Tag Archives: fun dessert

Chocolate Cake Roll with a Cinnamon Caramel Filling

Posted on August 16, 2019 by Ruthanne

Cake Roll1 I love my pumpkin roll recipe. It’s one of my favorite parts of baking in the Fall. I’ve been highly unsuccessful, however, in finding a chocolate cake roll recipe that I love- either it tastes great but cracks like crazy, or it rolls well buts tastes like cardboard. One of my goals over the past 2 years of blog-absence was to create a chocolate cake roll recipe that works AND tastes great.

This is it! It rolls beautifully (I had only one small crack) and tastes like a rich, but not-too-sweet, fudge brownie. Perfect!

Of course you can fill this roll with a multitude of things, but I chose a creamy Dulce de Leche caramel filling with cinnamon.

Cake Roll3

Ready to try this? Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

Ingredients:

Cake:

2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon salt
5 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla

Filling:

3 sticks (1.5 cups) of salted butter, softened to room temperature
One can (13.4 oz) Dulce de Leche (I used Nestle’s La Lechera)
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Topping:

1 Tablespoon of cinnamon
2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder (mix them together in a small dish)

Directions:

Cake:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly spray a 17 x 12 inch jelly roll pan with non-stick cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper with about an inch of extra paper on the 17-inch sides (so you can lift the cake out of the pan easily once it bakes). Note: make sure your paper is nice and flat- the non-stick spray will help hold it down. Mine folded a little and you can see a few bumps on my roll where the batter baked over the fold.
Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl stirring gently until just combined.
In a large bowl, beat eggs and granulated sugar for about 1 minute until thick. Add in the oil and vanilla extract, and beat together until combined.
Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix gently until just combined. The batter will be like a runny brownie batter.
Spread the batter evenly into prepared pan, and bake for 12-16 minutes, or until top of cake springs back when touched.
Carefully lift the parchment paper and cake out onto a flat (and heat-safe) surface. Then slowly, using your hands (careful, it will be hot!), roll the cake – rolling from one short (12-inch) end to the other— until it is completely rolled up.
Wrap tightly in a towel and place in refrigerator until completely cooled (an hour or so).

CakeRoll6 Cake Roll5

While the cake is cooling, make the caramel and cinnamon filling (see below).
Once the cake has cooled completely, place it on a flat surface, remove the towel, and unroll it carefully until it is flat again (it’s ok if the ends curl up a bit).

Filling: (make while cake cools)

Place butter in mixing bowl and beat on high until whipped and smooth.
Add Dulce de Leche and cinnamon to butter and beat on high for about 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.

Assembly:

Spread the filling evenly over unrolled cake, leaving a small border on all sides (the filling will spread out as you roll it back up). Then carefully re-roll the cake, gently peeling away the parchment paper as you roll until you can completely remove and discard it. Tightly wrap the chocolate roll in plastic wrap or Press-n-Seal and refrigerate at least one hour until completely set.

Cake Roll8 Cake Roll7

Lightly dust with cocoa powder and cinnamon mixture (you could also add a chocolate glaze to the top if you have cracks or you want the dessert to be sweeter).
To serve, remove and unwrap the chocolate roll, transfer it to your serving dish and slice.
Keep leftovers tightly wrapped and refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Cake Roll2

My thoughts: Yum! I loved this cake roll- I almost feel like it should be called a brownie roll because it is so dense and rich. This is not a super sweet dessert- my husband said it would be better with a sweet chocolate glaze on top- but I loved the rich cocoa/cinnamon flavor. If you like a not-so-sweet but rich and cocoa-y dessert, this one’s for you! Enjoy!! ~r

Cake Roll4

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Posted in Cakes, frosting and tagged brownie roll, cake roll, caramel cinnamon frosting, caramel dessert, chocolate cake roll, chocolate dessert, christmas dessert, cinnamon dessert, creative dessert ideas, dessert, dulce de leche frosting, frosting, fun dessert, spiral cake roll. Bookmark the permalink.

Baked Alaska Cupcakes

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Ruthanne

Rich chocolate cupcakes topped with a scoop of ice cream and a cloud of toasted marshmallow meringue. Best. Dessert. Ever!!!!!

