Apple Nectarine Coffee Cake

1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar (can increase to 1 cup)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup oil (can increase to 1/2 cup)
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract (you could also try almond extract, instead)

2 apples, peeled, cored, quartered and sliced
1 nectarine, cut from stone and chopped

Batter:
Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. Combine wet ingredients in separate bowl or large measuring cup. Form well in dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix just until combined.

Crunch:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 Tbsp margarine or butter

In small bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Work in margarine or butter with fingers.

Assemble:
In greased 9 x 9 baking dish, spread about half of the batter. Layer the fruit over the top. Then sprinkle over half of the crunch. Gently spread the remaining batter over the top of that, followed by the remaining crunch topping.

Bake at 350*F for about 45 minutes. Check with toothpick to see when it is done. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.

Orange Chocolate Cake

9 Tbsp (scant 2/3 cup) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Combine flour and baking powder separately. Add alternately with orange juice concentrate, stirring well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan or 6 cup bundt or ring pan. Bake at 350*F for 50-60 minutes until top is dry and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool about 5 minutes. Run knife around edges and gently loosen before turning out of pan. Let cool before wrapping to store like banana bread or other loaf cake. Slice and eat warm or cold.

Notes:
Can reduce butter/margarine to 1/2 cup.
Can reduce orange juice concentrate to 1/2 cup, or even 1/3 cup.
Drizzle top with melted chocolate if you like, or an icing sugar and orange juice glaze, or leave it plain: it’s nice as is!

No-bake Strawberry Cheesecake

19-20 graham crackers, crushed
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup strawberries, chopped
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. water
1 – 3oz pkg strawberry gelatin (jello)
1 – 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup extra strawberries for garnish, sliced

Grease 8 or 9″ round pan or pie pan. A loose bottomed cake pan is ideal.

Put graham crackers in a clean, empty bread bag and crush with a rolling pin. Place crumbs in a bowl. Melt butter in a glass pyrex measuring cup in the microwave and pour over graham cracker crumbs. Mix together well and press into the bottom of the greased pan. Set aside to cool, or place in fridge while you make the filling.

Chop the strawberries (you can use a regular table knife) and place in a pot with the sugar and water. Heat to a simmer and cook until stawberries are nice and soft, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add strawberry gelatin. Stir well to dissolve. Set aside to cool. (To speed cooling, place in fridge for a few minutes – not too long, you don’t want it to start to set up).

Remove cream cheese from fridge and let sit at room temperature until softened somewhat. Beat with a hand-held electric mixer until smooth and creamy (alternately, use an egg-beater or whisk). Pour in cooled (about room temperature) strawberry sauce mixture and blend well.

Beat cream with hand mixer or egg-beater (or a whisk if you have lots of energy!) until stiff peaks form. Fold it gently into the cream cheese and strawberry mixture until well blended. It will be a consistent pink color without chunks or white patches. Spread evenly on top of the graham cracker crust.

Put in fridge for at least 2 hours to set. If you are going to be leaving it in the fridge overnight, cover with plastic wrap.

To serve, remove from pan if using a loose bottomed pan, or just cut into wedges and serve with fresh sliced strawberries on top. Add an extra dollop of whipped cream if you like. Yum!

Note: If you don’t like the idea of using flavored gelatin/jello, try increasing the quantity of strawberries and sauce, and use plain gelatin rather than flavored.

In medium saucepan, stir together sugar and cocoa. Add butter, milk, salt, and optional corn syrup. Heat to a full boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Boil vigorously for 3 minutes, continuing to stir occasionally. Remove from heat and cool. When cool, beat in icing sugar and vanilla. Fills and frosts an 8″ or 9″ two-layer cake.

Triple Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Chips, filled and frosted with Chocolate Icing

For this cake, I used this Chocolate Cake recipe (using oil in place of shortening), with a couple handfuls of chocolate chips thrown in for fun. And I filled and frosted it with a Cocoa Fudge Icing, which in my hot kitchen spread and oozed and slumped off the cake into a chocolatey puddle. Cover and refrigerate this cake, especially in warmer weather! And feel free to substitute a more stand-up icing.

Simple Little White Cake
Topped with Real Homemade Whipped Cream and Fresh Strawberries

This is the Simple Little White Cake recipe – made with butter instead of shortening – in an 8″ x 8″ pan (okay, technically, it’s a yellow cake, but I call it a white cake ’cause it looks more white than yellow in color!). This cake can be covered and kept on the counter. Pull the whipped cream and strawberries out of the fridge at serving time. Top a square of cake with a generous dollop of sweetened whipped cream and slice strawberries over that. If you’re not sure how to make whipped cream, visit my Buttermilk Cake with Strawberry Filling recipe for instructions.

Here I’ve made it with oil instead of shortening, added a few chocolate chips (which sank to the bottom, no surprise – cake batter is not particularly thick!), filled and frosted with Cocoa Fudge Icing.

