Pineapple Upside Down (Cup)Cake

So in our movement to eat healthier I told Charlie I had to find a cookbook with healthy recipes that I would be excited about making. I've tried searching the web for recipes and I just end up frustrated. So I did some searching on Amazon and came up with this...
We went to Barnes and Noble and I looked through it to see if I thought it was worth it. I think I will LOVE this cookbook! It's great because the whole beginning of the book is about how to cook healthy with recipes you already have. Simple swatches in a recipe can make it healthy without losing the test. Now you may say that I didn't need a book to tell me that, but I do! She explains how you can't always substitute and keep the flavor. She gives tips on what substitutions work with what kinds of recipes. Like in this recipe, you don't want to replace all the flour with whole wheat for taste purposes. So you replace some. I really do love this book! Every recipe she has tells you what she did to make it healthier and breaks down the calorie points before the healthy switches and after.

For example, in this recipe she "reduced calories and fat by:"

• Using light butter in place of regular
• Replacing the oil with applesauce
• Using low-fat buttermilk instead of whole milk
• Using egg whites instead of whole eggs

Calories before...207
after...152

Fat g before...8
after...1

(per serving)

Too bad my favorite part of this thing is the top...the part with all the brown sugar and butter . :) These were not my favorite. Charlie liked them once he ate a couple, but it definitely wasn't love at first bite. I sent some to my brother's house...no word from them. And we gave some to friends who said they liked it, but I'm not sure if I believe them!

I think I'm just not used to "healthy eating." The tops were great, but the bottoms were too dry. Not moist like pineapple upside down cake should be! This was disappointing! I'm hoping the other recipes in this book are better!

Pineapple Upside Down (Cup)cakes
Source: More Healthy Homestyle Cooking

1/4 C packed brown sugar
2 T light butter, melted
6 maraschino cherries, halved
8 oz crushed pineapple, drained
1 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C whole-wheat flour
2/3 C sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
2/3 C 2% buttermilk
1/3 C unsweetened applesauce
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 400. Lightly coat a muffin tin with nonstick spray.

In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and butter. Divide evenly in muffin tin. Place one half of a cherry, cut side up, in the center of each muffin cup. Divide the pineapple evenly among muffin cups. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ginger. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

In another bowl, combine milk, applesauce, egg whites, and vanilla. Pour into the flour well and stir until moistened.

Hummingbird Cake

I love hummingbird cake! My first experience with it was at the Table Talk Cafe in Wilmington. If you live in Wilmington you HAVE to visit The Salt Shaker bookstore and connected to it, the Table Talk Cafe. They are both owned by 2 sisters that I used to go to church with. I love both of these places and miss them now that we're not in Wilmington! The cafe has delicious desserts!


So for my birthday, I decided to make myself a hummingbird cake. If you've never had hummingbird cake it's similar to a carrot cake, but without the carrots! I originally wanted hummingbird cake as my wedding cake, but then sampled the delicious cake we had and changed my mind. ANYWAYS! This cake is delicious, but very sweet. It was WAY too much for the two of us! Be sure to have someone to share it with!



Hummingbird Cake
Source: The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking


Cake (3 layers)
3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 C sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 C vegetable oil
1/2 C buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (8 oz) can crushed pinapple, not drained
1 C chopped pecans
2 C mashed ripe bananas (5 or 6 bananas)
1 C coconut


Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. Add the eggs, oil, and buttermilk, stirring until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do NOT beat! Stir in the vanilla, pineapple, pecans, bananas, and coconut. Pour the batter into 3 greased and floured 9" round pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes. Cool in pans 15 minutes and then cool completely on wire racks.


Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 C butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
16 oz package of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 C chopped pecans


In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Gradually add the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and stir in the pecans.

Hot Chocolate Cake

This cake was delicious! Please don't confuse it with a chocolate cake that is hot...not the same thing! This is a cake form of the yummy winter drink! I made one loaf and 7 muffins out of the batter. I'm sure you could make it as a regular sheet cake and just adjust the cooking time. The original blogger of this recipe also mentioned making mini-loaves and giving them as gifts.



Hot Chocolate Cake
Source: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody


Cake
10 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ C sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ C all-purpose flour
½ C sweetened hot chocolate mix (powdered)
¼ C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows and an additional 1 ½ cups for the topping

Preheat oven to 350. Spray three 6-x-3 ½ inch mini loaf pans, one large loaf pan, or muffin tins with baking spray or butter and flour them.

cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time. Beat for 1 minute after each addition. Scape down the sides of the bowl and the bottom of the bowl after each addition.

Sift together the hot chocolate mix, cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl.

In another small bowl mix together the buttermilk and vanilla extract.

Alternating, starting with the dry ingredients first, in thirds to the butter mixture.

Fold in chocolate chips and marshmallows using a spatula. Fill pans 2/3 of the way with batter.

Bake for 45-50 (muffins...20) minutes or until a wooden skewer or cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack. Glaze when cool.


Glaze
2 C powdered sugar
1/3 C sweetened hot chocolate mix (powdered)
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup hot milk

In a medium bowl, add the hot milk and hot chocolate. Whisk until hot chocolate granules have dissolved. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder and whisk until glaze is smooth and shiny. If too thick, you can add more milk.

