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Showing posts with the label Desserts

Raspberry Coffee Cake

Raspberry Coffee Cake in the morning will start your day off to a fabulous start.  Serve it anytime for dessert, an afternoon snack, or my favorite breakfast. RASPBERRY BREAKFAST CAKE The recipe is based on my Very Blueberry Coffee Cake, switching out with fresh raspberries, butter, sugar, eggs, and sour cream and sprinkled with a coarse finishing sugar. I grew up with something sweet on the table all the time because my mother had a charming sweet tooth, which she passed on to her four daughters.    Mother was an amazing baker.  Even though I learned from her, I wish I had written down more of her recipes and paid more attention when she baked.

Nutella Sweet Rolls

Nutella Sweet Rolls recipe follows a similar process to cinnamon rolls. They start with a soft, pillowy dough and are filled with the star of the recipe, Nutella, then iced with vanilla icing. Nutella Heavenly Sweet Rolls These ooey gooey sweet rolls are the most decadent breakfast treats you could ever imagine, either for breakfast or,  like at my house, for dessert. Nutella is an absolute favorite with my grandchildren, so I thought making Nutella Sweet Rolls would be appropriate for Valentine's breakfast or, why not, dessert :). These soft, sweet, fluffy sweet rolls are hassle free.   They only take 30 minutes to rise once, so you can spend your time making other special delicacies for your special day. As you see, these rolls are amazing plain, but to give them an additional gooeyness, I iced them with a rich buttery, vanilla icing.  A thin coat gives them a glorious shine and divine gooeyness. If you can't resist these sweet rolls, just take a look at these  sweet rolls an

Christmas Tea Cakes

Christmas Tea Cakes are festive tea cakes that are super easy to make with few ingredients, including two cake mixes. Holiday Mincemeat Tea Cakes This is the perfect recipe to use extra cake mixes you have on hand.  This recipe was inspired by all the cookie recipes that use cake mixes.  Another secret ingredient that is classic around the holidays is mincemeat pie filling. You will love the Holiday Mincemeat Tea Cakes if you love mincemeat pie.  I know there are some yays and nays when mincemeat is mentioned.    Growing up in the 60s, my family always had mincemeat pie during the holidays.  Mincemeat is a sweet concoction of dried fruit, spices, dark brown sugar, nuts, and beef. When I saw a jar of None Such Mincemeat pie filling in my cabinet, I wanted to try to make a cookie with some cake mixes I needed to use.   

Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake

Summertime is the season to indulge in a perfect combination of tangy and sweet desserts like this Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake.     BLUEBERRY GOOEY BUTTER CAKE BARS These delightful Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake Bars have the perfect combination of flavors, the ease of the recipe, and the ease of carrying it somewhere.   Perfect for any celebrations, picnics, potlucks, or grand enough for any dinner party. Gooey Butter Cake has been around for many years.  It all started with the made from scratch version supposedly made by accident by a man in a St. Louis bakery.  Then, in the early 70s, Paula Deen introduced her version using a butter cake mix.  Since then, there have been many versions of the Gooey Butter Cake. With the ease of making recipes that call for few ingredients, I can whip up a batch of these bars in no time.   I had a couple of cups of blueberries that needed to be eaten, so I added them to the recipe.  The tartness of the lemon zest and cream cheese and the sweetness of t

Gingerbread Pear Upside Down Cake

Warm gingerbread cake baked in a skillet on top of a sweet mixture of caramelized pears and flipped over to a stunning presentation, fancy enough for a Thanksgiving dessert. Gingerbread Pear Upside Down Cake The pairing of gingerbread and pears brings this cake to the forefront for the fall.   The pears hold up really well and play nicely with the cake's warm spices. Upside down cakes are famous here in the south, pineapple being the most traditional.    This Gingerbread Pear Upside Down Cake tastes and looks impressive and is made using a simple shortcut to save time and effort in the kitchen. The cake is moist and dense, just like I like it.  Usually, gingerbread cakes get better with age, but you will want to eat this cake in a day or two since the pears begin to soften.   The structure of the pears changes when cooked more than other fruits used in upside down cakes, such as pineapple, peaches, and apples. Serve thick slices of cake at a dinner party dessert or as an indulgent

Epic! Pumpkin Roll Bread Pudding

My love for a pumpkin roll and bread pudding is the inspiration for the recipe.   The flavors of fall spices in the tender pumpkin roll cake and the sweetness of the cream cheese frosting are the beginning of an epic bread pudding.     Pumpkin Roll Bread Pudding  The bread pudding takes on a whole new level of deliciousness using a pumpkin roll cake cut up into cubes, and to add more richness, a pumpkin puree custard is poured over all the cubes.  It is served with the Ultimate Custard Sauce, made with a secret ingredient.  