Chocolate Cake or Cocoa Fudge Cake

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (or 2 cups cake flour)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup shortening (or substitute other fat or oil)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Measure all ingredients into large mixing bowl and beat with a mixer for about 30 seconds on low, and then for about 3 minutes on high, scraping the sides of the bowl.

Pour into two greased and floured 9″ round pans (or one 9 x 13 pan, or a 12-cup bundt pan).

Bake at 350*F for 30 – 35 minutes (35 – 40 min for a 9 x 13; a bundt cake 40 – 45 min).

Cool. Fill and frost with chocolate or mocha frosting, white mountain frosting, or whipped cream.

This cake is also good at making theme cakes. For example, you can cut shapes and piece cake into (for example) a kitty or dog shape and then frost and decorate.

oops, that one little banana slice is about to topple off… this was snapped in a hurry cuz the guests were already here…

Banana Pineapple Cake (aka Hummingbird Cake)

3 – 4 ripe bananas, mashed (about 2 cups)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup butter, softened (or use all oil)
3 eggs
1 – 8 oz can crushed pineapple, with juice (or half of a 20 oz can)
1 – 2 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda (OR 1 tsp baking powder plus 3/4 tsp baking soda)

1 tsp cinnamon (opt)
1 cup finely chopped pecans (or walnuts) (opt)
1 cup coconut (opt)

Mash bananas in bowl, add sugar, oil, butter and stir well. Beat in eggs, dump in pineapple and add vanilla. Add optional chopped nuts and coconut. Stir until thoroughly combined.

In separate bowl, stir flour and baking soda and/or baking powder and optional cinnamon until well combined. Dump in wet ingredients and stir all together until well mixed.

Grease two 9″ round cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of wax paper. Divide batter evenly between. Bake at 350*F for about 30 minutes, until top springs back when pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

(This cake can also be baked in a 9 x 13 pan or two 8 x 8 pans. Watch the baking time, though, it may change a little.)

Remove from oven and let set 10 or 15 minutes to cool a bit before carefully removing from pans. Run a knife around the edge and flip onto a plate (put plate upside down on top of cake and turn over). If you like, you can transfer the cakes to a cooling rack (using the same method).

Cream Cheese Icing: (and this is optional
1/4 cup butter, softened
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
2 – 2 1/2 cups icing sugar (add more if you like a stiffer icing – up to about 3 1/2 cups)
1 tsp vanilla

Beat butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth, and a nice spreading consistency.

Assemble Cake:
1. Put first cake layer upside down on plate.
2. Spread with cream cheese icing.
3. Place second cake layer on top, right side up.
4. Frost entire cake with cream cheese icing, sides first, and then top.
5. Decorate with slices of fresh banana, coconut, or nuts, if you like.

Cover with upside down bowl, or store in a cake keeper and keep refrigerated. This cake is very moist and keeps well in the fridge. Like banana bread, it just tastes even better the next day.

One precaution: From first-hand experience, this cake can have a tendency to fall in the center as it cools, if a little underbaked, so be sure to check well for doneness before removing from oven. In trying not to OVERbake mine, I neglected the toothpick check, and after removing from the oven looking nice and risen, it eventually fell miserably. I compensated with filling the concave center of the top of my cake with sliced bananas. Voila! But upon cutting into it, found the center a tad gooier than even I’d like. Still, the flavor was SOOO good. This cake is a definite repeat. In fact, I just made a half batch with whole wheat flour in an 8 x 8 pan – no icing – it was for snacks. Well, and using only 1 leftover banana and the rest of that 20 oz can of crushed pineapple that was sitting in the fridge…

Buttermilk Cake with Strawberry Filling and Whipped Cream

This is a basic yellow cake made with buttermilk instead of milk. Otherwise, the ingredients for this cake are virtually identical to a basic white cake, except for using whole eggs instead of only egg whites; and butter instead of shortening. Also, with the use of buttermilk (or soured milk), both baking powder and baking soda (to react with the buttermilk/sour milk) are used for leavening, rather than just baking powder.

Buttermilk Cake

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened (can use all butter, or all oil)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (can substitute soured milk)
2 tsp vanilla

2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt

(There are different cake mixing methods. The following is basically a two-bowl method: wet ingredients beaten with sugar in one bowl, dry ingredients mixed in the other, combining both together at the end.)

With electric mixer and a good size bowl, beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Beat in butter and oil. Add buttermilk and vanilla and beat in.

In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Make sure your oven is preheated and your pans are prepared before the next step (baking soda will start to lose its “omph” if gets moistened too far ahead of hitting the oven).

Pour into wet mixture and beat on low just until well combined, then on medium-high to high for a couple minutes until well beaten.

Pour into 2 greased and floured 9″ round pans.

Bake at 350*F for 35 minutes until top springs back when pressed in the center with a finger. (Test with a toothpick if you’re not sure – the toothpick will have a few dry crumbs if done; if not, the toothpick will have cake batter stuck to it.)

