Chocolate Quinoa Cream Cake

First off I must post this disclaimer.  I am NOT opposed to gluten in any way, shape, or form.  In fact, my livelihood is dependant on gluten.  I'm ROOTIN' FOR GLUTEN in fact.  I own a whole wheat bakery, and therefore it is an enormous part of my life, and I love it and eat it every single day:)  So this isn't a post on being gluten free.  This is a post that just HAPPENS to be gluten free, and it was so intriguing to me, and the recipe used an ingredient I love to eat.  So lets dive right in and I promise gluten free or not you will love this cake:)

9x13 inch version of the cake

My dearly beloved (James) had a birthday a few weeks ago.  For birthdays at our house the birthday person gets to pick their favorite cake.  Most times it is NOT a cake.  We have a lot of trifles, and cheesecakes, and pies most of the time, but I can usually count on James and Jed to pick a chocolate cake.  It is usually THIS chocolate cake that I make for my fam, but this year it was a new recipe.  I had spied it over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe a few months ago.  It was made out of quinoa.  No flour, just quinoa.   It looked so dark and rich and tasty!  I decided to try it out a few weeks before James' birthday came around.  I made it in a 9x13 inch pan.  It was incredibly easy, and the frosting was AWESOME!  So when James' birthday came around he actually asked for this quinoa cake by name, and wanted whipped cream frosting in the middle of his layer cake.  It turned out lovely!  Fresh raspberries crowned the top, and made it look spectacular.  I'm not good at decorating, or frosting pretty, but I can top something with a fresh berry.  I'm so talented in that area:)

I used a combination of red and white quinoa.  I had a bag of both, and instead of keeping two bags I just combined both colors of quinoa together.  James hates it when I do this with potato chips.  He doesn't want his BBQ chips intermingled with his cheesy chips or Sour Cream and Onion chips.  I don't mind it, but James is insistent on potato chip segregation.  But since I'm in charge of the quinoa, I mixed and mingled colors.  It worked fine, and everyone is happy.  Also, go ahead and make this into a 2 layer cake or make it into just an everyday cake by using the 9x13 inch pan.  But don't forget to make the frosting.  It's really good.  

Chocolate Quinoa Cream Cake
recipe by Mel's Kitchen Cafe (she's fantastic by the way!)
and originally found in Quinoa 365



2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (1/2 c. uncooked quinoa makes 2 c. cooked)
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting:
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/4 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

For a layer cake add:
1 c.  whipping cream
2 T. instant vanilla pudding powder
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

Fresh raspberries for garnish


For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans or 1-  9x13 inch dripper or casserole pan. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. (I do this with the cake pans, but I only grease and flour the 9x13 pan.)

Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Blend the ingredients just until combined. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter. Blend with the quinoa and butter, well until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the contents from the blender and mix with a wooden spoon or whisk until combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake on a rack in the middle position for 28-30 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto cooling racks (remove the parchment paper stuck to the bottom of the cakes) or just let the 9x13 inch cake set until cooled.

If I am making a layer cake I like to have the frosting in the middle be pure whipped cream.  You can definitely frost the middle of the cake with the chocolate frosting.  There's plenty, but I put just plain whipped cream in the center and frosted the outside of the cake with the chocolate whipped cream.    Whip the 1 c. whipping cream until soft peaks form.  Add 1/2 c powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 T. pudding powder.  The pudding stabilizes the whipped cream so it doesn't weep or get runny.

For the chocolate frosting, place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the whipping cream in a saucepan until it gently simmers. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Whisk to combine until it is  smooth. The mixture is super thin.  I expected more of a ganache texture, but it isn't.  This is truly a chocolate whipped cream frosting.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate until completely chilled and cold (2-3 hours). You can speed up this process by placing the bottom of the bowl in an ice water bath and stirring until cool. When fully chilled, use an electric mixer (stand mixer or handheld) to whip the mixture to soft peaks like you would plain whipped cream.

Place one cake layer upside down on a serving platter or plate. Top with all of the plain whipped cream. Spread to within 1/2-inch of the edge of the cake (it will press to the edge when the top cake layer is put on).  It's a good thick layer of cream. 
Gently put the other cake layer upside down on top of the frosted layer. Spread the chocolate whipped cream frosting over the top of the cake and down the sides. It's a lot of frosting, but it's not to heavy and tastes delish!  Top with fresh raspberries, or sprinkles, or chocolate chips:)

Chill the frosted cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving to let the frosting set up a bit. This cake is fell a little for me after it came out of the oven both times.  It's not real light and fluffy, but once you frost it you won't care.  It tastes good, and it's beautiful!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Have you ever felt like you were chasing something elusive?  Something that maybe you just made up in your mind and it doesn't really exist?  I've been chasing this cake since I was 12.  That's a long time.  But with the Easter holiday just passed the quest for this cake came around again.  You see, most years when I was a child, my family would spend Easter in St. George Ut.  Granted this is the same location that gave me my intense dislike of Easter Egg hunts, but it also brought my love for a good Poppy seed Cake.  Every Easter Sunday my family would get all gussied up in our Easter finest, head over to church, and then as soon as it was over, we'd pile into the enormous custom van and head to Vegas baby!  There we'd head to the long line at Caesar's Palace for their famed Sunday Brunch.  I remember my mom always saying how we had just been to Heaven with our Sacrament Service, and now here we were standing in the middle of Babylon.  Hell to be exact.  You know if the end of the world was going to come that day we probably would have been right in the middle of it, but it didn't and I got to eat another few Poppy Seed cakes to last me until the next year.  I took James there on our honeymoon.  He didn't like it, and needless to say I haven't been back to Vegas in 20 years!  So it has been a 20 year draught for these cakes!