Every year for Christmas our family goes out to an incredible restaurant near Marshall, MI called Win Schulers. They have the most amazing prime rib…oh my. Anyway, within a week of Christmas it is my birthday, my mom’s birthday and my sister-in-law’s birthday. Schuler’s gives you a Baked Alaska for your birthday….so it’s a feast of Baked Alaska and it is SO good. About 2 weeks ago I was craving it and suddenly was struck by the idea of making it in cupcake form. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Just go and make these. Use your favorite ice cream. You will love them…!

Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed chocolate cake mix (plus the oil, water and eggs to make according to package)
One quart of your favorite ice cream (I used mint chip)
8 egg whites
2 cups of granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to box directions and divide equally into 24 cupcake liners in cupcake tins.
Bake according to package.
Cool completely (I refrigerated mine to get them nice and cold before adding the ice cream)
While they are baking and cooling, make the marshmallow meringue (I got my recipe here)

(Don’t be afraid….I was afraid to try this, it sounded complicated, but it isn’t hard- it just takes time with a mixer in your hand if you are like me and not fortunate enough to have a stand mixer! It is actually kind of fun! Make sure your bowl and beaters are free of any oils. I swiped mine with a little lemon juice 1st)

Place egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a medium heat-proof bowl that will set on the top of a sauce pan of boiling water without touching the water. (I had to experiment a bit to find a good fit)
Bring water to a boil in the saucepan and set the bowl on top.
Whisk ingredients together for about 3-4 minutes. Sugar will be dissolved and egg whites should be heated to 145F degrees.
Remove bowl from top of sauce pan and beat on low until the mixture thickens a little, then beat on high for about 10 minutes. The meringue will become the most beautiful, white, glossy mixture. It should form stiff peaks before you stop beating it.
Spoon all that wonderful marshmallow yumminess into a bag fitted with a decorating tip.
Assemble one cupcake at a time, and then pop it into the freezer immediately.
Take a cupcake, use a small cookie scoop or melon baller and place a scoop of ice cream in the center of the cupcake. Pipe meringue all around it, being careful to seal up all the ice cream at the bottom and them working your way up to a swirled top!

When all cupcakes are prepared and in the freezer, use a kitchen torch
to toast the marshmallow just before serving.
These are best served within a couple of hours of making them.

Since they are a fork-eating-cupcake anyway, I see no harm in adding hot fudge….

My thoughts: I loved them. They satisfied my craving for a baked Alaska plus they have the cute factor of a cupcake! Fun, fun, FUN!!!!! Enjoy!!! ~r

Other yummy cupcakes:

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Posted in Cupcakes, Frozen desserts and tagged baked alaska, best, chocolate, creative cupcakes, cupcakes, dessert, fun cupcakes, fun dessert, fun recipe, ice cream, ice cream cupcakes, kids, kitchen torch, marshmallow, marshmallow meringue, meringue, recipe, unique cupcakes. Bookmark the permalink.

Baileys Irish Cream Cupcakes

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Ruthanne

These amazing cupcakes are made with Baileys Irish cream and topped with a Baileys buttercream frosting. They are incredibly good–and the way I came across this recipe is quite the story!

Have you watched the TV show that’s out right now called The American Baking Competition? The one with all of the challenges each week– breads, cakes, pies…? I love it. Aaaaand…I auditioned for it last fall. I’m actually not one of those “I wanna be on TV” people, but I am one of those “that sounds like a crazy fun adventure, let’s do it!” people. In 2002, my coworkers dared me to audition for The Weakest Link game show and they picked me– I’d never actually seen the show which made things a little awkward at first…lol! So auditioning for a cooking show? Why not??

I know you are dying to know how these cupcakes are made, so I will save my story-telling for later, but long story short– I met a ton of wonderful bakers at the audition and one of them was Lauren Shilt. She brought these Baileys cupcakes to her audition and gave me an extra. I fell in love with this cupcake! It is so dense and moist and rich….so I begged for the recipe and Lauren kindly obliged.

Here you have it… Baileys Cupcakes: (printer friendly recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 30-36 cupcakes)

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (use super fine sugar, if you can find it!)
3/4 cups unsalted butter room temp.
3 eggs room temp.
3 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream (separated, 1/2 cup for the cakes, 1/2 cup to pour over the cakes after they have been baked)

Buttercream Frosting:

2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, room temp.
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temp.
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream-enough to get the frosting to the desired flavor and consistency.