Pour glaze over loaf. Add a sprinkling of marshmallows. Press them into the glaze so they stick a little. With remaining glaze, go back over with another coating of glaze over the top of the marshmallows.

Apple Snack Cake

I didn't have the ingredients to make this the way I was supposed to...SO I improvised. The cake was really moist and I'm sure it would be better the original way, more cake like. It was still delicious!



Apple Snack Cake
adapted from: The Way the Cookie Crumbles


2 apples, cut into cubes
1 C apple cider
1½ C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
⅔ C sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
⅛ tsp ground cloves
1 C unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
½ tsp table salt
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray.


Bring apples and cider to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat; cook until liquid evaporates and mixture appears dry, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, whisk flour and baking soda in medium bowl to combine; set aside. In second medium bowl, whisk sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Measure 2 tablespoons sugar-spice mixture into small bowl and set aside for topping.


In food processor, process cooled dried-apple mixture and applesauce until smooth, 20 to 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl as needed; set aside. Whisk egg and salt in large bowl to combine. Add sugar-spice mixture and whisk continuously until well combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add butter in three additions, whisking after each. Add applesauce mixture and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients; using rubber spatula, fold gently until just combined and even moistened.

Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Sprinkle reserved 2 tablespoons sugar-spice mixture evenly over batter. Bake until wooden skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Run knife along cake edges without parchment to release. Remove cake pan by lifting parchment overhand and transfer to cutting board. Cut cake and serve.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Yum, yum, yum! I came across this recipe on Annie's Eats. I was debating whether to make this pound cake recipe or my MawMaw's. I went with this one because it has the butter. Butter makes everything better. My grandma's calls for shortening. I felt this was a truer pound cake. Turns out this is the same recipe my mom used for her wedding cake. Get this...she made her own! My mom, with some help from her sisters and a friend, made her own wedding cake... from scratch, without a Kitchenaid mixer. I know a lot of people make their own, but hers was gorgeous! I wish I could find a picture to post for you. It looked so professional. When we got married the thought of making my own cake made me cry. So $350 later I had a beautiful and delicious cake and some time on my hand. Maybe we should have tried it.

Okay, so do you know the history of the pound cake? It's not called a pound cake because you gain a few pounds. Although, you probably will! It's because a traditional pound cake called for a pound of butter, sugar, and flour. Also, most cakes call for some sort of leavener...like baking soda. Pound cake does not. Pound cake gets it's rise from all the air in the batter. So get ready to beat!

I made one loaf and 24 mini bundt cakes with extra batter left over!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Source: my mom and Annie's Eats

1 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temp.

8 oz. cream cheese, room temp.

3 C sugar

6 large eggs, room temp.

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

3 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter and flour your pan. Combine the butter and cream cheese together with a mixer on medium speed. Add the sugar, cream together on high for at least 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl when needed. Mix in vanilla and almond. Add in the flour and salt and mix together.

Pour the batter evenly into the pan. Smooth out the top of the batter. Bake until golden brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Cooking times...

Bundt cake: 75 minutes

Mini Bundt cakes: 18 minutes

Loaf Cake: 60 minutes

For the sauce...

This was so easy and so yummy! I bet it would be even better in the peak of strawberry season. I had to look up what coulis even meant. According to Wikipedia, it's a fruit or vegetable made into a sauce by pureeing and straining. I don't have a fine sieve, so I skipped that step. It was still delicious!

Strawberry Coulis

2 C strawberries, hulled and sliced

1/4 C water

3 T sugar

1 T fresh lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Puree until smooth and then strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the strawberry seeds. Cover and refrigerate. Serve cold.

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cupcakes

This was supposed to be a 2 layer round cake. Believe it or not, I don't own a round cake pan! Crazy, I know! It was one of things that we got rid of when we moved in together. We both owned at least one and then I donated them. I don't remember what my thought process was on this, but either way, I have none. So instead of spending the money on new pans, I adapted this into cupcakes.

I have to admit, I cheated on these as well! Some of you will love this because you aren't big bakers like me. I LOVE to bake and will steer clear of a box mix most of the time. Sometimes though I will take the shortcut! So, I used a box this time. So for the cake part, use a box, or your own yummy recipe. :)

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cupcakes

1 pkg. Devil's Food Cake Mix

4 squares Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

1/4 C butter, cut up

1 pkg. (8 oz) Cream Cheese

1/2 C sugar

8 oz. whipped cream, thawed

12 Oreos, crushed

Bake cake mix according to box directions. Fill the cupcake pan almost full! You want tall, big cupcakes. I got 18 cupcakes out of my mix. Let cool. Slice the tops off the cupcakes to make 2 layers.

Microwave chocolate and butter in small bowl on High 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is melted. Cool for 5 minutes.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in whipped cream and cookie crumbs. Spread a generous amount of cream cheese mixture in between each cupcake layer. Spoon chocolate glaze over top of each cupcake. Let stand until set.

Store in the refrigerator. These are good cold!