They were so moist and delicious, and mini.  You could eat quite a few.  They were baked in a mini muffin tin and were so tasty.  So for years now I've tried a lot of recipes.  Ones out of cake mixes.  Ones with pudding added in.  You name it,  I've tried it.  But last week I gave it another shot.  This was a winner!  Perfection!!  Nothing funky, or fancy, just straight goodness.  I made this cake in a bundt pan, but muffins would work, or two loaves would be lovely too.  So here's to Easter miracles!

Lemon Poppy seed Cake

recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

(I owe her my firstborn for this recipe!  Thanks Christy!)

Cake:
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/8 cups cooking oil
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 T. poppy seeds
zest of 2 lemons
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Note you can substitute almond extract in the cake and omit the lemon zest if you want an Almond Poppy seed cake.  It would be lovely!

Glaze:
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice


For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together. Pour into greased and floured 12 c. bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes.   Insert thin knife in center and make sure it isn't doughy.  The top should spring back when touched.  My cakes usually take 75 minutes.

For the Glaze: Pour all ingredients into a small saucepan and let cook on stove on medium heat until mixture comes to a boil.  Let boil 1 minute.  Remove cake from pan and pour glaze over warm bread. I actually use a pastry brush and brush it on.

My Mother-in-law's Famous Carrot Cake

This cake is delicious!!  I may have made it a couple time over the last few weeks.  It's totally James' fault.  We've been juicing MANIACS at the Clawson home for quite a while now, and those of you who juice anything know, there's a lot of fruit and veggie pulp that is just thrown in the garbage.  If I was really good, or green, or lived somewhere where I was forced to recycle everything, I place these scraps in the compost bin, BUT I don't.  BUT James had a great idea to use the carrot pulp in some carrot cake.  He's so brilliant!  So I guess in my own way I'm recycling or composting my carrot scraps.  And it makes fantastic bread, cupcakes, sheet cake or layer cake.  All these different options with one really great recipe.

James' mom made wedding cakes for years.  Gorgeous cakes!  Hand formed and painted flowers were her specialty.  This Carrot Cake was the cake she made for most of those wedding cakes.  It had to be a hearty cake.  One that could stand up to the stacking, and decorating.  One that tasted amazing as well.  I think you'll love it.  Go ahead and vary some of the add in's if you'd like.  Add raisins, or omit the nuts.  Make it your own.   The first time I made this cake last week, I made it in 2- largish loaf pans.  Last weekend I made the cake in a 9x13 in pan.  I've made it into 24 cupcakes as well, and you can make it into 2- 9 inch cake pans for a layer cake.  It all just depends on how you're feeling.  I didn't frost the loaves, but I did frost the sheet cake.  Both were delicious.  Enjoy!!


My Mother-in-law's Famous Carrot Cake

2 c. sugar
3 eggs whipped first
1 c. oil
3 c. flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 c. toasted pecans
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking soda (put in very last so it doesn't get wet)
2 c. finely shredded carrots
1/2 c. shredded coconut
2 t. grated orange rind
1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple WITH juice. (The regular sized can. Not the small ones)

Mix the first 3 ingredients together until smooth. Add everything else except for the soda. Mix well. After the batter is completely mixed add the baking soda. (I don't know why except James' mom said it is a must!) Spoon into prepared 24 prepared muffin tins. Bake in a 350'F oven for 20-25 mins or until the muffin centers are springy.  Cool and frost. The frosting was the best!!!

For 2 loaves, grease and flour 2 9x5 loaf pans and bake 55-60 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For 9x13 in pan, grease and flour the pan and pour batter in.  Bake for 50-60 mins. or until toothpick comes out clean.

For 2- 9 inch round cake pans, grease and flour the pans and divide batter between the two.  Bake for 40-55 mins. or until the center is springy or a toothpick comes out clean.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
This amount of frosting will frost 24 cupcakes, or frost a 9x13 inch sheet cake.  I'd double the amount to make a layer cake.  Just to be on the safe side:)

8 oz room temp. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter at room temp.
Mix until smooth. Add:
4 c. powdered sugar
2 T. brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon

Whip until fluffy. I didn't have to add any milk to thin the frosting. I piped the frosting onto the cupcakes and used the whole batch. If you don't put it on the cupcakes you can eat the whole bowl by yourself. Just make sure you wash the evidence.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

I have a neighbor.  Only one neighbor that lives within voice range.  Their family has heard me yell a time or two at my kids, but they still like us:)  My neighbor is a fantastic cook.  Her daughter was the supreme cookie maker for years until she just recently got married and and moved.  I think it's rude:)  But my neighbor's mother is a fantastic cook as well and every once in a while she sneaks me a new recipe she's tried.  This happened last summer and I just got around to making these cupcakes.

They are wonderful!!!  Now I'm gong to tell a secret here.  The picture shows a lovely frosted cupcake, but in all reality the frosting was plucked off of every cupcake and they were eaten stark naked!  The entire family agreed that these cupcakes can totally stand on their own.  They need no extra dressing and to top that off, they are AMAZING right out of the oven!  So if you want to make them pretty, frost them, but if you want to eat something amazing, don't.

