German Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting

2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup canola oil and 1/2 cup applesauce)
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
4 cups peeled, diced apples

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour one 9 x 13 cake pan.

Beat oil and eggs with mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat well.

Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the apples by hand using a wooden spoon. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cake cool on a wire rack. Frost when cool.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tblsp. milk
3 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in the brown sugar and the salt. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the milk, stirring the whole time.

Return to heat and bring just to a boil again. Remove from heat and allow to cool until lukewarm (about 20 minutes). Stir in the powdered sugar and beat until smooth, and cool enough to spread. Add a few drops of milk if frosting gets too stiff.

This cake is unbelievable!! We couldn't get enough, which isn't exactly good for the waistline, but it is a must try!

Rhubarb Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 and 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups rhubarb, chopped

1 Tblsp. flour

1/4 cup butter

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup packed brown sugar

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In another bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, soda, and salt. Add ingredients alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture.

Toss rhubarb with 1 Tblsp. flour, and stir into batter. Spoon batter into greased 9 x 13 pan.

Blend together 1/4 cup butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar, sprinkle evenly over batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 55 minutes or until done.

Can top with whipped topping or ice cream.


This cake is so good, I've made three of them in the last 2 weeks (not all three were for us, though)!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Melt 1/3 cup butter in 8- or 9-inch round cake pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar evenly over butter. (Reserve pineapple juice as you drain pineapple rings.) Arrange drained pineapple rings in an attractive pattern on the butter-sugar coating. Garnish with maraschino cherries and pecan halves.

Make the cake batter (see below) and pour it over the pineapple. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick thrust into center of cake comes out clean. Immediately turn upside-down on serving plate. Do not remove pan for a few minutes. Brown sugar mixture will run down over cake instead of clinging to pan. Serve cake warm with whipped cream.

Cake batter:

Beat 2 eggs until thick and lemon-colored (5 min)

Gradually beat in 2/3 cup sugar.

Beat in all at once:

6 Tbsp. reserved pineapple juice

1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together and beat in all at once:

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour or cake flour

1/3 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

This recipe is from the 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, which my grandma gave me for a bridal shower. I have made this once, for a French-Canadian rich woman classmate of my husband's during graduate school, and she loved it! (She is a pineapple fan.) That's the kind of thing a new bride gets nervous about... I hope it turns out as well for you, Kristin, if you decide to try this recipe, and it kind of makes me want to try it again!

The recipe doesn't give the size of canned pineapple to buy, but make sure you get the rings, not tidbits or chunks (those would work, but this looks prettier). You could always use fresh pineapple, too, I suppose, though cutting into those things confuses me. That's another thing I should try sometime...

Photo credit: thecakelab.com

(Doesn't that cake look lovely up there? In my cookbook, it shows pecan halves placed kind of between the pineapple rings.)

Pumpkin Cake

We seem to be pumpkin lovers here at Food and Fellowship. :)

1 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 (15 oz) can pumkin puree

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 and 1/2 cups white sugar

2 and 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground allspice

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one bundt pan. Cream oil, beaten eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla together. Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix just until combined. If desired, stir in some chopped nuts. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 5 minutes then turn out onto plate and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Top slices with cool whip when serving.

"War time" Spice Cake with Caramel Frosting

This is a very autumnal recipe that we made to celebrate the Virgin Mary's birthday yesterday. My mom found the recipe and passed it on to me, knowing that I am always looking for eggless recipes. It not only accommodated the women who wanted to bake despite the rations during the war, but it also accommodates those with milk and egg allergies. Mine came out a bit dense, but I think I also overcooked it. (The frosting contains milk, but perhaps one could substitute for that.)

Spice Cake:

In a large saucepan, mix together and boil, gently, for 5 minutes:

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups hot water

2 tsp shortening

1/2 to 3/4 cup raisins or chopped dates (I left these out)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

Cool completely - very important.

When cool, add:

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda dissolved in a couple teaspoons hot water.

Mix well, pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Cool in pan about 10 minutes and remove.

Caramel Frosting: (from Taste of Home Aug/Sept 1997)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 to 2 cups (or more) powdered sugar

Combine brown sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Frost cake.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup milk (or milk substitute - rice, soy, etc.)
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 cup boiling water

Cream together oil. sugar, eggs, and milk with mixer. Add dry ingredients. Beat, and mix in cup of boiling water. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Frosting:

6 Tblsp. margarine or butter
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
5 Tblsp. milk or milk substitute

On stove or in microwave, let come to a boil and boil for 30 seconds. Add 2/3 cup chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate chips are melted. Let sit in the bowl for a while to thicken up before frosting the cake.

This is my favorite chocolate cake recipe, it's been in my family for a few generations.

