained crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.
Lemon Gooey: Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake. Add the juice (approximately 1/4 cup) and zest of 2 lemons to the cream cheese filling. Proceed: as directed above.
Carrot Cake Gooey: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.
Peanut Butter Gooey: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to cream cheese filling. You can sprinkle the top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts if you like. Proceed as directed above.
Chocolate Chip Gooey: Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Proceed as directed above.
Banana Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix. Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg. Proceed as directed above.
Nutty Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts to the cake mixture. Proceed as directed above.
Chippy Gooey: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, Heath Almond Toffee Bits or Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits into filling. Proceed as directed above.
Tres Leche Cake... for this decadent cake I use Emeril's cake recipe and Alton Brown's frosting ...This cake is better if you make it the day before and serve it with some sort of berries ...the links are:
Since everyone is recommending everyone's else's recipes, let me give you a winner of Deborah's. I made it for the first Desert GTG in 2006, and it was a hit then, and every time I've made it since. It is Deborah's "Lemon Blast Cake". Then I just changed the frosting to limoncello-cream cheese frosting.
2- boxes Duncan Heinz Super Moist lemon cake mix. 2 1/2- cups very strong lemonade Zest of three large lemons 1- 12 oz jar lemon curd 1/2 cup - Limoncello 2- containers pre-prepared creamy lemon icing
Follow the directions for the cake mixes, except substitute lemonade for water, and add the zest of two lemons.
Bake in four 9" round cake pans lined with parchment. Cool completely.
Melt the lemon curd in a small sauce pan with the limoncello. Bring to a slow boil and boil for about 6-8 minutes. Stir constantly. Set aside to cool slightly.
When curd and limoncello reduction is still slightly warm, arrange first cake layer on a plate and use a chopstick to poke about a dozen scattered holes.
Pour 1/4 of the curd mixture over top of layer and spread around. Frost top of layer with about 1/4 of one of the containers of frosting.
Arrange second layer on top and repeat the hole poking, lemon curd, and frosting process.
Then the third layer, and finally the 4th.
Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting
2 8 oz. packages cream cheese (room temp.) 2 cubes unsalted butter (room temp.) 4 c. powdered sugar zest from 3 lemons 1 t. vanilla 1 T. limoncello
Beat all ingredients until light and fluffy. Refrigerate for 30 min. before frosting cake.
Aiiiiyaiiii! I've just gained 17 pounds while reading this thread! You'd think with all of the salivating I did while reading, it might have balanced out... These are spectacular.
I served my luscious Pumpkin Pie Cake the last time I hosted book club, and they loved it. So, I kinda have to up my ante this time, if you know what I mean! I'm already getting questions about what I'm making for them.
This is a lovely thread! Thank you for sharing. I'm actually thinking about making 2 cakes, then after book club, taking the remaining cake to the hospital for the doctors and nurses. They love it when we deliver deliciousness to them for their night shift!
I've also served them my Death by Chocolate...a chocolate cake with chocolate chips and kahlua baked into the cake. Then, I ice it with that great Boiled Brown Sugar Fudge Icing my grandmother used to make and pour over her still-warm chocolate cakes. She always smiled when I'd peel the icing off my slice and immediately eat it, and then try to pawn the naked cake off on whoever else was sitting at the table with us. YUM!
"There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate." ~ Linda Grayson Brenda
Just for fun, I found this recipe on a cooking blog:
Paula Deen’s Butter Butter Cake
Butter, for greasing pan 2 cups butter 1 1/2 cups butter oil 1/4 cup butter juice 3 cups all-purpose butter 1 teaspoon baking butter 3 cups peeled and finely chopped butter 1 cup shredded butter 1 pinch of butter, for taste
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously butter a tube pan.
For the cake: In a large bowl, combine the butter, butter oil, butter juice, and baking butter; and mix well. Fold butter, butter, and butter into batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bathe in it until you go into cardiac arrest.
"I'm a cook, not a doctor!" ~ Paula Deen, when asked about her high-fat, high-sugar recipes Brenda
Leave the butter out few hours so you have it ready for when you start the preparation. Grate the chocolate-Be careful using the food processor, as the chocolate heats up while processing and melts- reduce the cookies into powder-I close them in a ziplock and use a ruler over it, until they are powdered- mount firmly all the whites with a tiny pinch of salt Beat well and mount up the yolks and sugar, add the softened butter, keep beating until you have a fluffy and soft cream.
Heat up the oven at 180°.
Mix in the flour, the amaretti and the chocolate, fold in the mounted whites. Line an oven plate with oven paper, transfer the mix and let it cook for 35-40 min
Zabaglione sauce
INGREDIENTS: I should say proportion really, if you need more, just double or triple the quantities.
2 egg yolks, 3 tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of liquor –vodka, grappa, martini dry, marsala, vin santo, wathever.. On a double boiler start to mount the yolks with the sugar and the liquor, stop mounting when the cream is soft and whitish, but still runny. Serve the sliced cake topped with the zabaglione sauce.
I have to also share my fav (and remember sweets are not my thing, but I do love this). And it's not a cake either... Make a key lime pie filling, BUT whip 2 of the egg whites and fold them into the creamy (4)egg yolk/(1 can)sweetened condensed milk/(1/2 cup)lime juice (just about the only time I use a can). THEN, and this is the secret - fill a crust made from Nabisco Famous Chocolate wafers. THEN and this is the real secret - serve with prosecco. It is wonderful how well they all 'marry'; the tart lime, the chocolate and the chilled bubbly dry wine!
I traveled with this pie in the heat, here in Italy, to a party and they still loved it, even tho it became key lime soup!
I'll grab that recipe for you, and also my grandma's boiled brown sugar icing, and post them for you!
My grandma poured that icing over her 9"x13" Pyrex cake pan full of still-warm chocolate cake, and the sweet caramel icing would sink down into every nook and cranny of that warm cake, encouraged by the warmth! Yumola!
I always asked her for a corner piece, because there was a huge deep puddle of that icing gathered on top of the cake there, just waiting for me. You want to know how much she loved me? I got all FOUR of those corner pieces, and no one else ever saw any of them on their plate, ever-ever.
She also made that same recipe, 4 times larger, for her brown sugar fudge that melted in my mouth and tasted like a small bite of sweet heaven.
"Grandmas are moms with lots of icing." ~ Author Unknown Brenda
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