The recipe reminded me of a Red Velvet cake just minus the red food coloring.  It's lovely.  But the cream cheese filling with mini chocolate chips was heavenly!  I think from now on I'm going to call them muffins.  The connotation of muffins is that they're healthy, good for you, breakfast food that you can eat everyday.  Not like a cupcake which is dessert.  These little treats deserve a spot on your regular "muffin" rotation.  Thanks again dear neighbors for the recipe.  Sorry I didn't share:)

Ruth's Black Bottom Cupcakes (Muffins)

Blend and set aside:

8 oz cream cheese softened

1 egg

1/3 c. sugar

6 oz. mini chocolate chips

(This mixture made more than enough to fill a double batch of the cupcakes.  ) I made 27 cupcakes (A double batch) and still had a little of the cream cheese mixture left.

Mix together until smooth:

1 1/2 c. sifted flour

1 c. sugar

1 t. baking soda

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. water

1/3 c. oil

1 T. vinegar

1 t. vanilla

Fill 12-15 cupcake liners with batter.  I scoop them about 2/3 of the way full and the plop a big tablespoon full of the cream cheese mixture in the middle.  Bake at 350' F. for 25-30 minutes.  Until the tops are set.  No icing is need, but if you want you can top with cream cheese frosting or just a chocolate frosting.  They are so good right out of the oven!

Gingerbread

*It's my Emma's birthday today!!! Happy 16th to my beautiful daughter.  I love her guts!!  We're having Chocolate Cheesecake tonight for Em's birthday.  You'll see that soon:)

Tis the season!  I it upon us, and I have mixed feelings.  Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday ever.  It has all the festive feel of "The Holidays", but without the pressure of gifts, and such!  I think we should have Thanksgiving and then Thanksgiving again in Dec.  Who's with me on this?  Maybe we should write a letter to the President or the Prophet or something.  I don't need anything or want for anything.  I just want to be grateful for my Savior, and think about his birth and look at twinkly lights.  AND eat Gingerbread!

I love Gingerbread if you haven't noticed.  Gingerbread waffles, Gingersnap Fruit Pizza, Gingersnaps.  I could eat this stuff all the time.  This recipe is adapted from the Gingerbread served at the Lion House in Salt Lake City, but I've changed it a bit, and baked it in a Bundt pan.  I love Bundt cakes!  They're cute, they slice up perfectly, and they feed a crowd.  Notice from the picture above my trusty, scratched Bundt pan.  I stole it from my mom.  I'll bet it was a wedding gift she received 42 years ago.  But it's good!  It's ugly, green, and scratched, and one of my prized kitchen gadgets.  I'd probably grab it right after I grabbed Jane if my house was on fire:)  I've found others of these scratched Bundts for sis-in-laws a few times at the DI.  Love them! (Bundts and sis-inlaws.)

So enjoy a slice of the Holiday Season or Thanksgiving #2.  You're house will smell amazing, and it will put you in the holiday mood.

Lion House Gingerbread

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

2 eggs-well beaten

1 1/2 cups molasses

3/4 t. salt

3 3/4 cups sifted flour

2 1/4 t. baking soda

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

1 1/2 t. ginger

1 1/2 cups hot water

Cream butter and sugar well, about 3-4 minutes in an electric mixer. Add eggs and molasses. Beat well. Sift dry ingredients together in a separate and add to creamed mixture. Add hot water and beat until smooth. Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake 50-65 minutes minutes at 350. You can serve it with fresh whipped cream, sliced bananas, powdered sugar, or just plain.

I like it with whipped cream and Buttermilk Syrup.

Buttermilk Syrup

1 cube butter

1/4 c. corn syrup

1/2 c. buttermilk

1/2 t. baking soda

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

Place in a big pot. This stuff foams out of control at first. Bring to a boil and then let boil until it turns a nice dark golden brown. About 8-10 mins. I usually 3 times the batch and it will make about a quart. I don't 3x's the butter though. Maybe only 1 1/2 cubes of butter to a 3 batch. 

Lindi's Famous Chocolate Sheet Cake

I have a lot of fabulous cooks in my family!  And I love each one of them and especially when they share.  Which they always do:)  My cousin Lindi makes a delicious Chocolate Sheet Cake that she is asked to bring to almost all family get togethers.  I caught her the other day coming out of church and asked for this recipe.  And of course she obliged.  And of course I ran right home and made it.  The kids looked at it with longing eyes thinking it was being made for a specific purpose, but no.  It was for their delight and pleasure.  Actually my delight and pleasure, but I shared.

It's a simple recipe, but the results are fantastic.  I think it actually tastes better the next day.  It's fantastic for breakfast:)

Lindi's Famous Chocolate Sheet Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 c. water

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

.

Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa

4-6 T. milk

2 to 2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Preparation:

Cake

Grease and flour a 15X10X1-inch silver cookie sheet; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup butter, 1/4 cup cocoa, and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. With an electric hand-held mixer on medium speed, beat chocolate mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, 1/2 cup of buttermilk, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be thin). Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in a 350° oven about 22 to 25 minutes for the 15X10-inch pan or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Pour warm chocolate frosting over the warm cake, spreading evenly. Place cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly before cutting. 

Frosting:

In a medium saucepan combine 1/2 cup butter, unsweetened cocoa powder, and 4-6 tablespoons milk. Bring to a boil, stirring, over medium heat. Remove from heat; add 2 cups confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add more confectioners' sugar or a little milk or more milk, if needed, for a spreadable frosting. Spread the warm frosting over the cake.

Sprinkle 1/2 c. chopped nuts over 1/2 of the frosted sheet cake. 

