Marbelized Cake

As many of you may know, I am an admitted chocoholic. On Sunday I usually make a dessert for the family dinner. My kids all time favorite dessert is marbleized cake. I usually use Duncan Hines yellow cake mix. To marbleize I use Hershey's cocoa powder for the chocolate center.

For the glaze I also use 1/4 cup of Hershey's cocoa powder and confectionary sugar, softened butter, and about one to two Tbsp. of milk. I really don't have a recipe for the glaze, so I just wing it as I go. Sometimes I use my cookbook as my guideline, but I might cut back on the recipe if it is too much for what I am doing.

The cake turned out moist and yummy!

Vegan Cheesecake

Jordan is my youngest, and my little foodie buddie. We both love watching Food Network together. Unwrapped is his favorite show. Well, he checked out this book at his school library.

big brother Michael had to get in the picture 

 

He already has aspirations of being a chef. I just have this feeling he will be this world famous chef one day. A couple of years ago he told me he was going to be a cooker when he grows up. So sweet.

 

I knew before dinner I was going to have to help him make the dessert. He decided to make this cheesecake vegan, so his sister could enjoy the treat. Bethany (his big sister) helped him make the crust while I ran to the grocery store. When I came back we started on the filling. We used Tofutti cream cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

We followed the recipe minus the mixing time is a bit less with Tofutti. We baked the mini cups following the recipe.

 

 

 

As you can see the cheescake turned out perfectly! Jordan put the cheeries on top and served it to each of us.

 

 

 

The textured is a little softer with tofu. Our whole family enjoyed our yummy treat after dinner!

Bread Pudding

Every Sunday I always try to make a special dessert for our family dinner. A few weeks ago I made this yummy bread pudding from my cookbook. I also made the New Orleans style sauce from a post on this site. I used rum flavor instead of real rum for the sauce. My family really enjoyed the dessert!

Whoopie Pies

One of my all time favorite channels to watch is the Food Network! I have seen them make a dessert called Whoopie Pies on a couple of different shows. Whoopie Pies are a New England favorite and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. That made me want to try one someday. Just before the holiday I was excited to see a mix at my local Target store.

When I made the first batch, the batter seemed too thin, so the pies came out flat like pancakes. I decided to add 1/4 cup of wheat flour and a dash of baking powder to make it rise better. The second batch turned out well as you can see above.

The winner of the 2011 Calendar is Laura. Congratulations!

Pumpkin-Molasses Cake

2 1/2 cups all -purpose flour

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 ground ginger

3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk (another option tofutti sour cream)

1/2 cup shortening, magarine, or butter, softened

1/2 cup canned pumpkin or mashed sweet potato

1/4 cup light or medium molasses

1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel

2 eggs Oven 350 degrees

In a bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger. Add molasses, and orange peel. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed till combined. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat 2 minutes more. Pour into a greased 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan.

Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 30 to 35 minutes or till a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Serves 12

As suggested by the cook book I made a lemon butter frosting to compliment the flavor.

Lemon Butter Frosting

1/3 cup butter or margarine

4 1/2 cups sifted powder sugar (I only used about 3 cups)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup lemon juice or orange juice

1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel

In a bowl beat butter or margarine till fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in the 1/4 cup lemon juice and vanilla.

Slowly beat in remaining sugar. Beat in additional juice, if needed to make spreading consistancy.

This cake is so good and moist. I hope you enjoy the cake as much as my family did!