Irresistible Symphony Cake aka Better Than Anything Cake

Irresistible Symphony Cake, devil's food chocolate cake mix, infused with sweetened condensed milk, topped with whipped topping, drizzled with caramel ice cream topping, and sprinkled with chopped chocolate symphony candy bars.  Delectable. Irresistible Symphony cake is utterly decadent and a perfect treat to serve for any special occasion, but don't pass up any reason to make one.     My daughter in love made this one as a request from my grandson for his birthday, with a  scoop of ice cream on the side for a truly indulgent celebratory dessert. This is a moist, semi-homemade cake that everyone will love.   The rich, sweetened condensed milk adds to the moist texture of this confection.   Then there is the topping, with whipped topping, more richness with caramel sauce, and more richness with chopped Symphony candy bars.  Heavenly.

Extreme Patriotic Cheesecake Parfaits

Patriotic Cheesecake Berry Parfaits are a perfect dessert for summer and cookouts with extreme layers of yumminess.   CHEESECAKE PARFAITS The parfait starts with a spoonful of leftover cheesecake, fresh berries, yogurt, and berry jelly.  Don't forget to top it off with a generous spoonful of granola.  Did I mention these are extreme? Are you looking for an easy and quick no-bake dessert for the summer? Try these Extreme Patriotic Cheesecake Parfaits.

Texas Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake

Texas Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake is a chocolate fudge cake mix and fudge brownie mix that comes together to make the most scrumptious chocolate cake you will ever eat.  The chocolate ganache icing sends the chocolate love over the top.   Don't wait to make this cake.  The Texas Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake brings back so many memories of my mother's chocolate cake growing up.    The Texas Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake has a rich, and I mean rich chocolate presence in the cake from the two mixes, chocolate fudge cake mix and chocolate fudge brownie mix.  The cake is dense while tender and moist yet smooth.   There are only five ingredients in the recipe, meaning do not add the ingredients on the back of the mix boxes.   I used Hershey Milk Chocolate Frosting  and microwaved it for 30 seconds to make an almost homemade ganache.   If you prefer, you can make the chocolate ganache using chocolate chips and heavy cream.

Pumpkin Roll Cake Recipe

Pumpkin Roll Cake Recipe, the classic cake for a Fall dessert.  A soft, tender pumpkin chiffon cake filled with pillowy cream cheese filling, then rolled up in a jelly roll fashion and chilled before slicing.    Pumpkin Roll Recipe Take advantage of serving this eye catching, gorgeous dessert at your next Thanksgiving gathering. The recipe has few ingredients and is simple to make. Pumpkin Roll Cake is one of my favorite pumpkin desserts.  Although I have not made many of them, I have eaten plenty.  If they are served for dessert, I make sure that I have a slice to enjoy.   While Pumpkin Roll Cake may seem challenging, I can guarantee they are effortless,  so be confident. I can give you a tip that has improved how you roll the pumpkin roll.  Roll the pumpkin roll in parchment paper instead of a cool light towel dusted with powdered sugar. Which I used to do years ago, and the new way is much easier.

Easy Jello Peach Icebox Pie

Easy Jello Fresh Peach Pie, three ingredients make a fresh peach filling, and a homemade buttery pecan shortbread crust will create a no bake icebox pie you see in your beloved diners.  Be sure to use fresh peaches. If you love peaches as much as I do and can not bring yourself to turn the oven on for a fresh peach cobbler , lattice top peach pie , this foolproof no bake pie is the perfect summertime solution. The best part of this fresh peach icebox pie is you can make it in the morning and serve it by dinnertime, or you can make it a day ahead before serving it.

Lemon Bars Recipe

Old Fashioned Lemon Bars are the quintessential southern dessert at teas, luncheons, and showers.  The only recipe you will ever need, a simple, straightforward method.   My Lemon Bars sings the praises of spring coming.  They are so easy to make and are bursting with so much lemon goodness. After you make my recipe, you will not want to go back to store bought or packaged ones again.   My recipe uses a buttery shortbread cookie crust and a rich tangy sweet lemon curd filling. The combination is amazing.

