Gooey Chocolate Mug Cake in the Microwave

What could be better than a slice of warm chocolate cake? A Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake that's ready in a minute! This quick and easy gooey chocolate mug cake is utterly delicious and comes together in no time using simple ingredients to satisfy your chocolate cravings in record time.

Blueberry Dump Cake

Dump Cake recipes are the easiest cake recipes around! I think we should change the name though. Dump Cake doesn't sound as appetizing as something like My Favorite Cake Recipes Ever, right?! Today I'm sharing my Blueberry Dump Cake from scratch recipe, along with why I filled this dump cake with fresh blueberries.

Lemon Crumb Cake

This is the BEST Lemon Crumb Cake Recipe! A delicious make ahead, New York Style crumb cake with tangy lemon curd swirled throughout and topped with a crumb topping that will have you licking the plate to gobble up every scrumptious last morsel. Perfect for dessert and brunch too!

Starbucks Lemon Loaf Recipe

Now you can enjoy the deliciously tangy Starbucks Lemon Loaf without even leaving the house and you'll save money too! How great is that?! This copycat recipe is pretty easy to make and bursting with tangy lemon flavor. A family favorite for sure!

Coca-Cola Cake Donuts

Coca-Cola Cake Donuts are rich, chocolaty, baked donuts with a cake-like texture. The delicious icing sets-up nicely and puts the flavor of these donuts over the top! Did I mention they are easy to make too?! Score!

No Bake Boston Cream Pie

No Bake Boston Cream Pie is Don's favorite dessert! The buttery sweet layers of cake filled with exquisite homemade pastry cream, all topped off with a rich, creamy chocolate ganache is hard to resist! You're going to LOVE how easy this recipe is!

Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Do you love ice cream cakes? We have always loved them! Especially the ones with the crunchy goodness in between the layers! yummmm! The one thing I don't like about ice cream cakes is making them! They take a bit of time, unless you have this easy recipe cheat. My Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake is the easiest cake you probably aren't making, but should be! It is chocolaty, sweet, delicious, has a crunchy filling, and only takes about 10 minutes to assemble. Sometimes we just NEED easy <smile>

Pumpkin Streusel Squares

Pumpkin Streusel Squares are easy to make from a box of Spice Cake Mix I dressed up with creamy pumpkin puree and a sweet cinnamon and brown sugar streusel. There is also a secret ingredient you don't normally find in baked goods that make these pumpkin squares super moist! I love simple holiday recipes like this one! You don't have to be a skilled baker to make these scrumptious squares, but everyone will think you are!

Patriotic No Bake Cake

Patriotic No Bake Cake is a deliciously easy way to celebrate the 4th of July or even to cheer on Team USA!! There's not much better than a patriotic cake loaded with sweet strawberries, blueberries, and bananas too! It is cool, creamy, delicious, and best of all it is no bake, so that makes it very easy!

Apple Cinnamon Cake

posted by Marion@Life Tastes Good on 2013-10-21

Mmmmmm is there anything more delicious than fresh baked apples and cinnamon? I didn't think so, but apples, cinnamon, AND cake together in one moist, delicious, easy to make loaf just might be the answer to my dessert prayers! 

I used a Pink Lady Apple (or Cripps Pink) in this recipe. I pretty much use the Pink Lady for everything apple these days. It has succeeded the Granny Smith as my favorite for both eating and baking.

This Apple Cinnamon Cake won't last long, so you'll probably want to make two!! I did! Okay, so I made 3! Don't judge! I gave one away :)

Pumpkin Maple Coffee Cake

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OOOH soooo yummmmy!

I had some leftover pumpkin after making the Pumpkin-Pecan Braid, so I went in search of another yummy pumpkin recipe.  Seeing as Pillsbury did such a good job on the braid recipe, I went to their website first. Because I LOVE COFFEE CAKE it was a no brainer to try this recipe.  My only issue was I didn't have maple flavoring, and I couldn't find it anywhere! So I decided to use pure maple syrup, and you know what? It worked just fine! The maple-y flavor came through in just the right amount!

Ingredients

Cooking spray

1.5 cups all-purpose flour (Pillsbury Best)

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup buttermilk (or 2 teaspoons vinegar in milk to make 2/3 cup - let sit for about 5 mins)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, beaten

Topping

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pure maple syrup

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom only of a 9" square pan with cooking spray. 

For the coffee cake combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, buttermilk, pumpkin, maple syrup, oil, and eggs in a bowl until combined.

For the topping combine sugar and cinnamon until well mixed. Stir in maple syrup until blended.

