Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

I have to say that I didn't even make these, my sister did. But I watched her make them, does that count?! It is a lengthy process to make these, but they're well worth it!

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Strawberry Bread

Strawberry Bread

Warm Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Bacon, and Goat Cheese

This salad earned rave reviews during dinner and also garnered a lot of attention when I posted on Facebook that I was making it. I'm pretty sure the secret is that the dressing is made almost entirely of bacon grease. Healthy? No. Delicious? Yes.


The original recipe called for adding orzo and pecans to the salad but since I was already serving orzo and don't really like nuts I just adjusted a few things so that it fit my menu better. You can make the dressing in advance and just reheat over low heat on the stove to get the bacon grease all nice and warm again. I hope you enjoy this decadent salad as much as we did!

Warm Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Bacon, and Goat Cheese
adapted from How Sweet It Is
makes 4 servings

6 slices bacon, uncooked
1/2 red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces baby spinach
8-10 large strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese, crumbled
Kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add bacon slices. Cook until brown and crispy, turning once. Remove from skillet and drain on a paper towel. Cool slightly and coarsely chop.

Leave skillet on and add red onion, sprinkle with a little salt, and stir to coat with grease. Cook until soft and caramelized, 8-10 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add strawberries and mix to coat. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and add bacon crumbles. This can be prepared a few hours in advance, just reheat whole mixture gently when ready to serve.

Place spinach in large serving bowl, top with bacon mixture, then goat cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss to combine all and serve immediately.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

I have made many muffins over the years; yet I am constantly searching for one that's not too dry or crumbly. So when I came across this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and Deb talked about how many muffins she had tried searching for the perfect one, I decided to give these a shot. And I'm glad I did! These muffins delivered - of course, the fact that each of them contains about a half tablespoon of butter probably doesn't hurt :) You can use fresh or frozen bluberries in these, and I used orange zest in place of lemon just because that's what I had in the house. Otherwise, I didn't change a thing and they were delicious. Make these soon!

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Apple Sour Cream Cake

This is a delicious little recipe that I got from my mom awhile ago. It's really more of a dessert bar than an actual cake, but uses a cake mix so I guess that's where the name came from. And it is my favorite way to use a cake mix - just mixing it with butter to form a delectable crust. Then it's topped with fresh apples, apple pie filling, and a sour cream/egg mixture. You really can't go wrong - oh, and I forgot to mention the cinnamon and sugar. :)

Apple Sour Cream Cake
from Jo's kitchen
Makes 13 x9 pan

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can apple pie filling
2-3 fresh apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sour cream
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine butter and cake mix and press in 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven (leave oven on).

Scatter sliced apples over warm crust. Spoon pie filling over apples, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. In small bowl, combine sour cream and egg; drizzle over top of bars.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

Apple Cake with Toffee Crust

This cake was delicious, time-consuming to make, but delicious! A gooey cake studded with apples and a toffee crust, topped with caramelized apples, butterscotch sauce, and vanilla ice cream. Like I said right before we ate it, "This is the epitome of a fall dessert!"

I must warn you though that I had trouble deciding on a pan since I don't have a springform tube pan. I finally settled on my angel food cake pan with removeable bottom, and it worked out ok. However, this is a heavy cake, so it did break a little bit as I was removing it from the pan so make sure to grease and flour your pan thoroughly. Not a problem though, I just put it back together on the plate!

If you decide to make this, leave yourself a lot of time. There are a lot of components, along with a long cooling time before you can remove the cake from the pan. I made the recipe exactly as directed; but I do suggest halving the butterscotch sauce (it is referred to as both butterscotch and toffee sauce in the same recipe) and doubling the amount of caramelized apples, especially if you are serving this to a crowd and will be eating most of it in one sitting.

After the glaze and cooling but before the sauce and ice cream:

Here's the link from Food & Wine:

Apple Cake with Toffee Crust

Spinach Salad with Smoked Chicken, Apple, Walnuts, and Bacon

Except I left out the walnuts. And grilled the chicken instead of using a smoked one. And used turkey bacon instead. But it was still great! Chuck likes what he calls "meat salads" for dinner, and I made quite a few of them over the summer. I knew the frequency of these salads would decrease once the weather got cooler so when I saw these fall flavors, I knew it would be perfect for an October dinner!

I will write you the recipe below as I made it for us, but also check out the link with the original ingredients and amounts. I had no clue where I would find smoked chicken, and the grilled was just as good. I used the turkey bacon to feel a little healthier, and when I make this again I will try and find a nice sharp cheddar cheese to add to the salad.