Chocolate Cake

Isn't this the prettiest pic.  I'm going to send it to Sam's and get a 20x30 made to hang in my room.  Next to my children:)

I needed chocolate cake.  So I made a chocolate cake.  And it was delicious!  I loved it.  The kids loved it.  James didn't love it so much.  It gave him a tummy ache, but that's what you get when you eat a honking huge, gi-normous piece and then go to church meetings all night.  Fact of life.

A few months ago I saw an Instagram post from my sister in law Susan.  She had made a beautiful white layer cake with chocolate frosting late one night and they ate it for breakfast the next morning.  I thought she was genius.  My sister Hollie's mother in law would let her kids eat ice cream for breakfast some mornings.   I think they put the ice cream on waffles.  Genius again.  So this chocolate cake was dinner Tues. night.   And I think all appreciated it.   This cake was true to it's name.  FUDGEY and super rich.  Death by Chocolate it could be called.  A little slice will suffice.  The fresh raspberries were the perfect topping.  Fresh and not so sweet.  It balanced the pound of chocolate chips, and enormous amounts of butter and cream.  I hope you indulge.  Soon.  And if you do, you won't need chocolate cake until next week at least:)

Chocolate Cake

recipe from Fine Cooking.  I knew I could trust them:)

here's the link:

I doubled this recipe to make a double layer cake, but this single layered cake would be just the right size for a family one night.

4-1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour 

1 oz. (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutchprocessed) 

1/2 tsp. baking soda 

1/4 tsp. table salt 

4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and warm 

1-1/4 cups packed light brown sugar 

2 large eggs 

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 

1/2 cup hot water 

1 cup warm Ganache  

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 350 F. Grease the bottom of an 8x2- or 9x2-inch round cake pan or line it with parchment.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift only if the cocoa remains lumpy after whisking. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the eggs and vanilla; stir until well blended. Add the flour mixture all at once and stir just until all the flour is moistened. Pour the hot water over the batter; stir just until it’s incorporated and the batter is smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes for a 9-inch pan; 35 to 40 min. for an 8-inch pan. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 min. Run a thin knife around the edge and invert the cake (peel off the parchment if necessary). Invert it again onto the rack and let cool completely.

Once cool, set the rack over a baking sheet or foil. Pour the warm ganache over the cake and use an icing spatula to spread it over the top of the cake and down the sides. Let set for about an hour before serving.

If your only doing the single layer version of this cake as the recipe is written this ganache will be WAY to much.  This much ganache will cover a double layer cake.  Make a half recipe for a single layer cake:)  

Ganache Frosting

Disclaimer:  I totally used cheap chocolate chips and it worked fantastic!

16 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped 

1 cup heavy cream; more as needed 

2 T. sugar

2 T. corn syrup

1/4 c. butter

Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream, sugar and corn syrup to a boil.  Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and whisk gently.  Add the butter at this point and whisk some more until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  (If using a 70% bittersweet chocolate, the ganache might be a bit thick; add more cream, a tablespoon at a time, to thin it. 

Jello Yum Frosting!

I learned this really great song when I was in 3rd grade.  It's called the Jello Song and you sing it in a round.  "Oh, the big red letters stand for the Jello family............"  I've taught it to every girl who I have ever been with, or taken to girls camp.  I've been a total of 14 years of my life to girls camp.  (That's amazing don't you think!)  And I also believe this is the one virtue that made James' mother like me.  She absolutely LOVES this Jello Song.  I taught James' fam the song the summer we were dating, and the rest is history:)

I'll sing it for you sometime if you come to visit me.  Remember.........I'm on the way to Bear Lake, or Jackson Hole and I love visitors.   But speaking of Jello, this is a fun recipe.  Again it's another great Pinterest find, and it worked perfectly for Jane Babe's birthday cupcakes.  Yup!  She's 1.  I can't believe it either.

Cupcakes for this beautiful little girls 1st birthday!   Jane!!

You can make the frosting in any color or flavor of Jello you wish, and it sure swirls up well on cupcakes.  My kids have bragged to their friends about my "twirling" talent.  I can twirl the biggest yogurt cone at the gas station that you've ever seen.  I was born to work at Dairy Queen, or just to make 3 billion cupcakes which it seems I do on a regular basis at the bakery.  So bake you up some cake, buy some cute little sprinkles, and make a cute treat.  They don't keep well, so make the frosting shortly before you need the cupcakes, and enjoy the Jello Yum Frosting!

*Disclaimer- this is not the tastiest frosting in the world.  If you like marshmallows, then you'll enjoy this frosting, BUT it is the cutest frosting on the planet.  So if you're serving a whole bunch of little kids..........this is the frosting for you.  Fun, light and fluffy.  If you're serving a bunch of food snobs (like what I have at my house.)  Make a delicious cream cheese frosting:)

Jello Yum Frosting

recipe courtesy of Coleen's Recipes

3 ounce pkg. of Jello (favorite flavor)

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg white

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place the above ingredients in a large GLASS OR METAL mixing bowl (OF A STAND MIXER). Turn the mixer on high just as you add ½ cup of boiling water. Whip on high for five minutes and you will get a thick marshmallow-y mass of delicious frosting.  Actually it's not the most tasty frosting, but it is super cute and fun!  Eat the day it's made.  It will start to turn to sugar and weep after 5 or 6 hours.

Malted Trifle

Here's the birthday boy as well as my beater licker.  Cute as can be!