Spoon half of batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with 1/2 of topping. Then carefully spoon remaining batter into pan and top with remaining topping.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Mine was done after 40 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes and enjoy!

Recipe inspired by Pillsbury's Pumpkin Maple Coffee Cake

Caramel Banana Cheesecake Shooters

I was experimenting in the kitchen today, and I created a yummy little treat I plan to make for Madison's college equestrian team.  They are competing in the first show of the season, and Madison was chosen as one of the riders for this show. We are so excited to go watch the team compete, and happy we are able to spoil them a little bit

Last year I purchased these little plastic push pop containers

to make transporting treats easier when attending the shows. These nifty push pops are perfect for layering cake and filling to create all sorts of delectable yummies! 

Because I've been on a caramel kick lately, I naturally came up with something to incorporate that flavor in the cake shooters.  I wanted to make a sort of caramel cheesecake, but I thought making a graham cracker crust would be a bit messy to eat out of the push pop, so I wondered if I could make a cake that tastes like a graham cracker.  allrecipes.com to the rescue once again. I went to the site and typed in graham cracker cake and up came this recipe... allrecipes.com Graham Cracker Cake  It had good reviews, so I decided to give it a go. I made the cake exactly as stated in the recipe, but I baked it in a 13x9" dish for about 35 minutes. The cake is really good and tastes just like a graham cracker- it is exactly what I wanted!

Cheesecake Filling

Ingredients

2 (8 oz) package cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 banana

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/3 cup whipped cream (I used Cool Whip)

Place cream cheese, sugar, banana. and lemon juice in a blender or a mixing bowl and mix until smooth (I prefer using a blender for this - it gets it very smooth). Fold in whipped cream until incorporated.  Give it a taste and adjust flavors to your liking. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes. Then store in the fridge until ready to use.

Caramel Topping

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 1/4 cups heavy cream - warmed

salt to taste

In a heavy weight saucepan over medium heat, heat the sugar until it starts to melt and brown. This will take at least 5 minutes - maybe a little longer. Stir constantly so you don't burn the sugar (that would be bad). Once your sugar is starting to look a little brown and turning into crystallized chunks then you can add the butter. Keep stirring! Stir until you have a beautiful caramel colored smooth sauce. Be patient. It is worth the effort! Once you reach the smooth, caramel colored sauce remove the pan from the heat.  Be sure the cream is warmed all the way through. Add the cream about 1/4 cup at a time (be careful it will steam) and stir until well combined. Keep adding until all the cream is combined.  Salt to taste and enjoy the rich, smooth, creamy goodness. 

note: if the cream is not sufficiently warmed you may end up with chunks in your sauce. Not to fear - just put it back over mid-high heat and stir until all chunks are dissolved.

To make the cake shooters I used the push pop to cut cake rounds (if you don't have push pop containers you can make these in anything really and eat with a spoon). I whipped up some cheesecake filling and caramel topping.  Layer the ingredients as follows: 1 cake round, pipe in cheesecake filling, and drizzle caramel topping. Repeat until you fill the container. These are delicious right away, but pop these in the fridge overnight and enjoy them cold the next day - even better! Yummmm.

Next time I think I'll try using the graham cracker cake with a chocolate ganache and marshmallow meringue for a s'more shooter....

Strawberry Bundt Cake Drizzled with Chocolate Glaze

Recently I made a Lemon Bundt Cake that turned out very nice! 

It was Delicious...

So the hubs said "I wonder if you could make a strawberry cake just like this but with chocolate?" 

hmmmm....What do you mean "you wonder"? This, my friend, was a challenge!

Just that little bit of doubt in his voice got him the cake he wanted as soon as the lemon cake was gone - which was the very next day because it was so tasty we couldn't stop eating it!! 

The Strawberry Bundt Cake Drizzled with Chocolate Glaze was a hit! Don loved it!! This cake is moist and full of strawberry deliciousness!! It is easy to make too, and it didn't last long either! We are cake monsters!!

Memaw's Lemon Sunshine Cake

This cake was very easy to make!!

It is moist and delicious

and beautiful too!

This makes a great summer dessert that will impress your friends and family!

it goes fast, so don't expect it to last long...

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup peach nectar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the Glaze

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup peach nectar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Spray and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan - fluted
3. Beat lemon cake mix, lemon pudding mix, sugar, eggs, 1 cup peach nectar, and vegetable oil in a bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until mixed. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Cool cake in the pan for 15 minutes before removing cake to finish cooling on rack.

Glaze

1. Mix confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup peach nectar, lemon juice, and lemon peel in a bowl to make a smooth frosting. Place cake on a serving platter; poke holes in top of the cake with a fork. Pour frosting slowly over the cake, allowing frosting to soak into the holes and drizzle down the sides of the cake.