For the Chocolate Ganache to drizzle over the top:

1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (or if using a bar, chopped)
3 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

(I used 1/4c. heavy cream and 1/2c. semi-sweet chips plus 3 teaspoons of Baileys for mine, and I made it at the end since it was thick enough to use as soon as it cooled a bit. It’s just how I always do ganache and I needed to save time.)

DIRECTIONS:

Make the Ganache first (unless you use my recipe)

In a saucepan bring the cream to simmer over med heat
Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate until it is melted and incorporated
Whisk in the Baileys Irish Cream
Refrigerate until it has a good consistency to drizzle over the top

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the muffin tins with 36 cupcake liners (my batch only made 30)
In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon
In a large bowl, use a mixer to cream together the sugar and butter for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add eggs once at a time until incorporated and then mix in vanilla.
Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the Bailey’s Irish Cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for 17-20 min. (mine were slightly over-baked at 17 min, so check often!)
Cool in pan for a few minutes
Using a toothpick poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes and using a pastry brush, brush the additional 1/2 cup of baileys over the cupcakes.

Baileys Buttercream Frosting:

Place butters, powdered sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Beat on high until light and fluffy.
Add Baileys Irish Cream a bit at a time until buttercream is desired flavor and consistency.
Frost cooled cupcakes using a pastry bag, then drizzle with Bailey’s Ganache.

My thoughts: You are simply going to love these cupcakes. I’ve had 4 people (so far!) tell me that these are their favorite cupcake I’ve ever made. They are SO good!!!!! Plus, (be very proud of me!) they are not a cake mix! 😉

Ok. Story time.

So crazy, adventure-seeking me sent in my application for this “baking show” on CBS. I was invited to come to Chicago to do an in-person audition for the show. I needed to bring my “signature” baked good. Signature? How to choose from all my favorites? I decided on Salted Caramel Cookie Cups, because everyone loves them, they are easy to travel with and they are signature (in that they use lots of pre-made ingredients), making them EASYbaked 🙂 My motto.

A few days before the audition I got a call from CBS confirming my audition time and making sure I would be bringing everything I needed. This very nice man said–“now, be sure you plate your baked good”. I was like… “um…ok. I will make sure I put it on a plate.” Long pause. “No, you need to plate it.” “Yes,” I replied, “I will put it on a plate.” “You need to plate it- you know, make it look all fancy for the judges?”

Sigh. My 1st clue this isn’t going to go well. I hang up and google “how to plate a dessert”. Then I go to the store to buy little bottles with tips….and I practice “plating” my little desserts.

Laura and I pack up all my supplies and off we go to a very rainy and cold Chicago.

When I arrived and checked in I was seated in a room FULL of people carrying baked goods in all sorts of containers. I love meeting new people and within no time I had met all of the people sitting around me. It was SO much fun! A whole room full of people comparing ganache recipes and favorite frosting ideas. AMAZING! About 5 of us chatted while we waited to get called back and we all ended up getting called back together. We had to “plate” our items for the judges (thank goodness I got all of that sorted out ahead of time!) and they tasted our items and asked us questions. Lauren and I made it to the second round and we spent our waiting time really getting to know each other and exchanging our extra desserts with the bakers around us.

New Baking Friends!!!

The second interview was questions, asked in a group setting. Not too intimidating… The casting person (who, apparently was also a trained culinary person) asked me how I made my wonderful caramel filling. I explained that I use Kraft caramels, sweetened condensed milk and butter to make it.

There were audible gasps.

Everyone was staring at me.

What had I said wrong?

The interviewer said- you mean you didn’t make this from scratch?

Ummm…no.

Why would you bring this as your signature baked good if it isn’t from scratch?

Because my baking is rarely from scratch. Why slave over homemade caramel if you can just use caramels to make a filling?

But it’s not homemade….

Well, you loved it and sent me to the next round of interviews…?

I didn’t tell her that the crust was made of refrigerator cookie dough… yikes.

The next baker was a woman who literally forages in the woods for all of her ingredients. Literally. Forages.

I wanted to jump in and say that I foraged at WalMart on Black Friday for my ingredients…nearly died…got them cheap….?