Super Easy Homemade Marshmallows

Homemade Marshmallows have become the gourmet confection of the decade.  And it is no surprise that only a few ingredients are needed to make this candy. Not only do homemade marshmallows taste 100% better than store bought, they are also easy to cut into any size.   With Easter around the corner, using cutters in the shape of eggs, bunnies, little chickens, and tulips will wow your children.  

Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust

Homemade Pie Crust made with few simple ingredients, using flour, butter, shortening, and salt.  This recipe is so forgiving that you will never use another recipe again. Homemade Pie Crust can seem daunting if you have never made it.  At least that is how I felt the first time I wanted to make a pie using homemade crust.   I want to promise you that it gets easier and more comfortable the more you make the homemade.  As my mother used to say, "practice makes perfect."   For years I use to make my homemade pie crust with just shortening and still do occasionally, but I find the added butter gives an excellent rich taste to the pie crust.  

Old Fashioned Doughnuts

Old Fashioned Doughnuts , just like Grandma used to make, easy and straightforward.  The dough is very forgiving and easy to work with.  One of the ingredients will surprise you, yielding a texture nothing short of perfection. Have you ever wanted to make old fashioned doughnut from scratch that does not take all day in the kitchen to make?   That's me...I like to get up early on a Saturday morning and whip up a batch of cake doughnuts just like the bakery down the street before everyone gets up.    I learned from Ashely Strickland Freeman the author of The Duke's Real Mayonnaise Cookbook that she loves to make homemade doughnuts on a Saturday morning also. 

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting is   the ultimate Southern dessert for any special occasion or a delightful dinner with family.  Fresh juicy strawberries take center stage in this show-stopping strawberry cake and buttercream frosting. I always think of a Strawberry Cake around Mother's Day.  It has a certain Mother's charm about it, richness, softness, and sweetness.   This Fresh Strawberry Cake is a little different from my Mother's heirloom recipe she made when I was growing up in the '50s.  

Blackberry Dumpling Cobbler

Blackberry Dumpling Cobbler, luscious, juicy blackberries layered between three layers of buttery, flaky crust with a rich syrup of butter, sugar, vanilla, and water poured over the whole cobbler.  This is where all the magic happens when the dough in the center forms pillows of tender dumplings.  I know you are thinking, why am I posting a recipe for blackberries, a summer berry.  Well, we love blackberries and eat them throughout the year.  I missed the window for posting the recipe this summer and thought, why not.   When I was young and newly married blackberries were only in the grocery stores and better yet on the vines during blackberry season in the summer.  Produce these days have changed so much.  We see blackberries year round in the grocery store and farmer's markets.

Peach Dumpling Cobbler

Peach Dumpling Cobbler, a cobbler made with fresh sliced peaches layered between three layers of sweet, tender, buttery dough.  Boiling water is poured over the whole cobbler.  The dough transforms magically, making sheets of dumplings. Peach Dumpling Cobbler is the first dessert I want to make as the peach season approaches.  We love my Double Crust Peach Cobbler  recipe, but here lately the Peach Dumpling Cobbler has taken the first choice to make.   They are both easy enough to make.  We just love the dumpling texture in the Peach Dumpling Cobbler.   And really, the only difference between the two recipes is the Peach Dumpling Cobbler has 3 layers of crust instead of two, and 2 cups of boiling water is poured over the whole cobbler.  This is where all the magic happens, tender sheets of dumplings. Since the Peach Dumpling Cobbler is baked with water, I bake it in a deep oblong baking dish.  

Fresh Vanilla Peach Slab Pie

Fresh Vanilla Peach Slab Pie,   fresh juicy peaches in a buttery lattice crust, baked in a rimmed baking sheet pan.  Easy to serve and perfect for a large crowd.    Here in Texas, peach season is in full swing.  The peaches are lovely in the grocery stores, but for our peaches, we like to get them at a local peach orchard in a little town close to us.   They have several varieties, but our favorite is Alberta's, they are not ready yet, so we get another variety.  They are sweet, juicy, and the best part, they are freestone.

The Best Carrot Cake Ever with Ultra Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting

The Best Carrot Cake Ever with Ultra Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting sets the bar for all carrot cakes.  The cake is incredibly moist from a generous amount of finely shredded fresh carrots and blanketed with a velvety frosting that completes the perfection.  The Best Carrot Cake Ever! This past weekend I surprised my husband for Father's Day with a Carrot Cake.  I had made one just the week before for my son in law's birthday.  Jim enjoyed it so much, I decided to make him one too. Carrot Cake is often made around celebrations and holidays and rightful so, usually for Easter.  It is such a rich and decadent cake that deserves all the compliments and praises.