Strawberry Filling

1 pint (to 1 1/2 pints, or 2 – 3 cups) fresh strawberries
2 Tbsp water (optional)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp corn starch

Wash strawberries, remove stems and slice. Set aside a few strawberries for garnish. Put the rest in a saucepan with the sugar and a couple tablespoons water (you can leave the water out, if you like, it just makes things a little juicier). Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook until strawberries are softened. Stir cornstarch and lemon juice together in small bowl or measuring cup until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour into cooking strawberries and cook a couple minutes until thickened. The lemon juice will bring that nice bright red color back to the berries. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Whipped Cream

1 pint (2 cups) heavy whipping cream, cold
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Chill bowl and beaters. Pour cold whipping cream into bowl and beat on high with electic mixer. When cream begins to thicken, pour in sugar. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form (Turn off mixer, push beaters into whipped cream and lift beaters back out. The peaks formed should hold their shape.) Beat in vanilla.

Cake Assembly

1. Put one cooled cake layer upside down on a plate (flat bottom side up).
2. Spread strawberry filling evenly over this. (Reserve a little for decorating the top, if desired.)
3. Spread a light layer of whipped cream over the strawberry filling.
4. Put the second layer of cake right side up on top of this.
5. Cover the entire cake with whipped cream. You might need to use a big spoon, a spatula, and some creativity for this. The usual icing spatula or butter knife won’t work very well with whipped cream.
6. Decorate with reserved fresh sliced strawberries and/or cooked strawberry filling.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate.

Crust and Topping:
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter or butter flavored shortening

Cream Cheese Layer:
1 – 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened (can substitute neufchatel or light cream cheese)
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 – 1 tsp vanilla (eg. 1 capful)

Fruit Layer:
1 apple (Granny Smith is best)
1/4 cup raisins (can increase, or omit; golden raisins are best, but can substitute dark raisins)
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
pinch nutmeg and allspice (optional)

1. Stir together rolled oats, flour and sugars. Cut in butter or shortening until mixture forms large crumbs.
Set aside 1/2 cup of crumble mixture for topping.

2. Grease 8 x 8 pan and press crumb mixture into bottom to form crust. Bake at 350*F for about 12 minutes, until set but NOT browned. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack to cool.

3. With electic mixer, beat cream cheese, egg, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla at medium speed until smooth and blended. Spread over cooked crust.

4. Peel, core and chop apple fairly fine (this will help ensure they cook to tender more quickly). Combine with raisins, sugar, cinnamon, and optional almond extract and other spices. Spoon evenly over cream cheese layer.

5. Sprinkle reserved oat crumble over the top.

6. Bake at 350*F for 25 – 30 minutes until top is golden and apples are tender.

7. Cool and cut into bars.

Note: If you have someone in the house who doesn’t like raisins, just sprinkle them over part of the apples.

Apple Blueberry Crumble

4 medium-large apples, peel on or off, cored and chopped into bitesize pieces (I used Granny Smith, peeled)
1 heaping cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup apple juice
1 Tbsp. turbinado sugar (can subsitute brown sugar – 1 Tbsp. will leave fruit distinctly tart. If you like it sweeter, add another Tbsp.)

2/3 cup whole wheat flour (I used about 1 cup white whole wheat and 1/3 cup unbleached)
2/3 cup unbleached white flour (or use all whole wheat)
1/3 cup unsalted butter (can substitute regular butter or margarine) (I used 1/2 cup regular butter – probably a little more than needed)
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (can substitute brown sugar, but turbinado will give a fun ‘crunch’)
3 Tbsp. rolled oats (can increase to 1/4 cup if omitting some or all of the seeds)
3 Tbsp. sunflower seeds (optional)
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds (optional)

Place chopped apple in bottom of 2 quart baking dish or 8 x 8 pan. Sprinkle blueberries over top. Pour over apple juice and sprinkle sugar over top.

In medium size bowl, measure and stir together flour. Cut butter with pastry cutter or knife and rub into flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add sugar, oats, and optional seeds. Stir all together and sprinkle over the top of the apples and blueberries in an even layer.

Bake at 350*F for 35 minutes until top is beginning to brown. (You may also want to check the apples for tenderness using a fork or knife).

A note on turbinado sugar if you haven’t used it before: Turbinado sugar has large crystals which do not dissolve quickly or easily. This means the turbinado sugar in with the apples/juice will dissolve, but the turbinado in the topping will not melt and seep down to sweeten the apples to nearly the extent as normally happens in a regular apple crisp. Also, due to this, the sugar will retain its distinctive crunch, which in this case, I really like! (though not so much in muffins and cake!)

Try this recipe with other fruits, or seeds / nuts in the top crumble layer. I think raspberries would go deliciously well with apples. Blueberries with peaches. Pears with walnuts on top…..