I was fairly certain I was “out” of the running. Until I was handed a paper that said:

What?!?! This involved staying an extra day in Chicago (thank you dear, patient Laura!), panicking over the fact that I only brought a Green Bay Packer Jersey to wear home the next day…(can you interview on camera for a baking show dressed like a football player?), waiting for 2 hours, falling asleep in a hotel lobby and defending my use of Kraft caramels on camera for Hollywood to see.

Needless to say, I wasn’t called and invited to be a contestant on the show. Have you watched it? I would have gone down in flames the 1st week. These people are amazing! Francine is my favorite~ she uses crazy creative ingredients like bacon and red-hot candies in her recipes (anyone who bakes with candy is my hero!) Hope she wins!

After my long day of interviewing, Laura and I settled in at our hotel and pigged out on all the treats I exchanged with other bakers during the day. This was when I first tasted Lauren’s cupcakes…oh. my.

A collection of amazing baked goods!

A big BIG thanks to Lauren for sharing her recipe with us! If you’d like to get to know her and see some of her incredible baking creations, she is on facebook. Visit her page and give it a “like” by clicking here.

Lauren

I usually stick to sharing recipes in my posts, but this story was just too fun. Thanks for listening– now go and make these cupcakes— you will love them— I promise!!! ~r

Other “from scratch” recipes on Easybaked…yes, there are a few!!!!

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged american baking competition, bailey s irish cream, baileys, baileys cupcake, baileys irish cream, baking, buttercream, cake flour, chocolate ganache, cupcake, cupcakes with alcohol, dessert, food, fun dessert, homemade cupcake recipe, recipe, sweets. Bookmark the permalink.

Key Lime Cupcakes

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Ruthanne

These cupcakes are filled with a sweet key lime filling and topped with key lime buttercream…what could be better than that? Oh, how about a graham cracker crust on the bottom of the cupcake? This dessert is as close to key lime pie as you can get…without it being a pie! (printer friendly recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 24 cupcakes)

Filling:

1 cup key lime juice (a labor of love….!)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 egg

Cupcakes:

2 cups of graham crackers (finely crushed)
3 Tablespoons of butter (melted)
1 boxed yellow cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to package)

Frosting:

2 sticks (8 oz) salted butter (at room temp)
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter (at room temp)
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons of key lime juice

DIRECTIONS:

Filling:

Mix together key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk and egg and pour into a small casserole.
Bake at 325F degrees for 15-20 minutes (until center is set)
Cool completely.

Cupcakes:

Mix crushed graham crackers with melted butter.
Spoon about 1 teaspoon of this mixture into 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins (you’ll have a little left to garnish with at the end)
Press crumbs firmly into bottom of cup (I find my Mini Tart Shaper to be very useful for this)
Make cake mix according to box, and divide batter equally between the 24 cupcake liners.
Bake according to directions on box
Remove from oven and cool completely.
Core cupcakes (I love my Cupcake Plunger– it is so quick to use and saves the core to place back on top of the filling- to see a picture of how it works, click here).
Spoon cooled filling into a zip top bag and clip a corner off.

Pipe filling evenly into each cupcake, saving about 1/4 of a cup of filling to drizzle on the top at the end.
Place top of core back in place (you can trim some of the bottom off to make room for the filling if you need to)

Frosting:

Place butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 Tablespoons of key lime juice into a large bowl.
Using a mixer, beat on high until light and fluffy.
Pipe frosting on top of cupcakes and drizzle remaining filling on top.
Sprinkle with remaining graham crust crumbs and ENJOY!!!!

My thoughts: I created these for a graduation party. The challenge was to create a key lime cupcake for someone who LOVES key lime pie. Key lime pie is one of my favorite desserts, so it was a fun task. These were a big hit. I love the balance between the tart center and the sweet cupcake and frosting.

It’s spring~ you NEED a key lime cupcake!!!

Cream-filled Doughnut Cupcakes

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Ruthanne

These cream-filled, chocolate glazed, doughnut-flavored cupcakes combine two favorites into one incredible dessert! Use a fun mini-doughnut pan to make adorable decorations to top these yummy cupcakes!

