German Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

Alright..time for a recipe, huh? This one has been requested. I am glad that I made it for our church supper this week..that way it isn't in my house where I will eat it all! I did sneak a piece to try though ;-)

German Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

1 box German Chocolate cake mix
2 sticks butter, divided & melted
3 large eggs, divided
1 (8oz) block of cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (16oz) box confectioners' sugar
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 baking dish w/ cooking spray.

In mixer bowl, combine cake mix, 1 stick melted butter, and 1 egg. Beat at low speed until combined. Press evenly into bottom of baking dish; set aside.

In mixer bowl, beat cream cheese at med. speed until creamy. Beat in remaining 2 eggs and the vanilla. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Add the last stick of melted butter, beat at low speed until combined well. Stir in coconut and pecans. Pour evenly over cake mix layer. Bake for 45minutes-1 hour..until center is slightly set. Let cool completely before cutting into squares (this is the hardest step of all).

Caramel Cake

This recipe is just for the caramel icing. There was a sweet lady at our church, who has passed away now, that always made a caramel cake and brought to church pot lucks. I always would rave about her cake. It was soo good. One day she gave me her recipe for the caramel icing. I finally made it this weekend, and although it was good, I don't think it was as good as Mrs. Florence's. And that's OK...



Caramel Icing

3/4 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3-1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 one lb. box 10X sugar plus 1 additional cup
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 tsp. almond flavoring

Melt butter in saucepan. Add brown sugars and salt. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add milk, continue stirring until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat, add 10X sugar; beat well. Add flavorings. Thin with more milk if necessary. Put in pan of warm water to keep consistancy and work quickly when frosting cake. This recipe will frost 1 (3 layer) cake.

You can make your cake from scratch or just use a cake mix. I used the butter cake mix and made 3 layers.

More Christmas pics and Red Velvet Cake

I hope all of you have had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. Ours has been full of food, family and fun. I just wanted to invite you into my home once more and this time I'll give ya a slice of cake ;-) Enjoy!


This is my dining room.....we never ate off the Christmas dishes this year!


Master Bathroom


Now for the Red Velvet Cake. What I've learned over the years is that most people have a love/hate relationship with this cake. They either LOVE it or they HATE it. My 5 year old daughter is on the love end of this relationship...as well as myself!

7-layer Red Velvet Cake
(Paula Deen)

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup whole buttermilk (I can never find whole b-milk, so I use fat free)
2 large eggs
1 (1oz) bottle red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup butter, softened
1 (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
7 cups confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Beat in oil, buttermilk, and eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar. Pour 3/4 cup of cake batter into each cake pan, turning to distribute evenly. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks.
Wash and dry pans; repeat procedure with remaining batter until all layers are baked. Spread cream cheese frosting evenly between layers and on top and sides of cake.
For the icing: In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.

Carrot Cake

This is a very delicious carrot cake. It's a Paula Deen recipe..from her first cookbook. I do tweak a couple of things..so the recipe I post will not be exactly like hers..but not far off. I decrease the amount of pecans inside the cake. I never even liked carrot cake until a few years ago when I made this one...and I was hooked ever since. I hope over the next few days I can post some pictures of my Christmas decorations. I love looking at others for inspiration. Be on the look out for another cake coming up....Red Velvet!

Carrot Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add eggs and vegetable oil and mix well; add carrots and pecans. Pour into three 9 inch round greased,floured pans. Bake for approximately 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans, place on waxpaper, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

One 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter
One 16oz box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine all ingredients except for nuts and beat until fluffy. Stir in nuts. Frost cake.

Camping Out Cake

Tomorrow we are having my daughter's 5th birthday party. She wanted a camping themed party. We are having a camp fire with weenie roast, smores and other goodies. We are also having games and a hay ride. Today I decorated her cake and it was a lot of fun to do. I just wanted to share my pictures of how it began and the results.