When making this for just the two of us, I assemble the salads individually, but if you were serving this to a crowd, toss everything together and leave for a few minutes so the flavors meld together.

Spinach Salad with Smoked Chicken, Apple, Walnuts, and Bacon
adapted from Food & Wine
Makes 2 servings

6 tablespoons walnuts, chopped (optional)
4 slices turkey bacon
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound smoked (or grilled) and sliced boneless chicken breast
1/2 of a 6-ounce bag baby spinach, washed and dried
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

If using walnuts, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Toast the walnuts until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels and then chop or crumble.

Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil.

Combine the spinach, walnuts, bacon, onion, apple, and chicken in individual serving bowls. Toss with desired amount of dressing and serve immediately.

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

I am not ashamed to say that I love seeing a recipe that includes a cake mix. It makes preparation so much easier, and if you are adding all sorts of things to it, what's the difference really? Another great thing about this recipe is that it uses no butter or oil, just applesauce! So with the blueberries and the applesauce in there, it's almost like you're eating health food, right?

As you can see, I did not make the glaze for this, as I was running short on time; and it was as delicious without as I am sure it is with the glaze. And just a storage note, this cake is VERY moist, so store any leftovers in the refrigerator to prevent spoiling (I learned this the hard way). I was also a little disappointed in how, although floured, all the blueberries dropped to the bottom of the pan while baking, but it still tasted great!

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
from Deborah's Culinary Confections
Makes 1 bundt cake

Cake:
1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup applesauce
4 eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cups blueberries
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon flour

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
water, as necessary

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, stir together cake and pudding mixes. Make a well in the center of the mix and pour in water, applesauce, eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape sides of bowl and beat on medium speed for 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine blueberries, sugar, and flour; toss to coat. Fold blueberries into cake batter with rubber spatula. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Carefully run a butter knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Allow to cool completely and then invert onto serving platter.

To make glaze, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Add water a teaspoon at a time until glaze reaches desired consistency. Drizzle over cake.

Blueberry Coconut Yogurt Bread

I love making bread or cakes with yogurt - it makes the cake so moist without using too much fat. The original recipe popped out at me on my Google reader, and then I changed it up a little bit because I had some extra coconut I wanted to use. I am very happy with the result - a delicious bread with blueberry, coconut, and a hint of lemon - perfect for a summer breakfast!

Blueberry Coconut Yogurt Cake

adapted from Closet Cooking
Makes one loaf

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

zest of one lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

6 ounces plain yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray (I use one with flour in it for baking).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, yogurt, sugar, eggs, oil, and coconut extract.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl. Mix gently with a spatula until just combined. Mix in the blueberries and shredded coconut.

Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake

Alright, so I debated even posting this since the end result turned out to be a partial disaster. But then I decided to post because the cake itSELF was delicious, it was just my own mistakes that made this an ugly end product.

I think the major problem I had was that the cake was too heavy for itself. I did use a 9.5 inch bundt cake pan rather than a 10 inch one, so maybe the batter wasn't spread out enough; but essentially, I think it was just too much CAKE for a bundt pan. Between cooling it on the wire rack, glazing it with the powdered sugar, and moving it onto the cake plate, it broke in several places:

There was just no way to move it all at once so that one part of the cake wasn't lagging behind the rest. So if I make this again, I may try mini bundt pans, or reduce the amount of ingredients so that it results in a smaller cake.

All in all though, the cake got rave reviews (but how can you not with three sticks of butter?!). The moist chocolatey cake paired with the raspberry jam and the chocolate chips made an excellent, rich dessert that pairs well with a tall glass of cold milk!

**Note: I have had this recipe saved in my file for quite some time, pre-blog, so I have no clue where it came from. Please email me at cookingthisandthat@hotmail.com if this is yours!

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake

from source unknown

Makes one 10-inch bundt cake

3 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 sticks butter, softened

3 cups sugar

4 extra large eggs (I used 4 large)

1 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Glaze:

Mix 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk until it forms a pourable glaze. Add more sugar or milk to reach desired consistency.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In large bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, on medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Add vanilla and mix.

Add flour mixture and milk in alternating batches (1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, 1/3 flour). Mix just until combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips with rubber spatula.

Spread 1/2 of the batter in the prepared pan. Heat raspberry preserves for 15 seconds in the microwave. Spoon over top of the batter in the pan. Spread the remaining batter over the preserves.

Bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from over and let cool in pan for 15 -20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake and turn on to a cooling rack. Let cool completely, then drizzle glaze over top.

Banana Butterscotch Cake

When I saw Maria's post for this cake on her blog, Two Peas and Their Pod, I thought it was an interesting idea. No butter or oil added? Brilliant! And healthy! But how would it taste? Well, it is safe to say that it is DELICIOUS. I brought a few pieces to work to share with some friends and I have been *cough* harassed *cough* by certain people at work to post right away!

So here it is. Maria uses cinnamon chips in hers but I couldn't find them in my sub-par grocery store so I decided to use butterscotch chips instead. They added a nice touch to the already moist, dense banana cake that resulted from this great recipe. The cinnamon-sugar topping really adds a nice touch too, so don't skip that!

Banana Butterscotch Cake

slightly adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Makes an 8 x 8 cake

3 very ripe bananas

2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cinnamon or butterscotch chips

For topping:

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray (preferably with flour in it).

In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas well with a fork or potato masher. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Gently fold in the sugar.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Add to the banana mixture and mix until combined. Add 3/4 cup of the cinnamon chips, and stir briefly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the batter in the pan, and top with the remaining 1/4 cup chips.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Lemon Sugar Crusted Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins are one of my favorite kinds of sweet breakfast (or anytime foods) so when I saw this recipe over at My Kitchen Cafe, I knew I wanted to try it! Melanie said the muffins were phenomenal so I took her word and went for it!

Due to the outrageous blueberry prices around here lately, I used frozen berries and they turned out delicious. Just make sure NOT to thaw the berries before you use them. These muffins take a little bit of time because there are several components, but trust me, they're worth it. They got rave reviews all around and I look forward to making them again!

I didn't have to change anything except the baking time from the original recipe (mine needed to bake about 22 minutes), so I am just going to link you right to the source:

Lemon Sugar Crusted Blueberry Muffins

Enjoy!

Swirling the blueberry reduction into the muffins:

Sprinkling the lemon sugar crust:

Mmmmmm

Blackberry Crumb Cake

In searching for muffins or a coffee cake to take to my in-law's for Easter breakfast, I came across Dorie Greenspan's blueberry coffee cake and thought it looked perfect. A whole pint of blueberries in a moist cake topped with buttery crumbs - how could it not be delicious! Then I got the grocery store and discovered that blueberries were selling for $3.99 per 8 ounces. I turned quickly the the blackberries beside them and decided they would be great as well, for a little cheaper price!

Lots of people make a blueberry coffee cake, so I am happy that I wound up buying the blackberries instead. They add a beautiful, purple-y color to the cake. I apologize for the pictures but I have yet to actually bring this Easter breakfast so I needed to sneak out a piece to photograph and then put it right back. I cannot wait to have a whole piece of this tomorrow morning!

Don't be afraid of all the steps that appear below. This cake actually comes together fairly quickly. I omitted the nuts in the nuts in the crumb topping as well. Happy Easter if you celebrate!

Blackberry Crumb Cake

from Baking: From my home to yours

Makes an 8x8 pan

For the crumbs:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 chopped walnuts (optional)

For the cake:

1 pint blackberries (preferably fresh)

2 cups plus 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (ground is fine)

2/3 cup sugar

grated zest of 1/2 lemon or 1/4 orange

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray or butter. Place on a baking sheet.

To make the crumbs:

Place all the ingredients except for the nuts in a food processor. Pulse just until mixture forms large crumbs. Place topping in bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed.

To make the cake:

Gently toss the blackberries with 2 teaspoons of flour in a small bowl with your fingers. When berries are just coated, set aside.

Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Rub the sugar and the zest together with your fingers in the large bowl of a stand mixer; just until fragrant. Add the butter and beat at medium speed until light, about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs, one by one, beating for 1 minute after each egg. Beat in the vanilla extract. With mixture on low, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk in the following order: 1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk, 1/3 flour. Mix until you have a thick, creamy batter. Gently mix in the berries with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter in to the prepared pan. Remove the crumb mixture from the refrigerator and crumble over the top of the batter with your fingers. Press the crumbs down slightly into the batter.

Bake 55 to 65 minutes, or until crumbs are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

Strawberry Tart with Orange Cream

A fruit tart is a wonderful dessert to make for any occasion. It always looks impressive, and is usually fairly simple to make. There is something about that arrangement of the fruit on top that makes it look like a bakery-bought dessert. I am fan of tarts with a sweet cream cheese layer, so this recipe really caught my eye.