Ingredients: (makes 16- 18 cupcakes)

Cupcakes:

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar (packed)
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/3 c. flour
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk

Cream filling:

1 stick (4 oz) butter
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

Chocolate glaze:

1 c. dark chocolate chips
6 T. butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, both sugars and vanilla. Beat on medium until combined.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between.
In a medium bowl combine flour, powder, soda and salt and blend.
Add flour mixture and milk, alternating between the two and beating well in between.
When batter is complete, scoop about 1 c. of batter into a large zip-top bag.
Clip corner and pipe into a Wilton Mini Doughnut Pan– fill each doughnut opening a little less than 1/2 full.
Bake mini doughnuts for about 5-6 minutes and cool on a rack.
Decorate them as desired (cinnamon, powdered sugar…I used a simple powdered sugar/milk glaze with food coloring and sprinkles)
Scoop remaining batter into cupcake liners in a cupcake tin, filling them about 2/3 full.
Bake at 350F degrees for about 18-20 minutes (test them when they come out, the centers took a little time to bake all through)
Cool cupcakes and core them (I use a Cupcake Plunger so that I have nice little circles to set back on top of the filling when I’m done.)
Make filling: Place butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl and beat on high until light and fluffy.
Place filling in a zip top bag and pipe evenly into each cupcake. Place the cut-out top of the cupcake back on.
Make glaze by melting the chocolate chips and butter together in the microwave in 30 second increments stirring until smooth and shiny.
Cool just a little (so its easy to handle) and spoon or pipe onto top of each cupcake.
Before the glaze hardens, place a mini doughnut on top for decoration…so much fun!!!!!
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These cupcakes are a little work with the filling and the topping (and notice, dear fans, that I did NOT use a cake mix for these!!) The extra effort really pays off in how good these cupcakes are. Oh my. Like doughnuts in cupcake form…perfect! Enjoy!!! ~r

Try some of Easybaked’s other cupcake ideas. Click on an image to get the recipe:

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, cake doughnuts, chocolate glaze, cupcakes, dessert, doughnut cupcakes, doughnuts, fun dessert, kids party ideas, unique baking ideas. Bookmark the permalink.

Rainbow Cake Roll

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Ruthanne

Fun rainbow-colored cake swirled with rich buttercream- a perfect St. Patrick’s Day treat!

~~I had so much fun making this cake~~ this cake was torture.

I love cake rolls like crazy, but I could not find a recipe that tasted good AND didn’t crack terribly when rolled up. I tried 4 recipes and finally settled on plain old cake mix again– it still cracked, but tasted soooo yummy and it was definitely the easiest.

I hesitated to post this, as it is essentially a recipe experiment *fail*, but then I thought it would be a good chance to ask all of YOU if you have a fail-safe vanilla cake roll recipe…? I love the technique and the colors- I just need a good recipe.

For now, we will go with the cake mix version~

Things to keep in mind if you want to try this recipe:

1. Use my buttercream recipe. When it is refrigerated it gets nice and hard, cementing your happy little cracked roll together and holding it together even at room temperature.

2. Set aside several hours and take your time.

3. Use color gels. You will not get the vibrant colors with liquid color.

Honestly, people loved this cake. Once it is cut you can barely tell it cracked. I made this one for my friend Dawn’s birthday and it was such a fun and cheery cake. She only likes white cake with vanilla frosting…this is a great way to spice up that combination with color!

Here we go:

INGREDIENTS:

1 boxed white cake mix (with oil, water and eggs according to box)
Gel icing colors (I use Wilton Brand gels)
2 sticks (8 oz) butter
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3. t. clear vanilla flavoring
Cool Whip Topping and sprinkles for garnish.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Make boxed cake mix, but add just a little less oil and water. My Pillsbury mix called for 1 cup of water and 1/3 cup of oil. I used 3/4 c. water and 1/4 c. oil instead. I used the same # of eggs (3)
Scoop about 3/4 c. of mix into 6 or 7 small bowls and color as desired.

Cover the bottom of a standard jellyroll pan (mine is about 12″ by 17″, and about 1″ deep) with waxed paper- allowing the paper to extend just a bit over each end.
Lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Spoon each color of batter into a small ziptop bag and gently pipe colors into pan in stripes. Just settle in and take your time here. This is a labor of love. Use paper towel to wipe up drips and remember that you are piping a THIN layer of cake– you don’t want to make it so thick you run out before you get to the end of the pan. Patience is the key…believe me, I’ve done this 4 times now with different cake recipes and it just takes time.