Graham Streusel Cake

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
¾ cup chopped walnuts
¾ cup brown sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup margarine, melted
1 package cake mix (any flavor)
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350. Grease a 13 x 9 pan. Mix together the cracker crumbs, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, and margarine; reserve. Beat cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large bowl according to box directions. Pour about 2 1/3 cups batter into pan; sprinkle with about 2 cups crumb mixture. Pour remaining batter into pan; spring with remaining crumb mixture. Bake until cake springs back with touched lightly in center, 40-45 minutes. Cool. Drizzle with powdered sugar glaze of 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons water.

My notes: This tastes awesome with a Butter Pecan Cake Mix! If I use nuts I usually use 1 cup of chopped walnuts instead of 3/4 cup. For the glaze I start with 1 cup powdered sugar and add one tablespoon of water. I then add a little more water or powdered sugar to get the consistency that I want. This is a great coffee cake.

Doctored Cake Mix

Have you ever made a cake from a cake mix only to find it was a little dry? I have just the solution for you!

Take any cake mix and follow the directions on the back on the box BUT ADD one cup of flour, one cup of granulated sugar (not powdered sugar), one cup of sour cream, and one additional egg to the batter. Bake according to box directions. When cake is done baking, remove from oven and immediately cover with a towel for 20 minutes.

My FAVORITE cake to make uses the French Vanilla Cake mix (ingredients on back of box plus 1 cup flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup sour cream, and one additional egg) and two teaspoons of almond extract. YUMMY!!!!

My Fancy Cake

Here is another cake that I decorated for my cake decorating class. I spent alot of time working with this cake and practicing my techniques. This cake is anything but perfect (I see all of my mistakes when I look at this picture and remember the cake) but I still am very proud of myself for creating it! It was a lot of work but it was worth it! I made everything for the cake except for the cake board and pillars. The flowers are made with royal icing. I left the aluminum foil on the flowers for the color effect that the silver gave the cake.

Gift Wrapped Present Cake

I was excited to learn how to decorate cakes with fondant. A word to the wise--Don't ever buy the pre-made Wilton fondant. It might be easy to work with but it tastes AWFUL! Use this recipe to make marshmallow fondant (MMF). This recipe actually tastes pretty good. When you work with fondant you will definitely make a huge mess of your kitchen and you will get your hands dirty. The secret to working with MMF is using enough crisco and rolling your MMF pretty thin. I had fun making this "present" cake. My bow's not perfect but the overall cake is pretty cute. Definitely worth another try!

Clown Cake

I finally was able to do something that I have dreamed of doing for a long time--take a cake decorating class. It was a lot of work but I loved every minute of it! I enjoyed learning the different techniques and practicing them. Boy, do I have a lot of practicing to do! My hand hurt from just piping on the shell border. I thought that I had pretty good strength in my hands but this cake class showed me otherwise. My right hand hurt after each class. I can see why people stop decorating cakes when they get older...Ouch! I made this clown cake for my brother's birthday and I thought I would showcase my creations from time-to-time (in case anyone else has a burning desire to recreate any of these designs or are like me always looking for ideas). This cake is my first attempt at making these clowns. I think that they are pretty cute.

Ice Cream Cake

18 Oreo cookies, crushed (happily, this leaves some to munch on while you're baking)
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 gallon ice cream
2 packages German sweet chocolate
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp butter
ground nuts

Butter pan well. Mix cookies and butter; pat into pan. Put in refrigerator to set. Slice ice cream about one inch thick and put over crumb mixture (or let sit at room temperature for a bit to get soft, then spread over crumb mixture). Melt chocolate with sugar, milk, and butter in a heavy saucepan. Pour over ice cream while warm and put ground nuts on top. Store in the freezer.


I made this for my husband's birthday back in March, and it was so tasty I thought I'd do this every time we bought a half gallon of ice cream. Buy whatever kind you like (come on, be more adventurous than vanilla!). This is a pretty simple way to do a birthday, especially when the birthday person doesn't request a fire truck birthday cake. That'll be next month...

Pistachio Bundt Cake

I got this receipe from a co-worker. It is an oldy but a goody--especially if you like pistachio!

1 package white cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 (3.4 oz) package pistachio instant pudding mix
green food coloring, optional

1/2 cup Hershey's chocolate syrup

Mix first five ingredients for 10 minutes, beating slowly. Add one drop of green food coloring if desired. If you added the food coloring, mix it in.

Pour 1/2 of the batter into a well greased bundt pan. Add chocolate syrup to remaining batter and mix until incorporated. Pour over top of green batter (batter already in bundt pan).

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Put foil over top and bake 5-10 minutes more until a toothpick comes out clean.