My redhead just had his 12th birthday.  This is going way too fast!  Mr. Redhead shares his birthday with two different grandmas.  Jimmy's mom has the same birthday, as well as my grandma-great.  So April 15th may be tax day, but it is a day of celebration for us.  Jake loves this trifle every birthday.  This is the 3rd year running that he has asked for it as his birthday "cake".  The recipe was created out of a complete failure.  I was trying to make THIS cake for my redhead, and ended up with trifle instead.  I'm sure that never happens to anyone else:)  You know how it goes.  Actually how it doesn't go.  The cake is baked, assembly is started, and whoa bessy!  I've got a huge mess, and the cake can not be salvaged.  It's kind of like a bad hair day.  There's nothing you can do.  Your hair just looks like crap.  Even after trying it 3 different times, it's just not going to cooperate so you resign yourself to the fact that you won't look your best that day and you pray that you don't see anyone from High School:)   So if you have a bad cake day...........totally make trifle!  It may be any ugly cake in disguise, but it is a fantastic dessert.  Nobody needs to know you screwed up!

Malted Trifle

1 box chocolate cake mix made according to directions  (You can bake it in rounds or just a big sheet.  You're going to crumble the cake anyway.

1 large box chocolate pudding made according to directions

1 recipe Buttermilk Syrup or caramel ice cream topping

3 c. of whipped and sweetened cream

1 box of Whoppers or any other malted milk ball

I have a trifle bowl, but any pretty glass vessel will work.  You just want to see the layers.  The first layer crumble up one third of your cake.  Drizzle caramel or Buttermilk Syrup over the cake layer completely.  Next top the cake and caramel with the chocolate pudding.  Now a layer of crushed Whoppers.  Repeat this step two more times.  Let the trifle sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but longer is best.  Right before I serve the trifle I top it with the whipped cream.  It's delish!

Zucchinni

Carving of zucchini for the annual Zucchini Regatta

Have I ever told you about my grandpa's garden?  I lived next door to my grandma and grandpa all my growing up years, and we were the recipients of many, many, MANY pounds of produce from their garden every summer.  In fact we never grew a garden in my family until my grandpa stopped gardening as he got older.  Until that point I would spend all day at my grandparent's house with all the cousins running around the fields and gardens.  Thinking about it now, I was an exceedingly lucky kid.  We had oodles of cousins to play with every day, and I only had to do my hair one day a week in the summer.   Sundays.

My sister and I worked one summer in my grandpa's garden weeding, but we always helped with something or other with the garden.  I remember sitting for hours as my mom and grandma would shell peas, or the times my grandpa would get pitchfork loads of pea vines and throw them on the back of a trailer and haul us around as we ate peas, by the load.  I also remember the trunk loads of zucchini my grandpa would pick and then drop off to practically everyone in Pleasant View.

Happy kids ready to float their boats.

One day he unloaded a huge trailer load of zucchini  on his front lawn and told me and Hollie, and a few other cousins that we could sell the zucchini to all the passer-byers and keep all the money we made.  We had visions of polo ponies, and fancy clothes.........actually we just wanted enough to buy some penny candy at the little store.  There were stayed for 6 hours that day.  2 cars stopped, but they only wanted tomatoes and we weren't selling tomatoes.  Only zucchini.  Nobody wanted the amounts of zucchini we had. We didn't even want the zucchini!

I've found the best use of zucchini now is for the annual Zucchini Regatta, and now this Chocolate Zucchini Cake.  Truth be told, the cake is fantastic!!  We loved it.  I stumbled across the recipe here on the internet, and the recipe will be a staple.  So I'm sure you have loads of zucchini, so make some cake right before you use them all for the zucchini regatta:)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 cups grated zucchini

1 c chocolate chips

1 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. brown sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the eggs and oil, mix well. Fold in the nuts and zucchini until they are evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan.  With the second cup of chips add the brown sugar and sprinkle on top of the cake.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Jimmy's Birthday

Feb. is such a great month.  I love Valentines Day, and it's also my favorite man's birthday.  It's also a month of hope that the long winter will end.  How about the last few days in Cache Valley.  We've been in the 50 degree zone.  It's been wonderful.  A bit spring like, and just a wonderful reminder of what's to come.

So I have to tell you what I love about James since it's his birthday.  He's wonderful!  I met him and was instantly smitten.  It was really hard though, because my family wasn't at all encouraging.  I had a missionary that they absolutely loved.  But James was so fun, so exciting, and interesting.  He had just returned from a Mormon Mission to Taiwan and I was amazed at all he knew.  Did I say he was exceedingly handsome as well.  The first date he showed up at my house in a pair of his grandpa's old cut off coveralls, and this hair!  He had so much black curly hair that went everywhere.  He had the look of someone a little edgy, but a heart of pure goodness.  He was good!  Good in every way possible.  I think that's what caught my attention most about James was his goodness.  He's always been good.  Just a perfect spirit from heaven.  Well now 18 years later, 4 (almost 5) kids later and a lot of life experiences I love his guts even more.   I'm thankful for him every minute of every day.  He works so hard for me and the kids, and has provided so well for us.  He has let me be a mom and stay home, but also encouraged me to do anything I want as well.  He is kind.  Extremely kind and personable, and the best talker.   He is the best dad in the world too.   I married Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, but it's all his other qualities that make me love him so much!  I love your guts James.

So for the big 40th bash we actually were quite low key.  James enjoyed every minute of it.  His mom asked if I was doing anything big, and I admit I am not that kind of wife.  I don't do birthday parties, and if a gift is actually wrapped it's amazing, but we had a great night with just the fam.  I do, do birthday cakes though.  Nothing spectacular, and more times than not it may be a pie or trifle, but the birthday boy this year wanted a Coconut Cream Cake!  Trust me, I had no recipe for this.  I had to make something up according to James' wishes.  I'd do anything for that man!  I think it turned out great.  It was sure pretty.  Next time I think I'll make some marshmallow-y 7 Minute Frosting to cover the cake with.  Just to mix things up a bit.  This time I just used stabilized whipped cream though.   Give the cake a try.  Especially if you're a coconut lover like we are!