I was looking for a colorful, springy dessert to bring for Palm Sunday dinner with our families. Katie pointed out this recipe to me and I printed it out right away! The light orange flavor paired with the apricot-glazed strawberries, all on a sweet tart dough is delicious.

If you don't have the time or the desire to make your own tart dough, a frozen pie crust will do the trick. Just defrost it and use exactly as the directions indicate. I don't have pie weights so I always use my little ramekins when baking the dough:

I didn't have to change anything from the original recipe so I will just link you to the original on the Williams-Sonoma website here:

Strawberry Tart with Orange Cream

Raspberry Strippers

The name of this recipe is just ridiculous, but I didn't change anything about it so I can't change the name either! I was looking for a little cookie or cake to go with coffee and tea and this seemed to fit the bill! I was a little worried about having to roll the dough out, but it was very workable so it wasn't a problem at all.

Before baking:

Use any flavor of jam or jelly that you like for these, you can't go wrong. Try to match up the flavor of the jam with the extract you use for the icing - maybe use orange extract with strawberry jam or something similar to mix it up!


I made the recipe exactly as the original called for so you can find it here. Enjoy!

Coconut Snowflakes

So these were on my list of Christmas treats to make and I just never got around to them. I made them for Christmas 2007 and really liked them, so when I recently found some extra coconut in my pantry, I decided that these were the perfect fit!

The original recipe calls for these to be made into sandwiches with vanilla filling, which would be nice if you were making these for a special occasion; but I think keeping these as individual cookies is just fine for hanging around in the cookie jar. These cookies have a delicious buttery, sugary taste to them, all with a perfect amount of coconut in each bite. I just had one with breakfast!

Coconut Snowflakes

adapted from Everyday Food

Makes about 36 cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups sweetened shredded coconut (about 6 ounces)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, with racks set in upper and lower thirds. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In food processor (or in a mini-chopper, working in batches), pulse coconut until coarsely ground.

Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour and coconut in batches, mix on low until just combined.

Drop dough (using a tablespoons or medium-sized cookie scooper) onto baking sheets, 1 to 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly golden around edges, 10-12 minutes, rotating sheets between racks halfway through baking time.

Let cookies rest 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

White Chocolate Layer Cake with Raspberry Filling

I have to give ALL the credit for this wonderful dessert to my fabulous sister, Meghan. She found the recipe, baked the cake, and had the patience to layer it and decorate it; something that I certainly couldn't have done. Throughout the entire birthday dinner shopping and prep, Meg was a major help and I couldn't have done it without her! It was a fun, yet tiring day in the kitchen - here she is during her mid-prep red wine break:

This cake was really good - my mom loves buttercream I think more than she loves us sometimes; so this was the perfect choice for her. Between the white chocolate in both the cake and the icing, to the raspberries in the filling; it's a winner all around! Just make sure to leave yourself enough time to bake the cakes, allow them to cool, and then ice them. Enjoy!

White Chocolate Layer Cake with Raspberry Filling

from Great American Brand Name Baking

Makes 10-12 servings

Cake:

12 ounces white chocolate, broken up into pieces (we used white chocolate chips)
¼ cup milk
2 cups all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
¾ cup sour cream

Raspberry Filling:

1 ½ cups heavy or whipping cream
¾ cup fresh or thawed frozen raspberries
3 tablespoons sugar

White Buttercream:

6 ounces white chocolate, broken up into pieces (this needs to be good quality)
¼ cup heavy or whipping cream
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into pieces
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease two 9-inch round baking pans; line bottoms with waxed paper (optional).

Pour milk over chocolate and microwave until smooth at 30 second intervals.

In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

In large mixer bowl, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually blend in melted chocolate mixture and vanilla extract. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream.

Pour into prepared pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (watch to make sure you do not overbake). Cool 15 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely.

Raspberry Filling:

In small mixer bowl, combine heavy cream, raspberries and sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.

White Buttercream:

Pour heavy cream over chocolate and microwave until smooth at 30 second intervals. Transfer to large mixer bowl; cool to room temperature.

Gradually beat in cold butter and confectioners' sugar; continue beating until light and fluffy.

Assembly:

Split cake layers horizontally in half. Place 1 layer on cake plate; spread with 1/3 of Raspberry Filling. Repeat with remaining layers and Filling. Frost cake with White Buttercream. Garnish with raspberries and mint, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

Spreading the first layer with filling:

Ready to be iced!

Yum!