Strawberry Muffins

These were supposed to be strawberry cupcakes. When I made them I decided they were much better as "muffins" and make a great breakfast! We all need an excuse to eat a cupcake for breakfast, right? These were delicious! They may have turned out more muffin like than cupcake because of all my substitutions. I don't know. So, I'm posting the recipe via my substitutions rather than the original. If you make the original recipe I'm linking you to and your "cupcakes" are more like a real cupcake let me know.

Don't you just LOVE my awesome picture?! Thanks Krystal for your amazing photography skills!

Strawberry Muffins

Adapted from Annie Eats

Muffins:

2 cups + 3 T all purpose flour

5 T cornstarch

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup salted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups chopped strawberries

Frosting:

1/2 cup strawberries, puree

8 oz cream cheese, room temp.

1 1/2 sticks salted butter, room temp.

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1 T. vanilla

Heat oven to 350°. Line muffin tin with liners.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, with electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add buttermilk and oil. Beat in flour mixture in batches. Fold in strawberries. Fill tins 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Makes 24 muffins.

For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until fluffy with electric mixer. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and strawberry puree. Frost muffins once cooled.

Cherry Coke Cupcakes

I love to bake. Without a job, I have plenty of time to do it! For me the fun is in baking AND eating the finished product. If it were just for the sweets I would buy a premade sweet or a ready mix. That's not enough, I want to do it from scratch! So today, in my boredom, I made these....

They were delicious! This was an awesome cupcake. They weren't dry or crumbly. They were perfectly moist and so yummy! I would make these again! And I can honestly say, after eating just one I was satisfied! They weren't too difficult to make, you should try them!

***If you go to the original source for this recipe you will see a difference in her pictures:

1. The Coke frosting. Hers is darker. I'm not sure why. I have 3 philosophies: she calls for icing sugar...what is that!? After doing an Internet search I found it was powdered sugar. So maybe there is a little bit of a difference. OR, I used a knock-off brand of Coke. GT Cola from Aldi's. OR, she's Canadian...things are different up there. :) Right? Or should I say, Eh?

2. The top layer of frosting. Her original recipe calls for cherry buttercream. When I read the comments on her recipe she made these a second time with the whipped cream frosting and said it was better. While I haven't tried the buttercream on these I would go with the whipped cream...it was perfect and light! I'm afraid the buttercream would be too much.

Cherry Coke Cupcakes

Source: Coco Bean

Cupcakes

1 1/2 Cups flour

3/4 Cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

1/2 Cup buttermilk (see hint below)

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 Tbs cocoa powder

3/4 Cup Coca-Cola

1/4 cup maraschino cherry syrup

24 maraschino cherries

Cola Icing

1 cup Powdered sugar

2 tbsp cola

Whipped Frosting

6 oz whipped cream

2 T maraschino cherry syrup

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat the egg, buttermilk, and vanilla in a second bowl. In a saucepan, boil the Coca-Cola, and cherry syrup gently for five minutes. Melt in the butter and cocoa powder. Pour into the dry ingredients, stir well with a wooden spoon, and then add the liquid ingredients, beating until everything is blended. Pour into the cupcake pans and push a cherry into the center of each cupcake. Bake for 15 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. When cool drizzle over the Cola Icing and let dry. Mix together whipped frosting. Top with cherry whipped cream and a cherry.

***HINT: I think I have posted this before...I didn't have buttermilk. I just don't see the sense in buying it when I can make my own without a whole carton going to waste. For one cup of buttermilk: 1 c milk mixed with 1 T vinegar. Let stand 5 minutes. So I just halved it for this recipe!

If you make these let me know! I loved them!

German Chocolate Cupcakes

My sister, Krystal's birthday was last week! I made her German chocolate cupcakes for her birthday! She loves these, but normally gets her love from a box. I was nervous about making them from scratch, afraid I wouldn't be able to compete with the ready made stuff. I recently bought the new Martha Stewart Cupcakes cookbook. This is my new favorite cookbook! I love everything about it. All the recipes sound great and there is a picture for every cupcake! These were delicious!
The picture is taken from Martha's website. I wanted to make mine layered like this, but my cupcakes didn't rise enough. The tops turned out flat. It's because I didn't have my eggs to room temperature. They were still yummy!

German Chocolate Cupcakes
Source: Martha Stewart Cupcakes

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 cups Cake Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 1/3 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 cup of buttermilk
5 ounces Semisweet Chocolate, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy on medium speed in electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well each time, and scraping down sides. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk and beating until combined each time. Beat in chocolate.

Fill cupcake pans 3/4 way full. Bake about 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

***I didn't have buttermilk. To make your own add a T of vinegar to regular milk and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Coconut-Pecan Frosting

3 large Egg Yolks
1 can (12 oz) Evaporated Milk
1 1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 1/2 sticks (12 T) unsalted butter, cut into T, room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 2/3 cup (7 oz) Sweetened Coconut Flakes
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) pecans, toasted and chopped

Combine egg yolks, evaporated milk, and brown sugar in a saucepan. Add butter, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick, about 10 minutes.

Stir in vanilla, salt, coconut, and pecans. Let cool completely.