James' Coconut Cream Layer Cake

1 white or yellow cake mix made with 2 extra eggs, and coconut milk for the liquid baked according to directions.  I put the cake mix in 2-  9 inch cake pans, froze them when they were done and then split each frozen layer in 2 to make a 4 layer cake.

2 c. of lemon curd (recipe next)

Lemon Curd Recipe

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits

Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.

3 c. of whipping cream whipped until pretty stiff.  Don't turn it to butter.  That won't work real well.

Powdered sugar to taste

vanilla

1 t. gelatin powder

1/4 c. water

While the cream is whipping I take a small sauce pan and put the 1/4 c. water in and sprinkle the gelatin over the water.  Let it sit a few minutes and the gelatin will "bloom"  or absorb all the water.  Then turn the stove on low and swirl the pan until the gelatin dissolves.  It's fast.  Pour the liquid gelatin mixture into the whipped cream very slowly and keep whipping.  You don't want big clumps of gelatin to form so drizzle slow.  So now you have what is called Stabilized Whipped Cream.  It will last forever.  It won't separate and get wet overnight.   I love to layer this between my favorite Chocolate Cream Cake and it made a great frosting for the Coconut Cream Cake.  

Assembly:

Take one cake layer and spread a thin layer of lemon curd and then top with a generous amount of cream.  Place the remaining 3 layers on the cake repeating the lemon curd and whipped cream.   I like to stick a skewer of pencil down the middle of the cake to keep it in one place.  Actually this time around I stuck 4 skewers in the cake to keep it upright.  Otherwise it will tend to slip and fall.  When done frost the entire cake with the whipped cream.  I toasted a bag of coconut and spread that all over the cake to make it pretty.  The cake is best made the day before, and then served cold.  The cream frosting really makes a moist cake. 

Blackberries and Peaches

Love this combination.  Maybe it's the striking difference in colors, but I love making things with blackberries and peaches this time of year.  My blackberry patch is prolific.  It's making up for the lack of raspberries I guess, but it's been fabulous.  I love picking blackberries too.  They're big and fat, no thorns, and just easy.  Some of my berries have been as big as my whole thumb.  Yum!!  So it's been Coconut Pound Cake with Berries and Peaches, Berry Peach Crisp,  Granola with berries and yogurt, and tons of jam.

Enjoy the berries and peaches!

Coconut Pound Cake with Blackberry and Peaches

1 c. butter softened

3 c. sugar

6 eggs

Mix these ingredients together until light and fluffy.  Add:

3 c. flour

1/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

Mix until smooth.  Add:

1 c. sour cream

1 oz. of extract (coconut, rum, almond, lemon.....you get the idea)

Mix until combined and pour into a greased and floured 12 c. Bundt pan.  Bake at 325' F. for 1 hr. and 15 mins.  When done let sit on the counter for about 10- 15 mins.  Run a knife around the edge and invert onto a cake stand or large dish.  

Glaze For the Bundt

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

A lot of extract of the flavor of cake your making.  Especially the rum extract.  My granny once asked me if I used real rum in the cake it was so sauced up.  What a compliment Grams!

Bring the glaze to a boil on the stove and let it bubble away for 2-3 mins.  I brush the hot sauce on a hot cake with a pastry brush.  It makes it shiny and extra flavorful.

Berries and Peaches

Lots of fresh peaches peeled and sliced.  Lots of fresh Blackberries.

1 c. sugar

Combine together until sugar has dissolved.  Serve on top of pound cake with a big dallop of fresh whipped cream!

My Obsession With Banana Bread

I love banana bread!  I LOVE IT!!  But my concern here is that I haven't found the perfect recipe.  Actually I have.  There's two.   I just can't replicate them.  In my opinion James makes the best Banana Bread found on the planet at the bakery.    Have you tasted it?  It is to die for, and every Tues. I cut a warm slice off the bread board and top it with a little butter and I'm in heaven.  It is one of those "Great Harvest Moments".  When you taste something so yummy time and place stops.  I own the recipe.  I paid my franchise fee.  I have the recipe, but it just isn't the same at home.  Does that ever happen to you?   This last winter I spent a beautiful day skiing with my fabulous neighbor C and guess what she brought for lunch?  Yup- Banana Bread.  I was on a diet and not eating those kind of things, but I ate a piece.  Again........it was divine!  I even have C's recipe.  It's in her family cookbook.  3/4 of the book is treats.  These gals know how to make good stuff, but again, my attempts weren't that stellar.

So what is it about trying to replicate a recipe.  I've decided you can always replicate a recipe, but you can't replicate "the moment".  Eating is more than just the food.  There are all those other variables.  How hungry you were, where you were, how happy you were, who you were with and so on.  I once had my own daughter tell me I needed to get a recipe from my friend E who had brought us over a beautiful Razzleberry Pie.   It was my recipe!  E had just made it perfect.  The pie was a perfect specimen, but the timing was even better.  We needed that pie at that moment, and it turned that pie into pure loveliness.

So I'll keep trying for that perfect banana bread, but I do have one consolation.  I've nailed this Banana Cake.  It's wonderful every time, and it feeds my need for baked banana loveliness.  Maybe it's the topping, or the yumminess, but I think it's the fact that this is the first cake I made when I married James that actually turned out good.  It's a no-brainer!  Eat some and then you can tackle the world on Banana Bread recipe at a time.

