Strawberry Cake

My sister-in-law's birthday is July 1st, and Walter's is July 31st. Because of this, they usually have a joint party in mid-July to celebrate both.

Strawberry Cake



I found the recipe for this cake here at Country Living. It was well-loved, very moist with a great strawberry flavor. I do wish I had added more food coloring than I did, because it was not as pink as I wanted it to be, but that is purely an aesthetic issue that nobody seemed to mind.

I used marshmallow fondant to cover and decorate. I used the star imprint mat from Wilton to get the star design on the cake--it was really easy to work with, but I do suggest spraying the mat with nonstick cooking spray before you use it. It's a silicone mat and very easy to clean. I liked it a lot.

I used vanilla cream for the filling and placed fresh strawberry slices between the layers. It was a perfect summer cake.

Ingredients
-2 1/2 cups cake flour
-1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-3/4 cup butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-1 cup strawberry preserves
-4 eggs
-3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/8 teaspoon red food coloring
-1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9- or 10-inch cake pans and set aside.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, and set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add strawberry preserves and vanilla and mix well.
4. Add eggs to butter mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add dry mixture to butter mixture in thirds, alternating buttermilk between additions, beginning and ending with the dry mixture and beating well after each addition. Add food coloring and mix well.
6. Divide batter evenly among cake pans. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes or until a pick inserted in the cake's center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Last week, I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Not a new recipe, but I realized that I have far too many oats that need using up. A coworker of Walter's recommended that I use fruit in the cookies one week, so I decided to give it a try.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies



These had a good taste, but I thought they had a sort of strange, gummy texture. Walter said they tasted okay. They were very moist and fell apart easily.

I found the recipe here at Allrecipes. I was originally going to add dried cherries as well, but I did not buy enough of them, and my car is currently non-functioning.

Ingredients
-1/2 cup margarine, softened (I used butter)
-1/2 cup honey
-1 egg
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-3/4 cup stone ground whole wheat flour (I used all-purpose flour)
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spice)
-1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
-1 apple, cored, peeled, and chopped
I also added 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine/butter, brown sugar (if using), honey, egg and vanilla until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice.
4. Combine dry ingredients with butter mixture and mix well. Stir in oats and chopped apple.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 or until light golden brown. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Caramel Apple Banana Cheesecake

Terry, one of Walter's co-workers had a birthday. I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, and he gave me a recipe for a caramel apple cheesecake. Then, he asked if I could add bananas. As you all probably know, I have a bad track record with cheesecakes. However, I gave it a shot, and it turned out great!

Caramel Apple Banana Cheesecake



Terry found the recipe here at Razzle Dazzle Recipes. It was actually surprisingly easy for a cheesecake, and it was apparently very good. I wanted to get a picture of it cut, but I did not. I was told that it was very sweet, which surprises me absolutely none. I added bananas to the recipe per his request, which I am sure only added to the sweetness.

Ingredients
-24 cinnamon graham crackers
-10 Tablespoons butter, melted
-1 cup sugar, divided
-1 21-ounce can apple fruit filling
-2 bananas, sliced thin
-16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, softened
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup caramel topping
-2 Tablespoons chopped pecans

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make crust, crush graham crackers and combine with butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Mix until combined and press into 9-inch greased springform pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
3. Measure 1/2 cup of apple pie filling and set aside. Spoon remaining filling into crust. Layer 1/2 of bananas on top of filling
4. Beat together cream cheese, remaining sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add eggs and beat well. Pour over apple filling.
5. Bake 35 minutes or until center is nearly set. Cool.
6. Mix reserved apple filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan. Heat about 1 minute.
7. Arrange apple banana slices and around outside edge of cheesecake. Spoon caramel sauce onto the cheesecake and spread evenly. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Banana and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake Bites

I had leftover cake after Father's Day, as always. I found some peanut butter flavored Wilton candy melts, so I decided to dip the chocolate chip cake in those. I also ground some chocolate chips up and threw them in with the cake and frosting because the cake I had leftover didn't really have any chocolate chips in it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake Bites



I thought the peanut butter was a great addition to these. They were wonderful.

Ingredients
-1 recipe Chocolate Chip Cake
-1/2 cup vanilla cream
-Witon's Candy Melts, peanut butter flavor
-6 ounces ground chocolate chips

Directions
1. Crumble prepared cake into crumbs. Mix in vanilla cream and chocolate chips until well combined.
2. Roll cake mixture into small balls. Dip in melted peanut butter candy and cool on wax paper. Drizzle with additional chocolate if desired.

Banana Cake Bites



These were my favorite. I considered dipping them in peanut butter as well, but I only bought one bag and used it all on the others.

Ingredients
-1 recipe Banana Cake
-1/2 cup vanilla cream
-Wilton's candy melts light cocoa and white

Directions
1. Crumble prepared cake into crumbs. Mix in vanilla cream until well combined.
2. Roll cake mixture into small balls. Dip in melted chocolate or white chocolate and cool on wax paper. Drizzle with additional chocolate if desired.

WC Nesties Summer Exchange

My items arrived! My secret Elfster nestie was jennal78, and she did a fantastic job!



She sent me the 2009 Wilton's Cake Decorating Yearbook, three packages of fun cupcake liners, an oven mitt (in my favorite color!), and a mix for a Key Lime Cheese Ball, which sounds delicious!

Thanks, jennal78! I can't wait until the fall exchange!

Tiki Idol Cake

This cake was for my father. He collects tiki idols, and so this cake was born.



I liked this cake much better, aesthetically. It also tasted fantastic. It was a banana cake with vanilla cream filling, and there were sliced bananas and strawberries between each layer. It was covered and detailed with marshmallow fondant.

Banana Cake

This tasted like banana bread but with the fluffy cake texture. I found the recipe here at Cooks.com. I was very pleased with it. I also altered this one a small bit.

Ingredients
-1 1/4 cups sugar
-1/2 cup butter
-2 eggs, lightly beaten
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-4 tablespoons sour cream
-1 cup banana puree
-1 1/2 cups cake flour
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1 4-ounce package banana cream instant pudding

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 8-inch square pan and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs.
3. Dissolve baking soda in sour cream and add to batter. Add remaining ingredients and beat well.
4. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until pick inserted comes out clean.

Harley Davidson Cake

I made two cakes today. I think the quality of this one (which I made second) suffered because of it. But it's for my father-in-law, who has never seen one of my decorated cakes, so maybe he won't realize that it's not my best work. ;)

Father-in-law collects Harley Davidson memorabilia, so I decorated the cake accordingly.



I made a chocolate chip cake with a vanilla cream filling. I used marshmallow fondant for all of the details except the writing on the logo, which I did with Wilton's Icing Writers.



Chocolate Chip Cake

This cake tasted like a chocolate chip cookie. It was fabulous and incredibly moist. I did make a few changes, so I will write the recipe as adapted. The original recipe can be found here at Recipezaar.

Ingredients
-2 1/4 cup cake flour
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 1/4 cups sour cream
-3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-3 eggs
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1 12-ounce package chocolate chips
-2 additional teaspoons flour

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 8-inch cake pans and set aside.
2. Combine first nine ingredients in large bowl and mix until smooth and well combined.
3. Combine cinnamon and additional flour in a small bag. Add chocolate chips and shake until they are coated. Fold into batter.
4. Pour batter into pans and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a pick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Vanilla Cream

This tasted just like vanilla ice cream! It was fantastic. This recipe makes about twice as much as was needed for this cake.

Ingredients
-2 cups heavy whipping cream
-2 cups powdered sugar
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and mix until thickened.