(It also involves a lot of dishes…pretty, colorful, messy dishes.)

Bake your cake at 350F degrees for 12-15 minutes– check often- you can’t roll a crunchy over-baked cake!
Remove from oven and place a clean towel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar over the roll. Tip the pan over onto the towel and peel away the wax paper.
Gently roll cake up in towel from one short end to the other.

Refrigerate for one hour.
While cake is cooling, make buttercream icing.
Put softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until light and fluffy.
When cake is cooled, gently unroll (here is where the cracking happens…be gentle and patient)
VERY carefully, spread buttercream over entire surface of the cake and re-roll. I had cracks that went the entire length of the cake and still just gently rolled it together, letting the buttercream hold it together.

Gently place on a plate and refrigerate until buttercream hardens.
Once cake roll has hardened it can be easily moved and cut. Top it with whipped cream and sprinkles– that helps to hide some of the cracks 😉

Not perfect, but so much fun!

My thoughts: I feel a little guilty publishing this on a site called EASYbaked, but I couldn’t resist. I would make it again- it just makes me smile. I hope a few of you brave souls will attempt this and enjoy it as much as I did! Please– if you have a good vanilla cake roll recipe I’d love to hear about it. You can link to your recipe if it is on a blog, or post the recipe in the comments or in-box message me on the Easybaked Facebook page. I’m excited to find a way to make this cake “perfect” 🙂

Happy Birthday Dawn!

Other happy rainbow desserts you might like for St. Patricks Day:

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Posted in Cakes and tagged baking, birthday cake, buttercream frosting, buttercream recipe, cake, cake roll, colorful ideas, dessert, food, fun cake, fun dessert, Rainbow, rainbow cake, rainbow cake roll, St. Patricks Day, vanilla cake, vanilla frosting. Bookmark the permalink.

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Ruthanne

A fun twist on the traditional pineapple upside down cake– little mini cakes that are so pretty and fun to serve!

The Mini cheesecake pan is back! I love this Chicago Metallic pan so much!!! I know lots of you have gotten this pan for previous recipes (Cookie cheesecakes and Frozen S’mores) and love it– so here’s another! These little cakes could be made in muffin tins- but in the mini cheesecake pan the bottom comes right out and you can keep your toppings in place and pretty– no sticking to the bottom of the pan. Love it! Here’s the recipe: so easy!

Ingredients:

One boxed white cake mix (plus the oil, water and eggs to make according to box)
2/3c. packed dark brown sugar
1/3c. melted butter
1 (20oz.) can of pineapple chunks
24 maraschino cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place disks in the bottom of your Mini cheesecake pan and spray well with non-stick spray.
Mix together brown sugar and melted butter.
Spoon half of the sugar mixture evenly into the bottom of each cup in the pan (this recipe makes 24 mini cakes, so if you only have one pan you will need to do this in 2 batches).
Place one cherry in the center of each cup.
Break apart pineapple chunks and place around cherry in each cup.
Make cake mix according to box (I used the whole egg method)
Spoon half of batter evenly in each cup over cherry and pineapple.
Place pan on a cookie sheet (important– these will leak a little!!!)
Bake at 350 degrees for about 22-24 minutes.
Allow pan to set and cool.
Gently push up on bottom disk and remove each mini-cake from pan.
Place bottom up on a cake rack and gently remove disk from top (replace any fillings that stick)
Wash your sticky fingers and pan and repeat to make 24 cakes (unless you are lucky enough to have two pans- then you can do them all at once!)
Allow these to cool completely. Once they set they hold together beautifully- they are just a little fragile when they are still warm.

My thoughts: Well, I hate cooked fruit. I have to admit that I didn’t try these. I did, however, enlist many friends and coworkers in the tasting process and got a unanimous thumbs up on them. They are (of course!) more work than just a regular cake. They are sticky and the toppings slide off a bit and I wished I had 2 pans so that I could do them all at once. I’m thinking of getting a second one…. the end result was so cute and so much more fun than just a plain cake though. I really like that everyone gets pineapple and a cherry. Enjoy!!!!!!! -r