Banana Cake 

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

2 eggs

1/2 c. buttermilk

1 c. mashed bananas

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

Cream sugar and butter together.  Add eggs, buttermilk and bananas.  Mix well.  Combine dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x9 inch cake pan or Pyrex pan.  Bake at 350'F for 40 mins. or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Immediately spread the topping on and return the cake to the oven for another 10 mins. or until the frosting bubbles.  I actually turn on the broiler and broil the frosting until it is bubbly.  Watch really close.  Serve cake warm with a honking huge cup of milk or vanilla ice cream.

Topping

3 T. butter

1 c. brown sugar

3 T.  cream

1/2 c. coconut

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Melt the butter and combine all the ingredients together.  Spread on warm cake and broil until bubbly.

Shortcake

I will tell you a little secret.  Strawberry Shortcake is divine.   I love to eat it, and smell it, and look at it.  Especially if it has a huge billowy puff of fresh cream on top.  Lovely!  There is a deep, deep, dark family secret in this family I have married in to.  The Clawson's lick their plates after they eat.  The ritual is only performed after Strawberry Shortcake has been consumed though.  Shocking wouldn't you say.

Sunday I had a big, fat, juicy container of strawberries, and blackberries waiting to grace our Sabbath dessert.  I admit though, I was running short of time.  I didn't have time for a fabulous Bonnie Butter Cake, or time for a luscious Coconut Pound Cake.  Those are my two "go to" Strawberry Shortcake cakes.  I had exactly 10 mins. until the guests were to arrive.   I did a quick search and came across a super simple Shortcake recipe.  Oh did I mention I was out of eggs Sunday as well.  So I needed something that required no eggs.  Not an easy task.  The first recipe to grace the Google search page was one from Alton Brown.  You know, the guy who does Good Eats.  He is Bill Nye The Science Guy, just with food.  We love his show.  The recipe seemed easy enough.  I now have a testimony of Alton Brown.  (I actually have for awhile.) He is true, and his recipes are true-er.  If there is such a thing:)  The little shortcake biscuits were just downright delicious.  It took me about 10 mins. from start to finish to get the little cakes in the oven.  Another 15 mins. baking and we had dessert.  My guests loved them and even licked their plates.  I may never go back to Bonnie Butter Cake again for my Shortcake eating.  The recipe made 8 shortcakes, but they were pretty good size.  I think next time I'll make 12 little cakes.  They'll be perfect.  Top them with any fresh fruit.  I may add a little mango next time.  Thanks Alton for the recipe.  I love your guts!!

Strawberry Shortcake

courtesy of Alton Brown

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (I added 1/3 c. of sugar)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons shortening

3/4 cup half and half

Melted butter to brush shortcakes

Berries

Ice cream or whipped cream

Directions

Heat oven 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in butter and shortening. Mix in half-and-half. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown. Cool and eat with berries, ice cream and/or whipped cream.

Red Velvet Love Cakes

How about a new addition to the bakery sweets lineup. Cupcakes! A few of the bakeries in Utah are doing them now and that's all James needed to hear to finally give in to my requests. I've wanted to make cupcakes for years now, but James just never quite got around to it. But if another Great Harvest is doing it, then by all means it must be important:)

We decided since it's Valentine season we'd start with some Red Velvet Love Cakes. A moist homemade cupcake with yummy cream cheese frosting. It's got all the little high school girls squealing. Come on over to the bakery and try one. They won't last long, but the next cupcake is going to knock your socks off.

Don't tell anyone but I'm going to give you the recipe for these Love Cakes. Since technically it's not a Great Harvest recipe, and I won't have to kill you after giving it out, I'll share. It's a recipe from a dear friend Martha. Martha Stewart that is, and no, I don't know her. I know a man who used to be her neighbor in Connecticut though. He didn't have very nice things to say about her, but I'm sure if she were my neighbor I'd let her borrow a cup of sugar anytime. That's how nice I am to my neighbors :) The recipe comes from her new cookbook entitled "Cupcakes". I knew I need not go any farther than this book for the perfect Red Velvet, and Emma says these Love Cakes are delish. I wouldn't know.............I'm on a diet.

My Dear Friend Martha's Red Velvet Love Cakes

(recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Chocolate Love In A Cup

Last week when I was grocery shopping I came upon this perfect little recipe. My local grocer has a recipe of the week you can pick up, and there are usually some good ones. Each recipe is submitted by fellow customers and they are all tried and true. This weeks recipe was for "5 Minute Chocolate Cake In A Cup". The recipe originally came from a cookbook entitled "101 Recipes For Microwave Mug Cakes". If you click here you can go to her website and get other great recipes. YUM! is all I could think. What a fun little treat.

I ran home and as soon as E came home from school we were making a mug full of goodness. As a kid I loved things that I could make in the microwave, in a cup. I mean there was Lipton Cup of Noodles and a snappy little hot tomato drink I learned in 4H that reminds me a bit of a Bloody Mary mix. I made these things over and over and over. I soon realized there was nothing better than being able to master the microwave. The independence it brought! I have taught that skill to my children as well. My youngest can cook a mean microwave burrito with no help at all. It's a science and my children are brilliant at it.