Recipe source: allrecipes Memaw's Lemon Sunshine Cake

This is the bundt pan I have. It is great at a reasonable price!

As an Allrecipes.com Allstar I have some activities to work through each month to fulfill my commitment. One of the activities this month was to make, review, and photograph something that tastes like summer. I chose these Neapolitan Cupcakes because ice cream is a real summer treat and these just sounded really good.  Also, this particular recipe needed a photograph so I thought it was a good choice!

It was a good choice alright! These were easy to make, and Don said they really do taste like Neapolitan Ice Cream! I didn't believe him - I thought he was just trying to be the sweet hubs he is. So I had to try one for myself. I ended up trying to be good and only ate 1/2 of one and you know what?  He wasn't just being sweet (I should have known better haha)!  They really DO taste like Neapolitan Ice Cream!  Very cool!

They turned out so pretty too!

  

...off to eat that other half!!

Neapolitan Cupcakes

By Life Tastes Good
Published 06/23/2012

Ingredients

• 1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package strawberry cake mix
• 1 cup water
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners (about 24).
2. Combine brownie mix with 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, and 1/4 cup water. Mix until combined. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, combine strawberry cake mix with 1 cup water, 3 eggs, and 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Beat on low for about 30 seconds and then on medium for about 2 minutes.
4. Fill 1/3 of each of the cupcake liners with brownie mix. Top the brownie mix with strawberry cake mix so the cupcake liners are 2/3 full. You will have cake mix leftover. I like to freeze it to make another batch later. It freezes well.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes or until the cupcake tops spring back when lightly pressed.
6. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
7. Beat 3/4 cup softened butter until creamy. Add 1 cup confectioner's sugar and beat until combined. Turn mixer speed to high and beat until fluffy. Keep adding confectioner's sugar until desired taste and consistency is achieved. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and beat until combined.
8. Pipe icing onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Yield: about 24 cupcakes
Prep Time: 20 mins.

Cook time: 18 mins.
Total time: 38 mins.
Tags: cupcakes, dessert, snack, party, summer, strawberry, brownies

recipe inspired by Allrecipes Neapolitan Cupcakes

Madison's Angel Food Cake French Toast

Perfection on a plate!

You. Will. LOVE! This!

...nothing left to say

Madison's Angel Food Cake French Toast

Ingredients

Angel Food Cake Box Mix (just add water!)

4 eggs

1 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch salt

butter

Directions

Make the cake the day before you plan on making the french toast. Follow the directions on the box.  Madison likes to make this in a 13"x9"x2" cake pan (a smaller pan will overflow).  If you prefer to save time, I'm sure this will be just as good if you purchase the angel food cake from the bakery.

In the morning, whisk together eggs, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Slice the cake into desired sizes and dip each slice into the egg mixture to coat - do this about 3-4 pieces at a time (whatever will fit in your skillet). Heat a large skillet to medium heat. Melt enough butter to coat pan. Add cake slices and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side. The french toast should be golden brown. Continue until you've cooked all the cake pieces. Add butter to the pan as needed. Serve with fresh fruit and pure maple syrup.

Strawberry Puree

Just a quick post to share this delicious recipe.  This past weekend we traveled to Virginia to support our daughter and her college equestrian team at the Zone Finals.  College alone is challenging enough! Add in the responsibilities of being a student athlete and you have a bunch of kids (okay so they really aren't kids anymore, but whateva!) who deserve some special treatment every once in a while! The competition was a real nail biter!  At the end of the day the team secured the title of Reserve Champions.  They lost the Championship title by just 2 points!!  Fortunately, the first and second place teams move on to the National Finals being held in NC this May.  Go BEES!

Anyhoo, the reason for my post is to share this delicious Strawberry Puree

I used this to make Strawberry Shortcake Cake Shooters!  

I pulled this recipe from my favorite recipe site - Allrecipes.  Of course, I did change it up just a bit...  I don't really like chunks of strawberries in the puree - just a personal preference - so I puree'd all the berries to make a smooth puree that can be used in so many different ways!

Cake Shooters are tons of fun and a great way to bring along a treat when traveling!

To make these I used a pound cake.  Because pound cake is so thick I sliced it in half first, so I would have 2 (thinner) cakes. I cut pieces of the pound cake using the push pop round end.  This worked perfect! The cake pieces fit right into the push pop container. On top of the cake I layered with fresh strawberries, strawberry puree and butter cream icing. I repeated the layers until filled and popped on the top!  Too easy!

So proud of these girls!!

Especially my girl.....