So Sat. night as J and I were heading out the door for a little adult bonding time (Movie!) E was already getting 4 big fat mugs of chocolate cake going for the kidlets. They loved it! What a perfect treat. I may never have to buy 6 containers of Ben and Jerry's again. When you can have your own individual chocolate cake why bother with Phish Food? Actually I will never give up a good Ben and Jerry's night, but I have to be feeling skinny before we'll do that anytime soon:)

The cake is more easy and fun than actually wonderfully delicious, but hey it's quick. We doctor ours up with a little hot fudge sauce, powdered sugar sprinkle, and cream in a can. It will hit the spot, and it keeps the kids happy, happy, happy! The recipe states to microwave the cake for 3 minutes, but I think the cake becomes a bit overdone. We found 2 minute and 15-30 seconds was perfect. A little underdone, might actually be good. It would be a little lava-ish. A pinch of cinnamon would be good, or a sprinkling of chocolate chips. Experiment and enjoy the goodness of some food in a cup. I love it!

5 Minute Chocolate Love In A Cup

4 T. flour

2 T. cocoa powder

4 T. sugar

3 T. milk

1 egg

3 T. oil

pinch of salt

splash of vanilla

3 T. chocolate chips (optional)

1 large coffee mug or hot cocoa mug in our case

Add the dry ingredients to large mug and mix well. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add the chips and mix until completely combined. Put mug in the microwave and cook for 2 mins. 15 secs. - 3 minutes tops. Cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't worry. We actually used an enormous mug and it fit well, but in a regular mug the cake will go over the top. It won't make a mess though since the cake has already set by this time. It looks really neat. Allow to cool a little and eat. We top ours with hot fudge, powdered sugar, and cream. 1 mug can actually feed two people if you can share.

Always For Eric

Every year for my younger brother Eric's birthday he receives a lovely pound cake compliments of me.  He loves this pound cake almost as much as I, and there is nothing more gratifying than having your cooking endeavors loved.  Years ago when I had just delivered my 3rd baby a loved sister-in-law brought this cake to me and my little family.  It was a Coconut Pound Cake that quickly had me eating piece after lovely piece and soon admitting that is was my favorite food in this world.  

I didn't have a Bundt pan at the time, but I quickly remedied that.  My mother was moving shortly thereafter, and I raped and pillaged her pot and pan drawer before she could give any of it away to the DI.  I came across this lovely Avocado green, tried and true Bundt pan.  I did tell my mom I was taking it, and she seemed genuinely happy that the green pan was finding a new home.  This pan has made many a pound cake since and is very well loved.  I have to admit that when ever I venture into our local DI, a well used Bundt pan is what I am looking for.  I've found a few and quickly snatched them up and given them to well loved relatives, who enjoy the merits of a perfect pound cake:)

Yesterday's pound cake was an new version of the perfect Coconut Pound Cake.  I had found a recipe quite similar that sounded wonderful with the addition of a lovely new spice, Cardamon.  Have you ever had it?  The local Indian restaurant in town puts it in their cool rice pudding, and I thought the addition to the pound cake would be delightful.  I was right.  It was delish!  The only thing that could make a perfect Pound Cake better would be a fresh fruit sauce or compote over the top with homemade vanilla ice cream.  That is just what I did.  

Rhubarb was calling my name out in the garden and I had a freezer full of the prettiest little strawberries from June's crop.  I was thinking of my mom as I made this little sauce.  My mom's favorite pie is Strawberry Rhubarb, but I think yesterday's dessert would have ranked right up there for her.  All I did was place 1 1/2 c. of rhubarb chunks and 2 c. of frozen berries into a pan with 1/2 c. water and 1 c. sugar.  Let it just bubble away until it turns into a jam like texture and is a lovely red color.

The ice cream was super easy.  I have 4 different ice cream makers, but this Cuisinart electric ice cream maker is the best for impromptu desserts.  The ingredients were just cream, sugar and vanilla.  Ok, so you could call it frozen whipped cream.  It was so yummy.  

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 qt. cream

1/2 qt. half and half

1 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

Place in frozen canister and let freeze.  Perfect and easy.

The Pound Cake was wonderful.  I have loved it in it's many different reincarnations.  Coconut Pound Cake was the first, and it was quickly followed by Rum Cake.  It's been a Blueberry Lemon, Almond, and just plain old Lemon Pound Cake too.  The recipe is simple, and can be tailored to your tastes.  It is pleasant eaten by the slice, toasted with butter, or topped with fresh peaches, raspberries, or Buttermilk Syrup.  This is a favorite no matter how you make it, but try the Cardamon.  It was delightful.  

Fabulous Pound Cake

1 c. butter softened

3 c. sugar

6 eggs

Mix these ingredients together until light and fluffy.  Add:

3 c. flour

1/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

Mix until smooth.  Add:

1 c. sour cream

1 oz. of extract (coconut, rum, almond, lemon.....you get the idea)

Mix until combined and pour into a greased and floured 12 c. Bundt pan.  Bake at 325' F. for 1 hr. and 15 mins.  When done let sit on the counter for about 10- 15 mins.  Run a knife around the edge and invert onto a cake stand or large dish.  

The cake I made yesterday had 1 t. of vanilla instead of the extract and 1 1/2 T. of cardamon.  It was lovely.  I actually glaze all of the cakes I make usually.  While the cake is resting after baking I make a quick glaze.  

Glaze For the Bundt

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

A lot of extract of the flavor of cake your making.  Especially the rum extract.  My granny once asked me if I used real rum in the cake it was so sauced up.  What a compliment Grams!

Bring the glaze to a boil on the stove and let it bubble away for 2-3 mins.  I brush the hot sauce on a hot cake with a pastry brush.  It makes it shiny and extra flavorful.